//------------------------------// // Chapter XV- Liberi Fatali // Story: Schoolhouse Shenanigans! // by Dragonborne Fox //------------------------------// To all the Wandering Heroes and whomever else this letter may concern, I request that you head for Canterlot Castle in a few hours' time. I have found one of Isabella's most disturbing secrets, and only you are worthy to know it. I shall explain the urgent matter once I have made preparations. Please make sure Anna brings her ocarina, as it too is of grave importance. You will receive another letter later today once everything is set. Princess Twilight Sparkle. "Okay....?" Lance sighed as he finished reading the letter to the rest of the party. "Things just got strange." "Y'think?" Anna stated, watching her husband roll the scroll up in a respectful manner before he set it on the table. She then ran upstairs to get her ocarina, wherever it went. "One of Isabella's secrets? What more could the old dustrag be hiding now?" Blake snarled, his eyes glancing at the floor. "Might as well start calling her Oldbag since Lance went and brought up Phoenix Wright before we went to court." Katie chimed. "I don't think this bodes well." Matt commented, his face expressionless. "When does ONE MONTH go by without her in it somewhere?!" Fenrir howled, looking as if he was going to rip some fur out of his head. "Beats me." Natalie answered, shrugging her shoulders. Coryza wheeled into the room holding her own newborn daughter (yes, she's in a wheelchair). "I assume a Princess called us?" Another letter appeared from thin air before it unceremoniously dropped onto Katie's head, bounced off doing cartwheels, and rolled along the floor before hitting Natalie's feet. "Quicker than I expected." Sighed the wizard as she bent over and picked the closed scroll up. She undid the seal before reading this aloud. It seems preparations went much smoother than normal. Then again, when doesn't Spike help me? Anyhow, please head to the castle. I hope to see you all soon. Princess Twilight Sparkle. "Well, what the hay are we waiting for? I know I just left the hospital a few hours ago, but who gives a hoot? Let's move, people!" Coryza called, hitting one wheelchair arm with a fist. "I ain't risking getting a guitar to the face." Matt agreed, his eyes white ovals again. TIME SKIP!! The room the party stood in was dark and dismal, with eight candles lighting up a circle that bore a runic pattern similar to Mother Earth. Anna stood in the middle of this circle; ocarina at the ready. Just at the margin of the candlelight were groups of two things and two things only: a heap of Obsidian Idols and another heap of pony bodies that had eyes, ears, and hooves--but no mane, tail, wings, or horns. Not even cutie marks were present on these white, pony-like beings. Everyone wondered if they were inanimate Anon Ponies, for crying out loud. "She made...homunculi?" Kate gasped in shock. "But why?" Matt asked. "I think we'll see soon enough." Alexis chimed. Twilight stood before the group-heaps, looking Anna in the eye. "Listen closely, because this spell needs you the most. You are to sit down on your knees with the soles of your feet underneath your rear end. Then, put the ocarina to your mouth and look at the candles. When they change color, that's when the spell will take effect." Anna did the first two instructions. "It's been so long I need a music sheet." "I've prepared just that." Twilight grinned as a maestro's sheet holder was place before the archer. "Don't worry about turning the pages; they turn themselves." "Alrighty then. Everybody else, quiet please." Sighed nature woman as she put the ocarina in her mouth whilst looking at the candle directly in her line of sight after Twilight moved out of her way. And into the instrument went the first note. Followed by another. And another. And another still. The strange song kept playing as the first candle became a fiery vermillion whilst the one to its left turned a brilliant orange. The one next to that was a fierce gold and the one after that was as green as Anna's hair. The next three became cyan, indigo, and purple; respectively. The last candle became a holy white. The candlesticks began floating in the air and spinning in a slow, melancholic circle around the main rune circle that did much the same. Anna's eyes proceeded to close as the song carried on. The Idols jumped forth from the pile and began dancing in unison with the candles. Around and around they twirled before jumping up to the flames and landing on their flat feet and resuming their course. The spell seemed to have such a grip on the archer that the song could be performed even if she were blindfolded at that moment. Right as Anna opened her glowing white eyes an Idol looking back at her split in two. Right where the split had occurred was a white orb that quickly flew towards a homunculus and took control of it. The other Idols stopped for just long enough so that the now-possessed body could join them. The candles and rune also stopped their spinning to allow it. The strangely melancholic dance resumed. Anna closed her eyes once more. The song took on an eerie familiarity mostly among Katie's ears. She swayed her head side to side slowly, almost as if she attempted to capture the music. Two more Idols were shattered once they saw Anna's eyes open yet again. They--that is, the orbs within the Idols--proceeded to mimic the first. Dance, song, Idol breaking, possession, resume dance. The process repeated three more times. The first in pairs of two and the last by itself. Now the homunculi were dancing in unison with the candles as if they were ballerinas. Two grew horns, two grew pegasus wings and the rest remained earth. The song was coming to a close, the candles slowly levitating in place as they were before the ritual started. Anna opened her searing white eyes again, looking at the white fire. It diminished, leaving the seven colors of the rainbow radiating from her eyes. Then out went the vermillion flame. And soon, all that was left was a rune whose glow was fading and an unconscious Anna. Fast-forward to a few hours later. A stallion with a golden-silvery coat and a fiery red mane opened his brown eyes. Looking back at him was a red-haired woman with blue eyes. The unicorn coughed a bit before his eyes went wide. His hooves flung themselves around her shoulders. "M-My dear Natalie! Has it really been that long since I was trapped in that dark place, unable to escape? M-My goodness, you've grown quite a lot!" "Daddy..." Sobbed the wizard as she clutched her revived father tightly. "I....I thought I'd never see you again!" Anna was busy hugging her unicorn mother whose pelt was leathery brown. Her mane was of the prettiest pearl ever seen. "Anna, did you take care of Sarah for us?" Asked the mother. "Yes, I did. Right now, she's in Canterlot with the job of a florist." Anna answered with a grin. "WHY DID I FATHER A NAZI WITH A FOX?!" Shouted a Pegasus stallion with a blond mane, white pelt, and ruby-red eyes. "Because you were dumb." Lance sneered sheepishly as he made the 'loser' sign on his head. "Um, mom...?" Matt asked an earth pony mare who had blue eyes, grey pelt, and orange mane. "Where's dad?" "He cheated on his wife with me." Answered the mom. "The Nazi happens to be mocking him at the moment." Matt and Lance immediately looked at each other. "W-We're....?" Both shuddered. "WE'RE HALF-BROTHERS?!" "Talk about a family reunion." Katie smiled as she proceeded to pick the Pegasus stallion up. Turning her gaze to him, she said, "You ain't gonna run from the responsibility at all. I simply forbid it!"