(Typhon, Arrival era)
Alright, whatever, that was an actual, honest-to-God pegasus pony watching me from the clouds.
A mare, given the shape of the muzzle; her coat was between baby blue and sky blue, with a pink mane and rose eyes.
"Hello!" I called for her, still not used to hearing my voice as a teen again. "Could you tell me where am I?!"
She flinched, wide-eyed, and I thought for a moment that she would bolt. To my relief, she didn't, and even looked like she would answer me.
After a few moments of indecision, she left her cloud and fluttered close to me. Well, if ten meters can be considered 'close to' anything.
"Greetings." She said, not taking her eyes off my face for anything, but my smile seemed to comfort her; she sounded like a teenager herself, and was smaller than I thought she was. "You are currently located seven and a half miles northwest by north of Cloudsdale."
"Thank you!" I said with a smile. "I'm afraid I'm very lost, and I have no shelter or food, would you be so kind as to tell me who can I see to help me with that?"
"I would be more than glad to render assistance to somepony in need; however, I have never ventured to any city beyond Cloudsdale; my knowledge of ponies capable of providing you with aid is rather limited." She cantered a little closer; I could see that her cutie mark was of three whistles, one magenta/red-ish pink, the other two blue.
"Hmm..." I crossed my arms. "Too bad I can't stand on clouds like you do."
My pendant glowed, and I knew it despite it being hidden by my jacket.
"I can walk on clouds." I said. "I... I don't know how I know that."
My ring began to glow.
"I... I was told." I scratched my head, looking at my ring. "These things are magical. I think... really, really magical."
She tilted her head.
"You are unsure? How did magical artifacts come to your possession, then?"
I sighed.
"It's a crazy story, with a lot of details. I'd bore you and you would not believe me if I told you." To my surprise, she merely sat on the grass, tucked her forelegs underneath her, and peered intently at me.
"Lunchtime is still far from now, and I promise to keep an open mind and reserve judgement until the very end of your tale."
"In that case, I should start with the hardest fact to process: I came from another world."
*****
(Celestia, Today)
"I called you here to help me decide what to do." Celestia said, looking at the stained glass window commemorating Discord's defeat at the hooves of Twilight and her friends. "He has a ring, a powerful magical object that protects him from most forms of magic."
"So what? We'll just use the Elements on him!" Dash said, although then she wasn't sure of how if he was able to sniff her out before coming in range.
"The Elements do not work on him so long as he draws breath and still possesses that ring." It was the reason she turned him to stone, although it seemed like he could turn it on and off at will. "He scarcely used the ring's powers, however, making its capabilities a mystery."
There were other reasons the Elements didn't work, like them being the Elements of Harmony, not the Elements of Public Opinion, but Celestia had had enough thinking about that portion of the past for now. All of those old reminders... their numbers were starting to become ridiculous.
"His physical prowess is remarkable, as well, growing in strength between each of our encounters. Combined with his abilities and the ring, he quickly became formidable." The first few encounters, he'd run away. The last few, he was reportedly battling creatures from the Everfree, dragons, or disabling scores of guards.
A piece of paper popped into existence in front of her; it fluttered down, allowing everypony to see it was a 'stick figure' vaguely in the shape of a human with strange writing on it.
"It seems he wants to speak to us." Celestia announced, more for their benefit than anything. It would not do for them to try to attack something that wasn't even there. The Bearers became very quiet as they focused their attention on the paper, each for their own reasons - fear, intrigue, curiosity, distrust, wariness and wonder. "Please do not interrupt him - he has very little patience for the impatient."
The paper twitched. Once, twice, and a faint image started to 'grow' from it; first, an unshaped blob of blue, then slowly defining itself as having arms, legs, and a head. The form became the same image Celestia had seen not long ago, with the paper man at the level of the heart.
He was facing her, and Celestia couldn't help but notice everything about his appearance.
His shoulders were slumped, arms hanging tired to his sides instead of fiddling with an instrument or object; his mouth, always smiling or attempting so despite the circumstances, was simply slack; his eyes, always bright, were bloodshot, and it was evident in his face that he had shed tears; his hair, always as if tousled by the wind, but in a fitting way, looked haggard and dirty.
An inarticulate scream of rage and pain tore through her as her ambush proved more than successful; it was a pain beyond merely the physical, reaching deep down to every part capable of sympathizing with another. She had accidentally overloaded the spell as a second voice reached her ears mid-casting.
She knew, as the scream rose in volume and the speed of the wind increased to levels capable of toppling trees, that she had caught somepony else by mistake.
Somepony important to him.
Celestia adverted her eyes.
'Does he want revenge? ... Unlikely; there were many opportunities to do something back then, even with Luna by my side, and somepony with his intelligence would have found it easy to exact vengeance by proxy.'
Typhon pulled up his hood, so much like a windsock, and sniffled. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand, and nodded.
"Princess." The voice cracked slightly, as if his throat was sore.
"Typhon; it has been a long time." She forced herself to see him to the eye.
"It has." He crossed his arms, sighing wistfully. "Thank you - for what you did at her grave, I mean."
A pang of guilt stabbed at her heart.
"It felt like the right thing to do. An... apology, if you will."
Her words made a sad smile cross his face, with humorless chuckles and a few fresh tears accompanying it.
"I surmise you were responsible for the flowers?" She asked, knowing full well the answer now.
"At minimum three times a year for the last millennium and a half." He nodded, wiping his face again.
Six very surprised ponies let out gasps. He chuckled and turned slightly - enough to tell them he acknowledged their presence, but not to let them see his unkempt state.
"She didn't get all of me, or what, forgot about my dominion of Air?" He waved a hand, making a small breeze that was felt through the throne room. He decided to keep any other information to himself, turning back to the princess as the wind died down. "With what was left outside, moving flowers is child's play."
"Then why come back now?" Celestia was wary, if Typhon was not only conscious, but was able to release himself at any time, why now?
"A promise. That, and I got a feeling I should wait, and another that told me I waited enough." He shrugged.
"A feeling." Celestia deadpanned, despite herself.
"What can I say? Time's flow is not a neat little river with a start and a finish in sight. It's convoluted, and players from the past and the future have little trouble interacting with those of today; legends of old can live along dreams not yet dreamed. The ebbs and eddies of the flow of the fabric of space and time cause all kinds of craziness. I should know, I was brought here by one, and have been beating back intruders right under your nose - and your mistakes did not make it any easier."
Celestia was about to ask more, but a lance of white magic struck the paper anchor to his spell. The girls cried out in surprise, and Celestia whipped her head around to see Luna standing at the entrance.
"Your timing is as sucky as always, Luna... but I counted on you to do that and get me out of answering things." He said as his image began to dissolve from the heart out. He blinked as he heard something... and he replied, the ghost of his ring glowing.
"I am Typhon, Heir of Breath; the presence, the absence, and everything in between. All who value and respect freedom are my friends, and all who would protect it may call me 'ally'. I shall fill the sails of those who call upon me." His words reverberated through the winds, being carried beyond.
He turned to the six Bearers, little more than a head, a hand, and his feet.
"May the Winds of Fortune be at your back!" He said, still channeling the power of his objects, and vanished completely.
The paper doll then caught fire, a pile of ash scattering to the wind of the large hall.