//------------------------------//
// Scouting For History 
// Story: Tale of the Narcissistic Skeleton 
// by Magna85 
//------------------------------//


--POV: Recon Specialist--


I flew through the forest, metaphorically. The skin on my back tingled with delight after being stuck so long in the stone tomb that I could barely keep myself from laughing. But I had a mission. One that would lead to the downfall of the Racist Tyrants. Every little thing chips away at her defenses, leading to a larger hole to take advantage of.

That's why I had a job. Everything works towards the goal, no matter how small.

We swiftly exited the forest and saw a small cottage with animals all over the place. Most likely it was the home of a pony. We could not see who lived there, but she was most likely a veterinarian, not a historian.

Thus I sprinted past. My Shadow Eyes were silent as ever, right behind me. I looked towards the sun during my run, wishing more than ever to see the Solar Diarch's heart in my hand for the injustice of two thousand years of solitary confinement. Shaking my head to banish distracting thoughts, I took the long way to the town. Logic dictated that the Sun would find out about our escape soon enough. If she was half as smart as she was 2000 years ago, she would have already felt the bonds break. Then again, she could easily have been so arrogant as to believe that our skeletal bodies were unable to break the stone. The arrogance of youth. 

I also felt what was possibly a battle going on between some type of smugness and a determination that felt poisonous to my mind. The smugness vanished to be replaced by true fear, which coincided with a massive rainbow appearing in the village and shooting down onto, what was the most likely case, Discord. A sphere of magic blasted out from the town, causing me to question whether or not it was smart to approach the obvious Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

Thankfully, I did not need to go further into town. I stopped as I noticed a small shop on the outskirts of said town. It had an old looking book as the sign, so I decided that would be the closest we could get to our target.

Making sure not to be noticed, I went up to the front of the door, seeing what type of creature owned the shop. Apparently, an old pony was tending the shop. He must have been deaf and blind to not notice the chaos that had been roiling outside his door. The books should have been walking around at the very least. Oh well. 
The pony was looking away from the door, thankfully enough. His coat was a light beige and his mane was a dark brown with grey streaks. A magnifying glass along with an ancient looking letter was what marked his flank. 

Smiling to myself, I recognized that right now was the perfect opportunity for assimilation, and this chance might not present itself so willingly for the Adepts. So, I signaled my Shadow Eyes to infiltrate the building, using whatever windows or openings they could find. 

I almost opened the door before I looked up and noticed a small bell. It looked like it would make more than the normal amount of noise that a bell would make. I now knew that the old pony was deaf. The bell was probably enchanted to create a massive sound from even the tiniest of clangs. Thus, I easily reached up and grabbed the bell, pinching the clapper tightly. Bending the bell away from the door, it slowly creaked open. The codger's ears didn't even flick backwards. 

One of my Shadow Eyes signaled me from an open window that I apparently missed in my haste to scout this place.

Scowling, I closed the door silently and gently let the bell back down. Thanking the fact that I had skin for now, the soft pads of my feet barely made a sound on the hardwood floor. My Shadow Eyes crept to the old pony as well, only disturbing dust with their footfalls. The pony wasn't even making me have to sweat. He was just muttering and staring into the pages of an old book, translating random words into a very flowing style. Taking notice of his species, I saw a dull brown glow from his horn holding the quill he was using to write with. 

Once all of my Shadow Eyes were in range in case he tried to run, I signaled that we would do a tri-assimilation. I and two of my Eyes would leap on his back and begin the seconds long process. Signaling another of my Eyes, I told her to count down for us, to get perfect sync.

She held up three fingers. Then two. Then one.

Then we pounced.

My hand grabbed onto his mouth, preventing him from screaming, while plunging my other hand into his head, just beneath the horn. This interrupts the magic flow, making it a very effective tactic against unicorns. A red mass began flowing from the wound, covering his head in seconds. Where my two Eyes had hit him, red also flowed. He struggled feebly from the pain. Once he was completely covered, we dropped him. Or a soon to be me.

Bones crunched and popped under the red mass, making sickening sounds. The shape of a humanoid could be seen forming under the red as the bones reconfigured themselves to a human skeleton. Once the red had fallen away, we gazed on the bones that the First would take hold of. Empty sockets lit up with red light and began smoking. Said smoke dissipated once a foot away from his face though.

The First looked at me and extended his arm towards me. Pulling on him, he got up quickly enough. Thankfully a part of the assimilation process was that the extra skin from the assimilated was turned into the black robes we wore. Not that there was anything to see, yet. He had yet to allow skin to grow on his bones. 

He looked to me and said, "What rank are you?"

I replied, "I am a Recon Specialist."

Nodding, he seemed to growl, "Then you disobeyed orders." Normally, such a comment would have earned the henchmen a one way ticket to a bullet or blade in the head, but the First knew why I had disobeyed orders, as he would have done the same thing. Then he asked, "What is the exit strategy?"

I looked to the Eye that had found the back window entrance. He nodded and our small troop went to the window and climbed out. Shadow Eyes went first, to secure the area, then I went, and finally the First climbed out. 

Then, we began to sprint.

We passed the cottage again, looking to see if who or whatever lived in the house caught sight of us. Nothing seemed to have moved, even the animals were mindlessly picking their way through the back yard of the house. Then we entered the trees of the Everfree.