That next morning, Cheerilee presented Laa-Mohr to the class as part of their geography and culture lesson.
"So, Laa-Mohr, could you tell us about yourself and what life was like in Saddle Arabia," Cheerilee said.
"Well, I don't want to be here very long, but I will tell you that I was part of royalty back there."
"Ooh, a royal, what position were you?"
"I was the adopted son of the Vizier to the Sultan."
"Ah, the Vizier and the Sultan," Cheerilee said. "Does anypony know what those two titles are?"
After a moment of silence, a young colt in the back rose his front hoof. "Isn't the Sultan like the king and the Vizier is the next in command?"
Laa-Mohr nodded. "That's right, now any questions before I have to go?"
Silver Spoon rose her hoof. "Were you always this handsome?"
"Uh, why don't we ask a real question, he probably got that way through royal treatments and taking good care of himself," Cheerilee said.
"Actually, I was always handsome," Laa-Mohr said. "I don't know why but nothing would tarnish my appearance, in fact before I was adopted I was extremely popular," Silver Spoon looked with very deep interest while Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes.
"Er... right, any more questions?" Cheerilee said.
Sweetie Belle rose her hoof. "How did you get your cutie mark?"
"Oh, that's a good one, it must be a tale of adventure for such a good swordstallion."
"I woke up, that's it."
Cheerilee looked at him in confusion. "That's it?"
"Yep, I woke up and there it was, worst day of my life."
Scootaloo rose her hoof. "But how can a cutie mark be the worst day of your life?"
"Because with this cutie mark came my curse. This is the Saddle Arabian eye of misfortune, anypony who has it gets cursed with bad luck, I caused plagues and famines that made me get kicked out."
Diamond Tiara rose her hoof. "How do you know it was you? And why do you want to go so badly?"
"Well, I was the only one not affected by the disasters, and problems followed everywhere I went. Also I want to go so that I don't hurt any of you with the curse."
"Don't worry, you won't hurt us," Silver Spoon said. "Curses aren't real."
"Yes it is!" Apple Bloom said. "He hurt my sister with it!"
"On accident!" Laa-Mohr added.
"Don't be stupid," Diamond Tiara said to Apple Bloom. "Everypony knows curses aren't real, he probably doesn't want to be around blank flanks like you three because he's royal an-" by that point, Diamond Tiara's mouth kept moving, but no sound came out, this was quickly recognized by Diamond Tiara after she looked confused, then touched her throat, then looked like she was about to panic.
"Still don't think curses are real?" Laa-Mohr asked as from the look on Diamond Tiara's face suggested she would be screaming. "Don't worry, it should only last a day, maybe more, but it's not permanent. Furthermore, just so you know, I happen to respect blank flanks for having so much opportunity to discover their destiny."
"Well, that was... interesting," Cheerilee said.
"Yeah, now may I go before I accidently set somepony's homework on fire?"
"If there are no further questions..." no reply. "Very well then, thank you for your time, Laa-Mohr."
"It's not a problem, thank you for having me, Cheerilee, and sorry for that 'demonstration' of my curse."
"It's alright, Diamond Tiara has caused problems for the other students," Cheerilee said. If Diamond Tiara could talk right now, she would have yelled. Laa-Mohr then left as Apple Bloom turned toward her friends.
"Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" she whispered.
"We should bring Laa-Mohr near Diamond Tiara more often?" Sweetie Belle guessed.
"I was thinkin' more of using this time wisely while Diamond Tiara's mute."
Twilight got her book ready to interview Marine, similar to what she did with Fang back when The Misfits first arrived.
"So let me get this straight," Spike said when he served the two mares some refreshments. "In just over a month we met a predator, a satyr, and now a hippocampus. What's next, a centaur?"
"Calm down, Spike, everypony knows there isn't such thing as centaurs," Twilight assured.
"Yeah, that's what you said about satyrs and meat-eating ponies," Spike muttered as he sat down next to Twilight, who got the book she documented predator information in, and used her magic to add pages to make room for a hippocampus section.
"Anyway, Marine, tell me about your kind, what is a hippocampus?"
Marine thought for a moment. "Well, think of us like pegasi, but in the sea, or something like that. We don't really know much about what we can do, all that we know is we can't breathe air, we can eat fish, and we can swim very fast."
Twilight stared at the shortness of her notes. "That's it?"
Marine shrugged. "We're very easy going, no care in the world, we don't need to worry about plants like earth ponies, we never need to use magic for anything important like unicorns, we don't need to watch weather like pegasi, and we have plenty of food and don't need to always hunt like predators, it gets kinda boring, even for a princess."
"Do you know about what hippocampi are able to do or make that other ponies find impossible?"
Marine thought for a while. "We can make a lot of waterproof stuff, I guess."
Twilight nodded and recorded it in the book. "And what do you know you can use magic for?"
Marine thought again. "Well, I think we have some kind of sonar that we never use, but that's about it so far."
"What about the fact that you can breathe in water?"
"Cyber said that it was completely natural, I don't know the whole thing about organs."
"I'll have to take an MRI, then," Twilight said, making Marine confused.
"MRI?"
"Magical Resonance Imaging, it allows us to see what's inside other ponies. I already did one of Fang," Twilight showed Marine the segment on predators, which had a picture showing the inside of a predator, not a lot was different compared to a normal earth pony, except certain details such as the stomach being a different shape, several muscles being new, and a complex bone structure that resists fracturing.
"You're going to that with me?" Marine asked.
Twilight nodded. "Precisely."
Marine shrugged. "Alright, but I'm going to need to get my tank if you don't want this machine in the way."
Mixy, Pixel, Eclipse and Moonlight enjoyed a nice picnic in a field.
"I can't believe you made this without burning anything, Eclipse," Pixel joked as took a bite out of her sandwich.
"Very funny, I just used my magic, I am a unicorn, you know." a burning, orange red aura emerged from Eclipse's horn and the pitcher as he poured himself some water in a cup.
"By the way, if water were to splash on you, would it just turn into steam?" Mixy asked.
Eclipse gave a look like he'd rather not answer any more questions out of annoyance. "Yes."
"Okay, so what about you, Moonlight?"
"You aren't getting me to reveal anything of my past," Moonlight said.
"Oh, so Pixel, how was your foalhood?"
"I grew up in the woods, not much else to say, what about you? You have a changeling dad!"
"Me? Um, well, there isn't much to say about my foalhood, but alright," Mixy took a deep breath before beginning. "So, I guess I grew up like most other fillies, things were normal, I had chores, I helped my parents, and played with my dad if I had the time. Most of my chores were just tending to the crops, helping out my parents, the usual stuff."
"You have a farm?" Pixel asked.
"Well, how else am I going to get food when my dad's a wanted changeling? I have no other option. Besides there's something about farmwork that is kinda relaxing. I don't know if it's because I like it or that I would be an earth pony if my dad wasn't a changeling, if that makes any sense at all."
"It doesn't," Moonlight said.
"Anyway, I didn't know much about the outside world, my parents told me to stay away. One time some foals came by and they were scared of me when I offered to play. That was when my dad told me about what changelings are. I didn't want to accept it, I believed not all changelings were bad..."
"Then what happened?" Eclipse asked.
"Chrysalis happened, she invaded the Crystal Empire and I asked my dad about her, he told me that not all changelings can see true love like he can, and that I should never, ever, ever consider Chrysalis as my grandmother, nor any of the other changelings as my aunts or uncles."
"Do changelings even have genders?" Pixel asked, Mixy shrugged.
"I guess they choose whatever they want," Mixy answered, letting the idea stew in her mind before shrugging it off.
"You know, ponies could learn a lot about changelings just from your existence," Pixel said. "Like why did Chrysalis attack the Crystal Empire? Why are they able to transform? What the heck is up with those holes?"
"Woah, woah, woah!" Mixy stopped the curious satyr. "I know you're curious, but my dad didn't tell me everything about changelings, you know."
"Oh, right, sorry."
"It's alright, Pixel. Now, as I was saying, after I learned more about changelings, I understood why my parents kept me near the house a lot, to protect me, but still I wanted nothing more than to show Equestria that not all changelings are evil, or at least not just my dad, who's name is Mirror Shard, and since a mirror shows you the way you are, I thought it reflected me perfectly, so that's what I chose as my cutie mark."
"Interesting," said Pixel "what about you, Eclipse, you're the only one who hasn't talked about their past."
Eclipse shrugged. "Alright," he said. "Well, I won't be as good as Mixy but here I go, so I grew up in Canterlot Castle, and because I had a *slight* case of pyromania, I was a bit too dangerous and would spend most of my time gazing out the window, which is where I saw my first crush, she was this lavender unicorn, and she would always enter and exit the library with a new book, I didn't get much details about her from where I was, but I knew she didn't have a cutie mark yet and she had a pink streak in her mane." this made Mixy and Pixel giggle. "What?"
"Nothing, nothing, just continue," Mixy said.
"Ok, anyway, I never knew her name, but I'm sure she's lovely in person, only I never was able to find her after I mastered most of my fire powers and was allowed to go wherever I want as long as I came back once Celestia was done teaching her student, Sunlight... Miller? Eh, doesn't matter. Anyway, one time I decided to go to Hoofington while Celestia was teaching 'whatever her name is', I decided to make some friends in Hoofington, then I met Breezie, we played for a while, I accidentally burned her, her dad got in the way, The Great Fire of Hoofington, and then you know the rest with getting my eclipsed sun cutie mark, being sent to the sun, meeting you guys, not really eventful after that."
"What does that cutie mark even mean?" Moonlight asked.
Eclipse shrugged. "I dunno."
"Well, I think that I read in a book that an eclipse is the sign of the end of Equestria, causing great fires and destruction, and since you got it after burning down Hoofington..." Pixel said.
"Are you saying my destiny is to cause death and destruction wherever I go?" Eclipse said, not sure whether to feel angry or insulted.
Pixel shrugged. "I have no idea, nopony has actually seen an eclipse and probably never will with Celestia and Luna controlling the sun and moon."
"Besides, everypony knows that even though you have a bit of a temper, you can do much more than cause death and destruction," Mixy said.
Eclipse sighed. "You're right, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, I'm sure that there's something more to what my destiny and why I have my powers, I just don't know it yet."
"I feel the same way, Eclipse," Moonlight said.
"I still can't believe you're leaving," Lyra said as she and Cyber enjoyed lunch.
"Yeah me too, but we won't be gone forever, we'll be back."
"I'm sure you will. So, something that I always wondered, what were things like after your 'accident'?"
Cyber was confused. "Accident?"
"You know..." she tapped her horn. Cyber still didn't get the hint and just stared. "The lightning strike! What were things like after the lightning strike?"
"Oh that! Well, let's see, I know I woke up at a hospital with bandages all over my head and a splitting headache, and when I tried to use levitation I nearly had a seizure, or was it a coma? I can't remember, anyway, the doctor told me I had to be very careful from then on, also I had weekly doctor appointments and therapy for a month."
"Sounds kinda boring," Lyra commented.
"It was, and because I didn't show signs of personality change or difficulty speaking, I still went to the same school, but I was excused from every magic lesson. During those times I would go to the library, read something, or just stare off into space. Then I was staring at the ceiling lights, wondering how do they work, then suddenly the world turned into a blueprint as I thought about what I knew, starting from what caused the lights to glow all the way to the power source. After that I could see everything electronic within the walls, every wire, generator, and diode was visible to me.
"I thought I was just dreaming after the school bell woke me up, but questioning how the bell and fire alarm worked proved me wrong. That was just the beginning to my technological career, I was also able to see problems after I saw a faulty wire in a toy that made it work, I can even accurately estimate if batteries are fully charged! Anyway, as time went on, I found I can imagine what I want to build, which is how I built these," he waved his arms. "So, after a bit of talking with my parents and constant mentioning that I'll be fine, they accepted them."
"Wow, that is very interesting!"
"Now tell me about you," Cyber said, taking a bite of his sandwich.
It was Lyra's turn to be confused. "What?"
"How did you get so interested in humans?"
"Oh, it's not really that great."
"Only one way to know."
"Alright," Lyra smiled as she began. "So, you know how I can play the lyre, right?" Cyber nodded. "I thought about how can hooves play the lyre so well? Were they even designed for ponies? Then I thought about other objects we use every day, doorknobs, shovels, hammers, saws, were they even made for ponies, I mean at least half of those have to be used by a unicorn just to be used correctly. So I did a bit of research, and I saw about humans in some old, dusty books. Their hands just looked so perfect for everything, there has to be a reason why most things could be used by humans and not ponies.
"I knew that they had to come from something from the past, but nopony would accept that humans were real, I couldn't give up, I know they exist or at least existed some point in Equestria's history."
"Is that why you sit upright?" Cyber asked, Lyra nodded.
"I saw a picture of a human sitting like that, tried it out, surprisingly comfortable. Anyway, I would give anything to see a real human, or even at least have one real human hand, that's why I was so excited when I met you."
Cyber smiled. "You know what I just realized?"
"What?"
"I completely forgot about the wings."
"Of course! When are you going to get started on that?"
"Probably the next time I'm in Ponyville."
"Too bad we couldn't get started on that," Lyra pouted.
"At least we completed Clockwork, and a breakthrough like that towers over something like wings."
"True. Though I am going to miss you once you're gone."
"Likewise, but it's what I do."
"And that's why you're my best friend."