//------------------------------// // The Middle {Chapter 2} // Story: The Hunter // by NoLongerSober //------------------------------// Luna flitted around the dreamscape, passing through the towering trees towards her target. It was impressive, she mused, that such a massive dreamscape could exist. Most creatures’ dreams only consisted of what specifics they could remember of a place, while the rest would fade to a blur. This dream was an exception, with hundreds of trees remaining in clear, sharp, focus, as well as two moons of varying size. Wherever this dream was taking place, this stallion had clearly committed everything in it to memory. Luna would have thought she was in a foreign land if not for an eerie lack of wildlife. This must be his home, Kalimdor. Luna silently reflected on the information given to her and her sister by Twilight. “You would be correct, child of the moon.” Luna shot into the air and whipped around as a soft ethereal voice spoke out, breaking the silence of the forest. The creature that had spoken was unlike any Luna had ever seen. She was a tall biped with flowing green hair that fell to the center of her back. Her eyes, though closed, seemed to have a deep emerald marking over them that reminded Luna of a bearclaw. The creature’s ears tapered off into points, resting alongside a large pair of horns that rose up from its head. Almost subconsciously, Luna found herself bowing in respect. “Rise, young one.” The voice softly commanded. Luna did as instructed, dozens of questions assailing her mind as she did so. Who was this being and how was she wandering this stallion’s dreams? Why did Luna, a princess of Equestria, feel so insignificant in comparison? Normally, she would have been angry at being addressed as a child, but something told her that, compared to this being, she was little more than just that-a child. “To answer your questions, I am Ysera, Queen of Dreams and Aspect of Nature, amongst other titles,” Her voice, while remaining soft, carried a deep power within it, and even as she addressed Luna, her eyes remained closed. “I am in this stallion’s dreams at the request of Cenarius, Lord of the Forest,” She spoke the name with some degree of affection. “And you, young one?” “We are Princess Luna, of Equestria,” Luna began nervously, picking up confidence as she continued, “and we are here to speak to this stallion to ensure he means no harm to our little ponies.” “Lady Ysera,” A third voice joined the conversation, this one deep and clearly a male. Luna turned to face the stallion she had come to see, who was bowing to the tall biped in respect. “Rise, young Selas,” The woman smiled softly as the hybrid obeyed. “I have come on behalf of Cenarius to offer you a return to Kalimdor.” Selas’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. “I am honored, my lady, but…” The stallion trailed off, his gaze drifting to the ground. “But you wish to stay?” Ysera finished for him, the same soft smile still present on her face. “There are sentient equines on this world,” The stallion glanced uncertainly at Luna. “and while I’ve yet to see any similar to me, I feel this is the closest I’ll ever get to discovering myself,” he took a shaky breath. “Ysera, please tell me, what has become of Kalimdor? Was the legion pushed back?” For the first time since her appearance, Ysera’s expression saddened. “Peace has been obtained…for the time being. The Well of Eternity buckled in on itself and collapsed. Kalimdor as you know it is no more. Instead, a handful of continents dot the world, a result of the explosion caused by the well.” Selas fell back onto his haunches, licking his suddenly dry lips. “And Queen Azshara?” “She and her followers were dragged beneath the raging sea by the Well of Eternity’s implosion,” Ysera explained. Selas simply nodded in response, taking a few moments to let the facts sink into his head. “Lady Ysera, if I may, how did you know I was still amongst the living? I went down with Azshara, there was no reason to suspect I had survived…” Luna bit her lip, feeling out of place in this conversation, yet unable to leave until her own message was passed on. “I am uncertain, young one. I simply sought you out at the request of Cenarius. Apologies, but I cannot stay much longer. Will you return to Kalimdor with me, or would you prefer to stay in this new world?” Ignoring the pit of anxiety in his stomach, the stallion glanced at Luna and back at Ysera. Taking a shaky breath, he locked eyes with the dragon and nodded. “I thank you for your time Lady Ysera, I know that as a dragon aspect you’re very busy, but I would like to stay in this new world, if you’ll permit it and if the Kaldorei have no pressing need of me.” “Of course,” The dragon smiled knowingly. “I wish you luck in your search, young Selas,” For a brief moment, Ysera’s eyes opened, displaying a kaleidoscope of colors before she faded into oblivion. “Ande’thoras-ethil.” Selas bowed his head once more, staying that way until Ysera had  vanished completely. Only when the aspect had faded completely did he turn to the other guest in his dream. “Ah, greetings,” Luna suddenly found herself flustered and nervous. “We are Princess Luna of Equestria, a ruler of Equestria, the country thou have found thyself in.” Selas mentally noted how archaic the mare sounded. Bowing forward in respect, the stallion responded. “It’s an honor to meet you, Princess Luna, I am Selas Nightwind,” Selas spoke with a respect bordering on reverence as he addressed the mare, not entirely unlike how he had addressed the dragon aspect. Luna couldn’t help but blush at the tone, though she was quick to get her emotions under control. “The honor is ours, Selas. I have come to inform you of mine and my sister’s decision regarding you.” Selas remained silent, waiting for the mare to continue. “No doubt you’ve noticed the similarities between yourself and our little ponies as well as the similarities between Miss Sparkle and myself when compared to the creature in your dream.” Selas’s expression remained neutral as he remained silent, waiting for Luna to finish. “My sister will arrive in Ponyville tomorrow to explain these similarities to you in detail. We request that you hear her out completely before passing judgement.” “Of course, princess,” He kept his head tilted low while he spoke to the princess. “Rise, friend. Formality is not necessary at this point in time,” It felt uncomfortable to the Princess, seeing a being possibly older than her, and possibly more powerful, prostrating himself in front of her with such reverence. “Apologies, princess. I was raised to have nothing but the utmost reverence for the goddess of the moon. While not Elune, you still bear her symbol and are deserving of similar respect,” Selas subtly nodded towards her cutie-mark. “Tell us Selas, who is this Elune you speak of?” Of course she had read over Twilight’s notes but Twilight was naturally curious about…well, everything, and as such had tried to cover everything. Luna on the other hoof, was particularly curious about the goddess of the moon. “Elune is the goddess of the moon. She protects all living beings. She has guided the Kaldorei - those who raised me - for countless centuries, until Azshara and her highborne fell to the Well,” Selas stopped to reflect back on the whole war. He had never found anything beyond a mild fascination with the well himself, having thought it might help him better understand his own magic. After he realized they were entirely separate entities, the fascination faded. “Beyond that, little else is known about the Moon Goddess.” “I see,” A shame, Luna thought to herself. “What can you tell us of Lady Ysera? From there, the conversation devolved into various topics. This, Selas noted, was more like a friendly conversation as opposed to the near-interrogation of Twilight Sparkle. *** “Ah it seems our time is drawing to a close,” Luna commented as she stood upright. “‘Tis been a pleasure to speak to you Selas. We hope to see you in the waking world soon,” The princess tilted her head slightly in parting as she began to fade away, leaving the dream on her own this time, rather than through forcible ejection. True to the princesses words, Selas shot awake moments later. He had only ever had a single lucid dream before that one, and it had been when Lady Ysera tried to discern his origins for herself and the other dragons. They always left him feeling awkward the following day. With a grunt, the stallion rolled himself off of the bed, glancing at the dim morning light beginning to filter through the window. He’d have to fix his sleep schedule as well, it seemed. Ears twitching slightly, he turned just in time to see the doctor step into the room. A low guttural growl escaped Lamp as the doctor walked by him, causing the doctor to pale and all but race over to Selas. “A-ah. Mr. Nightwind,” The doctor nervously glanced at the cat before turning to his patient and noticing that he was also heavily armed. “You’ll be pleased to-” he stopped and glanced nervously at the cat again, despite the cat simply lying there. “Um, pleased to know that you’re free to leave. We just need your signature here,” The doctor levitated a clipboard to the massive stallion, trying to keep his distance from both creatures, which was fairly difficult, since he was between them. Glancing at the parchment, quill in magic, the stallion frowned. He couldn’t read the writing of this world. Biting his upper lip, he scribbled out his name in flowing elvish script before handing it back to the doctor. “Thanksgottagobye!” The doctor all but bolted. Lamp’s single open-eye lazily followed the stallion out of the room in clear amusement. Slowly, the cat lumbered upright and gazed questioningly at the stallion across from him. “I know Lamp, but we should wait until Princess Luna’s sister arrives. The princess said she would be able to explain the similarities between my race and hers. She very well may know what I am. This may be my chance to no longer be alone.” The cat’s eyes met his own and unspoken words seemed to pass between the two. “I know, I know, survival first and foremost,” Trotting over to the door, he left the bare-bones room for the equally bare-bones hallway. He couldn’t help but glance upward at the lights mounted on the ceiling as he walked, paying little attention to anything around him. He couldn’t explain why, but they fascinated him. He had seen self-sustaining lanterns before but these…these were fascinating. He just wanted to sit and stare at them… He was broken out of the trance by Lamp once more, the cat pawing gently at his leg, tilting his head towards a red-maned nurse who was watching him with a confused expression. She’s pretty. Selas mentally noted as he carefully approached the white mare, whom he recognized from the previous day. “Excuse me miss?” The nurse squeaked slightly as she nervously met eyes with the stallion. He was a lot less intimidating when unconscious on a bed and unarmed. “U-m yes?” She squeaked out, pupils narrowing to pinpricks. “If Princess Celestia arrives can you tell her I’ll be at the nearby forest to the…” He glanced down at Lamp who nudged his head to the southwest. “South west of here. I’ll be on the outskirts.” The mare simply nodded. As soon as the stallion and cat passed, her quivering legs gave out and she let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. *** “Selas?” A large alabaster mare and a pair of equally alabaster pegasi in golden armor landed on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest, having followed the obvious tracks left. “Selas Nightwind?” Her voice was a little louder this time, and the soft smile faded slightly. “Apologies, Princess. I heard a winged creature nearby and hid in the forest. In my world, the most notable large-winged creatures were hippogryphs. I’m afraid we never got along that well and there were far more of them than I,” As he spoke in a fairly stiff and textbook manner, he slowly unveiled himself from the shadows of the forest, his eyes opening first, revealing his haunting green eyes before the rest of his solid frame. Both of the guards immediately jumped in front of Celestia as soon as his eyes had become visible. Selas completely disregarding them, ignoring them completely as he bowed briefly to the princess, his eyes remaining on her and her guards as he did so. “Relax my little ponies,” Celestia ordered, her smile returning in full. Despite obvious reluctance to do so, both guards followed the order, neither taking their hard gaze off of the stallion. “Lamp, you can’t eat them,” Selas commented dryly, a flat expression adorning his face as he glanced around behind the princess. “I’m sorry?” Celestia asked, turning her gaze behind her, as well as that of her guards. Behind the princess, with an intense gaze focused on the two pegasus guards, sat a giant cat, occasionally licking his chops as he eyed the two pegasi like choice cuts of meat. At his feet sat an impressively sized eagle, minus the head. The pair of them visibly paled. How they managed that, he could not even begin to fathom. “Come on Lamp, I’d like to finish these before sundown,” Selas levitated a half-dozen large rocks behind him, followed by multiple large tree branches. Lamp lightly growled his acceptance before picking the eagle up in his maw and carefully pawing his way over to the stallion, much to the unease of the guards who looked like they would be sick. “So,” Celestia made an active effort to ignore the eagle carcass. “you must be the stallion Twilight told me about,” The princess sat down across from Selas, watching as he broke the rocks and began fashioning stone arrowheads with the blade of an axe with nothing but his magic. “Selas Nightwind, at your service, princess,” The stallion inclined his head respectfully and briefly met gazes with the princess. “A pleasure to meet you Selas,” The princess inclined her head slightly as she watched his magic continue to work even as they sat in awkward silence. After nearly five minutes in awkward silence, the princess finally spoke, “Your levitation is quite impressive. Not many magic users could hope to levitate so much weight at once.” True enough, everything was held aloft in his magical field. A single axe floated lazily alongside the tree branches, carefully cutting arrow-shafts out of the massive branches, while the other set about carefully carving arrowheads out of the large rocks. Amusingly enough, Lamp was also held aloft in his magic, still eyeing the pegasi guards like his next meal. “It’s odd, really,” He confessed. “I’ve never had much issue concentrating on a multitude of things but only recently have I been able to use my levitation this efficiently. I did everything by hoof, with the exception of the arrowheads which I purchased and engraved myself.” “Engraved?” The princess asked, curiosity tinting her voice slightly. “Why would you engrave an arrowhead?” “Why wouldn’t I?” The unicorn asked, equal curiosity in his voice. “Engraving the proper runes unto an arrowhead is one of the most fundamental aspects of a hunter. Without proper runes I wouldn’t be able to utilize all of my individual shots,” The unicorn levitated a single arrowhead over to the princess, which she examined in her magic. Sure enough, the very corner of the axe had a simple rune etched into the tip of the arrowhead. “I see,” The princess returned the arrowhead, her original reason for meeting the stallion all but forgotten in favor of knowledge even she hadn’t heard of. “And what exactly does a ‘shot’ do?” “Any number of things, depending on the rune.” The unicorn levitated one of the arrow-shafts and some twine he had fashioned from tree-bark over and quickly fastened the rune-carved arrowhead to the shaft, pricking his skin just enough to draw blood. “This rune is fueled by the arcane.” He explained as his bow levitated itself off of the quiver and over to him. “Hunters, at least in my world, have small repositories inside of ourselves that let us manipulate various energies on a basic level. The blood on the tip gives it a connection to me so that it can draw the energy from me to activate the rune, from a distance.” The stallion quickly knocked the arrow, drew the string back to his cheek, and loosed it into the forest. After several seconds the arrow exploded, shattering the base of a large oak and bringing it crashing down. Everypony’s eyes widened in surprise, and Selas chuckled slightly. “That is one of the first abilities a hunter learns. It is arguably one of the most basic” Glancing at the guards stunned silence and the princess’s calculating expression, the stallion cleared his throat, bringing all of them back to attention; the princess was the only one to speak. “That is quite impressive for a basic ability. Tell me Selas, what would a master be capable of?” Selas smiled slightly, knowing exactly what the princess was doing. She was trying to gauge his abilities. Threat assessment. Quickly fashioning another arrow -this one with a much more intricate rune on the tip- he knocked it and fired at another set of trees. This time, rather than the tree exploding, the arrow did so, breaking off into a second projectile and impacting another nearby tree. The first tree was wrapped in thick vines that seemed to constrict violently, a cracking sound resonating from deep inside of the tree before it sagged dangerously to one side, only barely managing to stay upright. The second tree was not so lucky, the base becoming covered in ice. After several moments of silence, the ice shattered and the tree collapsed, revealing it had been frozen all the way through. “There are other abilities of course,” Selas quickly broke the once-more stunned silence of his three acquaintances. “but those -Arcane Shot and Chimaera Shot- are a good benchmark of what we’re capable at worst and best respectively.” Though if I had proper arrowheads… The stallion turned to the princess who was biting her lip in uncertainty. “Now then, princess,” Harlequin eyes met magenta, “I was told that you know what I am.” The statement was neutral, though it had a slight hint of hope in it. The princesses mood shifted almost immediately, going from curious and speculative to borderline depressed. Even the sun seemed slightly dimmer, Selas noted. “You are a cross between an alicorn and a changeling.” The princess stated plainly. “Myself and my sister are both alicorns, as is my student. Changelings are alicorns, mutated by a mad god, stripped of their emotions and what makes them an alicorn. We know very little about them besides their ability to shapeshift and that they feed on emotion. We believe they have a hive-mind of sorts as well, though that is only speculation.” The princess took a deep steadying breath, glancing backwards at her guards who had managed to don their stoic expressions once more. With a flare of her horn, her and Selas were surrounded in a soundproofed bubble. “There are four alicorns left in this world, my sister and I being the only purebred alicorns left alive.” “What happened to your race?” Selas asked softly, causing the princess to smile sadly. “To start, the alicorns were selfish and speciest. They believed themselves to be above all of the other races and often acted as such.” That certainly sounds familiar… Selas thought distastefully, thinking back to the Kaldorei, and especially the high-bourne. “When the mad god Discord showed up in our world, his first act was to eliminate those he felt would most threaten his rule. He cursed the alicorns, stripping them of all of their emotions. Around half of them were able to resist the curse, whereas the other half weren’t so fortunate. Those cursed became the first changelings. The curse caused their appearance to change drastically, giving them a chitinous black exterior and leaving them empty inside. It also forced them to absorb emotions from the other species to live, since they were incapable of producing them on their own any longer.” Selas, his gaze locked to Celestia’s as it was, felt a pang of sympathy for the mare as she told the story. To many she would seem fine, but gazes locked as they were, he could feel the weight of millennia on her, same as he often felt on himself. “Those who resisted the curse looked at those cursed with disdain. They labeled them abominations and lashed out at them. The newly-born race didn’t take kindly to it and fought back. It was a bloody war that severely thinned the numbers on both sides, just as Discord wanted, though ultimately the changelings were driven to the brink of extinction and fled to the southlands.” “Then I was born of an alicorn and a changeling?” Selas asked, an uncertain expression mounted on his face. “No, you weren’t. Changelings and alicorns weren’t compatible with each other. Whether it was due to their new anatomy or the curse itself, Changelings were unable to breed with anypony but another changeling, to my knowledge. Amongst those that were cursed, there were an infinitesimal few who were heavy with foal during the time of their change. Those individuals were hunted with a particular zeal by the alicorns. Only a small number of those survived long enough to give birth, and as far as I knew, the foals they gave birth to were all executed, until my student sent me a letter detailing your description.” The princess finally fell silent, her eyes pulling away from his sadly. Selas wasn’t entirely sure what to feel. A part of him wanted to feel angry, but at who? By her own admission, the alicorns were virtually non-existent. Her reactions while telling the story told him a great deal about her personal opinions on the subject, and Twilight Sparkle was clearly young. It was possible she had no idea what he was, or the history behind his conception. Another part of him wanted to feel sad; depressed that he never had a people to begin with. How many alicorns were pregnant during that very specific time? At most, he may have had a few hundred to a thousand hybrids like him, and Celestia said that they were all apparently executed. So what had happened to him? Why had he survived? Briefly he thought back to the dream-like memory and the thousand years he had been given to analyze it. Just chalk it up to magic, some part of his brain told him. “Well, that’s that then.” The stallion shrugged his shoulders and let a humorless chuckle escape his throat. “Not really sure what I expected my story to be, but that’ll do I suppose.” Celestia’s jaw dropped slightly. “That’s that?” The princess wasn’t quite sure what she had expected, but it hadn’t been for him to shrug it off. “Why, should it be more? Were you or your sister the ones who killed my mother in that dream?” “Of course not!” The princess replied, offended. “And the other two alicorns?” “They don’t even know the story.” “Then that’s that.” The stallion went back to making arrows as the princess lowered her barrier. “It’s not like I haven’t had time to come to terms with this, princess. I had decided to make peace with whatever my origins were thousands of years ago.” The princess usual smile steadily returned. “My apologies, Selas. I forgot that you’re as long-lived as I am,” The princess examined some of the completed stone arrowheads, examining the runes. “So, what will you do now?” “Study and travel, most likely. I have access to much more magical energy here in Equestria. I suppose my body was probably meant for a different kind of energy than what was available on Kalimdor. I’ll learn how to utilize the sudden excess safely and familiarize myself with the land.” “Where will you go to first?” “I believe I’ll pay the changelings a visit,” Out of the corner of his eye, he noted the expressions of both guards sour. “I’m not entirely sure what quarrel you and yours have with them, besides the obvious history, but it’s not mine.” The princess glanced at her guards before nodding to the stallion. “They crashed my niece’s wedding and tried to take over our capital nearly a year ago,” The princess explained, “Not many ponies are terribly fond of them I’m afraid.” “Well, can’t imagine they’d be terribly fond of me then. “Curved horn, the wings, holes in my legs,” The princess cut him off with a hoof. “I’m sorry, holes in your legs?” Selas held a hoof up and brushed some of the fur aside revealing a multitude of holes, similar to the changelings. “I’m a little overdue for trimming my coat, but months at war and what not,” He dropped the hoof back down. Even as they spoke he had continued to carve arrowheads and shafts, as well as plucking the bird. All the while Lamp was still suspended in the air, scaring the crap out of the guards. “Sorry about that guys. Chicken is one of his favorite foods and we didn’t get it a lot with everything going on beforehand.” The guards weren’t sure whether to be offended or terrified. “Well then, Mister Nightwind.” The princess stood up, Selas doing the same. “It’s been a pleasure, but I’ll be needed in Canterlot shortly. Perhaps you could visit someday.” The princess turned and trotted towards her guards and chariot, biting the back the hundreds of questions she wanted to ask but didn’t have the time for. Oh dear, Twilight won’t like him leaving… The princess tittered slightly as she climbed into the back of the chariot. “Princess.” Selas inclined his head respectfully as the mare turned to walk away. Though he would never admit it, his eyes lingered on the princesses backside a little longer than was professional. A soft growl broke him out of his thoughts as Lamp hunched over the now-featherless eagle. “Don’t give me that, she’s gorgeous.” Another soft growl. “Are you kidding me? Until a day ago I was the only sentient horse that I knew of. Apologies if I like a mare that can actually talk.” The hybrid huffed and turned back to make his arrows. “And don’t say anything about the blue one. There was too much going on for me to appreciate the view.” The cat only whined softly and started in on the bird-carcass. *** “Come on, wake up!” Selas groaned unintelligibly and tried to tune the voice out. “Come on, get up!” The voice began to nudge him violently. “Twilight’s looking for ya!” The voice was all but punching him in the shoulder. “Man, what the hay are you made of?” The punching stopped, as did the voice. Adrenaline flooded him almost immediately as his bed disappeared beneath him. Eyes widening, the hybrid rolled, extending his insect-like wings and neatly getting airborne, a dull buzzing sound emanating from his wings. Groggily, Selas scanned the sky with his eyes, intent on finding what had awoken him. “Nice recovery.” His eyes locked on to the prismatic mare, the scratchy voice being the same one that had awoken him. “I was sleeping.” Selas responded simply. “It’s like...two o’clock.” The mare pointed at the clock tower. Selas glanced at the clock tower and frowned in confusion before glancing at the position of the sun. “So it is. I was hoping to get a few more hours of sleep.” He slowly descended to the ground, the rainbow-mare following him. “So, you said Twilight was looking for me?” “Huh? Oh, yeah. She asked me if I’d seen you. She had some more questions she wanted to ask ya.” “Very well, where might I find her?” “She’s probably still at the library. Come on, I’ll show you the way!” The mare launched herself into the air at an impressive speed; Selas yawned a final time and followed suit, albeit at a more relaxed pace. It was a surreal experience, going inside of a hollowed out tree. He had been under the roots of some giant trees in the past, but this tree was completely hollowed out inside, yet still living. How did a tree live and grow with no heartwood? Just thinking about it caused a headache…though the blue mare yelling likely had a helping hoof in the matter. “Twilight, I found’im!” The mare shoved the door open and strode in like she owned the place. “I’ll be down in a second Rainbow Dash!” A familiar voice responded. Rainbow Dash, that was her name. Selas mentally noted to himself. “So, can I see your bow?” Rainbow Dash turned and spoke to him with a poorly-concealed grin on her muzzle. “…be careful with it. I don’t have the means to repair it at the moment.” The stallion levitated the bow over to the mare and she almost immediately began to examine it, seemingly trying to figure out how to properly hold it. Leaving the mare to her own devices, Selas set about perusing the books before remembering that he was unable to read their language. A familiar purple alicorn joined them in the main room of the library with a pop of magic.“Sorry about that, I was organizing all the notes I took.” “Hngh…” Rainbow Dash had the bow held in her left hoof and was trying to draw the string back. With a grunt of effort, she succeeded. “Hah!” The mare called out triumphantly, bringing a slight smile to Selas’s face. “I’m impressed. I didn’t expect you to actually be able to draw the bow back all the way.” He complimented. “Yeah, I’m pretty awesome.” The mare released the empty bow-string with a twang and passed it back to the stallion. “That thing’s pretty heavy though.” The stallion sat on his haunches and gave the string a few experimental pulls, causing Rainbow Dash’s jaw to drop slightly at how easy he drew the string. She hadn’t noticed it before, but when he shifted onto his hindlegs and drew the string back, corded muscles bulged ever-so-slightly under the thick rug of fur. As she imagined what he would look like with a properly trimmed coat, she found her wings unfurling slightly. Taking the bow in his magic, Selas gave it a few more experimental tugs and frowned. He would need to replace the bowstring before too much longer. Mentally, he asked Lamp to keep part of his next kill undevoured, so he could pull the sinew from it. As his horn flared to life to test the bow, Twilight almost immediately frowned, as if she’d bitten into a sour grape. “That doesn’t make sense!” She finally shouted out, causing Rainbow Dash to snap back to reality and realize her wings were fully extended, before silently departing the library, and Selas to lose his hold on the bow at the sudden outburst. After a short silence he finally asked, “What doesn’t make sense?” “Your magic!” Twilight exclaimed. “My reveal spell said you weren’t a changeling, but when you use magic I can feel the emotions in it! But it also has regular magic! That shouldn’t be possible. Changelings don’t have internal magic reservoirs!” The mare had a manic gleam in her eye and Selas suddenly found himself pondering escape routes. “The only way you’d have magic like that is if you were like...some kind of pony-changeling hybrid, but the princess said that changelings can’t breed with ponies!” A single strand of the mares hair curled slightly and a sound akin to glass being broken entered his ears. “My mother was an alicorn when she was pregnant with me but became a changeling shortly before she gave birth. As such, I’m a sort of…middle-ground, I suppose.” He spoke quickly and clearly, hoping to snap the mare out of her obvious psychotic break…it sort of worked. Twilight.exe has stopped working… Twilight, after a full minute of silence finally replied with three simple words, “Tell me everything.” *** For nearly half-an-hour, Selas found himself giving Twilight the abridged version of the story Princess Celestia had given him earlier, taking care to leave out certain parts, such as the genocidal slaughter of changelings and the hybrids such as himself. Rather, he told her that the changelings and alicorns went their separate ways. As the story came to a close, Selas noticed that Twilight had dozens of papers and quills floating in her magical aura. He didn’t doubt that every single word he spoke had been written down. “This is incredible! Oh, there are so many tests we’ll need to run!” As the mare went on about everything they could stand to learn, Selas smiled sadly as he spoke firmly. “I’m leaving tonight, as soon as the sun sets and I find a map of Equestria.” “What? But you can’t leave! There’s so much we could learn!” “I give you my word that I’ll return for your tests one day.” Selas found himself chuckling at the mare’s childlike look of disappointment. “But before that, I have much to learn about this land.” Twilight looked like she wanted to argue but the resolute expression on Selas’ face caused her to sigh and nod. “Fine, but pinkie promise you’ll come back and let me run my tests.” “Uh…” a look of uncertainty crossed the stallions face, but he nodded, “sure, I pinkie promise.” Twilight quickly ran him through the motions. “There, now you have to come back.” She stated matter of factly. “Very well then…do you have a map of Equestria lying around by chance?” Twilight nodded, suddenly cheerful once again as she levitated a large book from the shelves and opened it, a map of Equestria on display. Selas briefly thought back to what the princess had said earlier. Doesn’t get any farther south than the badlands… “Well then Miss Sparkle, it has been a pleasure to meet you. Until next time.” The stallion gave a deep, sweeping bow, and trotted towards the door. “Wait! Where are you going first?” Twilight followed him out of the library. “I’ll probably pay a trip to Appleloosa first, and from there I’ll explore the badlands.” “What will you do for supplies?” Part of Twilight wanted to tell the stallion to stay away from the badlands -they were called that for a reason- but she knew it wouldn’t sway him. “I’m a hunter Miss Sparkle.” Selas gave a grin, revealing not only the standard pony teeth, but four sharp fangs as well, in an intimidating display. “I need no supplies.” With a hard shove off of the ground, Selas zipped into the air, his wings buzzing furiously as he sped southwards, directly towards the Everfree Forest.