//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 - Tomorrow is Today // Story: A Scientific Breakthrough // by Eruedraieth //------------------------------// Darkness. " Why is it so damn dark? I'm certain I opened my eyes! " I shouted in annoyance to noone in particular. A faint shuffling was heard, and a faintly glowing light lit up. The light made a cloaked pony visible, a unicorn from what I could see and predict. " Do you even know who you kidnapped here? You could be more than dead in just a blink of an eye, so start talking! " I said impatiently. " I know who you are, and I know of your abilities, Shadow of Equestria. In fact, I am in need of your talents.... " the unicorn said. " I do not kill unless commanded to by Princess Celestia, and none else. " I stated firmly. " I'm certain you out of all ponies could find a way to make someone.... dissappear, without killing them. " the unicorn assured me. " I'm listening. " " Alright. There is a certain.... rich pony, who has been going around stealing money from others using devious and indirect methods. Myself, and a group of other ponies, want this richpony removed from power. His name is Mortimer Moneybags. " " You simply want him removed from power, ey? Couldn't you just find some evidence of his stealing and report it to Celestia? " I asked. " That's the problem. He doesn't leave any, aside from sad ponies who lost all of their hard earned money to a scumbag like him. But to prove him guilty we would need bigger evidence." the unicorn said. " Are you certain that this 'Moneybags' pony steals from others? " I asked. " I have run a background check on him, and found out he was accused of this before, but was pleaded innocent due to lack of evidence. " " Hmph. Fine, I'll take the job. You better pay well, this won't be easy to pull off I can tell you that much. Somepony with such amounts of money is surely going to be able to buy himself out of any situation. I can't be persuaded, but others that work for him could eventually find out. " I said. " Don't worry. One of his employees has already been bribed to cover all of it up, under the motto 'left to find a better life than with these lowly ponies. " "Good. I think I might have an idea of where I could put him. Nobody will ever find him if he is left somewhere without any recollection of memories. I'll think up a new identity for him to assume after his mind is wiped. " I said. " You can find me or one of our associates in the Rusty Horseshoe, room 25. It's a bar and hotel located in lower Canterlot. I'll send you back now. " A red glow surrounded me, and a moment later I was on the stargazing balcony again. WWWWW "Primal? What's wrong? Why are you standing there? " Twilight asked, who had just woken up. "I thought I heard something suspicious. Guess it was just the wind whispering to me. " I said plainly. " I'll go make some breakfast for us. " With that, I headed downstairs to the kitchen. " Morning, Joshua!" Michelle called. " Good morning to you too! Why are you up this early? " I asked. " I could ask you the same thing. " Michelle said. " I'm up because I thought I heard something suspicious, but I guess I'm just not used to sleeping outside. "I explained. " You? " " I don't know really. I thought I heard something too about half an hour ago, and I couldn't fall back to sleep after. " she said. " I just figured I'd go and read up on Equestrian lore. " "Good idea. Hey, do you know where I can find a toaster of some kind around here?" I asked her. "A toaster? I can't say I've seen one of those around... Why?" Michelle asked. "I want to make some sandwiches with molten cheese. Guess I just have to use my magic to sear the bread then." I said, sighing in defeat. "I doubt it will be that bad, not having a toaster? You're pretty skilled with your magic, so searing slices of bread with cheese on them doesn't sound that hard." she said. "I know, I know.... It's just that I seem to use my magic for nearly everything now. What if I lose my magic somehow? What will I do then?" I said. "Don't worry. You will figure something out, thats just like you to do so." Michelle said comfortingly. "Thanks.. I'd better get to making the sandwiches, don't want the others coming down to not find breakfast ready!" I pulled out some slices of bread, cheese and a fish for Sabrina from the fridge, which I was still oblivious to as to how it worked. From what I've seen, the ponies dont have electricity. Maybe I could 'invent' electricity for them? I placed a slice of cheese between two slices of bread. and repeated the process several times. I seared each combination untill the cheese was definitely molten, and grabbed a few plates to put them on. Just in time, as Twilight and Sabrina appeared from upstairs, and Spike came from his room. "Smells good! What did you make?" Twilight asked. "Croque Monsieur, if you will. But without the slice of ham. I would've probably added that to mine and Michelle's, but you don't have ham here ofcourse." I explained. "Croque Monsieur..?" Spike asked, confusion showing. "Two slices of bread with molten ham and cheese between them. This variant is without ham, which is meat." I told him. "You know, I think it might not be that bad to sample meat. The only problem is where we would get it from...."Twilight said. "I doubt there is a humane way of slaughtering animals for their meat. I guess you could kill them swiftly to not cause them pain?" I said, trying to find a solution. "Y'know, leave it for this world. You will get to sample meat when we go to Earth, and maybe we can take some with us somehow." "Sounds like a good idea. Now though, these sandwiches... mmm, they smell good...." Twilight said. We silently ate our meals. I didn't actually eat, I ravished and completely devoured my meal in savage fashion, much to the dismay of the others at the table. "Do you have to eat that ferociously? You looked like a wild animal there, the frenzy you were in." Michelle said. "My stomach does not like waiting!" I apologised. Both girls chuckled and Spike grinned. He was spotted doing the same thing a time ago so he knew how much Twilight disliked that display of eating. " Well, now that we have full tummies, I suggest we slowly round up the rest of the girls and start our training session! Twilight, I'd like a word with you alone before we go. " I said. By now it was around 12 o' clock, and I waited for the others to leave before addressing Twilight. " Twilight, there was something up this morning. I didn't really want to bother you with it at that moment but I thought it out and I might actually need your help. "I began. " What did you do? What happened? " Twilight started asking. " Nothing threatening, I assure you. A unicorn "kidnapped" me and asked me for a service. He tasked me with dealing with a certain pony named Mortimer Moneybags. He has been funnelling money from others into his own bank account. I thought, since you lived in Canterlot for a while, that you might know this pony or even claim these accusations true or false. " I said. " As a matter of fact, I have. And I can safely say he has indeed stolen money from others. Including me. He's quite devious in how he does it, too. " Twilight said. " He should live in Canterlot's upper residential area, near a shop called 'The Lucky Coin' , which he owns too. " "Thanks, Twilight. I promise you I'm not going to liquidate him, merely make sure he forgets what he's done and make him start a new life. " I said. " O.....kay. I don't know how you are going to do that,but I'm not the one to question your skills. Now let's go before they start wondering where we are. " Twilight said. I followed Twilight outside, and when I turned around to close the door, I found a note. Primal and Twilight, We went ahead and started gathering the girls. We will meet near a secluded grass field south of Sweet Apple Acres. -Michelle " They are gathering the others to meet at a grass field south of Applejacks farm. Let's go to Applejack's farm now to tell her and wait for the rest to arrive. "I suggested. WWWWW "Hey Twi' , Hey Primal! What's goin' on? " Applejack asked. " Primal wanted to do the training session now. Spike, Sabrina and Michelle are gathering the others to meet at a field south of here. " Twilight explained. " Sure! Lemme jus' finish this 'ere task an' Ah'll come over rightaway. " Applejack said in her usual western accent. She continued what she was doing, and Twilight decided to ask me more questions. " Hey Primal, how exactlyare you going to deal with Moneybags? Your explanation earlier was rather.... obscure. " " To put it simply, I'm going to wipe his memories, place him somewhere far away from here, tell him his name and that he was a rich and generous guy who lost his work due to unforeseen circumstances and has to start over. My associates will deal with his departure, I simply have to get rid of him. " I said. " Surely he's going to have some form of protection against assassins and the like? " Twilight asked, concerned. " He will, but no amount of money will buy you protection against the Shadow of Equestria. " I said boldly. " I guess you got a point. I've seen what you can do, and I'll do anything not to stand at the recieving end of that!" she said, pointing at the arm my mark was on. I rolled up the sleeve of my shirt and revealed the mark. The dagger with its elements circling around it was still standing proudly. " You sure got an interestin' mark there Primal. " Applejack said as she walked over to us. " I should really show it more often. What's the point of having a mark depicting your talent when nobody can see it? " I said. " I wonder how I will make that work with my clothing, though..... Wait a second...." I rolled the sleeve back down again and held my hand over the place where my mark was. It started glowing through the fabric of my shirt, and then it imprinted itself slightly above the surface of my shirt. " There! Now it should be a worthy Cutie mark!" I said proudly. " I think someone else stated this before, but I'll do it again. You just can't stop amazing us, can't you? " Twilight said. " You want me to be boring and completely normal? No way, I kinda like being unique in this way. What's the point of having power beyond comprehension, and not using it? " I stated. "Alraht mister Show-off, let's jus' see what you can do during the training session!" Applejack said. " Deal. I'll show you what I can do, and you show me what you can do. " I said, accepting the challenge. WWWWW When everyone finally arrived at the appointed area, I spoke up. " Hello everyone, and welcome to the training session. Today, I will test just how strong or sturdy you are, depending on your area of expertise. I will test all your strengths, and point out any weaknesses I find so you may learn and overcome. I will not hold back today, and some of my words will be harsh, but this is all in your better interests. " I said. " Any questions before we begin? " I asked. " I have one! " Rainbow said, holding up her hoof. " What exactly do you mean by 'strengths and weaknesses'? " "You are good at flying, right? " I asked, to which she nodded. " Exactly. I will test just how well you can fly, and try to exploit any weaknesses you may show during that. How, I'll explain to you alone later. " "Alright, I'm going to pull out everything I have at my disposal today, so no holding back. I will take turns in testing each of you, so I advise the rest of you to practice while you wait. Now, who wants to go first? " I asked. " I'll go first! " Rainbow said. WWWWW Change of Character - Primal Dagger - > Rainbow Dash "Already, a weakness I could potentially exploit. Preparation is the goal to succes, but on the other hand, an unpredictability which could help in your favor. An unknowing enemy is a weak enemy. " Primal said. He took me a bit away from the rest of the group, andexplained what he was going to do. " I'm going to test you on two fronts : your flying, and your mark. I will do these seperately first, and then combine the two into one final test. Should you pass that first try, you will have proven you are capable of defending yourself. " "First, the flying test. I want you to stay airborne for five minutes while I launch a variety of spells at you. A word of caution, I'm not going to hold back once I notice you can do this easily. " he said. " Bring it on! " I said as I shot into the air, already starting evasive maneuvers. Primal launched a fireball, frostbolt and lightning bolt at me in quick succession, but I skilfully dodged all of them. " Is that all you got? " I shouted. " Another mistake. Don't taunt your enemy when you haven't seen their full potential yet!" he said as he vanished from sight. A fireball just missed me, leaving me a few singed feathers. I knew where he wasstanding now, so I got as far from him as I could without leaving the field. A lightning bolt zapped centimeters away from my face, coming from a completely different spot now. How can he move so quickly...?. I picked up the pace and flew faster, going in circles heading upwards. A bolt of frost flew right in front of me, missing me by a long shot. I then used my speed to blur out my position, making it even harder to hit me. This time, a barrage of fireballs flew straight at me. I nearly didn't dodge one, leaving even more singed feathers. " Alright, time's up!" Primal shouted, becoming visible. I flew down to meet him. " You did well Rainbow! To be honest I still held back a bit. I could've simply pulled you out of the air with a single spell you couldn't dodge, but that wouldn't be fair. " he said. " You are bluffing, right? Did you see how fast I went there? " I boasted. " I'm not. Wanna test it? " he asked. " Try it!" I said as I shot up into the air again with breakneck speeds. I felt a tug on my body, and before I knew it I was dragged back down to the ground just as fast as I had gotten away from it. " Alright okay, you got me. " I conceded. " Next, your mark. Throw everything you have at my barrier in an attempt to break it. " he said, creating a crystalline barrier which looked like it was made from ice. I shot a quick fireball at it, melting it instantly. " Nicely done, spotted the weakness and responded quickly. Let's see if you can figure this one out! " Another barrier formed, but this one was made out of a shadowy material. I decided to go wild and combine all three elements into one massive blast. The barrier shattered instantly again. " Alright, good. Now for the final test!" he said. Just before he got to explain, a displacement of wind was felt. Night had landed nearby. " Oh hello there, I was told you would be around here somewhere!" she said. " Did I miss anything? " " You missed my flying test and my skill test. We just wanted to do the last test when you landed " I said, slightly annoyed at the interruption. " Please do not let me hold you up then. I will speak to the others and watch the two of you. " Night said, leaving us. " Now, where were we." Primal said, unfazed. " Ah yes, the final test. I want you to defeat me while attempting to dodge everything I throw at you. " He immediately launched a frostbolt at me, but I dodged it by flying up from the ground, and responded with a bolt of my own. I missed him by a long shot. " Try focusing your mental aim instead of visual. I'm not moving. " He suggested. I aligned another shot in my mind directed at where he was standing, whilst dodging bolts of lightning. This time, I hit him right in his face. He flinched slightly, but continued flinging spells at me. " Don't hold back! I can heal myself. " he shouted. I cast another multi bolt at him, but my cast got interrupted when a lightning bolt hit my chest. I lost momentum, and started falling to the ground. " Straighten yourself! " Primal shouted. I quickly got hold of myself and directed my fall into a nosedive, veering away from the ground. I had started casting my bolt again while falling, and he hadn't noticed. It struck him face first as I flew past him, knocking him to the ground. " Ow, my head. I didn't see that coming. " he said as I landed next to him to help him up. "I say you passed with flying colours! No pun intended. Don't stop practicing though, and try out new spells from time to time. You've lifted a weight off my chest now that I know you can handle yourself. " I pumped my hoof excitedly, happy to have passed the test. " Get Twilight here for me, will you? " he asked me. I flew over to the others, a victorious grin on my face. " You are next, Twi! " I said to the purple unicorn. WWWWW Change of Character - Rainbow Dash -> Twilight Sparkle I slightly shivered as I walked over to Primal after Rainbow called me. I knew what Primal could do if he really wanted to, and it scared me. " You look scared, Twilight . What for? You know I would never hurt you intentionally. " he said. Darn, there's just nothing he doesn't notice is there.... " I know... I don't really know why I'm scared either. I know you would never harm me, but at the same time, the power you wield is.... immense, and terrifying. " I said shakily. " Let's just start your training, maybe that will take your mind off this. I'll do the same test setup as with Rainbow : for you, Magic, Mark and combination. As a side test, i want you to figure out a way to use your mark to restore your magic from nullification. Your magic should be your offense, while your mark provides your defense. " he instructed. " How will I do that, though? I don't know what the boundaries for this mark are! " I said, annoyed. " Find out yourself! " he said as he cast a spell on me. I felt the magic from my horn dissipating. I tried to come up with a way to use my mark, but I couldn't think of anything which would help me. " Remember, Alteration involves the manipulation of the physical world and it's natural properties. Your magic is one such natural property for your species. " he hinted. Ofcourse! I can simply will the magic to return to me with my mark, since my magic is natural and the blocking effect is not! I channeled my mark to do just that, and as I predicted, my magic flowed back into my horn. " Well done! Now when someone blocks your magic with a spell you can undo the effect. But what about a magical inhibitor around your horn? " he said as he created a ring around my horn, causing my magic to ebb away again. " That's easy! I just use my mark to transmute the ring into something which won't fit around my horn, like a liquid or something! " I said as I did just that, creating a pool of harmless water under me. " Side test flawlessly completed! Now for the real thing! First, I'll test your own magic. Use everything you have to get me down to my knees. Don't worry, I can take it. " he said. " Rainbow's spells might have slapped you in the face, but mine will blow you away! " I said as I cast a bolt of pure violet at him. The force launched him several feet into the air and smacked him down into a bush. " Oh my Primal, are you okay? " I asked. " As I said, I'm fine. You think something like that is going to hurt me? You gotta try harder than that! " Enraged at his comment, I gathered violet energy in my horn and underneath him, and used a spell I wanted to test for a while, which would draw power from my mark to enhance my spell. The violet energy shot out from both sides, and he launched up to cloud level and far away, in the direction of the farm. " That'll teach him to underestimate my skill! " I said triumphantly. I heard a hiss behind me, and Primal appeared in a cloud of smoke. " Impressive! The sheer power of that spell got me flying, but I had more than enough time to teleport back here before I touched the ground. But okay, I'm quite resilient. Others would've been knocked unconscious by the force, methinks. " A victorious smile appeared on my face. " Hold up there, no time for celebration! That was just 1 out of 3 tests!" he said, ruining the mood. I took a quick break to regain my stamina, as the power drain from my mark took from my physical state. " Done resting? "He asked, and I nodded. " Good. Now I want you to use your mark to defend yourself while I barrage you with a variety of spells, including ones that affect the mind. So be prepared! " he said. I waited for him to try something like that, as I had just practiced a magical feedback spell just for those. I raised an armor of magic around me from my mark, and prepared the backlash spell. He launched a few elemental spells at me, and they all bounced off harmlessly. " Try something else, elements won't break this armour! " I shouted. He casted a mind altering spell now, but he quickly got surprised as it struck back at him! " AAAH! Darn! I should've seen that coming! That messed me up!" Primal said, grabbing his head in agony. " Let me just.... take a moment here...." He sat down and rubbed his eyes. I walked over to him and placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder. " Well, you passed the test with flying colours, again. I honestly should've seen that coming. " he said. " It's okay. Everyone can make mistakes, right? Better you make them now against me so you can prepare yourself against it next time! " I said comfortingly. " True. I'll heal myself and then we take the final test. " he said, as healing waters engulfed his body and soul. The water-cocoon floated in the air for a moment. It broke after, revealing a renewed Primal. " Ah, much better! Like a refreshing Zen bath with aromatic oils and the like, only way more efficient. " he said. " Now, the final test. Combine your offense and defense; take me down while sustaining yourself. " I raised my armours and backlash spells again, and charged my own mind spell at him. The spell struck him, but he remained unaffected while he threw his own spells at me in an attempt to break my armour. Night had quickly teached me Primal's Shadowstep while I waited for Rainbow to finish, and I quickly got to grips with the basics of it. I channeled a multi-tiered spell containing a Shadowstep behind him,followed up by a quick paralysing spell and a forceful blast. I cast the combination, and dodged a potentially lethal combination of fire and lightning. His body froze up from the paralysing spell, and got knocked into a nearby tree afterwards. " Score! I did it again! " I cheered. " Or did you? " a sinister voice called behind me as I got knocked into the tree this time. " Never expect your enemy to be defeated unless you know for certain he's either dead or completely disabled. Good show though, and did you just use my Shadowstep? " he shouted in my general direction. I used his Shadowstep to blink beside him, saving me from the tree's grasp. " That I did, yes. Night teached it while we waited for Rainbow to finish. Rarity can pull it off, too. " I said. "Wonderful. Consider yourself passed, but don't forget what I told you about the defeated enemy. " Primal said. " Fetch Rarity for me, please. " "Will do! " I said as I walked back to the others. "Rarity! Your turn! " WWWWW Change of Character - Twilight Sparkle - > Rarity "I knew I would be next! " I said as I walked over to where Primal was waiting. I stepped up next to him in elegant fashion. " You can leave the elegance for Spike. I just wanna see what you're capable of. Just like Twilight,I'll test your magic and your mark. Yours will be slightlydifferent since I will disable your magic during the mark test. " he explained. " Why is that? " I asked. " Well for one, I don't want you cheating. And two,your mark doesn't allow the removal of magical inhibition. You can summon creatures to do battle for you. Again, like the rest, don't hold back. I can deal with whatever you throw at me. " he said. " Like this dagger? " I said as I conjured a dagger and threw it at him. He catched it in mid-air. " Like that dagger, yes. " he dropped the weapon on the ground, and I saw a few drops of blood on the blade. He healed the cut the dagger had created. " I wanted to start with your magical ability however. " "I do not really know any good offensive spells, I am afraid. " I said. " Let's change that, then. " he vanished from sight. " Primal? " He appeared a moment later, Twilight next to him. " I brought Twilight here to teach you some. She knows more about unicorn magic than I do. " "So you don't know any good offensive spells you say? I'll teach you the basic force bolt, the same I used against Primal during my test. Stay still and I'll transfer my knowledge of it to you. " Twilight said. I felt knowledge of the spell flow into me, and I understood how it worked now. " This is an odd feeling, I must say. " I said. " Try casting the spell at either one of us. " Primal said. I charged up the spell, feeling the power surge inside of me. What if I use the magic from my mark aswell? . I channeled my mark to add power to the spell I was already casting, The spell got overcharged, and I launched it at Primal. " Not again! " he said before the bolt hit him, launching him into the forest again. " I'm sure he's okay, just wait a moment for him to get back here. " Twilight said assured. And indeed, he approached us a moment later. " I really do feel like a target dummy. " he said, annoyed. " I am dreadfully sorry darling. " I apologised. " It's okay. I'm used to being launched into the air now. " he responded. We all chuckled at his comment. "Let's get serious again though, it's already about 3 o ' clock by now, and I'm only about halfway with you guys. Your mark now , Rarity. Conjure something to attack me. " I had to think for a moment. Finding a creature worthy of battling was a hard task, but I settled on summoning a frost elemental. My mark glowed, and an icy bolt shot out and hit the ground. It started reshaping into an actual creature, and when finished it looked at me with a faceless expression, waiting for an order. "Attack him!" I commanded while pointing at Primal. Twilight had moved out of the way and was spectating from a distance. The elemental obeyed my command and charged at Primal, fists shaping into glacial spikes. It struck him on his arm when he tried to dodge it's attack. " Ow, this thing is nasty! Watch this though!" he said as he vanished from sight, leaving the elemental confused. He reappeared on the creature's back and struck both his daggers into it, but the elemental looked unfazed and threw him off its back, and he landed on the nearby ground with a thud. " You okay? " Twilight shouted at him. " I'm fine Twilight! This thing won't break physically though! " he said as I saw him cast the elemental's biggest weakness :fire. The spell hit the elemental in its face, and steam hissed off of its now partially melted face. I saw Primal had the winning hand now, but I wasn't about to give up. I conjured another creature, an earthen elemental this time. " Help your friend!" I commanded the elemental. It rushed over to its frosty ally and shielded it from further fireballs. The frost elemental took this moment of respite to channel an icy spell. " Aw c'mon, not another one! " Primal shouted. I grinned. " This is better than being launched into the air again though? " I asked him. " Definitely! Let me try and beat these two. Call them back if things get hairy for me." he said as he blinked out of the way of an icicle. He faded into the shadows again, but the earthen elemental was prepared for this and slammed his fist unto the ground. A huge tremor shook the earth, and Primal appeared again, fallen over from the shock. " Boy, these are tough! You definitely passed this test, and I doubt you will need that force bolt! " he shouted as he dodged a hail of frozen stones. He blinked behind the frost elemental and struck it in the chest with two blazing daggers, melting a swath through the creature. The elemental fell to the ground, defeated, and shattered into a thousand pieces. " One down, one to go!" he cheered. I watched him skillfully dodge a rock launched from an enraged earth elemental. The rock elemental launched another boulder at him however, and he had no time to recover. It slammed straight into his chest, knocking him down. " Oof! " The elemental charged at him, seeing its enemy weakened. When it slammed into the ground Primal was at however, he was nowhere to be seen. " Tricked you." Primal said as he blinked on top of the elemental, this time with force-charged hands. The elemental exploded from the impact, leaving loose rocks in a frosty field. Primal jumped off of the elemental before it exploded, performing a back flip and landing next to me, sheathing the daggers. " Pff... That was tiresome! I need a quick break before I call in the next one. " he said as he sat down against a rock. Twilight walked up to us. " How did you trick the earth elemental there? I'm pretty sure you got hit by a boulder there!" she asked. " That wasn't me. " he said simply. " Wait, it hit a clone? How quickly did you do that? You dodged that boulder and got hit by the other afterwards! " " I didn't dodge the boulder either. In fact, I'm not even sitting here. Look behind you. " He said, and both of us looked behind Twilight. From a tree, Primal was waving at us. When we looked back at the sitting Primal, he was gone. The Primal in the tree jumped down, and walked up to us. " Impressive, isn't it? I'm not called 'The Shadow of Equestria ' for nothing! " he boasted. " How the...." I said, but he silenced me before I could speak further. "Don't question it, it will give you a headache if you are not careful. All I say is that the moment that tremor hit, I wasn't battling anymore. " he said. " I do still want to take a break though, so let's head over to the others! " I couldn't argue with that, and me and Twilight followed Primal back to where the others were practicing. WWWWW Change of Character - Rarity -> Primal Dagger I sat down next to Night, who had been talking with Sabrina and Applejack. " Impressive display there, Primal Dagger. You took down both those things single-handedly. " Night complimented. " Well, I can't say I did that alone. It just looked like it was only me!" I said. " Really? So where were ya then? " Applejack asked. " I was there, yet I was not. You can do the same as I can, so it shouldn't take long for you to figure out where I was. " I hinted. " Darn, Ah didn't even see ya create them clones! Yer mighty quick there, you were! " Applejack said. " Yep. And I want you capable of causing the same kind of confusion. You'll be the next for testing your mark, and I want you to confuse me so I can't find out which or where the real you is. And you better make sure of that, as I'll be casting fireballs at hopefully just your clones! " I said. " Try me! " she said, but not from in front of me. " Clever! See, you're as good as I am. Nice decoy, too. Asking where I was and all that. I know that still isn't the real you, though. " I stated, and shot a fireball at the clone, causing it to explode. " But what if the real me was still beside you? " a voice called from beside me. I turned to see Night standing there. " No way, you already mastered disguises, cloning AND invisibility? Damn!" I exclaimed. "Ah sure did! The real Night is over there, talking to Rainbow." Applejack said as she turned back into her normal self. " Well, you already passed the test before we even started. Why don't I test your physical strength now with an earthen pillar. " I said as I rose one up from the ground beside her. " Try breaking that. " The pillar had a small and subtle crack on the bottom, which I placed there intentionally. " How on earth Ah'm Ah gonna do that?!" she called out. " You'll figure it out, I'm sure. " I said as I took a sip from a water bottle I carried on my utility belt. I couldn't help but hold in a chuckle as I watched Applejack pointlessly kick the pillar. " Applejack, did you ever consider looking for a weakness first? " She shot an angry look at me as she realized what I had done. She scanned the pillar, and found the crack. A swift kick brought the pillar tumbling. " Remember that lesson: look for weaknesses before you bluntly charge at an enemy. Utilising those effectively is half the work done. " I said in a lecturing tone. " Thanks, Primal. Really. Ya didn't have to go through all this trouble for us, but you did anyway. "She said. " Anything for my best friends. " I said humbly. " Your test is done for now, but like the rest : don't forget to practice and get better!" I called the others over to me so I could tell something, and waited for them to gather around me expectingly. " I say we take a small lunch break and resume training afterwards. Do we visit a place or does someone fancy making something? " I asked. " Ah can make summin' fancy for y'all at mah farm. How say we head over there? " Applejack suggested. " Sounds like a great idea! Anyone not in favour?" Pinkie asked. Everyone shook their heads. " Don't stay standing here then! My stomach is rumbling, and it's not fire! " Spike said. WWWWW Change of Character - Primal Dagger - > Applejack Ah lead the ponies, dragon and humanoid to my farmstead. Ah had the idea to bake some Apple family pies for everyone. Night had seemed hesistant to travel openly with us, but after a few comforting words from Twilight, Primal and Rarity, she agreed to come with. " Well here we are then, Sweet Apple Acres! I'm gonna start bakin' some pies for y'all. Could ya help me out Pinkie? " Ah asked. " Sure thing Applejack! We are goingto bake some pies and it's going to be AMAZING! And delicious! " Pinkie shouted. Ah took Pinkie to the kitchen, and Ah let her prepare the dough while Ah gathered the ingredients for the pie filling: apples. And only the best apples! When everything was set up, we made the pies. 10 in total! One for Twilight, one for Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Primal, Michelle, Spike, Night, Pinkie and myself. The panther had left our group on the way here to catch some food of her own since she can't live on what we eat normally. Not that we ate these pies daily, but a day of hard work and training deserves a tasty treat! When all of the pies were ready to be cooked, I called Twilight and Primal over. "Hey guys, could ya maybe heat these pies somehow so we could eat earlier ? Otherwise we would need to wait an hour for them to get ready! " I asked. " Sure, I can think of something. My magic isn't all that powerful in the fire aspect but I can create a heat conductor for the pies to stand on while Twilight blasts them!" Primal said. " You sure that'll work Prime? I don't want to blow these pies up!" Twilight wondered. " Trust me " he said as he created a shiny stone plate. " Aluminium, if you were wondering. Great for conducting heat and electricity. Its a little rare on Earth which is why it's not the only material used for conduction." (Factually correct! Check the wikipedia for Aluminium!) "Alright , so I just blast that plate with magic? " Twilight asked. " No silly. You have to alter the way you send your magic into it for this, in this case heat. Use your mark to cast it, and supply with further power from your horn. " Primal explained. " Stand back just in case " he said to me and Pinkie. Twilight's mark glowed violet, and her horn channelled energy into her mark. A thermal beam shot towards the aluminium plate with a pie on it. Primal used his magic to guide the heated air around it to further heat the pie. After a few seconds, the pie was done. " Send it out! Hot pies are the best pies!" Primal said. " Will do! " Pinkie said as the pie was placed on a plate she magicked from somewhere. " Hoowie this is hot! " she said as her own mark glowed and enchanted the plate with heat resistance. " Careful you don't burn yourself! " I called to her. Primal and Twilight heated up every pie, and Primal had to carry Twilight back to the living room since she was exhausted. He didn't look that good himself either, but Ah paid it no heed. After the last pie made its way to the living room, I followed Pinkie back and sat myself down at an empty chair. "Apple family pie filling with dough made by Pinkie and heated up by Primal and Twilight! " I said cheerfully. " Dig in!" Nobody seemed to wait to be told that again, and immediately struck their pies with fierce munching blows. Me included! Boy this pie is delicious! WWWWW Change of Character - Applejack->Primal Dagger I couldn't wait to ask Pinkie a question I wanted answered, so the moment I gulped down the last bite of my pie, I asked: " Pinkie, what else can you enchant? I saw you enchant those plates with what I assumed was heat resistance. I'm wondering what the hay I could train you in. " "I enchanted a few things during mine and Applejack's trip for that ritual item, like-" And so came an extensive list of things she may or may not have done and a few things completely off-topic aswell. " Most o' that were probably your own adventures, but ya did enchant that carriage ta have self-driving wheels. " Applejack said, cutting Pinkie off. "Oh? Doesn't sound like you need my help on that front, but what I do want you to think about is a way to defend yourself or escape if you are completely alone and caught unaware. " I said. " How about something like what you can do? All the smoke and stuff? Or maybe -" Another rant with a myriad of ideas. " Umm, let's just keep it simple, okay? " Twilight chimed in. " All Primal wants is for you to be safe if he's not around to help you. Which is the main reason for this training. " " Seriously? We spent this entire day just so you can feel happy knowing you don't have to do anything to help us? " Rainbow said angrily. " Whoa hold up there, I never said that. I only want all of you to be safe when I'm not around so I don't have to come back to see dead friends. Is that too much to ask for? You showed me you are able to, so what's the problem? " I returned. " I.... Sorry Primal, and everyone else. I.... kinda got carried away thinking about that and not realizing the meaning behind it. Guess my up-front way of thinking needs to change a bit. " Rainbow apologised. " No big deal Rainbow Dash. Just take your time with it, you will stay our friend one way or another. " Rarity said. " Like Rarity said. You shouldn't think that you need to change right now in order to stay friends. " Fluttershy added. " Such sentimental words.... Such burning friendship and loyalty between you. I think I have a lot to catch up on. " Night said. " I have a few things to learn about friendship aswell, so you are not alone, Avatar of Darkness. " Sabrina shared. " Good to see you two acknowledge it. All of us will help you! " Twilight said. " I second that. " I added. " And I third that! " Pinkie said. " Pinkie...." I laughed. " What? You said second, I say third! " " Seconding something means that I support Twilight's statement of helping out Sabrina and Night learn more about friendship. It's not a count!" I explained. " Oooooooooooooooooh " Pinkie said with a drawn-out breath. Everyone laughed, enjoying the pink mare's innocent and cheerful nature. " Anyway, do try and find a way to get out of a bad situation . " I said, getting back to business. "As for training, I still need to take Fluttershy, Michelle and Spike out for a spin. " " I don't mind watchin' you guys battle! " Applejack said. " Me too! " Twilight said. " I have a feeling Fluttershy could use my help if your test will be what I think it is. " Rainbow said. " I still have a few orders to take care of, so if all of you do not mind, I will take my leave. "Rarity said. " I agree with Applejack! " Pinkie shouted. " Primal, do you mind if we spar aswell after you test the others? I'm interested to see who is the strongest of us. " Night asked. " Not at all, but are you sure you want to face me?" I asked. " I am certain! " she responded. " Well let's go then! Or do all of you want to stay up untill midnight? " I said. I had ulterior motives to finish earlier, but only Twilight could know of those. We said goodbye to Rarity, and left for the field again to resume the training. WWWWW Change of Character - Primal Dagger-> Fluttershy I was scared. Okay I'm normally scared of everything, but the thought of flying terrified me. The pegasi at flight school had all bullied me for my bad flying skills, and it had certainly left bad thoughts on me. At least now nopony would bully me for my terrible flying. I was surrounded by the best friends I could've ever had, yet I was still frightened of flying faster than a snail's pace. " Come on Fluttershy, I know you're afraid of flying but do try to keep up ok?" Rainbow insisted. " I -I'll try " I said shakily. What am I so scared of? I tried flying a little faster to keep up with Rainbow's pace, and I could feel a small boost to confidence rising within me as I slowly lessened the distance between me and her. " Hey good going there Fluttershy! Keep it up! " Primal cheered as he watched me fly by. Me and Rainbow arrived at the field first of everyone, as the rest had taken to leisurely strolling over while I attempted to keep up with Rainbow who was silently racing me to the field. " You kept up with me! I'm impressed! I think everyone will be delighted to hear that! " Rainbow said. " No! I mean... no. I don't want you to tell them." I said. " Well they already saw you flying past them! It's not like it's news or something." she said, frowning. " I know! Why don't you tell them yourself? Tell them you were right behind me all the way here. " "I... I...." I mumbled. " Oh come on Fluttershy! All of us just want you to get better! How are you going to get better at flying if nobody knows you did? " Rainbow said. " I....." I sighed. " You're right.... I should stop thinking so lowly of myself. I was right behind you... was I? " I said. " You were! No lies! " Rainbow said. " Alright then. I... I'll tell them myself. " "Good on you. And don't be afraid, they just want what is best for you. " she said as the others approached. " H-Hey guys! I managed to keep up with Rainbow! She said I was just behind her the entire time! " I said in my attempt to speak proudly. " That's right! I looked behind me a few times and she was just a little bit behind me! " Rainbow said. Primal had a faux-happy look on his face. I knew he was trying to hide that he knew Rainbow lied slightly, but the others didn't notice. "Wonderful! Say, why don't you and Rainbow practice flying for a bit while I train with Spike? I'll leave the coaching to you Rainbow. " " Awesome! I get to coach Fluttershy! " Rainbow said in excitement. " Don't you worry 'Shy, you will be one of the best fliers in no time!" "R-Really? "I asked. " Ofcourse! All I want is to soar through the skies with my best friend! " she said. " Come with me, and we'll start practice right away! " I hesitantly followed her, but her inspiring words and that she wanted to fly with her best friend was all I needed to keep going. We were in the same class at flight school, and we became very good friends. When I eventually left the school due to peer pressure, Rainbow left with me. I told her not to, and to chase her dreams of joining the Wonderbolts, but she would have none of it. "Alright, I want you to start with 10 wing-ups and do 10 airborne somersaults afterwards. Pronto!" Rainbow commanded. WWWWW Change of Character - Fluttershy -> Primal Dagger I watched as Fluttershy and Rainbow took off to practice together, and I took Spike with me to test him. "Well, I'm afraid that just won't cut it." I said after being on the recieving end of a few weak fire breaths. "What do you mean?" Spike asked. "Well, you barely did anything to me. What will you do against someone who will actually want to do harm to you?" I responded "I don't know, run?" Spike said confused. "They are probably going to be faster than you. Hmm, what to do..." I pondered. "Ah! I got an idea!" I created a runestone and held it out to Spike. "What do I do with this?" he asked. "Do you have a secret location you go to when you want to be completely alone?" I asked, and he responded with a nod. "Think of that location and breathe fire onto the rune, it will save the location onto it." He did as he was told. "And now what?" "Give it to me, and I'll inscribe this rune on your arm and make it invisible" I said. I copied the rune onto Spike's arm, and made it invisible just as I told him. "Now, if you want to return to that location, you have to just will it to happen and the rune will do the rest." I explained. I saw him focus for a second, and then he vanished. "Hm, maybe not the best idea to let him try that right now, he'll have to walk all the way back here!" I chuckled. "Oh well, atleast it works!" I walked back to Night and Michelle. "How did it go? Wait, where is Spike?" Michelle asked. "He teleported to somewhere I don't know. A secret location he retires to when he wants to be alone. Safety measure to help him survive!" I explained. "O...kay. Right! So now I guess you will want to practice with me?" Michelle asked. "That's 100% correct! Let's head over yonder so we don't destroy the place." I suggested. "Show him what for Michelle!" Twilight cheered. "Yeah! Show 'im he's not tha only one with powerful magics!" Applejack added. "As if she will stand a chance agaisnt me" I muttered under my breath. Boy did I wish I hadn't said those words. Once we were far enough away, I said: "Show me what you got!" What she got was way more than I expected. She vanished into thin air just like I usually do, leaving me to find out where she would be. She appeared behind me, and touched my neck with a single finger. A chill crept up from that spot, and travelled through my entire body. When I tried to move, I noticed that I was frozen in place! "Wow, okay! But you gotta have more than just freezing me on the spot to beat me!" I said as I melted the ice that kept me in place and turned invisible. Now it was Michelle's turn to look around her to find me. I did the same as she did, but instead of freezing her, I cast a cyclone on her keeping her in place with furious winds. "Oh really now." she said as she literally froze the winds, causing them to die down. She immediately cast a frost bolt at my general direction afterwards, which struck me on my shoulder. " 'Tis that I don't actually want to fatally wound you, otherwise I would've used my daggers long ago. Guess it's practice for me too to find other ways to disable my opponent!" I said mockingly, clamping my hand on the stricken spot. "You bet! But can you do this?" she said as orbs of water started flowing around her. "Do what? All I see is you and a few orbs of water around you." I said as I started trying to do the same thing, but with orbs of whirling air. Her orbs grew in size, and started absorbing nearby plant matter to become even larger. After a short moment, all I could see were 5 gigantic orbs of water. Then, the orbs started charging at me one by one. I dodged the orb by Shadowstepping out of the way of it, but my own orbs were not so lucky. They got caught in the orb, making it even bigger than it already was. The orb hit a tree and exploded, bursting water everywhere, re-nourishing the lands around it with increased plant growth. "I see. So you want to overwhelm me with force, is that how it is?" I said. "Kind of. Expect that you forgot that water is a liquid!" she said, as the water that burst out of the orb previously started to flow around my legs. "What the-" I managed to say before the waters consumed me whole. I was now swimming in mid-air, water surrounding me. "Had enough yet? Or do you want to get to the point of drowning before you surrender?" Michelle said. I couldn't speak because I was submerged in water, but I made a smile cross my face as the real me appeared behind Michelle. "Surprise! You forgot that I was the master of subtlety!" I said as the winds swept her upwards whilst lightning bolts struck the orbs of water she had created, electrifying them and making them burst. "Oh you sneaky little devil" she said as she was caugh in a current of air high above the ground. "Alright alright, put me down!" I commanded the winds to put her down on the ground safely, and we shook hands. "Still, well done though! If that would've been the real me, I would've stood no chance!" I said. "I still don't understand how you manage to create clones like that without me noticing." Michelle wondered. "Do you remember when I turned invisible? I created an invisible me at that moment, and he was the one to attack you while the real me waited over there" I pointed at the location I had waited at. "No wonder you are training us to overcome any situation. Sounds like you could get out of anything just by using those clones!" Michelle said in praise. "Kind of. I got a huge problem if I face an enemy who can see invisible things though. I would have to be crafty with how I create my clones to create confusion." I said. "Hm, that gave me an idea for something I'd like to try. Could you turn invisible?" Michelle asked, and I did. Water surged around her, and exploded outwards in a circle. It struck me without causing any harm, but the waters clinged to me. "There we go, now you being invisible doesn't matter anymore!" Michelle said proudly. "We'll just see about that!" I said as I attempted to dispell the water around me. No reaction. "Oh come on! Now I have to learn how to create clones of myself with effects like these on them!" I said, defeated. "Ha ha! I win!" Michelle boasted. I duplicated myself, and used the second me to try and dispell the water using lightning. This worked, and I helped my clone remove the water aswell. "Yeah, you win. That took way too long for me to get rid of, and you would've bested me if you actually done something to me during that time." I admitted. Michelle fist-pumped the air in victory. "Hey now don't start boasting about it. You don't want to turn out to be like Rainbow is now!"I said. "I can be happy with my victory, can I not? Hey, how about I test Fluttershy's mark while you spar with Night? She seems eager to duel you." Michelle offered. "Sure! Let's see if I can beat her!" I said, moods rising. Michelle walked over to Fluttershy and Rainbow, while I made my way towards Night. WWWWW Change of Character - Primal Dagger - > Michelle I walked over to the girls training. " Hey girls, how's the training going? " I asked. "It's going great, actually. Fluttershy has seen a big increase in confidence and skill during this day! Isn't that so ' Shy? " Rainbow asked. The way she asked Fluttershy for her opinion was a bit suspect, but I let it slide. " It's true! I don't want to let you down, and certainly not Primal! " Fluttershy said, genuinely cheerful. " That's great news! Anyway, Primal sent me instead of himself to test your mark. I recall Primal saying that Restoration had to do with healing, creating barriers and expelling undead. " I said. " Expel undead? What is that good for? " Rainbow asked. " I don't know, maybe dead ponies start rising from the grave, and the only one who can stop them completely is Fluttershy here?" I said jokingly. " I doubt that is what Primal gave you this mark for though. " " It might come in useful someday... right?" Fluttershy said. " Who knows. For now, let's test your barriers. I want you to defend yourself from my assault for two minutes. Starting....Now!"I said as I started my assault on Fluttershy. She instinctively raised a barrier without knowing it, but when she stopped cowering and noticed she was protected, she focused on the barrier to hold. " 58...59....60! That's two minutes! " Rainbow counted as both of us stopped channelling spells. "Well done! But how will you last against a single, powerful spell? " I said as I started gathering energy for a devastating spell. Fluttershy raised her barrier again, and I didn't notice it had a slightlydifferent colour this time. The torrent of magical energy was drawing more and more magical energy, but I failed to realize where from as someone collapsed in the distance. I felt the spell reaching its apex, and I launched it at the barrier. No explosion happened however, as the spell fused with the barrier. " W-What happened? Where did the spell go? " I asked. " The barrier absorbed it instead of deflecting it!" Fluttershy said proudly. " Wow, okay. So all that power-gathering was for naught... " I said. " Well, let's call it a day , shall we? Let's see what Primal and Night are up to!" I suggested. "Good idea!" Rainbow agreed. We walked over to the other end of the field, towards Primal and Night... WWWWW Change of Character - Michelle - > Nightmare Moon I had a small conversation with Primal before we started sparring, when both of us noticed an immense amount of light from where Fluttershy, Michelle and Rainbow were practicing. " Is that Michelle casting that? Where does she get all that power from? " I asked. " I....think....I.....know....." Primal said before he collapsed on the ground. " Primal? What happened to you? " I quickly scanned his body using magic , and found that he was extremely weak. " Oh my... Twilight, get over here NOW!" I shouted. Twilight, who had been standing at the path leading up to the field, charged over to us. "Whats wr-" Twilight said, before she noticed Primal lying on the ground. " What happened? " she asked, worried. " I think the spell Michelle cast sapped his magic. He is really weak right now, we have to get him to the hospital! " I said, Twilight making no attempt to argue and teleported herself and Primal to the hospital. I ran in the direction of Applejack and Pinkie Pie, who had been left confused as Twilight had charged off and teleported away. "You have to get to the hospital! Primal's magic has been drained! " I explained. The two mares immediately ran off, and I went back to send the others to the hospital aswell. " Quickly! Your spell sapped Primal's magic, he is really weak right now! We have to get to the hospital! " Michelle, worried, immediately ran off. Rainbow and Fluttershy flew off to the hospital, and I teleported myself over there....