Val wasn't scared of anything. He was a drow, they never admitted defeat, never admitted loss. Never admitted they were scared. Especially not of a tiny pony with wings. No matter how cocky she looked or--
In a moment the orange filly was on him. He let out a shriek of pain as his body was contorted into a shape he was quite certain it was never, ever, EVER meant to be in. After a few moments he was tossed aside and little Nippers swirled around his head.
“Huh. Well, I guess a wrestling cutie mark is out of the question,” Scootaloo said with a shrug.
“All of my world is pain,” Val said with a groan.
“Oh, knock it off,” the pegasus said with a roll of her eyes. “I went easy on you. Now, if you had wrestled Applebloom you'd be in some real pain.”
He glanced up at the earth pony filly, who just smiled sheepishly. “Aw shucks, yah dun have tah say it like that.” She held out a hoof and helped untangle him, before bringing him to his hooves. “Okay, though. Claw's turn!”
“Hmm?” the dragon pony said, before letting out a yelp as Scootaloo tackled him. Within a few moments he was whining and tapping the ground with a claw. “Auntie, auntie!”
The pegasus smirked as she got up. “Awww yeah. You ready, Silverbelle?”
The little unicorn let out a yipe and shook her head. “N-no! I uhhh, I don't... don't really want a wrestling cutie mark,” she said sheepishly. “Please?”
“Okay, fine, onto our next task,” Sweetie said happily as she pulled over the checklist, checking off wrestling. “Canoeing!”
“What in the BLEEP is canoeing?” Val asked with a groan, before falling over. “I'm fine! Just... just going to lay here a moment.”
“You shouldn't keep bleeping like that,” Scootaloo said with a glare. “It's rude.”
“Who... who's going to stop me?” he asked, shaking his head as the world spun.
There was the sound of three face hoofs, followed by one face claw a few moments later. Scootaloo grinned and then leaped. Val let out a shriek a moment later. “I give, I give!”
The pegasus grinned even wider as she crawled off. “Okay, so what's next if not canoeing?”
Sweetie looked at the list and giggled. “Flower arranging.”
“I... I'm still... not sure... what a cutie mark is,” Val said with a groan. “But... I don't care if... it gives me the power to... turn all plants into zombies to heed my commands. I... am not getting one... in flower arranging.”
The unicorn rolled her eyes, before looking to Silverbelle and Claw. “What do you two say?”
“Oh, ummm, f-flower arranging sounds... nice,” the filly said with a weak smile. The dragon pony just watched Val for a few moments, before he nodded. He trotted over to the fallen colt, leaned down, and licked his face again.
“GAHHHHH! Stop doing that!” Val screamed, wiping his face furiously with a hoof. “Ew ew ew EW!”
“Hee hee,” Claw said before following after the rest of the CMC, their giggles joining his.
The drow pony just glowered up at the sky. “Beaten by a pony and covered in slobber. Truly this is the work of one of the trickster pantheons. Or whatever they're called. Perhaps this is all part of my mother's torments for my newest failure. Confined to chambers with no food just wasn't enough, had to turn me into a pony and send me to this realm. Maybe even...” His words trailed off as he realized he was alone. “Stupid ponies don't even wait around to listen to me gripe about them,” he grumbled, crossing his hooves and pouting.
------
“I'm really not sure,” Twilight said with another shrug. “To be honest, all this is quite confusing and trying to find a link between them all is almost impossible. But, I do think I might understand why Claw was sent to this time.”
“Oh? Why?” Rarity asked as she eyed the big, purple dome that the letter was currently wrapped in. Within the dome it was slowly losing ink and then new ink was applied, only to be removed and applied again.
“Well, according to my instruments, Val's arrival caused a temporal shift in the magical field that permeates through everything in Equestria. Namely, his arrival stands out like a small beacon that can be easily located through the use of time and space magic.”
Cheerilee nodded, trying to follow along. She knew a little about magic, namely due to her works as a teacher, but most of this was over her head. She knew just enough to help foals study the bare basics. Fortunately, this was the fourth time Twilight had explained it and she was finally breaking it down into bite sized chunks. “So he was sent here not because of Val, but because Val arrived early enough that you'd have time to fix things?”
“Yes,” Twilight said with a nod. “In fact, it makes things easier. I should be able to reverse the transfer and send Claw back, along the same time stream. Since, well, I have one end of the time shift sticking out, I just need to find the connection.” She paused. “Am I explaining this well enough?”
“Yes, of course darling,” Rarity said as she nodded. “But... errr, are you sure sending him back is wise?”
“Of course, he's not from our time. It makes more sense to--”
“Aren't his parents gone in that time?”
The room got deathly quiet. Twilight coughed into her hoof. “Well... I mean... quite possibly, yes. I... err...”
“And didn't you say it was unlikely that he'd ever exist, now? In this time?”
The alicorn gave a nod. “Well, yes. I mean, if we can stop whatever he was sent back here to stop, the chances of him... existing are... hold on.” She hummed, looking at a paper and then holding it up. “To one.”
“That's a lot of zeros,” Cheerilee said softly as her eyes looked over the paper.
“I rounded down. It should look more like nine six four two three--”
“No, no, we get it, next to impossible,” Rarity said quickly. “Is this because... well...”
“If he's the son of Spike and Sweetie, there's no telling what led to the two of them being together. Likely whatever events we're supposed to stop,” Twilight said with a sigh. “For all we know, this entire thing could have been an accident. There's no... point where they get together that we know of. It could have been a long term romance, an accident of grief, perhaps they were both drunk or--”
“Are you saying that Claw was an ACCIDENT?” Rarity asked, her eyes narrowing to slits.
“Well, it's possible. There's a-- eep!” The alicorn let out a squeak as she was suddenly tugged in front of Rarity.
“Now you listen here, Twilight. My little sister would never, EVER have an accident like that. She is a sweet, kind, loving child and I'm sure if she and Spike... did anything, it was after long, long, long considerations.” She paused. “Also, Spike might have tricked her. She is a bit naive. And--”
“Naive? Trick?” Twilight said defensively. “I'll have you know that Spike would NEVER sink to such levels! He is a perfect little angel and would never, ever try to trap some mare into bed with--”
“GIRLS!” Cheerilee said firmly, stomping a hoof down. “May I remind you both that, at this moment, both Spike and Sweetie are still children and are not, in fact, thinking of anything of that sort?”
The two looked at her and then lowered their heads. “Sorry Miss Cheerilee,” they said in unison.
“Just get back to work,” the teacher said with an annoyed sigh. She couldn't believe it. She was actually scolding a princess. This was all so far above her pay grade. So far above that one couldn't even see her paygrade from here.
Twilight looked back towards the paper. “We don't have enough information. All we know is this is the beacon to where he was sent. The problem could arise a day, a month, a year, even a decade after his arrival. All we know is it's something with some kind of ooze and...” She paused and glanced towards Rarity. “It... seems... you don't make it.” Her voice was kept as steady as possible, but the sadness leaked out as if through little cracks.
The unicorn coughed. “We don't know that for sure, dear. It could be I am just... away, often. On business. Maybe he hardly knows me?”
“Maybe,” Twilight said, though she sounded unconvinced. “I mean, what if it was... the loss of you that propels the two of them together?” She sighed and looked at a small screen, before her horn glowed. She then gave a nod and smiled. “Or it's possible he is actually your daughter.” She cringed at the confused looks she got. “If something happened to... you... it's possible that Sweetie... stepped in. Took the place of mommy.”
“W-what?” Rarity asked, her eyes widening. “Y-you mean Spike just--”
“It's just a possibility, not a likelihood! I won't know anything until I have time to run proper tests on his origins!” Twilight added quickly, shaking her head. “I severely doubt it's anything like that, but we need to be prepared for any possibility. Theres so many different things that it could end up being. Maybe he was adopted, or what if he isn't even actually their child? What if it was some kind of spell or something else that brought him into being and they just took care of him? I don't know! I have no way of knowing!” The alicorn said before smashing her face on the top of the desk, scattering the papers. “I... I don't know if... I don't know if I can fix this. I don't know if I'll be able to stop whatever is coming.”
Cheerilee and Rarity shared a look, before slowly the unicorn stepped forward and put a hoof on her friend's back. “Darling, calm down. You can do this. How about we start with what we have now, okay?”
Twilight perked up slightly and smiled to her friend. “Well... okay. I think there is one thing. Val's magic is all I can work on for the moment until my other spells finish,” she said, motioning to the domed off letter. “But it is all I can do for the moment. The letter is all I have for a clue.”
“Okay then. What would you be doing if you didn't have the letter?” Rarity asked with a smile.
“I'd probably be in Canterlot right now, trying to deal with that thief, there's no telling how long that would have taken. But with Claw being here I just can't afford to leave right now.” She shook her head and then gasped. “I've got it!” She jumped to her hooves, nearly knocking over Rarity in the process. She galloped off and soon came back with the purple orb around the dark magical ball of Val's.
“You... still have that, darling?” Rarity asked nervously. Even Cheerilee gave a small shudder at the sight.
“Of course. The magic is fascinating. It's possible it could have something to do with all this, as well.” She laid the orb on the table. “If whatever causes these problems is related to Val's dimension, then his magic can give me insight into it. I just wish there was a way to see his magic in a more... natural form. To know why it shifted. Would it change in other dimensions? Or is this his natural magic across all dimensions? His form changed to match our world's, so why didn't his magic?”
“What have you discovered so far about it?” Cheerilee asked softly.
“Oh, frankly? His magic shouldn't work. It's so... how to put it...” Twilight waved a hoof and sighed. “It's like... a unicorn's magic comes from inside, you understand? We choose a spell and then have to properly cast it and expend the energy to cast the spell. But our magic is directly tied to our being. Out natures and talents. If we expend all our magic, we can hurt ourselves. Now pegasi and earth ponies have their own magic as well, but it tends to be a more subtle type. But, again, it is a very part of our being. To lose our magic is to lose a great deal of ourselves.”
“His magic doesn't operate like that?” Rarity asked.
“Are you two familiar with Portion Control's theory of portioning magic?” Twilight asked as she looked back. The two just stared at her blankly. “Right, of course. Well in simplified terms, the theory goes that if a pony lost their magic, all of their magic, they would... cease to be. Either die, or lose their very essence. Now, when we fought Tirek, we learned that wasn't quite true, but ponies who lost their magic still did lose a great deal of themselves. Even unicorns who go through burn out haven't completely used up all their magic, they'd pass out long before then.”
“So you're saying Val's magic doesn't have this limit?” Cheerilee asked nervously. “So it's... limitless?” Just the thought of that made her shudder.
“Oh, no,” Twilight said with a giggle and wave of her hoof. “It doesn't work like that at all. In fact, I'm afraid that he might end up killing himself due to how limited his magic is.”
“WHAT?!” Cheerilee asked, her eyes widening. “What's wrong with it?”
“All of his magic is just... it's perfectly portioned. In every way. Look.” She held up a full body picture of val. It was covered in little dots of assorted lengths.
“What?” Cheerilee asked.
“It's a MAT scan. A unicorn's magic isn't like that. His goes from big spells, to little spells. Rather than all of his magic being stored away into one big clump that flows through his body, it's stagnant and unmoving, divided into set spells already. If he was to cast all of them, well, he'd have no magic left. It could very well kill him.”
“It... could?”
“Or not. It might have no effect on him what so ever. It could make him sick, make him tired, maybe he'll pass out before hoof. There's no telling what could happen with magic that is just so... strange. It's hard to believe magic like this even exists, but it does explain why he can't do telekinesis like we can. I wonder what kind of life the creatures on his planet went through to evolve to the point where all their magic is pre-set in their bodies. Perhaps it allows them to cast spells quicker? But he doesn't seem to have so many that it would be that great an advantage.” She sighed and then spun the dark ball around. “On the other hoof, this magic is quite unique. See, it doesn't drain the soul, so there's no need to worry about that. I think. Maybe. What it does is sap a ponies... well... everything. Physical, at least.”
“Everything?” Rarity asked, cocking an eye.
“Yes. Magic, mind, body, everything. But it doesn't drain that much and I doubt the effects would be permanent. However, a stronger version of this kind of magic... I shudder to think what kind of destruction it could create. It could leave a pony nothing more than... than an empty husk. It's dark magic the like of which I'd never seen and I don't believe has ever existed in Equestria.” She sighed. “If I didn't know better, I wouldn't believe that Val was capable of such twisted arts.”
Cherrilee gulped, glancing towards the window and suddenly quite a bit more nervous about leaving Val with the girls. He would be alright, she was sure. She hoped. She prayed.
------
“Hah! In your face!” Val said, pointing a hoof at Scootaloo. Nibbler raised his little legs into the air as Scootaloo's beetle hung its head in shame.
“In my what?” the pegasus asked.
“In your... I... don't really know. I guess... errr... disappointment is in your face?”
“So, did yah get a bug racing cutie mark?” Applebloom asked, looking at his flank. It was completely blank. “Awwww.”
“Well, it's only the beginning. Silverbelle, do you want to try?” Sweetie asked, looking back at her cousin.
The unicorn gave a little squeak and shook her head. “N-no please...”
“Well, what's next then?” Scootaloo asked with a grin.
“Parasailing!” Applebloom said happily.
“What's that?” Val asked as he trotted after the fillies. Claw hung back with him, eying and waiting for the perfect time to apply maximum lickage of face.
“It's where we tie yah to a boat an' yah--”
“Wait, a boat? Like... on the water?” Val asked with a little squeak. “I don't think I... I'd rather not...”
“What's wrong? Ain't a fan of the water?” Applebloom asked.
He snorted. “Of course not, the water is stupid and--”
“You can't swim, can you?” Scootaloo asked with a big, wide grin.
“W-what? Of course I can!” His cheeks turned bright red. “I-I can swim all of the--”
“Then there isn't any problem. Come on, it's a lot of fun, you'll love it. And after, we can all go swimming,” Scootaloo said with a smirk.
“But... but but... but... I-I don't want to go--” Claw saw his opportunity and pounced, his tongue snaking out and getting him across the face. The colt froze and let out a growl. “CLAWWWWWW!” The dragon pony turned tail and ran, galloping down the path, pursued by the angry colt.
------
Cheerilee gave a shrug. Ehhhh, for all his magic, he was still a child. She was sure that no matter what happened, they'd deal with it in good time. Besides, he promised not to use his magic. Without it, what trouble could he possibly get in? Well, at least when compared with the CMC he was with? If anything she was sure she should worry about him.
The problem was that she was already worried about him.
“This'll take days to figure out,” Twilight muttered with a sigh as she flipped the ball around. “I wonder what it's like at its base elements. I wish I could take you apart,” she whispered so softly.
“Twilight, darling, is there anything we can do to help?”
“Not particularly,” Twilight mumbled. “Maybe if I... no... that could just cause a feedback loop. I guess if I do ruin the spell, I can just have him cast more. But what if it ends up hurting him? Ugh, why does all of this have to be so difficult?”
“Because nothing is ever easy,” Rarity said with a smile. “There has to be something we can do. Perhaps get you something?”
“No, no, the Canterlot guards are taking care of it. Maybe if I sent one of them to Canterlot, they have a far better research lab there, with better equipment. But I don't think it's an equipment issue here, either.” She grumbled softly and rolled the purple orb around in her hooves. “If only there was a way to research his magic closer...”
Rarity sighed and gave a nod. “Perhaps I should go make sure Spike is doing well.”
“Mmmm hmm,” Twilight said absently.
The unicorn gave Cheerilee a sheepish smile and nudged towards the door. The two trotted outside and Rarity gave a little sigh. “I'm so sorry, darling. I really thought we could help more.”
The teacher nodded. “Indeed. You... don't think she's right, do you? About Val... dying?”
“If he uses his magic? Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. Twilight has a tendency to... over worry about things like that. As long as he doesn't go around casting his spells wantonly, I don't see how their could be a problem.”
“Aren't you afraid about what she said? About you dying?”
That made the unicorn stop. Then, slowly, she nodded. “A little. I mean, I do believe the idea is possible. But... at the end of the day, Twilight sent Claw back here to avert this. I trust that she'll succeed. Both past, and future her.”
“And what if she doesn't?”
“Twilight has never let us down. This is something important, so I know she'll succeed.” Rarity gave a little smile. “I'm sure she'll save Val, too. She's really good at these kinds of things. I do wish she'd learn to better accept help from her friends, though.”
Cheerilee gave a soft sigh before nodding. “Indeed. Well, I'd best head out to pick up Val.”
“Really? But it's still so early. Why not let him play for a bit?”
The teacher glanced up at the sun, before shaking her head. “Well... I suppose him having a little bit of fun couldn't hurt. I should head home and get started on dinner before I get him. Maybe clean up that room a bit. I'm sure Fluttershy has it cleaned out by... now.”
Rarity gave a sigh and nodded. “I should probably head home too. Clean up the mess Sweetie made.” She then smiled to Cheerilee. “I don't suppose you'll ever be teaching proper cooking in--”
“Not a chance,” the teacher said quickly. “I did... once. The school nearly burned down.”
Rarity gave a sigh and started trotting off. “Well, I suppose it was worth a try.”