//------------------------------//
// A Time for Relaxing, and Learning 
// Story: Seekers in Equestria 
// by dracone 
//------------------------------//

	Celestia and Luna were looking over the choices they were given, as were Twilight and her friends and Spike. Learn another spell or get to know some more titans, Rarity had an aversion to the Strix amulet out her aesthetic sense while Fluttershy was debating whether she should take the Strix or not, after all it did resemble some animals she interacted with. Rainbow was asking Claudia which of the new titans was the most awesome, with Claudia trying explain that wasn't how it works with little success. Pinkie was asking Rec how the titans she had or could have might make her parties better. Applejack was debating with herself as whether she should keep the one or have more, after all some of them might be a great use at the farm. Twilight was asking Mandi for detailed information about the spells the young pegasus knew. And of course, Spike was focusing on Rarity when he could get away with it.
“What are the titans in the shield shaped amulets?” Inquired Luna.
“See for yourself,” said Claudia, “you have access to all of our resources as long as we're here.”
Luna picked up one of the amulets in question and let the light of the Mythichive dance over it as she held it over the the device before it said, “Hoplite,” as the image of a being with a lower body resembling a lion on all four legs and an upper body that was humanoid holding a shield that resembled the amulet and what appeared to be a short sword along with wearing a piece of armor with nothing to guard the arms on its torso and a helmet that was adorned like some of the helmets in Equestria with added flourish of what looked like something resembling a lion's mane flowing down the back, “Attack: 2, Defense 1, Size: Average, Special Abilities: Teamwork, Type: Krono-Titan Warrior.”
Celestia and Luna both blinked as Luna set the amulet back where she found it before Celestia asked, “What exactly does that ability entail?”
“The Hoplite titan is distinct,” said Rec, finally managing to divert Pinkie's attention elsewhere, “its ability doesn't really show itself when you have one on field, they gain power the more of them there are working together, in a sense they grow more powerful by having more friends at their side.”
“So there ability reflects the concept of friendship makes you stronger,” commented Twilight, “you did say that titans had varying abilities, I just didn't expect one to have an ability like that. And we have a small collection of Hoplites, I suppose they'd make good introductory units for this little group we're working on building. And I think that your suggestion that we put Princess Luna in charge of it all is a good idea, she needs all the help she can get building a good reputation with everypony out there.”
“Yes, well just remember that all the seeker stuff is supposed to remain secret, it is more of a tradition at this point,” said Rec, “while I am aware many traditions are subject to change I urge you to think about what certain members of the populace would think if it came to light some potentially powerful creatures could be under the command of a select few and could possibly pop up anywhere and if knowledge of such things were to become a matter of public record.”
“Oh, there would be panic and suspicion all about, darling,” said Rarity.
“Basically, yeah,” said Claudia, “which is why you all have to keep this secret, your younger siblings too.”
“I'm sure Orchid has already got that part dealt with, or is dealing with, it now,” said Rec. “The circle may be small now, but will slowly grow to something a bit larger, we have to make sure certain individuals are trustworthy on matters like this.”
“Speaking of trustworthy,” said Twilight, “care to explain how a spell that can influence memories is a good idea?”
“We've discussed this before,” said Claudia, “the SimpleMind spell is mainly in place to help keep the masquerade going. Before any of us could learn it we had to prove we could be trusted to not use a power like that irresponsibly.”
“What did that entail?” Inquired Celestia.
“The trial is based around the individual,” said Rec, “but usually entails carrying an item carefully packaged in such a way that you that the one carrying it has no idea what it is. They are then told they must watch over it for a set amount of time before delivering it to a specific individual. All without using any means of seeing what they have in the package. For instance, if it were Rainbow we'd probably tell her she has to hold onto it for sixteen hours before delivering it to one of her friends. There would be a small collection of observation spells on the package itself so as to not interfere with Rainbow's natural reactions. If she managed to go the entire time without using any means to see what was in the package she'd earn the right to learn the spell, the catch being she has to remain with package the entire time, which means she can't just leave the package in the care of someone else when she's starting to feel the pressure, and the set time period is to keep her from trying to use the mail to send it where it has to go during the time she is to watch over it.”
“Pft, sixteen hours watching a package before a lightning speed delivery, easy,” said Rainbow.
“That was an example,” said Rec, “I had to look after my parcel for several days before I learned the spell. The time period imposed is intended to drive you to the breaking point in terms of your curiosity, then when you're almost ready to crack you get word of who you're supposed to take it. So you're left with a choice, take it to its intended destination and possibly learn what's in the package or just tear it open and satisfy your own curiosity.”
“If you choose the latter you have to do the whole thing over with a longer waiting period,” said Claudia, “I know because that's what happened to me. My initial wait period was twenty-seven hours, the moment I was told I who it had to go to, which was another half hour of transit, I set out to deliver the item, I made it another fifteen minutes before I broke down and opened the package. After that I had to wait a total of two weeks for item delivery, I looked like I was going to crack any minute by day six.”
“To learn SimpleMind you must have a great self-discipline so as to better know when is an appropriate time to utilize the spell,” said Mandi, “something martial training usually bestows, when Claudia was given the test she had just recently become a seeker. Rec and I were more aware of our limits back then and waited a few years beyond that point before making a go at learning it ourselves. Of course our moms were in on all the seeker stuff at that point, and Claudia's mom was always looking for ways to further Claudia's martial arts training.”
“Which is why she allowed Claudia to undergo the test for learning SimpleMind to begin with,” said Rec, “self-control is highly important to a martial artist, without it all that training becomes undisciplined brawling instead of refined forms with an elegant grace.”
“It's also why I usually spend a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the evening practicing,” said Claudia.
“You need a similar sort of self-discipline with certain spells,” said Mandi, “it's why to be a master seeker you need to be a trained martial artist. It takes years of discipline and self mastery, we've all been practicing martial arts since we were little.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” said Twilight, “the part about the spell anyway. I suppose my brother would approve, he was captain of Canterlot's royal guard before he married my sister-in-law, then a few months later they moved to the Crystal Empire. He was my best friend when I was a filly.”
“You had a sibling growing up, lucky!” Said Mandi, “I'm an only child.”
“I'm only child too,” said Claudia, “the difference being I'm glad I don't have siblings, I wouldn't want to subject to the garbage my family likes to heap on its members.”
“I have a few older sibling, well more half-siblings,” said Rec, “they don't really like me all that much.”
“How can somepony be half yer sibling? That make no sense ta me,” said Applejack, “either thay're yer kin or thay're not.”
“It's a term,” said Rec, “we all have the same father, but Orchid and I have different mother than others, they like taking out their frustrations on me when they can.”
“Why's that?” Inquired Applejack.
“Their mom filed for divorce with dad, and they blame my for it. The honest truth is dad didn't meet mom until five years after the divorce hearings.”
“I'm not familiar with the term,” said Twilight.
“It's a legal process by which you cease to be married to someone,” said Rec, “that's the way it in our world sometimes. Some folks just rush into somethings without putting much thought into it and after they realize they made a mistake they want the legal system to help fix it.”
“That jus' ain't right,” said Applejack, “kin 're kin, you can't deny that. An' that whole part abou' getting a judge to okay tha marriage o' ponies just don't sit right wid me.”
“Same here,” said Rec, “but since it all happened before I was born there's not a whole lot I can say on the matter.”
“Rec,” said Claudia, “you're really old fashioned sometimes.”
“Then answer this quick question, how many wedding have you been to that had the line 'until the courts do you part'?”
Claudia just sat there and blinked a few times as Mandi said, “You have to admit, he got you there. To my knowledge no weddings ever had the service speaker ever utter those words.”
“We're all mommy's kids anyway,” said Claudia, “we all have philosophies shaped mostly by our mothers.”
“True enough,” said Mandi, “and our moms didn't freak when the whole 'things aren't as they seem thing' fell in their laps.”
“From the stories my mom tells me about her first exposure to the seeker world she just giggled,” said Rec, “almost like she found something funny or amusing about it all.”
“Now that you mention,” said Mandi, “my mom had similar response.”
“My mom had a 'that's it? I was expecting something more' response,” said Claudia.
“So,” said Rec, “have any of you fine mares come to any new decisions?”
“Yes,” said Twilight, “my friends and I will each take a Hoplite, they might be beneficial in the future.”
“Now hold on thare, Ah didn't agree to anything like tha...”
“Applejack, you should be more appreciative of the extra help you're getting,” said Rarity, cutting off her friend.”
“Fine,” said Applejack with an annoyed tone to her voice, “but Ah'm still keepin' 'em in mah hat until Ah think Ah'll need 'em.”
“We all have our styles,” said Rec, “anything else?”
“Yeah, I'll take two of each amulet we have available presently,” said Twilight, “a more detailed study of amulets and titans is in order.”
“Okay,” said Rec, “just don't let things go too far, titans need their amulets to remain anchored to this world, that and over exposure to a certain kind of magic could trigger a change in a titan causing it and its amulet undergo a transformation some kind. I've heard of some less than ethical seekers doing tests on titans, and in some cases causing the titan to become a whole new titan. Granted, these mostly unsubstantiated rumors, but considering those tend to be something many seekers consider probable cause for investigation I would recommend you treat such hearsay as if it were potential fact until proven otherwise.”
“I'll keep that in mind,” said Twilight, “we don't want be unethical, that's being rude. How will I know what is happening to the titan during my examinations?”
“I'll save you some trouble,” said Inari seeming pop out of nowhere, again, “titans do not require air, sleep or food. That all said, some of us enjoy the acts to varying degrees.”
“Wait,” said Fluttershy, “they don't need to breath?”
“Yes,” said Rec, “and to prove that point Inari willingly placed herself in a vacuum chamber for seventeen hours, I could still hear her over our link, she said it was one of the most enjoyable experiences she's had centuries.”
All the present alicorns turned their attention to the white fox with inquisitive looks. Twilight snapped out of it first when she realized Rec had said something, “Wait, vacuum chamber! What is that?”
“A room designed to be both airtight and be able to have all the air within it sucked out,” said Mandi, “we often use such rooms for preservation purposes. No air means whatever living things were in the room have low likelihood of being active. Due to their nature of not requiring things that creatures of the physical need to survive titans have the added bonus of being able to operate almost anywhere with little to no difficulty.”
“It's also good way to drop somebody uncouncious,” said Claudia, “if you deprive someone of air long enough they go unconscious. The trick is not making it last too long since doing so can potentially kill them at worst and at best cause brain damage.”
Everyone else there recoiled at what she said, “Yes well,” said Mandi, “Claudia has bit more of a militaristic view of things. Even so that is a horrible thought, and you should feel bad for it.”
“If they're a threat the option stands you take it, period,” said Claudia, “but you are right that doing something like that is a bit extreme.”
“Now that we have that disturbing imagery out of the way,” said Twilight, “I'm fascinated by the fact titans don't require what we do, what do they use to sustain themselves?”
“Mostly ambient mystic energies that tend to be plentiful enough to sustain us when we're active,” said Inari, “within their amulets and rings titans gain the sustenance they require.”
“Alright,” said Twilight as she took down notes, “wait, is any of this information put out to intentionally mess with me? Rec, Orchid, Mandi and Claudia all mentioned you are a bit like Discord from time to time.”
“That is true,” said Inari, “but I wouldn't mess with someone like you about matters like this, there is so much mystic energy flowing through this world that I wish to know what the new limits imposed us just is. Your research into such things may be able to answer the questions related to all that. I know know when to get serious.”
“She's not lying,” said Rec, “one of the benefits of a link with a titan is you can read their honest intentions.”
“Of all the titans we've encountered Inari is the only that seems capable of communicating with those that aren't her seeker,” said Celestia.
“Well that because of my properties,” said Inari, “I'm a Legendary Titan whose power is closely related to the aspect of the mind that deals with problems. I've got a few fragmented memories the war with Nullifiers, but they're pretty jumbled. And to be honest I followed the course of another titan that learned the speech of mortal well before recorded history. I can't quite remember his his name, I think it was he anyway. Did the name start with a Ch sound or Ca sound. Well, whatever, point is I'm beyond the range of most titans.”
“Legendary titans have the most powerful abilities among all titans. For example Pinkie's Puck also has the illusion ability, but his illusions can only affect one or two of the senses,” said Rec.
“Yupirooni,” said Pinkie, “sight and hearing, that's it.”
“Inari's illusions can affect all the senses, even ones you aren't aware you have. In fact they're so thorough that they gave rise to the myth that fox spirits and fox demons had the ability perform slightly imperfect transformations.”
“Nothing is perfect,” said Inari, “my illusions can't completely fool all the senses. If you were to look at things you normally don't pay much attention too you'd notice more fox-like features, my abilities can't completely fool everyone's senses. Although my illusions have proven quite effective at fool a number of titans. I've also taught Rec a long standing illusion spell.”
“Most annoying weekend of my life,” said Rec.
“It only took you a total seventeen hours to get,” said Inari, “That's still pretty impressive.”
“What did she teach you?” Inqiured Twilight.
“An illusion spell called ThoughtSpectere, it's not something I see myself using most of the time. Usually a HideSite or CamoForge will do the trick.”
“What do those do?” Inquired Rarity.
“HideSite makes it so other things stay as invisible as long as you want them to, the exception being moving objects that use a motion that can be interpreted as an attack,” said Mandi, “CamoForge is spell for turning the caster the invisible.”
“ThoughtSpectre can do all that and project any image the caster wants,” said Rec, “if I wanted to look like an old mare in her final years I could do it, and with practice I could even make sound the part.”
“Oh, that's fascinating,” said Twilight, “most of our illusion spells are very limited in their range, but as you said most seeker spells have a bit more of a wider range of applications.”
“Cool,” said Rainbow.
“Illusion spells in the Association are carefully managed,” said Mandi, “don't want the wrong sort getting a hold of a spell that could cause trouble for several members of your faction. You have to keep in mind that sometimes your faction may have infiltrators, that is to say seekers that actually work for a different faction. Think of it having spies from another agency well set up as loyal members of your agency, that's pretty much what it's like.”
“As fascinatin' as this all is Ah would like ta et least learn a few more tricks ta help out on tha farm, BoltFlare trick seems mighty useful fer a number o' thangs on the farm.”
“Would you prefer a DragonFist or HyperStride,” said Mandi, “Dragonfist increases your strength and HyprStride increases the strength in your rear legs, we usually use it for jumping higher than usual. Rec, care to give an example?”
“Sure thing,” said Rec before turning to the castle, “HyperStride,” a set of blue flames seemed to envelop his rear legs and he suddenly jumped a distance that most that could only be achieved with wings and hopped about until he was the peak of the castle, at which point the flames seemed to die out, then in a literal flash he was back where he started, “the power I used to get back her was FlashJump. Oh, Claudia, your Salamander is complaining about not being able to stretch in a while.”
“Only seeker who can hear the voice titans he isn't bonded with when they aren't invoked,” she snarked before reaching into her pouch and tossing out a steely blue amulet with flourish, upon her catching it they saw the amulet resembled a dragon's claw with a flame patterned grayish-pink gem embedded into it, “burn the villains, Salamander,” with that an salamander-shaped dragon without wings colored flame red and flame green in a flame pattern across its body with deep yellow cat-like eyes appeared next her, “so, we're pestering my teammates for a little flexing now,” she said teasingly the titan. It just gave her a look, “yeah, yeah, I get it, sheesh, go do your stretches and then its right back to the amulet, and driving the populace into a state of worry this time...I'm aware that only happened once, but the you can't fault for wanting to be cautious.”
“That looks more like a dragon than a salamander,” said Fluttershy as she hid behind Twilight.
“Yes, well salamanders are indeed a kind of amphibian,” said Rec, “but long ago in our world it was used as a term a wingless fire breathing dragon. Claudia's Salamander is one of the few surviving titans tied to those old stories that we're aware of.”
“Surviving?” said Celestia, “why did you say it like that?”
“There things known as lost titans,” said Mandi, “they're titans that disappeared centuries ago for some reason. Before Claudia found her Salamander it was believed those titans had been wiped out through various means. There are a variety of Meso-Titans that actually have recorded cases of peoples of different cultures actually being active in the destruction of their amulets, those are titans that will no longer be able to be invoked or form meaningful connections with a seeker.”
As they all talked Salamander was just leisurely walking about, it took a few minutes to sniff Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie before giving them an affectionate lick. “He likes you,” said Claudia with amusement when it happened.
“Why would anypony that knows what the amulets are like willingly destroy them,” said Twilight and Rarity in unison with a sense of revulsion.
“You have to remember after the war that brought the Titans to our world new cultures were established across the globe,” said Rec, “some of the seekers from those cultures weren't the kind of folks you wanted making contact with cultures that were new to them, some of those same seekers saw certain titans as a threat so they ordered the destruction of the amulets of those same amulets.”
“Keep in mind that seekers are in minority where we come from,” said Mandi, “most of the individuals carrying out the orders given to them had no idea what they were actually being told. Most them wouldn't have been able to recognize an amulet because chances were high they weren't in the know.”
“It's still a deplorable practice,” said Luna, “we would order such artifacts kept secure until such a time that they could possibly be dealt with better.”
“Well the good news is that all of those titans that cocievably became lost might have fallen to this world when Princess Luna called them this world,” said Rec, “although she might have opened up the world for a possible Nullifier encroachment.”
“That sounds pretty bad,” said Twilight, “do you what we should look for?”
“Anything that desires destruction above all else would be a good start,” said Claudia, “oh, come on!” Everyone turned their attention to where she was looking to see Salamander sunning itself and, apparently, sleeping. Discord immediately had the titan wearing a monocle, top hat, and clown suit along with a ridiculous fake beard that could be clearly seen as fake.
“Why is my dragon in top hat? You know what, never mind,” said Claudia.
“You actually have a dragon, and it listens to you,” said Rainbow Dash, “that is so awesome!”
“He's a troop and I'm his commanding officer, that's just how things are.”
“Now, is that any way to talk about a friend,” said Luna.
“Salamander is a firecely loyaly titan, but he needs to be commanded by somebody,” said Claudia, “if you don't establish yourself as an authoritative power to him he tends play the evil dragon with a penchant for destruction.”
“That and he only respects bossy types,” said Rec, “he doesn't really like you if you try to play the 'I just want to be friends' card with him, Claudia's bested suited to the role of his seeker. Remember how I said that some titans have rules for bonding with them? Well, Salamander, Vitaguard, and Akmen-Meo are some of those titans.”
“Oh, really?” Inquired Twilight.
“Yeah, and before he showed up at home his Vitaguard was considered a lost titan,” said Mandi, “the older seekers wouldn't shut up about it when he introduced us to the Association. It might also be one of the reasons his older siblings don't try to get along with him.”
“Has he et least tried?” Asked Applejack.
“I tried extending an olive branch dozens of times b"efore I met my friends,” said Rec, “the constant refusals to accept the attempts for better relations are why I'm not quite like Pinkie these days.”
“Oh, I bet you were fun to be around,” said Pinkie.
“Mom seems to have thought so,” said Rec, “but she knows that everything can stay the way we want it to. I might get back to the chipper persona, but for now I'm not. I still do what I can to make others happy around the place I call home, but outside that place I'm mostly serious.”
“Not every family is as happy and stable the ones you've all seem to have known,” said Mandi, “Rec hardly every actually sees his dad and all his elder siblings seem to be intent on making his time difficult when they're around him, Claudia has as much contempt for her father's family as her mother does in addition to them being disapproving of the two. I had a pretty uninteresting life until Rec came and helped orient me to all the magic stuff. Point is, we all have different experiences with life, it's what we do with them that allows us to define ourselves.”
“Nice speech,,” said Claudia, “I didn't think you would do anything like that.”
“It felt like I was supposed to do that,” said Mandi, “with that said, since he's taking nap, maybe you should call him back.”
“Do all of you have dragons in your pouches?” Inquired Twilight, “Rec has Nordrake and Claudia has Salamander.”
“Not really,” said Mandi, “we did go on a little sailing trip through the Mediterranean where I got a pretty fierce one, he's one of my few titans that's more aggressive than defensive.”
“And that would be?” Inquired all three princesses at the same time.
“He was considered a fierceness foe for a powerful hero, but I want tell who he his just yet. Besides it wasn't pleasure cruise, we were told we needed to do it.”
“That was two years ago,” said Rec, “it was far more of a headache than we wanted to deal with, one of the titans we found was so feisty that last we heard it was actually being moved between a variety of safe houses every few months.”
“I don't quite understand,” said Twilight.
“That's easy,” said Inari, “some of the more powerful titans can actually exert some of their power while within their amulet. I've done it a few times before, that mostly during the time when I still could not free myself of my amulet of my own volition.”
“From what we've able to gather no other legendary titans have that ability,” said Rec.
“Yes, you've told us before,” said Twilight.
“It's worth repeating,” said Mandi.
“It took me centuries to figure out that trick,” said Inari, “and to be frankly honest, I'm the most imaginative among my fellow Legendary Titans,” she seemed to transform into a unicorn with an orange coat and and pink mane in Rainbow Dash's style, “and that is why the other Legendary Titans won't be popping out of their amulets on their own. They're to stubborn try learning new tricks. They aren't don't see problems as challenges or obstacles to overcome, they just see a challenge as something to meet head on, especially the Legendary Titan of Champions. I find it ironic that the seeker who held that titan was my original seeker's mentor.”
“You're awfully chatty, and forthcoming about some things, today,” said Rec.
“Yes, well the fall to your world was one of the best things to happen to me,” said Inari.
“But you said they all fell to your world a long time ago,” said Rarity.
“Actually I said they first fell to our world a long time ago,” Inari nodded and seemed to disappear again, “but titans that never had a seeker before are still being found in our world, it's been theorized that there points around our globe where titans are still falling to our world. We call these theoretical locations 'Fall Points', but they're not so theoretical anymore.”
“How so?” Asked Twilight.
“Because,” said Claudia, “the gate that brought us here was near one of those, we confirmed it, but couldn't share that info with the team that was present there. Some sort of magic was keeping the teams out, but we passed on through like the shield wasn't even there.”
“Then when we cam back up,” said Mandi, “it looked like everyone there had up and left without the equipment or vehicles. We had some our titans try to find them to no avail, then Rec got the idea to ask his Janusea for help. Next thing we know we've found gate and we're waking up in the field next to Poyville in our current states.”
“Fascinating,” said Twilight, “we'll have to look further int this later.”
“Agreed,” said Rec, “but as it stands now you all are going to need some new accessories to hold your amulets. You've probably noticed our...flank pouches, back where we come from they were hip pouches. Seekers with titans like to keep them within reach, so we wear pouches at our hips and various clothing with pockets to ensure they are indeed easily accessible when needed. Rarity, do you think you use your skills to make some pouches for everyone?”
“Well I suppose so,” said Rarity, “it's definetly a different sort of style than I'm used to.”
“Maybe if you're lucky it kick off a fad or trend throughout the country, after all you are making some for Celestia and Luna in addition to Twilight and your friends,” said Mandi.
“And they pretty easy personalize,” said Rec, “provided you have the right equipment and materials.”
“So these pouches 're fer carryin' amulets? Mah hat is good enough for that,” said Applejack.
“You can also carry a variety of small items with you,” said Rec, “like documents, pocket magnifying glasses, eye glasses, various small accessories and a variety of other things. Seekers just use them because they're practical an pretty easy to get a hold of. Remember we have a policy of being practical with our magic, it also extends to some items we may need to manage.”
“There are stories about artifacts that are bonded with some individuals in our world,” said Claudia, “such artifacts are considered highly valuable for a variety of reasons.”
“Is there a way to forcibly sever a bond?” Inquired Twilight.
“Yes,” said Rec with a shiver, “it's spell called SorrowBond, it cuts out the link a seeker has with an artifact or titan when it's in its amulet. Many seekers see it as a definably evil power, there is no one on our team that has learned it.”
“And we have no intention of doing so,” said Mandi, “we haven't studied its instructions.”
“It sounds like could be useful, in the right hooves,” said Celestia, “we could work on making no longer seen as something evil.”
“It's not that simple sister,” said Luna, “a spell like that could easily find itself in the wrong hooves, while I agree that we should probably have some ponies know it I believe that they must go through a comprehensive screening to ensure they wouldn't go and use it for the wrong reasons. But I must warn you, even with all the precautions somepony of dubious nature might still gain knowledge of the spell and use it for all the wrong reasons. Most spells are associated with a moral alignment, but those that are have labeled as such for good reason. They just said that by using the spell you cut off a magical link between the pony and item they are connected to, imagine for a moment if a pony learned that spell and used it separate Twilight and her friends from the Elements of Harmony, imagine what could of happened of Nightmare Moon had known such a spell and used it sever your link to the elements you wielded before Nightmare Moon attempted her coup.”
Celestia shivered, “A valid point Luna, we are most fortunate we were unaware of such a spell until now.”
“The spell does have one glaring flaw,” said Claudia, “if the one who had their connection severed manages to make physical contact with item again the spell undone, but the thing is most the cases we know about the spell involve seekers being separated from their amulets and taken to a different place than said amulets.”
“Use the spell then break them up,” Twilight, “a reasonable strategy.”
“Actually a common practice among seekers when they take someone into custody is to search them for amulets,” said Mandi, “and then confiscate any that have been found.”
“It's why Claudia put forth the resources to giving us some tricked out footwear,” said Rec, “shoes with hidden compartments are very useful, mostly due to the fact almost no one bothers to check your footwear when they do a search.”
“Hoofwear with hidden compartments,” said Rarity, “how delightfully clever! I might look into that at sometime, oh but that would mean special padding for the interior compartment and reinforcing for the chamber to insure stability, would also have find a way to make sound like any other hoofwear composed of the same material.”
“You just got Rarity pulling a Twilight,” Spike deadpanned, “I don't know if I should be impressed or frightened.”
“Well,” said Rec, “that's it for now, if do share any of this make sure who share it with can keep a secret.”
“Got it,” said all the Equestrians.
“Rainbow,” said Rec, “that means no showing any your seeker related abilities and things, you can brag about how cool the amulet is, you just can't show anyone outside the know your titan or give display of spells.”
“You're going to withhold lessons on those speed spells,” said Rainbow Dash with annoyance in her voice, “that's not fair!”
“Life is seldom fair,” said Rec, “besides you'd be too tempted to use them in conjunction with your move sets.”
“He's got you there,” said Twilight as she passed by with her recording materials, “who would of thought the basics would be exhilarating!”
“Yes,” Rainbow snarked, “because learning how augment my jumping with magic is so useful. In you haven't notice, we both have wings! We can fly!”
“Rainbow,” said Twilight, “we've been given the kind of opportunity that few magic researchers have, and aren't you happy that kind of spells aren't exclusive to unicorns?”
“I guess,” said Rainbow, “but the way they talk about this stuff its like they've lived a whole bunch of unwritten Daring Do novels and don't even care.”
“Yo, standing right here,” said Claudia, “and to clarify for you, the only reason we're so unenthused by our adventures is because the joy of it feels like its getting sucked out. I mean finding uncharted islands with monsters out in the middle of a well traveled body of water is nice and all, but when you end up facing the same villain one too many times in a row it just feels like repetition more than some exciting adventure. Damion is that villain, he's with the Base Collective and acts like he's the gift of the heavens to everything. Rec, Mandi and I always seem to knock him down a few pegs in each of our encounters with him, he's blinded by his own arrogance and vanity.”

************************************************

It was a few hours later, the fillies weren't back yet, but that wasn't much of an issue. Rainbow Dash was pestering Mandi for some sparring practice. “Rainbow, how many times do I have to say no? I'm interested in that sort of thing,” Mandi said with annoyance laced in her voice.
“Then could at least come and be my flying buddy? It will take a few minutes,” said Rainbow, “besides I'm bored, I finished my entire workload before the class course even started, and I'm more of the type that learns while in motion, not sitting around listening.”
“So, you're a kinetic learner,” said Mandi, “I'll give you a run through of the basics while on the move later, right now I need some alone time so I can meditate. Rec and Twilight are prepping for the expedition through the bog, it'll take some time, hopefully we'll find something. Also I really don't want to have to deal with any monsters. Know anything about potential threats at this 'Froggy Bottom Bog'?”
“Oh yeah,” said Rainbow, “we ran into this hydra and then Twilight bounced off this really big bubble, and then nearly blew her top. It was great.”
“Wait, hydra? You were chased around by a real hydra? Great! Where there's one there are bound to more, I really don't want have to deal with that sort of thing. You would think two would be enough for a lifetime.”
“Wait, you've dealt with two hydras.”
“Not at the same time, and they were in different places. Although there is one titan that can be likened to a hydra, so technically it could be three. I have two of those amulets, they just like me for some reason. What did it look like?”
“You know, big and dragon like with multiple heads,” said Rainbow.
“Where I come from we mostly have stories about hydras, and they're described as having anywhere from three to twenty heads. So, please tell me what the hydra you encountered looked like.”
“Oh, um,” said Rainbow trying to recall the creature as she floated around Mandi, “Bigger than most of the buildings here, brown all over, two legs, and four heads.”
“Well seeing as it lives in a moisture rich environment that could mean it's akin to the Lernaean Hydra,” mused Mandi, “probably would be bad idea to try lopping off its heads.”
“Okay, one that is disgusting image, and two, why?”
“The Lernaean Hydra is what most in our world think of when you say hydra, they have the ability to grow back two heads when they lose one, it's kind of creepy when you think about.”

*******************************************

It was almost an hour later with Rainbow having finally left Mandi alone. Upon seeing Rec again she said, “So, what's the word?”
“We're going have wait a few days, turns out that location is slated to get torrential ran until the end of the week. How was your time?
“Rainbow pestered me for a few minutes, she mentioned running into a hydra down there.”
“Yeah, Twilight mentioned the same thing, she was pretty thorough in describing it. I hope Omni can handle it. I noticed you had his amulet, I brought Masker just in case.”
“Yeah, well I also have my favorite 'snake' for just in case as well.”
“Cool, the princesses insisted paying us for our services, I didn't object. I told them half now, the rest after we're done chasing down this lead. Besides we do need the currency of the realm if we want to try fitting in here, I'll working on splitting with everyone later.”
“Even Orchid?” Asked Claudia.
“Yes,” said Rec, “she deserves a reward for keeping those other girls out of trouble.”