Seekers in Equestria

by dracone

Orchid, the CMC and Titans in the Everfree

While Rec, Claudia, Mandi, Twilight and Pinkie sped towards Canterlot on a train Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Orchid under the care of Rainbow Dash and Applejack made their way through the Everfree Forest to the Castle of the Two Sisters. “This going to be so cool,” said Scootaloo, “not only are we under the care of the coolest pony in all of Equestria, but we also are going somewhere with a new friend to try and get our Cutie Marks in something cool.”

“Well statistically speaking the treasure hunt might not pan out the way you would expect, especially considering your sister type individuals have been here dozens of times without incident,” said Orchid, “I'm willing to see if we can find something new, but chances are everything you think we're discovering is actually something they found a while back.”

“Did I just hear our newest pony give an egghead response,” said Rainbow, “ah man, she's already going be boring to talk to, she's practically a Twilight in the making for their group.”

“Ah don' see how tha's a problem,” said Applejack, “if yuh ask ask me, tha's on uh tha things their group needs, somepony tha' thinks et's best to try uh more subdued approach maht be jus' whut those thar fillies need, besides she tha one tha' inspired this little expedition.”

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

A few minutes later the six ponies came up on the castle and Applejack said, “well girls, here we are.” All four looked up at the remarkably well conditioned partially crumbling ruin.

Orchid reached into her flank pouch and pulled out her Springer and Red Searcher amulets and yelled out, “trick the trap, Springer,” her white three tailed fox-like squirrel appeared before her, “show how you watch, Red Searcher,” the red bat winged eyeball appeared before her, “okay you two I want to look for hidden compartments and disarm any traps nearby, when that's done I feel free to do as you like, just don't wander to far from me.”

“That flying eyeball is as creepy as it is cool,” said Rainbow, “still not as awesome as Tank though.”

Orchid gave the Crusaders a confused look, Scootaloo said, “he's her pet turtle, and he's totally awesome.”

“Oh,” said Orchid, “we don't really have any pets at home, the closest we get is some of our Titans. And the thing is... you found what?... Where?... Okay, I'll be right there, Searcher found something. I'll get you once I've zeroed in on the location, NimbleFire,” the dark orange aura of the spell glowed around her and she sped towards a wall, “HyperStride,” the blue flame aura of the spell wrapped around her hind legs just before she jumped the wall and kept speeding away.”

“Did you just see a filly make a jump you said you were pretty sure nopony with no wings couldn't make?” said Rainbow to AJ.

“Eeyup,” said Applejack.

“I don't know what kind of awesome to file that under,” said Rainbow.

A bright flash announced the return of Orchid. “Augh, mah eyes,” cried the Apple siblings in unison with the other crying something similar about the flash hurting their eyes.”

“Sorry,” said Orchid, “I forgot the FlashJump spell can temporally blind everything, Searcher found an amulet,” she held up a brown primal shield with a dark brown impression that looked like an inverted spade symbol and a red gem near the top, “it's and an Enforcer amulet, this guy's a real jerk, I have no intention of bonding with a titan this abrasive. Before any of you ask, no I am not giving him to you. Part of Seeker tradition is you have to find your first Titan, so have at it. I told Searcher and Springer they can goof off for a few minutes.”

“Ah can respect traditions, we Apples try to follow them ta tha bes' of our abilities,” said Applejack.

“Searcher, what do you mean you... no that would be a mass of triple chocolate strawberry swirl cupcakes that are of a size that defy reason. Now I'm hungry, and there is a mass of giant versions of my favorite kind of cupcake in a ring around a giant tree about a five minute hike to the right of us. Yes Springer, you are free to enjoy those,” then to herself she said, “where are the rest of the cupcakes, and the bowl of yogurt with huckleberries and absurdly large spoon.”

“Um,” said Sweetie Belle, what was that?”

“Oh nothing much,” said Orchid, “my titans just found where Discord and Inari decided to stash a bunch of comically over food stuffs they were talking about last night.” With that she made her way to where the giant cupcakes were.

“Who's Inari?” said Rainbow Dash.

“A very powerful Titan that has figured out how to verbally communicate, is a massive prankster, looks like a white fox with nine tails, and is currently bonded to my brother. Before you ask I suggest you go to my brother to get the answer,” said Orchid as she continued to where she was told one of the giant cupcakes was.

“Ah thin' tha' might bae a bit difficul',” Said Applejack, “Seein' as 'e's gonna be en Canterlot most of the day an' probably gonna bae at et tomorrow as well.”

“Well, yeah,” said Orchid, “he takes his missions seriously, and the way he was talking about going to Canterlot indicated he was going on a mission. To a Seeker a mission is kind of like a high priority work order, everything else has to take a backseat when a Seeker has mission, at least that's how my brother explained it. There are just many different kinds of Seekers as there are ponies. We're going to need some protection, I heard it's potentially dangerous out here in the woods,” all the ponies nodded, she reached into her side pouch and pulled out Breaker's amulet and shouted out, “Watch for danger, Breaker,” the bear-like titan appeared next to her as she continued to where the cupcakes were.

“Whoa,” said Rainbow Dash, “I am so jealous, and Flutters would really like this guy too, well she'd also like that Springer thing of yours. That thing you called Red Searcher, it might creep her out a bit.”

“He creeped me out a bit when I first saw him,” said Orchid, “but then when I saw him for the second time I was far more used to stuff like that. Actually miss Fluttershy and I seem to operate on a similar wavelength, she has a connection to animals that's beyond what I thought possible and I seem to be able to bond most easily with animal-like Titans. Jirwolf was my first titan and when I got home from bonding with him,” she gestured to Breaker, “my brother gave me Breaker, he's a little rough around the edges, and most Seeker have trouble bonding with him from what I've heard. You see Meso-Titans like Breaker have powerful abilities and force of will so they're very difficult to bond with. Gaia-Titans like Jirwolf have a strong connection to the natural world with strong protectiveness and strong desires to help, which reminds me! Appear, Jirwolf,” the night-like wolf appeared next to her, “his abilities can easily act as an early warning before things start getting more dangerous. He's my best friend, and all my titans will be out for quite some time. Now that we have all that out of the way,” she turned toward the location of the giant cupcake, “I have a titanic cupcake to try out,” with that she continued to leave.

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

Twenty minutes later Orchid was leaning against Jirwolf with a giant cupcake that looked like it only had a twelfth of it eaten. The wolf-like titan was laying next to Applejack, whom was giving the filly an amused look. The Crusaders had called a break to their treasure hunting to pilfer some pieces of the the giant cupcake and were snuggling up next the other side of Jirwolf. The sight brought a smile to both Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Dash had tried scouring the castle at high speed, but had no luck finding any amulets herself. Springer was curled up on Orchid's head while Red Searcher had opted to return to his amulet, Breaker was standing watch next Applejack.

It was just as Orchid was getting up to go searching again Fluttershy walked into the clearing, after taking in the sight a moment the yellow mare said, “Oh my, I didn't know such animals were in the Everfree Forest!”

“That's because they aren't,” said Orchid as she got up, “they're all my titans, she gestured to each as she said their names, “Jirwolf, my first titan; Breaker, my most trusted guardian; and Springer, my clever trap tricking friend.”

“They're all so cute,” said Fluttershy, “especially the one you call Springer. What do they eat?”

“Whatever you have available works. Titans don't need to eat, or breath. They're spirit creatures, they don't follow the same rules other creatures you may have encountered. Titans are amazing entities that come in a wide variety of things. However they are set up into groupings. The groupings are known as the titan types. Each belongs to one of a few classifications. There are Meso-Titans like Springer and Breaker, and Gaia-Titans like Jirwolf, and a variety of other titan kinds.”

“That's nice, I see Discord decided to give you a rather large snack.”

“He set it up with Inari last night,” replied Orchid.

“Who's Inari?” inquired Fluttershy.

“Some titan that looks like big white fox with nine tails,” said Rainbow Dash, “we've never met her, but Orchid gave us enough of a description for us ta piece it all together. Also the other foals are curled up on the other side of the wolf, whatcha doin' here Flutters?”

“Oh, um,” said said Fluttershy, “a friend of one of my squirrel friends that lives in the Everfree said it spotted a strange flying creature in the forest that I should probably learn the intentions of.”

“Can ya tell us whut thay said et looked like?” inquired Applejack.

“A big eyeball that flew around on bat wings,” said Fluttershy.

“Oh, that's just Red Searcher,” said Orchid, “he's pretty harmless, he just likes to look around and take in as much of the sights as he can. I had him searching for traps in the castle earlier, he went back to his amulet a few minutes ago.”

“Does he safeguard it?” inquired Fluttershy.

“It's his home,” said Orchid as she brought the telltale amulet out, “this is where he is right now, if it breaks he'll be lost forever. Seekers do their best to keep their amulets safe, every amulet has a Titan inside and each of my titans is a good friend, Jirwolf is my best friend.”

“Who's Jirwolf?” inquired Fluttershy, the star-like wolf looked at her and gave low growl, “oh, your Jirwolf, it's a pleasure to meet you, is that your name?”

The wolf gave her a perplexed look and Orchid said, “no, that's what the name of the titan he is. There are other Seekers with Jirwolf amulets in the world, he just happens to be bound to me.”

“He's not very talkative,” said Fluttershy.

“To you perhaps,” said Orchid, “but to me he's very talkative, you see when a Seeker and Titan bond they gain a mental link that the titan uses to tell their seeker things, I still have to communicate verbally with him though. According to Rec's research once a titan and seeker have their bond reach its full potential the titan becomes powerbonded, when that happens a titan and seeker can communicate entirely through their mental link with no verbal expressions.”

“That's incredible,” said Fluttershy, “but why does he not have a name?”

“That's the way it is with titans, what they are is their name, it's been a long standing tradition that no one has bothered to try shaking. The other three are really intent on seeing if they can find amulets with titans themselves. The only titan we've found so far is an Enforcer, he's a real jerk so I'm keeping him separate from everyone. I've also heard enforcers only bond with those with real mean personalities, so I don't think anyone here could bond with him anyway... well you are a jerk and I'm not going to even try letting you out... don't you dare give me that tone, I will have you know I have a good friend in a Breaker and will not hesitate to ask him for assistance in taking you down a few pegs. Sorry about that, Enforcer tried to get me to bond with him and then invoke him. Seekers can sense the personalities of the titans in amulets, even if they don't know what the titan is. Rec and I have such a strong magical sense we can actually sense what titans are trying to say inside amulets that we don't have connection with... Not happening pal...because you're a real jerk.”

“It's almost like watching Fluttershy trying to argue with an animal,” said Rainbow Dash with a giggle, “well, she did say you both are similar. I think her exact expression was something about you to having the 'same wavelength' or something like that. I don't know, it's magic and we all know Twi's the magic expert around these parts”.

“Does it really look like that when I talk to animals?” inquired the yellow mare with a tone so soft it was almost a whisper.

“Sometime, eeyup,” said Applejack, “but ta bae honest with ya, ya both look rally cute doing that sorta thang. Twi's out uh town with Orchid's brother, who knows how long they'll take gettin' back, Ah was thinkin' uh havin' 'er spend tha night wid us et tha farm if they run real late, Spike 'ill bae holdin' up wid Rarity fer tha night ef Twi's not home by a certain time.”

“To be far Rec, Twilight, Claudia, Pinkie and Mandi never gave a rough estimate of when they'd be back,” said Orchid, “chances are it could take days, most Seeker missions take a few days to complete.”

“Well ya caun...”

“How are your sister and her friends doing?” inquired Orchid, who at the time thought it was time for a topic change.

“Thar still s...” Applejack noticed that the three fillies had gotten up from their nap and left to search the castle and surrounding area again, “back ta searchin' fer treasures en tha castle, how en tarnashin did Ah not notice those three trouble makers get up an' leave?”

Orchid and Fluttershy both gave a few little giggles before Orchid turned to Jirwolf and said, “if you would be so kind as to retrieve those three with as little damage as possible.”

The starry wolf gave a nod before standing up and giving a few sniffs of the air and ground around it before seeming to disappear. "How did he do that? I've never seen any creature do anything like that before,” said Fluttershy.

“One of his abilities is called 'Astral Form', it allows him to become like a projected form and move at much higher speeds that he would in the physical world and his 'Sixth Sense' allows him to track magical signatures. He'll find them and bring them all back, he's quite quick without taking advantage of his Astral Form.

“Well, that's nice,” said Fluttershy, “and such wonderfully useful abilities."

“He likes being useful,” said Orchid, “um, where did Rainbow Dash go?”

Looking around the yellow and orange mares noticed what that their cyan friend was indeed no longer with them. “Flutters check ta see if she's on any nearby clouds, Ah'll see if Ah can find 'er 'ere on the ground, Orchid yer helping us out.”

“Jirwolf heard all that, he's bringing Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo back now, and he says that he saw her trying to do something with Breaker. Looks like she convinced the big guy to go somewhere less obstructive and is trying out some new moves around him. She'll be fine as long as she doesn't try to... Breaker don't, she's not a Titan... don't give me that tone mister, you have a tendency to too squeeze everything pretty hard,” it was this point Jirwolf dropped three very confused, yet satisfied, Crusaders next to Orchid, “Jirwolf, could you retrieve Rainbow Dash before she does something else to get Breaker to try and give her an overly enthusiastic bear hug,” the starry wolf nodded and dashed off, turning to the Crusaders she said “did any of you find any amulets?”

“Nope,” said Apple Bloom, “but tha' ride yer wolf gave us was pretty fun,” the other two nodded in agreement.

“Nice to know, he's not doing that again anytime soon,” said Orchid.

“Why not?” said Scootaloo.

“Something about an orange filly screaming about the sight of a 'wolf made of stars appearing out of thin air', an yellow filly disregarding said wolf for a few seconds and a white filly insisting on petting him before he brought her back,” Orchid deadpanned, “seriously, you were napping right next him a few minutes ago. The only one that gave an expected reaction out of you three was Sweetie Belle, and that's probably because she met him last night.” The three other fillies looked a little sheepish, “your approach to things is haphazard at best and an utter disaster at worst. There's no structure, order, any sort of sense to your approach! You three are more than a little reckless, for safety's sake I insist we all do the searching as a team. It will also let us spot stuff more effectively.”

“Okay,” said Sweetie with a bounce, “is Jirwolf gonna join us?”

“Only if he wants,” said Orchid, turning to the wolf-like titan she said, “whatcha wanna do big guy?... You sure?... Okay, have fun.”

“He'll be sniffing around the castle's perimeter,” Breaker lumbered back to the camp site, the three fillies hadn't really gotten a good look at the bear-like titan before then, “Breaker on the other... hoof would be more than happy to join us.”

“I've never seen a bear like that,” said Fluttershy, “mind if I join you? I'd like to talk with him.”

“Knock yourself out,” said Orchid, “but be warned, he's not very talkative. Breaker is mister serious most of the time... no Jirwolf I am not going to eat all those giant cupcakes, I barely got through one with help,” the night-like wolf sauntered off. Springer I know you're awake, how about you ride Fluttershy for a bit, I'm sure she'd like it if you did that,” the foxy squirrel-like titan got up of Orchid's head and shook its three tails twice before executing a leap from Orchid's head to Fluttershy's with pinpoint accuracy, “he does that sometimes.”

“Nice to meet you mister Springer,” said Fluttershy, “what do like?” The small titan gave a little chitter to which the pink maned, yellow pegasus said, “you have a very strong connection with her, why do you like her so much?” More chittering, “oh my, she did that for you, she's a real sweetheart.”

“What did he tell her?” inquired Sweetie Belle.

“Not telling, it's a secret,” sang Orchid and Fluttershy at the same time before giggling simultaneously.

“Ah, no fair,” huffed Scootaloo.

“We have a castle to explore,” said Orchid, “let's go!” The four fillies, Fluttershy, Springer and Breaker made their way into the castle.

Orchid wasn't all that surprised, looked very much like all the European style castles she'd seen up 'til then (only with more equine motifs and no trace of humanoids). As they kept walking throughout the castle Springer was scurrying back and forth at every crevice big enough for the little titan before running out and seem to choose at random Orchid and Fluttershy, he also scampered into an open room and came back with the same routine. Breaker walked at the side of the five ponies and sniffed about the air as if expecting trouble. “So, um, mister bear,” said Fluttershy, “why do you have an extra set of arms?”

Breaker just gave low *mromm* and kept going.

“Oh, you're called a Breaker, Rarity would say something about you having a destructive name, I admit that sounds unfriendly.” Breaker gave another low bear roar, “oh, well that makes sense, you must get hungry pretty fast with those limbs.”

“Actually titans don't require food, sleep or air,” said Orchid, “some like to go through the experience, Springer really likes to experience eating, his favorite food seems to be carrot cake, no idea why that is. Anyway, Titans have a number of distinctive aspects that show themselves. Springers are masters of tricks and traps and they're all pretty smart as well as curious, Breaker is a grappling brawler so he tends to be a bit more aggressive than a lot of other titans.”

“Oh,” said Fluttershy, “so why is he so friendly.”

“That would be me,” said Orchid, “titans have a tendency to take on traits of their seekers if the seeker is really powerful, has an immense potential power or had the titan for a long time. Jirwolf has been with me the longest, in fact when I bonded with him I temporally took on some of his attributes.”

“Oh,” said Fluttershy, “is there anything special about your titans?”

“Well,” said Orchid as they continued through the castle, chuckling lightly when the Crusaders were snatched up by Breaker when they tried to make their way away from the rest of the group, “most of my titans are animal-like, I seem to have a knack for bonding with those kind of titans. Breaker was the first titan my brother ever gave me, he told me I would need a loyal guardian and Breaker seemed be the best fit. Jirwolf is my best friend and Breaker is a really good friend, my other titans are also good friends. Normally Seekers would recall a titan after they performed the task asked of them, but Rec and I like to let our titans spend extended periods of time out of their amulets when when the opportunities present themselves. As long as a titans amulet is undamaged they won't have any problems, if their amulet is destroyed they become lost. I don't know what I would do if I lost any of my titans like that. Rec's first titan was a warrior titan named Vitaguard, and his second titan was given to him by dad, her name is Janusea the Gatekeeper, he's gathered quite a few titans over the years, so have I. We're seekers and that means we don't take an expected approach to things, we hide information in places you wouldn't expect to find it, create puzzles and riddles that mean the most obvious approach is practically wrong, and always look for clues in stories in hopes of uncovering clues to finding titans. Are there any stories about this place?”

“Well,” said Applejack, “some ponies say that when Nightmare Moon was banished by Princess Celestia not all of her evil left and the remains left behind became the 'Pony of Shadows', some find the story quite frightening.”

Orchid stopped, as did the rest of the group, she seemed to be lost in thought before saying, “what abilities does the Pony of Shadows supposedly have?”

“All I can recall is that it's supposed to be a living shadow,” said Fluttershy with a bit of a shudder.

“There are a few titans with shadow based abilities,” said Orchid, “but none that are outright exposited as living shadows. The closest to that is Invisible Knight, and he just looks like an mass of armor moving its own.”

Fluttershy gave a worried look at the suits of pony armors surrounding them while the CMC in unison said, “Cool.”

“Wait does that mean that if we search the suits of armor we could find one of those amulet things?” said Scootaloo.

“Um, no,” said Orchid, “some titans hide as something else as guardians, but that's only if there's enough magical energy to sustain them. This forest is overflowing with magic, it could easily sustain a guardian titan. If you try toppling the armor in hopes of finding an amulet you might trigger the awakening of the guardian titans, it's best if you just...” during her explaining all three each toppled a suit of armor each. And were searching the pieces.

“Nothing in her,” huffed Scootaloo.

“Nutten en mine either,” said Apple Bloom.

“I didn't find anything either,” squeaked Sweetie Belle.

“What part about my explanation of guardian titans did you not get,” said Orchid in an annoyed voice.

“Um, oops,” said the CMC in unison.

“Girls you really should listen to somepony when they're telling you about things that are potentially dangerous,” said Fluttershy.

Almost as if on cue the sound of something moving through the castle unseen reached their ears. All five swiveled their ears following the sound. Orchid looked to Springer, currently perched on Fluttershy's head, and said, “Springer, do you know what that sound is?” The foxy squirrel-like titan looked at her for moment before she said, “that's a comforting thought, Springer says it sounds like it might be a titan. Next time pay attention to someone when they are telling you something, just because I'm around your age doesn't mean you should ignore me when I say stuff. I've been a Seeker for the past two years, I'm the most qualified individual for telling you about the dangers of titans at the moment. So when I say to not do something, you better actually take my advice next time.”

“Okay,” said the CMC in unison.

All of a sudden Applejack and Rainbow appeared next to them, all five breathed sighs of relief. “We heard armor clashing to the ground,” said Rainbow, “I hope it wasn't anything serious.”

“Nope,” said Orchid, “I told them about a titan called Invisible Knight and they figured one of the suits of armor might be one. Also... what did you say you're smelling Jirwolf?... You sure?... Weeee might have a problem!”

“Define problam,” said Applejack.

“Something big, quiet and mean is headed this way,” said Orchid, “Jirwolf says it smells like a titan of some kind, one he's not familiar with. West side of the castle, everyone out there now! Breaker give those three a ride, I'll ride Jirwolf, it'll be faster.”

The two mares nodded, “they'll also keep you safe,” said Rainbow, “we'll handle whatever it is, don't worry.”

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

After three and a half minutes of waiting, and feeling the large thing get closer, they all finally saw it. It looked like an apple tree walking on two legs with large swinging wood arms that ended in branch-like hands, it's wood was a dark mahogany color, its eyes were glowing bright green, its leaves were a dark emerald color, and the apples in the branches on it's back where the leaves were came in a variety of sizes and colors. “Whut in tarnashin is tha' thang,” said Applejack, “et looks lahk uh walkin' apple tree.”

“How are we supposed to fight that?” said Rainbow Dash.

“We aren't,” said Orchid, “Jirwolf says that's the titan, in other words its a test. Remember, what you think is is right approach isn't always what you need to do. It looks like it has apples hanging in its branches, how do you harvest apples?”

“Whut?” said Apple Bloom, “ya buck 'em, Ah dun't see how 'at'll 'elp us!”

“The test of a guardian has all the clues and resources within reach, that titan can emulate any kind of tree, so ask yourselves, why an apple tree? Why not some other kind of tree fruit like limes or lemons? The answers is simple, the way to defeat the guardian is in the knowledge an apple farmer holds, and last I checked our current apple expert is Applejack. You know how to best handle the test, I just asked a question that was supposed to get your thinking on the right track. Stop thinking of that thing as some kind of monster, instead think of it as some new kind of apple tree.”

Sudden realization dawned on Applejack. “Thanks, Orchid,” she said, “Ah know jus' whut ta do. Rainbow, don't interfer wid this, et's my challenge ta overcome on mah own.”

“Okay,” said Rainbow, “but if it makes a move to squash you I'm pulling you out of there, no matter how much you complain.”

“Wouldn't 'ave et any odder way,” said Applejack as she rushed over lumbering tree-like monstrosity. Once she was in front of it she started shouting about how she was going to help get it's apples out of the branches. To everypony's surprise, except Orchid, it really did stop and stood perfectly still, suddenly a bunch of baskets materialized around the entity, Applejack took it as as a sign and gave one of the “legs” a mighty buck causing all the apples to fall into the baskets and fade out and in bright flash the creature was gone.

When Applejack returned she was wearing a silver tree twig shaped amulet with a bright green gem in the shape of an apple leaf hanging of to the right of the twig. “Well,” said Orchid, “looks like we have ourselves a new Seeker, I'll see about having my brother give you a few lessons on what that means, mostly because he's the closet we have to a master seeker at the moment.”

“Oh, no fair,” said Apple Bloom, “mah friends and Ah search all over fer uh titan amulet and mah sister beats uh monster by apple bucking et only ta get one.”

“So,” said Applejack, “whut's this guy called?”

“You tell us,” said Orchid, “just focus on the amulet and listen to what the titan says.”

Applejack closed her eyes and focused on the amulet, “She sez 'er name iz... Tree-ant,” said Appljack.

“I heard about them,” said Orchid, “they're in the old seeker records we have, they were supposedly all lost centuries ago, they were said to be powerful titans with great physical power. If memory serves right they also had some sort of rule for bonding with them.”

“ And what would that be?” said Rainbow Dash with a snicker, “being stubborn as a tree?”

“Actually, yes,” said Orchid, “the Tree-ant titans were supposedly only willing to bond with tenacious seekers. Applejack apparently a very tenacious individual, but is willing to listen to suggestions.”

“Well a'course Ah am, Ah'm supposed ta take over as tha new clan matron when Granny Smith decides et's time ta step down.”

“And now you have a way to help others know through the generations,” said Orchid, “Tree-ant can be a symbol of the matron and passed on to each new matron when the time comes, sometimes, a few additions to the traditions can help breath life into them. Tree-ant will be your loyal and honest companion for as long as you hold on to him. All titans are loyal to their seekers, it's a trait that comes from the bond. There's only three titans I know with certainty that have distinguished loyalty.”

“What are there names? I have a connection to the element of loyalty, so maybe one of those titans will like me,” said Rainbow Dash.

“My brother's Vitaguard, he's loyal to his allies to the point of giving allied titans a boost and ensuring their safety, from what we've learned from what Vitaguard told my brother they are one of the lost titans so there's a chance we could find one in Equestria somewhere; Cavalier, but mostly because he only bonds with the pure of heart; and Albion, his ability is called Fierce Loyalty, from what I've heard there were once many Albion titans but something happened to make it so they aren't seen all that often.”

“I've already seen Cavalier,” said Rainbow, “he's pretty awesome looking, “what about the other two.”

“Vitaguard is a knight in all white armor with a sword and shield for effective attack and defense.”

“Okay,” said Rainbow Dash, “sounds like somepony Rarity would swoon over, the other.”

“I really can't describe Albion, I've never really seen him, all I know is what I've seen in a Mythichive display. From what I recall he has a sword attached to some kind of energy rope.”

“Okay, that's pretty cool,” said Rainbow, “I'd totally like him as a buddy.”

“There is one other I've heard about, but I've never seen any image of,” said Orchid.

“Oh yeah,” said Rainbow, “what's he called?”

“Kilthane,” said Orchid, “all I've heard about him is that he's supposed to be inspiration for the black knights and that they have a tremendous loyalty.”

“So, tha' big tree feller turned inta this little amulet,” said Applejack, “or did Ah miss sumthen?”

“You missed a few things,” said Orchid, “some guardian will actually form around their amulets and once they've been beaten their amulet drops. You might experience some of Tree-ants abilities for a a little while. Just remember, he's meant to be a friend and not have his power abused. Think of him as a last resort type protector for the orchards if you want, but just remember he's as alive you or me and if you treat him as just a tool then you might be violating your own principles. My brother, his friends and I all see our titans as good friends and... yes Jirwolf you're my best friend... Breaker I'm glad you're not as destructive as when we met... Springer, stop messing with Fluttershy's mane... did you ask permission?... Then stop, you should always ask for permission before doing that sort of thing. Titans have distinctive personalities, and the greater their connection to their seeker the more they take on personality aspects of that seeker.”

Fluttershy giggled before saying, “I don't mind, in fact I find that you have conversations like that fascinating. You really are close to all them, you don't want to lose any of them.”

“That's true,” said Orchid, “Breaker, take a rest,” the bear-like titan turned into a blue wisp and shot into the gem on his amulet as she returned the amulet to her pouch, this also caused the CMC to drop to the ground with a little thud.

“So,” said Applejack, “how da Ah call out mah new friend?”

“You need to be touch the amulet, which you are when you wear it, and just call out the titan's name,” said Orchid as she petted Jirwolf.

“'at's all fine an' dandy, but jewelry really aint mah style,” said Applejack as she looked down at her amulet, “or really any Apple's fer that matter.”

“That might be true,” said Orchid, “but you'll want to keep the amulet close in case you need it for something, you can keep it under your hat if you want. Of course you could always have the hat altered to have a pouch for holding the amulet on the inside.”

“Nopony is touchin' mah hat,” said Applejack, “et was given ta me by mah folks, same with AB's ribbon. No way, now how is anypony touchin' our family keepsakes.”

“It was just a suggestion,” said Orchid, “but just remember, that titan turned you into a seeker. That doesn't mean you have to drop your current responsibilities, it just means you've taken on some new ones. There are just as many kinds of seekers as there are ponies, you've taken on a great responsibility that you can either choose to share or shoulder on your own. You should remember this, if you had seeker potential then your sibling probably do too, and maybe even your children will have it when they come around. How you choose to expose your family to the seeker world is up to you. It's unavoidable with your sister, she was here for all of it.”

“Yeah, but where does this power com from? Ah don't think Ah have what it takes to command that kind of power,” said Applejack with confusion.”

“The way I was told it,” said Orchid, “a seeker's powers come from their will, a weak willed individual can't become a seeker. You have a tremendous amount of will, it comes from that old family pride and stubbornness I heard your family has.”

“'at's nice ta hear,” said Appljack.

“And when you start learning spells it will be amusing,” giggled Orchid.

“Yeah, Ah suppose ya... did you just say Ah'd be learnin' spells? Ah'm an Earth Pony we can't use spells!”

“Seeker powers work on different principles than the magical principles you've been told about in school or from Twilight,” said Orchid, “seeker spells are designed to be discreet, they sound more like phrases you might hear everyday than actual spells. When I say BoltFlare what does that mean to you?”

“Bolt Flare? Sounds like a stallion that's out there somewhere,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Well to a seeker the expression BoltFlare,” a light orange sphere with a static dark orange flame in the middle appeared next to her head, "means a simple spell that most seekers learn early on. It's a light spell and fire spell in on convenient package. And that's how most seeker spells are, they're usually multipurpose and have a number of applications. If you wanted go faster we have a few spells for that, lift things without touching them, we have a spell for that too. My favorite is a spell for applying and adhesive that can't be overpowered with with brute force, it's one of the spells we have in our archives. We have a variety of spells that can be applied any number of ways, if you noticed my horn didn't glow when I invoked the spell, and isn't glowing now that I have the spell active. In short the spell doesn't work on the same principles as standard unicorn magic.”

“You have spells for moving quick,” said Rainbow with excitement, “I saw you use one. But multiple speed spells, awesome.”

“Most seeker spells have short periods of time that they last, either a few seconds or a few minutes,” said Orchid, “I've grown up in the seeker world, you all are just in your introductory phase. Normally you'd be taken to one of our faction's training grounds and taught by someone there, but since that doesn't seem to be an option lessons from my brother are your best bet for the time being.”

“We dun't know 'im beyond the short intro we got at tha party,” said Applejack, “whut's 'e really like?”

“Well,” said Orchid trying to think of how to best describe her brother, “he's a bit of magic nut, which I hear is trait your friend Twilight shares with him. He doesn't get riled up when he's mad, instead he gets freakishly calm and analytical to the point it can be terrifying. He really likes to cook, and watching him work in the kitchen with his titans is always a treat. Last I checked his favorite dessert was apple cinnamon pie, with chocolate ice cream. I think his favorite food is some kind of salad, mostly because that's what he always eats for lunch and occasionally dinner. But really, if you want to know about him you should ask him yourself.”

“'at's plentay fer us ta know fer now,” said Applejack, “'e caunt bay ull bad ef 'e lahks apples.”

“That's your deciding thought on everything,” retorted Rainbow Dash, “come on there have to be some jerks that like apples. Not that I'm implying...”

“I know what you were getting at,” said Orchid, “but to be fair my brother is one of the good ones, he actually takes time out of his schedule to spend time with family whenever possible. Our older siblings can be jerks a bit more than once and a while, but deep down they're all good.”

“What's your family like? You just said you had older siblings,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Dad and his first wife are divorced,” said Orchid, “he met mom a little over twenty years ago and they hit it off, Rec and I are her only children so far.”

“Yer dad had anudder mare en 'is life bafer yer mum,” said Applejack with a disapproving voice, “whey ded thay seprate?”

“We didn't get any of those details, but as far as Rec and I know she doesn't know about the things seekers do, but all of her children do. Mom found out pretty early on into their relationship and her understanding of magic made it much easier for her and dad to talk and share the truth about the world. Mom never once tried to learn any seeker spells or bond with any titans, she says that she's perfectly happy as she is. Rec and I have a good relationship with mom, our half-siblings not as much. They all love us the way family does, but they still aren't happy about mom's relationship with dad. Of course they're more annoyed with their mom than ours.”

“Um,” said Scootaloo, “why?”

“Because their mom filed for divorce and pretty much forced dad into it,” said Orchid, “he tried to stop it from happening. From what we've been told their mom and our dad had been living pretty happily up until their mom slapped the divorce paper on the table in front of him and told him to sign it. No explanation regarding that, at all, she didn't even explain herself to her own children. In fact we still don't know why she did all that.”

“So your family has few issues they're trying figure out? That's a little odd considering how close your brother and you are to your mom,” said Rainbow.

“Yeah, but we haven't really connected with dad as much as he would like,” said Orchid, “admittedly he wasn't there for bonding as much as mom. Most seekers find themselves in lives of adventure.”

“Oh, well if that's the case I don't mind not being one,” said Fluttershy.

“We wanna 'ave that kinda life,” said Apple Bloom, “et sounds like fun.”

“Yes, well,” said Orchid, “traveling all over the world and uncovering forgotten secrets and claiming lost treasures might sound fun, but it's also dangerous. You have evil seekers, guardian titans, ancient curses, and lots of paperwork to contend with. Mostly the paperwork, you would not believe the bureaucracy involved in being an explorer these days. And that's all on top of whatever job you have in the ordinary world, you have to find a way to balance your life in the Seeker world and the world everyone else lives in. It's far from easy, and some even say it's rewarding.”

“Well, that's a bummer,” said Sweetie Belle, “I guess we won't be getting our cutie marks in this. Since you don't have a cutie mark either feel free to join us when we go crusading.”

“Do you even know what crusading means?” replied Orchid.

“Well duh,” said Scootaloo, “it means you go searching for something with passion and vigor.”

“Close,” said Orchid, “the dictionary definition is 'any vigorous, aggressive movement for the defense or advancement of an idea, cause, et cetera', in other words you were close, but still wrong with the definition.”

Scootaloo groaned before saying, “great, another Sweetie Belle. No offense to Sweetie, but she has tendency to correct us and spout out dictionary definitions when she feels the need to correct us on something.”

“Hey,” said Sweetie, “just because I have aspirations of being a refined and educated mare doesn't mean you can just mock me to make a point.”

“She's right,” said Orchid, “she's your friend, that means you can tease her or play the occasional prank on her, but true friends never intentionally mock each other.”

“Sorry,” said Scootaloo, “I guess I just felt threatened by the fact that you're a bit too much like Sweetie Belle, I guess I just thought she might want to spend more time with you instead of me and Apple Bloom.”

“First off the proper way of saying it is 'Apple Bloom and I' and secondly just because she finds someone to relate to in me doesn't mean she's going to stop wanting to spend time with her best friends, said Orchid. “I'm just a newcomer, and truth be told this the closest I've had to having real friends. I thought some girls at my school wanted to honestly make a try at being my friends, we hung out for a few weeks with them being all sweet and nice. Then at a party they were throwing I brought a store bought jewelry making kit because they said to bring something fun and some jewelry, I thought I could solve two challenges with one solution was cool. They pretended to be interested in the kit for a minute before saying they wanted to borrow some of my amulets, I told them I couldn't because I was afraid they wouldn't return them and that they had too much sentimental value.”

“What was the real reason?” Asked Rainbow as they headed out of the forest.

“All of what I said and the fact that I was afraid what those girls would do with if they showed seeker potential when I passed them my amulets. I had seen what those girls were really like from the get go, I thought if I spent some time with them I could at least try and transition them into nice individuals. The moment they heard me say I wouldn't give them my amulets they threw the jewelry kit, which was actually pretty pricey and something I had spent almost half my personal savings on at the time, in my at out the window. I fortunately had thought ahead and had my then newly gained Springer near the window to catch anything they threw out, none of the contents were damaged and all that happened was ding in one of the corners. Once they thought it was a massive mess on the ground outside they started telling me the whole reason they had spent so much time on 'a lost cause' like me was so I would give them some of my amulets. They thought they were just really pretty jewelry. I almost freaked out and summoned Breaker to teach them a lesson, but I remembered my brother telling me a Seeker has more than titans at her disposal and to summon a titan for something so petty was an insult to me and all my titans.”

“So, what did you do?” Squeaked Sweetie Belle.

“I cast a SimpleMind spell on them told them to forget ever asking about amulets and then take a nap, they went right sleep and the next day didn't remember anything involving my amulets the prior day so they were shocked when I broke of our relationship off.”

“Oh man that so good,” laughed Rainbow Dash, “you have a spell making ponies forget stuff and do whatever you want.”

“It's a spell that scrambles someone's short term memory and make them highly susceptible to outside forces for a few seconds,” said Orchid, “and should not be left in the care of irresponsible individuals, I had only learned the spell a few days prior to my using it. Besides the spell only works on the the weak willed, those with strong wills can't be influenced by the spell. Last I checked you all have some pretty strong wills, even if some of you might show signs of poor impulse control from time to time.” The CMC and Applejack turned their gazes to Rainbow for a moment as they continued to walk.

Rainbow gave a little chuckle before making a flying dash to Ponyville saying something about getting Rarity to look over Applejack's new accessory. “What was that all about? Rainbow acted a little weird,” said Scootaloo.

“She's jus' not used ta somepony younger than 'er callin' 'er out so easily,” said Applejack with a chuckle.

“When I said that I was talking about miss Fluttershy,” said Orchid with genuine confusion, “she's always impulsively hiding behind the nearest thing when something startles her.”

The four other ponies looked at Orchid for a few seconds, it would have been longer, but Orchid said, “Applejack, low hanging branch, girls, bush!”

The four took notice of the obstacles in time to avoid them in time. “Whoa, good catch thar darlin',” said Applejack with her eyes squarely up front this time, “ya jus' caught us off 're guard es all.”

“Seeker policy number one,” said Orchid in a voice imitating her brother, “always assume there's more than one meaning in what you are told. Seeker policy number two, never assume or jump to conclusions, always make sure you have enough evidence to support your theories or claims. Seeker policy number three, while honesty is the best policy it is also important to keep secrets from the majority of the populace to as to not incite a potential panic. Seeker policy number four, only talk about the Seeker world with those you know can be trusted with the information and will not abuse it. Seeker policy number five, never use your abilities or titans for personal gain. Seeker policy number six, always look out for your friends and team. Seeker policy number seven, commit all of the policies above to memory to the best of your ability.”

“Well, that's different,” said Sweetie Belle, “wait, you really think of us as friends?”

“Of course I do,” said Orchid, “if I didn't I would have only shared the bare essentials with you and done my best to not speak with you again.”

Fluttershy smiled and said, “You really look up to your brother, he must be real nice to you.”

“He's always there for me,” said Orchid, “he's actually cut his prior obligations short a few times to come to my rescue. Like he says 'family and friends first, duties second and never forget that is the order of obligations', mom says she likes that policy and has made it her personal motto as well.”

“Yer stallin', darlin', Ah can tell,” said Applejack, “yer hidin' behind what yer brother says, and yer attempts ta imitate 'im.”

Orchid gave a deep sigh and said, “and I'll keep doing it, if I let out what how I really feel I'll be a quivering mess that one of you'll have to carry out of here.”

“Ah don' mind,” said Applejack, “and 'sides if ya can't show yer real self in front of yer friends then ya'll just burn yerself out, Ah learned uh similar lesson uh while ago.”

“It's too...” Orchid broke down into sobs and sniffled saying, “I really thought... I could get them to change for the better... they were just using me and if I hadn't used that spell I could have...” she just set out outright crying while holding a hoof to the amulet around her neck. Orchid curled up into a sobbing ball and in muffled voice that Applejack and Fluttershy just barely made out said, “Mwee thonely vun vat mows miss shwide woff mwee wiz mwy bwoffer.”

“you poor dear, your more sensitive than you have been letting on,” said Fluttershy as she picked up the filly and placed Orchid on her back, “why go through with the masquerade? Is it because your brother told you too?”

“N-no,” sniffled Orchid as they all continued back to Ponyville, here on Applejack's back, “he says no matter what I should always be myself, be who I want to be, not who I think others need me to be,” she gave another sniffle before noticing her own tear stains under her eyes and saying, “I want to be like big brother, so I try to act like him as best I can.”

“Ded 'e 'ave antyhang ta say about et?” said Applejack as they continued out of the forest.

“Yes,” said Orchid as she pulled her ears back in shame, “he said that I should stop trying to be like someone else and just try to be the best me I can.”

“Yer brother's uh smart one,” said Applejack.

“He is,” said Orchid with a sad smile, “but I'm not sure what the real me is supposed to be, I care about all my titans, but so does he.”

“Did 'e say thar's anythang special aboutch ya?” inquired Apple Bloom.

“He said I seem to have a talent for bonding with animal-like titans, but I don't see how that's helpful.”

“Yer a dense little filly,” said Applejack, “ya seemed to form uh connection ta Flutters in uh very short time, she's an animal caretaker. Is thar uh job lahk that among Seekers?”

“We call them Amulet Watchers,” said Orchid, “they watch over safehouses and make sure all the titans and artifacts that are brought to them are kept safe until the right individual comes or the items in their care need to be shipped out somewhere else.”

“Well why can't you start preparing for that?” said Fluttershy, “it sounds like a calm and relaxing job.”

“I guess,” said Orchid, “but I really do want to go on globe trotting adventures like my brother, I want to uncover anciet secrets and find lost titans, I want see the secret sides of the world, not sit in an old building for weeks on end looking into whatever the adventuring teams bring into me.”

“So in other word you want to be like Daring Do,” said Scootaloo, “a kick-flank, awesome adventurer who hunts down ancient artifacts and battles evil forces.”

“Yep, that sounds about right,” said Orchid, “but who's Daring Do? That's an express, not a name where I come from. That name doesn't even tell me what their gender is. Although if this 'Daring Do' is as you say then they must be like Indiana Jones, that is one amazing guy.”

“What kind of name is that?” said Scootaloo, “that name makes no sense.”

“Well to me the name Daring Do makes next to no sense,” retorted Orchid with indignation, it seemed this line of conversation was just what was needed to pull her sorrowful musings, “I am so showing you those movies when I get the chance, of course I could also grab the books for you as well.”

“Books and movies,” said Scootaloo, “ah mare, Daring only has books, this Indiana character totally has her beat.”

“Word of warning,” said Orchid, “his adventures get pretty gruesome at some points. You actually see quite a few characters die, and he's even shot a few of them himself, killed a few of them too.”

“Whoa, he's hardcore,” said Scootaloo, “Dash is the Daring do expert, I am so going to ask her about all of that. I've only read the first two books in the series, my parents don't want me reading anymore Daring's stories until I'm done with school, no clue why.”

“Don't look at me like that,” said Orchid, “you know more about this place and who lives it than I do,” as the CMC all glanced at her.

“Yeah, but you know more about magic stuff than any of us,” squeaked Sweetie Belle, “and you've actually been on a few adventures with your brother.”

“He's taken to, like, four places that aren't my hometown and of those four 'adventures' only the most recent had me in a Seeker battle. It was pretty tame, then again our opponent were team of moronic narcissists lead by one of the biggest narcissists I have ever encountered,” Orchid huffed, “Spending time in the far east was fun, but I mostly spent it on the training grounds getting to know my titans and learning a few new moves.”

“Whudda ya mean new moves?” Asked Applejack with a quick skeptical look.

“Seekers have a tendency to defy the norms of magic and combat, traditionally a spell caster hangs back while their tougher allies act as a break against an oncoming attack.”

“That sounds about right, from what Twilight's told us about magic based team combat,” said Fluttershy, “it's practice that we don't really use in Equestria anymore.”

“Well, Seekers don't play that way,” said Orchid, “usually after summoning titans we fight alongside them, a Master Seeker is said to be a master of all forms of combat. That means armed, unarmed and magic based combat are all something they know. My brother's not a Master Seeker, but my father is. What I mean by new moves is that my brother was teaching me some unarmed combat moves. I'm much more fit than other girls my age on account of all the combat practice I've had for the past two years. I wouldn't put it past my brother and his friends to prove a point to established military members with egos that are a bit too inflated to show them just how lacking they are, my brother would probably trounce them in three moves or less, that's why I want to be like my brother. I want to be able to handle any potentially dangerous situation that's sent my way.”

“But ya said tha ones that watch tha safe houses have ta keep unwanted forces away from thar charges,” said Apple Bloom, “ya could still be a kick-flank pony and do all tha keep 'em out stuff.”

“True,” said Orchid, “but I want a few really memorable adventures before I'm told that's my role in the Association, “I'm not as good at research as my brother, but I've been told I'm good enough to impress a few higher rankers.”

“You've got a chance at a job without knowing your special talent?” said Sweetie Belle with surprise, “you don't have a cutie mark yet!”

“Where I'm from we don't have cutie marks,” said Orchid, “many in my world actually go their entire lives without knowing what their special talent is or what they want to do with their lives. Some know what they want to do without knowing their talent, others go through life knowing their talent while not knowing what they want to do with their lives. Everything isn't as set in stone as you think. As mom and bro say, 'friends are like mirrors, they reflect pieces of who we are and only with a sharp eye will you notice those reflections, sometimes the best way to self-reflect is to spend time with your friends instead of meditating in silence', I admit it's a little wordy and in a sense beautiful.”

“Well, Ah like et,” said Applejack, “but what's this bit about self-reflectin' an' meditatin' have ta do wid anythang?”

“A common method for understanding oneself, what is called self-realization, is to go someplace quiet and stay still with your eyes closed thinking only about everything you know about yourself and what those that know you have told you,” said Orchid, “the practice is called 'self-reflecting', meditating is common method for that. The essence of meditating is sitting perfectly still and relaxed, it can also be used to relax. The calm body posture, slow even breathing and lack of tension in the body can tell you if someone is meditating.”

“That sounds boring,” said Scootaloo, “sitting in one place for extended period is what school is for.”

“You're always in a rush, you've got learn to slow down,” said Orchid, “you can't know one thing truly, meditation also helps with little exercises. Like this one, I want you to imagine your favorite kind of flower and tell me what it is and after you do I'll share the rest of the exercise with you.”

The three fillies looked at each other while walking back to town before Apple Bloom said, “Apple blossoms!”

“Blue Orchids, they're really cool,” said Scootaloo.

“Roses,” said Sweetie Belle with sense of romance in her voice.

“Okay, that's a good start,” said Orchid, “now imagine someone you've never met, seen or heard the name of and describe them in a manner that is accurate to the real thing.”

“That's impossible,” said the CMC, Applejack and Fluttershy in unison.

“Actually it's not,” said Orchid with a chuckle, “just really freaking hard, and when you pull it off right it's awesome wrapped in cool with a ribbon of amazing. My third time with this exercise I pulled it off, it didn't require any magic, besides I still don't know any spells that could help with this exercise. Most the time it's a total miss, but since it's a thought execise it really doesn't matter if you do end up describing a guy who always goes around in trench coat with ginger hair and fedora and black shirt with sea foam green shorts a monocle on his right eye, with a light gray coat and sapphire blue eyes with a mark that looks like a bunch of spare mechanical parts who goes by the name Jalopy.”

“Applejack looked at the filly for moment before saying, “we 'ad somepony down to the mark get uh whol mess uh apples from us last month, there's no way ya coulda described him down to the letter widout meetin' him.”

“Actually that really was all of the top of my head, I was trying to be ironic. Where I come from the word jalopy means an old, decrepit, unpretentious ground vehicle. I had no idea that it really would be someone's name.”

“Ya and yer bro keep doin' tha' thing wid yer words,” said Apple Bloom as the exit to the forest came into view, “ya say things like 'someone' and 'anyone' instead of words like anypony or somepony, do ya 'ave some kind of aversion ta tha words?”

“Not at all,” said Orchid, “it's just a force of habit we picked up from mom, she always talks like that around others.”

“Com on let's get ya all ta Rarity's, if Ah remember right Bloom said somethin' abou' uh slumber party tanite.”

“Can you join us for the party, Orchid?” Squeaked Sweetie Belle, “that little speech of your makes me want to try at this a few more days.”

“I'll have to check with Rec,” said Orchid, “he's responsible for me while we're away from home.”

“Ah'm sure we con wait uh bit fer 'is answer,” said Applejack, “after all 'e's off doin' somethin' fer the princesses.”

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

After a few minutes they trotted into Carousel Boutique and the first thing that happened was Rarity saying in her usual prim voice gesturing at the new amulet around the farm mare's neck, “Applejack it's such a wonderful thing to see you're actually try at wearing accessories, darling.”

“Actually the accessory kind of chose her,” squeaked Sweetie Belle, “she got of those cool titan amulet things.”

“Yup, she's uh big un,” said Appljack, “so darn big en fact that Ah can't let her out en the store widout causin' some serious damage. Uh course Ah wouldn't uh figured out 'ow ta get 'er if Orchid 'adn't said et challenge that wuz more a puzzle that only an apple farmer could solve.”

“She's a problem solver, well a proper mare must always know how to solve problems when they arise.”

“It has more to do with the fact I've been taught to think things through a bit differently than most.”

“Well, regardless,” said Rarity, “it's nice to see Applejack with something a bit more feminine.”

“This is going to be interesting,” said Orchid, “if there was a titan in the forest there could be more waking up around the country, maybe even the world. Things are starting to get a whole lot more interesting.”

“I wonder what we'll all find,” said Scootaloo with excitement, “I hope whatever Rainbow Dash is awesome.”

“Any titan can be awesome, it just depends on how you define awesome,” said Orchid with a smirk.

Author's Note:

Well, AJ got her first titan, probably going to be her only one. Next chapter it's back to Rec, Claudia, Mandi, Twilight and Pinkie. I think I might have fun describing the school, since in the series proper we never really got to see it.