A New Life

by Lunafan1k

A Changeling and His Dog

I was expecting some kind of long discussion, something that would change everything for everyone at the table. Instead it was rather simple and directly to the point. I owed thanks to the tiny brown bug things the butterfly called Nymphs, because they told Zecora about me. Rose ate her soup, and had another bowl then ate that too. Faina just looked bored until Tatl wanted to hear about her homeland. It wasn’t anything I haven’t already heard so I tuned them out.

Instead I opened my book for the first time in a while… Huh, it was pretty busy the last few days, I’m glad I’ll be able to take the time and actually read the thing that some butt-hole is after. I opened it up to the first few pages when suddenly all the moth things flew around in a flurry before vanishing in the wood. A second later we heard this loud, window-rattling howl pierce through the night.

“… I’m sure it was just the wind. And the house settling.” I said confidently.

“No, go out and see what it was, I have refugees to protect.” Tatl commanded.

“Alright fine.” I got up and opened the door, the moment I did I was almost bowled over by a trio of dog things. “Hey!” I looked back out to see the mother of all dog trees, head and shoulders clearing the tree line as it lumbered closer… lumber.

This is no time for jokes! I closed the door to address the others, “There is a very big wood dog coming this way.” I turned to see three other dogs of the wooden persuasion cowering in fear behind an equally terrified Fluttershy who was hiding behind a confused Faina. Were they the ones that almost knocked me over?

The next moment Tatl the butterfly exploded in light that seemed to encompass the entire house, and not a moment too late either as the sound of something very large smashed into the light.

“Gah!” Tatl yelled out. “Don’t just stand there, get out and do something about it!”

I smiled as I got an idea, “I’m going to tame it and add it to my summons!”

“Sigma dear… I don’t think it’s capable of such a thing but for now let’s deal with it. You said it was wood?” Rose asked as she lit a candle. Oh! She’s summoning the elemental again!

“Yep! Let me get my guy too.”

“Summon him so he appears outside please.” She said.

“Will do!” I had no idea how to do that but I gave it a shot. A few seconds of concentration later and suddenly Fluttershy’s front door is replaced by a roaring minotaur-shaped armor. “Well I almost made it outside.”

“Great. Destroy her house from the inside and completely ignore what I’m trying to keep out. Now hurry up and take care of that thing!”

I gave the butterfly a flat look, one that I had hoped conveyed, ‘Yes, I am well aware of the situation. However, that does not grant you the permission nor does it do anything other than irritate me when you yell at me. It’s not appreciated and in fact makes me want to stand here and inner monologue to myself for a far longer time than would be deemed acceptable. My, just listen to myself, I sound so sophisticated. Like a noble in a high court. Perhaps I shall purchase the land just outside the gates and construct a mall for the plebs. Yes, Sir Reginald… But perhaps this has gone too long as this is beginning to sound out of character. Yes, I need to shake myself of these dangerous thoughts at once.’

I shook my head, coming back to reality to see that the battle started without me. The wolf was trying to swallow my living armor as it roared in defiance while swinging its axe around. Rose had set its back on fire, and Faina was trying to claw out its thick legs at the knee.

I sat back and watched, I could have summoned the wendigo but it would put out the fire and probably not do much against wood. Instead I pulled out my book and started reading through the first few pages. Honestly it was pretty bland, but the subject of summoning was rather interesting. I glossed over the other types of magic and skipped to how to summon. It was basically what I already knew, but what really caught my attention was how to get more of them.

It had a few examples of how to summon a swarm of insects that were created from magic, they obeyed simple commands like move, stay, and attack, but that was it. The more powerful summons, like the wendigo or living armor needed a type of pact or mutual agreement in order to summon them. These were different in how they are summoned based on their existence, it seemed. I read on as the others fought bravely.

‘Take the living armor and wendigo, for example, both exist as energy on another plane of existence and appear when called upon. They have minimal intelligence allowing for minor battle tactics and planning among more generalized commands. Other creatures that can be summoned vary greatly, but the key remains that they need to have at least a basic intelligence in order to form a pact and follow orders. Should one manage to form a pact with a creature matching these prerequisites then a link is formed.

‘The link can be used to mentally send commands, commonly used by advanced summoners, and passively grants a bonus to the creature’s intellect and greater understanding of the creature by the summoner. Should the creature need to be summoned, magic similar to a teleportation spell allows nearly instant relocation of the creature to the summoner’s location. Once its services are no longer needed, releasing the summons returns it to its previous location or its home location. To change a creatures home location refer to page 294 section B.’

I smiled as I read the tomb, this seems really easy and straight forward, and there was even a low level spell that basically tells if the creature is able to form a pact. I was able to memorize it rather quickly and noticed it added itself to my spell list in the back.

I looked up at the others to see how they were doing. Faina and the armor were working on chopping off the last leg, both completely covered in the black goop that seemed to be steaming as they worked. The wolf itself was thrashing its head back and forth biting anything within reach while Rose was having the flame elemental keep the flames going hot.

I lit up my horn and cast my new spell to see if I could make the huge monster my pet, but I got a negative reaction. Its mind was gone, the body was acting on instinct to feed as it was pretty much destroyed by the decaying corruption. Super rabies.

The wolf gave one last yowl before growing still, allowing the fire to completely consume it. Faina stood there panting as my armor roared in victory before vanishing back to wherever it was from.

I clapped my hooves from where I was seated, “You did it! Good job!”

Faina sighed as she looked between me and Rose, “... Why am I the only one that got covered in… whatever this gunk is?”

“Because you’re a hard worker… And you are the one with knives on your hooves.” I commented.

“Yeah yeah, I get it. Ranged attackers have their benefits. Think she’ll mind if I user her river?” Faina asked.

“I think you shouldn’t, that slime, while not as dangerous as it once was, is still the result of corrupt and mixed magic. You should towel off and burn the rags and clean the rest in a bath.” Rose suggested. “I will go see if she has any old towels to spare.”

Rose headed inside leaving me with the goopy bat. “How did you get so drenched in the stuff?”

“I blame your armor. The wolf ate it and the armor cut its way out of the stomach, basically right above where I was standing.” She said dully as Fluttershy walked out.

“Oh my goodness, that really is a big mess, I think I have a few more towels if this isn’t enough.” She said and set down a few towels. She was stopped at the door by a trio of whines. “I’m sorry little wolfies, but I can’t have you all stay here right now. If you behave and wait outside like good pups I’m sure we can find you another place to stay for the night that’ll be nice and cozy.” She said and patted their heads.

The apparent wolf pups slinked out and lay down next to me, probably because I was near the door. Or what was left of it.

“Hey Fluttershy,” Faina called out as she turned a pink towel black with goop, “Given what I was told, I thought you would be freaking out a lot more.”

“Oh, believe me I am. Tatl is helping me keep calm with her magic, it really helps me think straight and not freeze up in panic. And she promised to help heal a few of the critters too once things in the forest get cleaned up.” Fluttershy said evenly as she headed inside.

I looked over the wooden form of the timber wolf pups. They were rather large, about the size of an adult pony, but if they grew to be the size of that monster then they probably were babies. I reached out and patted their heads, they didn’t seem to mind, or they were in too much of a shock from seeing what happened to that other wolf dog thing. I sighed, it was really too bad I couldn’t get that big one as a summon, that would have been cool…

My mind halted for a moment as I tried to math, I had three pups here in front of me. Three pups plus several years equals larger wolf wood dogs. Large dog wolves are cool. I pulled open my book again to go over the ‘How to Make A Pact With A Wild Animal’ chapter. It boiled down to cast that spell, state the terms of the pact, see if they agree. If they don’t, there was another subchapter that focuses on breaking their will and enslaving them manually. I was too lazy to read that part, so I just cast that other spell I tried earlier.

They all perked up and looked at me expectantly. “Uh, hi.” I began elegantly, “Want to team up and fight bad guys? It’ll be really cool. I also have access to food, just don’t tell Twilight if I raid her food stuff.”

They started at me for a moment, then to each other, then to presumably their mother still burning nicely, and then to Faina still trying to get the gunk out of her mane. They turned back to me and lowered their fronts to lay their chest and head on the ground and close their eyes.

“What are you doing? Does that mean yes? Are you begging? Why do I feel tingly all of a sudden?” I asked. It was really weird, like suddenly I was able to feel their minds against mine, faint whispers of emotions, thoughts, and instincts. It also made me realize something I’ve been missing for a long time, as long as I can remember. And it made me realize just how much I’m missing in my mind, like a massive hole that was there the whole time but I never saw it until now.

My body started to shake as I searched further into myself, I could hear my mind echoing through the empty space, calling out for a mental contact that isn’t there. There was a void in my head, consisting of just me and three wolf pups, while there was space for millions. I have no idea what was originally supposed to be there, but I need to fill that void to become complete again.

I felt my body being shaken, I looked up with blurry vision to see Rose giving me a worried look. “Sigma, are you alright? What’s going on? What happened? Did you remember something?” She asked.

I shook my head and wiped my eyes, why were they so wet? “No… But I did just find out that I am missing so much more than I ever imagined.” I said as I detailed the feeling of the bottomless pit in my mind. Rose hugged me firmly while Faina stood there looking confused, and then the pups leaned into me as well, almost as though they felt my pain, which could be possible given that I could feel their minds against mine.

“Alright everyone, you’ve now overstayed your welcome, now skedaddle.” I looked over to see the butterfly hovering in the doorway making shooing motions at us.

“Alright, come Sigma, let’s return to the library and get some rest.” Rose said and helped me to my hooves.

“Thanks, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep tonight.” We started off down the path back through town, the sun beginning to set over the hills in the distance. As we entered the town proper it was still completely deserted and seemed to be boarded up.

“I think they are afraid of the vampony.” I said.

“No, my bits are that they are afraid of the three wolves following us… wasn’t Fluttershy going to take them someplace for the night?”

“Oh yea, I forgot to tell you, I learned how to make a pact with them so they are mine now.” I said as I filled them in on what I was doing as they tried not getting eaten.

“That’s great news! It’s a tad different than my own summoning but I think the same principals apply. We can go over it some more tomorrow though.” Rose said as I felt myself swell with pride.

“Yea that sounds great and all but this smell is never going to get out of my coat if I don’t get into a bath or shower like, right now.” Faina said.

“We’re almost there, it should be just up ahead.” Rose said. True to her word we arrived a few minutes later and let ourselves in.

“Twilight, we’re home!” I called out.

“Oh, welcome back. I was afraid that breezie would-OH CELESTIA! What is that smell?!” Twilight yelled as she entered the room. I sniffed around for a moment, yep. Faina smells like gore.

“I need to wash up.” She said.

“Go. Go go go. If you need help with the water just ask.” Twilight said as she magically shoved her into the bathroom area and slammed the door shut behind her. “Whew, what the hay happened-WHY ARE THERE TIMBERWOLVES IN MY HOUSE?!” Boy she’s loud today.

“I got puppies!” I said with a grin.

“They are timber wolves and are dangerous predators!” She leveled her horn at them threateningly.

“Exactly, it makes sense to have dangerous monsters under your command. They won’t do anything against my wishes.” There was a sudden ripping noise and some light growls. I turned to see them playing with a pillow. “Aw!”

“They’re going to wreak my home!” Her horn lit up and she levitated them outside and locked them out. “I don’t get it but I demand an explanation in a moment. They can guard outside if they are your new summons or whatever.” She sighed.

“Twilight?” Faina called from the bathroom, “The waterfall is really small and I can’t fit under it.”

Twilight facehoofed, “Alright just a minute!” she called back. “You two just, I don’t know, have some tea or something while I give her a hoof.

We watched her turn and head into the bathroom and close the door. She was a bit muffled but sounded like she was showing Faina how to operate the shower. I turned to Rose, “Bedroom?”

“Bedroom.” She agreed, and we headed down to our little basement area.

---

The other side of town

Fluttershy departed her cottage through the hole that used to be a door with a trio of leashes and collars draped over her back. “Okay little pups, let’s get you over to-” she gasped in horror, “Oh no! Where did they go?! Did they wander off? It’s too dangerous for them to be alone in the Everfree, did they follow the others into town? Without a color they’ll be seen as wild animals! What if someone calls the guards?! Will they blame me for it? Oh, what should I do?” She thought for a moment before deciding, “I’ll look around town first, and if I can’t find them I can ask the others for help searching the forest.”

She nodded, her decision made, and ran off into town.

Author's Note:

Short chapter this time, I know I planned on having them return to the castle in the forest like 2 chapters ago but I wanted to get this out of the way. Tatl is going to be taking the roll of a background character, originally I wanted her to be a member of the 'party' but her hooves are tied up for now at Fluttershy's. Then i can focus on making Sigma grow a bit and gave him the motivation to get more creatures in his web of summonables.

Comments

[NovaBomber]

Great chapter, can't wait for more.

[Kaiser change name]

Why do I get the feeling I know what might happen in the bedroom
*wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*

[Lunafan1k]

7208071 oh what ever do you mean?
...
;)