Revised Chapter 2: Royalty
It took a couple of seconds before I started feeling the pain, and it was agonizing. But through training to use my power; I learned to maintain my emotions and thoughts so I can remain in control and pain was basically a nerve to brain response. Plus while getting stabbed through the heart was indeed painful; I have experienced plenty of painful attacks that felt just as agonizing or worse.
I coughed up a bit of blood. I gritted my teeth and narrowed my eyes at Luna. My eyes were on the verge of turning blue from the usual hazel green but the pupils did slit. If Luna was trying to get me in a fighting mood; she did a perfect job. “What the hell are you doing?!” I yelled in both anger and confusion.
My chest started to glow as I was about to shoot an Energy Pulse out of my chest. Luna quickly pulled her sword out of my chest, which hurt really badly, and formed a magic shield between us. I let the Energy Pulse loose from my chest as it collided with her shield and pushed her back next to Celestia. I then noticed Celestia had her own weapon drawn and ready to use. A golden halberd that was at least 6 feet long with three golden handle covers on it.
My silvery chest was stained a bit red from my blood. The wound closed and healed in a matter of seconds. “Ah. So that’s how effective your healing factors are.” Luna stated, seemingly confirming a thought she had.
“Your Highnesses! What is the reason for this?” Dew shouted, running to stand in front of the others. “Did you really have me escort them here; just so you can kill Sarius?!” He asked, questioning whether or not the group behind him was next.
I closed my mouth, hiding my now sharp teeth. “That wasn’t an attempt to kill me,” I said, answering Dew’s second question. “If they really wanted to kill me and know who I am; they would know that simply stabbing me in the heart wouldn’t be enough. Although following it up with chopping my head off would do exactly that.” I explained.
“Princess Celestia. What has gotten into Princess Luna?” Twilight asked, getting frantic. “Why would she attack Sarius like that?”
Celestia kept a straight face. “Understand this isn’t out of malice, Twilight. We have no intention of killing Sarius Trusdale.”
“As Sarius stated, we knew for a fact that wouldn’t kill him. We are testing him to see if he’s truly as powerful and experienced as his uncle claims.” Luna added. A bit of my blood dripped from her sword.
My left eye twitched at the mention of my uncle. “Oh, my uncle is involved is he?” I asked, not really feeling surprised anymore but more annoyed. “I’m gonna have to give him a piece of my mind when I get the chance later.”
I started to calm down now knowing the two had no ill and/or killing intentions. I took a deep breath as my eyes finally turned sky blue and maintained the slit pupil. “If you wanted to test me, you could have just said so. I would have been more than willing to spar with you. Now prepare yourselves.”
I smiled and got into a fighting position. They responded with their own battle stances. For a whole minute, silence filled the long hall. I could hear the heartbeat of everyone present. Everyone but Celestia and Luna had faster heartbeats mostly due to the tension and watching Luna run me through.
I pressed my front limbs into the ground and pushed against the ground rushing towards the duo with great speed. The two quickly reacted by raising their weapons up and came swinging downward at the spot I was coming to. But I knew they would do that, so I pushed off the ground and into the air a couple of feet. Letting their weapons nearly touch my shoulders, I pulled my wings down then towards each other and pressed together as my wings went into the empty space between the duo. Once my wings reached their side, I pushed my wings out and shoving both the princesses away with the sheer force and strength of my wing muscles. This also pushed me down onto the ground.
Luna and Celestia managed to stop themselves on the walls. Luna wasted no time leaping off the wall and diving towards me. I was about to turn towards her but I saw Celestia push off her wall and charge right at me with her halberd out of the corner of my eye. Celestia attempted to stab me in the side while Luna was bringing her sword down on me.
“Tsubasa-” I said as I lept off the ground and to the left just high enough to avoid Celestia’s stab. While I was leaping I turned my body left to avoid Luna’s downward swing towards my shoulder. My back barely passed over Celestia’s horn as I finished my line. “-Henka!”
My wings underwent a transformation as I slid to a stop a couple of feet away from Celestia. The wing membranes withdrew into the wings as the wing fingers grew thicker and much larger in width. The tips opened up, showing holes for something to come out of. I demonstrated this by having my energy shoot out of them like they were jet thrusters for a few seconds.
I lifted my left claw and rotated my left-wing thruster towards the duo. At the same time, I moved them back and forth in a taunting gesture. “Let’s tango, ladies,” I said with a confident smirk.
Luna dashed to my right, while Celestia hung her halberd on the ground. Celestia charged and swung upwards with the halberd which I easily avoided by moving my head to the side. Luna came swinging her sword at my throat but I stopped her blade with my right-wing thrusters with a loud clang. This surprised Luna as Celestia rolled her halberd from an upward position down and to my left, attempting to connect with either my neck or head. I caught her halberd by the long handle with ease, I felt the amount of force and momentum Celestia was putting into her swing.
They said they had no intention to kill me but it was apparent now; that didn’t mean they weren’t gonna fight me without attempting to kill me. My uncle must have told them that the best way to draw out my power and skills was to fight with the full intention of killing. I couldn’t deny that he speaks the truth, but I still wish he didn’t tell them to resort to this kind of measure; just to test me.
That’ll mean I’ll have to return in kind. I turned my left-wing thruster around which surprised Celestia and started charging up energy in it. I could see the blue hue on her face as the energy was coming out, ready to explode. As the energy explosion was going off, Celestia jumped back quickly several feet avoiding it. Her magic grip on her weapon dropped as I held her weapon in my claw.
This caught my attention as I spun the weapon around and planned to take a swing at Luna with her sister’s own weapon. It wasn’t heavy to me since I had the strength of a dragon god but it would most likely be heavy for any normal individual. It would naturally need to be held by two hands since halberds are two-handed weapons.
I pulled my right-wing back a bit and pushed with as much force as possible, causing my wing to clash with Luna’s sword and sending her flying back. I leaped towards her, spinning the halberd just for the fun of it, and swung downwards with it. Luna swung her sword upward with the same amount of force as a loud clang was heard when they connected. The combined force behind the two weapons clashing was enough to emit a shockwave that caused the nearby ponies and dragon aside from Dew to almost lose their balance.
I lifted the halberd off her sword, pulled it back, and attempted to stab her with the point. She flapped her wings once, making the halberd point miss. I knew she was going to do that so I turned the ax part of the halberd towards her and swung upwards. She barely had time to roll to avoid getting slashed but she didn’t account for the halberd catching her sword. When she realized it, it was too late as I used the momentum to spin the halberd and shoot her sword across the room into the wall.
Like with Celestia and her halberd, Luna’s magic grip on her sword’s handle disappeared. This confirmed something for me; an alicorn or unicorn can’t keep their magic gripped on something if it’s out of range or being knocked out of their grip, like disarming someone. Meaning from now on; I’ll have to determine the magic range of opposing unicorns and alicorns if I ever fought with one.
I pulled the halberd back and attempted to stab Luna. Her horn glowed as she flashed out of existence and caused the halberd to stab air. I turned around to try and find her but was instead greeted by Celestia shooting a large fire spell in my direction. The flame engulfed me and then collided with a magic shield that kept it from fuming out towards the ponies present. The halberd suddenly started heating up as if Celestia’s flame spell was infusing itself into the weapon. I was forced to drop the weapon as it grew too hot to keep a grip on it.
Meanwhile, the shield encircled me causing the flame spell to wash over itself; increasing the intensity, heat, and power of the spell. I trained under one too many fire dragons which resulted in me being immune to fire, heat, or lava. But despite the immunity, a fire or source of heat can still hurt and burn me if it reaches higher temperatures than the core of the sun. It would just take a bit of time for it to get through my scales. And right now the fire spell was starting to burn me because it somehow felt like I was in the core of the sun.
I started glowing as I gathered energy in my body, readying a powerful pulse. When it was fully charged, which took a few seconds, I released it all in an energy shockwave powerful enough to snuff out the flame spell and break the shield. I also roared during it out of habit. When the flames cleared and I got a clear view of the hall, Luna teleported right in front of me and swung her sword hard aiming for my neck.
I had little time to react and was only able to do one thing; stop the blade with my teeth. This maneuver surprised everyone and most likely made them start to question if I was a bit crazy. The truth was I was unpredictable; very unpredictable and most of those unpredictable acts of mine were last-second decisions or instinctual movements. But I would admit I am crazy considering there were a few things I’ve done that were considered insane.
Normally stopping a supposed magic forged weapon with your jaws would result in a decapitation. But I’m not normal in the slightest. My teeth like my claws are stronger and tougher than normal dragons plus I was naturally magic resistant. I had to do something to get myself out of this situation; so I turned my wing thrusters forward, built up the energy in them, and in the span of a couple of seconds; released the sword from my jaws and shot the energy out of my wings propelling me away from Luna towards the wall.
Luna looked as if she backed away instinctively thinking I was about to blast her like I tried with her sister. But in the time it took for me to reach the wall and ready to fly at her, she got over her shock of my crazy stunt. Turning my wings back around, I charged another blast that took a second and flew straight at Luna.
Celestia flew between us and stopped my advance with her halberd as I struck it with my claw. Celestia’s horn started charging another spell as I backed off and readied my own counter. Another flame spell shot at me as I spewed my own flame causing the two flames to collide. The flame funnels sprayed all over the place, luckily there was nothing in the hall that could catch fire and Dew had cast a protection spell over the group since the fight began.
After a couple of seconds, Celestia stopped her flame spell realizing; fire-based spells would never work on me. So I stopped my flame not wanting to burn them alive. I sensed some magic behind me as Luna teleported and tried to stab me in the back. I turned my body left causing her sword to miss as I retaliated with a punch to her chest from my now morphed tail claw.
Celestia charged through the remaining sparks of the colliding flames and swung her halberd at my abdomen. I avoided it by letting my body lean back into a backspin just as the ax barely passed over my chest. Both of my claws glowed as I held out my palms to the duo and hit them with Energy Pulses pushing them both towards a wall. I finished my backflip and shot energy out of the thrusters to keep myself in the air.
I looked over at Luna as she watched me waiting for what my next move was. I smirked as I turned to her and powered up my energy thrusters to charge right at her. She positioned and swung her sword at me but I stopped just inches from her. Her blade bounced off my wings with a clunk as I turned them downwards and shot upwards. I flew with precise maneuverability, avoiding collision with the ceiling, and flew along with it towards Celestia, surprising Luna.
I pushed off the ceiling and in mid-fall, my left-wing turned from a triple prong set of wings into a long spear. This action surprised everybody except me as I held the spear in front of me, pointing to the opposite side. When my front legs touched the ground, I leapt upward and swung my wing like a weapon upwards towards Celestia, she blocked it with her halberd as she was lifted off the ground.
My left-wing returned to normal very quickly, as I sensed Luna rushing at me swinging her sword at me again. My right-wing changed this time as I swung it to meet her blade with a loud clang as it was coming down on me. However, my wing swing was more powerful than Luna thought as her sword bounced off and it pushed back. Luna flapped her wings to get some distance from me but I quickly took advantage of her quick retreat by attempting to run her through with my wing spear.
Luna turned her body in time to avoid it but got a slightly deep cut across her abdomen. The wound instantly started bleeding but not for very long as the wound healed itself quickly. The blood coated her dark blue underbelly a bit redder. She didn’t bleed much thankfully since I didn’t mean to cut her.
Luna suddenly gave me a very serious glare that made me nervous. She quickly charged me and slashed at me with faster speed than usual. I barely dodged and stepped back before she was on me again attempting to slash or stab me. She moved so fast, a few of her attacks met their mark; small cuts on my arms and chest. She slashed upward with her sword which forced me onto my hind legs to avoid it but I didn’t as I felt her sword cut my chin.
I gritted my teeth and quickly turned my wings around, charged up, and set off a blast that forced Luna to back off for a minute while also pushing me back a couple of feet. I got my bearings as fast as possible. Thankfully Luna kept her distance and just kept glaring at me with very serious eyes. It was almost as if she misinterpreted me cutting her as an accident.
I didn’t have the time to think it through, all I knew then and there were her recent attacks were faster and had much more strength and force to them. She was definitely getting serious and I had to respond. I growled and let out a battle roar as I charged at her.
What happened next was a massive blur but despite that, I remember it all. Luna tried to intercept me with her sword but I dodged it by side-stepping and punching her in the abdomen. I quickly followed it up with a flurry of punches and finished the combo with an uppercut kick. Luna dropped her weapon to fight me with her hooves as she and I exchanged punches and kicks. This went on for a whole minute until I grabbed her by the head just as she was getting her sword. I threw her into the left wall and quickly fired up my energy thrusters, flying right at her. Holding out my left-wing, I rammed into her and caused us to go through the wall straight outside.
I pulled my wing back and thrust the other towards her with the sharp end aiming for her heart. She stopped it by blocking it with her sword. Luna flapped her wings, lifting herself into the air, and fell back down punching me with one of her front hooves downward onto my head. I started flipping forward, so I decided to use that to my advantage by double kicking her in the chest. This also pushed me away from her a couple of feet.
She must have used a spell to propel herself towards me because she was right back in my face not a second later. She swung her sword at me and on instinct, my chest glowed blue as another blue light worked its way up my throat and a blue flame danced in my mouth. Without hesitation; I let loose a massive funnel of Energtris-infused flames from my maw. Thankfully my flames went up towards the sky and away from the city below but nonetheless; it was a very large amount of fire.
It wasn’t until after the fact, that I found out Luna used a powerful magic shield to defend herself from my flame. However, my flame wasn’t normal as it was infused with my energy which caused her shield to crack and nearly break, forcing her to teleport away. The flame breath lasted half a minute before I realized what I just did and stopped it.
As the flames died down, I looked for Luna hoping I didn’t burn her to a crisp. The good news was I didn’t, the bad news was it gave her the perfect opportunity to come falling down towards me. I barely had time to sidestep her downward slash, just avoiding decapitation but not avoiding getting a deep cut to my throat. I could feel that her blade almost cut through my windpipe, as blood gushed out of my throat. I reflexively grabbed my throat to stop the bleeding but thankfully my healing factor quickly got to work. It took a whole minute for the wound to completely heal.
I gritted my teeth in pain. I had no idea why this spar escalated so much so quickly, but if Luna was fighting at her best; it would be dishonorable and disrespectful for me not to fight at my best. Currently anyway. I had about 15% of my energy remaining so I could risk using some of my energy. My forearms were covered in energy and formed energy sabers. I charged and swung one of my arms at Luna and she blocked it with her sword. Surprisingly, my energy didn’t cut her sword in half.
That helped reassure me I could attack her blade without risks. So I did, I swung my arms around like they were swords and connected with her sword every time. I connected with her sword one more time and sent her back. Luna immediately retaliated with magic blasts to my chest, but they didn’t feel like magic attacks. It felt more like I was getting hit by energy attacks based on the moon and star power. Energy-based attacks would be half as effective but since these attacks were infused with moon and star power, they weren’t hindered by my resistance. So they hurt.
I got hit with enough of them to send me flying back. I dispersed the energy sabers and used the energy to shoot energy lasers that tracked and chased Luna as she flew around trying to avoid them. She managed to cut a few of them before the rest made contact and caused miniature energy explosions. I throttled my thrusters and took off into the air.
I flew around for a bit before making a nosedive towards Luna. When the smoke cleared, Luna shot a powerful laser at me that I blocked with an energy shield. This resulted in a short struggle as we tried to overpower each other before I changed direction and flew up. Luna stopped her attack and watched me closely. I flew around and attempted to nosedive her again. This time however she didn’t shoot a laser, she merely created a shield I collided with. I wasted no time flying away again and coming back at her.
Every time though she countered with the same thing. After a few times, I charged again this time with my energy surrounding my body. When I made contact with her shield, I easily broke through it. Luna quickly teleported away as I flew past the spot she was at. Luna reappeared and made a stance as she prepared something. I stopped as we just stared at each other.
My energy was running low, as I used more than intended. I wouldn’t have enough to heal any major wounds. Luna’s sword began glowing as she charged at me. I gathered energy in my left claw as I charged at her as well. We were a couple of feet from colliding when in a bright flash of light; Celestia appeared and blocked Luna’s blade with a powerful shield and my claw jab with her halberd.
“That’s enough you two!” Celestia shouted in an extremely loud and booming voice. She then surrounded us in magic and teleported us back into the throne hall.
Luna withdrew her sword and I did the same with my arm. “What is the meaning of this sister?” Luna asked, somewhat insulted. “Weren’t we sparring with Sir Sarius?”
The sir added before my name caught me off guard. “We were. Until you took it too far.” Celestia answered, looking at Luna with a disappointed look.
“Took it too far? Pray tell, what do you mean?” Luna asked, seemingly like she’s not at fault here.
“You started attacking Sarius relentlessly. So much so, I assume Sarius had to get serious just to stay alive.” Celestia answered, getting to her point.
“And that is a problem? I thought Sarius injuring me was his way of telling me to take the spar seriously. So I did.” Luna stated a little too flatly.
Celestia sighs as she shakes her head. “I’m pretty sure that was an accident, Luna.” Celestia pointed out, which was the truth.
“Was it?” Luna asked as she looked at me. “Does my sister speak the truth, Sir Sarius? Was it just an accident?”
I nodded. “It was. I miscalculated and cut you. Celestia is also right about me having to get serious just to survive. Thankfully, Celestia stopped the fight when she did cause if I suffered any more injuries they wouldn’t heal quickly. I’m running low on energy.”
Luna was appalled. “Oh, I am truly sorry, Sir Sarius. I did not know you were in such a weakened state. I too am glad my sister stopped the fight.” Luna apologized, sounding very sympathetic.
I waved my claw. “It’s fine. I had fun at least. Well, expect when you nearly cut open my throat. Quite a bit of my energy was used to heal that.”
Luna bowed in an apologetic manner. “Again, I am truly sorry. I was in the moment.” Luna stated.
I chuckled nervously since I didn’t like being bowed to. “I said it’s fine. We were fortunate this time that I had the energy to heal. It’s very rare when a weapon does that amount of damage to me. In fact it’s rare a weapon can penetrate my scales at all.” I walked over and eyed Celestia’s halberd. “What kind of weapons are these? Not types because I can tell this is a helbard and Luna’s weapon is a sword.” I added.
Celestia let me properly inspect her weapon. “Our weapons were created in a special and unique way. Crafted from a rare metal and imbued with power and energy of the sun and moon respectively. Our parents did help to ensure they were imbued with that kind of power though. The halberd you’re looking at, her name’s Sol.” Celesita explained proudly.
Luna held up her sword. “And she is Mani. They were also specifically made for Celestia and myself. As they respond and become empowered by our magic and power. But I’m sure you figured out that much.” Luna added.
I recalled when I held Sol and got engulfed by Celestia’s flame magic, the halberd became too hot to keep my grasp on. “Yup I did figure that part out. So your weapons are the Norse words for Sun and Moon huh. Neat.” I said, I was quite intrigued.
“Norse? What doth thee cullionly?” Luna asked using what sounded like Shakespearean words.
“Luna. Your old ponish is coming out again.” Celestia said as if it was a reminder.
“Oh apologies. We- I mean, I’m still trying to adapt to the modern language. What is this Norse you speak of, Sir Sarius?” Luna inquired.
“Well, Norse is basically one of many mythos or pantheons that is in my world’s history. They’re a bunch of myths and legends told by individuals during those time periods and are almost impossible to prove whether they’re true or false.” I explained. “But, I know personally that those myths and legends are all real. It’s just kept a secret to the vast majority of the masses. If the world knew these old legends and myths were real, it would cause quite a panic and get the attention of some unwanted individuals seeking power.” I added.
“Ah. Sounds like your world is quite a fascinating one, Sarius.” Celestia said with an intrigued and curious tone.
“Sure, that’s one way to put it. But even though my world is all fascinating and full of wonder. It’s also quite…. Dangerous and dark.” I hesitated saying the last part, since it is true. My world has many wonders, myths, legends, and mythical and/or ancient creatures and gods that is enough to make one’s quest for knowledge almost endless but the fellow human race were not all friendly or good. I knew that from very personal experiences. “Basically my world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s got an equal amount of good and evil stuff to it.” I simplified.
“I see. That is unfortunate.” Luna said.
“Are you going to be okay, Sarius? You must have used quite a bit of your power against my sister.” Celestia asked with genuine concern.
“I too wonder about your current condition. I did not know you were so low on energy. If I had known I wouldn’t have gotten so serious.” Luna said, adding her two cents.
“I appreciate the concern. I’ll be fine, I promise. I’ve been in worse conditions to be honest.” I said as I looked at Luna. “Although I do feel honored that at 15 percent of power, I made you get serious, Luna.” I added with a confidant smirk.
Luna returned the smirk. “Don’t misunderstand, Sir Sarius. I wasn’t being fully serious either. If I had, you would have found yourself in the medical ward at best.” She said, sounding sure of herself.
My smirk turned to a smile. “Well then. I guess we’ll have to test that theory when we’re both at 100 percent. I’m actually eager to see how strong you are then.” I said.
“Likewise, Trusdale.” Luna returned the smile.
I could see Twilight mentally freaking out, that Luna and I set a date for ourselves to pummel each other, until one of us ended up in the hospital. The other mares as well as Spike were completely shocked at the spar they witnessed. Dew sighed as he dropped the shield and smiled at me, albeit a bit nervously.
Celestia giggled to herself. “Oh my. It’s good to see you two are already getting along so well.” Celestia teased.
Luna just rolled her eyes. “So what are you going to do about your lack of energy, how does it work exactly?” Luna asked, wanting to get her mind off something, it seemed.
“Oh, my energy will naturally replenish itself over time. Though for anyone who doesn’t have Energtris as their natural energy source it won’t. Although, the process will take several days at most because my body can store a very large amount of energy. One drawback of training myself.” I said with a weak chuckle. “But thankfully, I have ways of quickly recharging it. For example-”
I closed my eyes and focused on a specific spot in my soul, a spot that housed 11 small energy crystallized signatures. I grabbed a hold of them and pulled them out. I opened my eyes as 11 colored crystals floated around me, 10 small and 1 large. The large floated from the circle to over me as I felt the energy from them slowly flow into me, recharging my energy supply.
“-I can recharge myself with my crystals. Though they have their own energy supplies that need to replenish.” I finished.
Everyone was shocked I made 11 crystals materialize out of me. Celestia and Luna were quick to get over their shock as they closely inspected the crystals.
“What kind of crystals are these? Did you somehow acquire them while you were at the Crystal Empire?” Celestia asked.
I shook my head. “These are very unique and rare crystals that have absorbed Energtris into them and adapted to it. They were passed onto me by my DNA father. He made these crystals a very long time ago. They are referred to as the ‘Energtris Crystals’ and are meant to be used by dragons. Specifically those that are direct descendants of my father because only his descendants can make the best use of them.” I explained.
“Interesting. So you just absorb the energy from these crystals to recharge yourself?” Luna asked. I nodded. “Sounds quite useful in a pinch.” She added.
“That’s the idea. But like I said, these crystals have their own energy supplies that I need to be mindful of. Fortunately, both the crystals and my body seem to know when I absorbed enough energy and are able to stop the process, against my own decision. But it’s better that way, if I’m to be honest.” I stated.
“Each one has a vast amount of energy and absorbing 75% of the 10 smaller crystals combined energy, can restore half of mine. The big one by itself can also restore me to half energy, by absorbing 75% of it as well. So all together, 75% from the 11 will restore me to full. The big one is basically a result of the 10 smaller ones being combined. It’s also connected to them and acts as a master control of sorts. Having it in your possession not only grants you the same amount of power as having all 10, but by doing something specific you can bring the 10 to you, stop or interact with them remotely.” I explained in more detail.
Everyone was in awe. “You seem to be full of surprises, Sarius Trusdale.” Celestia pointed out with a smile.
I chuckled with a smile. “Yup, and there’s a lot more to come.” I declared pridefully.
Luna chuckled as well. “I certainly look forward to seeing those surprises, Sir Sarius.” Luna said eagerly.
At this moment, I absorbed about 25% of energy from the crystals which is enough to restore me to 25% of my own energy. I was about to withdraw them back into myself, when something caught my eyes. Somehow everyone present had an aura around them, but not the typical life or power aura. This aura was mist-like and had an incomplete form. The aura of each pony were different sizes as well. Twilight and Fluttershy’s aura looked to be the largest.
I was surprised I never noticed until I was ready to absorb the crystals back into me. I took a look at Celestia and Luna, their auras weren’t larger than Twilight or Fluttershy’s but they were still large. I sensed the energy in the crystals change as if they were trying to tell or show me something, so I let them.
What the crystals showed me, or pointed out to be exact, were the auras represented the individual’s potential. The larger they were, the greater the potential. So the fact Luna and Celestia had large auras with so much power already was insane. The crystals were also telling me I should unlock the potential of the six mares I traveled here with.
“Sarius?” Celestia’s voice called me out of my thoughts. “Are you alright?”
“You had a strange look on your face. It was hard to tell if you were looking at somepony with seriousness in your eyes or you were thinking about something.” Luna added.
I nodded my head to Celestia’s question. “I’m fine, and it was the latter Luna. I just found out that the crystals can show me hidden potential in others.” I answered.
The six mares in the back had their mouths agape, Dew and Spike were amazed, Luna and Celestia were surprised. “You mean you never knew about this?” Luna asked. I nodded. “How long have you had them on you?” She asked.
I look up in thought. “Huh. I would say…. 4 years at least.” I answered, not entirely sure.
“Then how come you’re just learning about it now?” Luna asked another question.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I want to say it’s the first time the crystals talked to me, but that’s a lie. However it is the first time that I can see other’s potential so again I don’t know.” I answered unsure if it would suffice. I tapped my chin in thought. “When I think about it; I never really saw other’s potential because they most likely already unlocked it by themselves. I have always been around my friends and family who are all Hybrids like me, and as far as I know every Hybrid that was created like me and my siblings, has access to their full power from the start.”
“The crystals are sentient?” Luna asked, bewildered by that fact.
I looked at her with a deadpan expression. “Is that really the only thing you got out of all that?” I asked, hoping she wouldn’t answer yes seriously.
“Of course not. It’s just a shock that crystals can be capable of speaking or having sentience.” Luna answered.
“They aren’t actually using words to speak, it’s more like they’re showing me things or communicating via energy.” I pointed out. “And the Energtris energy inside them is what gives them sentience, that and they were created by my DNA father; Asgorath, the Deity of Creation. Anyway, it seems like I’ll be activating the hidden potential of those six.” I absorbed the crystals into me. “So is everything good now?” I asked.
Celestia and Luna looked at each other for a minute and then nodded. “Yes. Everything is well. We are satisfied with your performance, Sarius.” Celestia answered. “So you and the Mane Six are free to go.”
“Great.” Before I took a step forward however, a thought crossed my mind. “Would either of you mind if I used a shower in the castle?” I asked.
“For what purpose? Surely you could wait until you get to Ponyville.” Luna asked while raising an eyebrow.
“I could. But you have cut and wounded me, thus drawing blood. I don’t want to stink up the train with the scent of my blood and the smell of battle.” I answered.
Celestia simply smiled. “Of course. There’s one down the hall to the left.” Luna gave Celestia a sharp glare.
“But that’s-” Luna was cut off as I softly ran past her and Celestia.
“You guys can wait for me at the train station, I’ll be there soon.” I said to the Mane Six and Spike before running through the doors and to the left.
Luna’s POV, 3rd person view
The Mane Six and Spike all looked at each other. Twilight shrugged and turned to Celestia. “I guess we’ll take our leave now, Princess.” Twilight said.
Celestia nodded. “Very well. Take care, Twilight.”
Twilight and the others bowed before making their exit. Once they were out of the hall, Morning Dew turned to the Princesses. “So back to my usual routine, your highness?” He asked.
Celestia nodded again. “Yes. I will call on you again if you are needed. Thank you for escorting them, Morning Dew.” Celestia answered with a warm smile.
Dew saluted. “Just doing my job.” He left the hall and went to do his usual guard duty,
Once it was just Celestia and Luna, Luna turned to her sister. “Care to explain why you gave Sir Sarius permission to use my shower?” Luna asked.
Celestia giggled. “Apologies Lulu. He seemed like he was in a rush, so I told him where the nearest shower was.” Celestia stuck her tongue out in a playful manner.
Luna simply groaned. “And what about Twilight Sparkle?” Luna asked.
Celestia blinked in confusion. “What about my student?’ Celestia asked in response.
Luna frowned. “You and I both know she’s more than just your student.” Luna answered.
Celestia sighed and turned her head. Her playful tone and attitude completely dropped. “She’s not ready to learn the truth.” Celestia stated. “Not yet.”
Luna gave her sister a concerned look. “No pony is ready to learn the truth. Which is why it’s best to tell it as soon as possible.” Luna said. “If you prolong this, it’ll only make it harder for her to accept it. She deserves to know.”
Silence filled the room for a brief moment before it was broken by Luna sighing. “Do what you believe is right, but remember what I said. I’m going to see if I can convince Sarius to use another shower.” Luna trotted off down the hall.
The throne hall was quiet for a while, leaving Celestia alone in her thoughts. “How could she accept me as her mother…. When I gave her to her current family?” Celestia asked herself. “All because I wasn’t ready to be a mother.” Celestia frowned and the whole hall dimmed slightly from the drop in her mood.
Luna trotted down the hallway for a whole minute before she heard Sarius talking. “How do I turn this on?”
Luna slowed to a walk as she neared the shower double door. When she reached them she slowly peeked inside to see Sarius was softly fiddling around with stuff. Luna noticed his wings had changed back to normal now. The fact he was able to transform his wings like he did, greatly took her by surprise. It wasn’t until after the battle that she recalled what he said; Tsubasa Henka. She was obviously not familiar with the words.
Luna decided to take this opportunity, despite how questionable it was, to get a good look at Sarius. The first things that got her attention were the fact he had a mane or just hair instead of spikes or spines. And despite being the same size as an adolescent or teen dragon, he was far more powerful and capable of doing things she and her sister have never seen in their entire lifetime. Even more so when Sarius got serious against her after she did, fighting with incredible ferocity. The only being she and her sister have ever encountered that fought them with such ferocity was King Sombra.
King Sombra wasn’t that powerful of an opponent, no it was the fact she and Celestia underestimated him and fought him on his home turf. Luna has suspected that Sombra’s source of power was from either anger, wrath, dark magic, or just desperation or perhaps a combination of them. Luna doesn’t quite remember how the battle ended, she only has images to go by and an unwavering feeling of dread.
Luna shook her head to snap herself out of those thoughts. She knows exactly what followed that battle. She would rather not recall it, if at all. Luna turned her attention back to Sarius, who was turning the knobs he now noticed. Luna managed to get a look at his tail as the shower head released water onto Sarius. It was very hot water, which didn’t affect Sarius at all. Luna wasn’t all that surprised since she saw Sarius withstand one of her sister’s flame spell combos; using a fire spell and encasing the target in a magic shield so the flames would continuously wash over each other, increasing in power, heat, and intensity. He even countered another of her sister’s fire spells with his own fire breath, which was impressive since Celestia’s connection to the sun and mastery of fire spells; made her fire spells burn even the toughest of dragons.
Sarius quickly adjusted the water using the knobs so the water was less hot. His hair was now soaked as it fell half-way down the back of his neck. Luna immediately remembered when she slashed his neck. According to Sarius, she nearly cut his throat open. Even though she was in the midst of battle, she saw all the blood that gushed from the wound. She started feeling bad once again and had a sudden urge to apologize to Sarius again.
Even though Luna saw how fast Sarius healed when she stabbed him in the heart, she was still surprised and in awe at how fast the throat injury healed. Nopony wouldn’t even be able to tell it happened at all, since there’s no scar or mark on his neck.
Luna watched to see how much blood was rinsed off Sarius’ body. Turns out there was quite a bit, mostly from his chest and throat. She looked away, suddenly thinking about what she and her sister observed that transpired at the Crystal Empire, using a combined spell to view the events. They saw Sarius hold his own against King Sombra on two separate occasions.
Sarius’ first encounter with the tyrant was intriguing. Despite being up against Sombra in his shadow form, Sarius held his own. The way Sarius outmaneuvered Sombra in the air was amazing. Luna had never encountered any creature that could move and dodge so fluidly through the air like Sarius did. Seeing him do that during the spar was truly a spectacle. While Sarius couldn’t harm or touch Sombra, Sombra couldn’t touch or harm Sarius either.
The second encounter was interesting. Sarius used a small energy orb to solidify Sombra’s shadowy form so he could make physical contact. One clear difference Luna saw between the first and second encounter was how fast, powerful, and skillful Sarius was. Sarius even started doing things with his energy. And seeing him in action personally confirmed Luna’s theory; Sarius’ level of power is determined by how much energy he has. Luna and Celestia even saw Sarius remove the crystal shards from Shining’s horn and take a piece of Sombra.
“I think that’s good enough.” Sarius said, snapping Luna out of her thoughts as she looked back over to him.
It was hard to tell if there was still blood on him, considering he was red. He must have thought the same thing when he said; “I should still make sure I get in between the scales.”
”How can he get between the scales? Aren’t dragon’s scales tightly pressed against each other to prevent any direct contact with the skin underneath?” Luna thought to herself.
Her question was answered when Sarius lifted his front right claw and made some small movements with the claw tips, making the water coming out of the showerhead stop in mid-air and forming them together into a small water orb. He took that water orb and covered himself with it, starting with his head. He slowly moved the water orb down his neck to his shoulders, then to one forearm and switched to the other. Once he brought the water to his body, he had circled it around his entire body as it worked its way down his body. After reaching the tip of his tail, he brought the orb back over to cover his back legs and finally his wings.
Once he was finished precisely directing the water orb over his body, he moved it in front of him so he could look at it. Luna looked as well and saw how much blood and dirt were in the orb. It was enough to almost completely dirty the water. Luna’s mouth was agape, she didn’t suspect Sarius had control over water or any other element besides fire. He had used the water to get in between his scales to collect all the blood and dirt that wasn’t washed off.
Sarius’ mouth opened slightly as a familiar blue flame was forming in it. Luna was immediately on guard recalling that kind of fire nearly burned her to ashes. Instead of a huge funnel of blue fire, Sarius let out a small breath’s worth of fire to evaporate the water orb in front of him and burn the blood and dirt.
Once the orb was completely gone, Sarius ceased the fire. He then walked around in a circle a couple of times to have the water from the shower head cover his body. Luna was fortunate Sarius wasn’t paying attention to what he was looking at when turning around, cause he would have seen Luna watching him.
Luna was starting to feel different. She couldn’t explain what it was she was beginning to feel, but seeing Sarius made her feel warm and at ease. Her mind was even starting to have some ‘thoughts’ about him and her. Luna quickly realized what kind of thoughts she was having and turned away to shake her head.
”No! You are a princess. Get a hold of yourself.” She thought to herself. But her mind went back to fantasizing about Sarius. Luna stopped her thoughts quickly. ”No, I just met him. I shouldn’t be having these kinds of thoughts about him.”
When she thought she got her thoughts under control, a part of her seemed to say; ‘Not yet anyway’. This was enough to make Luna blush, yell, turn around and slam her head against the wall, leaving a hole in the wall in the shape of her head. She almost jammed her horn into the wall but thankfully didn’t.
“Someone there?” Hearing Sarius call out, Luna went wide eyed as she just realized, she made a lot of noise with her action. Luna began to panic as she heard Sarius’ footsteps. Luna didn’t know what to do except for one thing. Her horn glowed as she started a teleportation spell, she didn’t have time to think of an exact location so the throne hall popped into her head.
With a magical poof, Luna found herself back in the throne hall. Luna turned to see Celestia staring at her with curious eyes. Her sister must’ve noticed the look on her face, cause Celestia began to form a mischievous smile.
“Why Luna, if I didn’t know any better. I would say you were watching Sarius take a shower.” Celestia placed a hoof on her mouth and giggled. “This is the last thing I expect from you, Lulu.” Celestia playfully jokes. “So did you like-”
Celestia was caught off when Luna walked up to her and gave her a serious look, while still blushing. “Not. A. Word. Sister.” Luna said in a firm and authoritative tone.
Despite being on the receiving end of Luna’s serious and firm approach; Celestia smiled and winked. “Of course, sister.” Luna backed off and started to calm down. “Changing the subject, how well do you think he fared against us?” Celestia asked, wanting to hear her sister’s opinion.
Luna was still blushing a bit. “Very well. He certainly knows how to handle himself in a fight. He also thinks very quickly on his feet and he’s quite fast to boot. Whatever he lacks at the moment, he makes up for it with something else.” Luna answered with her input. She sighed in content. “It has been so long since we battled with an individual; who could adapt and hold their own against us.”
Celestia smiled. “Yes it has, Luna. Yes it has.”
“So what about you? What’s your take on his performance?” Luna asked, curious to know.
“Well, as you have said; he’s fast and flexible. But I never encountered an individual who could power through any of my fire spells. It was quite a surprise, despite the fact he was a dragon. My spells are powerful enough to damage dragons afterall, but they didn’t even faze Sarius.” Celestia said awestruck.
“Indeed. Even his regeneration was astonishing. He is quite the dragon.” Luna concurred with a bit of sparkle in her eyes, which Celestia noticed.
“Have you taken a liking to him, Lulu?” Celestia asked with a mischievous grin.
Luna quickly turned her head to Celestia and eyed her, the blush returning in full redness. “H-h-have I what?!” Luna asked, feeling her blood rush to her head as her heart beats faster.
“I said, have you taken a liking to him? Do you have a crush on Sarius?” Celestia asked, trying to be more clear.
“A crush on Sarius?! What do you mean? I am not familiar with your choice of words, sister.” Luna stated.
Celestia giggled. “I mean, do you like him?”
Luna’s blush was now covering her entire face as her mouth was agape. “I….” Luna was at a loss for words. “I don’t know if I’m to be honest.”
“Oh, of course. I don’t recall you liking any stallions as we grew up. You must not know what this feeling is.” Celestia pointed out.
Luna was silent. “Tell me how you feel, dear sister. I’ll tell you if it's affection you feel for him or not.” Celestia said.
Luna placed a hoof on her chest. “Well for starters, my heart is beating so fast, which causes me to accelerate my breathing. Right now, my mind can’t think of anything but him. When I was watching him..” Luna paused and looked at her sister, who seemed to be waiting for her to accidentally speak the truth with a hopeful smile. But the way Luna was feeling right now, she didn’t care. “When I was watching him shower, I was absolutely fascinated with him. I had certain…. Thoughts cross my mind as well.”
Luna looked her sister in the eyes with a hopeful look. “Do you think this is the affection you mentioned?”
Celestia nodded and her hopeful smile turned into a warm and happy one. “Yes, it is. I’m so happy for you Luna.” Celestia calmed herself. “But there is a chance this feeling you have may pass, so let us not jump the train so to speak.”
Luna looked at her sister with a confused look. “Why would we jump the train and are we jumping on the train or off? I do not understand.” Luna said in a perplexed but cute tone.
Celestia giggled which turned to a small laugh. Celestia would never lie about her sister being cute when she was confused and asking such silly questions. “It’s just a phrase, Luna. We’re not really jumping on a train.” Celestia answered, still giggling a bit.
“Oh. Then what did you mean?” Luna asked.
“I mean, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. As far as we know you just have this feeling because you sparred with Sarius and was heavily impressed by him, which was mixed together with watching him shower. It could be a simple crush or it might be real genuine affection. Only time will tell us what it really is, my sister.” Celestia answered.
“I see. Very well.” Luna said as she used her magic to transport her sword and sheath to another location. Celestia did the same with her weapon. “So I’m to let things unfold and see how this feeling develops?” Luna asked, regaining her royal composure.
“Pretty much.” Celestia answered. Both the princesses began to walk outside slowly.
Sarius’ POV, 1st person view
I heard a female yell that was followed by a decently loud smash. I asked if someone was there and walked to the double doors but saw nothing in the hall. The only clear sign someone was out here, was a hole the size of a head in the wall.
I decided to ignore it and went back to the shower but I had already fully washed myself, so I just turned the water off. I just listened to the sound of the water from the showerhead and my body dripping onto the floor for a minute, wondering who was outside the shower room. I heated my body up to evaporate the water still on me, my hair dried out as well. I walked out the shower room and began walking back the way I came.
After a minute of walking around, I bumped into someone while turning a corner. “Mmph. Would you mind watching where you walk? You just bumped into-” The stallion started to say before he took in the sight of me.
His face and eyes quickly shifted to fear as he backed up, shaking. “A-a-a-a-a d-dragon?! In the castle?!” Even his voice was filled with fear.
I sighed. This was the reaction I’m always expecting when others see me in my dragon form. Dragons were naturally feared due to size, capabilities, and/or their presence. I looked at the stallion, he was a white male unicorn with a blonde colored mane and tail, blue eyes, and wore the neck portion of a suit with a bow on it.
I just had to take one look. Just one, to know I wouldn’t like him. He gave off a vibe that he was a royal scumbag with a pretty boy attitude. “And who are you?” I asked with an accidental bit of annoyance in my voice.
The stallion just backed up more as he started breathing hard. “G-g-g-g-guards!! There’s a dragon in the castle! Help me!” The stallion ignored my question and screamed at the top of his lungs. My ears instinctively folded back from the shrill and sound of his voice.
Unfortunately for the stallion, I seemed to have caught him in a section of the castle where there weren’t any guards around. “Could you please not scream like that?” I asked, trying to be as polite as possible, albeit reluctantly.
The stallion just started freaking out more when he looked around and noticed no one was coming to his aid. “S-stay away, you beast. I’ll have you know Celestia and Luna are my aunts. If you harm me, they’ll make you pay.” The stallion replied.
My eyes shot open and widened when he said the princesses were his aunts. My mind was now trying to wrap around how and why this obnoxious royal pretty boy became their nephew. I stopped this train of thought since it was rapidly leading to an error in mind.exe and resulting in a shutdown. Instead, I just simply narrowed my eyes at him in annoyance at the sheer dismay of that revelation.
Someone must have been approaching because the stallion’s eyes no longer showed fear and discomfort. He rushed past me, much faster than I would have ever thought he’d be capable of and over to a guard. “Please help me! Either slay this beast or send it away.” The stallion said getting behind the guard.
“What beast, Blueblood?” A familiar voice asked.
I turned around to see Morning Dew, who showed up because of Blueblood’s distress, seemingly. “We meet again, Dew.” I said as I felt the annoyance and disdain leave my body.
“Trusdale. What are the chances we would meet again before you leave?” Dew asked as he walked up to me.
“I would say low, but maybe we were meant to meet one more time before I left.” I answer.
Dew chuckled. “Are you saying we’re destined for each other?” He asked in a mocking tone.
“Ha ha. I wasn’t. So anyway, I heard you call that ‘stallion’ Blueblood?” I asked, looking at the stallion in question.
“That’s ‘Prince’ Blueblood to you!” Blueblood shouted, still standing in the same place.
Dew sighed. “Yes, you heard right.”
I look Dew in the eyes. *Please tell me, all that prince talk is just an inflated ego because he’s living in the castle?” I ask quietly, despite already knowing the answer.
Dew shook his head, I wasn’t shocked but instead disappointed that it wasn’t the case. “Unfortunately, it isn’t. He is indeed Princess Cadence’s cousin and Princesses Celestia and Luna’s nephew.” Dew said, distraught.
I looked at Blueblood who jumped a bit. A thought then occurred to me. “Wait if he’s just a nephew/cousin, who’s he the son of?” I was reluctant to know the answer.
Thankfully it wasn’t as bad as I thought. “Nopony in the royal family. He was adopted by Celestia herself. For reasons unknown to all but Celestia. Though I’m sure even she’s forgotten at this point.” Dew answered.
I looked back at Dew with a raised eyebrow. “You’re sure about that?” I asked.
Dew turned to look at Blueblood who was beginning to get agitated. “Yeah. Pretty sure.” Dew answered flatly.
“Why are you staring at me, guard?! I told you to dispose of this dragon! Now do it already.” Blueblood ordered, not caring we were talking bad about him.
“This dragon’s name is Sarius Trusdale, Blueblood.” I said with disdain.
“I don’t care, dragon!” Blueblood shouted, stamping his hoof. “A dragon like you shouldn’t be allowed in the castle.”
“He was allowed entry by the Princesses themselves.” Dew replied.
Blueblood’s jaw dropped hard as he was shocked. “WHAT?! WHY?!” Blueblood shouted in utter shock.
“They wanted to speak to him, duh.” Dew answered. He then turned to me. “Though I still can’t get over the fact that all that happened. Even though it was right in front of my eyes.” Dew added, obviously talking about the princesses engaging me in a spar.
“Yeah, well it took me by surprise too. I didn’t expect Luna to be that forward.” I said. Luna stabbing me right in the heart without any warning was the last thing I expected.
“EXCUSE ME?! What kind of heinous act did you commit against my aunts?!” Blueblood shouted in horror.
“Nothing on your current mind track, so get your mind out of the gutter, Blueblood.” I retorted.
“I beg your pardon.” Blueblood said as he finally worked up the courage to walk up to my face. “My mind is not in the gutter. Now answer my question, scoundrel.” He ordered.
I was unfazed by his approach or order, I simply smirked at the display thinking he was acting cute. “I said not what you are thinking. Your aunts and I just sparred. That’s all.” I stated.
“Sparred? You fought them? I may be impressed you’re still in one piece, but it’s overshadowed by the distaste of your actions.” Blueblood said with disdain. “Why in my aunt’s name would you fight them?”
I was starting to get annoyed with him as I just stared at him with apathy. “In my defense, Luna attacked me first and they initiated the spar. Just know getting stabbed in the heart isn’t pleasant.” I said just barely holding back my emotions.
“Ha! If you really were stabbed in the heart, how are you still alive?” Blueblood asked, not believing me.
“Healing factor.” I answered simply.
“He really did get run through with Luna’s sword. I saw it all happen.” Dew vouched.
Blueblood looked at Dew then to me, then he eyed my chest. “If that’s the case, where’s the scar?” He asked, still refusing to believe.
I rolled my eyes. “It healed completely. My healing factor is fast and strong enough to ensure scars don’t get left behind. Only scars you’ll find on my body are those made under special conditions.” I answered.
“So you basically have no proof you sparred with my aunts?” Blueblood asked.
I groaned. Blueblood was starting to get on my nerves for real now. I turned to Dew. “Can you point me to the exit? I’m gonna leave while I’m still in my right mind.” I stated.
“Probably a good idea.” Dew pointed down the hall to a door. “The exit is in that direction, can’t miss it. I’ll see you later.”
I started walking away but a magic bolt shot past the side of my face. I turned to see it was Blueblood who fired the bolt at me. “You’re not going anywhere, dragon. Even if my aunts allowed you to be in the castle and in their presence, I won’t accept it. A dragon like you doesn’t deserve that kind of respect. And if this guard won’t dispose of you, I’ll just have to.” Blueblood threatened.
I snorted smoke out my nostrils as I turned completely to Blueblood and walked right up to his face. “While I’ll admit, I don’t know your capabilities; I doubt you're as strong as your aunts. So if you wanna try, by all means: try me.” I glared into his eyes giving a visual, but final warning to back off.
He returned the glare with less intensity. I could see he was scared and nervous. Dew groaned as if he wasn’t expecting Blueblood to literally grow a pair. I wasn’t going to make a move until Blueblood took the first shot, the actual first didn’t count because he missed.
We just kept staring at each other for a few minutes, Blueblood was getting more nervous and scared with every minute that passed by. “What’s wrong, Blueblood? Lost your nerve or did you actually think that shot would intimidate me? If you still have that pair you grew not too long ago, take another shot. My only advice to you is; don't miss this time.” I warned.
I knew for a fact any magic attacks he could throw at me wouldn’t do much to me but nevertheless, I kept my guard up. I wasn’t planning on hurting him at all since I knew I could easily wrestle him to the ground, though there was a chance I would hurt him from being greatly annoyed by him.
“What is going on over here?” A familiar warm female voice called out.
Everyone turned to see Celestia and Luna were slowly walking down the hall, only to quicken the pace when they saw Blueblood and I squaring off. “Pray tell, what is the meaning of this nephew Blueblood?” Luna demanded.
Blueblood was still nervous but less scared. “Aunts, I was just minding my business when this ‘dragon’ walked into me and started causing trouble. I tried to call for a guard to dispose of it but none came except this one.” He pointed to Dew, who felt disappointed Blueblood doesn’t even bother to call him by name. “When it was clear, the guard wouldn’t at least detain the dragon, I thought I’d take matters into my own hoof. The guard even had the nerve to say the dragon was personally invited into the castle by you two.” Blueblood explained.
Luna simply shook her head as Celestia just sighed. Blueblood was confused by their reaction. “What’s wrong, aunts?” He asked, obviously not being able to read the room.
“That’s because he was invited by us, Blueblood.” Celestia answered, sounding disappointed.
Blueblood was shocked when he really shouldn’t be. “You are very fortunate that Sir Sarius isn’t like other dragons, Blueblood. Taking a potshot at any other creature would instantly have it attack you. And have you learned nothing from magic classes and biology? You should know that dragons have a natural resistance to magic.” Luna scolded.
Blueblood wanted to retort but couldn’t bring himself to speak out. “Remind me again, sister. Did you adopt him or is actually a part of the royal family?” Luna asked.
“He is adopted in a sense, but it was somepony else in his family.” Celestia pointed out.
“Ah. That being said, move along Blueblood. You’re causing an unnecessary scene as well as disrespecting our guest.” Luna said.
Blueblood gritted his teeth and moved aside. He may not like it but he had to respect his aunt's wishes. Blueblood took one last look at me. “Don’t think you’ve seen the last of me, ‘Sarius’.” He said before walking off in anger.
What he said was enough to make me feel like I should be on guard at all times. Something told me he was gonna be major trouble somewhere down the line.
“Please do not hold any ill intent towards him, Sarius. I don’t really know what’s causing him to be like this but he wasn’t always like this.” Celestia pleaded.
“I don’t hold anything against him. I can tell something is off about him, but I don’t know what.” I replied.
“I am personally not fond of him. He is self obsessed, a coward, and he feels everypony should be at his beckoning call. That said, the display he has shown is very odd and suspicious.” Dew added.
“My sister and I were heading out, Sir Sarius. Care to join us?” Luna asked.
“Sure, I don’t mind.” I answered. “But what about-”
I looked at Dew who waved a hoof. “I still got patrol duty so don’t worry about me. I’ll see you again sometime, Sarius.” Dew started walking down the hall I came from.
“Back at ya.” I said back, loud enough for him to hear me. A simple turn of his head and nodding was the response I wanted.
So Luna, Celestia, and I walked our way to the exit of the castle, where the Mane Six and Spike were waiting. Once the Mane Six, Spike, and I said our farewells, we left to get on the train heading to Ponyville. Our last stop.
3rd Person
Blueblood walked to his chambers, still angry that his aunts would allow a dragon like that in the castle. He couldn’t stand it when others stood up to him like they were on his level. First it was Rarity at the gala a year and a half ago, now it was a strange dragon. What Rarity never realized was the act he put on was only because Celestia asked him to be on his best behaviour. Sure he made himself look like a fool at the end, but in his eyes that’s how he saw the citizens of Canterlot act and thought it was ‘normal behaviour’. Despite being royalty and Celestia’s nephew, he was still treated like a commoner by the other wealthy families growing up. Which is the reason he wants to be treated with respect and not be treated like he’s anypony’s equal.
He opens the door to his chamber and notices a cloaked figure sitting in a chair, helping himself to some tea Blueblood made. The tea cup was being held in place by a light blue magic aura. He knew it was a stallion since this wasn’t his first time visiting. The pony gestured for Blueblood to close the door, which he did reluctantly.
“Blueblood, how long has it been? Tea’s still as wonderful as ever.” The stallion sounded young and old at the same time. Blueblood could never figure out why and may never will.
“A week at least. And it’s Prince Blueblood-”
Blueblood was cut off by the stallion shushing with a hoof on his mouth. “No need to speak my name. This isn’t a social visit this time.” The stallion said, taking another sip of his tea.
Blueblood groaned. He didn’t like being interrupted either but he knew best not to mess with this stallion. “Then what is it this time?” Blueblood asked.
The stallion took another sip as if taking his time. “I came to get an update from an informant and decided it would be rude not to pay a friend a visit.” The stallion then looked at Blueblood. “Or are we not friends?”
Blueblood didn’t know what it was about this stallion but when Blueblood looked into his eyes, he felt scared, intimidated, and even cold. Almost like he was staring Death in the eyes.
“Well, truth be told. We’re…. Good acquaintances. You’ve never really tried to befriend me and I always thought it best, not to get too deep in our business relationship.” Blueblood answered, trying his best not to insult the stallion.
The stallion was silent as he stared at Blueblood for a minute. Blueblood thought the worst before the stallion turned his attention away from him and spoke; “Hmm, you make a fair point.” He takes another sip. “So is there anything you want to request while I’m here, enjoying your tea?” He asked.
“Is that really why you’re here? I thought you said you were paying a friend a visit.” Blueblood asked.
“Am I not allowed to have more than one reason for visiting? You make some good tea and I do enjoy our time.” The stallion asked, sounding almost hurt that Blueblood was accusing him of lying.
“No, you can have more than one reason. Just make sure to tell me if there’s more than one reason for a sudden visit.” Blueblood answered.
“Very well, I will try to remember. Now any requests?” The stallion asked again.
Blueblood shook his head. “None other than what I already requested.”
The stallion sighed. “Still holding onto that grudge. It is unhealthy, you know.” He stated.
“They’ll get what’s coming to them. They’ll get their dues, mark my words.” Blueblood said angrily, ignoring what the stallion said.
“And would that include the princesses, your aunts and cousin as well?” The stallion asked.
“Aunt Celestia will be spared the pain, but Aunt Luna and Cousin Cadence won’t.” Blueblood answered.
The stallion took a final sip of the tea. “Assuming they’re still alive when you get the chance.” The stallion muttered to himself.
Blueblood stared at the stallion. “Pardon?”
The stallion stood up and hovered the tea cup over to the table where Blueblood brewed the tea and placed it. “I hate to say, but your request still can’t be fulfilled for now. We are still missing a couple pieces to the puzzle. So please, do be patient.” The stallion said. “I’ll be going now. I’ll try to give a notice before I come visit again but no promises. Farewell.”
The stallion’s horn lit up and he seemed to dissolve into the air completely. Blueblood shivered. “Why can’t he just teleport out like a normal unicorn?” Blueblood asked no one in particular.
Blueblood walked over to the tea table and checked the cup. Like always no visible lip prints or traces of use. The stallion was always very careful not to leave behind evidence he existed. Blueblood grabbed another cup and poured himself some tea as he went about his day.
Sarius’ POV, 1st Person view
I opened my eyes to a completely different setting. I would have sworn I was transported into an alternate reality because of the way the world looked. The only thing that confirmed this was a dream was not feeling, smelling or hearing anything that I didn’t need to. The setting in front of me was a completely destroyed village with smoke and ash covering the land around gray and the world beyond the village was devoid of color. The skies were nearly pitch black, void of any stars and filled with clouds but not normal clouds. Dead bodies of ponies covered the streets, buildings either destroyed or half-way there via fire, the smell of blood filled my nostrils and an overwhelming crushing feeling of darkness was pressing on my body.
Among the corpses was a recognizable one. The body was nearly unrecognizable aside from two things; a horn and wings and the cutie mark which was a crescent moon. This was Luna’s dead body. Across the street from her was another much larger body that I knew was Celestia. I couldn’t see Cadence, any of the Mane Six, or Spike but somehow knew they were dead as well.
“Sarius?” A familiar voice spoke out. I quickly turned around to confirm it was who I thought it was and it was; Kasulis. My other half, the dark half.
“Kasulis?!” I was surprised to see my other self in this dream. But perhaps I shouldn’t have been considering the setting. “Did you cause all this?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. I could never-”
“Don’t lie to me. You’ve come close before. Why would this be any different?” I demanded interrupting him. I knew what he was gonna say, but I refused to believe it was the truth.
“Why would I lie to myself? Yes, I’ve come close before but I never did.” Kasulis answered. “I’m you and you’re me. We both know neither of us would ever do this.”
“It has to be you! I don’t know another being that would cause this much death and destruction.” I declared.
“Why are you still thinking I’m the villain here? Anything and everything I feel and think, originates from you, Sarius. I was created from your negativity, remember?” Kasulis argued.
“Yes, I remember. I’ll never forget that day.” I said.
“Then maybe you should recall it again and pay more attention.” Kasulis suggested.
“Why are you asking me to recall one of the worst times of my life?” I asked.
“Because you’ll learn what I have. I’ve had a lot of time to think about things.” Kasulis answered.
“What are you trying to do here? This is the first time you haven’t taunted me first.” I asked.
“Look around you. We already know this is a dream which means it’s a premonition of the future.” Kasulis stated.
I didn’t want to look at the hellscape we were in anymore but I did so anyway. “It’s obvious, this is the end we need to prevent from happening.” Kasulis pointed out.
“We? Why are you suddenly referring to you and me as we?” I asked, utterly confused.
“Do you not get it yet?” I shook my head. “We need to become one again in order to work together and stop this.” Kasulis said with urgency.
My eyes widened. All this time, I thought Kasulis was trying to become the dominant personality of our soul. I started finding myself questioning everything I thought I knew about my other half. He was right, we had to change whatever events created this future but my experiences with him were convincing me to go against it.
“S-sarius..” I heard Kasulis’ voice quiver, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I turned to Kasulis who was feeling uneasy and he looked at me with fear in his eyes. Which scared me since it’s the first time I saw him show fear. “Kasulis…. What’s wrong?” I quavered.
“I…. I don’t know.” Kasulis voice trembled. “I feel like…. Something’s pulling me apart.”
Kasulis’ eyes widened as his body was turning into ashes, his face expressed pure terror and anguish but couldn’t utter a sound as he disappeared right in front of my eyes. I started stepping back in pure fear as I noticed the darkness was quickly encircling me in a tornado. I lost all sense of sight as I kept shouting for Kasulis. I never got a reply, but I should have known better.
”Hello, Sarius Trusdale.”
I heard a deep, echoing voice speak out from the darkness itself. I turned around slowly and was filled with absolute terror for the first time in my life at what I saw. A shadowy figure was floating just a couple of feet away from me. The figure looked equine-like but I knew it wasn’t of equine origin. What truly terrified me about this figure was the aura, eyes, and sensation I was feeling. Every fiber of my entire being screamed at me to run, but I couldn’t as I was paraylzed by fear. This being held some much negativity, darkness, chaos, and murderous intent.
”Welcome to the End. Everything and everyone is gone now and I saved you for last.” It declared.
“W- Who are you?” I barely uttered.
The figure appeared to have smiled. ”I am…. Extinction.” It dictated.
After that, no sound, smell, or feeling was heard other than pure terror and the overwhelming feeling of death approaching. The tornado spun faster and grew larger, as the figure’s body faded into the twister. It wasn’t before long I saw it’s face which wasn’t equine in any way. It smiled a large toothy smile as it lunged at me, sank its teeth into me and devoured me.
I woke up nearly screaming at the top of my lungs. My breathing was fast and short along with my heartbeat being just as fast. The fear I felt was still lingering and wasn’t going to go away anytime soon. I began sweating as I slowly calmed myself down. I looked around to see I was alone in the back of the current train cabin, which was good. I didn’t want to explain what I saw.
I tried to process what I experienced as best as I could. Kasulis was trying to convince me he isn’t to blame for the way the future looked. He said we were gonna need to work together to prevent it. I still didn’t think I could believe and trust him but I remember what Kalia asked me to do. Despite everything my other half has done, Kalia was willing to give him a chance.
The figure claimed it was Extinction. I had nothing to go on, except it certainly had an aura of something primal and very powerful. Enough to put the scare in me and Kasulis especially considering it takes a lot to scare us.
I knew what I needed to do. Firstly, I have to visit the Mane Six individually to not only get to know them better but unlock their potential. Second, I’ll need to decide whether or not to get them and the Sisters involved with my confrontation with Kasulis. Finally I’ll confront Kasulis and settle everything. It doesn't matter if it goes good or bad, we will put our conflict to rest.
I looked out the window and saw we were leaving the tunnel through the mountain and Ponyville was in sight. From the looks of it we were a few minutes away from the station. I stood up and stretched out my limbs.
“Oh you’re up?” Twilight asked as she walked into view.
“Yeah. I hope I wasn’t doing anything weird in my sleep.” I denoted.
Twilight walked forward a bit with a look of concern. “About that. It wasn’t weird but it was…. Worrisome.” She uttered in a troubled voice.
I didn’t need to ask what I did as I looked at her with worry. “How bad was it?” I asked.
Twilight shook her head. “I don’t have anything to compare.” She disclosed.
“Right. Uh, scale of 1 to 10 then. 1 being low.” I said.
“I would say an 8 at least. You started to scare us with how scared you were. Especially Fluttershy.” Twilight stated.
I was silent and slightly wide-eyed. I never thought I would have a dream-like premonition in their presence. And I never had a premonition as bad as this one. I didn’t see it but I knew, not just from what the figure said but what I felt; everything in Reality was gone.
Twilight gave me a concerned and somewhat frightened look. “What kind of dream was it?” She inquired.
I looked at the floor. “It…. wasn’t a dream.” I hesitated. “It was a premonition in the form of a dream.” I added.
Twilight’s eyes widened. “What? You can see the future in your dreams?” She wondered.
I shook my head. “It’s not as often as you think. And it’s a good thing it isn’t. My premonitions always tend to be bad ones. It also only appears in a dream form because I don’t sleep.”
“You don’t sleep? Then how do you get your rest?” Twilight asked.
“Closing my eyes and resting for a few hours.” I answered.
“Oh, that simple huh.” Twilight spoke. “So you feel like telling us what the premonition was about?” She inquired.
I thought about it for a minute but since I barely knew them or this world, if I told them I saw a future that was desolate, destroyed, and everything was killed, they would freak out. Not to mention they might get suspicious when I told them; I was the last one to be killed. Besides I had a feeling the future I saw was a long way away so I had time to tell them.
“I do want to tell you guys but I think it’s best not to share right now. Especially since you just saved an empire. Once I get settled in and get familiar with everyone, or everypony; I’ll share it with you.” I concluded. “Also it’s gonna be a bit weird to say everypony now instead of everyone.” I added.
Twilight looked a bit disappointed and worried I wasn’t sharing what I saw. “That does make sense. When you’re ready to share, we’ll be ready to hear it.” Twilight reassured me.
I smile. “Thanks, Twilight.”
“We are reaching the Ponyville train station now. Please be sure to disembark if this is your stop. I repeat-” The speakers blared.
“Well, we’re here now. Let’s go and give you a tour of Ponyville, Sarius.” Twilight gushed.
As the train came to a stop, me, the Mane Six, and Spike walked off the train and out the station. I looked around at the town. It wasn’t a big town but still big enough to get lost in. An oak tree with a treehouse built into it stood in front of us. I followed the mares and Spike around the town as they showed me every shop that was in the town, the homes they reside in. Pinkie lived at Sugarcube Corner where she also works. Rarity lived at Carousel Boutique which was also her shop for clothing as well as making them. Twilight said she’s staying in the Golden Oak Library, which was the oak tree we first saw when we left the train station. Rainbow simply stated her house is on a cloud she can move around. Applejack pointed to a large red barn in the distance to the southwest and said that it was a part of Sweet Apple Acres, which is where she and her family live and work. She even added the fact it was a farm and a large one at that, where they harvested; surprise, surprise, apples. Fluttershy didn’t point out where she lived, only stating her cottage was close to the forest.
Wasn’t really much to go on but I figured I'd be able to find it if I went looking. “And that’s everything I believe aside from the Town Hall here.” Twilight said, gesturing to the tall building next to us. “So what do you think?” She asked.
“It’s nice, small, and, despite getting nervous glances from the townsfolk, inhabited by friendly individuals.” I answered.
“That’s good to know.” Twilight beamed along with the others. Twilight then frowned a bit. “I hate to bring this up but do you know where you’ll be staying, Sarius?” She asked.
I looked at her and shook my head. “Not a clue.” The mares and small drake gave me a look of concern and seemed like they were about to offer me a place to stay. I smiled. “But no need to worry or fret about it. I don’t need a roof over my head and/or a pillow and mattress under my head to be happy and comfortable. I know how to fend for myself and survive on my own. I learned how to.” I crowed, attempting to reassure them; I would be fine.
“Well, if you do happen to change your mind; just ask any one of us.” Twilight stated. The other 5 mares nodded in agreement.
“Thanks, I’ll keep it in mind. Now if you girls don’t mind.” I spread my wings out and began flapping them, raising in the air slowly. “I’m gonna fly around and familiarize myself with the area. I’ll come visit and spend a bit of time with each of you. Later.” I flapped my wings hard and rose into the air quickly with a single flap.
I hovered in one place for a bit to look around at the town’s surroundings. A deep and dense forest giving off bad vibes was to the south. Canterlot and the mountain it’s attached to is to the north and east a bit. To the north, I could still see the lights from the Crystal Empire. In the sky not too far to the left of the empire was a large assortment of clouds bundled close together, I figured it was a city built on the clouds. To the east as far as I could see was an ocean and with my Dragon’s Sight, a shoreline signaling another continent. To the west was a long stretch of plains, forests, and mountains. To the far south was a stretch of mountains acting as a border but I could see beyond that was a desert.
Once I was able to identify the various landscapes around the continent I was on, I slowly floated down till I was only 30 meters above the town compared to a dozen miles. Then I just flew around slowly above the town, identifying it from a bird’s eye view. I could see ponies on the ground looking up at me but at this distance, they couldn’t tell if I was a pegasus or a very small dragon. I can say I’m a little bigger than Luna.
When I familiarized myself with the town, I stopped and hovered in place over the town hall. I started thinking about who I should visit first, since the entire survey took me half an hour. While I was thinking, I had a desire to try something. I focused on shifting into my Dragoon State and with a bit of difficulty, pulled it off.
My overall appearance didn’t change since my dragon form was acting as armor for me. But I knew I changed since my wings felt smaller than normal, my tail didn’t feel the same, and my front and back claws were of a different shape. I lowered myself to the ground near a river to use as a mirror.
When I looked at the surface of the water, I saw a red stallion with a brown mane wearing nearly full-body dragon armor, looking back at me with slitted hazel green eyes. I had the claw part of my armor retract so I could see my hoof. It was a normal hoof at first glance but the bottom part could separate into claws. I let the armor cover my hoof.
”So in this world, when I transform into a Dragoon; I become a pony instead of a human. Good to know.”
I then heard a roar to my left. It was a roar I was somewhat familiar with but couldn’t quite remember what creature it belonged to. I flapped my wings and caused the armored wings to lift me up off the ground. Despite the armor part of my wings being near twice the size, my enhanced strength made up for it. I flew up and in the direction of the roar.
Fluttershy’s POV, 3rd person view
After Sarius flew off, the girls all decided to stay their farewells and head to their homes, Spike obviously went with Twilight. Fluttershy was accompanied by Applejack as they walked along a paved path and over a bridge.
“Mind if ah ask you a question, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked, breaking the silence.
Fluttershy nodded, almost nervous the soothing silence was gone. “Of course, AJ. You can ask me anything.” Fluttershy responded.
“For as long as ah’ve known, you’ve been terrified of dragons. Never once wanted to deal with them. So why do you suddenly start warming up to Sarius? I’m not suspicious about him, ah’m just wondering why he’s an exception.” Applejack asked.
Fluttershy stopped for a second and thought about it. “I guess… it’s because he’s a hybrid?” Fluttershy questioned herself. “I don’t really know why, but I know he has this aura about him that made him approachable. I wasn’t scared of him, nervous yes, but not scared.”
“Ah noticed too. He’s certainly much different from other dragons, especially Spike.” Applejack agreed. “Well, just be careful sugarcube. He may be friendly and approachable but who’s to say that’s not all there is about him.” Applejack added.
Fluttershy nodded, understanding Applejack’s point. “I’m aware of that. I will be careful.” Fluttershy noted.
“Alright, I’m heading to the farm now. See ya later, Flutters.” Applejack tipped her hat and left down another paved path towards the barn in the distance. Fluttershy continued down the current path.
Fluttershy eventually came to a forked path, one that led into the Everfree Forest and the other to her cottage. She walked up the path to her cottage, happy to be back home. The first thing she did was open the door and grab various animal food to go out and feed her animal friends.
Not too long after she brought the food out, her animal friends all swarmed ready to be fed. “Oh you poor things. You must be starving. I’m sorry that I was gone for a while but I’m here now.” She said as she fed each one of them the proper meals.
A white rabbit was sitting outside the cottage door just staring at Fluttershy. Fluttershy took notice and looked at it. “Oh, Angel. Don’t think I forgot you okay.” Angel narrowed his eyes at Fluttershy. “I’m sorry I left, but it was an emergency and I had to help my friends.” Fluttershy pleaded, trying to get the little rabbit’s forgiveness.
Angel just rolled his beady eyes as if he’s heard this excuse a few times. Fluttershy then made him his favorite meal and he decided to forgive her. This time anyway. It didn’t change the fact he was upset at her for leaving when she said she would be spending the day with her animal friends, especially him.
Once he finished eating, he stomped his foot to get Fluttershy’s attention. It did because Fluttershy knew a rabbit stomping its foot was a sign they were upset. “What’s wrong, Angel?” Fluttershy asked.
Angel vocalized with a chirping sound. ‘I’m upset, that’s what’s wrong.’
“But I apologized, didn’t I. I know I made plans of spending time with you and the other animals today but like I said it was an emergency.” Fluttershy remarked.
‘And what will your excuse be next time, then?’ Angel retorted.
“Please don’t start this kind of argument right now, Angel. We both know these kinds of things can’t be helped.” Fluttershy pleaded.
Angel huffed and turned his head in disapproval. Fluttershy sighed. Angel was always like this, getting overly upset over certain things when he shouldn’t be. No matter how hard Fluttershy would try to apologize, Angel will always stay upset at her for a while. But she knew he'd calm down eventually. Thankfully, Angel dropped the argument and went about his usual business.
After a few minutes, Fluttershy managed to feed all the animals. She wiped her forehead with a hoof and sighed, content that the labor was finished. Fluttershy was about to head back inside the cottage when she stopped due to a sudden bad feeling. She turned around to see all the animals all stopped eating and were staring at the entrance to the Everfree forest, not too far from her cottage. They all knew and felt something was wrong and it was heading this way.
The answer came in the form of a manticore appearing out of the entrance. Fluttershy isn’t scared by a manticore since she helped one when a thorn got stuck in it’s paw. But this one was different. It didn’t seem like a misunderstood innocent creature, it was more angry and feral than usual. The manticore eyed her and the animals all began backing away, while Fluttershy was getting frightened.
The manticore roared loudly and began charging at Fluttershy. Fluttershy was scared but mustered up enough courage to stand her ground, step forward and shout, “STOP!”
Thankfully the manticore stopped just a couple feet away from her and wasn’t making any attempt to attack her, mostly out of surprise that she didn’t attempt to flee. Fluttershy noticed how it was panting hard and had silted eyes. Something had this manticore worked up but she didn’t have the faintest idea what it is.
“Easy there. What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked, trying to maintain a soothing tone despite her fear.
The manticore made no reply and just stared at her. The way it was staring at her was both unnerving and saddening. She could see it was under a lot of stress and pain but couldn’t figure out why.
“I can help you, if you’ll let me.” Fluttershy said in a soft and soothing tone as she slowly hovered over to the manticore with a hoof out to touch it.
So far it wasn’t making any attempt to attack her and seemed to be calming down. But before Fluttershy could place her hoof on the creature's forehead, it reared back and growled. Fluttershy backed up a bit but stood firm. Once the manticore calmed down, she tried again. This time the manticore backed up and roared at her. While she was covering her ears, the manticore raised it’s right paw and swung it at her.
She closed her eyes thinking this was her end. Killed by a creature she could tend to. But she felt no pain come. She risked opening one eye and saw a red figure standing between her and the manticore. She opened both eyes and saw it was a dragon, or it looked like a dragon. The ‘dragon’ caught the manticore’s paw, stopping it’s swipe.
The ‘dragon’ turned to look at her and it was now a full dragon. Most importantly, it was Sarius. Either Fluttershy’s mind was playing tricks on her from a near-death experience or she saw very clearly, Sarius was a pony in some sort of dragon armor for a few seconds.
“You alright, Fluttershy?” Sarius asked her.
She nodded. “Yes. T-thanks to you.” Sarius smiled.
Sarius’ POV, 1st Person view
I turned back to the manticore in front of me, I gripped it’s paw, turned it around and pushed it back. The creature flew back to the bottom of the small hill Fluttershy and I were standing on. The manticore didn’t seem to care that it was up against a dragon as it roared and prepared to pounce.
“Fluttershy. Cover your ears!” I warned.
I had no idea if she did or not, as the manticore leaped at us. Before it was able to land on me, I inhaled a deep breath of air, I reeled back and just as the manticore was on top of me, I roared very loudly. It was no ordinary roar, it had a lot of force behind it. The sound waves impacted the manticore's chest and sent it flying back across the river.
The manticore landed on it’s back, letting out a groan. I stepped forward, ready to jump over and take care of it when Fluttershy grabbed my tail. I look back at her. “Sarius, don’t hurt him please. Something tells me, the poor thing isn’t itself.” Fluttershy pleaded.
I gave her a comforting smile. “Don’t worry, I don’t plan to. I know he’s not himself and I have a strong guess why. I’ll bring him back to his senses.” I said reassuringly. I leapt over and landed at the manticore’s side.
I started sniffing the manticore, searching for a certain scent but the manticore was getting back up. He stared at me as if wondering what I did to it just a minute ago. I stepped forward and the manticore’s eyes widened as it swung it’s paw at me instinctively. I ducked under it with ease and stepped back. I knew I could handle the manticore but I didn’t want it swinging wildly. The only thing I could do was restrain it. So I did, with a light stomp of my back left leg, the earth itself gripped the manticore’s back legs and clamped hard. The manticore was surprised and attempted to pull it’s legs out but ended up falling on its stomach. Another light stomp and the creature’s paws were held in place by another set of rocks.
Feeling more assured that it won’t attack wildly, I started approaching it slowly. He growled and roared at me but I responded with shushing and words. “It’s alright. I won’t hurt you. I’m going to help you.” I spoke softly in a soothing tone.
It growled again but didn’t roar and the growl was softer, so I was making progress. “Easy. Trust me, if I wanted to hurt or worse kill you. I would have already done it. Just relax and let me help you, please.” I begged.
The manticore finally let me approach, it was still panting hard from increased activity. I resumed sniffing the manticore from its mane and reached its back when I caught the scent I knew would be there. I reached my claw out and felt around it’s furry back, then I tapped a small needle injector. I pulled it out of the creature and recognized it, it was exactly like the needle that was used on me to make me a hybrid.
I levitated the needle with my energy and pressed my right claw against the back of the manticore’s neck. I focused my energy, had it enter the creature, and once it was inside, I used it to help calm it and eliminate traces of the serum that was injected into it. Once I knew it was all gone and the manticore was calm, I took my claw off its neck and walked in front of it. The last step was used to break apart the rock holding the creature down.
The manticore stood up and the two of us exchanged a look for a minute. He purred at me as if to thank me then walked back into the forest. I levitated the injector onto my right claw and took a good look at it. I had no doubt that it belonged to Raynin, the one who made me into a hybrid and assisted me for a time. For a while after he went into hiding back in my world, he began experimenting with small serum doses and injecting wild animals with them; making them go wild. This injector was proof that somehow, somewhere; Raynin was in this dimension.
Fluttershy trotted over to me. “Sarius, are you okay? You didn’t hurt him did you?” Fluttershy asked with concern.
I took my attention away from the needle and looked at her. “I’m fine and he’s fine. I didn’t hurt him one bit except maybe hitting him in the chest with a roar soundwave but otherwise nothing else.” I answered.
Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. She then noticed the needle in my claw. “What’s that?” She inquired.
“This; is proof that the manticore wasn’t himself. Long story short, I know someone who used these with a serum to make animals go completely wild and aggressive. His name is Raynin and I thought he was still in my world but he’s somehow managed to travel between different webs of Reality.” I explained.
“You really think he’s in Equestria?” Fluttershy asked, a bit concerned.
“Yes, I mean what could explain this being stuck to a manticore?” I gestured to the needle in my claw.
Fluttershy nodded. “I guess you have a point. Is he dangerous, Sarius?” Fluttershy asked, worried.
“Yes, he is. He’s the smart and tactician type. He’ll always be planning his next move while making a move. But that can be used to our advantage. He spends a lot of time plotting his moves out. And I suspect he’s not made himself familiar with Equestria and whatever this planet is called. So he’ll need to take care of that before making any plans. The needle injection on the manticore was most likely him testing if his serum works on Equestria’s creatures.” I explained. “I suspect that manticore won’t be the last creature affected by his experimenting.” I added.
Fluttershy was starting to feel nervous now. “How long do you think that’ll be? The next creature attacks.” Fluttershy asked.
I shook my head. “I couldn’t tell ya. He’s somewhat hard to predict. But I know it’ll be soon. I’ve even wager he’s had surveillance set up so he can watch his experiments in action and make notes of what to improve on.” I answered, taking a look around for anything to provide said surveillance.
“You mean, he’s w-watching us… right now?” Fluttershy asked, starting to freak out.
“Hey take it easy. I can assure you, his surveillance has nothing to do with spying on others. As I said, it's mainly used to watch how well his serum experiments go.” I answered trying to reassure Fluttershy. But I knew Raynin was also smart enough to use that surveillance to learn more about his enemies. I just didn’t want Fluttershy to freak out anymore than she already is.
“Since I know you’re safe Fluttershy, I’ll take my leave and visit everypony and come back. Remember I plan to unlock the potential of the Mane Six. So later.” I stated. Futtershy nodded and I left.
But little did I know, that was exactly what Raynin was doing at that moment.
3rd Person View
Meanwhile at an unknown location, the events of Sarius beating the manticore and healing it were playing out on a screen. Sarius then began to tell Fluttershy about Raynin and what he does. A pony sat in a chair watching the whole thing and smiled at the mention of his name.
“You know me too well, Sarius. But I wonder why you refuse to tell her that you know I’m watching every move you and your new friends make.” The pony version of Raynin held a hoof to his chin. Aside from the light coming from the screen, it was too dark to see what he looked like. “Oh well. Not that it matters.” He finished.
The sound of hoofsteps approaching was heard. “Still doing your ‘surveillance’ Raynin?” A familiar voice asked.
“Yes. If it makes you feel better, I’m not waiting for anypony to begin intercourse just to pleasure myself. I’m mainly learning all I can about the bearers of the Elements of Harmony and the Princesses. I’m looking for weaknesses I can exploit and use to my advantage.” Raynin turned to the mysterious figure. “Surely you and your team will want to gain that knowledge as well.”
The figure looked at the screen. Sarius was currently leaving the Bearer of the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy. “It will be beneficial, yes. How long until you're satisfied with your experiments?” The figure inquired.
Raynin shrugged. “Who knows. It’ll go quicker if you and your team bring me creatures I can test my serum on.”
“What’s the point of this? If you don’t mind me asking.” The figure inquired.
“Mostly a distraction from us and what we’re doing but also to see what my serum can affect in this dimension.” Raynin answered. “Now, can you bring me something stronger and more dangerous than a manticore?”
The figure narrowed his eyes. “Yes. We’ll go and retrieve one for you.”
“Excellent. I look forward to what you bring.” Raynin replied excitedly and smiled.
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