Refined Starlight in a Broken Vessel

by the-pieman

Chapter 28

Sighing, I leave the hive and note that at this point it’s late afternoon. Or is it? Hard to tell with the dark of the forest. I don’t have anywhere to be today so I figure I’ll walk in the general direction of home and just see where the forest takes me.

The forest is very quiet, almost peaceful, in fact. It’s nice, and the temperature, after the muggy warmth of the hive, is pleasantly cool. Along the side of a path I’d decided to randomly follow, I see a little brown bird laying on the ground, on its side. Considering I haven’t yet seen any dead animals so far, I shrug and decide to investigate. I mean, it’s not like I’m one to get sick from a dead bird.

Turns out it’s not dead... or had been alive in the first place. It’s a single-color all over it’s entire body. Like, beak and feet included. It’s a statue. A very detailed and immaculate statue, but a statue nonetheless, carved of some kind of brown stone.

The question is... who would make a bird carving this well-done and just chuck it into the forest? It’s damned near a masterpiece of a recreation, and must’ve taken hours to make. The legs are almost impossibly thin, and there’s even a twig grasped in the stony claws. How do you even do that kind of carving?

Shaking my head and shaking it off, I sigh, and get back to walking. I mean what would I even do with a stone bird, anyways? I figure I might as well head home and just... Idunno, wait for tomorrow. Not much else to do, really.

A few dozen feet later, I come across a small clearing, stone animals forming a sort of circle around it, with a pure white statue in the center. Stepping closer out of curiosity, I see that it’s an incredibly faithful recreation of Rarity, down to the individual hairs of her mane and the way it’s styled. In its own way, it’s both very romantic and very creepy that someone would put forth this much effort into a statue of Rarity.

She may be pretty by horse standards, I guess, but she’s not worth what looks like a bajillion hours working on something like this over. Maybe it’s the one she has a crush on? Or just some really weird creep living in the forest who finds her attractive to a very disturbing degree. A thought crosses my mind that I could give it to Rarity and see how she reacts... or give it to Spike and watch him fawn over it for a few hours, but I decide to ultimately just leave the statue where it is.

On my way back, after exiting the forest, I realize I’m on the side nearer to Rarity’s boutique. Huh, I wonder if she’s seen the statue of herself. Y‘know, I haven’t yet gotten to talk to her about the whole crush thing... and maybe she knows something about that statue. Might as well stop by, maybe Sweetie will be there; she’s a nice kid, once you get past her curiosity and tendency to poke things she shouldn’t while said things are sleeping.

When I get to the boutique though, I see a note on the door saying that Rarity is at the spa with Fluttershy. Oh yeah, Ponyville has a spa. And I have a voucher for it somewhere in my pile of fanmail. Deciding to meet Rarity there I get directions to the spa. I’m given some odd looks when I ask about it but I eventually find it and walk in, the place smelling like steam and shampoo.

In the lobby, I see Fluttershy sitting in a chair, knitting something. Guess Rarity isn’t here yet. I walk up to Flutters and say hi, quietly. I don’t want to startle her and she seems in the ‘zone’ with her knitting. “Hey there.”

She blinks and looks up. “Oh, hello Anthony! How are you today?” she asks, smiling as she resumes knitting, eyes on me.

“Oh, well, I was gonna see Rarity about something but I found a note saying she was here with you.”

“Hmm... she said she had to take a detour first today, because there’d be something rare in the forest today. Her cutie mark told her so.”

“You guys make cutie marks seem way too important for it to be healthy.” I warn. “But even so, where is she? I mean, she likely knows the way here, and she’d be here before I do, considering I needed directions. That stuff she was doing in the forest can’t take that long, can it?”

“W-well, no... she said she needed to gather some silk, so I assume it was related to the Star Spider spawning this year, but it’s, uhm, been a few hours, and the Star Spiders don’t spawn deep in the forest. And, well... she does tend to show up a few minutes late sometimes, but we’ve missed our appointment by now, and Rarity usually keeps all her appointments, especially with me.”

True, it does seem odd of Rarity to leave a note saying one thing and then skip out on it without notice. Heck, it’s odd for ponies in general. “I’ll go over to the forest and see if I can’t find her. If I don’t return in...” I think for a bit. “An hour, send for help. Got it?”

“Oh... alright, Anthony. Please be safe, okay?” she says.

“No problem. Back in a flash.” I say, heading back to the forest. Not having any idea where she might be in the forest I just start calling out for her, hoping she’ll hear. It’s taking a long while though. Rarity isn’t dumb enough to wander this deep into the forest is she? At least not this far away from the trail. The only thing I can imagine is that whatever’s going on, she can’t hear me.

Or can’t respond. I think back to the statue of Rarity. Come to think of it, I recall reading something about petrifaction being a thing here... or was that fiction? Hard to tell fiction from non-fiction in a pony library, but if it is a thing it would certainly explain the immaculate detail of the statues. I run back to where I found the Rarity statue and look it over again. It’s got a look of shock or surprise.

One that brings to mind the phrase ‘I have no mouth but must scream.’ I don’t know if it’s been an hour yet, but I could definitely use some help. I try to move the statue, but it’s actually pretty heavy and it barely budges, and I don’t want to try lifting it, for fear I may break something.

“Yo, anyone around to lend a hand?” I ask; maybe the changelings have someone around I could get some help from. A sound behind me makes me whirl around. It was like something large... no huge slithering across the dead leaves and through bushes. Is this it? A giant snake? Well, a basilisk does have petrification abilities. Guess it’s just as likely as anything else. I spark up and get ready for a fight. Just waiting on the giant snake to show itself.

“Hello?” a voice calls from the forest. Not a basilisk, then... hopefully.

“Yeah, I could use some help with something...” I respond.

I see the faintest glint in the darkness around the clearing, and I find myself staring into two bright, jade-green eyes. Instantly, I feel a searing, blinding pain in my eyes, and I drop to the ground, Sparking up on reflex. The agony is unbelievable, and I can’t see anything at all. A blank, black void has replaced my vision, and my hands go to my face on their own.

Through the shock and pain, I can feel that my skin around my eyes has turned hard and smooth. I also can’t feel the skin around my eyes.

I’m not completely petrified like Rarity, but I’ve been blinded completely, and the burning sting in my... well, where I used to have eyes, is almost unbearable! I try and use my powers to reverse the effect, but as usual with magic that’s already taken effect, I can’t remove it. All I’ve managed to do was prevent the effect from spreading, but the pain and the blindness make it horrifying. I can’t see, and I’m stuck here, defenseless...

“Oh my goodness! Are you alright?” a feminine voice calls out to me, and I feel a pair of human-feeling arms circle my torso, hauling me up to my feet and patting my face. “Oh, what happened to you?”

“I... I don’t know! I... I’ve been blinded, and it stings. All I recall is these glowing eyes, and... wait, who are you?”

“My name is Myrna. Also, how are you glowing?” I feel myself be steadied and held gently, maybe even gingerly, at what I’m guessing is arm's reach.

“Long story short, I’m basically a baby star.” I respond, trying to readjust my center of balance. “I think if it weren’t for my powers, this would have happened to my whole body. I think that’s why I’m not like my friend here.” I gesture to where I think the Rarity statue is, I could be pointing in the opposite direction for all I know.

“W-wait, that’s your friend? But- that’s a statue. It’s been there for hours.” the voice says. “Unless... oh no, the thing that did that to your eyes! It got your friend! That’s not good... uh, what do we do?”

“Okay. Uh... hold on, gimme a sec.” I try and clear my head, focusing on accepting the darkness, rather than fighting it. ““Okay, let’s see... uh, we need a plan. I told Fluttershy to let Twilight know I’d be here looking for Rarity. Since I’m not coming back, she’s supposed to come in and find me with some backup.” I sigh. “It seems that for now, all we can do is wait for the rescue party and make ourselves noticeable.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea... uh, wait, I think I have an idea, but you’ll have to trust me, okay?” she says.

Normally I’m not about to literally blindly trust someone, but I’m not really in a position to argue, so I go along. “Okay, what’s your idea?”

“I, uh, have some powers. I don’t know how, or why... but I can move stone. Like... telekinesis, but it only works on stone, and maybe dirt, a little.” I feel a pair of strong arms wrap around me, before hearing a rumbling below me. “I’m going to lift it, and us, up.”

“Alright, fine. So how about a name?”

“Oh, right... I’m Myrna. You?” she asks, as the sudden heavy feeling in my stomach, like I’m riding an elevator, begins to make itself known amidst the rumbling.

“Anthony.” I reply. “I’m a star as I mentioned, and I can manipulate coal. Anything ah... ‘new’ with you since you got here?”

“Uh... I’m kinda... not really human anymore.” she says, sounding very sad, and a little quiet. Not, like, ‘whispering’ quiet, just the quiet someone gets when they’re sad.

“Join the club.” I say, rolling my eyes. “Anyways, if my theory is correct, some demon or something is going around turning everyone around here to stone. Since stone is your area I’m willing to bet there’s a connection. But the other demon I fought was all monstrous and stuff so, probably not you, just an odd coincidence.” I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, seeing as she’s not acting like the demon from before in the slightest.

After the rising sensation stops, I can feel a breeze across my face, except where the stone surrounds my eyes. “So, uhm... where are we?” the girl’s voice asks.

“You are, well, we are in the Everfree forest on the outskirts of Ponyville.” I say, getting used to the altitude and the lack of feeling in my eyes.

“... that doesn’t tell me much. I mean, the pony statue means we’re probably not in Kansas anymore.”

“Judging by them having a mostly-different set of stars and constellations, my guess is this isn’t Earth. Well, pretty obviously not our Earth, but... you know. Anyways, what say we make ourselves noticeable?” I enter my heat form and start generating fire from my hands, hoping the light is visible from ponyville, this far into the forest.

The girl gasps, and I hear scuffling sounds behind me. Less than a minute later, I can hear the sound of beating wings, then Dash’s voice saying, “Anthony! Everypony’s been looking for you, Fluttershy said you were looking for Rarity! And what’s with the creepy statue?”

“Stuff can be explained later. Yes I found Rarity. She’s a statue, and I’m blind. The girl down there is a friend.”

“Girl? Like a human mare? Or a-”

“Yes, a human woman.” I correct. “Go and- oh, right, there’s something around turning things into stone, hence my face.”

“Oh, I thought that was a mask. Jeez...” The flapping noises head downwards. “Hey, Anthony sent me t-” thud.

“W- what the? Is that a pegasus? Why is it stone?” Myrna calls out. Oh no, whatever it was got Dash! Damnit, there goes rescue!

Or maybe not, more flapping! “Hey, Anthony! We saw Rainbow Dash go down there, is Rarity hurt?” It sounds like one of the pegasi from Ponyville found me, but we’ve got to find the creature responsible.

“Yeah, but there’s some evil creature around, it’s turning everyone to stone. It blinded me, but Rarity and Dash are statues!”

“Wait, like a cockatrice or basilisk?” the pony asked.

“If those exist here in magical ponyland, then probably yes.”

“Gotcha. I’ll go back, and ask for some depetrifaction potions; we’ll get more fliers and and try to airlift you guys out.”

Myrna calls up. “So... what’s going on? I don’t wanna be stone!”

One of the ponies up here with me speaks up. “Who’s that? I thought only Rarity and Rainbow were here?”

“That’s Myrna, I found her while I was looking for Rarity. Well, she found me after I was blinded. She’s a friend.”

I hear an exasperated sigh. “I’ll go down there.” I recognize the voice, it’s the mailmare.

“Derpy, maybe we should let somepony without uh, a...”

I hear Ditzy speak up, sounding a little bitter. “A disability? I’m perfectly fine, Thunderlane.”

“... I was going to say ‘condition’...” Thunderlane mumbled.

I decide to call up so as not to be mildly forgotten. “Ditzy? That you? Dang, I wish the circumstances were better... Anyway, uh. Why not let her come down? If she’s brave enough, who cares?”

“‘Cuz she’s got a daughter!” the pegasus stallion responds.

I hear Ditzy snort derisively. “I’m going. Be back soon. Thunderlane, Flitter, you two go get the charms and the potions, I’ll go check with those down below. Rainy? You make sure Mr. Anthony doesn’t fall off if the Everfree decides to gust about.”

I feel a pegasus gently grab my shoulders, as the others acknowledge their tasks. Ditzy begins to flap down towards Myrna, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. I hear the stallion from before, Thunderlane, call out as he’s leaving, “Be safe, Derpy!”

From below, I can hear Ditzy land on the ground. “Woah! You’re really big, miss.”

“Ah, my name’s Myrna. Are your friends going to be alright?”

“I think they will, we just need some depetrifact potions, and they’ll be right as rain. Wow, this isn’t a cockatrice’s work, though. They only make gray stone, and neither Rarity nor Rainbow is gray at all!”

I don’t like not being involved in conversations... “Uh huh. So how long until they get back? I kind of like being able to see. Also, can someone get me down from here, not just hold me steady?”

Both Ditzy and Myrna say they’ll do it, with the flapping of the pegasus’ wings reaching me first. A pair of hooves reach under my arms, and I’m lifted into the air and slowly lowered.

“Thanks. So, I guess we wait until those ponies get back with the potions. What can we do until then? I Spy sure is out.”

Ditzy and Myrna chuckle. “Well, uhm, you could tell me more about where we are, maybe?” Myrna says, hopefully.

“Well... It depends on who you ask I suppose.” I reply. “For the first year or so I was essentially a pariah of the town. Nobody’d even keep their store open if I was within ten yards of them. Then I punched a demon so hard his head exploded, saved the town, and now I’m a world-renowned hero getting fan mail and marriage proposals.”

“You... punched a demon’s head... and it exploded?” Myrna asks, sounding incredulous. It does sound a bit crazy, I know.

“Ask anyone in town, they’ll confirm. No joke, I’m pretty tough. The weirdest part, is that most of the ponies thought that what I’d do was eat them... sure I eat meat, but I’m not about to eat something sapient.”

“Well, they are really tiny.” Myrna says. “You’re pretty cuddly though.” the second part sounds like it wasn’t directed at me, and Ditzy giggles in response.

“Yeah, ponies are soft.” I reply, “So... what’s your diet like Myrna? You a vegetarian?”

“No, I haven’t exactly had the option to be one, even if I wanted after the last year...”

“Really? dang, what’s going on back home? I’m assuming you’re from the same Earth I am.”

“I- I’m not sure if it’s the same one... how long have you been away? Because there’s been... a lot happening over the last eleven months. At least, I think it’s been eleven months, calendars have become rather unreliable.”

That sounds... disconcerting. “Well, what year was it? It was 2014 when I showed up here.”

“How late into fourteen?”

“April, around the twenty-fourth. A few days before my birthday actually. Hell of a birthday surprise waking up on another planet, huh?”

“Well, you just missed the end of the world, then.”

I pause, the darkness of my no-longer functioning vision making that statement even more foreboding. Whatever hint of mirth I had in my voice is probably gone. “Define ‘end of the world’ real quick.”

“Monsters came out of flaming holes in the ground, and began to destroy, enslave, or rape everything.” her voice is quiet, pained. “And some of us that survived got taken... and turned into more of ‘em. Like demons, corrupting people or something.”

“Demons...” Yeah, I’m definitely past jokes right now. “And guessing by it being the end of the world, there’s not much left?”

“Have you ever played Fallout?” she asks.

“Uh... nope, never played anything by... who made it again?”

“Nobody important now. But have you seen artwork of it?” At my head shake, she sighs. “Well, there’s fortresses in places where folks have banded together and gotten enough weapons together to fight off the demons, and everyone else is either scavengers, nomads, or too crazy to care about hiding.”

“The others are dead I assume... Sounds like whatever pulled us off Earth did so to get us out of there. Only question is... who did it and why us?”

“No idea. I... remember falling asleep, barely, under a broken car, and then I wake up in this dense forest... I haven’t seen a living tree in nearly six months. It was... disorienting to say the least. And I was... different. At first, I thought demons had gotten me, because I’m all- all scaly now, but there wasn’t anyone here. And then statues started showing up, and I had thought they were someone trying to give me gifts, but... if they’re people, that’s just...” I can hear her shudder.

“Uhm, miss?” Ditzy says, voice a bit squeaky. “You’re crushing me a little.”

“Sorry.”

I decide to change the subject. “So Myrna. What else would you like to know? I may not be completely accurate, but you’d get a human’s perspective.”

“Uhm, well... are there- no, you already said you killed a demon.”

“Yeah, but there was only one. From what you said, it sounds like they’re overrunning the place. Probably a local variety of demon... though it did look disturbingly human aside from the... other bits. But hey, I can deal with them, I suppose. I got these powers and all. Anyways, enough about the demons. We’re here, they aren’t. Right?”

“R-right... except the one turning things into stone.”

“I’ll take care of it, just need some of that potion and... Idunno, some ruby-quartz glasses or whatever. Now come on, what do you want to know about this place. It is pretty much your home now. Don’t want you walking into town blindly and all.” I pause, noting the darkness again. “Metaphorically that is.”

“Uhm... the locals seem friendly enough... I guess if there’s any cultural things I should know, like not pointing at people, or not throwing peace signs or something.”

“They don’t have fingers... well, Spike does so I guess they could understand basic hand language... at least Twilight should.”

“Well, any I should avoid?”

“Celestia, trust me, she’s a bitch. Been on my case since day one and just went downhill even further the other day.”

“I’m sure the princess had good reasons!” Ditzy says, defensively.

“If her ‘good reason’ is hating me, then yeah. Anyways, where are those guys? I’d like to be able to see again.”

As if in answer to my question, more flapping sounds from above sound off, and I hear more voices. “Hey, we have the potions, and a lot of ‘em in case there’s need for extra. We also have a few charms that should prevent it. Who should we use it on first?” Thunderlane’s voice calls out.

I hear Ditzy speak up. “Alright, Thunderlane, give me a bottle. Anthony, tip your head back, this’ll need to go on your eyes.”

I do as I’m instructed, leaning my head back a bit and wait for the cure. “Alright, go for it.”

I feel liquid, presumably the potion, poured gently onto my face. I feel my eyes start to feel a lot less stiff, and soon, Ditzy stops pouring. I feel alright, but...

“Oh dear gods! It didn’t work! I’m blind for good!” I am totally freaking out, I’m probably flailing, but I think that’s excusable at this moment. I hear one of the other ponies scream in terror. Wait... That’s not fright, that’s laughter.

“Hey Anthony, why don’t you try opening your eyes?”

Suddenly, I can see again. Boy, do I feel like an idiot.

I look around, and see Ditzy smiling up at me, one eye pointing in another direction. Then, one of the ponies looks to my left, and freezes. Wait, no, they’ve just been petrified!

I hear Ditzy, Myrna, and one of the other ponies shout in fear, and I watch as Ditzy begins scanning around in all directions.

“Crap! G- get me one of those charms! I need to be able to fight this thing!”

“What’s going on?” Myrna asks, and I hear something move almost right behind me. Adrenaline pumping, I spin arou-

-nd and fall onto a couch? Wait, the hell is going on? I look around, and see I’m in the library, on the main couch, with Spike standing next to me with an empty glass bottle, a grey-colored film coating the inside.

“Shit, it got me, didn’t it? Completely this time...”

“If by it, you mean she, yeah.” Spike says. “Seems you were, according to Derpy, a little wrong in your guess on what was causing the problem. I’ll let Twilight explain once she gets back in from talking to your new friend.”

“Myrna was doing this? But... that makes no sense. She said she didn’t see anything but statues. They’d have to have been transformed before she found them.”

“Yeah, Twilight did some research, and found a really old book on mythological and extinct species and subraces of pony; there’s one in there called ‘gorgons’ who-”

“Snakes for hair, snake body, she mentioned she was scaly.” I recall all at once. “God damnit it was her.” A second realization struck me “And she played stupid saying it wasn’t her. So I guess we kill her then?”

“Actually, she’s the one who carried you back, and she really didn’t seem like she was doing it on purpose... ah, you’ll just have to go talk to her yourself. We finally figured that just blindfolding her would work and she put this thing she called a bra over her face.”

I roll my eyes. Right, they don’t have ‘underwear’ here. Well they do but it has entirely different meanings. I sigh. “I’ll go talk to her, where is she? Basement?”

“Ah, outside, actually. We’re not sure she’d fit in the library.”

I sigh again. “Yeah, sounds like a gorgon. I’ll be back in a sec.” I get up, stretch and head outside. There I see Twilight, looking rather nervous, talking to a giant snake-like creature... with a human torso. And I mean giant. Her tail half must be at least four feet thick at around the middle. If she had normal legs she’d be about eight or nine feet tall. She is massive. I walk over to her and sit down. “You can go inside Twi, I’ll take it from here.”

Twilight looks conflicted. “B-but I want to continue my questions; I’ve only asked forty of them...”

“I’ll handle it, I said.” I repeat as I scootch Twilight back to the front door of the library and shhe seems a lot less tense now that she’s away from Myrna. “So... you being a gorgon never came up, any particular reason why?”

“Uhm... because I’d never heard of one before?” she says, looking confused, though she’s staring a few inches left of my head.

“Okay, fair enough... but what are we going to do about it? We can’t have a nice girl like you wear a bra on her face for the rest of her life.”

“Oh, yes... We did some experimenting earlier, and when I’m relaxed and calm, I don’t turn people into stone. It’s just, y’know, when I’m stressed.”

“Fair enough.” I say, “Would you say you’re calm now?”

“Yeah, I’ve mostly been wearing it in case I get startled. The pinkie one jumped out of a bush to say ‘hi’ and I accidentally turned her to stone.”

“Yeah, Pinkie does that. She doesn’t mean anything bad by it, she’s just... really friendly. So, let’s cover a few things we should have earlier. You’re a snake.”

“Oh, uhm, yeah. Sorry, wasn’t all that big on my mind thinking about the potential hellish monster coming to kill us all.” she snarks.

“You’ve got quite the attitude, missy.” I reply sternly before softening. “At least you’ll be fun. Anyways... when did this whole... snake thing start?”

“When I arrived here. I mean, I hadn’t been all... snake-y before I got here.” she says, and I notice that there’s a bunch of misaligned scales and pale scars right where her snake half meets her human torso. I also note they’re just about the same width as the slightly clawed fingers on her scaled hands. A moment after she sees me looking at her hands, she tucks them into the pockets of her hoodie, her bra having vanished from her face at some point in the conversation. She’s got some scales on her cheeks and forehead, and her hoodie is up.

“So... you just showed up here and were suddenly a mythological creature you’d never heard of before?”

“Yeah.” she says, nodding. Her eyes, now that I can see them, are really pretty.

“Cool.”

“So... what happened with you getting here?” she asks, shifting in place.

“I woke up here, and I’m a living star.” I trigger my Heat form to demonstrate.

She gasps. “W-woah! You’re warm!” she says, sliding closer. I haven’t even actually tried outputting heat yet, but she can feel the temperature change, apparently.

“Cold-blooded like a snake, too. Interesting.” I say. “So, you’re pretty snake-like. How about your mouth?”

A tinge of red colors her cheeks. “Uh, my m-mouth?” she asks, sounding surprised.

“Like do you have snake fangs or anything? Or a long tongue?”

“Uhm...” she stammers for a moment, then slowly opens her mouth, and it opens wide... wider... wider still, until her chin has touched below where an adam’s apple would be if she were a guy. Inside her mouth is two rows of sharp, thin teeth on either side of her mouth, each pointing slightly back in towards her throat, with a central gap between the rows about two inches wide. Her tongue, long and narrow slides out of her mouth, and she blushes a bit more as her eyes skate away from mine.

The teeth are very off-putting, and I cringe a bit as I imagine her biting me... but she wouldn’t do that, would she? though she could probably bite my head off with that quadrate bone. “Alright.” I say, “And there is one more... major defining feature of gorgons. Their hair... take off the hood, would you?”

She looks down at me, jaw closing with a small ‘pop’. “Ah, alright, but they look kinda weird...” she says, and pulls back the hood. At first, I think it’s just that her head is kinda deformed, no snakes at all, until the first one begins to move, pulling itself out of where it’s tucked into her top. The snake is some form of anaconda or something, and thick around as one of Twilight’s legs. The muddy brown and near-black coloration shines softly in the daylight, as the snake looks at me, flicking its tongue. Four more pull themselves free, and Myrna’s hoodie now looks a lot baggier, five total snakes all peeking at anything nearby with apparent interest. Another, almost as big around as one of my legs, finally pulls itself up sluggishly, and sits on her shoulders for a moment before just going back to draping itself down her back, reaching about where her butt would be on a normal human.

I decide to test their blood as well and increase my temperature slightly, the snakes all taking almost immediate interest in me, except for the big one.

“Your... friends seem to be cold-blooded as well. Interesting. I figured it would be easier for me to ask these questions. Twilight has a thing about snakes. Also, she likely didn’t really talk as much as test you. So... back to you. How do you like Ponyville so far?””

“Well, everybody’s really friendly, the ones who’ll talk to me, at least.”

“Ponies are skittish. They didn’t like me much, some of them still don’t. Just give it time. And maybe show them you’re here to help them. Heh, wanna read some of the fanmail the kids send me after I saved the town?”

“Oh, sure! I’ve uh, never met a real-live hero before.” she says, smiling.

I grin at the praise. “Wouldn’t call myself a hero but they sure do.” I head back into the library and return with some of them.

The first I show her is one of my favorites, just a little kid’s messy writing saying she’s glad I saved her mommy. Myrna laughs and smiles at it. “That’s adorable!”

“Yeah, the ponies are prey animals so they’re naturally scared easy, but they’re nice.” Myrna takes the letters and starts sifting through them at her own pace. “And there’s some from other towns, even other cities, too. Only really been here and Canterlot though.”

“You don’t travel?” she asks, looking through another letter.

“Nah, Ponyville’s a bit of a ‘weirdness magnet’ so leaving here would be like leaving the center of interesting things. Heck, if I left Ponyville, I wouldn’t have met you.”

She blushes again, before reaching for another letter. She goes to open it, and I realize too late that it’s one of the ones with perfume on it... and raunchy contents. “Wow... ah, while I’m not sure that’s anatomically probable, but it sounds like something you’d want to travel for.”

“Oh, uh... well, no, see, I get those all the time too. But, you know, I don’t swing that way... not into ponies.”

“Ah, for a moment I thought you were going to say ‘not into women’.”

“Would me being gay be a problem?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “Trust me I’m not, but still... I’m not a fan of bigots.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have any problems with it, but to be honest, you’re the only guy I’ve met in more than four months who didn’t try to buy me, sell me, or just plain take me.”

“Yeah, I’m not the kind of guy who sees women as objects. Sounds like you got off Earth just in time.”

“Not soon enough...” she whispers, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away.

“More on that later. Let’s not kill the mood.” I say, before realizing I implied there was a mood to kill.

She chuckles wryly, but nods. “A-anyways. Uhm, so what do you normally do for fun around here?”

I shrug. “Terrorize ponies, hang out with the kids, mess with Twilight, prank Pinkie and Rainbow...” I trail off before adding. “Deal with the occasional disaster.”

She nods. “Yeah, sounds like a hero to me.” she says.

“Like I said, not a hero. I prefer anti-hero.” I say, leaning back to lay on the grass and just stare at clouds. “Though as for travelling, here in a few days I’m going to Wunderland. Ever read those books?”

“By Lewis Carroll, right? I haven’t read the originals, but a bunch of the spin-offs and recreations are great.” she says, smiling.

“Yeah, I’m going there. For real. I’d ask if you wanna come with but I think between Pinkie, Twilight, myself and Cadence we should have a pretty full party.”

“Ah, alright... and I’m not sure I want to go from one craziness to another right away.”

“Fine with me. But in the meantime, I understand everything’s a bit new what with your body being mostly snake-y now. Other than the petrification thing, what can you do exactly?”

“Uh, well... I can move stone and a little bit of dirt, sorta. It’s like telekinesis, but I can’t do it with anything else, and it works best when I use my hands on it.” she says, before sighing. “Sorry, that’s a pretty dumb way to say it... Uh, have you ever seen someone working clay on a spinning wheel?” she asks.

I nod “I’ve actually tried doing it personally. It didn’t go well but I have the analogy. You can do that with solid stone?”

“Yeah. And, again, dirt a little. And I can sorta swim in it? I say swim, ‘cuz that’s what it feels like, but it’s dirt and stone, not water or anything...”

Interesting.... “You seem to have an Earth-based powerset, whereas mine is stellar. To a point.” I Spark up and go intangible, sliding out of her embrace as I get up and walk away. I watch as her tail and body sort of fall in from not having anything against them. It’s just then that I realize she was hugging me. I power down to normal again. “Pretty neat, huh?”

“Wow! You’re like Kitty Pride, but you’re a guy!”

“Hey, Shadowcat is hot! I don’t mind having any comparison to her.” I grin. “Although I have to be in my Star form to do it.”

“So?” she asks, furrowing her brows. “Wait, is there something bad about being all... Star-form?” she asks.

“Not that I know of, but I can also get huge, but that seems to be a separate power as I can’t do anything with my star powers while I am.” I grow to about ten feet tall. “Heh, you’re just about my size now... kinda...”

She giggles. “Well, can you shrink, too? Cuz then you’d be like Ant-Man and the Human Torch.”

She’s a comic geek too? Looks I just scored a ten here. I grin. “Nope, can’t shrink, but that would be neat. So, you like comics?”

“Well, duh! Deadpool’s one of my favorites, but any of the X-Men series are great.” she says. “Though I have to say, Batman’s my second-favorite comic series ever.”

“I like Spider-Man.” I say, “He’s awesome. Anyways, more on my powers... I can do kinda what you do with stone, but it only works with coal.”

“Huh, weird. Cool, but weird.” she says. “Do you have anywhere I can show off the last thing I found I can do? It’s... different.”

I nod. “There’s an open field just beyond the library. Unless you need a tree or something. It’s pretty bare.”

“Nah, that’ll work.” she says, and gestures for me to lead on.

I take her out to the field and we’re a good distance away from town. “Alright, show me what you got.”

She nods, and turns to the ground, taking a deep breath before exhaling, hard. A cloud of fog pours from her mouth, sliding across the ground and leaving a trail of frozen grass and flowers, coated in a perfect layer of frost.

She blows the last of the cold from her lips in a puff of condensed air, and looks back at me. “Cool huh?”

“Funny.” I grin. “Doesn’t that get chilly when you’re cold-blooded though?”

“Strangely, no, not when I do it, but the ground still feels painfully cold afterwards.”

“Interesting. And you say you have telekinetic power over stone. Can you, like, make knuckle dusters out of it?”

“Oh, better than that!” she says, and holds up her hands, fingers slightly spread. After a few seconds, grey, soupy liquid pours out of the ground, as if falling up onto her hands, hitting and setting like cooling wax into the shape of a pair of stone gauntlets. Then, she opens her eyes and begins to ‘smooth’ them down into better armored shapes. “And best of all, it feels weightless to me.” she says, holding it out for inspection.

I feel the stone and... it’s solid.. As if they had always been on her hands. “Impressive. I can only do that sort of thing with coal as I said before.” I summon a lump of coal from my pouch and toss it in the air, and make it hover for a few moments. Then I turn it into a sphere and float it over to Myrna.

“Yeah, and coal isn’t as... effective as stone, really.” she says.

“Oh?” I say questioningly. “I make do.”I form the small lump into a three-dimensional snake figure, and have it slither in place, floating just in front of her face. It coils up, and then just floats there.

“Heh, I can’t make it float that well.”

“I can do more than make it float.” I grin. Holding the little snake figure in my hand, barely fitting in my palm, I begin the process of turning it into diamond. Once I’m done, I feel worn out as usual, but I hand the diamond snake charm to Myrna.

“You could probably put some thread through the loop and make a necklace or something. Man, I need to sit down...”

Once I hand her the diamond snake, I head back inside the library and sit on my bed. That always takes a lot out of me... Wow, that pillow’s getting awful cl-

Comments

[GalacticTNT]

I have a question. Other than Anthony, Myrna, the harpy chick, and Anthony's demon friend. Are there going to be any new humans showing up in Equestria?

[Quantum_Shift]

6912518
Oh yes~ But the cast will be shaken up a little due to the rewrite.

[GalacticTNT]

6912585
Neat! I was just wondering.

[SilentMech]

Huh. So Myrna is a frost gorgon. That's a bit different. She is still probably just as cute as always.

[Quantum_Shift]

6912925
Her abilities actually haven't changed, this time she just found out about her frost breath early.

[jaxman147]

Yay! Myrna's back. This is where I felt the story really started (starts?) picking up. More superpowered hoomans. I think Tia should be keeping better track of them, but I guess she doesn't know about Myrna yet.

[Booster Spice]

Aww, when freindly and after the slightly problematic side effects have been sorted, Myrna so far looks to be a real good catch for Antonys collection of associates. Would be look on Spike as freindly, little brother, or backscrubber or decoration for now, to come?

[SilentMech]

6913136 Huh... I do not recall her having frost breath before... Oh well, probably just forgot it.

[Quantum_Shift]

6913340
Actually, she never used it 'on screen' as it were. All the times she used it were while she wasn't in the scene from Anthony's PoV.

[Quantum_Shift]

6913157
You just THINK she's not paying attention. Do you really think she wouldn't have a way to check for interdimensional incursions? I mean, c'mon folks.

[jaxman147]

6913420
Point taken. She probably does know about these things happening, but appears to be taking a rather hands-off (hooves-off?) approach to all her extraterrestrial visitors. At least until she can determine whether or not they'll be threats.

[Quantum_Shift]

6914035
Nah, she's just not informing Anthony each time, so he doesn't know its happening. Keep in mind that the story is told through his PoV, and as such the readers (you) don't get to see as much of the rest of the story and world except through Anthony's biased, confusable eyes.

Hence why, this time, we're adding in occasional chapters from other character's PoVs.

[Dark_Night]

Anthony. Would you kindly stop fainting from overexertion. You are really going to end up killing yourself here.

Imagine when he faces his arch nemisis: The coal mare! DUH DUH DUUUUH~
And the only way to defeat her is to compress her into solid diamond. Heh. That would definitely kill him.

Anyway, when should I expect the next chapter to be released? I'm hoping soon, but I think my wishing well has dried up.

[Snowkitsune]

I like how he finds her naughty scales first thing silly horny anthony

[the-pieman]

6915424 He's a human being with hormones and she's the first (sorta) human girl available. Of course his mind's in the gutter. At least he isn't letting his dick do the thinking and talking.

[the-pieman]

6914446 Toss in a coin, my friend...