59. Outcasts - Part 2
After Princess Luna was captured by Fade, the group consisting of Star Twinkle, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Shining Armor and Princess Celestia, as well as Tagma who was dragged along with them, had no choice but to go to the Forgotten Castle in order to get her back.
There was no doubt that this would be just a trap that was set up by Fade, just like before with Tagma changing into Fade to confuse the group and distracting them so that Fade could take care of Princess Luna. But since this was the only option to save Princess Luna, the group had no choice but to go to this Forgotten Castle.
Princess Celestia was leading the way to the castle. She well remembered the exact location where it was but she didn't saw it herself for a long time. The fact that she didn't know where this castle came from or who it belonged to was reason enough to make it a little too uncomfortable for her to visit.
The group wandered through a forest, in which the castle was inside of. Naturally, because of that location, not everypony was happy.
“Who builds a castle in the middle of a forest?” Rarity exclaimed annoyed after she angrily fought her way through the bushes. She then noticed how Princess Celestia gave her a surprised look and soon remembered that the Castle of the Two Sisters were inside of the Everfree Forest.
“Oh, I forgot...” Rarity said embarrassed as she returned an embarrassed smile to the Princess.
“The forest most likely grew after the castle was built,” Twilight pointed out as she took a look around her surroundings. “Just like the castle of the two sisters,”
The group was worried that they could be attacked any minute while wandering through the forest but it was actually really quiet. Except for one thing. Tagma, who was pulled by a rope that Applejack was holding, dragging him along with her.
“...And over there I found a rare bug! And over there I found a rare flower!” Tagma said as he pointed at multiple directions while talking with Fluttershy next to him.
“What kind of bugs and flowers were they?” Fluttershy asked curiously.
“Uh...” Tagma began to think. “I don't know...” He added.
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she dashed over to the two. “Stop talking with our prisoner!” She scolded, causing Fluttershy to grew a little concerned.
“Oh...but he is so nice and also very polite,” Fluttershy said actually protecting Tagma.
“No, he is not! He works with Fade! You know, the one who captured Luna!” Rainbow Dash reminded, making Fluttershy be aware of the situation once more. Rainbow Dash then turned towards Tagma with an angry face. “And You, Changeling, start to behave like a prisoner for once!”
“Why are you calling me Changeling all this time? I told you my name is Tagma already,” Tagma replied a little offended. “Maybe you'll remember if I turn into a pony again,” he said before he changed into a Pegasus Pony with a black coat, no mane, light blue eyes and a silhouette of a pony as a Cutie Mark. “Is this better?” He asked almost proudly of his transformation.
However, Rainbow Dash seemed a little confused. Applejack noticed the commotion behind her and turned around to see Tagma in his transformed state and got also a little confused. “You kinda forgot to give yourself a mane...” Applejack pointed out as she noticed the absence of a mane on Tagma's head.
“Is it really that important?” Tagma replied surprisingly frustrated for some reason.
Star Twinkle watched the whole thing and only rolled his eyes. “What is it with this Changeling? I never saw a Changeling behave like that. Then again, I never met any other Changeling, to begin with...” He thought after witnessing Tagma's behavior for a while now.
But the little interactions between the group were interrupted by Princess Celestia. “We're here...” Princess Celestia said as she stopped on her way, making the rest of the group stop as well.
Everypony took a close look at a big castle covered in vines, mud, and dirt. Just looking at the castle made it obvious that it was really, really old, just like Princess Celestia said.
“This is the Forgotten Castle,” Princess Celestia announced as she looked over the castle herself with worry on her face.
“Looks like somepony “forgot” to clean this castle for a long time...” Rarity said in disgust, referring to the poor state of the castle.
Shining Armor looked at the castle and turned his head towards Tagma with a hesitant look on his face. “So, the real Fade is in there?” He asked Tagma who only nodded in return.
The castle did share some similarities with the Castle of the Two Sisters when it comes to the state it was in. It looked like as if it could fall apart any second. But the group couldn't worry about that and had to go inside to rescue Princess Luna as soon as possible. Princess Celestia herself was leading the group and opened the giant doors of the castle which lead to a giant hall. Due to being inside of a thick forest, there was barely any light that managed to came through the windows, making it really dark inside of the hall.
The group looked around the hall and kept their eyes peeled for anything suspicious. Twilight used her magic to lighten up the place a little, allowing everypony to finally see something inside of the castle. But there was nothing much to see. There were only some pillars in the middle of the room who lead to another room across the hall.
“Where is Fade?” Shining Armor asked Tagma.
“Probably in the throne room. It's just ahead,” Tagma informed casually without feeling the need to lie at this point or in his current situation.
Princess Celestia instantly walked ahead. She was definitely determined to find her sister and wouldn't let any more time pass. She opened the door and expected to see Fade right away, waiting for her but she formed a surprised expression on her face and stopped moving.
“Is somepony there?” Twilight asked, who wasn't able to spot anypony right away due to the darkness inside of the room.
“Is it Fade?” Pinkie Pie asked curiously, who also didn't recognize the pony in the middle of the room right away.
The pony eventually began to speak, making Star Twinkle and Twilight instantly recognize the pony in front of them.
“Celestia...” the pony said with a bitter tone in his voice.
“You are...” Twilight said as soon as she spotted the Unicorn stallion, with a dark purple coat, a dark blue W-shaped mane with yellow stripes, dark blue eyes and a cloud of mist as a Cutie Mark.
“Mystic...?” Star Twinkle finished with confusion in his voice. “What are you doing here?” He asked right away.
Of course, everypony else got a little confused by who that pony in front of them was. Star Twinkle and Twilight were the only ones who met him after all so Twilight took it upon herself to explain.
“He was the one who used the Storm Wing's to steal the Elements of Harmony. The previous leader of the Storm Wings, Mystic. Before we could capture him, he managed to escape in the last second," Twilight briefly explained as she kept her guard up, knowing that Mystic's magic was really strong.
“Are you working with Fade now?” Star Twinkle asked away.
However, Mystic didn't even seem to focus on anypony else than Princess Celestia. He kept staring at her with an angry expression on his face and didn't even realized that he was being asked a question. However, someone managed to get his attention.
“Mystic! What's up?” Tagma said as he tried to wave towards the Unicorn the best he could, despite being tied up with a rope.
The way how cheerfully Tagma greeted him, made Mystic roll his eyes. “I know that you were supposed to be captured but could you at least try to be a little concerned?” Mystic asked, questioning Tagma's behavior in his current situation.
“Enough!” Princess Celestia burst out a little angrily, startling the group a little. “I demand that you release my sister this instant!” She said angrily, worried about Princess Luna.
However, Mystic wasn't intimidated at all and only gave Princess Celestia a bitter expression, before he replied.
“It's not that fun having your sister being taken away from you, isn't it?” Mystic said with a very angry tone in his voice.
The tension in the room was quickly rising and there was no telling if somepony would start an attack any second but thankfully, another voice joined the conversation, making Mystic calm down a little.
“Easy, Mystic, there is no reason to loose your calm now,”
The Pony who this voice belonged to, stepped out of the shadows and confronted the group of ponies as well and walked next to Mystic. There was no doubt about it. It was the same pony that Tagma turned into. A Unicorn with a light blue coat, wearing a dark blue armor that strongly resembled the ones of the Royal Guards and dark purple eyes.
Shining Armor, of course, instantly recognized the pony by his voice alone and began to get nervous after seeing the pony now in front of him.
“Fade...” he said a little nervously as he looked at Fade, who was returning a serious yet calm look.
“You are...Shining Armor,” Fade said after he recognized the pony in front of him. However, he didn't bother to pay much attention towards him and quickly looked over to Princess Celestia.
“I see you brought the Element's of Harmony with you, just like I told you. Now would be a good time to give them to us,” he demanded surprisingly calm and casually.
“Yeah, right,” Rainbow Dash replied. “Why would we ever do that?” She asked, obviously speaking for the whole group, who weren't agreeing to give him the Element's as well.
“Have you already forgotten?” He replied while he turned his head to hint at something behind him.
Behind him were some stairs that would lead to a throne on top of it. The thing that he was pointing at, however, was floating above the throne. It was only then, that everypony realized how a dark orb was flying above the throne. Inside of it was Princess Luna who seemed unconscious or asleep.
“Luna!” Princess Celestia said in her concern after seeing the state that her sister was in. She also realized that she was surrounded by dark magic, making her instantly think about Fade before she turned towards him. “What have you done to her!?” Princess Celestia said angrily while she looked at Fade.
“Nothing...yet,” he replied calmly. “I am just making sure that she won't go anywhere,”
Princess Celestia only got angrier by this words and clenched her teeth as she was helplessly looking at her sister being trapped in this dark magic orb.
“Don't worry, Princess,” Fade began with a light smile on his face. “You will soon join her,”
Almost on cue, the door shut behind the group, startling all of them for a moment. Then suddenly, some roars and growls could be heard across the room, getting closer by the second.
“What was that!?” Fluttershy asked shocked, being the first one to get scared by the sudden change of atmosphere and hid behind Applejack.
Then, another pony came walking out of the shadows next to Fade and Mystic. This time it was a younger looking stallion with a pear green coat color, a dark green messy mane, a long tail and yellow eyes. His Cutie Mark was a wooden heart with vines surrounding it.
“Wildheart...done...” the colt said towards Fade, who only nodded with a slight smile on his face as if he wanted to say “good job”.
“Another one?” Star Twinkle thought in surprise.
The group could literally feel the change of atmosphere around them and the fact that Fade was surrounded by more and more ponies who worked for him, made the situation more complex by the minute. There was also a chance that there were more ponies around that might pop out at any second.
Realizing that, Twilight was thinking about what to do and the only solution she could think of was to use the Elements of Harmony.
“I don't know what else we should do. We need to use the Elements!” She suggested in a panic, fearing that things could get worse any minute.
“Yes!” Princess Celestia joined in. “Remember, Fade also possesses dark magic!” She reminded. “We have to prevent him to use any of that!” She advised while she stood ready as well.
With Mystic at Fade's side, things got more and more against the favor of Star Twinkle and his friends so they had to make sure to diffuse the situation before anything would go even more downhill. Using the Element's of Harmony was necessary. Even Shining Armor should understand that now.
The group began to activate the Element's of Harmony and engulfed themselves in a bright light, making Fade, Mystic, and Wildheart grow a little concerned. However, they didn't move and seemed to wait for something.
Suddenly, a pony came jumping down from the ceiling and landed right between the group. Most of them were caught off guard by this pony's sudden appearance and didn't have time to react to it. The pony quickly jumped towards Twilight and jumped over her, removing her crown in the process and landing in front of Fade, Mystic, and Wildheart.
It was then, that the group first noticed that this pony was an Earth-Pony mare. She had a blonde coat, a light red mane which was tied to a ponytail, a similar looking tail, and light pink eyes. She had a brown sack as a Cutie Mark.
“Hey give me back my crown!” Twilight demanded angrily.
“Make me!” The mare responded teasingly as she placed the crown on her own head before she turned around to the three stallions behind her. “How do I look?” She asked.
“Rosa...Pretty...” Wildheart replied though it sounded very casually the way he said it.
“Aww...Thank you Wildheart,” Rosa replied embarrassed by Wildheart's compliment.
Twilight, was getting annoyed how she was ignored by Rosa and readied her magic in order to get the crown back by force, however, the growls around the group became louder now and for the first time, the group finally realized what was causing them. A bunch of wild animals was coming closer to the group, consisting of bears, wolves and other creatures that one would deem dangerous.
“Animals? Are they planning to attack us?” Star Twinkle said in surprise.
“Fluttershy, talk to them!” Rainbow Dash demanded, referring to her special talent with animals.
However, Fluttershy already tried to talk with some of them and wasn't able to convince them to stop.
“They won't listen to me. They say they only listen to somepony named “Wildheart”,” she explained while also being a little surprised by this.
“But don't you have a special talent with animals?” Pinkie Pie pointed out, which Fluttershy was clearly well aware of.
“Well, too bad...” Rosa interfered. “Wildheart has a special talent with animals as well,” she explained smugly.
Wildheart overheard that and explained. “Animals...friends...friends...help us...”
The animals were coming closer to the group but didn't make any signs of attacking them. Instead, they just made sure that nopony would do something rash.
“As expected...” Fade then started after looking at the situation in which the group was in right now.
“Looks like you can't use your elements when one of them is separated from the rest,”
It was just like last time, with Discord. If one bearer or one element, in this case, was missing, the Elements could not be used, much to the group's demise.
“Again, give us the Elements of Harmony. They are of no use for you anymore,” Fade once again suggested.
“What are you planning to do with the Elements of Harmony?” Princess Celestia asked.
“Nothing...just making sure that you won't use them against us,” Fade explained. “What we are really after is you, your majesty,” he added in a rather mocking tone in his voice. “We need you to complete a ritual for us. The other piece is Princess Luna but as you can see,” he said while he pointed towards Princess Luna. “We already took care of that,”
Getting reminded how Princess Luna was still trapped in some kind of dark orb, made Princess Celestia furious.
“We won't give you the Elements of Harmony...
And neither will I let you hurt my sister!” She exclaimed as she spread her wings and flew up towards the ceiling, out of reach of all the animals in the room.
This sudden action did surprise, everypony since it was unusual for Celestia to act like that but since her sister was in possible danger, she seemed to slowly forget to keep her calm and just wanted to make Fade pay for it.
But Fade kept his calm and carefully watched what Princess Celestia was up to, to prepare himself for that.
Princess Celestia channeled some magic in her horn and pointed towards Fade, This was enough for Mystic to step in as well. He used his magic to create a mist spell that covered the four ponies in a thick mist, making it impossible to see them.
“It's that spell again,” Star Twinkle said worried, remembering this spell all too well from his last encounter with Mystic.
The mist also began to cover Princess Celestia, who still prepared herself to fire her magic but since she lost track of Fade, she held it back in case she would see him again. Unfortunately, she was not prepared for what was about to come next. She couldn't see anything inside of this mist but strangely enough, she was able to notice something dark driving closer to her.
Star Twinkle and the others could just watch how Fade and his group, as well as Princess Celestia, were all covered by the mist and worried about what was going on in there. But their questions were answered as soon as they heard a scream from the inside.
They all instantly recognized who it belonged to.
“Princess Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed in concern.
Only seconds later, the mist vanished and revealed Princess Celestia being covered in a dark magic orb, just like Princess Luna.
“Your Majesty!” Shining Armor said in shock as he saw Princess Celestia in this state.
Soon, the mist cleared and also revealed Fade and his group.
“Looks like we have made it now. Would the rest of you now cooperate with us without causing us any more trouble?” Fade once again offered calmly.
It was weird for the group. Fade, while still being an enemy, was just waiting for the group to do as he demanded. But every time where this was not the case, the situation would get worse. From taking one of the Elements away, surrounding the group with animals, or taking care of Princess Celestia, Fade and his group had set up everything so that Star Twinkle and his friends could no longer do anything. It was painful to admit but Fade had them right where he wanted them now.
“Fade! Stop all this! You were once the Captain of the Royal Guards! How could you just do something like this!?” Shining Armor said as he began to get angrier by Fade's actions.
“Exactly,” Fade returned. “I was the Captain of the Royal Guards. But now you are. So come and try to stop me, Shining Armor,” Fade offered.
Shining Armor was afraid to answer. Maybe it was because Fade literally offered him to attack him. But Shining Armor knew that he didn't stand a chance against him. He also couldn't believe that a former friend of his was doing all this and hesitated.
Twilight noticed the worry on her brother's face and took over by talking to Fade herself.
“What are you planning to do with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!?” Twilight asked angrily.
Fade took a moment before he answered but didn't bother to explain everything in great detail so he gave a brief answer.
“I will create a new world,” he said with very serious and determined expression on his face.
Needless to say, the group didn't know at all what he meant with that and tried to poke in a little more. However, Fade asked Rosa to take the rest of the Elements from the group while Wildheart made sure that his animal friends would watch over them.
Of course, the group was not too fond to give them the Elements but as soon as Fade concentrated some of his magic to torture the Princesses, causing them to scream in pain, the group finally agreed to cooperate.
Robbed by their Elements of Harmony and constantly surrounded by wild dangerous animals, the group was put into a cell down in the dungeon of the castle while being accompanied by Wildheart and his animal friends, keeping a close watch on them.
There was not even a chance to escape with magic since every Unicorn in the group got some device put on their horns to prevent them from using magic. Shining Armor explained that those were used by the Royal Guards to prevent prisoners from escaping when they happen to be Unicorns. Ironically, they were used for the exact same reason now.
Wildheart closed the cell door and locked it with a key that he took with him as he attempted to walk away from the group. The animals were following Wildheart as he attempted to leave the group alone.
“Wait!” Star Twinkle said, getting Wildheart's attention again.
There was still something that bothered him. Something that Fade mentioned earlier.
“Wildheart, was it? What does Fade mean by creating a new world?” He asked which also caused the rest of the group to pay attention to Wildheart's answer.
Wildheart turned around and looked at Star Twinkle and the rest of the group and started to explain.
“Fade...makes new world...For Wildheart...for Friends...” he replied quietly.
“But he is doing something that hurts the Princesses! He is doing something evil!” Twilight exclaimed, getting Wildheart's attention.
“No...” Wildheart replied with a serious expression on his face. World...evil...World makes friends sad...makes friends be alone. Fade...doing good...” He replied.
“This world is not evil!” Rainbow Dash returned.
“Yeah! Actually, this world is pretty fun!” Pinkie Pie joined in. “I mean, we have Cupcakes, Parties, colorful balloons, and...” Pinkie Pie continued.
“No!” Wildheart interrupted a little offended.
“World is bad...world is evil...world makes friends sad...hurts them...hurts Wildheart..."
He then began to smile a little. “But new world...good...this world...bad...need new world...
Fade...makes new world for us...”
This Wildheart pony was clearly supporting Fade and his mission. Maybe it was because he was a little young but he definitely didn't see the evil part in Fade's plan to use the Princesses and hurting them in the process.
At least that's what the group thought first.
“Wildheart...Sorry...” The little colt apologized as it was obvious that he was regretting everything he did to the group.
“You no bad ponies...Wildheart knows...so Wildheart sorry...
But Wildheart...don't like being sad...don't like seeing friends sad...
So Wildheart...help Fade...”
After saying those words, Wildheart walked away from the group with his animal friends following them.
Now it was only the group left in this dark dungeon cell. There was not even a way to make some light since, Twilight, Shining Armor, and Rarity had those devices on their horns to preventing them from using any magic.
Despite the age of this castle, the prison bars were still pretty solid and impossible for Applejack or Rainbow Dash to break. There was no escaping for anyone of them, making the group feel a little helpless. Except for maybe one or two of them.
“I'll understand that you two had to wear one but why me!?” Rarity said angrily. “It's not like I can use powerful magic! Also, the design of those things is just horrid!” She said in disgust as she fiddled around with this thing on her horn.
“They most likely wanted to make sure that nopony was able to use magic, in order to escape,” Twilight replied, even though that was the least of problems now.
“I just hope that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are alright...” she added in concern as she thought about the two.
“I can't believe that Fade would do something like that...” Shining Armor said with a frown on his face. “All I could do was standing there, watching...” he blamed himself.
Star Twinkle saw how Shining Armor was sitting in the corner blaming himself for not doing anything. It was something that he could understand all to well from personal experience. That feeling of being helpless and not being strong enough to do something. He wished that he could say something to Shining Armor to help him but that was harder than he thought.
“Those bars won't budge one bit!” Applejack said frustrated as she kept kicking the bars in order to get out.
“Can't you somehow open up those strange things on your horns to help us?” She then suggested.
“No, they are locked, just like the cell doors. We need a key to get them open,” Twilight explained.
“Well, if you didn't have a horn, to begin with, then there would be no need to open them up,” Pinkie Pie joined in.
“That's not helping, Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash added after she decided to take a little break from kicking the bars.
“I'm just saying,” Pinkie Pie replied as she shrugged her shoulders.
“I mean, they wouldn't have to put those things on your horn if you magically grew one later on,” she explained further casually, despite the situation she was in.
After Pinkie Pie's pretty casual statement, everypony except her, and Twilight turned their heads towards Star Twinkle, who was standing there thinking about a way out as well until he noticed all the stares thrown at him.
“What?” He said confused.
Rainbow Dash quickly went towards Star Twinkle with an idea in her head. “You! Turn into a Unicorn and get us out of here! Just like back then in the Crystal Empire!” She suggested out of frustration.
“What!? But I don't even know how I did it!” Star Twinkle replied.
Twilight walked up to Star Twinkle in slight disbelieve. She was the only one of the group who didn't saw Star Twinkle when he confronted King Sombra and believed that when her friends told her about it, that it was just the imagination caused by the stress back then. Naturally, she wanted to confirm if it was true from Star Twinkle himself. “So back then you really grew a horn and a pair of wings?”
“Yeah...” Star Twinkle replied a little uncomfortable. “But I don't know how I did that!” He repeated.
“If I could teach you a teleportation spell, then you could get out and look for the key to free us all...” Twilight said while she rubbed her chin.
“What!?” Star Twinkle replied confused. “Didn't you hear!? I said I don't know how I did it! And what makes you think that I even can pull off a teleportation spell?” He added, this time more frustrated just because of Twilight believing that he could easily turn into a Unicorn again.
“So you are saying that you don't want to try?” Twilight replied as she looked at Star Twinkle with a determined expression on her face.
“I...” Star Twinkle could only return before he was at a loss for words. Of course, he didn't want to abandon the Princesses but what she was expecting from him was just too much. It was something that he couldn't even begin to explain. But despite that, Twilight decided to put all her hopes into Star Twinkle.
Since he knew how this conversation would go, he decided to give in and try it.
“Okay...I'll try but I can't promise anything...” he said as he tried to concentrate.
“Now I just need to know how to do that...”
Meanwhile, in the throne room...
Fade and his little group looked over to the two Princesses as they levitated above the throne, trapped in this two flying orbs of dark magic.
“Soon...soon we can create a new world...” Fade said as his eyes were focused on the two orbs above the throne.
Meanwhile, Mystic was standing next to him tapping his hooves on the ground inpatient before he walked up to Fade.
“Hey! Fade!” He said with an unexpected angry tone in his voice.
“Let me talk to Princess Celestia, now that those bothersome ponies are gone!” He demanded.
“Wait until the ritual is gone...” Fade said as he kept looking at the two princesses.
“I've waited for far too long! I want to talk with her now!” Mystic demanded once more, this time even going so far but to go up closer to Fade's face.
“Our plan has priority. Once it's done, I will no longer interfere with your actions...” Fade assured as he kept his eyes on the princesses.
Mystic didn't like hearing those words and didn't look like as if he calmed down by them either. He clenched his teeth and began growling at Fade but kept himself from attacking him or anything like that.
“Come on, Mystic,” Rosa said in an attempt to calm Mystic down. “I'm sure it won't be too long until the ritual is finished so just be patient,”
“Yeah!” Tagma said cheerfully as always. “We can spend some time talking about some stuff or playing something until it's done,” he suggested.
However, Mystic didn't reply and walked away. “I'm going for a walk...You better be done when I'm back...” he said before he walked into another hallway of the castle, leaving the four ponies alone in the throne room.
Rosa could only let out a frustrated sigh after this.
“Why does he always have to be like this?” She said as she rubbed her neck.
“Mystic...mad...us?” Wildheart asked with a frown on his face.
“Oh, don't worry Wildheart!” Tagma joined in. “If he would really be mad at us, then he would attack us and not walk away like that,” Tagma assured, however, it didn't sound all too convincing by that choice of words.
“Don't worry about him,” Fade said.
“Soon, he will get what he wants as well.
He is like us after all. Rejected by this world. Hurt by this world. An Outcast, just like us. He lost too much to let this plan fail now,”
For the first time, he turned around to face the others now.
“He lost something just like us. Or was hurt by this world just because of the way he was. We all did...”
He turned towards Tagma. “Whether it was being used...”
He turned towards Rosa. “Or being alone...”
He turned towards Wildheart. “Or being treated unfairly... ”
“Or...” he said as he looked over to where Mystic was walking off to.
“Losing somepony who was most important to you...”
Meanwhile, in the prison cell...
Star Twinkle had still his eyes closed and tried to concentrate on growing a horn on his head. But things seemed to get a little hard with some ponies talking in the background.
“You think he did it?” Pinkie Pie whispered.
“I don't know...” Fluttershy whispered back.
“He didn't grow a horn yet...” Rarity added.
“So you think he can't do it?” Rainbow Dash said bluntly.
“Girls!” Star Twinkle exclaimed annoyed. “I can't really concentrate if you are all talking like that!” He said, causing the girls to be quiet again.
“Yeah...as if that is the reason...” Star Twinkle thought.
“Come on...how did I do that back then? I remember it happening as soon as King Sombra attacked me. That's when I grew a horn...
But how did I do that?
Think, Star Twinkle! Was there something else?”
He tried to remember back what happened on that day that might have caused him to change like that. One thing he remembered particularly stood out.
“I am you...and you are me...
I remember hearing those words right before I changed...
Is that important?
Is it?”
Star Twinkle became more and more frustrated by the fact that it didn't work and tried to imagine himself in the same mindset as before in the Crystal Empire.
The fear of getting attacked by King Sombra...
The way he felt helpless...
But right now he only felt like doing something to help Princess Celestia and Luna...
His mind was filled with frustration and the need to do something.
Eventually, all that was enough to let him be surrounded by some kind of light for a second.
“What happened? Did I do it?” Star Twinkle said confused.
“Almost...” Twilight replied as she pointed towards him, causing him to look on his back.
“Oh, come on!” He said frustrated as he saw a pair of wings on his back.
He tried again and this time there was only some determination needed to get him to the result he wanted.
Another short light literally popped up and he had now a horn on his head, just like he wanted.
Star Twinkle moved his hoof up to his head and was able to feel something pointy on it, confirming that he was a Unicorn now, or at least an Earth-Pony with a horn.
“Amazing...” Twilight said in awe. If the situation was a little different, then she would probably ask a million questions about how he felt at this moment or something but there were still two Princesses to be saved.
“Alright, now the teleportation spell! Try to imagine yourself on the other side of the wall while concentrating some magic...” She explained.
“Yeah...how do you do that in the first place!?” Star Twinkle replied because of how easy Twilight expected him to pull that off.
“Come over here...” Twilight said, causing Star Twinkle to walk closer to her. Twilight moved her horn towards Star Twinkle's horn and closed her eyes.
“I can't use any magic because of that device but maybe you can feel the flow of magic inside of me, to get yourself accustomed to it,”
“Uh...sure...” Star Twinkle replied a little embarrassed because of the fact how close their faces were right now.
Twilight used to focus some of her magic but before there could be any magic released, the device on her head stopped it from coming out. Strangely enough, maybe because of Star Twinkle's horn, he could still feel something flowing inside of him as well.
“This is how magic feels like?” Star Twinkle thought.
“I had no time to focus on it back then in the Crystal Empire but now...
It feels...warm...and kinda tingly...”
“Just imagine yourself on the other side of this bars,” Twilight said while her eyes were closed.
While Star Twinkle, had still this feeling of magic inside of him, he figured he should use it at this moment and did as Twilight said. He tried to imagine himself on the other side of the bars while focusing on the magic that he could feel in this moment and before he knew it he disappeared and popped up somewhere else.
When he appeared again, he could feel something feel off.
“Did I do it?” He asked out of his confusion.
“Almost...” Rarity said as she pointed towards him.
Star Twinkle then found out that his head was stuck between two bars while his body was on the other side of the cell door. ”Oh, come on!” He said in his frustration.
“Hold still!” Rainbow Dash said before she walked over to him.
“Why?” Star Twinkle asked before he realized what Rainbow Dash was about to do.
She kicked his head, causing him to actually get through the bars completely, though he felt really dizzy because of the not too gently kick of Rainbow Dash. Star Twinkle slowly caught up with a small headache. When he grabbed his head out of this slight pain, he noticed how his horn was gone again. After being able to see straight again, he quickly looked all around the room to find some kind of key but he couldn't find any.
“There is no key in this room,” he informed his friends.
“Then maybe it's in another room. You have to keep looking for it!” Twilight suggested.
"Okay, I'll be right back!" Star Twinkle assured before he left the room.
Since there was no other thing to do in this situation, Star Twinkle had no choice but to run around the castle to find this key. He came across multiple rooms and surprisingly was not caught by any animals of Wildheart or any other of Fade's companions.
“Alright, I just have to find one small key in this giant castle...no problem!” Star Twinkle mumbled as he looked over into the next room he came across. Much to his surprise, he did spot a key attached to a chain right on a table at the end of the room.
“Is this the key?” Star Twinkle wondered.
“Only one way to find out!” He said determined before he ran towards the table with the key on it, ready to grab it and return to his friends.
But just before he was able to grab it, a beam of magic was shot in front of him, making Star Twinkle jump back in surprise to dodge out of the way. He laid on his behind due to the shock of this attack and turned his head to the left to find out from where it came from.
“I don't know how you escaped but...” The pony said as he walked out of the shadows to confront Star Twinkle with his horn still glowing in a dark blue aura, indicating that he was responsible for the attack. “...But it doesn't matter because now I can get my revenge on you for ruining my plans with the Storm Wings,” the Unicorn said as an evil smile started to form on his face.
“Mystic!” Star Twinkle said in shock after he saw the previous leader of the Storm Wings walking up to him.
“Since you are trying to get this key, I assume that your friends are still inside of their cell,” he assumed as he put the key around his neck while smiling sinisterly.
Now Star Twinkle had a problem. Not only was he spotted by Mystic but he also had the key. All ways now lead towards defeating Mystic, causing Star Twinkle to get worried.
“There is no way that I can get this key to my friends if he is the one standing in my way. The last time I fought this guy, I stood no chance,” Star Twinkle thought as he tried to find a way to handle this situation.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Try and grab this key,” Mystic offered, though Star Twinkle knew exactly that he was just playing around and waited for him to do something reckless so that Mystic could attack Star Twinkle.
“Or could it be that you planning how to escape from me? You do remember how our last fight went, right?” Mystic pointed out as he tried to mentally break Star Twinkle.
“Could I even run away now? Would he let me? Would I be quick enough to escape? There is no way that I can beat him anyway! There is no...”
While Star Twinkle was literally listening to his own thoughts, he could feel how sadness was rising inside of him. It felt like time was stopping for a moment while he looked at the key around Mystic's neck.
“Running...That's all I can think of now...” He thought as his head dropped to the ground accompanied by a frown on his face.
“My friends all believed in me...They put all their fate in me...
And I am letting them down again...”
It's not even the chance of winning against Mystic that made Star Twinkle sad. Or fact that he would let his friends down because he was too weak against Mystic.
It was because Star Twinkle gave up without trying that made him sad.
“Every single time...
Twilight didn't even consider that I would fail...
She believed in me no matter how slim the chance of success was...
She saw the only option that could save the Princesses and she tried to do everything to make it a success...
Right now...the only option I have...
Is to get this key from Mystic...
To beat Mystic...”
Star Twinkle raised his head again and looked directly into Mystic's eyes, who couldn't help but get a little surprised by this sudden change of expression that now was in Star Twinkle's face.
Soon, Mystic's expression changed to one of shock after he saw how magic was surrounding Star Twinkle's head and formed a horn on his forehead.
“I may lose...
I may not be strong enough to beat Mystic...
But...
I will not lose-”
Star Twinkle focused some magic in his horn and pointed it towards Mystic, who was still standing there in shock, unable to even react to this situation.
“- Without Trying!” He exclaimed before he shot a magic beam towards Mystic, directly hitting him and throwing him against the wall, causing him to drop to the ground face down.
Star Twinkle was amazed by himself and what he just did and breathed heavily by his own outburst.
“I did it!” He said in relief and a confident smile on his face.
Now all he had to do was to get the key from Mystic's body. However...
“I see you learned a new trick...” Mystic said, causing Star Twinkle to get startled a little before he turned towards the Unicorn who was slowly getting up on his hooves again. Mystic raised his head and looked straight at Star Twinkle with a smile on his face.
“But that won't be enough to stop me. I'll admit, I never saw an Earth Pony turn into a Unicorn but don't think that you can just beat me by using magic on your own. Because my magic-” Mystic started before he focused some magic on his own before he fired straight at Star Twinkle, who barely managed to dodge to the site. “-Is on a whole other level,” he finished with a confident smile on his face.
Star Twinkle prepared himself to face Mystic and stood ready for an incoming attack. Mystic on the other hoof stood there calmly and confident but also with an annoyed look on his face.
"You could have just try to run, you know? But instead, you try to fight me over this key. You are free so you could have fleed from this castle without anypony noticing. No one of us would have cared you were gone..." Mystic asked in an unusually serious and not mocking tone.
It was funny for Star Twinkle to ask that, making him smile for a second. "I actually thought about doing that...but then I would have let all my friends down, who believed in me," Star Twinkle replied with a smile on his face.
"Your friends, huh?" Mystic questioned quietly as he looked at Star Twinkle with an unmoved expression on his face. "So, what?" He then added confused, making Star Twinkle raise an eyebrow confused. "Then let them down. You would still be safe and didn't have to deal with me or anypony else," he said in a dead serious almost monotone tone in his voice. "And what is all that talk about them believing in you? They obviously ran out of options what to do and sent you because they didn't know any better. If they are your so called friends, then they surely know that you couldn't do anything to save them," he continued further to maybe lower Star Twinkle's confidence.
But despite all those words, Star Twinkle didn't seem to be affected at all. "You're wrong! They believe that I can get them out and put their trust into me! The least I can do is to try my best to save them!" Star Twinkle returned a very determined.
But just like Star Twinkle not being affected by Mystic's words, Mystic also didn't seem to be affected either.
"Friends are not worth putting yourself in danger like that.
Friendship is just a waste of time.
Not only does it give you nothing but trouble but in the end, it only hurts you.
Friends are not there to believe in you.
They just hold you back or plan to use you when they have the chance..."
Hearing those words made Star Twinkle fill his thoughts with worry as he listened how serious Mystic was while saying them. Not only that, but they also reminded him of himself.
"Those words...
I thought like that too when I was all alone..." he realized as his eyes were now full of concern and even a little sympathy for Mystic.
"He probably thinks he is all alone and is telling himself all that...
Is that what Wildheart meant with his friends being sad and alone?" Star Twinkle wondered.
Mystic's horn suddenly began to glow and Star Twinkle widened his eyes in surprise after realizing that Mystic planned an incoming attack.
"I'm done talking with you. Let's get this over with,"
The battle resumed and Star Twinkle did his best to dodge every single shot that Mystic threw at him while returning a few shots himself. But it was clear that Mystic had the upper hoof in this fight. Star Twinkle tried to find an opening to get Mystic but that was easier said than done. Star Twinkle was running all over the room while Mystic mostly stood in one place, firing at him.
Eventually, Mystic grew a little tired and tried something else. “How about I'll try something different?” He said before he used his magic to create a mist around him, just like he did before against Celestia.
The mist quickly surrounded the whole area and made it impossible to see anything for him. He tried to focus on any hint how to find Mystic inside of the mist.
“Keep your calm...” Star Twinkle thought to not lose his focus.
“As soon as I see an attack I just have to fire to where it came from...”
Just when he could finish that thought, as he predicted one shot came flying towards him. Surprised by this himself, Star Twinkle managed to dodge this one and instantly fired in the same direction.
“Did I hit him?” Star Twinkle wondered.
“You missed...” Mystic said quietly as he appeared right behind Star Twinkle before he fired a magic beam at the back of Star Twinkle who just now realized the pony behind him.
Star Twinkle dropped to the ground, face down and tried to get up but was quickly pushed down to the ground again by Mystic who used his two front legs to stand above Star Twinkle, pinning him down on the ground.
Mystic was clearly enjoying how the fight was going to into his favor and began laughing a little.
“I told you. There was no way for you to keep up with me. Looks like your friends won't get out of their cell anytime soon...” He said further poking into Star Twinkle's loss. “And after dealing with you, I can also get my revenge on Celestia as well...”
Star Twinkle tried to get up but that shot from before was also having some effect on his stamina. Despite being in this situation, some thought came up in his mind which bothered him.
“Why are you doing all this?” Star Twinkle asked as his face was still on the ground. “Why do you support Fade? Do you hate this world as well?”
Mystic was clearly caught off guard by this question and seemed to hesitate from answering.
“Wildheart said that he didn't want to see his friends be sad or alone...Do you feel that way too?”
But as soon as he asked those questions, his head was pushed to the ground by Mystic.
“Do you really think that I will answer you any of those questions?” Mystic returned annoyed.
But Star Twinkle wouldn't let this topic die off that easily. “What do you expect this new world, that Fade is trying to create to be like?”
Again, Mystic didn't answer right away but this question was a lot easier for him to answer.
“It's not this “new world” that interests me...“ He started as he looked up to the ceiling while being in some deep thoughts.
“In order to create a new world...you first have to get rid of the current one...
I could care less about what this new world is supposed to be like, as long as Fade is destroying this one first...”
Hearing those words worried Star Twinkle and made him realize how serious Mystic was. Just like back then with the Storm Wings, Mystic did not seem to care one bit about what happened to anypony else besides him. For a moment, Star Twinkle thought that Mystic was suffering from something in some way but hearing that made it clear for Star Twinkle that he had to be stopped.
“I don't know what happened to you to make you think like that but...” Star Twinkle started.
“But what?” Mystic asked, hinting at the current situation that Star Twinkle is right now.
“I will not stand here and let you all continue with that as long as I have the chance!” Star Twinkle said determined as he tried to get up from the ground.
“Heh,” Mystic replied mockingly. “How about trying to stand up first?”
Star Twinkle was not able to get Mystic away from his back but he didn't give up and tried his best to do everything in his might to not let his opportunity to save his friends slip away now. But Mystic was not even trying really hard to pin Star Twinkle down and still managed to keep him on the ground.
“Even if you managed to get up, there is no way that you could beat me and save your friends,” Mystic said, enjoying Star Twinkle's attempts to get up.
“I don't care!” Star Twinkle replied angrily, causing Mystic to actually be worried for a moment.
“If I would stop now, then I could might as well, gave up on this world as well!”
Star Twinkle's horn disappeared and moments later was replaced by two wings on his back, spreading them and making Mystic lose his balance and stepping away from Star Twinkle.
“Wings too?” Mystic wondered before he realized how Star Twinkle was right in front of him with an angry expression on his face. Only seconds later, Star Twinkle charged right at Mystic and threw him across the room. But not while also ripping off the key from the chain around Mystic's neck.
Star Twinkle now had the key in his mouth and realized that he only had to return to his friends to free them. Unfortunately, Mystic got up way too quick to give him a chance to escape. Star Twinkle again switched from his wings to his horn and prepared himself for the Mystic's next move.
“You!” Mystic said angrily, his body starting to shake out of anger and with his teeth clenching together.
“Now I made him angry...” Star Twinkle thought worried as he waited for Mystic's next move and keeping his magic ready.
“I had just about enough of you interfering with my goals!”
Mystic then suddenly raised his head, revealing his very angry face and shot a magic beam towards him. Star Twinkle fired a beam towards Mystic as well making the beams of Star Twinkle and Mystic both met each other, however, before there could even be a clash between the two, Mystic's beam completely annihilated Star Twinkle's without even getting slowed down, only showing the big difference in the two ponies magic abilities. Star Twinkle couldn't dodge in time and was buffeted by Mystic's attack and fell to the ground. He tried to get back on his hooves again and looked towards Mystic but Star Twinkle's eyes became heavy and he couldn't help but to faint, dropping his head to the ground with his eyes closed.
Satisfied by this sight, Mystic's anger vanished and he began to grin. He walked up to the unconscious Earth Pony and smiled at his own victory.
“I told you, didn't I? But you wouldn't listen,” he started to focus some magic inside of his horn and pointed towards Star Twinkle, ready to shoot anytime.
“And now, you'll pay the price!”
Suddenly, a magic beam was fired towards Mystic, forcing him to jump back in order to dodge.
“Who is there!?” He exclaimed angrily from this attack. Some hoof steps came closer and Mystic finally saw who was responsible for this attack. “Who are you-” He began before he realized who it was. “It's you!”
Meanwhile with Twilight and the others...
“He is taking a long time...” Applejack said concerned.
“You think he is okay? Maybe Fade caught him,” Fluttershy said in her concern.
“No!” Twilight said. “I'm sure he is fine! We just need to wait,” she said, even though it looked like as if she had a hard time believing it herself.
Granted that finding one key in this giant castle was really hard, it was the only option to free Twilight and the others, as well as opening the devices on her, Rarity and Shining Armor's horn. However, just sitting around and waiting made especially Rainbow Dash to feel a little to helpless now. Pinkie Pie on the other hoof was really bored and tried to skip the time with some games.
“Mhh, I spot something really shiny, and silver that could fit into this hole,” she described as she pointed towards the keyhole in the cell door.
“A key?” Fluttershy guessed.
“Bingo!” Pinkie Pie cheered.
“A key!?” Twilight said surprised as she tried to find out what Pinkie Pie was spotting.
To everyponies surprise, there was actually a key that laid on the ground not too far away from the cell door. Actually, it was painfully close to reach.
“Was that key always laying on there on the ground?” Applejack asked confused.
Meanwhile, at Star Twinkle and Mystic's location...
“You!” Mystic said angrily as he looked at the pony who interfered. “What are you doing here!?”
The pony that protected Star Twinkle looked at unconscious Earth-Pony, who laid on the ground but he turned his head towards Mystic. His purple eyes filled with anger and determination, hidden under a gray hood. “Protecting my friend!” Summershine said as he looked at Mystic, ready to fight.
Instead of getting intimidated by those words, Mystic started to laugh a little out of happiness. “Actually, this is perfect!” He said as his face was filled with joy. “Now everypony I want revenge against is actually inside of this castle!” He said happily as he prepared himself to fight Summershine. “You may have managed to hit me the last time we've met, but I will not get careless again!” He said before he fired a shot against a Summershine with his magic.
But Summershine quickly set up a shield in front of him, causing Mystic to stop his magic because he knew that he wanted to throw his spell back at him again, just like last time. Realizing how Summershine would probably do this every time when Mystic attacked, he quickly had to come up with something else.
“Well, then let's see how you deal with this!” He said before he used his mist spell once again.
The mist filled the whole room and made it hard to see anything for Summershine. Despite that, the hooded pony kept calm and waited for Mystic's next move.
As soon as Mystic realized how Summershine was waiting for him, he decided to do him a favor and fired a magic beam towards him from behind. But before the beam could connect, Summershine teleported away and made Mystic lose sight of him.
But Mystic was confident in his mist spell. He was controlling it and could feel any kind of magic being used inside of it. So there was no way that he could have been surprised by a sneak attack which made him feel a little more confident.
But what happened next caught him by surprise. Some Red or Orange looking light came flying towards Mystic. For a moment, he thought it was Summershine's magic but the mist didn't give him any sign that it was magic or at least ordinary magic. “What is that?” Mystic said before he realized what exactly was coming towards him.
However, the realization was enough to caught Mystic by surprise and knocked him out of the mist and right into the wall.
When the mist cleared, Summershine was revealed again, looking at Mystic laying on the ground. Summershine was not sure if he managed to defeat Mystic so he walked over to him to check but to his surprise, Mystic managed to get up again.
“You all think you can humiliate me, over and over again!?” Mystic said with a very bitter tone in his voice. “You all think you are better than me!? Me?" He shouted out in anger. "I will show you all what happens if you mess with me!” He shouted out before he channeled magic in his horn.
Shortly after, a giant magic beam, unlike any other beam that Mystic fired previously, came flying towards Summershine. But despite the size of this thing, Summershine kept his calm and teleported away in time to not get caught by it, causing the beam to hit the wall and creating a hole inside of it.
When Summershine appeared again, he could only look at the hole in the wall, that Mystic created and became a little worried.
“Incredible, what power...” he mumbled in some admiration by Mystic's power.
When the hooded pony turned his head again, Mystic was nowhere to be found anymore. He must have realized that he couldn't beat Summershine and left. Whatever the reason was, Summershine no longer had to fight and focused on somepony else.
He slowly walked up to Star Twinkle and looked at him with a serious but yer worried expression on his face. He moved one of his hooves towards Star Twinkle but stopped once he heard some voices coming closer.
“Star Twinkle!” Twilight exclaimed through the hall with multiple hoof steps accompanying her.
Summershine once again, looked at Star Twinkle as if he was thinking about what to do next.
“Star Twinkle!” A bunch of voices said from outside of the room.
“I sure hope that loud noise from before wasn't a bad sign,” Applejack's said concerned, referring to Mystic's blast from before.
The group eventually, arrived at the same room where Star Twinkle was in and instantly spotted him.
“Star Twinkle!” Twilight exclaimed out of worry after she saw him on the ground, unconscious.
They all quickly rushed to his side and tried to wake him up again. Star Twinkle was slowly opening his eyes and felt how multiple ponies surrounded him, looking at him in the process.
“What happened?” He said disorientated as he looked around the room before he remembered what happened before he fainted. “Mystic!” He exclaimed before he looked around the room to find the Unicorn. However, he was nowhere to be found, making him wonder why.
“Thank goodness you are okay,” Fluttershy said relieved, throwing Star Twinkle out of his thoughts.
“How did you all escape?” Star Twinkle asked in confusion.
“We found the key next to the cell doors and managed to open up the door and the devices on everyponies horn,” Rarity explained as she presented her now free horn.
“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie added cheerfully. “I can't believe you didn't see it when you left,”
Star Twinkle could swear that he looked all around the room before he left in order to find the key but there wasn't any. His first thought was that somepony else left it there later on but why would anypony do that? They were in enemy territory after all.
There was no point worrying about that now after he saw how his friends were all free.
Of course, Star Twinkle explained how he was attacked by Mystic but the obvious question was why he was no longer there. Star Twinkle was unconscious so there was a perfect opportunity for Mystic. Yet, Star Twinkle was still unharmed, not counting the damage he took from the fight.
“We can worry about that later!” Twilight then pointed out. “Right now, we have to get to Fade and save the Princesses!”
“But how!?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Yeah, they took away our Elements and still have Princess Celestia and Luna as hostages. How are we suppose to do anything against them?” Applejack pointed out, making a valid point.
“We just have to try!” Star Twinkle said unexpected, causing his friends to look at him in surprise.
“I know the odds are against us but...” he stopped for a moment as if he wanted to make sure that the right words would come out of his mouth.
“Fade is trying to take this world away from us...I still don't know what exactly that means but...
Just the thought of that worries me and wants me to do something!” He explained while his words sounded a little uncertain.
However, it was enough to boost the morale of the group.
“He is right!” Shining Armor said as he stepped forwards with a completely different expression that he had previously.
“I have grieved enough in the background, watching Fade do as he pleases!
This time I will not just stand there and let him hurt the Princesses, that I swore to protect!”
“Shining Armor?” Twilight said in awe as she saw her big brother giving this little speech to everypony, further boosting their morale.
Star Twinkle joined in again and wanted to say one last thing before they would go to Fade, once more. “We might lose or won't be able to make it in time but if we don't do anything, then we lose either way...
I don't want to lose without trying!” He said determined, getting the others spirits high up as well.
“Then what are we waiting for!?” Rainbow Dash asked confidently. “Let's kick some behinds!”
“Yeah!” Everypony said in unison as they marched towards the direction of the throne room to settle things with Fade, once and for all.
Meanwhile, in the throne room...
A very frustrated Mystic ran towards the throne room where Fade and the others were still waiting for the ritual to finish. When he entered the room, he was instantly greeted with some worried expressions by his companions.
“Fade! We got some problems!” Mystic said hectically as he ran towards Fade who was still focusing on the ritual. Fade turned around to face Mystic with an unchanged serious expression on his face, waiting for Mystic to continue. “One of the prisoners broke out and there is also another intruder in the castle,”
“I can tell...” Fade said unimpressed.
Mystic then noticed that Fade wasn't looking at him but rather behind him, causing him to turn around, only to notice Summershine right behind him, making him jump back and right next to Fade.
“Who are you?” Fade asked as he looked at Summershine, who in return didn't reply and looked over to the two Princesses who were trapped inside of those two magical orbs.
“Be careful, Fade! I'll hate to admit it but his magic is pretty strong,” Mystic admitted, forgetting his pride for a moment to warn Fade who was now standing next to Mystic.
Summershine walked up to the group slowly and didn't even look directly into the eyes of everypony. It was either bravery or stupidity, that's what Fade figured as he saw the hooded pony walking up to the five ponies. “What do you think you are doing?” He asked almost as if he tried to warn Summershine.
“I...” Summershine started before he looked at everypony in the room who was now standing against him. It was five against one but Summershine didn't look worried in the slightest and focused his sight on Fade to give him a determined answer.
“I will free the Princesses,”
To be continued...
Stats
Page generated in 0.1 seconds
Total duration
979 users online
34,199 hits today, 2,814,898 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Fade reminds of one person
https://m.