Days in the Mind of One that is Great and Powerful

by The REAL Mister Pkmn

Xavier Breakthrough Project, Day 15: Forward Movement

Trixie woke up the next morning, refreshed and relaxed. She reminisced on her date with Gearbox last night. She’d half-expected something extravagant, but it was nice to have a simple date, a movie with dinner afterword. She got ready for the day, anxious to see how Xavier’s lesson went today. She arrived in the park, seeing Xavier and Natalie talking with Maestro. A catfolk anthro was there as well- most likely “Catseye”, due to his demeanor. Her attention was drawn to the conversation going on. “You two are dating now, huh? I kinda had a feeling this would happen.” Maestro smirked. “Congrats. I knew that you’d be perfect for each other.”

A lightbulb went off in Natalie’s head. “You were playing matchmaker! I-! Wait, I think I know why. You were trying to help me.”

Nodding, Maestro replied. “I knew that things would be troublesome if you kept going the way you were. So, I decided to call you over, and have you meet Xavier. I didn’t know at the time that you two had met already, but that saved me quite the trouble. And because of my asking you to help him, you two spent quite a lot of time together- even outside lessons. Truth be told, I didn’t expect you two to get together for another week.” He then looked to “Catseye”. “I suppose that you had something to do with this?”

“Catseye” shrugged. “So what if I did? We’re just speeding along what might happen naturally later- is that such a crime?”

Maestro sighed. “You seem trustworthy, kid. Don’t know what it is about you, but… I think I’m starting to get the picture. Out of those I’ve met, I trust all but one. However, I will remain cautious about all of you- no matter what.” He then turned to Xavier. “Alright. Let’s get the show on the road.” He tapped into some Chaos Magic, and snapped his fingers. Two portals opened up. Out of one came another Maestro, though this one seemed vastly different than the one they knew. Out of the other came a man in his early twenties, with dark brown hair and blue-green eyes.

The different Maestro (Difstro) looked around a bit at his new surroundings. “Odd. Why do I… feel like I’ve see this place before?” He then looked to his form. “And why do I look half-human?” He flexed his fingers experimentally. Why does this feel... familiar?

The human adjusted his blue-framed glasses, and hummed. “Well now. Australia. Never been outside the States before.” He then saw the anthros. “Oh. So I’m now… Well, this makes things interesting.” He then turned to Maestro. “Hello. You don’t know who I am, do you? Makes sense. I don’t exist in your alternate Earth. Just call me... J.”

Maestro clapped once. “So! We’re here to teach my friend Xavier about Hope. Difstro, why don’t you go first?”

The confused anthro took one look at Xavier, and his eyes widened. Humans! Real live Humans! But why… do I remember… He shook his head, and approached the task at hand. “So, Xavier, was it? Right. Hope. Um. Sorry. I’m not used to this.” He paused a while, gathering himself. “Okay. Hope cannot touch others without a well to draw from. There rare occasions when the seemingly hopeless have given hope to others, and found hope in turn. But, even they had a small spark. Without hope in your soul, you cannot bring hope to others- nor would you want to. The truly hopeless only wish to spread hopelessness. You are not one of them. I can see that. Just take heart, and know that even you can bring hope to others.”

Xavier regarded this clearly more inexperienced version of Maestro. Yet, even he was able to muster up such an argument. This impressed Xavier quite a bit. He smiled, and nodded. “Thank you for that. I appreciate it.”

Maestro took up the helm after he regarded his phone for a moment. “You’ve come far since the start of these lessons. I’m proud that you’ve managed to do so.” He smiled for a moment. He then became more serious. “A lesson of how to keep the hope in yourself, regardless of what might come. That’s what’s needed here.” He paused for a moment, then nodded. “Imagine, if you would, a future where you had to keep hope when somebody that had been holding you up leaves in some fashion, with no satisfying explanation. How would you keep yourself from falling apart?” He looked to the others for a moment, looking quite pensive. “You all may have to answer this question- sooner than you may think.”

All of them blinked for a moment. None of them quite understood why Maestro would say this, especially Xavier. However, he did consider that question. He did go through something like this before, and he didn’t exactly handle that well. However, he felt now that he could find a way to weather that situation, should it come again. He then spoke up. “I know what I’d do. I’d take to heart what’s been taught to me. I would not give up on them, not this time. I know that I might have to face that possibility again, and this time I will be prepared.”

Maestro nodded, and looked to his phone. He sighed. “I’ve somewhere to be. Take it from here, Nats.” Maestro opted to walk to his next destination, most likely to clear his head.

Taking her cue, Natalie approached the subject presented. “What is hope? To reach out to others, when nothing else seems to be working. To press forward, despite odds that seem to be out of your favor. What is inspiration? To touch somebody’s soul, to ignite the fire in themselves they didn’t see. To teach somebody that they have something special inside themselves. What is empowerment? To keep being there, to always be ready to encourage others. To always try to help others through their problems, no matter the avenue you approach it in. This is why the three are often used in similar ways. They have the same core, the same feel. Without one, the other two ring hollow.”

Xavier nodded. He knew that she was smart, and he reasoned that she had a point. He smiled. No wonder he liked her. “You truly are something else. Connecting the three like that… I reasoned they must’ve been connected somehow, but the way you put it makes the most sense.”

Natalie blushed a little at that, and somebody spoke up. “Isn’t that cute. Save the mushy stuff for later. You’ll make me jealous.” The group turned to see the one who spoke. It was J, the stranger from another world. After the two calmed a little, J took the stage. He peered at Xavier for a moment, one of interminable silence. After a nod of his head, he spoke. “You know, there is more to hope and inspiration than you have been told. Bringing others up from the depths of despair, or just trying to stop them from falling down there in the first place, it’s all a matter of when you help them. No matter when you do so though, there is something you should remember: you must believe with the fullness of your soul that you are not too late. You have to believe that you can reach out and help everyone- and it’s certainly a herculean task. If you do so, you might surprise yourself with what you can achieve.”

This stranger knew quite a lot, Xavier realized. He seemed much more experienced than Maestro, and older too. J’s words dug into Xavier, an assurance of himself. He couldn’t resist asking a question to him, though. “Just… who are you? Are you another version of Maestro?”

J blinked, then shook his head. “Not quite. It’s more accurate to say that he’s a version of me.” He smiled coyly. “Even if he’s…incomplete, as it were.”

Before anyone could come to grasps with what that could mean, Difstro spoke up. “Um… so, how do I get to my Equestria from here? The person that brought me here left… It’s still kind of odd that the one that did that was me, sort of.” He clutched his head slightly. “Makes my head hurt. Not to mention...” He shook his head.

Surprisingly, J looked over to him. He paused before addressing the concern. “Well… If I remember correctly….” He stretched forth his right hand. “Let’s see… If I do that…” He focused for a bit, as if trying something. A blue aura flickered to life around his hand, and he smiled. “Ah, there you are. My old friend. Now…” He waved his hand with a flourish, and a portal appeared. “There we go. Go through that, and you will get home.”

Displayed through the portal was Equestria, though one less anthrofied. However, Difstro paused at the edge, and turned to J. “Will I remember this? Or will I forget?”

J shrugged. “Depends. If you want to remember, you will, If you don’t, you won’t. You’ve nothing to fear.” At that, Difstro just smiled, and went through the portal, which closed behind him. J then looked at his hand. “Man, It’s been ages since I… Feels good. Too bad I can’t use this at home. Magic’s dead back home…. shame.”

The area was hushed for a while before Trixie asked the question hanging in the air. “Magic can… die? I thought that wasn’t possible…”

Silence followed, as J looked off to the distance. He responded, after a slight bit of thought. “Well, I said that, but… To be more accurate, the Magic ran dry. Not something to be worried about here, where the rules of magic work very different, compared to how they did back home. Here, magic… regenerates, multiplies. I envy you, living in such a world.” He looked to his hand again. “I suppose I’ll just use one last spell, the one to send me home. It’s a shame, though. Haven’t been able to use magic since I was young….”

His melancholy about all this was deep, but it seemed that he’d resigned himself to it. He summoned a portal, but turned to the group before going through. “There will be a point in the future where you will find yourself against a foe who was once a friend. If you ask them ‘why they are doing this’ they will answer that they ‘cannot tell you why.’ That ‘you would not understand.’ There is, however, a reason why they will do this. I will not tell you what it is- you will find it for yourself if you look in the right places.”

The group paused as they took in his wording. He spoke with an assurance, as if he knew for certain what was to come- even though Maestro himself had a muddied view of the future now. Who was he, really? He left before they could ask, though- and they had to stew on this “prophecy” as they went their separate ways.

---

Ramona was still seething from yesterday. How could they turn on her like this? She wandered alone, until somebody came up to her. “Hello, Ramona. If vengeance is what you are in the market for, I’m selling the means to get it.” Out of the shadows came a pair of anthros, one a female pony anthro with a horn and bat wings, the other a tall male horned anthro wearing a black bodysuit that covered all his features. The female had tealish-lavender fur, and haunting gray eyes. Her purple mane flowed in the breeze, her matching tail swishing back and forth.

Ramona sneered. “Who are you? Why should I trust any help offered by anthros?”

The female chittered a bit, amused. “I am Princess Starfall. I want to help you achieve your destiny. I’ve seen the future, Ramona. In it, you are feared and respected, just as you always wanted. I can help you make it real, here, today.”

Debating a bit, Ramona decided to ask the question in the air. “Oh yeah? And how would you do that?”

The male spoke in a deep tone, addressing her. “It’s rather quite simple. We will give you the tools to get back at those that wronged you. Which, coincidentally, we also have a beef with. In essence we will kill two birds with one stone- However. You will not be able to attack them immediately. I will help your given power grow, and once the time is right, we will let you strike.”

A crossroads. Ramona knew that any attempt she made against the good anthros now would probably fail. These two were her best shot at getting back at them. Nodding, she grit her teeth. “Let’s do this.”

Red magic danced in the air, coming from the male anthro’s hand. Ramona could feel her body shift and contort all over. So this was what anthrofication felt like. It was a bit painful, but it was worth it- or so she hoped. Her body became masculine, and a bit frail. Was she becoming an old geezer?! Just great. Once the magic died down, she- or he, now- got a good look at his new form. The upper body had red fur, and he had a white goatee protruding out of his chin. He had two horns on his ape-like head, much like a bull’s. Her lower half had gray fur, and was a bit more equine. He spoke in a frail voice, echoing out of his small and fragile body. “What am I?”

The bodysuited anthro spoke. “You are a centaur anthro- not just anyone, though. You are Tirek.” The anthro opened a portal with magic, and gestured to it. “Through here, you will find vulnerable anthros. Feast on their magic, and you grow strong. After you are done, we will bring you to your next target. We must get you ready for facing them. It will take time, but you will be ready.” Taking the stranger’s cue, the now-Tirek stepped through the portal, and it closed behind him.

The bodysuited anthro spoke to Starfall. “Is that all? Is our deal fulfilled?”

Shaking her head, Starfall opened another portal, beckoning him to follow. “Not quite yet. Mother wants an audience.”

If one listened closely, they might have heard a growl from somebody in the suit- however, he complied quickly, only sparing a glance at Ayumi, who had recently arrived in the area. He considered removing the head of the suit, but decided against it before going into the portal.

Author's Note:

Merry Christmas! Sorry about the curve-ball at the end. All will be explained eventually.

Comments

[The REAL Mister Pkmn]

9322054
No, I think you're thinking of Brianna. Natalie hasn't anthrofied.