The Spirit Crusaders

by SnivyGAbsol

Chapter 3: An Eager Hostess

"Now, whom do we have here?" The mare asks. She shifts back down on all fours and begins to trot towards me for closer examination. She starts to circle me with observant eyes, taking note of my features, such as my horn and wings at the same time.

"Well--" Void chimes in.

"A Princess! Well this is quite unexpected," She puts a hoof underneath her chin and continues to observantly watch me.

"Uh Hi, I'm-" I say.

"Princess Flurry Heart, right? It's a pleasure, privilege, and an honor to meet you!" She says as she stops her circle around me to hold out a hoof for a hoofshake.

"Uhh yeah, pleased to meet you to--" She eagerly takes my hoof as I raise it slightly and shakes it rather firmly with both of her hooves.

"I never would have imagined a Princess visiting my lab, let alone our home!" She ceases her firm hoofshake and sets her hooves down.

"Yeah well, it's happening, heheh," I say with a nervous chuckle. "So, seeing as you already know who I am, what's your name, Miss..?"

"This is my mother. Her name is-" Void says before his mom cuts him off.

"Lexi Dawn, at your service!" She smiles as she briefly takes up a bi-pedal stance to perform a respectful bow towards me.

"Th-Thanks"

"No no, thank you for honoring us here with your presence!" the mare resumes her examinations around my body, gazing at my physique with great interest. My eyes follow her as she continues her careful examinations. "Wow! Such a magnificent form you have, Princess!" She proceeds to unfold my left wing and closely inspect it. "And it's true what they say! You do have a large wing span!"

"Uhh, thanks again. I grew them myself" I give a brief subtle chuckle at my own little pun.

"Uhm... Mother?" Void says to try to get her attention. She lets go of my wing and shifts herself down low to the ground to inspect my left hindleg. She puts both her hooves around it to get a good feel.

"My my, such firmly strong legs as well. I believe you could lift quite the ton with these! And such lovely hooves!" She lifts up my left hindleg and examines the hoof portion of it. I continue to watch her as she performs her actions, having unsure feelings about what's happening.

"Mother.." Void says again in a slightly louder tone. She then lets go of my hindleg and stands back up. I decide to allow her to continue her 'inspection' and just gaze forward to admire her lab more. She then shifts to stand behind me and she suddenly lifts my tail up to examine it. "Such a gorgeous tail too! I absolutely love the color scheme!" My eyes widen, pupils dilate, and my body tenses up as she raises my tail.

"Uhhm, M-Miss?" I politely ask.

"Mother!" Void shouts out.

The mare's eyes widen and her ears perk down as she realizes what she's doing. She lets go of my tail and takes a step back, putting her hooves to her mouth as she lets out a gasp.

"Oh my goodness! I'm sooo sorry, Princess! Where are my manners? I should have asked for permission. Please forgive me!" The mare says with genuine guilt in her tone. I turn around to face her and just give her a soft smile for reassurance.

"Ehh, it's fine, Miss. I often get a lot of eager fans who would do the same thing just to get a good view of me," I say as I turn to face her.

"A-Are you sure? It's just so hard to resist! Especially when I have the honor of a Princess standing before me! I-I simply couldn't resist!"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Don't sweat it" I reassuringly say.

"Phew. Thank goodness" Her ears perk back up again.

"So this is your mom, huh?" I say as I look to Void and ask.

"Yes, that is correct" he replies.

"Huh," I take a moment to glance back and forth between the two. I take note of their physical appearances and how much they differ from one another. I even tilt my head as I look at them, performing my own little mental examination.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of a princess' visit to our home?"

"Well I ran into your son in The Everfree Forest and I noticed he was performing some interesting magic. The likes of which I have yet to see so I'm very interested in learning more about it"

"That's why I brought her here, to your lab, mother"

"I see," She says while putting a hoof under her chin while she continues to listen.

"He mentioned that you have some notes on his magic that you'd be willing to show me, is that true?"

"My notes? Well, of course! I'd be very thrilled having you read some of my notes!" She says with a wide smiled expression of pure glee whilst pressing her hooves to her cheeks.

"Great! Can I take a look at them now?" I politely ask.

"Certainly! I'm sure I can find th-.." Lexi turns to Void to where she immediately notices the red mark on his face from when I punched him. She gives a sudden gasp and quickly moves to Void to lean in and put her hooves on his face to examine the mark.

"My goodness, Void! What happened to you?!"

I immediately tense up at Lexi's reaction and become very worried. I had almost forgotten about the mark I left on his face. I quickly come up with something to say for Void.

"Wha-I uh.. well you see..." Void stammering his words.

I quickly cut in and answer for him. "He-He fell! On a rock!"

"He what?!" Lexi exclaims whilst sharply turning her head back to me. I tense more at her sudden gaze but continue speaking. "Yeah, w-while he was walking through The Everfree Forest and he tripped, fell on it and hurt himself pretty bad. I saw it happen and I helped him up to his hooves"

"He tripped and hit his cheek on a rock, huh..?" She gives me a skeptical look.

"Yup! That's what happened, heheh" I nervously smile.

"Hmmm. Is this true Void?" She asks while turning her head back to Void. His eyes turn from me back to Lexi and gazes into her eyes. Lexi stares into his eyes with an unnerving stare.

"Y-Yes.. that's what happened... It was.. quite embarrassing, especially in front of a Princess. That's.. why I was so hesitant"

"Hmmmmm..." She thinks for a moment while still staring into his eyes. It seems she's trying to tell if we're telling the truth through his eyes. There's a brief pause before Lexi begins to speak again.

"Alright, if you say so" She lets go of his face and stands up straight whilst taking a step back. "Though you need to be more careful. I'm going to get you some medicine for that mark"

"B-But.. mother, It doesn't hurt all that bad. I'll be fine"

"No 'buts!', I'm taking care of that mark right now" she marches away towards another side of her lab. Void lets out a sigh while I give a subtle chuckle. Shortly after she rummages through her belongings at a deep end of her lab, she returns with a small container with no labels. She magically opens it and dips her hoof inside the container.

"Alright now hold still," Lexi says while taking her hoof out of the container. Her hoof is a tad covered in a purple cream like substance to which she reaches over and begins to smear the cream along his red mark. Void gives a sharp inhale and grunts quietly when she applies the medicine. This gives me the thought that he was hiding his pain this whole time and that it still stings quite badly.

"See? It does still hurt, now hold still," Lexi politely demands.

Void gives a sigh of embarrassment and looks off to the side. "You really shouldn't waste that stuff on minor things, mother. We don't have much left"

"Using this stuff on you is most certainly not a minor thing. I won't let your face be ruined over something that can be easily fixed" She continues to smear the cream on the mark. "There, you should start feeling all better"

"Couldn't you just go out and get some more?" I inquire. "I mean, that stuff is just regular ol' ointment, right? I'm sure it's not that expensive if you're just going to buy some"

"Well... it's not exactly your average treatment medication" Says Void.

Lexi sets down her hoof and Void turns his head to where the mark on his face is now facing towards my direction to where I can see it. The spot on his face begins to glow a tad and the mark slowly fades away and his cheek returns to normal with no sign of any damage.

"Woah... what is that stuff?" I ask with my eyes widened in awe.

"A special concoction I was able to create myself" Lexi turns away to walk back to her workbench. She closes the container of cream and sets it down on. "I also dabble a bit in medicinal stuff," She turns back to face us.

"Wow, really? So is that like some special healing ointment?"

"Eeeyup!" Lexi says with a proud smile.

Void carefully begins to explain in full detail about this magical ointment. "It is a specially made magical cream that my mother figured out how to make all on her own. She performed quite the extensive research to produce such a creation. Through her studies, she learned how to make some of the ingredients and where to locate the rest. As for the ingredients she needed to go and collect, she would send me out to retrieve them. Although, most of the work was her. If not, then all of it was her. It helps relieve just about any form of pain and/or injury. Though.. the only problem is.. it's extremely hard to make"

"Wow, that's incredible! Your mom seems very talented!" I say with a genuine smile to Void.

"That she is"

"Well, I do try to be" Lexi humbly retorts, though having an off tone about her words. She turns her head away and looks off to the side, leaning against her workbench. I take notice this and tilt my head at her with a questioning gaze.

"Everything okay?" I ask.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah I'm fine," She faces her head forward to gaze at me. "Say, how's about we go get you those notes, eh?"

"Uhh, okay, sure!" I give a gentle nod along with a smile.

"Good, now follow me and feel free to take a looksee at anything that catches your eyes. Just. . . if you wanna touch stuff, do be careful. Some of my stuff are fragile," I nod at her words as she begins to lead on further into her lab. Void follows along side and I begin to take a look around at all the interesting things around the place. There are many strange objects strung about, the likes of which I have no idea what they are. Regardless, they still seem pretty interesting and unique. Each item I come across seems expertly crafted with fine metallic material. I look to another part of the lab to see more science equipment and some of which appear to be in use. Things like Bunsen burners and boiling beakers. There are some strange devices with knobs and needles making strange sounds and flashing little lights sitting upon some desks.

"Wow! This place is something straight out of a sci-fi comic book! It's awesome!" I say with glee as I continue my glances about the lab and its equipment. I feel like a filly in a toy store, gazing at every little intriguing object that enters my view.

"Well I do try to have a pretty decent laboratory"

"So, did you make all these?" I look to her and ask.

"Sure did!"

"Wow! I'm impressed!"

"Not only is my mother a scientist, but she's also a brilliant inventor," Void chimes in.

"Really? That's so awesome!"

"Well, I wouldn't say 'brilliant'. I'd say I'm pretty decent at best," Lexi says in that similar off tone as before. I take note of this again and give her a look of concern. I hear Void give a subtle frustrated sigh and I look back at him to see an upset expression on his face.

"Hmm.." I say as I start to get the feeling that something's wrong with her, like she doesn't feel all that confident in herself, regardless of the way she expresses herself.

"Sooo..." I say as I turn my head back towards Lexi. "What do some of these things even do?"

"Well.. let's see.. That over there is a water extractor device. It can extract water from just about anything I use it on."

"Cool!"

"Yes, though I wouldn't recommend using it to dry your mane" Lexi says with an awkward grin sweeping across her face.

"Oh.." I worriedly say as I reach up at my own mane to hold it gently.

"Annnnd... over there are a pair of X-Ray goggles"

"Seriously?!" I set my hoof down and ask with great interest about the goggles. I also approach the goggles and eagerly put them on.

"Yeah, although... they aren't quite. . . 'ready' . . ."

"Wh-What do you mean?" I inquire as I turn to look at Void.

"Well, they are quite functional, yes, but . . . they only let you see through . . . Ehem . . . clothes," Lexi puts a hoof to rub the back of her neck.

"Oh . . . I see," I take off the goggles and give Void an awkward stare while he returns with a similar look. "Though not everypony wears clothing all the time"

"Indeed... so they basically do nothing . . . but in due time I'll get them working properly"

I then set the goggles down and continue to glance around for any other invention to talk about. My eyes catch something else and I begin to ask about it. "Oh! What about this?" I say as I approach the desk that has a strange object resting on top of it. The object has many glowing buttons and dials along with a glass pitcher slotted in the middle. I lean in closely to admire this strange yet intriguing device. Lexi steps over to stand near me as I gaze at the device.

"Is this some sort of science-y potion brewing machine? Or-Or some form of device that magically stores magic in a glass bottle?" I ask with very gleefully sparkling eyes.

"Heh, somethin' like that"

"What is it?" I look to her whilst retaining my eager smile.

"That's just my coffee maker," she says with a smirk.

"Oh," My ears perk down in embarrassment and I take a step away from the desk. Lexi gives a little chuckle as she hits a button on the coffee maker and it swiftly fills the pitcher slotted inside with light brown colored coffee. She then pulls out the pitcher using her magic and, with one of her hooves, pulls out a mug from behind the coffee maker. She then pours a nice hot cup of coffee for herself, to which then she takes a sip of it with a smug grin, all whilst she's performing a chill lean against the desk.

"Ahhh, now then," She sets the mug down on the desk and turns to continue her walk through the lab. "Let's carry on shall we?"

We continue to follow her and soon she stops in front of a filing cabinet. She pulls out a little blue screw driver from a pocket on her lab coat and sticks it into a keyhole slot on the cabinet, using it as key as she turns it and unlocks the cabinet. I gaze at her in confusion for a moment but decide to shrug it off for now. She opens the cabinet while putting away her screwdriver and begins rummaging through the inside.

"This is so fantastic! I can hardly believe a Princess wishes to study my son's magic! Oh! I can barely contain my excitement! Finally some good is coming our way, Oh hoooo!" Lexi cheerfully says whilst digging through the cabinet. Aaalllright, the files should be here sommmmewheeerrrrrre. Ah-ha! Here they are!" Lexi pulls out a folder, shuts the filing cabinet, and turns back to me. "Here you go, just about everything I've written down over the years," She holds out the folder to me and I magically take it. The folder is dark purple color with the label 'Void Dusk' written on a strip of tape on the front end of it. I proceed to open it and take a quick glance at what's on the surface of each paper.

"Thank you so much, I really appreciate this," I say as I look back to Lexi

"You're very much welcome, Princess"

"You sure you don't mind me looking through this stuff?"

"Oh, not at all. Read away! You're a Princess after all. I know you're trustworthy. Plus it feels like an absolute honor that you are interested in my son's magic"

"Gee, thanks! Now.. where should I even begin?" I ask.

"Oh! Perhaps I could help? Why don't we go to someplace more comfortable so you may read through all the fascinating details I've written? The Kitchen perhaps? I could fetch you something to eat or to drink if you'd like," She says while retaining a happy, eager smile on her face.

"That'd be awesome!" I reply with a smile.

"Splendid! Follow me! Right back this way!" Lexi proceeds to lead on back down the other way where we came. We reach the metal door Void and I entered from and she presses a button on the side to open it. We exit her lab and proceed to the kitchen where she guides us to sit at the counter in the middle of the room. As I sit I lay the folder on the counter and open it once more, gazing at the first page of it.

"Is there anything you would like to eat or drink?" She asks. "I have no problem getting anything for you, Princess!"

"I'll just have some water if that's okay,"

"Certainly!" She proceeds to trot over to the fridge whilst magically taking out a glass cup from a nearby cupboard. She then places the cup into a water dispenser from her fridge. "So, if I may ask, how did you come across my son's magic?" I look up at her as she asks and take a moment to think of a reply.

"Uhm, well I saw him performing his magic freely out in the Everfree. Then after a bit of time watching his magical demonstration, I approached him to ask about it"

"Oooh, is that right?" She steps back over after pouring the water into the glass.

"Yup. Though, I startled him when I did and... that's what caused him to fall on a rock"

"You startled him you say? Hmm..." She says in a skeptical tone while having an eyebrow raised. "Well, it's been taken care of now so no harm, nor foul! Here's your water, Princess," She sets down the glass of water on the counter near me.

"Thank you so much!"

"What were you doing in The Everfree, if you don't mind me asking" She inquires.

"I was doing a bit of magic training of my own before I sensed the strange magic your son gave off"

"I see. So what exactly did you see?"

"I saw him performing some form of magical beams that gave the appearance of lightening. Dark lightening, like dark magic and stuff"

"Ah! That one! Of course! You'll find that little technique on this page," Lexi reaches over, flips the pages and stops on a particular page. On the page it has a few pictures and notes strung about. "Here's where you'll find all the little details on Void's magic beam that you saw. It's quite the interesting on at that too! I've even given it a nice little name. I call it... 'Darkness Thunder'," Lexi says as she sways her hooves gracefully in the air as if she were displaying the title card for a movie.

"Heh! That's a pretty neat name. I like it," I say with a smile.

"Glad to hear such!"

"I name some of my magical techniques too!" I say with a confident smile to her.

"Ooo! I would love to hear them sometime!"

"As would I, honestly," Void subtly chimes in.

"Sure! No problem!" I look back to the page. "So what does 'Darkness Thunder' even do anyway?"

"Well let's take a looksee," Lexi leans in and points to the page, directing my attention to a particular section of notes where there lies a piece of tape with the words 'Basic Description' written on it. Below the tape seems to be the beginning of the description. I begin to read out the description.

"... 'One of Void's offensive capabilities is the ability to conjure up a decently powerful magical emission beam, summoned from his mystical staff, that deals quite the destructive force. It gives off the appearance of a regular magical blast that's surrounded in lightening with a color scheme of black and purple, similar to his own appearance and the appearance of his armor. This magical emission beam can prove to stun individuals with said lightening.' ... huh interesting so far," I look up at Lexi.

"Oh, you have yet to see the rest of it! Take a look at what the rest says," She points to the other half of the written text and starts to read it herself. "... 'Darkness Thunder also has a second capability. If an individual is struck by this beam, a black hazy like substance will begin to form on the area that was struck. The individual struck by this and baring the black substance will soon begin to feel fatigued and their ability to stay conscious shall waver' ..."

My expression turns to a serious one as I am very much aware of this part. I recall the fatigue I felt when struck by Void's attack and how the hazy substance continued to spread across my chest. I give a subtle nervous glance to Void and he returns the glance back at me. I turn my attention back to the notes.

"Wow, that's quite interesting. . . Also.. you can read upside down?" I look in surprise up at Lexi as I ask.

"Yes, Indeed I can! That and... I've memorized every single little thing there is to know inside that folder. I know just about everything when it comes to Void, in and out," She says with a proud smile sweeping across her face.

"Heheh, so . . . this black substance... Do you know what it is?"

"Funnily enough, it's still unknown to me. I've studied it for years and couldn't find anything else about it other than its effects. That and it somehow relates to his staff"

"And what about his staff? What exactly is it? Some sortaaa... ancient relic?"

"That too is a mystery to us as well, unfortunately. All we know is what it does. But from what I gathered from hearing about it's . . . origin . . . from Void. . . it's safe to say that, yes, it is some form of ancient relic"

"Hmm," I turn to Void. "I'm guessing you still wanna keep the origins of that under wraps, huh?"

"For now . . . Hopefully that's okay with you" He replies.

"All, good. When ever you're ready I'm all ears," I say with a genuine smile.

"He doesn't like to talk about it much," Lexi says to me as I turn back to face her.

"Yeah, I can see that. So, what about the ring?"

Lexi reaches over and turns the pages a few times. "Well, the ring has the capability to 'grant' those who wear it with these hazy looking wings. The ones you see Void having right now. Of course without the ring he reverts back to just a regular unicorn"

"Well I can honestly say I'm aware of that part"

"Oh, I'm sure you are. I bet you were just full of questions when you saw another pony who looked like an Alicorn"

"Like you wouldn't believe. Void quickly explained that the whole 'wing' thing was the ring's doing"

"And like I mentioned before, it's also the source of a good portion of my magic," Void chimes in.

"And without it, your magic would be very limited. Is that right?"

"Unfortunately. . . without this ring, I'm not much use. . ." Void says while turning his head away and bowing it. His expression turns sorrowful after saying this. I take note of this and give a doubtful smirk to him.

"Somehow I doubt that," I say while retaining my smirk, hoping that my words will reassure him. He turns his head back to me a bit, seeming less sorrowful than he was.

"Hey, why do you tell me more about the armor you wear? You said that it was to be worn along side with the ring, kinda like a set piece. What, does it also help with the generation of magic?"

"You would be correct, Princess!" Lexi jumps in to respond to me. "Those bright pinkish gemstones within the armor are magical gems that help generate the flow of magic through out his entire body," Lexi points to the gemstones as she explains. I gaze at them as she does and notice them glistening from within. "The magic from within is something unknown and shows little to no similarities to todays modern magic-" I lean closer to gemstone fitted upon Void's chest plate and even squint my eyes at it. I see little waves of magic flow around inside of it deeply from within. There are even some faint magical whooshes that can be hear from the gem. I continue to gaze in awe at the gemstone and I even try to get a feel for the magic within through my senses. Using my senses to 'feel' the magic from within the gemstone, I try to mentally compare to other sorts of magic, the likes of which that are already well know in todays day and age. But it's as I figured, to no avail. This magic is completely new to me. "-So from what I've gathered from that is it entails as a conduit for this powerful dark magic from within that created long ago. But I haven't been able to tell from how far back it comes from."

I simply just gaze at it in awe still. I have to force myself to look away as I turn back to Lexi where I simply utter my response.

"Wow" Is all I say.

"Mhmm! Pretty interesting, right?" Lexi says with a smile that bares excitement.

"I'll say... but wait hold on," Having received this new information on his armor, it now begs a question in my mind. I decide to ask Void this particular question. "You mentioned that you acquired this stuff a long time ago... How long ago exactly? When you were a little colt?" Void nods in response.

"Really?" I take the glass of water and take a long sip.

"Indeed... I acquired these strange relics approximately thirteen years ago," Void states.

Suddenly I choke on the water after hearing when he found the items. I quickly swallow the water and begin cough, covering my mouth with my hoof as to not spit out any water as I do. I set down the glass of water and hunch over a tad. "Thirt- Krgh- teen?! No- Krgh- way!" I say, coughing through my words. They both gaze at me with their eyes broadened.

"Oh my goodness! Are you okay, Princess?" Lexi asks with a wide-eyed look of concern. Void reaches over and lightly pats my back to help me recover. I try to respond to her words and end up coughing through my words.

"Y-Yeah... Krph... I'm fine.. just.. rgh..-" I pound my chest lightly with my left hoof. "Got caught a little off guard after hearing how long he has had these items... ehem... for," I bring a hoof to rub my throat gently to help me recover.

"O-Okay.. just.. be careful" She says, still retaining her highly worried gaze. Void just sits beside me, staring at me in a frozen state, only moving his eyes to glance back and forth between me and his mother. I clear my throat after fully recovering and turn back to Void.

"So... did you really have all this stuff for like thirteen years?" I ask.

"It is indeed the truth," He replies.

"Wouldn't it have been best to tell somepony like us Princesses about this? We probably could have helped you in the studying of all this stuff" I ask Lexi as I turn to her.

"Well you see, Princess..." She brings a hoof to rub the back of her head awkwardly. "At the time I had preferred to keep this little thing a secret, even to this day. I gained quite the thrill from studying Void and his items and I didn't want that to go away. I felt that if I had went to a Princess for help... there was a chance that they would take the relics away from Void"

"I see," I say with an understanding gaze.

"This is what I meant by attracting the wrong kind of attention," Void says as he leans in close to me in order to say this.

"Forgive me if it seemed selfish, Princess... I just..."

"Don't worry about it. Honestly, if I was in your hoof shoes, I probably would have done the same thing. And, hay, if you decide to take this up with any other Princess, then I'll make sure they won't take these items away from you!"

"Really?" Lexi says with a surprised tone.

"Yup! My mom, Princess Cadance, already knows about Void's little secret and I made her promise to keep it under wraps"

"Oh! Well that's good news to hear! Wait, was Princess Cadance with you in the forest?"

"Oh no no! She wasn't with me in The Everfree, she was at The Crystal Empire. I took Void with me back to the empire to have him check out the place and meet my Mom and Dad," I say with a smile. "Then after that I brought him back here!"

"The Empire?! How did you... Huh?"

"Is something wrong?"

"I'm just confused... how did you have time to bring him there then.. back to here?" She gazes confusedly at me. "V-Void, you mentioned that she helped you get back home... Is that why you got home so early?" She says to Void.

"Indeed it is, mother. Turns out, Flurry Heart is incredibly good at teleportation. She teleported me to The Empire then back to here. And in doing so, she saved me from having to spend bits for a train ticket back home," Void says to his mom.

"Wai-wai-wait! You mean she teleported you ALL THE WAY HERE?!" Lexi asks with a wide eyed shocked expression while she leans in on the counter with both her forelegs on it.

"Yes she did. Quite fascinating right?"

"That's amazing!" She says to me, her eyes sparkling when she does. "That must mean you're more skilled in magic than I had anticipated!"

"Yeah well, heheh, I do hone my skills often," I say with a proud smile and a hoof rubbing the back of my head. "But back on topic. If all that stuff you were saying about finding these items so long ago is true then how would all this stuff fit you? Wouldn't the ring and the armor be too big for you back then?"

"They were, but the magical properties of these relics allowed themselves to be worn by a mere colt. Once I put it on, they shrunk down to fit into my size from back then... and over the years they grow along with my size. So, I guess you can see it's one of those... 'One size fits all' sort of thing"

"Incredible . . . So . . . Can I try it on?" I say with an eager smile while reaching up at the ring. Lexi suddenly slams her hoof down on the counter to make a loud impactful sound to halt me.

"NO!" Lexi shouts. I get startled and pull back my hoof. I turn to her with a startled expression and my body tenses up. "Uh... no, sorry Princess. I-I-It wouldn't be a good idea for you to wear any of those things.... I did once and.. it wasn't pretty... I didn't mean to startle you. Please forgive me," Lexi bows her head. I loosen from my tensed state and set my hoof back down.

"It's okay. I understand. You're good," I reply. Lexi lets out a sigh of relief.

"So, is there anything else I should know about you?" I say to Void.

"Well, I do have the ability to heal myself and others with this particular magic from the staff"

"Really?" I say with an intriguing smirk.

"Yes... although it's not much since I haven't had a lot of practice with it. That's one flaw. Another flaw is that... if I try to heal myself... it can be quite draining. Here..-" Void flips onto another page and points to it. "It says all that right on this page. It's called 'Mythical Restoration'. I chose the name myself," Void says with a bit of a proud smile.

"Ah, I see. Pretty neat! You know... I have a little healing trick of my own too! Though, it's not quite like yours, I'm sure"

"Oh? Well what is it? Care to tell?" He inquires.

"Hmhm," I bring a hoof up in front of the both of us. My hoof begins to emit crystal like particles that glisten and shimmer about all around my hoof for a brief moment. "Maybe I'll get to show it to you if you ever get hurt," I follow up my words with a casual wink. Void gazes at my hoof with an intrigued expression. There is a little muffled beeping sound coming from Lexi. She looks down at herself whilst her ears perk up and reaches into her lab coat, pulling out a small little device. She looks at the device she holds in her hoof for a moment. "Ohp, excuse me, Princess, I have to go check on something back in my lab. I'll be right back! Oh and if I may be allowed to say, Princess-"

"Huh?"

"Please, drink more slowly? I wouldn't want you to choke again," She says, speaking in a very concerned, motherly like tone. Very similar to how my own mom would speak to me when she expresses concern over me.

"I'll try. Sorry to worry you"

"No need to be, Princess! It was just an honest little mishap," She smiles reassuringly. She then happily trots back towards her lab, enters it, and the door shuts behind her.

"Hmm," I turn back to Void after watching her exit the room. "It's crazy to think that such cool, seemingly ancient relics have been kept away hidden by you two for thirteen years. And even longer before you even discovered them yourself"

"Well my mother is pretty good at hiding things. That among other things. She has me take off the ring when I'm in public as to not draw the wrong kind of attention. Which is why it has been hidden. We had wished to keep it a secret before taking it up with anypony more knowledgeable when it comes to ancient magic"

"I can help you with that, so long as you agree to show it to Princess Twilight. Maybe she'll know something about it"

"We'll see"

"Hmm... I guess now that we're alone we can speak more freely about your abilities without your mom catching wind about our little lie"

"Indeed ... What else do you wish to know?" Void says more quietly.

"Back in the forest, I ran into a group of Timberwolves covered in that weird black substance and it looked like they were being controlled. They also had very similar eyes compared to your little rabbit friend. Tell me more about that. Was that you?" Void reaches towards the file and begins turning the pages.

"This little ability?" Void points to the page where it shows examples of what I experienced with the Timberwolves. I read that the name of it is called 'Binding Lariat'.

"Yeah that one. It's kind of like puppeteer magic errr mind control, right?"

"Something like that," Void shrugs.

"How do you do it, Void?"

"Actually-" Void says while a sudden squeaking can be heard from our right. We turn our heads towards the sound to see Lariat hopping over towards Void whilst carrying a little carrot chew toy in his mouth. "Lariat here is the one who is able to cast this spell," Lariat jumps up and Void catches him. He then cradles him closely to his chest.

"Hmm, I had a hunch that the rabbit had something to do with it. But are you able to do it?"

"Sort of... though it's easier when he does it, considering he's an animal" Void rubs Lariat's belly. "The ability works by creating some sort of magical tether between him and the one he wishes to control. Funny enough, this little technique is the reason why his name became Lariat"

"Ah, I get it. A play on words. So... does this also work on ponies?" I tilt my head at him as I ask.

"I'm not sure... I have yet to test that, nor do I wish to do so anytime soon"

"Right," I bring a hoof to my chin. "Though that would be kinda cool if you could," I say quietly to myself.

"Did you say something?" He asks.

"Hmm? Oh nothing!"

"Hmm, alright"

I then take the folder and begin to skim through some of the pages, taking quick little mental notes of the info I see. It appears I've covered just about the basis of most things. There appear to be much much more details regarding Void that his mother, Lexi, had jotted down. I take note of this and give a little smirk as I see all this as a sign of Void being capable of quite a lot of things. I would take the time to read over it all but I decide on something much more interesting to do instead. I feel it would be better to hold off on knowing anything else and have myself be surprised later on when I discover something else cool about him when the time comes. After some time passes, Lexi exits from her lab and trots back over to us.

"Sorry about that! Like I said, I had to go check up on something! How are my notes? Are they of any help?"

"Very much so, Miss Dawn. I think I've read all I needed to read for now. I'd rather learn about them more through demonstration. Hopefully one of these days if you and your son will allow it"

"Oh yes of course! That will be no trouble at all!" She says with a gleeful smile.

"Great! So do you have a little space of your own that you test out your son's magic? He said you've been studying him for years, so you must have a go-to place in order to do so," Lexi's eyes light up as I say this and she even lets out an excited gasp.

"Yes! Indeed I do! It's a place I've built all on my own! Within this very building! Oh! but it's currently a mess right now! I wouldn't want to show it off to you it if it's all cluttered up with tools and inventions! Please, allow me to clean it up before you have a chance to see it!"

"No sweat! I'll just come back tomorrow! That'll give you all the time you need, right?" I say as I begin to stand up from my chair.

"You're coming back?!" Lexi's eyes light up even further and she puts her hooves pressingly to her cheeks as she eagerly awaits my response.

"Yeah! Why not?"

"Ooooohhhohohoooh!!! Wonderful!" She happily jumps up and down a few times, unable to contain her excitement. "I can hardly wait!" I watch her as she laughs and cheers all excitedly.

"Well, I'll let you get to it! I'll be back tomorrow when I can to check out more of your cool stuff! Thanks again for the help! I can't wait to get to know the both of you more!"

"Take care, Princess! Thank you for this wonderful honor!" Lexi suddenly jerks her head swiftly around the room like she's looking for something. "Now where's my hyper vacuum?!" She then rushes around the room, hastily searching for what she's trying to find.

"I'm going to step outside with her, mother. I'll be back soon," Void says to Lexi.

"Okay Void, honey!" Her voice sounds muffled as she's digging through a box she's inside of. I give a brief giggle at that before reaching the door. Lariat jumps out of Void's hold and hops away once more. Void steps in front to politely open the door for me to step out.

"Thank you!" I say to him and he nods before following me out the door. As we step outside and the door shuts behind us. There is a locking sound and the device next to the door beeps twice. I keep walking a bit a ways further out onto the large, spacious terrace of theirs as I glance around to admire their property. I turn to the side to face my body towards the center of the city, with Void to my left side. I gaze up at the tallest building as I think about how interesting this particular mare is.

"Your mom's quite a character," I say out loud to Void while maintaining my sights on the building.

"That indeed she is . . . I don't know where I'd be without her"

There is a gentle breeze that blows by and makes my mane and tail flow gracefully in its direction. I stand tall and proud as I retain my gaze upon the tallest building and think. Void gazes at me during this moment and he even seemingly admires the sight of me standing before him as the light of the sun shines down directly upon where we stand. His eyes trail along my body until his gaze halts upon where a cutie mark would be. But to his surprise, there is no cutie mark bared upon my flank. His eyes immediately broaden at the sight of this and even his jaw drops.

"I-I-I'm sorry..." I break from my little thinking trance when Void speaks. I turn my head at him with a confused look.

"What? What's wrong?" I ask.

"F-Forgive me, but uhm … I just noticed that … you do not have a cutie mark," Void says and he even points to the blank space of mine.

"Huh?" I glance at my only flank for a moment then back at him. "Oh yeah, no, I don't have one. You're just now noticing?"

"Y-Yes.. I just now noticed.. How come? I figured a Princess like yourself would have long since acquired one," He exclaims.

"Yeah well... it's actually quite the opposite for me"

"D-Does this not bother you?"

"Mmm, not anymore. To be specific; it started to get to me when I was younger, but as I grew older I learned to accept it and not to let it bug me. You see, I'm a very patient mare, so I always kept believing that someday I'll get my cutie mark no matter how long it takes"

"But... many ponies often get their cutie marks when they're young little colts and fillies. You're telling me that an Alicorn Princess has yet to earn one? I mean ... You're pretty much a teen, correct?"

"Yup, same as you, I'm assuming,"

"This can't be right... You're an Alicorn Princess. How could somepony like yourself, who seems extremely talented, not have a mark upon your-"

"Listen, Void," I say to cut off his sentence. "Don't worry yourself over it, alright? I've already moved past worrying over it. Besides, I've done quite a lot of great things over the course of my life that gave me the confidence I needed to press forward, even when I never got my mark for those particular things. I know that I'm a pretty talented individual and someday I'll get my mark to set my greatness in stone!" I finish my claim and Void stares at me in an awestruck gaze.

"Wow..." He utters.

"Mhmm," I nod. "It's why I get up in the morning and often train my magic. Because one of these days I'll need to use it to show what I'm capable of. And when I do, it will be spectacular!"

"That is ... hard to fathom, I must say"

I bring a hoof to rub the back of my head. "I just... hope you don't think any less of me for not having one"

"Why would I do that? If anything I'm even more amazing by you than I was before. A Princess who has yet to have a cutie mark, has astonishing power and talents!" I playfully roll my eyes and give off a cute embarrassing blush at his words.

"Hehehe, that means a lot! I only said that because well.. I'd imagine there are ponies out there who see me not having a cutie mark and think that I'm not all that great..." I set my hoof down and gaze awkwardly about the floor.

"Nonsense! Those who think that are underestimating you," Void smirks.

"Hehe," I give a smile in response to his words. "Wait, does this mean your mom didn't notice either?" I question as I raise an eyebrow, tilt my head at him, and even point back at the house.

"No, I don't believe she did, either!"

"Hmph, funny how you both have such observant eyes, yet neither of you have noticed something so obvious about me." I speak a little quieter for this next sentence. "Plus you were standing behind me for quite some time while I was talking to your mom so I figured you would have seen that there was nothing there"

"It is... quite the puzzler," Void puts a hoof to his head and looks down as he thinks to himself about this whole ordeal.

"Plus, I'm pretty sure just about all of Equestria knows that I don't have a cutie mark yet. I mean, hay, I believe it might even be written down in a book somewhere that I don't have one . . . Or . . . would it not be written down somewhere?" I say to myself, putting a hoof to my chin and looking off to the side. "Normally when something spectacular happens to a being of great importance, their successes would be captivated in a history book or somethin'," I go on talking out loud to myself as Void now watches me. "But would they write something about me not acquiring my cutie mark for such a long time? I'd have to check back on that by reviewing all the history books I've read ... 'course I could just visit a local library and ask-"

"Are you talking to yourself?" Void inquires with an eyebrow raised.

"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry! Force of habit!" I say as I look back at him and awkwardly bring a hoof to rub the back of my head. I even give an awkward smile to him.

"It's quite alright. But can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?"

"What were these things you speak of? The things throughout your life that were deemed cutie mark worthy, yet you've never received one"

"Ahhh, that's gonna be something I'll keep to myself until you tell me all about your little relic there!" I bring up a hoof to gently flick the ring around his horn. The ring makes a little 'Tink' sound when I do.

"Right.." He says as he gazes off to the side.

"While we're on the topic of learning more about each other, let me ask you somethin'. What exactly were you doing in The Everfree Forest?" I ask. Void's look shows trepidation once more.

"You see . . . I was out in The Everfree Forest hunting some Timberwolves, hoping to earn a couple of extra bits . . . for my mother"

"For your mother? W... Why?"

"For quite some time . . . my mother and I haven't exactly been doing so well when it comes to our income of currency. In fact, we're struggling to even stay living here," He gazes down at the floor and brings a hoof to rub his foreleg.

"W-.. how can that be? Your mother's a brilliant inventor, you said so yourself! She makes awesomely cool inventions in that nifty lab of hers and plus you both live in this amazingly fancy penthouse with a perfect view of the city from here! A perfect view of Equestria, even!" I jerk my head behind me to momentarily divert Void's gaze in that direction for him to see the view. From here, Canterlot and even The Crystal Empire can be seen. "From all that, I figured she would be swimming in bits!" I exclaim.

"Well ... Looks can be deceiving, Flurry Heart. The truth is ... it's quite the opposite of what you would expect. She makes brilliant inventions, yes... but no pony out there really considers taking her up on her work. She slaves away often at times just to make something truly great just to sell it for whatever she can in order to sustain us... and even finding somepony to buy her inventions is a hassle all on its own"

My heart begins to sink as I hear Void go on about Lexi's dilemma. I think to myself 'how can this be?', desperately trying to comprehend the craziness of this ordeal. I feel so bad, I can hardly believe it. I must find out why, so I decide to question Void further to get to the bottom of this.

"How did this happen? What caused all this to put you both in such a predicament?" I inquire with a worried expression on my face.

"Well, you see... quite the sum of years back... an incident occurred that caused many folks within this city to show distrust towards my mother. But it wasn't her fault... not at all. And ever since that day... she's been trying to pick herself back up as she fell lower and lower... trying to redeem herself for a mistake she didn't commit." I continue to listen as I gaze down at the ground with a serious expression, trying to process all this in my head. "So that's why we're here... in this state of struggle. On the surface we may seem fine... but because of what happened, it is the reason why she is struggling... and it's why I'm out there, trying my hardest to make a little extra just to ease her pain. Trying to hunt Timberwolves to do something... and I'm hardly even good at that. I can't even hunt them properly. I just keep blasting them to unusable pieces... My magic is too unstable currently for me to do any better for myself... and any better for her, especially," Hearing Void's words tug on my heart strings almost brings me to the point of shedding a tear. But I maintain my composure and continue listening for anything else he has to say.

"If I had better control over my magic I could do better... I just know it... I could finally be of further use"

"You need somepony to help you control your magic..-" I slowly raise my head up at him and give him a smirk. "I can do that"

"You can?" He looks up at me with a surprised look.

"I'm an Alicorn Princess who's extremely talented like you said, right? I can do it, no problem," I give Void a reassuring wink.

"W-.. Thank you, Princess," Void smiles a tad at my words.

"Not only that, I'll help you out even further. I'm gonna find a way to help you and your mom get out of this little mishap. That way your mom can be set on bits and you won't have to hunt Timberwolves for scraps!" Void's eyes broaden and he smiles even more.

"W-.. I don't know what to say! T-Thank you so much, Prince--.. Eh I mean, Flurry Heart!" He reaches up both of his front hooves and takes hold of my right hoof, then proceeds to shake it.

"Hey, what are newly found friends for, heh?" I firmly shake his hooves in return. After we shake hooves, Void takes a step back.

"Heh, indeed"

I turn my eyes towards the penthouse. "You know, I find it strange. I never expected something like this to happen to your mom. She seemed so kind and happy, like nothing was wrong and she was living her life very well," Void turns to look back at the penthouse as well.

"As I mentioned before... she's very good at hiding things," Void says in a soft, saddened tone.

"But why hide such a thing? Especially from a Princess," I ask.

"She probably did not wish to worry you. First impressions go a long way and perhaps she felt it would be quite embarrassing and pitiful if royalty like yourself were to find out the truth. So, she hid that fact and focused on impressing you . . . That's my guess at least"

"Pretty specific for a guess," I raise my eyebrow at him.

"Well it's more of my statement of understanding my own mother," Void turns back to me. "A Princess coming to visit her home, now of all times, feels like a once in a life time opportunity and she wanted to show her appreciation rather show her sorrows"

"Hmm, well I have great feeling that her luck is about to change. Though, I should get going. I can just drop on by tomorrow, right?"

"Certainly," Void says while giving a nod.

"Great! Cya around!" I give a wave and turn away from Void and he turns to walk back towards the house. I look over my shoulder at him.

"Hey," I say to get him to look back at me. "Thanks for letting me get to know you and your magic a bit. I can already tell this friendship of ours is gonna go a long way," I say all with a friendly smile on my face. My horn begins to light up bright yellow as I get ready to teleport back home.

"You're very much welcome. And I feel the same way," Void gives a friendly smile back and begins to turn around. I give a subtle chuckle as my horn continues to emit magic, ready to poof my way back to The Crystal Empire. "Oh and one more thing!" amidst his turn around, he stops to glance back at me. "About what I said... back at the cave..." I give a seriously sincere expression as I speak. "You know... callin' your magic weak and all... I should have said this before while we were there but... obviously... I didn't mean it when I said that. I only said it to throw you off your game. Your magic is quite impressive and it's worth learning about... maybe even letting it be known out there. Interesting magic like yours deserves to be known, deserves to be captivated in a... book or an article err somethin'. It deserves the right kind of attention," I say with a wink.

Void then turns back fully towards me with a heart warmed smile. I return said gaze with a very similar one. I give him a gentle wave and my horn glow brightens further!. "See ya'round!" Right then I poof away right before Void's eyes and magical yellow particles rain down gracefully upon the spot where I stood last.

I reappear in one of the many grand halls of The Empire. As I finally return to the empire I decide to check up on my mom. I proceed through the halls in search for her. Having a good idea on where she might be I go to check the one place she's most likely at. Cadance's very on personal lounge. I reach the double doors of the lounge and I slowly open them to peak inside. There lies Cadance upon a light-gray comfy couch as she reads a magazine on pianos.

"Hey Mom!" I say to her.

"Oh! Welcome back, Flurry," Cadance says, delighted to see my return. She puts a bookmark on a page within the magazine, closes it, then sets it down on the table sitting in front of the couch. "How did your time go with your new friend?" I step into the room and approach to stand in front of her.

"It was great! I had a lot of fun getting to know him"

"That's wonderful to hear sweetie! What did you learn about him?"

"Well, I learned a lot about how his magic works. It's really quite unique. Unlike any sort of magic we've learned of and encountered over the years"

"Really now? Well maybe you should invite him over here so he can demonstrate it for us in the stadium"

"You know? That's not a bad idea," I put a hoof to my chin and ponder at that thought.

"Yes, perhaps if it's quite fascinating enough, which I'm sure it is considering he owns a mysterious object that grants him wings, then maybe Twilight would love to hear all about it. Oh, who am I kidding, she would most definitely love to hear all about it"

"Oh yeah, no question! Though it'd have to be up to Void if he wants to share all that stuff. He still seems pretty closed about... revealing his capabilities to other folks.. you know, other than us"

"Of course, dear. Anything else interesting happen?"

"Yeah, I met his mom! Got know her a little bit. Her name's Lexi Dawn and guess what? She's a scientist!" I explain with glee.

"Oooh! Just like Twilight was back in the day!" Cadance says with a wide eyed, surprised expression.

"Yup! She even has her own lab, a bunch of crazy, cool looking inventions, and she even has this fancy doorbell called a 'Retinal Scanner'!"

"A retina-wha?" Cadance says with a confused expression. I give a brief chuckle before explaining what I'm talking about.

"It's basically some device that magically scans your eye and it unlocks the front door of their place, so long as you're 'registered in the system' I believe"

"That sounds like something out of a movie"

"I know, right?" I gleefully say. "It's really incredible! And at first I didn't quite believe in something like that but it's true! This mare is very talented! Very kind and polite too!"

"Well, I simply must meet her sometime!"

"In that case, how's about one of these days we invite them both over to The Crystal Empire once I get to know them more?"

"Sounds wonderful, Flurry. I'll allow it"

"Awesome!"

"Hmhm. You know, you act pretty fast when you need to get something done, sweetie. 'Course I often tell you things such as this so you already know," Cadance picks up the magazine again and opens it back up to the bookmarked page and takes a look at it.

"Yeah, that's right!"

"You fulfilled your promise right away when I asked you to make a new friend"

"Well you know me! I-"

"However.." Cadance interrupts and her smile fades to a more serious expression as she gazes at her magazine. "I had hoped for things to happen at a much more easing pace. I asked you to go out and make a friend because I figured it would give you decently balanced time off of training yourself," I gaze at Cadance with a worried look, fearing I've upset her in a way. "But instead... that didn't turn out to be the case," She then gives me a side ways look which causes my ears to perk downward.

"Uh-.. I-.. u-.." I start to stammer my words, unsure how to respond.

"Now, sweetie, I know how much you love training, and I love seeing you improve yourself. Hay, I would never even dream of asking you to stop improving yourself, but I wish for you to do so much more than just honing your skills," She turns her eyes back to her magazine. "Now, I'm not telling you this to make you feel bad for you fulfilling your promise so quickly, no no no, I would never. In fact, I meant what I said when I stated that I'm proud of you for succeeding, and that will never change. It's just..." She lowers her magazine a bit and appears to make a worried expression. "...I wish for you to do more than what you're already doing. I know you're more than capable of a lot of things, Flurry. Which is why I believe you can do far greater things while still having time for training. That are so many things out there in Equestria and you know this..-" I look into her eyes and my ears perk back up, having a pretty good understanding on where this is going. She turns her head to me and gazes at me with a comforting expression of care. "So many things out there that are just waiting for you to explore them and just waiting for you to seize the opportunity to discover new things. If you spend all your time on just training alone well... Think of it this way... You spend countless hours honing your skills, but what good is it when you don't go out and find the opportunity to put yourself to the test?" I look at her with a confident smile on my face after she finishes her claim.

"I get what you're sayin', mom, and I understand. Don't worry, I believe I'm already on the right path to that by having met these folk.

"That so?"

"Yup! So trust me, mom. I got this!"

"Well, okay then. I trust you completely, sweetie," Cadance reaches over and puts a hoof onto my shoulder and looks deeply into my eyes with her loving smile. "You're a smart girl, Flurry, and I want the world to see that. And hay, maybe doing such things could be a form of training if you think about it. Equestria and its inhabitants is just full of surprises and surely they'll put you to the test, giving you pretty adventurous little challenges for you to tackle.

"Thanks, mom. And uh.. sorry that it seemed like I rushed into fulfilling the promise I made to you," I say as I awkwardly rub the back of my neck. "It just sorta... happened and I guess I just got lucky"

"Oh sweetie, you know I'm not blaming you for anything. I understand that things just sort of happen. I was just surprised is all, but I'm also very happy that you succeeded so quickly!" Cadance leans in to whisper to me. "I just wish I could get your father to succeed in doing his share of the chores quickly," We both share a brief chuckle while Cadance leans back to gaze back into my eyes. "Heheheh, anyways, Flurry, I know you're capable of a lot and I know you're most definitely capable of doing much more than that. I want you to be able to do everything, Training, making friends, discovering new things, and even adventure out there into the wide world of Equestria. I know you can do it all," I happily smile in return and put my hoof onto hers. My eyes even glisten as I look into her eyes.

"Thanks, mom. That means a lot. I'll do my best"

"Excellent, dear. That's all I wanted to hear," Cadance lets her hoof off my shoulder.

"So does that mean I can go see them again, tomorrow?"

"Of course, sweetie!"

"Awesome! Thanks!"

"Just do me one little favor. You have been training for quite a looong while. You've earned a break. Please do try to cut back on the training just a little, okay? Only for a short time. Have fun with your new friends for a while!" Cadance states with an innocent smile on her face.

"Okay fine, I'll lay off the-..." I suddenly have a moment of realization. "...-TRAINING!" I suddenly teleport out of the room. Cadance blinks a few times in surprise of my sudden disappearance, but then casually looks back to her magazine. Her eyes catches a beautifully glistening, pristine piano that's also quite expensive.

"Hmph, that one looks pretty nice!" She says to herself.

I reappear on the balcony and snatch my stopwatch off the railing. "Gotcha!" I hold it close to my eyes to see the time on it. I look on the display screen on it and it shows that it's still counting up. I swiftly press the 'stop' button on it and the timer displays over an hour's worth of time that has elapsed.

"Daaaawww! An hour?! Darn it!" Suddenly the display flickers a bit before powering off. "Gaaah!!! And the batteries are drained! URGH!" I hit the timer with my hoof a few times, futilely, to try to get it to turn back on but, of course, to no avail. I then grip the stopwatch with both my hooves and angrily hit it against my forehead and hold it there in frustration. I continue about my day 'til nightfall then soon after that, I head to bed. The next morning I wake up, get out of bed, and approach my dresser. I pull out a brush and proceed to do my mane. I carefully brush to get rid of my bed head mane to refine it to my natural mane style. After I fix my mane from being messy I proceed to do my little swirls upon the ends of my mane. Fully completing my mane, I set the brush down, and stand in front of a mirror up on my hind legs. I stand tall and perform a pose in the mirror like a superhero from a comic book would stand upon a precipice, over looking the land. My hooves at my hips and my head held high as I gaze upon my reflection with a smile.

"Heheh! Lookin' good!" I then notice a cow lick spot on my mane that isn't properly brushed. "Oh-" I magically take the brush once more and brush that part of my mane to perfection. "There we go!" I say with a smile and set the brush down. I proceed to the door and exit and go about my day. I go eat breakfast, spent time with my mom, and even do a bit of studying for up coming assignments. After all that I then proceed to the balcony once again to over look the land. I pan my head from left to right to view everything in sight. Once I conclude my gaze I turn my attention to the ground where I see my stopwatch where I usually leave it. I reach down and pick it up and instinctively try to get it running for a little teleportation training. I quickly realize that it's still drained of its battery life from yesterday.

"Oh . . . Right . . . The battery's still drained," I say as I lower my ears in disappointment. "Hmmm... I suppose I could skip it. Mom did say I should try to lay off the training for a bit. Which means I should focus my attention of hanging out with my new friends and seeing where that goes," I turn my attention towards southeast of here where I can see the buildings of Manehatten from here. "I guess it's about that time I go visit them," I look back at my stopwatch and set it down onto the ground safely and gently. "You say here, little buddy. I gotta go visit my new friends! Aaaand maybe pick you up some batteries while I'm out"

After setting down my stopwatch I glow up my horn to teleport on over to Manehatten. After a quick poof, I appear on the terrace of their penthouse and I begin to approach the door. I pass their pool and stop in my place to give a quick look at it. I think to myself while putting a hoof to my chin.

"Hmmm," I utter before setting my hoof down and continuing to make my way to the door. I bring my hoof up to knock on the door. Right as I put my hoof on the door, sirens begin to blare out and a panel opens up from above the door. A long device extends out from the open slot and points its end right down to me. It looks to be like some sort of metallic cannon. My eyes widen and I grow stiff at the sight. The device begins to make a winding up charging sound as it takes aim upon me with a little red laser. Upon the screen of the fancy eye scanning device, it chances to show a view of Lexi who gives quite the stern look.

"WHO IS IT?!" She shouts in a stern tone, her voice sounding compressed like she's speaking out of the box.

"Uh! It's me, Miss Dawn! Flurry Heart! You said I could come over! Remember?!" I say in a panicked tone while my eyes shift back and forth between the cannon. Lexi's eye pupils turn small and her ears perk down as she realizes it's me.

"Oh Sorry Princess! Didn't mean to scare you! Here let me just..." In that moment, the cannon retracts back into the open panel, closing once it's inside. I gaze in awe at the sight of it as it completes its retraction.

"Woah..." I say as my body no longer is stiff from shock.

"There we go! Again! Sorry Princess! Just uhh.. can't be too careful!" She says in a singsong voice as she claps her hooves together. "Here! I'll unlock the door for you and you can come on over into my lab! The door to my lab will also be open!" She retains a gleefully excited smile the whole time right until the view of her on the screen cuts off. The device next to the door makes a few beeping sounds and not a second after such, the door itself makes an unlocking sound and slowly opens by itself. Awestruck by what I am witnessing, I can only manage to say two words to describe it all.

"So cool!" I eagerly step inside and begin making my way towards Lexi's lab. I approach the door and it automatically slides open for me. I freeze for a moment as it does and give a surprised expression. Then I smile and continue my way inside.

"Uh, Miss Dawn? Where are you?" I glance around looking for her but she's no where to be seen.

"Over here!" Her voice sounding off from deep within the lab. I look over towards where her voice was heard. Out pops Lexi from behind a workbench along with several science-y tools as she raises her head up. She pulls herself over the workbench and lands on the other side, brushing herself off.

"Good to see you again, Princess! I'm so glad you decided to come back!" She says as she approaches me.

"As we agreed on!" I reply with a smile.

"So? Is it true?" She asks while leaning in with an eager look.

"Uhhh, is what true?" I tilt my head at her with a questioning gaze.

"You! Not having a Cutie Mark!"

"Oh, that, Well..." I turn to the side to show the spot where a cutie mark would be, showing nothing but a blank flank. Lexi lets out a gasp at the sight.

"It iiiis!" She says while putting two hooves to her cheeks and her eye pupils dilate.

"Shocker, huh?"

"Indeed it is! I'm surprised I didn't notice sooner! I have very observant eyes! I should have most definitely seen that there was nothing there!"

"Believe me, I was just as surprised as you are right now," I glance off to the left and speak a little quieter. "Well maybe not exactly like you are right now but-"

"How could something like this be?" Lexi speaks out between my sentence. "You seem like a wonderfully talented individual! How could you not have a cutie mark?!"

"Don't worry about it, Miss Dawn. I'm sure it will come to me one of these days," I say as I playfully swipe my hoof at her.

"Well I certainly hope so! I don't know how I'd feel if I didn't get my cutie mark to this date!"

"Well? What about yours?"

"Huh?"

"What's your cutie mark?" I ask. She then smiles and stands up on her hind legs and turns her body a bit to her left. She then takes a hoof to the lower part of her lab coat and shifts it out of the way for me to view her cutie mark. Her cutie mark is a White Sun with a Glass Beaker right in the middle. Upon the beaker there is a Blue Ribbon. Leaning against the beaker there is a Blue Screwdriver, similar to the one she had used to open her filing cabinet yesterday.

"Wow! That's cool! I like it!"

"Pretty neat, huh?" She gleefully smiles.

"I'll say! Suits you well!"

"Why thank you, Princess!" She then steps back down on all four hooves.

"Say, where's Void?"

"Oh he went out to pick up a few things for me about an hour ago. I sent him off to Fillydelphia, he should be back any minute!" Lexi states as she turns the other way and begins to walk, swaying her hoof to signal me to follow. She magically pulls up two chairs for us to sit on. She sits on the one that's next to her workbench. She looks at me, darts her eyes at the second chair, and smiles. Getting the message, I gently sit down in front of her.

"Fillydelphia, huh? That's quite far-ish. Compared to The Everfree and The Empire though, not really but, you know"

"Indeed"

"So, I'm guessing you trust your son to travel far from home?"

"Most certainly! I trust him dearly and he most certainly knows how to be very discrete!"

"Interesting. My mom trusts me to travel away from home too, considering I can teleport to basically any place in the world in an instant, buuut uh yeah! That's pretty cool trusting your son like that!"

"Indeed it is! You wouldn't believe how much of a tremendous help he has been throughout my life. Still is to this day"

"Hmm, well I hope I get to know more about him. And maybe you can tell me some of the stories on how he's helped you," I say with a sincere smile.

"Oh most certainly Princess!"

"So if you don't mind me askin', why the sternness back at the door? Somethin' got you paranoid?"

"Oh! That! Again, I'm truly sorry! It's just... I uhhh often get quite a lot of... uhm... how do I say this? Uhhh.. Snooping individuals who sometimes don't respect privacy," Lexi gives an awkward smile at me while giving a nervous shrug.

"I see... and uh... about that thing that looked like it was about to blast me.... why?" I raise an eye brow at her.

"Safety reasons!" She continues to smile awkwardly at me and the sound of a squee sounds off.

"Right..." There is an awkward silence between us. Only ambient sounds of her lab are heard. "Soooo..." I start glancing about the lab for a moment before looking back at her. "How long you been a scientist?"

"Pretty much my whole life! Ever since I was a little filly, I was so very interested in science. I was inspired by Princess Twilight after finding out that in her early days she was a pony of science herself"

"That she was! She's quite the inspiration towards many. Although, that's a bit of an understatement"

"Quite. She's a true symbol of The Land Of Equestria! She inspired me so much back then when I caught glimpses of her amazing power in magic. Coupling that with the fact that she was a mare of science, I felt obligated to become something similar; a mare who uses the power of magic and science together!" She exclaims confidently.

"By the looks of things it seems like that's going pretty well for you! Plus, that whole 'Magic & Science Together' thing has a nice ring to it! I can most definitely see you being a mare of that title," I say with a genuinely pleasing smile.

"Yes, well, I always do try to improve a little each day at a time with what I've got," Lexi makes a noticeably forced smile. I recall the truth of what Void told me on Lexi's current dilemma. I wish to ask her about it but I'm unsure if this is a good time. Instead I decide to deviate away from that and hopefully get her mind onto something more positive.

"So, are we checkin' out that testing grounds place we were talkin' about yesterday?" I ask.

"Shortly. I'm just waiting for Void to get back before the BIG unveiling!"

"Neat!"

"In fact I believe-" Lexi pulls out a little watch from within her coat and checks it. "-he should be arrive... right... about... now!" Lexi points at the lab door as slides open. In steps Void, magically levitating a few bags.

"Welcome back, hun!"

"Thank you, mother," Void smiles.

"Void, look who's here! The Princess is here!" She says and I give a subtle wave to Void.

"Greetings," Void politely says to me while giving a gentle nod.

"Heya!"

"Wonderful! Now that Void's here, we'll soon head on down to the testing room. Just need to wait for a few things to be ready and we'll be set to head on down!" Lexi puts her hooves together in an eager fashion while smiling at me.

"Can't wait to see what this place is all about!"

"For now, let's take this time to talk a little more, shall we?"

"Sure!" I turn my head to Void as he begins to approach after setting his bags down on a desk. "So, Void, tell me more about you. What do you like to do for fun?" Void stops just a few feet away from me and he begins to think for a moment.

"Hmm, well mostly I just simply go out and explore the land of Equestria, often visiting woodland areas to admire the animals. I run into quite a lot of bunny rabbits and I often take the time to play with them. If you couldn't already tell, bunny rabbits are my favorite animal"

"Gee, I wonder what gave it away," I jokingly say with a smirk.

"Hmhm, other times I just stay home here with my mother and help her with her projects and experiments in anyway I can"

"Like I said, he's a BIG help," Lexi chimes in. "Oh! This one time, I was out in the field studying some plants for some botany research I was conducting and there was this giant living plant with a mouth the size of a carriage!" She exclaims whilst throwing her hooves up in the air to signify the size of the plant's mouth she is describing. "It must of thought I was food because it tried to eat me. Next thing I new I was inside the creature's mouth! I was so captivated by the size of this creature that I had no time to get out of the way," I look at Lexi with a surprised look, finding her story quite shocking.

"Thankfully Void came in and got the creature to spit me out! I was completely covered in slime!"

"My goodness! Were you okay?!" I say as I lean in with concern on my face.

"Oh yeah! Perfectly fine! It didn't hurt at all! The slime was a bit of a hassle to get off but, no harm nor foul!" Lexi playfully sways her hoof casually, not seeming bothered at all by her experience.

"Sounds like your work can be dangerous at times just from that alone,"

"I did tell you to be careful, mother," Void says to Lexi in a bothered tone.

"And I told YOU-" Lexi magically grabs Void and pulls him closely to her, allowing her to take hold of him and with one of her hooves, she ruffles his mane. As she does, hazy particles fly up off his head and slowly float down, shimmering as they do, then eventually fading away. "-sweet heart, 'What's science without a little fun and excitement?' Ahahahahahah!," Lexi stops ruffling his mane and hugs him tightly. Void gives a little embarrassed blush as he looks my way. I simply give a subtle chuckle as I watch, picturing how my mother can be the same way.

"M-Mother..." Void says in a soft embarrassed tone.

"Now then," Lexi lets go of Void and he steps back a bit. "I think it's about that time we head on down to the testing room," Lexi reaches into her coat and pulls out that same little device she had in her coat from yesterday. She takes a gander at it and shortly after she puts it back into her coat. "By the time we head on down, everything should be all set!!"

"Alright! I gotta say, I'm getting real excited! This place must be somethin' special huh?"

"That it is indeed, Princess!" Lexi declares with a wide smile.

"I must say I am also getting quite excited as well. It's been a while since we've had another guest come and see this particular room. I'm interested to know how much you'll enjoy it," Void states with a smile.

"What are we waitin' for then? Let's go!" I bounce up off the chair I sat on, full of energy to see what this room is all about.

"Then let's not waste any more ti-" Suddenly amidst our chatter we hear a beeping sound coming from one of Lexi's computer devices. Lexi's ears perk up and her smile fades as she turns her head to acknowledge the beeping.

"Uh oh. That's not good," She says while leaning over to examine the computer.

"What is it?" I ask.

"An... unwanted motion trigger out on the terrace. Greeeaaat..." Lexi presses a few buttons on the keyboard and the screen pulls up a view what looks to be outside on the terrace near the edge of the penthouse limits. I watch this screen in awe as I've never really seen a device display a view of another location like this. I've always seen it done with magic but never technology.

"Woah... this is cool!" I gleefully say.

"Yeah well I have a feeling what we're about to see might not be so cool" Lexi replies.

Soon after she speaks her words we see something zoom pass the camera. I couldn't quite make out what it was, it was too fast and so sudden.

"Did you see that?" Void asks.

"Yeah. . . I did" Lexi's appears to be very peeved by what this strange presence may be.

"You don't think it's. . ." Void says to Lexi.

"Yeah. . . I do"

"Wh-What? Who or.. what is it, Miss Dawn?" I ask with eager intent.

"Somepony I am not too keen on having here. . . Welp, I suppose we shouldn't keep him waiting any longer. Come on, Void, let's go see what he wants this time," Lexi stands up from her chair and begins to walk towards the exit of the lab and Void follows along. She stops at the door and looks back at me. "Oh and if it's all right with you, Princess, could you please stay here? I wouldn't want you getting involved with what's about to happen," I watch her for a moment as she speaks her words before she heads out the door with Void soon following her out. I sit here confused and curious about this sudden turn of events. I turn my attention back to the screen and continue to watch in order to figure out what might be out there. I lean in closer as I see some movement around the edges of the screen. I squint my eyes to focus in on it and before I knew it, suddenly an eye shifts in front of the camera and glares into it. This causes me to let out a startled gasp as it takes me by surprise. The eye glows red as I watch it and it glares back in a manor almost like it's watching right back at me. The strange figure to which the eye belongs to suddenly lets out a strange distorted, malicious sounding laugh and it suddenly reaches a hoof out at the camera to which then the camera feed turns all static-y. Soon after that, the camera shuts off completely. I sit here watching the black screen, feeling nervous and even quite shaken by this sudden scare whilst disturbing thoughts flow through my mind on who, or what this being might be.

[Chapter 3 End]