Return of the Ancient Mage

by Zoshe

Chapter 34: Changing Circumstances

The pile of ponies all stared at the baby dragon who wasn't really a baby dragon.

"But I... But you... When?" Twilight's gaze narrowed. "What did you do with Spike?!"

Spike looked at her dismissively, "oh quit it with the mellow drama, he's fine. I didn't do anything to him. Although he'll probably be halfway to the Crystal Empire by the time he wakes up."

"The train?" Twilight pondered before her eyes grew wide with shock. "I left Spike sleeping on the train! I was so distracted I forgot to wake him up!" She reprimanded herself for taking this long to notice.

"I wouldn't worry, Twilight," said Rainbow Dash. "He's a tough little guy. He'll probably just chill with Shining Armor until we get there."

"Hey!" The faux Spike snapped his claws a couple times to get Twilight's attention. "Don't forget about me here. I still wanna know how you know about me and Clover. Why are you looking for me?"

Twilight finally pulled herself from the pile of her friends and stood over the changeling that was imitating Spike. He continued to look up at her with his arms crossed, "well? Any time now princess."

"Whisper told me to look for you," said Twilight. "She said you could help me figure out a problem with a memory I've seen."

Spike slapped his face with a claw and began massaging the bridge of his nose, "of course that little menace had to go stick her nose in this. Why did I expect anything different?" He looked up at her. "Alright," he said. "What's so important about this memory that Whisper felt the need to blow my cover?"

"I saw Daybreaker show up in the Crystal Empire when Clover was fighting Sombra and..." Twilight's words were cut off as she was tackled from behind by Rainbow Dash. She soon found a foreleg slapped over her mouth even as Spike's body began to turn hazy and fade away.

"Ok, Twilight Sparkle. You've really got my attention now," said Rainbow hastily. "I don't know how you can possibly have memories from so long ago, but that's where this whole mess started." Her voice was starting to change as her grip loosened, "Now... I don't know what it is you saw," she said in a whisper. "But Clover said that it was Celestia who got in the way back then and I personally know that Daybreaker didn't come along until much later."

Twilight strained her neck to look back at Rainbow Dash. She managed to look back just in time to see the last traces of her rainbow hair dissipate into a cascade of green flame. A dark green face with pupil-less purple eyes looked back at her and her gaze was drawn to the silver light pulsing off the wickedly curved horn on his head.

She swallowed hard and recollected herself, "Whisper said something similar. That's why she told me to find you, said you could sort it out."

Spectrum nodded. "Show me," he said.

"Show you what? What do you mean?" Twilight asked confused.

The changeling leaned down and rested his silver imbued horn against her head. "Focus on the memory you wish to show me. I'll take it from there."

"Twi!" Called Applejack. "Where'd you go, girl?"

"I'm over here, Applejack!" Twilight called out.

"The rest of your friends are still trapped in my spell. They can't see or hear us," he dismissed. "Focus, princess. I need to know what's so important about that memory that Whisper would send you to me."

"Ok..." Said Twilight as she strained to remember the details about what she saw. She only had to keep at it for a couple of moments before silver light filled her vision and everything came rushing back.

"So the Crystal Princess is truly dead then?"

"You shouldn't have faced me without those two alicorns."

"What... Are... You...?"

"Farewell, pony I don't know."

"I won't soon forget this."

Twilight let out a gasp of air as Spectrum staggered back, breaking the connection while making an annoyed hiss.

The air around them began to fog and shimmer as their surroundings began to warp and change. Soon, the yard they thought they had been gathered in was replaced by some back alley.

"There she is!" Called out Pinkie Pie.

"Good heavens, darling," said Rarity as she trotted up and helped Twilight to her hooves. "Where did you go?"

"And what happened to RD?" Asked Applejack as she looked around. "And while we're at it, where the hay are we?!"

"Um... Girls..." Fluttershy raised a trembling hoof to point at the bug pony who was currently lying unconscious several paces away from them. "What's that?"

Twilight took a few moments to steady her breath. "That's Spectrum," she said as she took a few uneasy steps towards the prone form.

Applejack carefully walked alongside her. "He doesn't look nothin like any of the changelings we saw before. Are you sure?" She asked as they looked at the body.

"I'm sure," said Twilight as she swallowed.

Aside from the green chitin she had already seen, Spectrum had a white shell laid over his back. Peeking out from under the shell, they could see long gossamer wings, far more elegant than they had seen on changelings before. They could make out what seemed to be three black gemstones embedded in his chest arranged to somewhat resemble a necklace. The biggest thing that stood out...

"His legs aren't filled with holes," Fluttershy noticed after building up the courage to get closer and lift one of the limp limbs.

"He does seems to be a bit more sleek than those ghastly creatures that we saw before," said Rarity as she kept a respectful distance.

Twilight took a few more tentative steps forward and reached a hoof towards him.

"What're you doin, Twi?" Said Applejack as she placed a hoof on her shoulder. "He might still be dangerous."

"I'm not just going to leave him like this," said Twilight as she looked back to her friend. "Whisper said we need him and I have no reason not to believe her."

"Look!" Shouted Fluttershy as she pointed in front of her.

Twilight looked back to the unconscious form just in time to see it finish turning pitch black and literally melt into a puddle on the ground. Twilight was too shocked to move as the puddle advanced towards her. As she saw it cross her shadow, it began to spread and fill the space beneath her. It continued to spread and once it had covered enough of the space beneath her, the color shifted until it was indistinguishable from her own shadow.

"That was the weirdest thing Ah've ever seen," said Applejack.

"Heavens darling!" Exclaimed Rarity. "Where did he go?"

Twilight reached down a hoof and placed it against her own shadow, finding it warm to the touch. As an experiment she touch the space next to it to find the ground much cooler. "Is... Is he in my shadow?"

"Ah didn't know magic could do that," Applejack readjusted her hat. "Wasn't he unconscious though?"

"I didn't know magic could do that either," said Twilight as she stepped back and forth. "Seeing this though, I wouldn't be surprised if he was in the room when Clover first showed up in town."

"Well what do we do now, darling?" Said Rarity.

"And fer that matter, where's RD?" Said Applejack as she looked around for the missing pegasus.

"I think I know where we might find her," said Twilight as she looked towards the castle.

---

"What took you girls so long?!" Rainbow Dash complained loudly as everyone else ran up to the castle gates. "Did you get lost?"

"Somethin like that," said Applejack.

"We found where Spectrum was hiding!" Pinkie said happily.

"You did?" Rainbow Dash looked around for an extra pony. "Where was he?"

"We found him at a fruit stand, pretending to be you," said Rarity.

"And you all fell for it?" Rainbow grumbled.

"He gave a very convincing performance," Applejack chuckled.

"Hardly, darling. She was acting delusional," Rarity defended.

"Ah said it was convincing, didn't Ah," Applejack said with a smirk.

"Well Twilight?" Said Rarity, ignoring the banter. "Is he still there?"

"I think so..." Twilight said as she tapped at her shadow. "This still feels really weird though."

"What is she talking about?" Rainbow looked at them all confused.

"I'll tell you inside," said Twilight as she entered the gates to the castle.

---

Once they were inside, Twilight guided them through the castle. They found Princess Celestia in her study, currently sitting behind her desk and working on the less glamorous part of running a country.

"My little ponies," Celestia appeared a bit startled as she looked up from her work. "What a surprise. What brings you here today?"

"Princess Twilight. You seem to be in fairer health than last we saw you," Princess Luna nodded to her from a nearby couch. She was currently nursing a large cup of coffee. She had bags under her eyes and a disheveled look on her face. "Forgive our current appearance. We haven't been sleeping well."

"Princess Luna was just telling me about the interesting state she found you in," Celestia said with a smile. "I assume you had a spell go wrong?"

Twilight scuffed nervously at the floor, "not exactly." She shied away from her mentor like she was afraid to look her in the eye. "I sort of had... A tiny little accident."

"I'm sure it wasn't anything too bad," said Celestia as she scratched away at some parchment with a quill.

Twilight felt one hoof after another come to rest on her back. She looked back to find each and every one of her friends looking back at her with an encouraging smile. One by one they all nodded to her as they pushed her to stand a little closer to the solar princess.

Twilight took a few nervous steps closer even as Celestia sensed the tension in the room. She placed her quill down and gave her student her undivided attention.

"I sort of... Lost control for a bit... And fell to the nightmare," Twilight winced as those last words left her mouth. That was it, she said it. What would her teacher think of her now?

Celestia's eyes grew wide with shock as she slowly walked around her desk, her eyes not once leaving Twilight. Twilight looked back nervously, flinching under her gaze even as she pinned her wings to her sides. She soon found her teacher standing directly over her as she looked up at her.

Twilight winced and screwed her eyes shut as her teacher leaned into her, sure that she was about to receive some sort of reprimand. When she felt something warm wrap itself around her, she dared to open her eyes. Celestia had scooped her up into a hug, wrapping her forelegs around her even as she wrapped her wings to encompass them both. Tears dripped from her eyes even as her lower lip began to tremble.

"I'm so glad you're safe," she finally said. "I hadn't heard from you in so long and with everything that's been happening lately, I was starting to worry."

Twilight threw herself into the embrace, "I'm sorry I worried you. I only just found out you weren't getting my mail and I've needed your help so much. If Clover hadn't been there to stop me, who knows what I could've done."

On the mention of his name, Celestia tensed up. Her eyes taking on a blank stare as uncertainty filled her voice. "Who... Who did you say stopped you?"

"Clover the Clever," said Luna from her place across the room, drawing their attention. "He's still alive, sister."

"Why didn't you say something, Luna?" Celestia asked, the shock not once leaving her face.

"We only found out for certain yesterday," Luna said confidently. "We were actually trying to find the best way to tell you today, but it seems that thy student hath beaten us to it."

"But how?" Celestia asked. "If nothing else, he should've died of old age by now."

"There's plenty you don't know about Clover," a buzzing voice came from Twilight's direction, startling the ponies in the room as they looked around in a panic. "Heh, you should see the looks on your faces right now," the voice said a bit more jovially.

Twilight honed in on the source of the voice, her gaze falling to her shadow. Its shape had shifted slightly and there was now a silhouette looking back at her.

"Looks like he finally woke up, Twi," said Applejack.

"If you had any idea how much love is pouring off these two right now," the buzzing continued. "I don't think any changeling could sleep with the smell of that so close."

Celestia flinched at what she had just heard. "A changeling?!" She exclaimed as she focused in on the source of the voice. "Can all changelings hide in shadows, and how has Chrysalis gotten mixed up in this?"

"Nah," he dismissed. "This is just something I picked up over the years, and I'd thank you not to bring up that cockroach who thought that a frontal assault was a good idea."

"What happened to you?" Twilight asked, catching her teacher's attention. "And how much longer are you going to hide in my shadow?"

"Not much longer," his eyes swept over the room before focusing back on Twilight. "I would've already left to rejoin Clover, but with what you showed me before I passed out, I think it's important to share what I found."

"What's going on?" Celestia appeared confused. "What is he talking about?" She resettled herself on her hooves as she continued to look more and more annoyed, "what exactly has been happening around me?!"

"Nooooooo!!!" Pinkie bellowed her displeasure to the heavens. "Not a recap!!"

Comments

[Witchery]

There's something strange going on with Celestia, that's for sure.

[Furlok Serket]

"Nooooooo!!!" Pinkie bellowed her displeasure to the heavens. "Not a recap!!"

Yessssss!!! A recap

[Frazikar]

"Nooooooo!!!" Pinkie bellowed her displeasure to the heavens. "Not a recap!!"

Maybe it will be down off-camera?

[Zoshe]

11063442
Yes Pinkie, a recap. Now sit still while we get this over with.
Pinkie makes an ill fated attempt to sit still while looking like a moment of inactivity may be the death of her.

[Dingo]

Every time I reached the end of the chapter it leaves me wanting more like a Khajiit looking for another bottle of skooma.

[UnamusedWaffle]

Love to see it

[Luckyfanisaac]

She managed to look back just in time to see the last traces of her rainbow hair dissipate into a cascade of green flame.