Rebirth of Magic: The Misfit

by The Blue EM2

You Never Know what's Round the Bend...

I spotted her soon enough. Or rather I saw her horn poking out from behind a pillar. She was quite like Fluttershy in that sense- she did do a lot of hiding. What seemed stranger was that she seemed to be speaking. To nopony in particular. What also seemed even odder was that there was some sort of gas near her, which was obscuring proceedings somewhat. I know, I just used the word 'seemed' an awful lot, but that was how it looked to me. Following what was happening over there was pretty difficult. Could she be talking to a certain somepony?

I dismissed that thought pretty fast. There's no magic right now, so magical objects won't be working. This, in turn, means that stuff like the compact seen in Make your Mark or Misty's locket won't work. Which in turn means Opaline will have no power of any description.

That was a weight off my shoulders. We've got quite enough to deal with at the moment without a power crazed alicorn causing chaos behind the scenes.

"Hey! Misty! Over here!" I called. Hopefully she was just talking to herself. I mean, it seems ponies have a habit of doing that anyway.

There was a brief pause, before Misty dashed back over. "Sorry guys! I got distracted! I have a very short atten- ooh! Shiny!"

So she had just been looking at stuff. That was lucky.

Zipp, however, seemed mildly annoyed. "Careful with that stuff, Misty," she said. "I don't know what half of it does yet. The less playing around with old things we can do the better."

Misty nodded, clearly having gotten the message. Being with her in person- or pony, I guess- certainly helped me appreciate why she was so popular with the fans. She's really sweet, if a bit clumsy.

Zipp then continued her briefing. "Anyway, we had a break the day you two arrived, and this meant that security has been beefed up dramatically. Not just in more guards, but the crown? She-"

"Never takes it off," we all said at once. I internally chortled at the mental image of something like that not being removed, even for bathing or swimming. They must sell lots of oddly shapped swimming caps around here, if there's a monarch who never removes a crown. Besides, wouldn't the metal go rusty in the water? Most crowns of that type are usually bronze or steel coated in gold to reduce weight and cost.

Sorry, I can see I'm boring you again. I'll get back to the story.

Luckily, Zipp had a plan. And seeing as we've all seen the film it was a plan we were familiar with. "So, we need a diversion. Izzy, I need you to create a replica crown that at a glance can pass for the real thing. I can get you the supplies you need if you tell me what they are."

Izzy nodded, and rubbed her hooves together. Somehow without falling over. I must ask her how she's able to do that. "I'll need a box of macaroni, a tube of glue, fourteen gooey bunnies, and three jelly beans. And glitter. Lots of glitter."

Well, that's oddly specific. Zipp cut in before I could respond, however. "I'll secure you those then get them to you. You make the crown, then we head for the palace. I'll distract the reporters and guards so you two can access a side tunnel on the palace, usually only used for moving food supplies. That'll get you two backstage so you can swap the crowns. We'll rednezvous outside the palace and then head for Bridlewood. Any questions?"

I was about to ask, but Misty got their first. "What can I do?"

"You can keep guard," Zipp said. "Now let's get to work."

---

After that, Zipp left to go shopping, as she had an awful lot of stuff to get. And it was a pretty random assortment of items, to be honest with you. A box of macaroni, a tube of glue, fourteen gooey bunnies, and three jelly beans. And glitter? Assuming there's even one store that stocks all of those things (as far as I knew Zephyr Heights didn't have any supermarkets, and I doubted that even department stores stocked all of those things), it'd look pretty suspicious for Zipp to be buying such a random assortment of stuff from one shop. Perhaps she would order it in to lots of different places via click and collect? That was certainly an option. Pipp had said that Zipp's habit of using click and collect annoyed her. Turns out someponies actually do enjoy browsing shops, which I guess is easy when you have all your meals provided for you.

This left us doing our other tasks, which were vital to ensuring the success of this plan and the future of the world. I was sat in the room I was using, with an easel set up on the side of the room. I had attached a set of floor plans to this and was working through them to try and find a route. "Interesting," I said to myself. I thought I had found something interesting on my looks, and that it would allow us to get in much more easily than many other routes that were available inside the palace.

I was starting to mark a route in pen and find a route in when suddenly the door knocked. I went over and opened it.

Izzy was on the other side. "How's it going, Sunny?" she asked, as she stepped in.

"Pretty well," I replied. "How's the crown coming along?"

Izzy held up her object. "The piece de resistance! That means super amazing."

The crown she had made would certainly have fooled me. Despite being made out of arts and crafts stuff, it captured the crown pretty well. The bulk was made of macaroni imitating metal, and Izzy had used glue tubes to recreate the crystal part. There were even some jelly beans that looked like crystals from a distance. The only thing I couldn't figure out was why glitter was needed. Nontheless, she's an incredibly skilled crafter.

"That looks great, Izzy!" I said. "How long did it take you to make?"

"About an hour or so," she replied. "Zipp and Misty kept a lookout whilst I made it. How's your plan going?"

I showed her my proposed route. "This access tunnel will let us bypass the guards and access the backstage area. We can hide there until the show begins, and then swap the crowns over without anypony noticing."

"There's one slight problem with your plan to enter the palace," Izzy pointed out.

"Namely?"

"We're already in the palace, silly!"

I glanced to the board, then to her, and back to the board. "Well, that is a bit of a drawback. I'd somehow overlooked that."

"Besides, Zipp's access tunnel is inside the palace perimeter, so we won't need to leave the top level. Pretty smart, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess," I replied. "Here's hoping nothing goes wrong. I have no reason to think it will, but it never hurts to be prepared. Just not scared. That's rarely a good thing to be."

---

Night fell, and the front of the palace was buzzing with activity. Zipp was making her entrance to the structure, strutting down the red carpet and distracting the reporters, who were asking silly questions. Seriously, who cares what shampoo she uses? And why are you asking her where the bathroom is?

Whilst this was going on, Izzy passed me some night vision goggles to allow me to navigate in the dark. Based on the plans this tunnel and underground area was very dimly lit. I switched on my radio. "Misty, you there?"

"Receiving you loud and clear, over?"

"What's the condition of the tunnel, over?"

"Seems good to go. Plenty of space, over?"

"Excellent. Make sure to keep watch for guards."

"Understood. Over and out!"

I shook my head. "She wasn't paying attention when we were doing radio protocal, was she?"

"In fairness, they do say that in the movies."

"Well the movies are wrong." I indicated forward as a chopper passed overhead. "Let's get in there."

We made our way through the tunnel and through the dark storage rooms, where those night vision goggles certainly came in handy. At the other end of the room was an elevator, which we took up to the top level. This, quite conveniently, dropped us off behind the thrones, where of course Queen Haven and Zipp would be sitting. In different thrones, of course.

Izzy looked to me and took the fake crown out of a bag. "I've got the crown ready to go," she said, popping it on one of my hooves. "You'll need to stand on top of me to drop it into position, but be quick. I don't know how long I'll be able to stay in place before I start sliding about."

"Fine by me," I said. "Well, looks like there's no going back. I can only hope this plan works."

"If it does, the results will be so worth it," Izzy replied. "Magic being back early!"

The lights began to drop as we heard winding gear engaging overhead. No going back now...

Author's Note:

And so, another five chapters of this story comes to an end. Once more, we shall be jumping perspectives next month, leaving us on the cusp of the next arc.

Misty's confusion over radio protocol is a reference to a very common error heard in films. In correct communication, the word 'over' is used to indicate the other person may begin speaking, and 'out' indicates the end of communications. However, in many films a person will end a radio conversation with 'over and out', which doesn't make sense for reasons stated above.

See you guys in September!

Comments

[The Blue EM2]

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Last chapter (for now).

[Comickook]

Thanks very much for getting this next chapter up (aka the last one for this story until December). Really appreciated the work going into the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up (as well as set-up for other stories). Really appreciated "Sunny's" Point of View as she was catching "Misty's" end of the dialogue with the entity that brought them all to Equestria. Also liked the point outs of the flaws the movies make in radio protocol. As well as, of course, the greater detail concerning the plan from "Sunny's" viewpoint, including the jab at the "to be scared is to be prepared" line and the discussion about the obvious flaw in the plan.

REALLY looking forward to more of this series. And, of course, on "Misty's" end, I have a hunch the attempt for the Unicorn Crystal in Phase 3 is going to get entertainingly awkward if the guesses about how Chapter 5 of "Make Your Mark" is going to go next month are correct.

[shining paladin]

awesome chapter mate keep it up cant wait for the next chapter

[The Blue EM2]

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Media getting radio protocol wrong is a pet peeve of mine. Of course living in fear is hardly a good thing; a certain Mr Kramer has plenty to say on that front.

[The Blue EM2]

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Keep an eye out.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

That was a weight off my shoulders. We've got quite enough to deal with at the moment without a power crazed alicorn causing chaos behind the scenes.

Still, it obvious she's talking to her.

"Never takes it off," we all said at once. I internally chortled at the mental image of something like that not being removed, even for bathing or swimming. They must sell lots of oddly shapped swimming caps around here, if there's a monarch who never removes a crown. Besides, wouldn't the metal go rusty in the water? Most crowns of that type are usually bronze or steel coated in gold to reduce weight and cost.

It's still hilarious Haven never takes it off.

"You can keep guard," Zipp said. "Now let's get to work."

Let's hope she doesn't mess up.

After that, Zipp left to go shopping, as she had an awful lot of stuff to get. And it was a pretty random assortment of items, to be honest with you. A box of macaroni, a tube of glue, fourteen gooey bunnies, and three jelly beans. And glitter? Assuming there's even one store that stocks all of those things (as far as I knew Zephyr Heights didn't have any supermarkets, and I doubted that even department stores stocked all of those things), it'd look pretty suspicious for Zipp to be buying such a random assortment of stuff from one shop. Perhaps she would order it in to lots of different places via click and collect? That was certainly an option. Pipp had said that Zipp's habit of using click and collect annoyed her. Turns out someponies actually do enjoy browsing shops, which I guess is easy when you have all your meals provided for you.

Never heard of this 'click and collect.'

This left us doing our other tasks, which were vital to ensuring the success of this plan and the future of the world. I was sat in the room I was using, with an easel set up on the side of the room. I had attached a set of floor plans to this and was working through them to try and find a route. "Interesting," I said to myself. I thought I had found something interesting on my looks, and that it would allow us to get in much more easily than many other routes that were available inside the palace.

I was sitting*
sat imo doesn't match the sentence.

The crown she had made would certainly have fooled me. Despite being made out of arts and crafts stuff, it captured the crown pretty well. The bulk was made of macaroni imitating metal, and Izzy had used glue tubes to recreate the crystal part. There were even some jelly beans that looked like crystals from a distance. The only thing I couldn't figure out was why glitter was needed. Nontheless, she's an incredibly skilled crafter.

Agreed on the glitter, makes no sense why she wanted it if she didn't need any.

"Yeah, I guess," I replied. "Here's hoping nothing goes wrong. I have no reason to think it will, but it never hurts to be prepared. Just not scared. That's rarely a good thing to be."

I myself am like that, liked to be prepared but also scared for how things will go.

Night fell, and the front of the palace was buzzing with activity. Zipp was making her entrance to the structure, strutting down the red carpet and distracting the reporters, who were asking silly questions. Seriously, who cares what shampoo she uses? And why are you asking her where the bathroom is?

That's the worse question to ask someone famous or royalty.

Whilst this was going on, Izzy passed me some night vision goggles to allow me to navigate in the dark. Based on the plans this tunnel and underground area was very dimly lit. I switched on my radio. "Misty, you there?"

Good move Izzy.

"Well the movies are wrong." I indicated forward as a chopper passed overhead. "Let's get in there."

Since when did ZH have a chopper!?

[The Blue EM2]

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1. Yes, but Sunny doesn't know that at this point.

2. It sure is. I suspect most of the populace put it down to an odd personality quirk (if they know at all).

3. Cue A Team theme.

4. Click and collect is a style of shopping where you can order the object you want online and pick it up in the store. I don't think it's that common in the USA, but many department stores in the UK offer this option (and as the pegasi are based on the UK it felt natural to include).

5. I was sat is British English.

6. Possibly to give her something to play with, seeing as she seems to be, shall we say, young at heart.

7. Who isn't?

8. If they really wanted to know, all they'd need to do is watch one of Pipp's manewashing tutorials.

9. Indeed.

10. It's been established at various points in the stories that the Pegasi have succesfully developed heavier than air flight to compensate for being unable to fly.

[AvoidingFever17]

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True

[The Blue EM2]

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Comedy!

[AvoidingFever17]

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Yeah i can see that
But Hey As long as no anomalies form we should be golden!

[The Blue EM2]

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Well said,

[The Blue EM2]

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They are. To us, the reader, it's a fourth wall break, as the characters are expressing awareness of the fact they know they are in a fictional world. To them, it isn't.

[The Blue EM2]

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Just to let you all know, Rebirth of Magic: Royal Approval has started updating again.

TRebirth of Magic: Royal Approval

• MLP Gen 5
• Adventure
• Comedy

The life and times of a Queen torn between tradition and the future.

• Sex
• Izzy Moonbow
• Sunny Starscout
• Pipp
• Zipp
• Queen Haven

The Blue EM2 · 24k words  ·  18  4 · 729 views