Three friends, and teammates, find themselves with Mysteries they never imagined
Rec, Mandi and Claudia are young Seekers for a group known as the Tempest Association, or Association for short, and are considered one of the best young Seeker teams that they have. So what happens when a trio of teens and a young girl from a world like our own, but with the foundations of all the old stories existing in a different way than most would anticipate, end up in a world of Pastel colored talking equines with many of those old myths being living creatures? We are about to find out!
This is my first attempt at a crossover, also could be considered my first Humans in Equestia story
A Caucasian skinned 16 year old boy with rusty crimson hair was sitting at park bench with an annoyed look on his face. He was dressed in brown cargo shorts with a black t-shirt emblazoned with a while unicorn that had forest green hooves and an Apple amber horn with leaf green eyes. His annoyed look dissipated when he saw an 8 year girl with a similar complexion to his and scarlet colored hair covered her head. Both smiled at each other with their Apple green eyes meeting. The girl was in hiking shorts and a white shirt with black otter that had river blue eyes on it. Both were wearing dusk brown hiking boots.
"Ya find them squirt?" Said the teen teasingly with voice that was friendly yet told you he was one possessing a high intelligence.
"No," said the girl with voice that had the same hallmarks as the boy, but more sullen before switching over to a more chipper voice, "you sure they'll be here?"
"Better be," said the boy, "they're a half hour late! How about some practice in the secluded area while we wait, if they don't show up in forty I buy you lunch, if you beat me then you choose where."
The girl smiled before saying, "you're the best big brother ever!"
"Well I wouldn't go that far," said the boy, "but I'm definitely in the top twenty." With that the two headed into a part the park that looked like it was never visited.
The area the were in now was a small clearing with trees from all over the park perfectly hiding everything within. The 2 smiled at each other and walked over opposite sides of the clearing and pulled out waist pouches that quickly snapped on. In course of doing so a steel-blue smooth amulet modeled after a medieval knight's helmet with a pinkish-gray gem that gave the appearance of a watchful eye slipped from under his shirt to hang freely at his upper chest. The same happened for the girl only her amulet was a light gray roughing wolf's with 2 crossing pale silver flowing stream symbols and an oval shaped light green gem between them.
"Okay this time powers and unarmed skills only," said the boy, "no Titans allowed."
"Oh, but I wanted to get more practice in with the ones you gave me," pouted the girl.
"Sorry, Orchid," said the boy, "but you need get used to operating without your Titans, sometimes you might find yourself in a position that makes them a nonviable option. Besides, it's only for ten minutes and after that you'll be free to use them."
Orchid smiled and said, "thanks Rec, you really are an awesome brother. Dad and our siblings..."
"Are too busy most the time," Rec finished, "and mom's understanding of such things is a little...off, not mention she gave us names that are practically guaranteed give us grief our entire lives."
"Don't be like that," said Orchid, "we both love our names, always have."
"True," said Rec, "but I still worry about people picking on my little sister, I heard about how almost called up a Titan on those kids picking on you."
Orchid flinched before saying, "mom knows?"
"She's the one that told me," said Rec, "that's why we are practicing without Titans." said Rec. "You ready?" Orchid nodded, "Alight then, RayPulse," a yellow line energy shot from his hand when he flung his right hand towards Orchid.
Orchid reflexively said, "BlastEater," causing a yellow fanged mouth on a tether to her right hand to materialize, it gobbled up the oncoming attack.
It was while silently congratulating herself that Orchid heard Rec's voice shouting the phrases, "NimbleFire, ShadowSpeed, DragonFist."
"Oh, fudge nuggets," said Orchid before she heard the sound of something moving at high speed and felt herself get thrown into a tree, “FeatherDrop," said Orchid before jumping out of the tree and lightly landing on the ground.
"Not bad sis," said Rec, "you lasted a little under twenty seconds against me, still nine minutes before we jump to Titan dueling," Orchid groaned, "I'll teach you a new Power to try, what ya say?"
"It better be cooler than that ChillSkin you taught me," retorted Orchid, "it barely cuts the blows I take."
"Yeah well," said Rec, "ArmorBrand only nullifies one shot at you and it's done. No, today you learn StoneGlove," his right hand suddenly became encased in stone and he made a fist before her, "now focus, like with the AugerFrost and DragonFist, you can only have it affect one hand."
"The only way to make affect on both is with the DoubleSpell," said Orchid with glee, what kind of Power is it?"
"Defensive," said Rec, "but due how it works it can be applied offensively, Claudia does it that way a lot." After nodding vigorously Orchid followed through on her instructions and a little over five minutes later, with some tips from Rec, she had it.
After a light celebration Orchid went to the opposite side of the clearing and pulled a light blue and gray amulet in the shape of a narrowing rounded rectangular shield with a light gray gem in the center and yelled out, "fight with me, Freelancer," suddenly a humanoid figure with what looks like a rounded helmet obscuring the face with glowing blue horizontal ovals for eyes, a long lance in the right hand (which had a big tan colored glove), and shield in a left hand.
"Starting it off with warrior class Titan gave after you found your first 'wild Titan' I see, said Rec as he reached into his side pouch and pulled out what looked like a pewter six toothed cog with a bronze gem in the middle with no axle hole and shouted, "meet the trials, Gearhaert," suddenly what looked like a brass human sized and shaped robot with a head that looked like a stock (and unadorned) Athenian soldier's helmet and body that looked like it was torn from the journals of Leonardo da Vinci appeared before him.
"That one looks new," commented Orchid, "when ya get him?"
"Last month when they sent us to Italy," said Rec, "found him and another Titan stashed in a secret vault created Leonardo himself, in a place no one would ever think to associate with him. The Mythichive spent a full half hour registering his data."
"He wasn't in the Titan database for the Association?"
His Titan type was never the database before him, he's what is called a Mecha-Titan. We got sent to Greece after I found him and I got another new one, that was a towering mass, so you won't get a chance to see him anytime soon."
"Darn, now I want see him!"
"You want see the Titan that spawned the myths of 'giant metal soldiers'?"
"Or not, those stories are terrifying!"
"This from the girl who thinks the Titan responsible for the tale of the Lampton Worm is cute," said Rec in a teasing voice, "start whenever you're ready."
“Freelancer, attack,” shouted Orchid.
In a calm relaxed manner Rec said, “Gearhaert, counter.”
The being known as Freelancer moved forward with surprising swiftness and charged with its lance straight at Gearhaert. The robot like entity known as Gearhaert just held up its left and the forearm unfolded into a reflective shield the right rand folded back and wrapped around the right forearm before a metal looking crossbow bolt made itself appear. Freelancer struck the shield and Gearhaert shot Freelancer causing it to turn into a wisp of wave like light that shot back into the amulet in Orchid's hand. Orchid gave a little flinch like she had just been hit.
“Nice try sis,” said Rec, “but Gearhaert is a bit stronger than a Freelancer, in fact a lot of Titans are. When calling on him you should try an indirect approach, not the 'charge in head first' approach that you just used a moment ago. Good job Gearhaert, I believe we helped teach... no, I am not capable of that... logical deductions are effective, but sometimes the information used in them can be flawed. Return,” Gearheart turned into a similar wisp of light to Freelancer and shot into his own amulet.
“Um,” said Orchid, “did you just argue with your Titan?”
“Not that far yet sis, we're still on the debate portion of the relationship. Put Freelancer away and choose a different Titan, you should always have backups ready just in case you run into a problem the Titan isn't suited for your Titan gets sent back to their amulet.”
“Oh right, um, who should I call up next,” Orchid put the Freelancer amulet away, while Rec put the Gearhaert one away. Reaching into her pouch she pulled out what looked like a light gray bear amulet with blue oval shaped gem in it just above the bear's eyes and yelled out crush the opposition, Breaker,” a bear with an extra set of forelegs, spikes coming out of the back near the shoulders that curved up and towards the direction the bear faced, what appeared to be aboriginal American marking on its 'arms' and what looked like a wooden chest piece hung over its torso. It let out a loud roar.
Reaching into his side pouch Rec produced a dull green amulet shaped like a mask that covers the upper section of the face with blue at the upper tips a light green oval shaped gem with a pair of light blue horns on either side of it curving out to the sides and called out, “crush the opposition, Hitogori,” with that a hulking mass of humanoid muscle holding a kenobo club with face that looked like an oni mask that had horns like those on the amulet appeared.
“Breaker give him the squeeze,” cried out Orchid.
“Hitogori,” said Rec, “show them what punishment looks like.”
With that both of the Titans charged forward. Breaker brought its lower 'arms' out to squeeze his opponent, Hitogori blocked with its club and met the other set of arms with a swing kick upward (using its club as the pivot) with more agility than one would expect from an eight foot mountain of muscle. The two Titans appeared to be evenly matched, but after a few minutes Hitogori won the match with a set of heavy blows to Breaker's midsection.
After putting Breaker's amulet away and getting ready to retrieve another, Rec recalled his titan and returned its amulet to his waist pouch, Orchid stopped in the middle of retrieval and said, “I hear someone approaching.”
Both the sibling got ready before a tall tan teenage girl with black hair done in a semblance of a military cut and a jade green amulet with the appearance of a bar shuriken with a light green gem in the middle stepped into the clearing wearing a bright blue shirt with a griffon with its wings unfurled a pair of black jeans that were slightly torn and said, “sorry we're late, our moms wanted to have a conversation with us that ran a bit longer than anticipated.”
“Your mom wanted you to talk while doing some combat practice,” said a Caucasian teenage girl with mid length brown hair, hazel colored eyes wearing an amulet that looked like a stone open face helmet with a purple gem where the face would be along with a t-shirt that showed a shield with a pegasus on it and white sweatpants, “mine had us in line for hours to get ice cream for my conversation.”
“Claudia,” said Rec as he turned to the tall tan girl, his eyes meeting her navy blue ones, “I told you that if your mom wanted you to do something then you should have started your day earlier,” then turning to the other girl he said, “Mandi, I'm not mad at you, your mom keeps trying to spend time with you no matter what. Although, she doesn't usually make you run this late.”
“I know,” said Mandi, “mom was really insistent our little talk even last longer today.”
“Now that you mention it,” said Claudia, “mom was insistent on things going longer today as well.”
“We were up at four,” said Orchid, “mom was already up and gave us a lecture on magic that lasted two and a half hours, it was quite enjoyable.”
“Agreed,” said Rec.
“You two are the only ones I know who actually enjoy that sort of thing,” said Claudia, “I suppose that's what you get when your family has as a long a tradition in the craft as yours does.”
“Lay off them Claudia,” said Mandi, “I think it's sweet they can relate to their mom so well, and their dad as well.”
“Dad not so much,” said Orchid and Rec in unison.
“Sure,” continued Rec, “dad and our older siblings are all Seekers and work for the Association as well, but truth be told we've always felt a stronger connection to mom. I mean come on...”
“You're the only Seeker we're aware of that plays the combination game with powers,” said Mandi, “and your sister seems to have a quite a bit of talent when it comes to picking up new tricks.”
A phone rang the tune of Tiptoe by Imagine Dragons, everyone looked over at Claudia, she sighed pulled out her phone answered it with a, “If this isn't important you better hope I don't hunt you down,” after a few seconds she said, “its our free week, you just can't throw us into the field without... no need to get snippy,” pulling her hand over the speaker of the phone and said, “Rec, what ya do with your phone?”
“Left it charging at home,” said Rec as he retrieved his backpack from near where the waist pouches were and put it on.
“Same here,” said Mandi.
“I won't get one until my next birthday,” said Orchid with a smile.
Claudia sighed and said, “did you at least bring your Mythichive?”
“Never leave the house without it,” said Rec with a nod before patting his dark blue backpack which happened to bear the insignia of a rearing unicorn, “the Association wants us to run a mission I take it.”
Claudia nodded and went back to talking on he phone, “Alright, this one mission, but after that you folks leave us alone for the rest of the week. Where we going?”
After finishing she turned her phone off and shoved it in her pocket.
“So,” said Mandi, “where they sending us?”
“Ireland,” said Claudia, “they found something of interest, but all the veteran teams keep getting sent back to their starting point, they got better results with some of the younger vet Seekers, but...”
“The youngest among them was just shy of twenty years,” finished Rec, “and they want to see if a teen group will have better luck.”
“Yup,” said Claudia, “they sent all the pertinent information to your Mythichive.”
“Everyone grab your passports,” said Rec, “we're going to be flying into Dublin and make our way to the point indicated.”
“Bummer it's not Kyoto,” said Mandi, “I really liked our last visit to Japan.”
“The one where we ended up finding a Titan with a trickster archetype personality that kept you walking in circles for a half hour,” said Claudia with amusement.
“You're one to talk,” retorted Mandi, “miss, 'I think I'm a Japanese princess for seventeen hours', really, how did that happen again?”
“We agreed to never speak of that again.”
“No,” said Rec, “you said you wanted us to never speak of it again and walked off.”
“Sorry I missed that,” said Orchid.
With that all said the four made their way to pack for their trip.
***************************************
Almost nine hours later they were touching down in Dublin, “three hour delay,” said Claudia with frustration, “why couldn't we use an Association charter jet again?”
“Because they're all being serviced,” said Rec with a matter-of-fact voice, “good news some of the ones in Ireland might be ready to go by the time we're done here. The Association said they want us to spend one or two days on this, and according to the service reports I read on my Mythichive on the way here.”
The three teens were were wearing jackets that had the image of whirlwind with shields from various world cultures surrounding it. Orchid was wearing a forest green jacket with a white rabbit and black cat staring each other down with the words, “Luck is All About How You See It” in big sky blue letters beneath them.
They were met by a dark skinned woman with her hair in a bun and a what looked like a red satin dress that bore golden spiders on it at a pair of stylish business shoes who smiled and waved at them.
“Yikes,” said Claudia, “if Mira is here then it must be serious.”
“Glad you could make it,” said Mira in a sophisticated sounding.
“You never meet people,” said Mandi, “you usually have one of your associates or team do that.”
“True,” said Mira, “but they're all busy brainstorming how to gain access to the cavern if this hunch doesn't pan out.”
“Ah, the trials of having great minds,” said Rec with amusement, “I take it we will be riding in one of your arranged transports.”
“Yes,” said Mira, “everybody saw our convoy, so we're playing the wealthy investor and collouges card, which means you all need to put on something a little more... refined and will be riding in a limo with me.”
“You know how I feel about fancy outfits,” said Mandi, “they just don't feel right.”
“And you call me a brute,” said Claudia, “I don't mind them really.”
“That's because your mom raised you on them,” retorted Mandi, “I usually where that fancy stuff two or three times a year, you,” she gestured to Claudia, “have to attend at least three events that require such dress every month.”
“Ladies can we not talk fashion in the airport,” said Rec, “I have my carry-on, Mira, is someone getting our bags?”
“Yes, Marcus,” said Mira.
“That brute,” said Mandi with surprise, “he's worse than Talon here,” she once again gestured to Claudia.
“Say what you will about him,” said Mira, “but he does a decent job regardless,” said Mira, “Now come on, we have site to visit.”
************************
Five minutes later Mira, Rec, Orchid, Mandi, Claudia, and a man looking like he was of Northern Italian descent were stepping into a white limo. The man was none other than Marcus, in addition to his skin coloration and bald head he was in a blue pinstripe suit with a pair of fancy black shoes and looked like he was built with a lightly bulging upper body. Not one individual said anything the entire trip, which took about an hour and a half by car.
When they arrived the kids practically jolted from the car after making sure they had their waist bags and backpacks (with everything inside said bags) and made a beeline for the cavern entrance. Nothing stopped them, but Rec did have the foresight to snatch a couple of walkie talkies on the way down. They stopped at the cavern chamber and were floored by what they saw.
The cavern was a giant blue and green geode with a small assortment of Titan amulets scattered all about its floor.
Rec picked up an amulet that looked like a simple yellow and orange bird with six wings and an aqua colored gem where the middle of the bird's back would be, he then pulled out his Mythichive and flipped it open and hung the amulet over the center of the lower section of the briefcase/laptop computer like device, “Mythichive, scan amulet.”
An aqua green light played over the amulet before a gentle sounding female voice said, “Solwing, Attack 1, Defense 1, Size small, Special abilities: Fight, type: Krono-Titan Scout,” along with the explanation what looked like a small six winged hawk with a Roman or Greek styled helmet flying about played in an aqua green holographic display.”
“Interesting,” said Rec, “it almost feels like this Titan is already bonded... no it couldn't be, those are only a debate, but based on the evidence around us.”
“What is it?” asked Orchid with great curiosity.
“We're at a Fall Point,” said Rec, everyone gave him a confused look, “a point that's a serious weak point between our world and the one the Titans hail from, they've been nothing but a debate up 'til now. This is a location that Titans will arrive in our world before making themselves go to places unknown, it short its a spawn point for 'wild Titans'.”
“Seriously?” said Mandi, “this would make any Seeker's career, and we're the first to be in one.”
“Yeah, I guess,” said Rec, who then put the Solwing amulet over the Mythichive again, “Mythichive, can you identify a bond with this Titan?”
The light played out over the amulet again and the Mythichive said, “affirmative, this Titan has a bond.”
“Identify bond,” said Rec.
The light played out over the amulet a third time before the the Mythichive said, “Seeker bond identified, Dante Vale of the Huntik Foundation.”
“Seriously?” came Claudia's voice, “one of the greatest Seekers in the world! That Titan is his? What's it doing at a 'Fall Point'?”
“Something must of happened to the original amulet,” said Rec, “it looks like this Titan had a bond so strong it did everything it could to return, but it only made it this far.”
“That's still pretty impressive,” said Orchid, “we should ship it, and the other amulets we find back to their Seekers. I'm sure they'd be ecstatic.”
“Assuming they believe the note we send along for the ride,” said Mandi, “it's a common belief among Seekers that once a Titan's amulet is destroyed there is no way the Titan can return to the Seeker.”
“Oh, then we'd have to meet them all in person and explain about the Fall Point,” said Orchid, “and that might not be a good idea with some.”
“That's right,” said Rec, “it's been a few months since the Red Star incidents, and a lot of Seekers are really wary. Thankfully we never had to deal with that band of fanatics calling themselves the Bloodspirals, I'm sure the Foundation and Casterwills would like to work on studying something like this in collaborative capacity.”
“But the fact of the matter is,” said Claudia, “the Association is going to be alone in this for a while. I just hope the Collective don't find us out here.”
“You know those fanatics probably became aware of it the moment you got your call right?” said Rec, “we found just last month they were in charge of the cell tower management for most of North America, I wouldn't be surprised if they found a way to rig the towers so they could tap in on any calls after getting and alert for key words or names embedded into the system.”
“Oh right, didn't the Association give us all new phones with a program uploaded into them to make it really hard to do that.”
“But not impossible,” said Mandi, “they probably found out one of their work arounds our security worked, the only secure network they can't break into the Mythichive and not everyone in the Association has access to those.”
At the same time in Ponyville Pinkie Pie hopping up and down with Twilight Sparkle ignoring her, that is until the pink mare shouted out, “New friends are coming to Ponyville, and the best part they are from way, way, way far away.”
Giving an exaggerated sigh Twilight said, “Pinkie nopony is coming for a visit, I would have been notified if they were from another nation or some sort of important dignitary.” The lavender alicorn returned to the item she had been studying at the central table of her new castle, “Rarity said she just found this out in the street, she didn't interact with it and fortunately I was passing by at the time,” she gestured to an amulet colored stone gray with what looked like a set of icy blue wings, between the wings was an oval shaped purple gem with a yellow highlight surrounding it, “this is like nothing anypony to my knowledge has seen. It has some really strong magic in it, but I can't determine what kind, every time I try to identify the magic in this thing I get the impression its supposed to call something, but I just don't know what. Hopefully somepony will know, I sent a letter to Princess Celestia asking if she could have somepony look into it.”
“Ooh, called in an expert pony on such things,” Pinkie with big grin bringing her blue eyes really close to the amulet without touching it.
“Well yes,” said Twilight, “all the experts on such things are instructors at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, but the thing is,” Twilight gave a sigh of defeat, “they're all out of the country assisting with identifying enchanted items and their properties in other countries and the earliest we can expect for somepony that might know more about this piece of enchanted jewelry is a month and a half, and by that time the pony that probably lost this will come asking for it back. I mean enchanted items just don't fall from the sky or shoot out from nowhere.” Bringing her violet eyes back to the item in question she said, “I've already scoured my entire library for anything resembling it and found nothing, I know because I triple checked. After asking for some books on the subject from Canterlot I told Spike he could have the rest of today and all of tomorrow off.”
“That was nice of ya Twi,” said Pinkie in her usual chipper voice.
“Remind me what you are doing here again,” said Twilight.
“Oh just filling a requirement for the author,” said Pinkie, “at least that's what Discord told me we would be doing. He also said he's making some other arrangements, I don't know anything beyond that.”
**************************
Back in the World of Seekers (which is very much like our own)
After gathering some of the amulets, a dull silver near ring with what looked like three small plates and green circular gem above the plates proving to be similar to the Solwing amulet (in addition amulets like it bonded with Rec and Orchid) the four made their way out of the cavern almost a full hour later.
When they returned the camp it looked like a wreck with four teens that looked like they were of Italian descent, all in Roman inspired outfits with Egyptian inspired footwear and head wear, with piercing blue eyes and well groomed black hair. The tallest, a boy that looked about Rec's age, said in a refined sounding voice that was very condescending, “well, if it isn't the most annoying Seekers I've ever met, hand over everything you recovered down there and promise to forget this ever happened and we won't ruin anybody's pretty complexions.”
“Hello Damion,” said Rec with a cheery voice that had a snarky undertone, “I see you're still acting like heaven's gift to the world. Last I checked at every one of our encounters you went running with your tail between your legs. Last time I beat you with a Titan you claimed had no combative application.”
“That little broken clock, you called a Titan caught me by surprise,” said Damion with a simmering tone, “how it managed to best my warrior class titans is beyond me. Not that it matters,” he reached into his pocket and belt pouch and pulled out an orange and yellow amulet shaped like a narrow slitted Greek helmet with a light green gem just above the eye area and yelled out, “bring submission, Myrmidon,” a large armored looking man like thing that had a head that looked like the amulet with a vertical decorative red brush at the top appeared. The arms had no armor save for the bracers and arm band on the right arm it sported and the torso armor was what looked like a think layer of red leather.
“Show them pain, Thornment,” cried a girl in his group, holding up an amulet colored be yellow with blue and green highlights and a pale silver gem in the center shaped like some kind of Egyptian headdress. A humanoid form that looked like a mummy covered in dark indigo thorned vines appeared.
“Feed, Ammit Heart Eater,” called the two other boys in the group at the same time, holding up a set of amulets that yellow with blue and green highlights and a pale silver gem in the center shaped like some kind of old Egyptian helmet with no face guard. Immediately a pair of creatures that looked like armored Nile crocodiles appeared.
“Let's do this,” said Claudia doing a flourishing toss of her amulet before holding it out to reveal a steel-blue glove shaped pendant with a grayish-pink gem in the center (almost looking like being grasped) before saying, “bring honor to your lady, Invisible Knight,” with that what looked like a walking (and partially floating) suit of iron or steel English armor wielding a European straight edge sword and battle worn circular shield appeared.
Holding up a jade green pendant shaped amulet with black lines on its sides, dark orange flames as a backdrop and a pale green gem Mandi shouted out, “burn the unworthy, Volcana,” with that a humanoid being that looked like a woman made burning rocks wearing a light jade colored kimono with violet highlights and a white sarashi at its chest area appeared next her.
“Meet the trials, Gearhaert,” cried out Rec while holding out said Titan's amulet, once again Gearhaert was next him.
Holding out Breaker's amulet Orchid once again called on the Titan who appeared once more before she said, “Breaker, take out Ammit Heart Eater.”
“Volcana,” said Mandi, “take out Thornment.”
“Invisible Knight,” said Claudia, “take on Ammit Heart Eater.”
“Gearhaert,” said Rec, “let's give Myrmidon a lesson in what it means to be prepared for a fight.” With that all the Titans charged each other.
“HyperStride,” called out Damion causing blue flames to manifest around his legs before she jumped up a good twenty feet.
Rec closed his eyes like he was concentrating before saying, “NimbleFire,” before charging forward and while at a run he said , “HyperStride, DragonFist, Double Spell Stone Glove,” his legs manifested blue flames, his hands glowed with orange circles around them and seemed become covered with stone (with the glowing orbs still around his hands) before he jumped and slammed Damion with the combination of built momentum from his run and increased physical power the two spells over his hands afforded him. Damion fell back to earth, hard. Before the well dressed teen could utter anything he had a stone covered hand applying just enough pressure to his throat to keep him from uttering anything. His Titan didn't fare much better, Gearhaert had converted one of his hands into a short sword and jabbed the brawling Titan at gaps in its armor causing a forced return. His teammates were also as soundly defeated. Volcana had caused Thornment to burn, Breaker had squeezed one of the Ammits into defeat, and Invisible Knight had slashed the other Ammit into defeat.
While Damion and his team did have more Titans the fact that there were for active Titans and four Seekers with little to no exhaustion standing there was cause the for them make a sound a retreat, with Damion making a threat to best Rec when they should next meet.
“Well that was a thing,” said Mandi as they all recalled their Titans.
“Always expect cockroaches wherever you go,” said Claudia with a smirk.
“Now Claudia don't say that,” said Rec, “we don't want to insult any insects.”
Orchid giggled and the other two girls laughed out loud.
“Speaking of things that spring up,” said Mandi looking around, “what happened to the research team?”
“Or their vehicles?” said Orchid, “I don't even see what should be considered scrap metal from those, although the equipment seems fine.”
“That is weird,” said Rec, “everyone get out some scouts to search the place.” with that he reached into his pouch and pulled out two amulets, one looked like a pewter four toothed cog with a bronze gem in the center and the other looked like a dark gray stone mouse head with light stone horns and purple gem in the center with a yellow ring highlight around it. Holding both up he said, “work the mechanism, Tinkertock; scurry about, Gremlow.” what looked like someone had taken an old fashioned mechanical alarm clock and decided to turn into some kind of steampunk robot appeared next to a rat with a pair of horns that swept back over its head covered in stone armor, “Tinkertock, try and find any electronic devices and copy any information pertaining to the last five hours,” the little robot made a series metallic clinks before giving a mechanical salute and scurried off (making more clinking sounds as it ran about), “Gremlow, I need you to use your swarm ability and search all over the place for any sign of Titans or Seekers and report back,” the rat nodded and dashed off (while doing do so it began to duplicate, and each copy went a different direction while replicating).
Holding up an amulet that looked like a stone bird with wings made from ice Mandi said, “search the skies, Midnight Rook,” what looked like a crow with stone torso armor and a stone helmet appeared before her, “Rook, take to the sky and see if you can spy where the team that's supposed to be here is,” the bird nodded and took flight.
Pulling out an amulet that looked like a foxy squirrel head colored dark gray with light yellow highlights and a blue gem positioned at a point between the 'eyes' Orchid said, “trick the trap, Springer,” what looked like a dark gray fox-like squirrel with three bushy tails (that had white horizontal lines in the middle of them) and blue eyes appeared, “see what you can find out about the missing team here, and bring back any items that could give us a clue.” The Springer nodded and scurried off.
Claudia held up a jade colored amulet shaped like some kind of leathery wings with a dark blue highlight ring around the light green circular gem and from the lower section (starting at the base of the gem) was a light gray pointed tail, “look about, Red Searcher,” she called out causing dark red bat winged eye with tentacles hanging from its lower section to appear, “Searcher try and spot what happened here, and bring back anything that might lead us to the cause.” The bat winged eye flew off at a hovering altitude, “now comes the part I hate, waiting.”
********************************
Three hours later the four were no closer to finding out what happened. Their Titans, all of them, had reported to entire place being made so clean it was like a set piece, this caused all four to become concerned. After their Titans had reported in they were recalled to their amulets.
“Everything started feeling weird the moment we entered the Fall Point,” said Rec, we need an expert on this sort of thing.”
“Yeah,” said Mandi, “but the closest we have to that is your Janusea the Gatekeeper.”
“Worth a shot,” said Rec reaching into his side pouch and pulling out oval shaped light gray amulet with red red highlights near the bottom region, a set of yellow flame-like crown designs all pointing up just above and elliptical blue gem that also had a yellow highlight that encircled it and connected with the yellow flame crown design, “open the door between dimensions, Janusea the Gatekeeper.” A humanoid female figure with a mask similar to the amulet with three light blue orbs orbiting it appeared. “Janusea, we need to find out what has happened here, can you help us?” The female Titan looked at him quizzically before he said, “she can sense the essence of the team that was here, but something is blocking her ability to track any them. She also says... you really want me say that,” he pinched the bridge of his nose before saying, “she also says that's yet to be part of our story, she'll point us towards a gateway to where she says we need to go. Before you say anything I'm just as confused as you all are, Janusea and VitaGuard are my two oldest friends, and if she says something like this I'm not going to question it.”
Janusea floated over to what looked like an ordinary red gray face and her spheres formed a triangle in front of the rock face before spinning wildly and colliding, this caused Janusea to unsummon herself and leave a swirling vortex of orange, pink, white, lavender, yellow, and cyan with flashing sparks of white and black.
“So, who wants to...” before Claudia finished her sentence Rec an Orchid stepped through, “great,” she said as Mandi followed, “what have I got to lose?” with that she stepped through the vortex.
***************************
What felt like hours later, but could have only been a few minutes, the four woke up clutching their heads.
“Ow,” said Claudia, “that could have gone better,” she then noticed something her hands were a bit off. Opening her eyes she noticed she had a beak and her hands had become a set of yellow colored talons that looked very familiar. Looking over she saw a dark pink pegasus with a mane and tail that reminded her of Mandi and pair of unicorns. One of the unicorns was colored dark indigo while the other was colored a dark violet, both had manes and tails that reminded her of Rec and Orchid. She then noticed the flanks of the older looking unicorn (the dark violet one) had what looked like the amulets of VitagGuard, Janusea and Nordrake encased in the glow of a HypersStride combined with the glow of a NimbleFire. And the pegasus had what looked like a shield bearing the icon of an Undergolem and Midnight Rook.
“Oh, what happened?” came Mandi's voice from the pegasus.
“We crossed a dimensional divide,” said the dark violet unicorn in Rec's voice, “some... errors were bound to be happen.”
“Yeah,” said Claudia with chuckle and smirk, “like the egghead and his sister turning into unicorns and little miss guardian turning into a winged equine.”
“I'm a pterippus?” said Mandi with surprise, “like Pegasus, oh this is going to be weird!”
“And Talon appears to be black feathered griffon,” said Rec with a voice that sounded like he was taking everything in stride a bit to well. Orchid, the indigo colored filly, just bounced around babbling about how this was the best day ever. Surprisingly she seemed to have already adapted to being a quadruped, in fact she felt like she was a natural quadruped herself.
“So, what now?” said Mandi.
“Good question,” said Rec as he surveyed the environment, he spotted what looked like a massive crystal tree in the distance to their right, “that tree doesn't look natural, it might mean there's a town near by,” the amulet around his neck swung about as he turned to go.
“Wait up,” said Orchid, her own neck bound amulet bouncing as she moved.
“Coming,” inquired Mandi as she trotted after the siblings with her own neck bound amulet swaying.
“In a moment,” said Claudia as she gently stroked her own neck bound amulet. It was this moment she noticed Rec's backpack had become a set of saddlebags and all their waist pouches had become flank pouches. She quickly ran after the trio that was slowly getting further from her. She and Mandi were both of the mindset to not try flying just yet.
*****************************
After their brisk twenty minute walk they came up on the Crystal structure and were immediately assaulted by a pink blur, Claudia was the first one down followed by Mandi, Rec and Orchid quietly said, “NimbleFire,” and moved out of the way the pink blur with the bright orange aura encasing them.
“Hi,” said a bright pink pony with dark pink mane and tail and pair bright blue eyes, “who are all of you? See Twilight, my Pinkie senses were right.”
“Um,” said Rec, “my name is Recorded Formula, please no jokes I've heard them all already, and this is my sister,” he gestured to the unicorn filly next him, “Orchid Spell, the black griffon that's grumbling about sneak attacks is Claudia and the winged equine is...”
“Mandi,” said Mandi, “Rec, if you say my full name in front of this... equine there will not be enough healing magic in the world to keep you from a life in a hospital bed.”
“Oh, but...” said Orchid.
“Sorry, squirt,” said Mandi, “they are not getting my full name.”
“But bro just told her our first names,” said Orchid with confusion, “why don't you want them to know your first name is Mandolin?”
“Because, my mother named me after a musical instrument that isn't really played any more, and now the ridicule begins.”
“They're perfectly acceptable names in Equestria,” said a an intelligent female voice walking up out of the crystal tree. “I'm not really sure about griffon naming conventions all that much, but I'm sure 'Clawdia' is a perfectly acceptable name for a griffon.”
All four just stared for a moment before Claudia said, “Two questions,” holding up two talons as if she were using her ordinary hand. “Question one, why am I seeing a winged unicorn? Second question, did we get dumped into the Titan world and changed to suit the area.”
“The Titan world is called Huntik,” said Rec, “it's where the Foundation got the idea for their name. We just got told the realm we're in is Equestria.”
“Dude,” came a brash female voice, “the guy has a total egghead name,” this was followed by the voice laughing, “and he has a total eggheaded cutie mark too.”
This caused Rec to look at his flank and shrug, Claudia noticed hers had no adornments (to her great pleasure), Mandi noticed the mark on her flank and freaked out, “oh my freaking god, I have a tattoo on my ass, that is not cool. Dad is going to kill me when he hears about this, mom might laugh it off and that's it...”
“Mandi,” yelled Rec, she continued her freak out, he yelled louder to the same result, he pulled an amulet that looked identical to the one Twilight had been studying from his flank pouch and yelled out, “take the shot, Nordrake,” suddenly a an ice blue 16 foot dragon with a yellow smooth collar with fluffy red outer collar and a blue gem on the yellow portion at the base of the neck with foreclaws that looked like they were made from stone was standing next to him with large webbed wings and he said, “Nordrake, Mandi's having a panic attack, could you please help her chill down.”
The dragon nodded and spit a small cold blast that caused Mandi to stop in her tracks and start shivering instead, “thanks Rec, I needed that,” she said with chattering teeth.
“Any time,” said Rec recalling the dragon to its amulet and returning the amulet to his flank pouch.
Twilight just stared at the four, who had acted like the whole summoning a dragon from nowhere and making it disappear was perfectly normal. After a moment the brash voice called out, “and egghead just turned awesome, how he do that? Sometimes unicorns get all the best tricks.”
The four newcomers watched in awestruck by the fact they were seeing a cyan colored pegasus.
“It's a blue pterippus,” uttered Mandi, “how the the hell is that possible. With unicorns I figured its magic so the candy coat and mane thing is a given, and the pink one I figured was just painted that way as a practical joke.”
“Then how do you explain us all being able to speak in a common language with no issues?”
“Dude, your all equines it is a given you would be able to understand each other,” said Claudia.
“But you're a gryphon,” pointed out Orchid, “and you can understand us all.”
“Not all the time,” said Claudia, “just usually.”
“And I'm a pegasus pony, thank you very much,” said the cyan winged equine, which they all noticed had a rainbow mane and tail.
“I think, several explanations are in order,” said Rec, “call up whatever council is needed for this kind of matter, notify all high ranking members of whatever group or political spheres you think are necessary and we'll explain as best we can.”
“Good,” said the purple winged unicorn, “my name is Twilight Sparkle, and the one you met first was Pinkie Pie, the pegasus is Rainbow Dash.”
“That is not the proper name for the... pony breed,” said Mandi, “Pegasus was the name of last of the flying stallions according the myths where we come from.”
“Seriously?” said Rainbow Dash, “my tribe of pony has the same name of some Stallion from your old stories, I don't know how to feel about that.”
“Yeah, well,” said Mandi, “according to the stories he was also a jerk that had a serious ego, only gods and heroes could claim him as a... companion in their duties or in their quests.”
“Sounds like somepony might be his distant descendant,” said Twilight with a smirk at Rainbow Dash, “now let's get inside, I'll call the others and send some letters to the Princesses.”
It had been five hours since the four had arrived in Equestria, in that time they had somehow ended up the stars of an impromptu welcome party (courtesy of Pinkie Pie), been sized up by Rainbow Dash (with an talon to hoof wrestling contest happening between Claudia and Rainbow, Claudia won with with Rainbow nursing her foreleg), been pestered about the magic they had displayed (this mostly Twilight asking Rec and Orchid due to her not knowing the griffon or pegasus were capable as well), asked their regular routines (mostly by Applejack after the farm mare had met them, only to becomes pleasantly surprised that all of them had unarmed combat training routines), Fluttershy kept trying to avoid them (except Orchid whom confided in with the statement she's usually not good with meeting new ponies and is more comfortable with animals and foals), Rarity pestered them for the news about what fashions they were into and what was trending where they came from (the four Seekers just politely told her they usually tossed on whatever was most comfortable and that they didn't keep appraised of such things before carefully excusing themselves from her company).
Night had fallen by the time the party ended, and they all somehow ended up guests at the tree shaped crystal palace. Orchid felt I need to have some alone time so she excused herself for midnight walk, when Twilight offered to show her around town so the filly wouldn't get lost Rec told her it wasn't necessary, and that Orchid had it all well covered. Twilight was confused, but an offer to show give her a brief lecture on Seekers and everything associated with them caused the lavender alicorn (she had finally gotten around to correcting them on what she was) to practically give the filly a pat on the head and say how much said filly would probably enjoy a midnight stroll.
In Twilight's study Rec had set up a number of his personal amulets on a table to help explain each type of Titan, two for each, in addition having his Mythichive placed on another table. Spike too was curious, mostly because the subject involved gems and when he had first heard the two talking about amulets he was getting hungry (he was now quite satiated from the immense plethora of dishes provided at the welcome party).
“So where should I start?” said Rec, mostly because he wanted to see where the alicron would try to go with the lesson.
“Let's start with the box thing of yours.”
“It's called a Mythichive,” said Rec as he trotted over, “there aren't a whole lot of them out there, only important and members of Seeker groups or high ranking members with in the groups are trusted with them. Each Seeker group has their own different variation. The original, what all the other units are copied from is the Cypherdex used by the Casterwill clan. Among Seekers the name Casterwill is a very big deal, if you can prove your family is connected to them or part of their family it means you basically have a direct line to the most important Seekers ever.”
“Wouldn't that mean each 'group' is actually an organization?” said Twilight with curiosity.
“Normally yes, but there is an actual Seeker organization called 'The Organization' so I try to not use the word when not referencing them. Their primary opposition for years was the 'Huntik Foundation' which is one of the oldest standing Seeker organizations in the world. As for the 'Casterwill' clan they are considered the first Seeker organization, however they're mostly each others family members and a few closely trusted family friends. My friends and I belong to what is known as the 'Tempest Association'. So in the future I'll just refer to them as Seeker factions to help drive home the point they aren't a bunch or ragtag misfits and all that. Each faction has an edict, a code or creed that they follow. I can't speak for the other factions' creeds, but the Tempest Association believes there are great storms coming and it our duty to prepare as much of the world as we can for the storms and if need be act as their barricade so that they don't have to deal with the storms if at all possible.”
“Well the information on the factions is fascinating,” said Twilight as she scribbled down notes, “you didn't explain what exactly the Mythchive is, merely its history and what your faction is dedicated too.”
“The Mythichive is a tool,” said Rec flipping it open, “it can scan rooms, make maps, scan artifacts, tell you about artifacts, identify Titans and even tell you about the Titans it scans. I'll move on to Titans next, seeing as you had Nordrake amulet in possession.”
“I was merely analyzing it,” said Twilight, “I didn't know you could summon a dragon with it.”
“Technically you can't,” he held his Nordrake amulet aloft in his magic, “you only summon a singular Titan from their amulet. Titans are bound to their amulets and as such when the amulet is destroyed the Titan is usually lost, I've head of some cases where that isn't true, but they very extenuating circumstances. A Mythichive, or similar such device, can tell you in bare bones facts what kind of Titan is in an amulet,” he waved the Nordrake amulet over the center of the Mythichive and said, “Mythichive, scan.”
“Twilight showed great interest as the aqua green light played over the amulet before an aqua green holographic image of Nordrake appeared and the Mythichive's female voice said, “Nordrake, Attack 4, Defense 4, Size: Average, Special Ability: Ice Blast, Type: Litho-Titan Sharpshooter.”
“Where did it get the voice?” inquired Twilight.
“I honestly don't know,” said Rec, “it's magic technology, if it enters an area that cancels out magic then it doesn't work.”
“So, in areas that nullify magic its no operable, interesting,” said Twilight.
“Please don't use the world nullify or any words derived from it,” said Rec, “it sound silly to you, but I grew up on the stories of how the Nullifiers made landfall in my home dimension and the Titans were called forth from their realm by Lord Casterwill, the patriarch of the Casterwill family.”
“Which leads into my next question,” said Twilight, “what is a Seeker? You keep using the word, but in any manner I'm familiar with. Where do they come from? Why do use magic the way they do? The way you say it anypony could be Seeker and not know it.”
“All potent questions, and astute observations,” said Rec, “I don't know what exactly a Seeker is besides an individual capable of bonding with Titans and using Powers. Power is our term for a spell. A Seeker can use quite a few for instance, HyperStride,” Rec's hind legs became encased in blue flames and he jumped straight up a good sixty feet (fortunately the study's ceiling was a few hundred feed high) before he uttered, “FeatherDrop,” and fell at normal speed only to land light as a feather, then giving a smile to Twilight said, “BubbleLift” and encased the mare in bubble with a light blue sheen. He then undid the spell, “while fairly limited in number the spells utilized by Seekers can be quite versatile. As for our origin it is a popular theory that we are descended from long forgotten royal lines, in fact some royal figure in our world's history have actually been Seekers.”
“You just said seemingly simple phrases to cast your spells,” said Twilight with confusion.
“Seeker powers are designed so that they can be utilized in seemingly ordinary conversation so that we don't give away the secrets we keep from the populace for the good the many. Did you touch the amulet?”
“Only with my magic,” said Twilight, “why?”
“Spike did you ever touch it?” inquired Rec.
“No,” said Spike, “the first time I saw it the thing was in somepony's magic.”
“Then I don't have to worry about you accidentally bonding with the Titan,” said Rec.
“What makes this bond so important, or special?” inquired Twilight.
“When Seekers obtain amulets they 'bond with the Titan inside it' that means that they have special mystical mental connection with their Titans. Their personality aspects flow into the Titan and become shared causing the Titan to only bond in the future with individuals with similar traits. Some Titans have rules to their bonding, while others can change hold quite freely. When a seeker wears an amulet its because that Titan has a great significance to them. The one I wear is the first Titan I ever bonded with.”
“What's it like?” Inquired Twilight.
“A bond or the Titan I referenced?” asked Rec.
“Both,” said Twilight.
“Describing a bond it hard, it's kind of like having somepony in your head but not and that somepony is a close friend. But then again, that's how I see it. To me Titans are trusted friends and valuable support when needed, some Seekers see Titans as nothing more than tools, but my friends, my sister and I all see our Titans as priceless friends that can never be replaced no matter what. As for my Titan,” slipped of his amulet and held it over the Mythichive, the light danced over the amulet before the holographic image of a humanoid knight in streamlined armor with a European straight edge sword and medium sized pendant shield appeared.
The Mythichive said, “Vitaguard, Attack 4, Defense 5, Size: Average, Special Ability: United Defense, Type: Draco-Titan Warrior.” Twilight stared in awe then the holographic imaged flickered and the once humanoid figure was now in the form of an earth pony with its gear at its sides.
“What just happened?” Cried Spike.
Rec just gave a chuckle before saying, “Titan's come from the Spirit realm so their forms can sometimes be highly dependent on the lifeforms in the world they are summoned to. Vitaguard just changed to accomedate for the fact that humans aren't present in this world.”
“Spike,” said Twilight.
“Yeah?” said Spike.
“We do not mention this Lyra, who knows what she'll try.”
“Right,” said Spike giving quick salute, “I'll write up a letter for Celestia and send her the information we've garnered so far, including that little fact we just learned.” With that he was gone.
“Um, something I should?”
“Lyra is a sea foam green unicorn mare, and she has this bizarre obsession with humans.”
“Ooh,” said Rec, “and four transformed humans just trotted into Ponyville earlier today.”
“Yeah,” said Twilight, “don't know how well she'll take that. Wait, four?”
“Yeah,” said Rec, “Orchid and I are both humans, and come from a lone line of Seekers; Mandi's a human, also a Seeker by the way; Claudia is a human as well, she's also a Seeker by the way.”
“Only you and your sister used magic, they didn't.”
“We were only in town for like five seconds when Pinkie blindsided Claudia and Mandi was still reeling from shock when Pinkie assaulted her, that and Orchid and I are quick thinkers. Afterward there was no need for it at all; as for the Titan summoning, that was because I was the only one with a Titan that could cooler her down without hurting her, well that and none us wanted to blast her with a miniature blizzard.”
“Yeah I guess that...minature what? You can control weather?”
“No,” said Rec with a shake of his head, “this,” he pointed his right forehoof at Twilight and said, “SnowBlast” causing Twilight to get caught by a blast wind that pushed her back a few feet in addition to bombarding her with ice crystals commonly called snow for half a second.
“I can see why you d-d-didn't w-want to u-use that s-s-s-s-spell,” said Twilight before warming herself with her magic, “that was an interesting spell, you created a localized blizzard. Do you realize what the weather teams would say?”
“What does meteorology have to do with a spell that has a very limited target area?”said Rec.
“What?” said Twilight.
“Meteorology the science of weather, it helps us to predict weather in our world, granted we only have a forty percent accuracy at best last I checked.”
“Pegasi literally manage the weather in Equestria,” said Twilight, “that spell you just did runs dangerously close to their territory of weather control.”
“Ooh,” said Rec then I guess I shouldn't tell you about the DarkFog power.”
“The what fog?” yelled Twilight.
____________________________________________
At the same time Orchid was wandering the darkened, and deserted, streets of Ponyville. After a few few minutes of wandering about she started feel uneasy. She brought her hoof to the amulet around her neck and whispered, “materialise, Jirwolf,” suddenly a pony sized wolf that looked like it had a body formed the night sky appeared next to her. She started petting the Titan like pet dog and said, “been a while, sorry about that. I get caught up wanting to meet new friends my brother introduces to me or I find.”
“That is a very interesting creature,” came a gentle female voice with a hint of amusement from the night sky before a dark coated alicorn with mane and tail that looked like they were formed from the night sky landed before Orchid, “you must be Orchid Spell,” said the alicorn in the voice Orchid had heard earlier, “Twilight told us in detail what you appear like,” Jirwolf started to nuzzled the dark coated alicorn, “and it appears your friend here has taken a shine to me.”
“He's my Jirwolf, my very first Titan. I found him running wild, we bonded quite quickly.”
“We can see you share a special bond with this creature,” said Luna, this caused Orchid to giggle.
“No I mean that we have magical link that makes next to impossible for anyone that isn't me to summon him, issue suggestions or commands. He's my best friend, just like Fireblade is Claudia's, Under Golem is Mandi's and Vitaguard is my brother's. You see Titan's a unique entities to you, but Seekers like me, my brother and his friends they're all possible friends and something that most of our world had relegated to the realm of fantasy.”
“Ah yes,” said Luna, “our sister shared the notes regarding you, but they did not go into detail in the regard, perhaps you could tell us.”
“I'm not really qualified for such things,” said Orchid, “I'm still learning, the closest to an expert you'll get is my brother and he's back with Princess Twilight Sparkle, probably giving her a lecture on everything Seeker related.”
“You have a good friend here,,” said Luna, “he even resembles our night sky.”
“Night time was always my favorite time, mostly because that's when my brother started my training,” she gave a chuckle, “I found Jirwolf at the same age he found Vitaguard, we've always been close to each other and... mom, I wonder how she's doing. She worries, we said we were just going to do something for the Association because they said it was urgent, it was supposed to be bro and his team's week off, it was the first time in a long time I could spend an extended period time with my wonderful big brother. He let me tag along, mostly because he figured it wouldn't take long and we might find another Titan for me to try bonding with,” she smiled, “we both got Lindorm amulets.”
“These Seekers, are they not magic users?”
“Well, yes, but... Jir are you sure?...okay I'll ask. Jirwolf wants to know why you smell so familiar. He says you have a similar smell to me, my brother, and... our mother. I don't get it, how could that be possible, just who are you?”
“I am Princess Luna, sovereign of Equestria's nights, Guardian of the dreams of all the ponies in Equestria and... a loving friend to all foals. You are an interesting young filly, and your companion is equally as intersting. Pray tell may we borrow the jewlrey he calls home?”
“No,” said Orchid, “he's the first one I ever had, he's what makes me feel safe when I'm alone, he's what keeps the nightmares bay. I know he would be good care with you, but I just can't have him leave my side.”
“We understand,” said Luna, “are there any in your care you could bare to part with for a day or two?”
Orchid closed her eyes in thought before saying, “you're not really here, I'm dreaming. Jirwolf is never that instantly friendly with others in the waking world, but he's always part of my dreams and tells me what's safe and what's not.”
“You are very perceptive,” said Luna, “yes I am not with you physically, in truth my body is back in Canterlot, but I wished to meet one of you, before you ask I can tell you that you are in good hooves. A very caring mare, whom you met before your trot about the town, is seeing to your comfort and security. Worry not sweet foal, your secrets are safe with me, are there any you wish to share?”
“Well,” said Orchid, “I suppose a few memories wouldn't hurt.” Suddenly the dreamscape changed to a cheery little country home.
Looking out the window Luna saw a country night with a big city's lights as a backdrop in the distance. A full moon was high in the sky. Turning around she beheld a six year old human Orchid making a motion to sneak out of her room, Luna smiled, then scowled when she saw the child running out in the yard towards a forest. The environment changed to a forest clearing and crying Orchid blubbering about being lost, then Luna Jirwolf slink from the shadows and circle her like a wary animal. Instead of showing fear Orchid giggled and said, “wolfy,” in her cute childish voice. The Jirwolf sniffed her hands and suddenly turned into its amulet and landed in her outstretched hands.
“That was two years ago,” said an older Orchid (in her unicorn form) materialising next Luna. After I bonded with Jirwolf I suddenly was able to find my way back home with amazing ease, it's because for a short while I gained heightened senses from Jirwolf bonding with me and awakening my Seeker abilities. Do you know who the first one to catch me that night was?”
Luna shook her head, “no, we do not have an clue as to that.”
“Then watch,” said Orchid as they observed her rushing from the forest to the hidden passage she had snuck out of the house from.
The moment she was in the passage (which was quite dark) a younger sounding Rec said, “BoltFlare,” a soft orange glow filled the spacious yet narrow passage, standing there with a light orange sphere bobbing next his head was a fourteen year old Rec, “you just had to go out in the forest tonight,” he said with amusement, “so, why not show me you new friend's home?” the six year old Orchid held up her Jirwolf amulet, Rec smiled and said, “don't lose, no matter what. He's your first Titan, and closest friend until the end. Take good care of that amulet, if it break too much he'll probably be lost to you forever. No matter what he'll be your closest, and maybe even dearest, friend. He's loyal scout, but every scout needs a warrior to assist them. He reached into his pocket and produced the Breaker amulet, “hold out your hand,” she did, “his name is Breaker, and he'll be there to fight for you no matter what,” he dropped the amulet into her waiting hand, “take good care of him, I have a feeling he and Jirwolf will work well together. I'll teach you a few tricks tomorrow, but until then you better head back to your room and get some sleep. I'll tell mom and dad a story about what happened, don't worry, they won't know the truth for good long while.”
The image faded out and they were back in Ponyville at night, “mom found out a month later and scolded me for being so reckless,” said Orchid, “dad went almost half a year before the truth of how I got Jirwolf came to light for him, he was not happy when he found out and grounded me for a week. I really didn't care, Rec was there every day to teach me some Seeker tricks, I didn't really feel like I was being punished, I did get in the habit of telling my mom where I was going every time I went somewhere regardless.”
“You have quite the elder brother,” said Luna with a smile, “he was willing to take the heat for something foolish you did. It reminds me of when Celestia and I were little fillies, she and I had a similar relationship to the one you and your brother have, but nothing lasts forever. Shortly after we made the transition to mares things started to change, it was a gradual shift that was so steady I didn't notice until we had drifted to almost being apart, I carried some that regret for a very long time.”
Everything started to fade into brightness, “what's happening?” cried Orchid.
“You are returning to the waking world,” said Luna before fading out herself.
**********************************
A few seconds later she woke up to the face of Sweetie Belle, “oh good your up,” cried the two tone (pink and purple) maned white unicorn filly in her melodic, yet squeaky, voice.
“Are you okay darling?” came Rarity's voice before she trotted into the indigo filly's view, “you collapsed just around the corner.”
“Oh,” said Orchid, “I just wanted to enjoy the night, its my favorite time,” she brought her hoof to Jirwolf's amulet, “it's when I met him,” she smiled at the last part of her statement.
“Ooh, did you meet a colt that gave you that pretty necklace at night,” squeaked Sweetie Belle, “that sounds romantic.”
“No, it wasn't a boy,” said Orchid with a smirk, “I'll show you, this isn't just any ordinary amulet.”
“Care to explain that one darling,” said Rarity with confusion.
“Better,” said Orchid, “I'll show you. Materialise, Jirwolf,” with that a wolf with a coat that looked like a pieced of the night sky the size of Rarity appeared next to Orchid, “meet my first Titan, Jirwolf.”
“Oh my,” said Rarity, “he's so magnificent, why he's giving me ideas for the new Nightwear line Princess Luna asked me to make for her, this is most impressive.”
“Can all amulets do that?” asked Sweetie Belle hopping up and down.
“No,” said Orchid as she petted Jirwolf, “only special amulets can do that sort of thing, but the thing is nopony knows how many unknown Titan amulets out there that can just be picked up at random because they're confused for jewelry. I'm what's called a Seeker, we can cast spells and summon Titans from amulets. Princess Twilight was studying Titan amulet when we arrived.”
“That pieced of magical jewelry I called Twilight over look into and safeguard because we didn't know where it came from?” said Rarity.
“That's the one,” said Orchid in a chipper voice, “it holds a Titan called Nordrake. He's big sharp looking ice blue dragon with fore-claws that look like stone, and a stylish piece of neck ware.”
Rarity stared her and said “a dragon with neck ware? Stylish?”
“Sorry, my sense of fashion is rather... odd,” said Orchid, “I'm much happier with my Titans and spells.”
“Ooh,” said Sweetie Belle, “can I get a cutie mark in being a Seeker?”
“Not likely,” said Orchid, “there are just as many Seekers as there are personalities, which means there are a lot. Like with everything else in life you want to try see what the specializations are, some seekers are guardians, some are explorers, some are treasure hunters, some are psychotic nut cases that really shouldn't have access to a fraction of the power they have, some are so concerned about the results of their work they don't care about the consequences of what they're doing. The point is I'm making is getting a cutie mark in being a Seeker is like getting a cutie mark in the cosmos, there's just too much for you to have one thing makes you special. Sorry Sweetie Belle, but your better off seeing if your special talent is acting or something.
“Oh,” said Sweetie Belle, “your brother has the amulet things on his flank, does that mean his special talent is those Titan things you were talking about?” Jirwolf gave the small white unicorn a deadpan look.
“My brother's special talent is mixing spells and other things to produce something that greater than the sum of the parts. He can practically make a sonic boom when he combines all the speed powers he he knows. I think he's also working on a new Seeker power that has never been seen before. As far his friends and I know he's the only known Seeker to play mix and match with powers.”
“That's so cool,” said Sweetie Belle, “but why is his cutie mark the way it is?”
“The amulets are those of the first three Titans he ever had, the aura impression around those was the first spell combo he ever tried,” said Orchid.
“Um,” said Rarity, “what were his three, Titans was it?”
“Vitaguard, Janusea the Gatekeeper and Nordrake,” said Orchid proudly, “Vitaguard was the first Titan he ever bonded with, also first one he ever found; Janusea was presented to him by our father as a reward for his accomplishment, those two a really close; and Nordrake was the first 'wild Titan' he ever faced.”
“I see,” said Rarity, “and his, um, collection has grown a bit since then?”
“Please don't call it that, it makes the Titans sound like objects,” said Orchid.
“Right,” said Rarity, “you said the both you see them a good friends.”
Orchid nodded, “my first Titan is also my first 'wild Titan',” she continued to pet Jirwolf, “after I made it home my brother presented me with a new Titan to accompany him,” she reached into her bag and pulled out the Breaker amulet, “his name is Breaker, and while his name may sound a bit brutish he's a real sweetheart. You see, unlike most Seekers we actually summon our Titans for a bit of companionship. Mom isn't Seeker, but she does know a lot about magic and is perfectly fine with Titans wandering around the house,” she gave a giggle, “when I help her in the kitchen I'm always doing it with Jirwolf and Springer at my side.”
“Springer?” said Sweetie Belle, “that sounds like cool name!”
Orchid put the Breaker amulet away and brought out the Springer amulet, “this is who I was talking about. I don't want to summon him here, he's a little mischievous and might cause you to get behind in your work tomorrow.”
“Nice to see somepony likes to considerate of the work I have,” said Rarity, “do you have any other, um, special friends we could meet? After all this first one is giving me some ideas.”
Orchid returned the Springer amulet to her pouch and pulled out a Red Searcher amulet, “ I don't usually call him up, he kind of creeps me out,” she said.
“Why is that?” inquired Rarity.
“How would you feel about a giant flying eyeball with bat wings?” Responded Orchid, “not very well I'm sure.”
“Sounds like something for Nightmare Night,” cried Sweetie Belle jumping up and down.
“Nightmare Night?” responded Orchid.
“Yeah,” said Sweetie Belle, “it's the one night of the year where everypony dresses up and goes around asking for candy, a few ponies even try to scare everypony else.”
“Oh we have that back home,” said Orchid, “but we call it Halloween, it used be called All Hallows Eve and be that the festival of Souen. When it was the festival it was more about keep supernatarual forces like fairies, mischievous spirits, evil ghosts and goblins at bay, while also calling on the spirits of good ancestors for a chat. Back then it was more of New Year celebration, the culture back then believed that the veil between the realms of the dead and living was weakest on the night one year ended and another began. Sorry, I do that sometimes, learning the history of holidays is just so much fun, and not very many are willing to commit to that sort of thing anymore.”
“Um, wow,” said Sweetie Belle, “your version changed names a few times.”
“Yes, well,” said Rarity could explain what a few of those things are. Like faeries, and goblins.”
“Oh, um,” said Orchid, “goblins are these mischievous little creatures that go around causing trouble, in the olden times misfortune was blamed on goblins and series of practices to appease or keep them occupied was used. Like leaving bowl of milk at outside the door every night, it said goblins love milk and if they given what they think is an offering then they will leave a home or business in peace. They're so mischievous because it's said all they want is attention.”
“Oh well,” said Rarity, “that's nice, truth be told Sweetie Belle can sometimes come off a being a little goblin herself.”
“Hay,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Take it as a compliment,” said Orchid, “goblins are said to brilliant, if a little odd in their application of their intelligence.”
“That, actually sounds nice,” said Sweetie Belle.
“And faeries,” said Rarity, “what are they like?”
“It depends on which depends on which kind you're talking about. Where we come from faeries, which also referred to as fey or the fair folk, usually belong to two courts.”
“Like Celestia's day court, and Luna's night court?” inquired Sweetie Belle.
“Good analogy, but not quite accurate,” said Orchid, “the courts are known as the Seelie and Unseelie. The Seelie are ruled by queen named Summer, she is a manifestation of everything the season that shares her name has, in short she can literally bring the heat. The Unseelie are ruled by a queen named Winter, who is a manifestation of the season that shares her name, in short she can make really cold really fast. Because of their queens the courts also referred to as the Summer and Winter courts, the Seelie are Summer Court and the Unseelie are the Winter Court. The two courts are very different.”
“How so? What makes these courts so different?” inquired Rarity.
“The Seelie are harmless, but mischievous, they harbor no ill will towards anypony, they just want have a good time mostly. One of their members, whom I think Rarity would appreciate is the Brownie (she pronounces Broo-nee).”
“Why is that?” asked Rarity.
“According to the tales of the Brownie they will come into your home and cause all sorts of harmless mischief, but if you manage to catch them they will be a faithful servant for the rest of your lifespan and all you have to do is leave them a few table scraps from two or more meals.”
“Really?” said Rarity, “just how real are they where you come from?”
“No clue,” said Orchid, “the basis for all the lores, myths, legends, and old stories where we come from is the Titans. All of us have yet to encounter any Titans that could potentially be original base for the Brownie.”
“And the, ahem, Unseelie,” said Rarity, “what are they like?”
“In short they are vicious, malicious brutes that garner enjoyment from causing harm to others. Amongst them in the tales of English lore is the Spriggan, brutish fey that have the power to grow to immense proportions. Claudia has one of them, by that I mean the Titan that started the whole mythos of Spriggan. She's a bit of a brute herself, a very combat oriented Seeker if you will.”
“That's nice to know dear and... wait,” said Rarity, “you said you're Seeker, and so is your brother.”
“Yes,” said Orchid, “Mandia and Claudia are also Seekers. We all have amulets and can use powers from the Seeker spell list.”
“But, you and your brother are unicorns, and they are most assuredly not. Griffons can't use the same kind of magic as ponies, their magic fields aren't the same. The magic fields of the pony tribes are quite different as well.”
“Really? Huh, way I was told Seekers just tap into their natural magic fields and use phrases to trigger certain responses. The two most well known, and most basic, Seeker powers are BoltFlare,” an light orange sphere started floating next her and EverFight,” a bright orange aura encased her for a few seconds before fading out.”
“A light spell,” said Rarity, “and one that is not all to draining, “but what about the other one?”
“The EverFight spell his a self healing spell, it mends wounds, purges toxins and helps replenish the user's magic field,”
“It replenishes your magic field supply?” said Rarity, “that's a hoofy little trick.”
“Yes well,” said Orchid, “BoltFlare isn't just a light spell. It can also be used to heat drinks, start campfires and if necessary even thrown as an attack. In short it's actually a very well contained fire spell, and since its a basic spell most Seekers learn it early on in their training. If I were to use NimbleFire or ShadowSpeed I would able to move much faster than normal and I've heard that some Seekers have even run across the surface of water with NimbleFire. Some powers have much more limited range or effect. Like for instance CamoForge,” she suddenly disappeared, “is a spell that only turns the user invisible, but drops the moment the user attacks,” she reappeared where she had disappeared from. The fact of the matter is there some spells out there that are only known to certain Seeker factions and still others that have been lost for long that they are practically forgotten by everyone. Seekers have a long and sorted history, and the truth is all the factions don't play nice. The Tempest Association, the faction my family and my brother's friends belong to, has been around longer than most, but has kept itself unknown to the rest of the factions for a long time.”
“Tell me more about these amulets,” said Rarity, “may I,” she gestured to Orchid's flank pouch, the filly nodded, using her magic Rarity floated out a steel-blue wolf's paw shaped amulet with the center paw piece as a grayish-pink gem, “this one's pretty, I haven't seen it before.”
“Her name is Wolf Knight,” said Orchid with a smile, “bro and others found her pack running wild up north last year, he gave her to me when he got back and said it was his way of saying sorry for missing my birthday. She's fierce, loyal, tough and shows herself with a refine savage beauty. I especially like that her ability is tied to the moon.”
“Tied to the moon?” squeaked Sweetie Belle while petting Jirwolf, “what's that mean?”
“Her ability is called Moon Frenzy,” said Orchid, “she's at her most powerful at a full moon, but she's at her weakest during the new moon.”
“So what your saying is that in a way this Wolf Knight is connected to Princess Luna's power over the moon,” said Rarity.
“That's more of a coincidence,” said Orchid, “I didn't know about her until today,” she gave a smile and said, “but the night has always felt right to me, it's when I feel most alive, even if I can't always stay awake through it. All my best memories are tied to the night.”
“I'm sure Princess Luna would be glad hear that,” said Rarity with a smile, “now Sweetie off to bed, I have to take Orchid back to her brother.”
“Oh, but...” said Sweetie Belle started.
“Your sister is right,” said Orchid cutting her off, “if you want to grow to be just as beautiful as her you will need to get as much beauty rest as possible, starting now.”
Sweetie Belle tried to retort, but was lost as how to counter something like that, so she gave curt nod and left the room. “Well played,” said Rarity.
“One of my older brothers is a fashion designer.”
“But you said your father and siblings are all Seekers,” said Rarity with confusion.
“Seekers like to keep a low profile, we manage facilities that can regularly have large numbers of individuals moving in and out without suspicion. Office complexes, stores, churches, tourist traps, agency centers, hospitals. Seekers where a number of different hats, and some wear them quite well. I don't really have a goal in my life just yet, I just want spend time with my brother and go on some of his adventures. This is the best one yet, especially considering one of the Titans he has, he let me borrow her for a while and returned her.”
“And whom would that be dear,” motioning for the filly to come with her as they descended the steps to the store's up level.
“Her name is Unia, she's really pretty,” said Orchid, “you see there aren't really any unicorns where we come from, I wasn't born like this, but for some reason it feels more natural than anything I've expereinced in my life. Unia is one of the Titans that helped generate the tales of unicorns. When you see her you'll be in awe of her radiant beauty.”
“Sounds like somepony is a fan-filly,” said Rarity as they made their way out the door (Jirwolf close behind), Rarity still had the Wolf Knight amulet in her magical grasp and said, “may I hold on to this one for a while?”
Orchid shook her head and said, “I don't think so, besides she probably wouldn't bond with you, if I willing gave you one of my amulets it would transfer the bond from me to you and I don't know how much Seeker potential you or anypony in this town might have. The truth is the magical principles of our world a different than this one, I don't know how well the transition would be. All my Titans are really good friends, and I want them to make new friends, but with the way things are.”
“You're worried about how everything could go,” Rarity said with understanding.
“Jirwolf, return,” said Orchid causing Jirwolf to turn into a wisp and shoot into his amulet.
“The fact you have so many... functional accessories is simply marvelous,” said Rarity.
Orchid gave giggle and said, “you should see my brother in the kitchen, him and all his smaller Titans milling about like some kind of big kitchen staff, it's actually pretty funny when you take into account that the kind of interactions he has with his Titans. My brother and I are the only known Seekers, to my knowledge anyway, that don't just have regular conversations with our Titans, but actually get into full blown debates and arguments with them as well. It sort of defines our relationship as Seekers.” The came up on the entrance to the castle and saw an unamused look Twilight's face with a knowing grin on Rec's.
“You said she didn't need supervision,” Twilight shot at Rec, “but Rarity just brought her back.”
“Six reasons I didn't worry about her wandering the streets of Ponyville,” said Rec calmly.
“Those are?” said Twilight, “before you start I would like to point out the Everfree Forest, a woodland that is filled with a bunch potentially dangerous creatures is very close by.”
“Okay,” said Rec. “One, Orchid is most vibrant at night, and by that I mean her senses always seem sharp in the night and she usually has much more energy than she displays during daytime hours. Item two, the amulet around her neck is for a Titan called Jirwolf, a scout class Titan with a set of properties that can more than keep her safe from whatever dangers slink out of the forest. Item 3, she knows a variety of spells that can aid in keeping her safe. Number four, she's a smart girl and can be quite inventive when the situation calls for it. Number five, this is what is often referred to as a 'sleepy little town' so there are very few dangers from the populace here. And the sixth reason is I had Spike send a message to Princess Luna a few minutes before we started my lecture, she was keeping tabs on Orchid for us out of a request I gave her, that and the promise of seeing just what my sister's dreams would be like. I know Orchid really didn't mind, she always liked sharing her dreams with those that could appreciate them, and who better to give constructive criticism than somepony with the ability to actually visit dreams.”
“Orchid said you have a... unique way around the kitchen,” Rarity, “you might want to get up early for that one, Twilight.” With that the alabaster unicorn mare turned and left.
“What the hay is that supposed to mean?” inquired Twilight.
“You'll just have to visit the kitchen when I'm cooking to find out,” said Rec as he gestured Orchid over and ruffled her mane, “and you, little sis, will be taking some basic magic lessons from Twilight starting tomorrow. I didn't really need anything beyond pointers because of my aptitude for magic, and how quick I've always picked up learning new spells.”
“It's true,” said Twilight, “he was already doing shaky levitation when we started what I thought would be his primer course. He doesn't want to learn any of spells I've learned.”
“Not just yet,” said Rec, “we need to get a few things squared away, as we say down on the farm 'one potential crisis at a time keeps you from running yourself into the ground', I'm aware it's a weird phrase, but dad says it a lot. Of course given his profession it's no surprise.”
“What?” said Twilight, “Seeker isn't his profession? It sounds like a job.”
“Seekers keep low profiles and do things behind the scenes when it comes to Titans and spells, the only reason we're being so open about all this is because of all the magic around here... which means she'll be showing up shortly, she always does at the most odd times.”
“Really?” came rather smooth, yet rugged, male voice, “just who is this 'she' you're talking about?”
Twilight gave a sigh and said, “hello Discord, am I to assume you are responsible for the amulet and our guests?”
“The amulet yes,” came the voice again, an amazingly mismatched creature flashed into the room (that is to say something that looked like someone had decided to play the patch word creature game and created something with no sense of design aesthetic whatsoever. The creature had a head like a pony, a horn that looked like a it came from a mountain goat, a billy goat beard, a horn that looked more like a deer's antler, a blue bird wing on the right side of its back, a bat wing on the left side of its back, a lion's forleg its left arm, what looked like a predatory bird's talon for the right arm, a goat's cloven hoof for the right leg, a green dragon's foot for the left, and red dragon tail that ended in a white fluffy tuft), “but not your guests, that was something else in play.
Rec and Orchid looked the creature with confusion for a few seconds before Rec said, “alright very funny, you almost got me with that one.”
Discord scoffed and said, “excuse me I am quite real thank you very much, not somepony's little magical conjuration.”
“Although he does look like something I would try,” came a mischievous sounding cunning female voice that floated through the air like silver lined silk.
“Really,” you're play that game now, “say hello to our host, and her... additional guest.”
Suddenly a white unicorn mare with a gold mane and silver tail and image of a silver fox branded on her flank materialized and started snickering. Rec and Orchid rolled their eyes as Rec said, “you're true appearance please.”
“Spoilsport,” said the mare before seeming to shimmer and taking on the appearance of a pony sized nine tailed fox with bright silver booted feet and a golden stripe down the middle of her face.
“Thank you very much, Inari,” said Rec.
“Um who is this?” said Discord, “she seems to have quite the mischievous streak,” he took a deep whiff of the the air and said, “yup, smells like a trickster to me.”
“I would like you to meet the Legendary Titan of Cunning, Inari,” said Rec, “she has a habit of popping up like this, granted she only works illusions, but she's so good at them they can fool everything that isn't your sense of touch.”
“I have to give some clues for the game,” said Inari, “besides even with that limitation I still get the most amusing reactions. Considering my talents.”
“How I bonded with you I will never fully understand,” said Rec, “your personality clashes with mine way too often.”
“You remind me of my original bond,” said Inari, “what was her name again? Silver something or was it Sky something, or was it Dusk something. Ah, who cares it was thousands upon thousands of years ago, you can't expect my memory to be that good. Besides you're my Seeker now, and the relationship with your Titans is far more interesting than any other Seeker I've seen over the centuries, and you even brought me to this wondrous place teaming with ambient magics.”
“What is she getting at?” Asked Twilight, “and what's a 'Legendary Titan'? That didn't come up in our study session."
“Can we have the lecture tomorrow? It's been a long day and I really don't want to try doing something like that with two tricksters in the room. Tomorrow after I use my Mythichive to scan 'Discord' here I'll explain everything I can. Inari, if it's not too much trouble, could you please wait 'til after I'm done sleeping to mess with me or anyone else in this town. You'll have to try harder to mess with heads, especially considering everyone here is equine.”
“Your avoiding words like everypony, and the word pony itself,” said Twilight, “why?”
“Orchid and do I the same thing back home,” said Rec, “I don't say anybody or person, persons, or people or peoples at all if I'm not talking about words I don't use. It's no big deal, it's just how we are. Now if you... individuals are done I would really like to get some sleep.”
“I'm feeling rather rested right now,” said Orchid, “I'll be up a few more hours before hitting the hay.”
“Why would you want to hit hay? It's a delicious snack food,” said Twilight.
After giving a yawn as he headed for the guest room that Twilight had indicated was his Rec said, “she means she'll be up for a bit longer before going to bed. Hit the hay, hit the sack, flop on the rug, and fall on the mattress all mean go to bed. I bid you a good night.” With that he was out of the room and the sound of hooves making their way to his room were all any of them heard.
After a few minutes hearing the clop of hooves in the castle Inari turned to Discord and said, “so, what do you think we can do to his room to drive him over the deep end? I've got direct line to his mind and you have the power to take a few... liberties with the order of the universe.”
“My dear,” said Discord, “I believe this will be an amusing friendship! Where do we start?”
The white fox smirked and said, “we're going to need six hundred pounds of huckleberries, a thousand pounds of plain yogurt, a comically oversized dining spoon, the biggest swimming pool you can find to turn into a giant bowl and nineteen cupcakes the size of you standing on my head.”
“What kind of cupcakes? The devil is in the details,” said Discord.
“Triple chocolate strawberry swirl,” said Inari with a devious smirk.
“I have no idea where this is going,” said Discord, “and that is really exciting!” The two of them blinked out of sight.
“Should we be worried about all that?” inquired Twilight.
“Um, very much yes,” said Orchid, “Inari just told him what MY favorite cupcakes are, and that scares me. Can I sleep with you tonight, preferably with a mass of warding spells surrounding me.”
“I suppose,” said Twilight, “why'd they say all that in front of us like that?”
“To cause a freak out from at least one of us,” said Orchid, “I'm using every calming trick short of the breathing exercises my brother taught keep from doing just that. Me in a tizzy is never a good sign. My brother will have a reaction that... well you'll just have to see for yourself.”
“If you want we start those magic lessons tonight,” said Twilight.
“That sounds nice,” said Orchid, “and maybe I can give you a few pointers with Seeker powers, I don't know how well it will go though.”
“Shouldn't be too much trouble,” said Twilight, “magic is my special talent after all.”
“What kind?” Inquired Orchid, “also, if it's not too much trouble, could you tell me why names like what my brother and I have are more of a norm here, that would be nice. Back home it's seen as more of our mother being a little eccentric, it's made more obvious by the fact our older siblings have much more 'normal' names.”
“The usual generic names really,” said Orchid, “you know, Greg, James, Micheal, Sandra and Elliot.”
“Those are all really weird sounding names,” said Twilight, “your names sound much more normal, even if Rainbow did make fun of your brother's for sounding a bit too academic.”
“That's first the time I've head our names sounded normal, I take it we'll actually be meeting Princess Celestia and Luna tomorrow.”
“Luna, yes,” said Twilight, “her schedules for the most part have been very open, Princess Celestia is a bit more busy and won't have an opening until two days from now at the earliest.”
“Oh,” said Orchid, “I suppose that's okay,” her ears looking like they wanted perk and flatten at the same time.
Twilight giggled and said, “You're not used to your ears that much are you?”
“My ears never swiveled before,” said Orchid, “maybe I could explain humans a bit to you.”
“I've already got a good idea of what they're like,” said Twilight, “I had a few adventures on the other side of a magic mirror where everypony here is human, and Spike is a dog for some reason. Canterlot High is a little odd, but at least I'm familiar with the equipment you'll talk about. Actually that Mythichive thing of your brother's is kind of like the other Pinkie's laptop computer.”
Orchid giggled and said, “Sometimes he uses like that, he's the team leader so that's why he has it.”
“Really,” said Twilight, “so care to tell me more, while we work on lessons,” she gestured for Orchid to follow her.
First Night and Day in Equestria: Claudia and Mandi
Claudia and Mandi managed to sneak out before the party had ended, those sorts things really weren't their sort of thing (in fact almost all Claudia's party memories were borderline trauma's waiting to happen, well in her opinion anyway). “Okay,” said Claudia as they came upon a decently sized pond, “this looks like a good place to practice flight, and I... Mandi, what's up?”
Instead of giving a verbal Mandi pointed up at cloud as the sun was beginning to set, what she was point with her hoof (which she was not commenting on by the way, which struck Claudia as odd) was Rainbow Dash watching from a resting point on cloud (without flapping her wings). “Hey,” said the cyan mare, “whatcha thinking? Ditching a Pinkie Party is a really bad idea, she takes her parties seriously and if you aren't enjoying she's going try again as many times as it takes to see you giving a genuine smile of joy.”
“No offense,” said Mandi, “but we just don't have a high opinion of parties, when you say party around my home it kind makes my dad a little crazy and I don't mean in a good way. Most of Claudia's party experiences have been... less than satisfactory. All we want to do is practice flying, we really don't have wings where we come from.”
“You seem to be handling the whole walking on four legs thing,” said Rainbow, “I heard you mutter something about having used to walking on only two legs and how walking on your hind legs seems to have become a skill that you really don't like you have to learn.”
The two just stared at the cyan mare, Claudia turned her head to Mandi and said, “bet a week of desserts I take to flying faster than you.”
“Don't be such an uncouth brute,” retorted Mandi, “I'll just ask that yellow mare we met on the way out for flying lessons, I have a feeling her lessons will be more my style.”
Rainbow burst out laughing, and was still doing so along with rolling around on her cloud in hysteria, saying, “Fluttershy? Are you serious? She's the most timid mare in all Equestria, that includes her flying approaches.”
“There's nothing wrong with being cautious,” shot Mandi, “you two reckless showboats do what you like, I'm going to see if I can pull Fluttershy away from the party and ask her for lessons on how to use my wings.” With that Mandi trotted off.
“Once I get the hang of flying let's arm wrestle,” said Claudia with a smirk.
“You're a lot nicer than Gilda was when she came for a visit,” said Rainbow, “any reason?”
“Rec, Mandi and I have been friends since we were eight,” said Claudia, “our eyes were opened to a world within our own we didn't know a few years back,” she gave a smirk, “Rec is the one who helped us with transition, if it hadn't been for that we would probably still be in denial and curled up in corner somewhere. He took everything with a calm approach. Also don't make him mad, he gets scary.”
“What?” said Rainbow, “is he a raging force that makes a manticore look like a kitten?”
“No,” said Claudia giving shiver, “he gets really calm and you swear the area around got really cold, he assaults his offenders with a cold logic that can only be described as terrifying efficiency.”
“That... actually sounds scary, when Twilight gets really mad she turns all white and her mane and tail turn into fire, granted she only did it once and it only lasted a few seconds, but still.”
“I get,” said Claudia, “normal Rec may seem calm about a lot of things, but its warm calm that can be very inviting, angry Rec is a cold calm that makes you fear for your safety. Now, I believe we have some flight lessons to start.”
*************************
After a few minutes Mandi found a very irate looking white rabbit on her way the crystal tree palace, stopping before the creature she said, “hello, you look unhappy, can I help.”
The rabbit gave a curt nod and pointed towards the tree.
“Well I'm headed there myself,” said Mandi, hop on. Word of warning, if you try anything funny or painful to me I will introduce you to someone that finds creatures like you... amusing, clear?”
The rabbit nodded and hopped up on her back, she would have given a quip about it being able to understand her, but given the life she lived and the day she'd had she decided to not put any real thought. Half way to the castle the rabbit started thumping her back hard as if he wanted to encourage a greater burst of speed.
“If you don't stop that I will show you something that is probably going to freak you out,” the rabbit continued. She reached into her pouch and pulled out what looked like a light gray stone dog's paw with dark gray toes and a purple oval shaped gem in the center with with a yellow highlight by its neck piece and yelled “guard the gates, Cerberus,” a stone covered dog with three heads crowned with fire and tail made of fire appeared next to her, “last chance to stop before I have Cerberus forcefully place you on his back,” the rabbit stopped, “good choice, Cerberus recall,” the three headed dog turned into a purple wisp and and shot into the amulets gem, “just remember I can call him up anytime you act out, so please behave, but since you are in a rush, NimbleFire,” she became encased in an orange aura and moved at a much faster paced run than the rabbit expected, before they knew it they were at the crystal tree and her aura had worn off “I hope you keep my friend a secret for the time being, I really don't know how anybody will take it.”
A few seconds later Fluttershy ran out calling, “Angel, Angel, where are you?”
The white rabbit jumped from Mandi's back to the back of the yellow pegasus, “So that's his name,” said Mandi, “sure wasn't acting like it a few minutes ago.”
“You silly bunny,” said Fluttershy, “what have you been up to?” The rabbit started gibbering in in the way rabbits sound and when it finished a few minutes later Fluttershy looked over at Mandi and said, “you can do magic? You can call creature named Cerberus? The Cerberus I know is guarding Tartarus's gates.”
Mandi gave a sigh and said, “I'm a Seeker, we can do magic and summon Titans. I have Cerberus amulet, it let's me summon a Cerberus. Wait a moment, Cerberus is real here?”
“Oh yes,” said Fluttershy, “and he's quite scary.”
“Well that's a sobering thought, are hydras real too.”
“Oh yes,” said Fluttershy, “there's at least one living in Froggy Bottom Bog.”
Mandi brought hoof to her face before taking deep sigh and saying, “I know dragons are real, I saw the little one Twilight has. Are manicores real?” Fluttershy nodded, “chimera?” Another nod, “sea serpents?”
“There's a friendly one in the Everfree Forest.”
“Jackalope?”
“I haven't met any, but I have read they're roaming around the plains near southern Equestria.”
“Well, that's... different,” said Mandi, “where we come from they're all titans that spawned stories. Listen, I would like you to be my flying instructor.”
“Rainbow's a much better flier than me,” said the yellow pegasus while trying to hide behind her pink mane.
“She also happens to be a brash showboat with massive competitive streak, I know the type because Cladia is the same way and currently taking lessons from Rainbow, no I want someone more reserved as my instructor, in my humble opinion you are a much better choice.”
Fluttershy giggled and said, “that does sound like Rainbow, believe it or not she actually used be worse. I'd be happy to teach you the basics of flying.”
“Now that we have that out of the way, what kind of power did you use to understand what your pet rabbit was saying?”
“My ability to understand animals is my special talent, because of it I can understand and speak their languages. What does your cutie mark represent?”
“I never really had one before arriving here,” said Mandi with a confused look at her flank before turning back to Fluttershy, “I've always felt it was my role in life to be a guardian. Truth be told most of my titan friends have some link to protection. Cerberus guards the gates to the afterlife in the myths about him in our world, Midnight Rook is covered in an armor made from stone, of tales of the hydra it was a guardian of a great treasure, Gold Ram is part of a tale about saving two children from a horrible mother, Invisible Knight has stories about being a warrior's spirit that was so loyal it kept its lord's greatest treasure safe after he had passed on, Tolivane has an ability that makes him really hard to hurt, Sentinel has an ability that allows him to make energy spheres and barriers that can keep him and others safe, Divine Mirror Kagami can reflect a varity of attacks and abilities, Mucalin has an ability that allows him to take attacks intended for others. And my first titan, Under Golem, has an ability that allows him to become as close to invincible as possible, of course it comes at the price of his mobility.”
“Your friends have interesting names, can I meet some? As long as it isn't Cerberus I'm find with it.”
Mandi reached into her pouch and pulled out Midnight Rook's amulet and said, “Midnight Rook,” suddenly the small bird titan was on her shoulder, “this is Midnight Rook, he's what's called a Litho-Titan, he may look cute, but he's actually pretty tough.”
“Oh, hello,” Fluttershy said to the bird-like Titan, “what can you tell me about yourself?” Midnight Rook started cawing and flapping in manner he was talking to Fluttershy when he stopped Fluttershy said, “really? She did that? She's a really nice pony,” Midnight Rook gave few more caws and flapped its wings indignantly, “oh, sorry, I didn't know she wasn't a pony until that long ago,” she turned to Mandi and said, “you have a good friend, he told me about how you saved him from a terrible life.”
“I'm surprised you could understand him without a bond, and yes that's right. The more powerful a Seeker is or the longer they have a Titan the more a Titan takes on properties like their Seeker, Rook was the second Titan I ever achieved, he's one my best friends.”
“Can you introduce me to Under Golem?”
“That would be... ill advised,” said Mandi with concern, “he's really big, and can't really talk to you. Not having mouth does that for you, the only way you could understand him is if you had a bond with him,” she brought hoof to the amulet on her neck, “besides I don't want to cause a disturbance in town, when he moves you can feel the earth beneath you shake. Besides, when Seeker summons a Titan they use some of their magical energies and the bigger or more powerful the Titan the more you end up using. Under Golem is really big and pretty powerful, no offense to my flying friend here, but Midnight Rook is actually pretty weak by Titan standards,” the Titan cawed and flapped indignantly, “I'm aware of... you really have messed up priorities. No, I am not going let you hunt... Why, because you don't need to eat, or breath for that matter... Rook is this really the time to... no that does not sound like fun, but that other thing does... why am I not asking you, because you don't have hooves.”
“Um, all he said was that he regretfully agreed with you,” said Fluttershy.
“The bond gives a special mental link that allow me to understand him,” said Mandi, “and I just...,” she have deep sigh, “I acted like Rec when he interacts with his titans, that is a little weird... yes Midnight, I am aware of that, why are you so gabby all of a sudden?... Really, well that's... interesting.”
“What is it?” inquired the yellow pegsus mare.
“Midnight Rook says that the concentration of mystical energies here are strengthening our link, and few other things... Rook, I was planning on doing that from the beginning.”
“He asked you to go flying with him,” said Fluttershy with a sweet smile.
“That and he wants to watch me flounder around trying to fly, I'm the kind to stand firm and not back down. No offense to everyone who can fly, but I'm not the flighty kind.”
Fluttershy giggled and said, “none taken, we still have plenty of light for a few hours of practice. I'll take you down to my place so it will be easier to treat your injuries if you hurt yourself.”
“I appreciate the thought,” said Mandi with a courteous nod, “lead on.”
****************************************
In the time it had taken Mandi to get to the castle Claudia had made five face plants into the ground near the pond, seven unintended splash landings, pulled a wing and gotten a wing cramp over the course of her lessons with Rainbow, who laughed at every one of her crash landings, after her latest crash landing, which involved a tree branch and the pond (in that order) and more hysterical laughing from Rainbow, the cyan mare finally said, “and I thought Twilight was terrible with her wings when she was learning to fly after them. You're griffin! How is it you've never learned to fly?”
“I wasn't a griffon last week,” responded Claudia as she crawled from the pond and shook herself clean (resulting in making herself quite fluffy), “or yesterday for that matter, I used only walk on two legs without wings. I got flying license, but that's for piloting airships, airplanes and jets.”
“You just said two words that I've never heard before,” Rainbow (while still laughing), “and why would you need a license to fly? You have wings!”
“I didn't always have wings,” shot back Claudia, “I just told you that. Maybe there's someone I can call up that can help with this, besides I won't be able to fly for a while thanks to this cramp, I really shouldn't have tried that last attempt. Claudia reached into her her pouch and pulled out a blue-steel amulet that looked like a griffin's talon grasping a pinkish gray gem before saying, “nope, don't want to call him up if it's not important,” she put the amulet back and in the pouch and pulled out blue-steel amulet modeled after a dragon themed knight's helmet with a pinkish gray gem in the center, “he should do nicely! Fight with valor, Cavalier,” suddenly a pony with dragon-like wings in a black suit of armor with a muted gray helmet modeled after a dragon's head with a pair of flaming swords at its sides and red dragon insignia on it's chest appeared, “hey Cavalier,” said Claudia, “what happened to you?”
Rainbow looked over at the new pony and said, “this guy is awesome, and he has cool sounding name too. Everything about him just so cool.”
“Yeah, Cavalier is a Titan with some special rules attached him, you have to be really loyal and dedicated to the greater good to bond with a titan like this. We found a few on trip a few months back, all three of us have one, but I'm the only one that brought one with us on our assignment. I am going to throttle the jerk who decided to ruin the one week I could finally just goof around with my friends... well I wouldn't go that far... are you serious... wow, you really are one of those selfless noble types.”
“Um, am I missing something?” said Rainbow, “Cavalier just thought he would share a few things with me, which reminds me, why haven't you been this chatty before,” the titan just shrugged, “anyway I need some pointers on flying, think your up to it? I can't right now, I sprained my wing... yes I did do that... are you serious... okay, fine I'll try to avoid doing that next time around.”
“Um, nopony was talking,” said Rainbow.
“Since I'm bonded with Cavalier I he can say things to me through a mental link we both share. Cavalier, how are you going to use your flaming swords without digits?... Ah, magic field manipulation, that works for me.”
“Well he looks real cool,” said Rainbow, “how'd get here any anyway?”
Claudia gestured to the amulet in her talons, “he lives in this, all Titans reside in amulets. It's finding one that can be tricky, especially since neck based jewelry is so common place now, it makes it harder to identify Seekers by their choice of apparel. Some of the most powerful Titans reside in rings.”
“Wow, suddenly jewlrey doesn't sound as uncool as I thought, don't tell Rarity that okay.”
“Which one was that exactly?” said Claudia, “I didn't exactly pay attention in my mad dash to escape the party.”
“I still can't believe you deliberately ditched a Pinkie party,” said Rainbow, “the only reason I left early was to look for you so I could help explain why you made for the exit instead of the snack table or games.”
Claudia gave deep sigh before saying, “I've attended a bunch of 'parties' in my life, and of dozens upon dozens of parties I've attended only three were actually enjoyable while the rest made me ponder finding some means of purging my mind of the experiences. Granted the majority of 'parties' I attended more wealthy socialite meet and greet affairs with very little to do other than hang around the buffet table and try to stay out of everybody's way. I earned reputation early on that caused every elite school my dad's family would normally have the family attend actively bar me from admission into the institutes, so I was sent to public school, which I much preferred, of course up until I was eight I was home schooled.”
“You, lived with the social elite where your from,” said Rainbow with surprise, “and deliberately sabotaged your means of officially joining their ranks?”
“I'm a bit too much like my mother, we're both a bit aggressive when it comes to our interactions. And... thank you Cavalier, I'm well aware of that.”
Rainbow gave a chuckle before saying, “it's almost like your siblings!”
“Cavalier wouldn't have bonded with me if I wasn't pure of heart, he just doesn't agree with some of my approaches as you... you sound just like my friends now, I'm aware that I can be a bit of a brute. Sorry about that Rainbow, Cavalier really felt it was necessary to chastise my approach to things this time around.”
Rainbow looked over at Cavalier's amulet and noticed a longsword with wings icon glowing on gem, “question,” said Rainbow, “what's with amulet having a cutie mark?”
“That's Cavalier's icon,” said Claudia, “the gems glow with the Titan's icon when they're active outside their amulets,” she brought her talon to the amulet around her neck before saying, “the bond with Titans and Seekers is one of the oldest magic, the tale goes that long before recorded history a great evil fell to Earth and the one known as Lord Casterwill summoned the Titans to Earth to fight them, in order to remain in this world the Titans created the amulets to hold their power and maintain their link with their new world. Over time the battle with the great evil was forgotten and the Titans themselves became the inspiration for all the great stories of our world. Pegasus the winged stallion, the legend of the unicorn, fables of the griffin, the lores of the world were all created through the Titans and the Seekers that were bonded with them. While here what are considered myths lores in our world are living and breathing creatures, in our world their inspirations were Titans that were held by Seekers known as heroes and villains of history.”
“That's cool,” said Rainbow, “check your wing, I think it might be good now.”
Claudia gave her wings an experimental flap before saying I think you might be right,” she flapped a little harder and before she knew it she was off the ground, “oh yeah, time to break these babies in and then a little friendly competition.”
“I'm game,” said Rainbow with a smirk.
*********************************
“You know back home if I tried this I would fall straight through the cloud,” said Mandi as she messaged her wings on top of a cloud, “it feels weird using a cloud as a landing platform.”
“I wouldn't know what you mean entirely,” said Fluttershy, “Rainbow and I grew up in Cloudsdale, it's a pegasus city made from clouds.”
Mandi's eyes bugged, “there is a city composed entirely from clouds?”
“Several actually,” said Fluttershy, “Cloudsdale is just the largest.”
“Wow, so, what's the capitol of nation called?”
“Canterlot,” said Fluttershy, “we're a short train ride from there actually.”
“Sounds a bit like Camelot,” said Mandi furrowing her brow, “a legendary castle town established by King Arthur in all the stories about him. It was the seat of his power. With the wizard Merlin as his boyhood instructor and advisor in his later years he established a great kingdom. Of course that's the official tales, you see he was also a Seeker as well as a great leader. He had a number of Titans that have been lost to history, same with Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table. Sir Lancelot was Seeker from several centuries later that was inserted into the Arthur mythos. Ironically during that Seeker's lifetime, it's said he created traps and challenges based around the Arthurian tales told about him. She checked her wings with a quick flap and said, “okay I'm good... Midnight Rook, I just want you to perch on the cloud by my side... the rules are different here I saw a few birds perched on clouds during practice, one of which was very heavy looking owl, I think you'll be okay.” The stone clad bird ruffled it's wings a bit before flying up to perch next to Mandi, and giving her a perplexed look when it landed on the cloud. Fluttershy giggled and commented on how cute it looked.
“He agrees, this weird,” said Mandi, “he could never do this in our world. I really find this a little odd, I keep expecting to fall through the clouds to the floor. Where we come from weather doesn't work the same way, actually it sort of does. The world my friends and I are from has the properties of the Everfree Forest, minus the immense levels of magic.”
“Oh my,” said Fluttershy, “who looks after all the animals?”
“They look after themselves mostly,” said Mandi, “but truth be told some have been killed off by people of our world. Mostly because they unaware of the existence of the species, but any many cases they were wiped out deliberately for one reason or another.”
“That's horrible,” said Fluttershy with fearful surprise, “I can't believe anypony would knowingly wipe out the entire population any animals.”
“To put it bluntly, our world isn't very friendly. This world is very happy and free compared to ours, it really makes me wish I was born here. Of course if I had been born here I would have never become a Seeker, and I love being a Seeker. Uncovering lost secrets, seeing the world, making amazing memories with my friends, and saving long forgotten treasures from those that could potentially abuse them. While I'll admit I'm not much of the adventuring type, I don't mind it much with my friends at my side.”
“My friends and I've been on a few adventures ourselves,” said Fluttershy, “I'm much happier staying home and looking after my animal friends. Do you want to keep going with lessons or...”
“How is you keep beating me,” came the loud voice of Rainbow, “I mean seriously, I used both forelegs to your one and you still beat me.”
“Sounds like your friend is finding out how much of a beast Claudia is,” said Mandi with giggle, “and she probably isn't even using her powers.”
“Powers?” inquired Flutteshy as she landed on the cloud next Mandi.
“That's what we call Seeker spells,” said Mandi with an amused smile, “her favorites are DragonFist and StoneGlove. You see our magic works a little different than you might think, and trust me when I say catching others by surprise is always fun. Sometimes it happens to us, it is not fun. The set of events that lead to use coming here was a little odd, especially considering who opened the door.”
“Who opened the door for you to come to us?”
“Her name is Janusea the Gatekeeper, she's a Titan that's been with Rec a really long time. The Titan he's been with longest is called Vitaguard, and trust me I say that you see them together you will think there is probably no better team,” she brought her hoof to amulet around her neck again, “our first Titans are always the ones we have the greatest sentimental link to, if we were to lose them it would be like losing a trusted friend. Rec has been with Vitaguard almost his entire life and Orchid has been with her Jirwolf since she was six, compared to them we haven't been with ours all that long. I've only been with Under Golem for about four years, the same holds true with Claudia and her Fireblade.”
“You said Orchid has connection with some kind of wolf, that's so nice.”
“Actually most of her Titans are a bit like animals,” said Claudia with smirk, “the bear like Breaker that Rec gave her after she came home with Jirwolf, the squirrel like Springer, the crocodile like Ammit Heart Eater, and the cat like Hellynx are just some of the Titans she has access to.”
“Most of those sound nice, but...” Fluttershy looked around with a clear distress before saying, “why does one have to eat hearts?”
Mandi laughed a bit before saying, “that's just what the Titan is called, it was the basis of mythical creature in Egypt named Amutt which was said to consume the hearts of those whose hearts weighed heavier than the the feather of truth when somebody was judged by the scales of the afterlife. If your heart equaled the feather's weight it meant you were good person in life and permitted to enter paradise, if Amutt ate your heart that meant you were to be sent to place of eternal punishment.”
“If you failed he ate your heart and you got sent to Tartarus?”
“No, Egypt didn't believe in Tartarus, they just referred to it as the Underworld. Greece had the Underworld, Tartarus and the Elysian Fields.”
“What's the Elysian Fields?”
“A place for those who did good things and earned the right to peace and relaxation, in other words those who did good for others like great heroes.”
“That sounds like a nice place.”
“Oh come on,” came Rainbow's voice, “how can you beat me and AJ with one foreleg? It shouldn't be possible.”
“She probably used one of her favorite spells for that one,” said Mandi with amusement, “let's go check on them.”
“After I get Angel inside and fed,” said Fluttershy as she descended.
“I can wait,” said Mandi with a smile.
A few minutes later she and Fluttershy were trotting in the direction of a rather irate Rainbow Dash. After several minutes they came upon the trio, with a lone AJ preparing to arm wrestle the griffin. Mandi trotted up to Claudia and whispered, “no powers this time, I can understand in a two on one match, but one on one it's a bad idea.”
Claudia huffed and said in an irritated voice, “fine, but if she starts using more than one limb the deal's off.”
“Whut was tha' about?” inquired Applejack.
“Just reminding her to not cheat, she probably did when Rainbow tried using more than one limb or called you in for help taking her down.”
“Ah didn't see any cheatin',” said Applejack.
“You mean you don't know,” said Mandi with a smirk.
Claudia shot a “don't you dare tell them” look at the pegasus mare, a look that she ignored.
“Claudia can use spells, so can I,” said Mandi with smirk, “in fact her two favorites spells are about physical enhancement.”
The three mare mares stared at the two, “what kinda spells do ya prefer?” inquired Applejack.
“Defensive,” said Claudia with smile before saying, “BreakSpell,” holding her hoof towards Claudia causing the image some kind essence fall from the griffin.
“Thanks for that,” said Claudia, “there goes my fun.”
“You can still have it,” said Claudia with a smirk, “you just won't have any of your little boosts to do so. They have time limit anyway, I just zeroed the timer early.”
Claudia gave a huff before placing her elbow on the tree stump and waited for Applejack's hoof to meet her talon.
A few seconds later Applejack brought her hoof to meet the griffin's talon. “Yuh ready?” said the orange mare.
“Let's do this,” said Claudia, the two started their wrestling match.
************************************
It had been almost forty minutes and neither combatant had given ground, it was at this point Mandi said, “I've seen a match like this before, it lasted for seven hours, no joke. Let's go get some food, maybe the smell of our midnight snack will get them to give up on the competition, but I doubt that will happen.”
“You're right about that,” said Rainbow, “me and AJ have some pretty big competitiveness, but a snack sounds good. Hay, how about hayburgers, if they're open this late, it's on me. You sure they'll be at it for hours?”
“Eeyup,” said Mandi, “those two will be in the same stance and face when we get back.
***********************************
A few minutes outside the Hayburger building Ponyville. “I never thought a burger could taste that good,” said Claudia as they walked out of the restaurant with three bags filled to the brim with burgers.
“You inhaled six of the first dozen I ordered,” said Rainbow with a smirk, “ya musta been pretty hungry.”
“I had a missed lunch because of our coming here,” said Mandi, “and am really regretting skipping out on the party as well.”
“Dude, it's Pinkie Party,” said Rainbow, “it's like an unwritten law you don't skip out on a Pinkie Party.”
“Not seeing your smiling face will make Pinkie really sad,” said Fluttershy, “maybe you should apologize for skipping out on the party and explain why you did it.”
“I was planning on it,” said Mandi.
“Good,” came the chipper voice of Pinkie Pie, “the party's over now, I'll be holding another one for the two of you special in couple of days.”
Taking a deep sigh Mandi said, “I'm sorry for ditching your party, I'm just not very comfortable in party environments. The last twelve parties I attended I was the one covered in goo and silly string in addition to being the one to be 'mistaken for the donkey' in a game of pin the tail on the donkey, forced into breathing an entire balloon's worth of helium before saying a complicated rhyme that It was also forced into reciting, And covered in real mud for three hours. So, you could say I haven't had the best party experiences before coming here,” when she finished the look of a very annoyed Pinkie accompanied by the sound of Rainbow Dash laughing really hard was all that hung in the air for almost two whole minutes.
When there was silence again Fluttershy said, “Oh my, you poor thing, no wonder you made for the exit when the party started.”
“Ah yeah, that gave me some really great ideas for some pranks,” said Rainbow.
“The ponies at the last few parties were really mean! Don't they know a party is supposed to make everypony happy? When I find them I am firing from my Party Cannon! And that's that,” said Pinkie.
“Please tell me that the part about a cannon was a metaphor,” said Mandi.
“No,” said Fluttershy, “she really does have 'party cannon', but she usually uses it for decorating places in a hurry.”
“You do realize that makes next to no sense,” said Mandi.
“To most ponies Pinkie makes almost no sense,” Rainbow, “but we just act like her eccentricities are no big deal and move on with our days.”
“Defying the laws of physics is not a quirk, it's an ability that shouldn't be possible, ever.”
“Are you really trying to explain away my Pinkie Senses?” said Pinkie.
“No, you being able to sense things that might occur the future isn't that odd,” said Mandi, “you firing a cannon and decorating in manner that isn't a complete mess does not make sense. You being able to out run a flier conceivably breaking the sound barrier makes no sense, you being able to bake a cake that is fully decorated right out of the oven makes no sense, me having a highly informed conversation about quantum physics with a professor makes no sense, me being able to call out a giant creature from an amulet makes plenty of sense. The point is there some things that seem to make no sense yet really do, and some things that should make sense but don't.”
“Ooh,” said Pinkie, “an oven that also decorates the cake, that sounds cool. Where can I find one?”
“To my knowledge,” said Mandi, “you can't, they only exist as a gag in comics that are intentionally funny.”
“Ah,” said Pinkie, “no party ovens exist, I'll find a ways to fix that.”
“It might take a few years, an expert in magic, and a bit more resources than you might be willing to dedicate to the project,” said Mandi.
“That's okay,” said Pinkie, “I'm working on how to make full on party business, and when I finally have it I'm totally having a sizable portion of my R an' D department find a way to make an oven like that possible.”
“The worst part is that she's probably serious,” said Rainbow as they all headed to where Claudia and Applejack were.
“So where we headed, Dashie?” said Pinkie.
“To check on Claudia and Applejack's arm wrestling contest,” said Mandi, “it's been over an hour since they started and I want to see who's gotten the advantage. Pinkie gave a confused look to Mandi. Not looking, but sensing the look Mandi said, “the last time Claudia got into contest like the one she was having with Applejack when we went to get a midnight snack it last for several hours before she and her opponent were forced to give out by the crowd and just call it a draw, and by that I mean Rec and I had use a few spells on the the crowd, her opponent and her because the restaurant was supposed to have closed two and a half hours prior. What can I say? Well other than she really wanted that week's worth of free lunches the owner was promising if he got beaten.”
Rainbow burst out laughing again before saying, “that totally sounds like something I would do too.”
“Yup,” said Pinkie, “Rainbow's really competitive.”
“so is Claudia,” said Mandi.
“So, what' your full name?” inquired Pinkie, “Mandi and Mandolin are nice and all, but we should really know your full name.”
Mandi gave a deep sigh before saying, “she isn't going to drop it is she?” the other two ponies just shook her head before she gave another sigh and said with a defeated voice, “my full name is Mandolin Serenity Guard, please don't laugh.”
“Are you foaling us?” said Rainbow, “that name is pretty cool sounding.”
“I think it's rather pretty,” said Fluttershy.
“I like it,” said Pinkie, “what about your friends?”
“Claudia's full name is Claudia Raptor Nelverius, believe it or not the Nalverius is a very wealthy and influential family where we come from, but as far as any of us know Claudia's the only Seeker among them. As for Rec his full name is Recorded Formula Magus Mage Staff.”
“Alright,” said Rainbow, “Claudia has an awesome sounding name, I don't think Rec could have more egghead sounding name.”
“Doesn't help that he is one,” said Mandi, “so is Orchid, and their mom. Their dad and older siblings, not so much.”
“What's Orchid's full name?” inquired Fluttershy, “you don't have to tell us if you don't want to.”
“It's fine,” said Mandi, “her full name is Orchid Spell Talisman Mage Staff.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” said Rainbow, “they have the same last part of their names, that's a little weird.”
“Mage Staff is their family name,” said Mandi, “that's how it's done where we come from, the family name is the Last Name of someone.”
The three other ponies all looked at each other before Pinkie said, “the place you come from is weird, I'd like to see it some time.”
“We need to find a way of getting back home first,” said Mandi.
After a few minutes of trotting they came back to the image of the Claudia and Applejack not giving ground. “We should have gotten a timer for this,” said Rainbow, “I think this is the longest AJ's hoofwrestled somepony before.”
“It's only been an hour and a half,” said Mandi offhoofedly, “Claudia's gone a full seven and a half hours like that.”
“How do ya know how long et's been?” came Applejack's voice.
“Oh, Mandi's got a really good sense of time,” said Claudia while refusing to take her eyes of her opponent, “she's a better time keeper than a stopwatch really.”
“A proper guardian needs to know how much time has passed at any given point so they can accurately debrief the one coming to relieve them or debrief their superiors,” said Mandi, everyone turned to look at her (Claudia and Applejack still keeping their contest going), “why is everybody looking at me like that?”
“I think you should totally apply for the Royal Guard,” said Rainbow, “you're just the kind of pony they need.”
“Already have a job, thank you very much,” said Claudia, “one that I was supposed to be taking a break from when this all happened.”
“Supposed ta?” inquired Applejack.
“It was our week off from Association related activities,” Mandi and Claudia said in Unison.
“But we got called in for an assignment just before we could get to goofing off,” said Claudia, “that mission lead to the events that brought us here.” With that everypony returned to the competition in earnest.
A Meeting With Royalty and the Start of a New Mission
Rec woke the next morning and the first thing he saw in his room the biggest cupcake he had ever seen, instead the usual reaction someone would have he took a deep inhalation of the scents in the room and said, “seriously, triple chocolate strawberry swirl? I'm more of a huckleberry and mint four chocolate swirl type, this my sister's favorite kind of cupcake. This could mean one of three things, since she's not crazy enough to pull a stunt like this I'm going to rule out her trying to prank me. The other two involve Inari, that fox better have something new this time around,” he walked up to the cupcake and took small hoofful and chewed it then swallowed, “hm, that's the real deal alright and very tasty as well. Wonder where it came from,” the first thing he saw when he opened the door was Pinkie Pie hanging upside down over his door frame, “oh, hi Pinkie, what are you doing here so early?” the entire time he was so calm Pinkie made a worried face.
“Are you okay, usually ponies are like bwalalkalrakaaaaaaaaaaa,” said Pinkie, during her amusing sound she did a mock flail.”
“I'll do that later,” said Rec calmly, “right now I have a schedule to keep.”
_______________________________________________
Watching the scene unfold in a hidden place, thanks to Inari's illusion ability, Discord said, “You knew he would react this way! So why go through all of our preparation work if he's just going to remain calm about it?”
“The thing about Rec is that his morning reactions are different from his fully awake reactions, he acts calm and collected when he gets up because his brain is still processing a bunch of stuff, but when he finishes his morning ritual,” the sound of a shower turning on came from down the hall, “he has very different reactions.”
______________________________________________
Five minutes later Rec was stepping out of the shower, and then it dawned on him what he had just woken to in the morning, the sound him shouting at the top of his lungs, “Inari, get your nine tailed butt out here now. We! Need! To! Talk! About! Your! Extra! Curricular! Activities!”
___________________________________________
“Told ya,” said Inari with a wink at Discord, “now for faze two, that's where you make yourself look like me. He'll be able to tell the real from the fake, but it will take him a few seconds.”
Both blinked in front of him looking like the nine tailed white fox.
_________________________________________________
“Very funny,” said Rec in an unamused voice after a few seconds, “Discord return to your natural state please, I have a lesson plan with Twilight and your presence in your natural state would be appreciated.” While looking right at said dronequus.
“How did he know which was which,” said Discord in his usual voice as he assumed his natural state.
“I bonded with Inari, it let's me know things like which one is the real thing if she makes duplicates. Of course the bond also gives her a direct line to my head, which has me wondering, why did you go with my sister's favorite cupcakes?”
“Because I wanted to make your sister freak out,” said Inari, “she was next to us during the part where I told Discord what this endeavor would involve.”
“Did you get the yogurt?” Inari nodded, “A bowl to hold it all?” Another nod, “huckleberries?” Another nod, “well, I don't need to ask about the spoon then. Honey?” She shook her head. “Cinnamon?” Another head shake, “ginger?” Her head shook again. “What kind of yougurt ploy is it without cinnamon or ginger? The honey I can understand, that pairing is used way too often.”
“That's one the reason we bonded so effectively,” said Inari turning to Discord, “he and my original Seeker have some interesting reactions when they realize a gag is being run.”
*********************************
A few minutes later Rec was in his borrowed room pulling the Mythichive from his bags. After the device was floating by his head in his newly discovered blue and yellow glowing aura he sifted through the bags for something to wear (while he had noticed that naked seemed to be the societal default in Equestria he still felt like he would need to wear something other than his amulet and flank pouches). After a minute or two of sifting the spare clothes he was glad he had packed in backpack he pulled up a multi-pocketed vest (which surprisingly was now in a format suitable for an equine) and slipped it on with his Vitaguard amulet, after that he checked his amulets in his flank pouch and noted which he had on him and made a mental note to grab a few more from home when they found a way out of Equestria and back home (which was now starting to sound odd to him because for some reason after a good night's rest he was starting to think of Equestria as home as well). Checking the window he found the sun wasn't quite up, a quick check of the clock revealed the sun probably wouldn't be up for another three or four hours (at the time he was unaware of the powers Celestia and Luna possessed).
After double checking which Titans he had Rec made his way down the stair and towards the kitchen. Once there he pulled out some of his amulets with his foreleg and began invoking them, “trick the trap, Springer,” a four tailed foxy squirrel (much like his sister's appeared), “work the mechanism, Tinkertock,” the little robot like Titan appeared once more, “fly high, Solwing,” the bird like Titan appeared on his shoulder, “scurry about, Gremlow,” the little rat like Titan appeared once more, “reveal yourself, Gareon,” afterward he set the amulets on the dining table and the iguana like Gareon positioned to guard them. “Alright everyone,” he said to the Titans, “we're making breakfast, everyone knows their roles let's kick this one on into high gear, we have royalty to impress.”
With all the Titans out and moving with motions that were far more fluid in relation to one another than one might think it was easy to tell this was regular practice for them and Rec. The Titans brought Rec the ingredients for some very wholesome apple and cinnamon pancakes. Rec got to work on the meal with such ease and practice using his hooves and magic in such a level of care and control that it one would think he had been doing so his entire life.
Spike was up with the sunrise, something he found was quite a common practice only to see the sight of Rec and his Titans making breakfast and setting the table (to be more accurate Solwing and Springer were setting the table, Gremlow seemed to be standing guard until someone came down before using a more subdued version of its swarm ability to go and check on the rooms that everyone was sleeping in, Gareon was still watching over the amulets and leered at the young dragon as if daring him to try something, the rest were helping Rec with his cooking in some capacity). “Um, what's going on?” said in his young voice.
“Making breakfast,” said Rec without looking away from what he was doing, I do hope you don't dislike apple cinnamon pancakes.”
“Um, no,” said Spike cautiously, “but it's been a while since Twilight or I had a formal meal. Where's that cool thing you called a 'Mythichive'?”
“I dropped it off in the study on the way to the kitchen,” said Rec, “have seat, and for the love of all that is sacred do not start eating before everyone else is at the table. More individuals need to practiced common courtesy these days.”
“Um, okay,” said Spike sliding into a seat across from Gareon, “how did you train them to do all of this?”
“I didn't,” said Rec, “Titans and their Seekers have magical bond that allows us to better communicate. I still have to issue verbal suggestions or commands, but know exactly what my meaning in the words is.”
“Besides,” said Inari seeming to materialize next to Spike, “this is one to the best shows you'll ever get. Most Seekers just use their Titans for combat or dealing with problems they are having difficulty with, Rec actually brings them out for conversation and little tasks like this. After they're finished he'll give them all free reign to do as they please with the stipulation they should respect privacy and stay out of trouble.”
A few minutes later Twilight's voice could be heard saying, “Well, Fluttershy would definitely want to meet you, you're unlike any animal I've seen before.”
“That little one's name is Gremlow,” Inari said just loud enough for the lavender Alicorn to hear her yet soft enough she wouldn't wake any who were still sleeping, “he's one of Rec's Titans.”
A Gremlow followed by Twilight came down and she was treated to the sight of all the titans performing the morning task. She looked over at Spike who shrugged before turning her attention to Gareon, the titan hissed at her in a manner she assumed was a warning. Turning her attention to the kitchen she was treated to the sight of the small titans milling about like a chef's assistants as Rec continued pile flapjacks onto a plate. Once it had reached a height almost level with his horn the Springer lifted the plate and carefully made its way to the table, after nimbly jumping from the floor to a chair then the table Springer set the plate with a large pile down on the table's center. The small titan then made its way back to the kitchen where it motioned to Tinkertock to open the fridge door. After giving a series of clinks (that both amused Twilight and made her think it was rather cute) the little clockwork titan scurried over to the near the fridge before positioning itself in a manner that caused a pair of large gears in its torso to move in opposing directions and cause the door to open as if a unicorn had used their magic to open the door. Springer hopped about the shelves before grabbing a mass of oranges that Twilight had in the fridge and jumping out and shutting the door with its tails. After jumping back on to the counter to carefully set the oranges so none would bruise or roll away Springer ran to the cupboard that held Twilight's pitchers for fresh drinks and pulled out a clay one with ease and care before returning to the oranges with care. After positioning himself so that his squeezes of the oranges all went into the pitcher, after a few minutes all the oranges were expertly squeezed and Springer sniffed around before scurrying to the cupboard where Twilight kept her sugar (raw, she had read it was much healthier than sugar that was processed in any capacity). Twilight just shook her head, she kept her sugar in a container with an enchantment that made it unbreakable and another that required an unlocking spell to remove the lid, and prepared to help out. She stopped short when Springer sniffed the container a few times and ran one of its claws over the edge of the lid, and was surprised when the little titan removed the lid and took a small pawful of sugar, followed by Solwing gently lowering a wooden mixing spoon into the pitcher before landing on the table next to Gareon.
As Springer slowly mixed the raw sugar into juice Twilight said, “How did he do that? That container had an enchantment that made it impossible to open without an unlocking spell!”
“Springer's ability allows him to bypass locks and traps of mundane and magical nature,” said Rec as he opened a cupboard for the little titan to get drinking glasses out. Springer and Solwing set the glasses on the table with such ease and expertise that it brought a smile to Twilight's face despite her confusion.
“They look like they they've done this many times before. How long have you been making meals like this?” inquired Twilight.
“I thought he had trained them,” said Spike, “but he says the mental link seekers call a bond makes that not required.”
Twilight's eyes went big before she said, “You mean they know exactly what you request regardless how vague you are?”
“Yep,” said Rec as he came to the table with the pitcher and Springer on his shoulder, “titans have direct access to your mind through the link we call the bond so they can better perform tasks asked of them, it also helps with them doing things if a command or suggestion gets cut off. You still have to issue verbal commands to the titans though, it isn't until you powerbond that it no longer becomes a requirement.”
“Powerbond?” said Twilight with interest.
“A powerbond is when your link with your titan reaches its ultimate extent. When that happens the titan gets new abilities and sometimes even changes in appearance. When a seeker is powerbonded they can mental communicate with their titan. I've never experienced it myself yet, but I've read up on it. I have the whole study in my Mythichive under the file name 'Bonding and Seekers', it's really a fascinating read through really.”
“I'll check it out after your lecture later today. You said you'd explain Legendary Titans and I'm pretty sure you never really explained the Mythichive.”
“We hope we are not intruding,” came Luna's voice.
“Princess Luna,” said Twilight with a smile, “it's nice to see you here, but shouldn't you be lowering the moon soon?”
“Indeed,” said Luna, “I merely wished to meet our guests in pony beforehoof, the young one was quite pleasant in her dreams, she seemed to feel a strong connection with me within the dream realm.”
“Orchid has always been more nocturnal,” said Rec as he stroked the head of his Springer, “she seems to bond most readily with animal like Titans, but there's one titan seems to like us both evenly,” he reached into his bag and pulled out silver amulet in the form of a unicorn's head with a green gem that looked like it played the part of the eye, “Orchid and I have eyes that match hers, mom's are more of an indigo. Colors like green, indigo, violet and maroon are very uncommon eye colors where we come from.”
“Twilight has informed us of these creatures you call Titans,” said Luna as she took a seat next to Rec and took closer look at the amulet, “but from what we were told I expected to see bigger creatures of unusual appearance,” she gestured to the small titans that seemed to be acting leisurely, “but right now I only see small creatures of unusual appearance and nature.”
“They're small Titans,” said Rec as he set Springer on the table, “all the ones you see right now are scout class titans, and each has abilities to help it in that regard,” he gestured to Springer and said, “this is a Springer, their special ability called Trap Trickster. The ability means he's good at solving puzzle, opening locks and deactivating traps, mundane or magical. He can also rig traps for catching others or go all out and make entire traps,” he gestured to Solwing, “Solwing's flying ability and sharp eyes and ears make him excellent at finding things,” he gestured to Gareon, “Gareon can turn invisible for short periods of time in addition to having the ability to crawl along walls and ceilings,” he gestured to Tinkertock, “and Tinkertock can remotely access any device and manipulate it with his ability.”
“I saw him do that,” said Twilight, “he opened the fridge as if he was a unicorn.”
“With so much ambient magic flowing around it's no very surprising that some of the abilities of our titans are much more powerful than usual,” said Rec, “back home our fridge is a compartment in the wall so it saves space, Tinkertock's ability is very good at getting those doors open when everyone else needs to go through a series of puzzles. Orchid cheats and uses her Springer.”
As if on cute Orchid walked in and mumbled about smelling heaven. Luna smiled and nuzzled the filly, this woke her up completely, “Am I dreaming?” was all Orchid said.
“No,” said Rec, “she's physically here, you know how the other two are.”
Orchid gave a mischievous smile before saying, “How will they wake them up this time, somehow drowning them in warm water or setting their...”
“Orchid,” chastised Rec.
“Sorry,” said Orchid pulling her ears back in shame.
Luna's horn started glowing and the moon began to set. “Huh, moonset is a bit earlier than I calculated,” said Rec taking look outside the window.
“What?” said Twilight, “Princess Luna is just lowering the moon a little early, and I think I know why,” both mares gave smirk.
“That's not how it works in our world,” said Rec, “it's all an unassisted natural cycle with no one working it, it's just planetary rotation and orientation for the rising and falling of the moon and sun in addition to seasonal transitions. Are you telling me that in this world that's all maintained by individuals that have that as part of their job description?”
“Um, yes,” said Twilight.
Orchid looked at her brother with confusion before he said to her, “Remember the bedtime stories mom would tell us?”
Her eyes went wide, “About the beautiful ladies who commanded the sun and moon? She only told us those stories, our brothers and sisters never got to hear those stories. Are you saying that she modified them in some way?”
“I'm starting to think she might have visited here when she was younger and modified what she saw around her for us. It could also explain our naming conventions. Well that and...” he trailed off like he decided to not continue the the thought, “follow me to the study, the lecture will be there. Twilight, what day is it?”
“Saturday,” said Twilight.
“Really? It was Sunday yesterday for us,” said Rec, “Orchid, go find others your age to spend the day with.”
“Okay,” said Orchid, “I'll drop by miss Rarity's and see if Sweetie Belle wants to spend the day with me.”
“If she's not around she might be with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo at their clubhouse at Sweet Apple Acres,” said Twilight, “Spike can show you the way.”
“You got it,” said Spike, as he lead Orchid out he whispered to her, “And it gets me out of more magic lessons, those can be infuriating.”
“I like learning about magic, it's fun,” said Orchid as they left the complex.
“Now that the young ones are out I think it's time I explained things proper, my last lecture was more of a primer course.”
Twilight (with a mass of notebooks and writing materials) had eager eyes, it wasn't often she learned about new kinds of magic. Luna sat with a more subdued interested look (and nothing to record with). Rec took note of this.
“First off I need to explain Titans and Amulets,” his Springer dashed into the room and sat on the presentation table next the Mythichive and... two amulets? Shaking the confusion for later in the presentation Rec said, “Titans are entities from the Spirit world, particular they have their own subsection of there referred to as Huntik, which is also referred to as the Titan Dimension. In a sense Titans draw their appearance from the native flora and fauna of the world their amulets reside, or at least they did for my world. Each Titan has one or more special abilities that give it an advantage at something. An amulet is a Titan's home and serves as their anchor to the physical realm, if a Titan's amulet is destroyed that usually means the Titan has lost it's link to the physical world and has no choice other than returning the spirit realm, without a titan to balance an amulet's power the amulet breaks down into dust and scatters to the wind. When you first bond with a Titan it's referred to as a bond or standard bond. In this state you share a mental link that the Titan can talk to you through, most Titan's can't physically talk. In addition when your connection to a Titan reaches its ultimate extent they become what is referred to as 'Powerbonded' and gain new abilities, and sometimes even a new look. Any Questions so far?”
Twilight raised her hoof, Rec nodded before she said, “How does one bond with a Titan?”
“Usually by making physical contact with the titan's amulet,” said Rec, “but in this world it might be possible to bond through merely feeding a bit of your magic into the amulet, which reminds me. Twilight, you were studying one amulet, correct?” Twilight nodded, “then why do I see two next to my Mythichive?”
“I don't know,” said Twilight, “can't you scan it with the device like last time?”
“Yes, but I think this would be a wonderful test and see your Seeker potential,” said Rec with a smirk, “come on up and pick up the new amulet with your hoof,” he gestured to a yellow amulet with blue and green highlights in the shape of a cat's paw with a silver gem as the center pad, Twilight trotted up the amulet and slipped her hoof through the neck loop.
“I feel a little tingly,” said Twilight, “can we scan it now?”
“You could do that, or ask the Titan its name. Focus on the amulet and listen for the Titan's voice.”
Twilight closed her eyes and focused on the amulet for few seconds before saying, “Akmen-Meo, her name is Akmen-Meo,” suddenly the gem glowed with a black icon of a cat's head wearing a nemes appeared on the gem and what looked like a black and white domestic cat wearing a nemes with its back half decayed down to the bone with bits of mummy gauze wrapped loosely around the midsection appeared, “what just happened?”
“You summoned her,” said Rec, “if you will for a titan to come when you invoke its name while in contact with their amulet you summon them. Now let's see what your new little friend is capable of, this is a good lead up to the Mythichive and similar devices.”
Twilight held the amulet over the center of the device after Rec opened it. After scanning the amulet the Mythichive displayed the titan in its holographic display and said, “Akmen-Meo, Attack 1, Defense 1, Size: Small, Special Abilities: Loremaster, Type: Hecto-Titan Scout.”
“What does its ability mean?” inquired Luna.
“It means Akmen-Meo can move through large volumes of texts regardless of their age or linguistic obscurity and gather information from them, in short Akmen-Meo can understand any language that spoken or written without fail and give a perfectly recalled report to its Seeker or bring the exact text her Seeker is looking for. Since Twilight and Akmen-Meo are so similar they bonded quite easily. Now Nordrake is bit more vicious, a Seeker needs be a bit more aggressive to trigger a bond with it. Twilight got herself a good companion and...” he reached into his side pouch and pulled out blue-steel amulet with grayish-pink gem that looked like the upper section of a set of heavy armor with the gem looking like it was where the head should go, “this is someone that will serve you well as a guardian. His name is Ironsquire, hold out your hoof Twilight,” Twilight did as she was asked, Rec dropped the amulet into her waiting hoof, she felt the connection form, “when a Seeker willing gives another Seeker an amulet with the intention they have it for more than a few seconds they also transfer the bond, I want Twilight to keep Ironsquire with her, he might come out as just the friend she needs in the future. Would you like to attempt as well your majesty?”
“I am perfectly fine without any those entities, thank you,” said Luna.
“I suppose the only Titans I have that you and Celestia would be interested in bonding with are Lunar and Solar, and I left their amulets back at my house.”
Luna's eyes popped, “They are named for the sun and the moon?”
“Yes, but they aren't very powerful,” said Rec, “the most powerful Titans are the Legendary Titans. The four most well known of the Legendary Titans are Behemoth, the Legendary Titan of Body; Tao, the Legendary Titan of Spirit; Araknos the Legendary Titan of Mind; and the Legendary Titan of Immortality, Overlos. All four have one thing in common, that is they were initially bonded to Lord Casterwill, the first Seeker. Lord Casterwill is the one who summoned the Titans to Earth. It is said Overlos was the first titan he summoned and it was with Overlos's power he summoned the rest to fight and great evil from Huntik that made its way to Earth. The war lasted for centuries, it is said Lord Castewill kept himself alive for six hundred years by sheer force of will and when the threat of the Nullifiers had passed he finally died from exhaustion and old age. To give a sense of scale, the oldest living humans on record haven't even passed the three hundred year mark, but the war with the Nullifiers happened long before recorded history.”
Luna and Twilight just stared at Rec for a long while before Luna said, “Such a great will, and to continue the fight even with his body telling him he should not be capable of such feats is impressive and commendable.”
“As far as I know he was the only human with a will that strong, it's conceivable that if he had found his way to this world he would probably be a great unicorn or even an alicorn given his understanding of will power and magic. In a sense when we bond with titans we can make some some small claim we are continuing his legacy, but only if we have truly good and noble intentions in our hearts and minds when we take on the mantle and practice of being Seekers. Twilight, keep Akmen-Meo and Ironsquire close, they will prove time and time again they are invaluable friends if you treat them right. Some Seekers use Titans as nothing more than tools or weapons, to me titans are valuable friends and comrades, to me you will always have a special connection with the first Titan you ever bonded with. Maybe one day you might powerbond with Akem-Meo and unlike the full potential of your bond. You have a great talent for magic, but remember this, just because a titan's body is formed through magic does not mean they are completely magic. Some titans like Ironsquire are physical titans, some like Akmen-Meo are mental titans and some like my good friend Janusea the Gatekeeper are magic type titans. Each has its role in the grand design of the world, you just need to ask the proper questions to find the right answers. Remember nopony can tell you what the proper question is, you have to find it for yourself. That's what being a Seeker has taught me, there are many secrets and in a way it is the duty of a good Seeker to find and safeguard those secrets until the right time or individual appears. I've never experienced a powerbond as of yet, I've read up on it and have the files on my Mythichive.”
“That was one of the most insightful speeches I've heard in centuries,” said Luna with a smile, “you could have been one with great promise at my sister's school if you were born here, then again we might have never met had that happened.”
“Even if I had been given a scholarship I would have turned it down,” said Rec, “I would have been perfectly happy in whatever life I was living. My specialty is combinations, I doubt the curriculum for your sister's school would have had any courses exploring that possibility.”
“Indeed,” came a warm maternal sounding feminine voice, “something that needs to be remedied, when all of this is over I would like to extend a formal invitation for you to serve as an instructor at my school.” They all turned to see an ivory alicorn almost as tall as fully grown horse with four toned mane of violet, pink, blue and green.
“Sister I thought you had court today,” said Luna with surprise.
“I did,” said Celestia, “but after I learned all the petitioners today were nobles and overly wealthy ponies that usually ask for me to sign off on the most ridiculous things I shut my doors to petitioners early, it helps keep them on their hooves and I really needed some time away from court. I see an interesting creature is here.”
“Um, how do I unsummon a titan?” asked Twilight sheepishly.
“Just will it to return to the amulet,” said Rec.
A moment later Akmen-Meo became a wisp and shot into her amulet. “She bonded with her first Titan,” said Rec, “it was part of the lesson plan, it helped explain things a bit more effectively.”
“He just told us about the four Legendary Titans,” said Luna.
“There are more than four,” said Rec, “those four are just he most well known, and Overlos is considered to be an unfounded fable by many Seekers. If there were only four then how would you explain her,” Inari seemed to Materialize next him, “this is Inari, the Legendary Titan of Cunning, she's one of the lesser known titans, in fact as it stands only my friends, sister and seats on the Association Council know of her. And this is her amulet,” he held up a silver ring that was shaped like a fox head with a light green gem positioned like an eye which almost made it look like the ring was winking.
He let the light of the Mytichive play over the ring before it displayed her walking in a holographic image and said, “Inari, Attack 7, Defense 5, Size: Average, Special Abilities: Illusions, Burning Attack, Type: Legendary Sorceress.”
They all looked at the fox for few minutes before Twilight said, “does that mean she's a spell caster?”
“Yes,” said Rec, “her status also means she's one of the most powerful titans you will ever find. Her illusions are so powerful that they can fool every sense that isn't touch, and her fire abilities are on a level few can match. Now on to the Mythichive.”
He looked around and all of them nodded, then Discord flashed in and said, “lovely presentation, but I think you all could use a break.”
Ignoring Discord Rec said, “the Mythichive can do more than identify titans, Mythichive scan this room,” the aqua green light played out all over the room for a few seconds before a holographic display of the room with green avatars in all of their likenesses was displayed, “if there were any hostile entities they would show up in red,” continued Rec, “and the Mythichive can even store scanned rooms to build maps for later use. It can also be used for planning strategies and,” he tapped the Celestia and Luna icons with his hoof causing them to move to different areas of the room, “it's fully interactive so you can show plans in real time. They can also store any information you want in a set of magical files. You can also scan items to find if they have anything hidden on them or manipulate them without actually affecting the item. You can scan documents and maps for later use as well. And then there's mission mode.”
“Mission mode?” inquired all three alicorns in unison, which was practically a cue for Mandi and Claudia to step in.
“We need to be given a mission first,” said Claudia, “do any of you have something you want us to investigate?”
“There were a series of disappearance at random time periods at my magic school,” said Celestia, “the most recent being a little over thirty years ago.”
Rec smiled and said, “Seekers we have a mission, Mystery of the Magic School. Objective investigate the disappearances, learn what we can about them, learn what we can about all recorded missing students and report our finding to the crown,” as he spoke a card with the image of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns appeared, Claudia grabbed it and stuffed it into Rec's bag.
“What was that?” said Twilight.
“A mission card,” said Mandi, “all devices like the Mythichive can make them.”
“Well I'm joining you on your mission,” said Twilight.
“Only if Pinkie joins us as well,” said Rec.
“Why Pinkie,” said Twilight, Claudia and Mandi in unison.
“She's a lot smarter than she appears, and a whole lot more perceptive than she acts,” said Rec, “I would appreciate her perceptive skills on this mission, and Twilight I recommend you bring your titans because you might need to ask for their help.”
“Wait, she has Titans now?” said Claudia in surprise.
“Yes,” said Rec, “an Akmen-Meo and my old Ironsquire.”
“You gave her an Ironsquire? Great now she can turtle up when we need her.”
“With her and Akmen-Meo doing research an Ironsquire acting as a wall for her seemed logical, besides he said he likes her.”
Meanwhile with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Orchid was just finishing explaining what Seekers were like. The three fillies were captivated by what Orchid had to say, Spike had bid them goodbye and went to see if Rarity required his assistance. As she finished they filed out of the CMC clubhouse and Apple Bloom said, "can ya teach us how ta do things like that? Please.”
“How cool would it be to have a really big dragon as a good buddy you could call up at any time time you wanted,” chimed Scootaloo.
“You do realize you would need amulets for that first,” said Orchid, “and you'd have to touch them to access your Seeker potential. Let's just go and do something.”
“Let's go and see if we can find any more those magic amulets,” said Sweetie Belle, “since Orchid has seen a lot of them and is familiar with them she can help point them out to us and then we can try getting our own cool monsters.”
“For the fourteenth time they are called titans, I don't appreciate you calling my closest friends monsters.”
“Oh, sorry,” said Sweetie Belle.
Orchid brought a hoof to her Jirwolf amulet before saying, “I think it's a good idea, we can pretend we're a team of treasure hunters.”
“Cutie Mark Crusaders Tresasure Hunters, yeah,” said the three in unison.
Orchid rolled her eyes before saying, “I'm sure they aren't that... what do you mean reputation?... Okay, well maybe we help tone down some of their eccentricities while we're here.”
“Who y talkin' ta?” said Apple Bloom.
“Hellynx, he's one of my Titans,” said Orchid.
“Can we see him?” inquired Scootaloo.
“Maybe later,” said Orchid, all the CMC gave her a depressed look, “let's see if we can find those amulets,” they perked up, “lead the way.”
The four fillies made their way to the market place, there was only one pony selling jewelry. As they looked over the merchandise Sweetie squeaked, “Anything?”
“No, this is all just regular jewelry, no amulets among these.”
“Well look what we have here Tiara?” came a condescending female voice around their age.
“It's the blank flanks and a new blank flank for their little club,” came another female voice that more condescending and had hint of irritation.
All four turned to indeed see a gray earth filly with spectacles and what looked like an ornate bright gray spoon on her flank and a pink earth filly with a silver looking tiara and a cutie mark that looked almost identical to what adorned her head. “Diamond Tiara,” growled Scootaloo at the pink filly.
“Silver Spoon,” said Apple Bloom with contempt.
Ignoring what their obvious distaste for the two Diamond said, “I asked who your new friend here is.”
“Oh, I'm Orchid Spell,” said Orchid in pleasant manner, which surprised all five fillies (especially considering before she went into describing what a Seeker is like, the CMC had been very thorough their descriptions of Diamond and Silver, up to and including how they looked in addition to how they acted).
After the initial shock wore off Diamond Tiara said in an arrogant, “Finally somepony that respects us.”
“Nope,” said Orchid continuing her friendly manner, “I'm just being courteous because it's expected of me, I've already learned of your reputations, and I must say you both act very much like spoiled brats. At least you aren't acting heaven-sends, yet. My brother usually regularly deals with one of those on his missions, the guy is a total jerk. Do you know what we do with jerks?”
“No,” said Diamond with irritation.
Still maintaining her pleasant manner Orchid said, “We put them in their place, and I know just how to do it a few ways,” she lifted her hoof and pointed at Diamond Tiara before saying “BubbleLift,” Diamond Tiara was suddenly in a bubble with light blue sheen, before she could properly react Orchid pointed a hoof at Silver Spoon and uttered the phrase again putting the gray earth filly in an identical bubble to Diamond's, “You'll be perfectly fine,” Orchid continued in her pleasant manner, you can't pop them from the inside, and don't worry you'll be out of there in about a half hour.” Turning to the Crusaders she said, “maybe there's an old place we can go to find some amulets.”
“Do you know who my dad is?” Diamond Tiara bellowed.
“No,” said Orchid calmly as she turned her back to the pink filly, “and frankly I don't care, the way you act indicates you have a lot of wealth and not a whole lot else. My family has a history of having its unique connection to magic stretching back thousands of years, but we don't act like what we have is better than those around us. I grew up on a farm living a simple life, and I suggest you start reevaluating your priorities before that attitude of gets you into trouble when you're older. I've met a number of individuals that were fully grown adults acting like you in public, but when you found out what they did it made you want to laugh.”
“Really? I doubt it.”
“So a mail carrier that acted like you isn't enough of an incentive,” said Orchid evenly, “before you retort, his attitude caused his family to cut off his access to their assets until he learned to be more responsible. He's still a jerk and still cut off from the family money, at least last I checked. Let's go girls,” she started walking off.
When they were out of earshot of the two Scootaloo said, “that was awesome, you just showed up Diamond and Silver and walked away. You weren't serious about that mailpony thing were you?”
“Actually, I was,” said Orchid, “it's not pretty, he acts like his family is a big deal, and to an extent they are, but all the banks and businesses they own and are affiliated have been notified to not give him any sort of special treatment. The guy still thinks he's better than everyone around, mostly 'cause he figures the ban on him will lift in his immediate future, despite thinking that for the past three years.”
“Whoa, heavy,” said Scootaloo.
“Ya think Diamond 'ill take tha hint?” said Apple Bloom
“I certainly hope so,” said Orchid.
“So, where should we look for treasure next? This is kind of boring right now,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Are there any old ruins nearby, sometimes old structures that have spells or massive amounts of magic flowing through them have active guardians Seekers refer to as 'Wild Titans', in fact Jirwolf was a one before I bonded with him.”
“There's and old castle in the Everfree Forest,” said Scootaloo excitedly, “but we're not allowed to travel the Everfree Forest without Rainbow or one her friends, although maybe your brother could help out with this one.”
“Maybe,” Orchid said, “but he's giving lessons on Seeker magic and Titans to Twilight, he might be caught up in so much he ignores us.”
“We gotta try et least,” said Apple Bloom.
***********************
A few minutes later the four fillies rushed into the Friendship Castle to see Rec, Claudia and Mandi gearing up for their mission. “I still think you should take me along on the mission,” said Twilight, “you need somepony who knows the school, and I was student there before coming to Ponyville. Not too mention I know more about Equestrian history than you.”
“I didn't respond because I agree with all that,” said Rec, “but I think your friend Pinkie Pie should join us on this endeavor.”
“Why Pinkie?” said Twilight, Mandi and Claudia in unison with surprise in their voices.
“She's smarter than she looks, she's more perceptive than most give her credit for, and I genuinely like her,” said Rec with a firm nod and commanding voice.
“You met her twice,” said Mandi, “ and the first time she barreled me and Claudia over and the second time was that party she threw us as a welcome, Claudia and I spent a few hours with her last night, that mare nearly exhausted me and nearly made Claudia lose her focus in an arm wrestling match.”
“I totally had it under control,” said Claudia with a smirk.
“Yes, because an arm wrestling match that started before ten at night and ended at three in the morning due to both of you starting to nod off was totally reasonable,” Mandi snarked.
“Can we come?” inquired Sweetie Belle.
“If you answer one of the questions I give you with honesty and I find the answer makes it worth the risk,” said Rec.
“Lay it on us bro,” said Orchid.
“Can you handle yourself in a collapsing ruin?”
“Um, I don't think we've had the chance to test that one,” said Scootaloo, “but I'm sure that if we did we'd be so awesome it wouldn't matter.”
“Have you faced any real dangers that required you to think on your hooves?”
“No,” said Sweetie Belle, “will that really be a skill we need?”
“Have you ever encountered a puzzle on a time limit and solved it with time to spare?”
“Nope,” said Apple Bloom, “can't ah hauve.”
“Pfft,” said Orchid, “I dealt with all those on the mission I joined you on.”
“By somehow convincing mom that I was supposed to be looking after you that day despite the fact I had told her that I would be going into a potentially dangerous situation and our sibling exercise day wasn't for another week,” said Rec narrowing his eyes at his sister, “face it Orchid, you have a talent for trouble and are not joining us on this mission, the only reason I brought you along on the mission that got us stuck here is because I was assured it would be safe mission and I didn't see any harm in you tagging along. This time around we're investigating disappearing students at s prestigious school. You are not coming, and if any of you decide to stow away on this mission I will show you a spell designed to hold you down and air mail you back here in the most uncomfortable material possible, have I made myself clear?”
“Pfft, like he'd really do that,” said Scootaloo in an unbelieving voice.
“No, he'd really do that,” said Orchid in a calm manner, which means we don't follow him on the mission,” she gave the other three a wink which they all immediately understood.
“And no circumventing me this time,” said Rec, “if I find you did that you can forget the air mail and instead insist you come back on the roughest most abrasive land delivery I can find with the the insistence to the deliverer that he deliberately hit every rough point on the road with a bonus for doing so.”
The four looked at each other before they all shrugged and headed for the door, on the way out Sweetie Belle said, “could somepony at least chaperon us to the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest, we want to try getting our cutie marks there.”
“We'll talk to Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity about it on our way out,” said Rec, “no promises it will go well with them though.”
“Hello, everypony,” came Rainbow's voice, “I heard ya on the way in, I'd love to take the squirts out to the Evefree,” the prismatically maned cyan mare then walked into the room and said, “whoa, whatcha guys up to?”
“Looking into something Princess Celestia asked us to,” said Rec as he slipped on his saddlebags, “Twilight and Pinkie will be joining us, I recommend you get yourself some help watching the young ones because they outnumber you four to one. Trust me watching others gets easier the more of you there are.”
“Done a lot of foalsitting hava you,” said Luna teasingly.
“If by that you mean keeping an eye on potentially hostile forces that were more than interested in my harm then then yes,” said Rec, “where we come from expressions like that are generic terms for watching someone in addition looking after children while their legal guardians are elsewhere for a short period of time.”
“Seriously?” said Rainbow Dash, “guess that's why Daring Do cracks those jokes about foalsitting in some of her books.”
“Not even going to touch that one,” said Claudia.
“That's a name here?” said Mandi, “it's just an expression where we come from, but for some reason the way you said that feels familiar, not sounds just feels.”
“That's interesting,” said Claudia, “during our earliest mission you would say things like you were 'not interested in doing any daring do' in a manner that suggested it could be used as a name a few times.”
“Rec also regularly talked to his amulets, still does,” said Mandi, “and you would keep babbling about how excited you were to fly and go hang gliding.”
“What do you mean by go flying?” said Rainbow, “you both have wings.”
“As we said last night,” said Mandi, “where we come from we don't have wings, but we do use machines for it.”
Before Rainbow could inquire further Rec cleared his throat and said, “Mission...time table...move out.”
“Oh sorry,” said Claudia and Mandi in unison, which elicited giggles from all the mares and fillies, except Rainbow who was laughing out loud instead.”
**********************************
After picking up Pinkie and loading on to the train and speeding toward Canterlot the pink mare asked what they were going Canterlot for and Twilight explained what they were up to. On the way they met up with Appljack, whom after hearing that Rainbow would be the only one supervising four fillies in the Everfree Forest agreed to chaperon the four fillies as well.
“I get to see where Twilight was going to school before coming to Ponyville, this going to be great,” cheered Pinkie.
“This isn't a vacation or guided tour,” said Rec, “we're investigating a serious matter, Princess Celestia will be meeting us at the school and explain things in a bit more detail, which will include telling us about some the cases, after that we can begin our investigation. Since there are five of us we'll break up into two groups and meet at a rendezvous point. I'm thinking I'll partner up with Pinkie while you guys team up with Twilight. I would like to make the team's an even split, but you have to work with what ya got. Anyway these are what authorities call a 'cold case' so finding clues will be a bit more difficult than jumping into an active investigation.”
“It's a good thing Seekers excel at those kinds of things,” said Claudia with a smirk.
“And a good thing Princess Celestia gave you that map you scanned into your Mythichive,” said Mandi.
“I'm pretty sure she just wanted to observe the feature,” said Rec, “but yes it was helpful of her. Our first stop after she briefs us will be the student records and incident reports, hopefully we'll find a report of their last known locations when they disappeared to point us in the right direction.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” said Twilight, “but all the investigators probably did as well, and some of them could have been former students at school.”
“Which means,” said Claudia, “they'd probably take the same kind of approach you would, but we have something they didn't.”
Which is what exactly?” inquired Twilight. Claudia just pointed to the amulet around Twilight's neck, the purple alicorn looked down and gave the griffin a confused look.
“Titans,” said Rec in an amused voice, “you can ask your titans to assist you, and their abilities can point out things the prior investigations couldn't. You can call up Akmen-Meo to peruse the files and any other texts we encounter, and with her Loremaster ability she can find things that most would have missed. Then tell you all of it through the bond.”
“Oh,” said Twilight with sudden realization, “I never thought of it that way!”
“You haven't had a titan for long,” said Rec, “and you're so used to thinking in terms of your magics that you haven't really had time to consider things the way a Seeker would. Of course seekers have a tendency to think along magical lines that are a little different than most, so you might find yourself with magical puzzles if you encounter anything Seeker related.”
“The Seeker approach is different than most would anticipate,” said Mandi, “our ability to invoke titans and cast spells comes from our will, the stronger your willpower the more magic you can call on. I wouldn't give up this life for anything, while adventures really aren't my cup of tea I'm willing to do all this for my friends. Rec, you better request a real vacation when this is over.”
“You know I will,” said Rec, “we don't know how long we'll be here, so looking into things like this could work out in our favor. If nothing else we could start trying to build lives here after a few months of getting no closer to finding our way home.”
“Nice to see you're thinking long term,” said Twilight, “I can't house you at my home forever. So, tell me more about this Seeker lifestyle you have.” Pinkie had big grin and was eager to hear it as well.
“Well we covered most of the basics,” said Rec, “the only thing we haven't really covered Seeker territories. What I mean by that is each faction has locations and facilities they manage or control. Like I already told you Seekers don't have actually have any places that advertise where you should go if you're a Seeker. We make the places far more subtle. A church here, a restaurant there, a library of that way and a party supply store down the street can all be owned by the same Seeker faction, and the party supply store and church could even double as safe houses for the faction controlling them. We make sure our facilities are the kind of thing that are open to the public so we can come and go without arousing suspicion,” Twilight was once again writing it all down, “because of how Seeker powers work it's possible for any of your friends, not just those ones with the obvious potential to cast spells, to gain the ability to be Seekers. Since it appears you have Seeker potential it is quite possible any of your friends could as well,”
Pinkie had a big grin and said, “ooh, ooh, could you give me one of those amulet things to see if that theory is true.”
“Um,” said Rec, then after a pause for a few seconds, “no! If you want to be a Seeker you usually have to go through the training, one of the first things you need to do is find your first amulet and bond with a titan. Titans have a variety of aspects to them. They're usually neutral, but the longer a seeker is bonded to them or the greater their power, sometimes both, the more the titans take on personality aspects of that seeker. Unbonded titans will bond most readily with the first potential seeker that touches their amulet, however some have special rules regarding your bonding with them. If your getting an amulet that was bonded to another seeker it will bond more readily if you possess similar personality traits. I don't know if Twilight's Akmen-Meo was bonded or not, but I've heard rumors that Akmen-Meo titans will only bond with scholarly seekers. You could very well find a titan of your own on this mission, stranger things have happened.”
“Yeah, like the fact that we three have titans that lineup with what we turned into.”
“Really?” said Twilight, “ would you care to share that with us?”
“I suppose,” said Rec floating his Mythichive and an amulet that looked like a silver unicorn's head with a round green gem that looked like the head's eye in a a gentle blue and green two toned aura.
“I can't believe it only took you seven minutes to reach that level of control of unicorn magic I had a few months ago,” Twilight mused.
Ignoring the lavender mare's statement Rec flipped open the Mythichive and hung the amulet over the center and said, “Mythichive, scan.”
The aqua green light played over the amulet before Rec pulled it back and the aqua green holographic image of a unicorn trotted in place and rotated as the Mythichive said in its gentle female voice, “Unia, Attack 5, Defense 3, Size: Average, Special Abilities: Purifying Barrier, Type: Gaia-Titan Guardian.”
“Wow,” said Pinkie, “that's so cool, I wonder what she could tell us about your world.”
“She can't,” said Claudia passing an amulet that looked like a blue-steel griffin talon holding a grayish-pink gem over the Mythichive's center.
The light played over the amulet and when it stopped she pulled the amulet away and placed back in her side pouch. The holographic image of a griffin displayed and walked around as the Mythichive said, “Grypharian, Attack 8, Defense 4, Size: Large, Special Abilities: Flight, Diving Snatch, Type: Draco-Titan Warrior.”
Mandi wordlessly waved a Yellow and Orange amulet that looked like a wing with an aqua gem in the center over the Mythichive until the light stopped dancing on amulet and the Mythichive displayed a holographic trotting pegasus and said, “Pegasus, Attack 4, Defense 5, Size: Average, Special Abilities: Flight, Type: Krono-Titan Sentinel.”
“Okay, so that's the Titan responsible for the tales of Pegasus in your world,” said Twilight cautiously, “I'm pretty sure somepony would have a fit if they saw that you could summon a pegasus while being a pegasus.”
“I'm just glad that there's no one else on the train,” said Mandi, “it doesn't feel right doing this sort of thing, but Rec did use Nordrake to calm me down.”
“Well I figured my SnowBlast spell would be a little too strong and my other ice powered Titans are back home,” said Rec.
“Others with ice powers?” said Twilight.
Rec nodded and said, “Mythichive, Yuki-onna.”
A holographic image of a thin woman in a slightly loose kimono with long hair appeared in the holographic display before flickering to look like an earth pony with the same attributes, “that's odd,” said Mandi.
“It did the same with Vitaguard,” said Rec.
A few seconds later, as the holographic image continued to trot in place the Mythichive said, “Yuki-onna, Attack 6, Defense 2, Size: Average, Special Abilities: Chilling Breath, Type: Yama-Titan Sorceress.”
“Mythichive, Summer and Winter,” said Rec.
Twilight gave him skeptical look and said, “only one of those sounds like it would have ice powers.”
“That's because only Winter has Ice Powers,” said Mandi, “but the system glitches up for a few minutes if Summer isn't paired with Winter, its sort of passive effect the titans have.”
A holographic display of a humanoid woman with a mask and crown shaped like the sun appeared before flickering to be replaced by an alicorn with the same features and what looked like life-like wings, “Summer, Attack 7, Defesne 6, Size: Large, Special Abilities: Summer's Fury, Type: Gaia-Titan Sorceress” the holographic image changed to a large humanoid figure with a snowflake shaped mask and crown before flickering to look like an alicorn with same features and what looked like frost covered leaf-like wings, “Winter, Attack 6, Defense 7, Size: Large, Special Abilities: Winter's Wrath, Type: Gaia-Titan Sorceress.”
“What does that mean about their abilities?” inquired Pinkie Pie.
“Summer can continually heat anything she wants, it has been calculate that she could make it feel like the hottest desert you can think of in the coldest place you can imagine. Winter can continually cool the world around her, it has been calculated she could easily do the inverse of Summer. In short they are two very powerful titans, and very stubborn. It's a miracle I was able to bond with both them, they usually bond with separate seekers.”
“You, have access to those two?” said Twilight, “and you didn't bring them.”
“It was supposed to be a simple inspection mission, with minor complications,” said Mandi, “We all thought bringing heavy hitters would be overkill. The only reason Rec brought Inari is because she's figured out how to move her ring to where he is.”
“And I don't want anyone else accidentally messing with her ring, or her.”
“Or her messing with anyone while you're away,” said Mandi.
A few minutes later the train pulled into the station, “Alright, everypony follow me,” said Twilight leading them towards the school building. The complex itself could easily be seen from the station. Looking very much like a whitewashed classic magic school from fantasy novel in the minds of Mandi and Claudia. The white colors and symmetrical towers looked almost familiar to Rec, he figured it was because of fact they had visited their family home in England so many times and gotten so used the look that being in Canterlot just made them feel nostalgic.
While Rec, Claudia, Mandi, Twilight and Pinkie sped towards Canterlot on a train Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Orchid under the care of Rainbow Dash and Applejack made their way through the Everfree Forest to the Castle of the Two Sisters. “This going to be so cool,” said Scootaloo, “not only are we under the care of the coolest pony in all of Equestria, but we also are going somewhere with a new friend to try and get our Cutie Marks in something cool.”
“Well statistically speaking the treasure hunt might not pan out the way you would expect, especially considering your sister type individuals have been here dozens of times without incident,” said Orchid, “I'm willing to see if we can find something new, but chances are everything you think we're discovering is actually something they found a while back.”
“Did I just hear our newest pony give an egghead response,” said Rainbow, “ah man, she's already going be boring to talk to, she's practically a Twilight in the making for their group.”
“Ah don' see how tha's a problem,” said Applejack, “if yuh ask ask me, tha's on uh tha things their group needs, somepony tha' thinks et's best to try uh more subdued approach maht be jus' whut those thar fillies need, besides she tha one tha' inspired this little expedition.”
******************************
A few minutes later the six ponies came up on the castle and Applejack said, “well girls, here we are.” All four looked up at the remarkably well conditioned partially crumbling ruin.
Orchid reached into her flank pouch and pulled out her Springer and Red Searcher amulets and yelled out, “trick the trap, Springer,” her white three tailed fox-like squirrel appeared before her, “show how you watch, Red Searcher,” the red bat winged eyeball appeared before her, “okay you two I want to look for hidden compartments and disarm any traps nearby, when that's done I feel free to do as you like, just don't wander to far from me.”
“That flying eyeball is as creepy as it is cool,” said Rainbow, “still not as awesome as Tank though.”
Orchid gave the Crusaders a confused look, Scootaloo said, “he's her pet turtle, and he's totally awesome.”
“Oh,” said Orchid, “we don't really have any pets at home, the closest we get is some of our Titans. And the thing is... you found what?... Where?... Okay, I'll be right there, Searcher found something. I'll get you once I've zeroed in on the location, NimbleFire,” the dark orange aura of the spell glowed around her and she sped towards a wall, “HyperStride,” the blue flame aura of the spell wrapped around her hind legs just before she jumped the wall and kept speeding away.”
“Did you just see a filly make a jump you said you were pretty sure nopony with no wings couldn't make?” said Rainbow to AJ.
“Eeyup,” said Applejack.
“I don't know what kind of awesome to file that under,” said Rainbow.
A bright flash announced the return of Orchid. “Augh, mah eyes,” cried the Apple siblings in unison with the other crying something similar about the flash hurting their eyes.”
“Sorry,” said Orchid, “I forgot the FlashJump spell can temporally blind everything, Searcher found an amulet,” she held up a brown primal shield with a dark brown impression that looked like an inverted spade symbol and a red gem near the top, “it's and an Enforcer amulet, this guy's a real jerk, I have no intention of bonding with a titan this abrasive. Before any of you ask, no I am not giving him to you. Part of Seeker tradition is you have to find your first Titan, so have at it. I told Searcher and Springer they can goof off for a few minutes.”
“Ah can respect traditions, we Apples try to follow them ta tha bes' of our abilities,” said Applejack.
“Searcher, what do you mean you... no that would be a mass of triple chocolate strawberry swirl cupcakes that are of a size that defy reason. Now I'm hungry, and there is a mass of giant versions of my favorite kind of cupcake in a ring around a giant tree about a five minute hike to the right of us. Yes Springer, you are free to enjoy those,” then to herself she said, “where are the rest of the cupcakes, and the bowl of yogurt with huckleberries and absurdly large spoon.”
“Um,” said Sweetie Belle, what was that?”
“Oh nothing much,” said Orchid, “my titans just found where Discord and Inari decided to stash a bunch of comically over food stuffs they were talking about last night.” With that she made her way to where the giant cupcakes were.
“Who's Inari?” said Rainbow Dash.
“A very powerful Titan that has figured out how to verbally communicate, is a massive prankster, looks like a white fox with nine tails, and is currently bonded to my brother. Before you ask I suggest you go to my brother to get the answer,” said Orchid as she continued to where she was told one of the giant cupcakes was.
“Ah thin' tha' might bae a bit difficul',” Said Applejack, “Seein' as 'e's gonna be en Canterlot most of the day an' probably gonna bae at et tomorrow as well.”
“Well, yeah,” said Orchid, “he takes his missions seriously, and the way he was talking about going to Canterlot indicated he was going on a mission. To a Seeker a mission is kind of like a high priority work order, everything else has to take a backseat when a Seeker has mission, at least that's how my brother explained it. There are just many different kinds of Seekers as there are ponies. We're going to need some protection, I heard it's potentially dangerous out here in the woods,” all the ponies nodded, she reached into her side pouch and pulled out Breaker's amulet and shouted out, “Watch for danger, Breaker,” the bear-like titan appeared next to her as she continued to where the cupcakes were.
“Whoa,” said Rainbow Dash, “I am so jealous, and Flutters would really like this guy too, well she'd also like that Springer thing of yours. That thing you called Red Searcher, it might creep her out a bit.”
“He creeped me out a bit when I first saw him,” said Orchid, “but then when I saw him for the second time I was far more used to stuff like that. Actually miss Fluttershy and I seem to operate on a similar wavelength, she has a connection to animals that's beyond what I thought possible and I seem to be able to bond most easily with animal-like Titans. Jirwolf was my first titan and when I got home from bonding with him,” she gestured to Breaker, “my brother gave me Breaker, he's a little rough around the edges, and most Seeker have trouble bonding with him from what I've heard. You see Meso-Titans like Breaker have powerful abilities and force of will so they're very difficult to bond with. Gaia-Titans like Jirwolf have a strong connection to the natural world with strong protectiveness and strong desires to help, which reminds me! Appear, Jirwolf,” the night-like wolf appeared next to her, “his abilities can easily act as an early warning before things start getting more dangerous. He's my best friend, and all my titans will be out for quite some time. Now that we have all that out of the way,” she turned toward the location of the giant cupcake, “I have a titanic cupcake to try out,” with that she continued to leave.
*************************************
Twenty minutes later Orchid was leaning against Jirwolf with a giant cupcake that looked like it only had a twelfth of it eaten. The wolf-like titan was laying next to Applejack, whom was giving the filly an amused look. The Crusaders had called a break to their treasure hunting to pilfer some pieces of the the giant cupcake and were snuggling up next the other side of Jirwolf. The sight brought a smile to both Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Dash had tried scouring the castle at high speed, but had no luck finding any amulets herself. Springer was curled up on Orchid's head while Red Searcher had opted to return to his amulet, Breaker was standing watch next Applejack.
It was just as Orchid was getting up to go searching again Fluttershy walked into the clearing, after taking in the sight a moment the yellow mare said, “Oh my, I didn't know such animals were in the Everfree Forest!”
“That's because they aren't,” said Orchid as she got up, “they're all my titans, she gestured to each as she said their names, “Jirwolf, my first titan; Breaker, my most trusted guardian; and Springer, my clever trap tricking friend.”
“They're all so cute,” said Fluttershy, “especially the one you call Springer. What do they eat?”
“Whatever you have available works. Titans don't need to eat, or breath. They're spirit creatures, they don't follow the same rules other creatures you may have encountered. Titans are amazing entities that come in a wide variety of things. However they are set up into groupings. The groupings are known as the titan types. Each belongs to one of a few classifications. There are Meso-Titans like Springer and Breaker, and Gaia-Titans like Jirwolf, and a variety of other titan kinds.”
“That's nice, I see Discord decided to give you a rather large snack.”
“He set it up with Inari last night,” replied Orchid.
“Who's Inari?” inquired Fluttershy.
“Some titan that looks like big white fox with nine tails,” said Rainbow Dash, “we've never met her, but Orchid gave us enough of a description for us ta piece it all together. Also the other foals are curled up on the other side of the wolf, whatcha doin' here Flutters?”
“Oh, um,” said said Fluttershy, “a friend of one of my squirrel friends that lives in the Everfree said it spotted a strange flying creature in the forest that I should probably learn the intentions of.”
“Can ya tell us whut thay said et looked like?” inquired Applejack.
“A big eyeball that flew around on bat wings,” said Fluttershy.
“Oh, that's just Red Searcher,” said Orchid, “he's pretty harmless, he just likes to look around and take in as much of the sights as he can. I had him searching for traps in the castle earlier, he went back to his amulet a few minutes ago.”
“Does he safeguard it?” inquired Fluttershy.
“It's his home,” said Orchid as she brought the telltale amulet out, “this is where he is right now, if it breaks he'll be lost forever. Seekers do their best to keep their amulets safe, every amulet has a Titan inside and each of my titans is a good friend, Jirwolf is my best friend.”
“Who's Jirwolf?” inquired Fluttershy, the star-like wolf looked at her and gave low growl, “oh, your Jirwolf, it's a pleasure to meet you, is that your name?”
The wolf gave her a perplexed look and Orchid said, “no, that's what the name of the titan he is. There are other Seekers with Jirwolf amulets in the world, he just happens to be bound to me.”
“He's not very talkative,” said Fluttershy.
“To you perhaps,” said Orchid, “but to me he's very talkative, you see when a Seeker and Titan bond they gain a mental link that the titan uses to tell their seeker things, I still have to communicate verbally with him though. According to Rec's research once a titan and seeker have their bond reach its full potential the titan becomes powerbonded, when that happens a titan and seeker can communicate entirely through their mental link with no verbal expressions.”
“That's incredible,” said Fluttershy, “but why does he not have a name?”
“That's the way it is with titans, what they are is their name, it's been a long standing tradition that no one has bothered to try shaking. The other three are really intent on seeing if they can find amulets with titans themselves. The only titan we've found so far is an Enforcer, he's a real jerk so I'm keeping him separate from everyone. I've also heard enforcers only bond with those with real mean personalities, so I don't think anyone here could bond with him anyway... well you are a jerk and I'm not going to even try letting you out... don't you dare give me that tone, I will have you know I have a good friend in a Breaker and will not hesitate to ask him for assistance in taking you down a few pegs. Sorry about that, Enforcer tried to get me to bond with him and then invoke him. Seekers can sense the personalities of the titans in amulets, even if they don't know what the titan is. Rec and I have such a strong magical sense we can actually sense what titans are trying to say inside amulets that we don't have connection with... Not happening pal...because you're a real jerk.”
“It's almost like watching Fluttershy trying to argue with an animal,” said Rainbow Dash with a giggle, “well, she did say you both are similar. I think her exact expression was something about you to having the 'same wavelength' or something like that. I don't know, it's magic and we all know Twi's the magic expert around these parts”.
“Does it really look like that when I talk to animals?” inquired the yellow mare with a tone so soft it was almost a whisper.
“Sometime, eeyup,” said Applejack, “but ta bae honest with ya, ya both look rally cute doing that sorta thang. Twi's out uh town with Orchid's brother, who knows how long they'll take gettin' back, Ah was thinkin' uh havin' 'er spend tha night wid us et tha farm if they run real late, Spike 'ill bae holdin' up wid Rarity fer tha night ef Twi's not home by a certain time.”
“To be far Rec, Twilight, Claudia, Pinkie and Mandi never gave a rough estimate of when they'd be back,” said Orchid, “chances are it could take days, most Seeker missions take a few days to complete.”
“Well ya caun...”
“How are your sister and her friends doing?” inquired Orchid, who at the time thought it was time for a topic change.
“Thar still s...” Applejack noticed that the three fillies had gotten up from their nap and left to search the castle and surrounding area again, “back ta searchin' fer treasures en tha castle, how en tarnashin did Ah not notice those three trouble makers get up an' leave?”
Orchid and Fluttershy both gave a few little giggles before Orchid turned to Jirwolf and said, “if you would be so kind as to retrieve those three with as little damage as possible.”
The starry wolf gave a nod before standing up and giving a few sniffs of the air and ground around it before seeming to disappear. "How did he do that? I've never seen any creature do anything like that before,” said Fluttershy.
“One of his abilities is called 'Astral Form', it allows him to become like a projected form and move at much higher speeds that he would in the physical world and his 'Sixth Sense' allows him to track magical signatures. He'll find them and bring them all back, he's quite quick without taking advantage of his Astral Form.
“Well, that's nice,” said Fluttershy, “and such wonderfully useful abilities."
“He likes being useful,” said Orchid, “um, where did Rainbow Dash go?”
Looking around the yellow and orange mares noticed what that their cyan friend was indeed no longer with them. “Flutters check ta see if she's on any nearby clouds, Ah'll see if Ah can find 'er 'ere on the ground, Orchid yer helping us out.”
“Jirwolf heard all that, he's bringing Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo back now, and he says that he saw her trying to do something with Breaker. Looks like she convinced the big guy to go somewhere less obstructive and is trying out some new moves around him. She'll be fine as long as she doesn't try to... Breaker don't, she's not a Titan... don't give me that tone mister, you have a tendency to too squeeze everything pretty hard,” it was this point Jirwolf dropped three very confused, yet satisfied, Crusaders next to Orchid, “Jirwolf, could you retrieve Rainbow Dash before she does something else to get Breaker to try and give her an overly enthusiastic bear hug,” the starry wolf nodded and dashed off, turning to the Crusaders she said “did any of you find any amulets?”
“Nope,” said Apple Bloom, “but tha' ride yer wolf gave us was pretty fun,” the other two nodded in agreement.
“Nice to know, he's not doing that again anytime soon,” said Orchid.
“Why not?” said Scootaloo.
“Something about an orange filly screaming about the sight of a 'wolf made of stars appearing out of thin air', an yellow filly disregarding said wolf for a few seconds and a white filly insisting on petting him before he brought her back,” Orchid deadpanned, “seriously, you were napping right next him a few minutes ago. The only one that gave an expected reaction out of you three was Sweetie Belle, and that's probably because she met him last night.” The three other fillies looked a little sheepish, “your approach to things is haphazard at best and an utter disaster at worst. There's no structure, order, any sort of sense to your approach! You three are more than a little reckless, for safety's sake I insist we all do the searching as a team. It will also let us spot stuff more effectively.”
“Okay,” said Sweetie with a bounce, “is Jirwolf gonna join us?”
“Only if he wants,” said Orchid, turning to the wolf-like titan she said, “whatcha wanna do big guy?... You sure?... Okay, have fun.”
“He'll be sniffing around the castle's perimeter,” Breaker lumbered back to the camp site, the three fillies hadn't really gotten a good look at the bear-like titan before then, “Breaker on the other... hoof would be more than happy to join us.”
“I've never seen a bear like that,” said Fluttershy, “mind if I join you? I'd like to talk with him.”
“Knock yourself out,” said Orchid, “but be warned, he's not very talkative. Breaker is mister serious most of the time... no Jirwolf I am not going to eat all those giant cupcakes, I barely got through one with help,” the night-like wolf sauntered off. Springer I know you're awake, how about you ride Fluttershy for a bit, I'm sure she'd like it if you did that,” the foxy squirrel-like titan got up of Orchid's head and shook its three tails twice before executing a leap from Orchid's head to Fluttershy's with pinpoint accuracy, “he does that sometimes.”
“Nice to meet you mister Springer,” said Fluttershy, “what do like?” The small titan gave a little chitter to which the pink maned, yellow pegasus said, “you have a very strong connection with her, why do you like her so much?” More chittering, “oh my, she did that for you, she's a real sweetheart.”
“What did he tell her?” inquired Sweetie Belle.
“Not telling, it's a secret,” sang Orchid and Fluttershy at the same time before giggling simultaneously.
“Ah, no fair,” huffed Scootaloo.
“We have a castle to explore,” said Orchid, “let's go!” The four fillies, Fluttershy, Springer and Breaker made their way into the castle.
Orchid wasn't all that surprised, looked very much like all the European style castles she'd seen up 'til then (only with more equine motifs and no trace of humanoids). As they kept walking throughout the castle Springer was scurrying back and forth at every crevice big enough for the little titan before running out and seem to choose at random Orchid and Fluttershy, he also scampered into an open room and came back with the same routine. Breaker walked at the side of the five ponies and sniffed about the air as if expecting trouble. “So, um, mister bear,” said Fluttershy, “why do you have an extra set of arms?”
Breaker just gave low *mromm* and kept going.
“Oh, you're called a Breaker, Rarity would say something about you having a destructive name, I admit that sounds unfriendly.” Breaker gave another low bear roar, “oh, well that makes sense, you must get hungry pretty fast with those limbs.”
“Actually titans don't require food, sleep or air,” said Orchid, “some like to go through the experience, Springer really likes to experience eating, his favorite food seems to be carrot cake, no idea why that is. Anyway, Titans have a number of distinctive aspects that show themselves. Springers are masters of tricks and traps and they're all pretty smart as well as curious, Breaker is a grappling brawler so he tends to be a bit more aggressive than a lot of other titans.”
“Oh,” said Fluttershy, “so why is he so friendly.”
“That would be me,” said Orchid, “titans have a tendency to take on traits of their seekers if the seeker is really powerful, has an immense potential power or had the titan for a long time. Jirwolf has been with me the longest, in fact when I bonded with him I temporally took on some of his attributes.”
“Oh,” said Fluttershy, “is there anything special about your titans?”
“Well,” said Orchid as they continued through the castle, chuckling lightly when the Crusaders were snatched up by Breaker when they tried to make their way away from the rest of the group, “most of my titans are animal-like, I seem to have a knack for bonding with those kind of titans. Breaker was the first titan my brother ever gave me, he told me I would need a loyal guardian and Breaker seemed be the best fit. Jirwolf is my best friend and Breaker is a really good friend, my other titans are also good friends. Normally Seekers would recall a titan after they performed the task asked of them, but Rec and I like to let our titans spend extended periods of time out of their amulets when when the opportunities present themselves. As long as a titans amulet is undamaged they won't have any problems, if their amulet is destroyed they become lost. I don't know what I would do if I lost any of my titans like that. Rec's first titan was a warrior titan named Vitaguard, and his second titan was given to him by dad, her name is Janusea the Gatekeeper, he's gathered quite a few titans over the years, so have I. We're seekers and that means we don't take an expected approach to things, we hide information in places you wouldn't expect to find it, create puzzles and riddles that mean the most obvious approach is practically wrong, and always look for clues in stories in hopes of uncovering clues to finding titans. Are there any stories about this place?”
“Well,” said Applejack, “some ponies say that when Nightmare Moon was banished by Princess Celestia not all of her evil left and the remains left behind became the 'Pony of Shadows', some find the story quite frightening.”
Orchid stopped, as did the rest of the group, she seemed to be lost in thought before saying, “what abilities does the Pony of Shadows supposedly have?”
“All I can recall is that it's supposed to be a living shadow,” said Fluttershy with a bit of a shudder.
“There are a few titans with shadow based abilities,” said Orchid, “but none that are outright exposited as living shadows. The closest to that is Invisible Knight, and he just looks like an mass of armor moving its own.”
Fluttershy gave a worried look at the suits of pony armors surrounding them while the CMC in unison said, “Cool.”
“Wait does that mean that if we search the suits of armor we could find one of those amulet things?” said Scootaloo.
“Um, no,” said Orchid, “some titans hide as something else as guardians, but that's only if there's enough magical energy to sustain them. This forest is overflowing with magic, it could easily sustain a guardian titan. If you try toppling the armor in hopes of finding an amulet you might trigger the awakening of the guardian titans, it's best if you just...” during her explaining all three each toppled a suit of armor each. And were searching the pieces.
“What part about my explanation of guardian titans did you not get,” said Orchid in an annoyed voice.
“Um, oops,” said the CMC in unison.
“Girls you really should listen to somepony when they're telling you about things that are potentially dangerous,” said Fluttershy.
Almost as if on cue the sound of something moving through the castle unseen reached their ears. All five swiveled their ears following the sound. Orchid looked to Springer, currently perched on Fluttershy's head, and said, “Springer, do you know what that sound is?” The foxy squirrel-like titan looked at her for moment before she said, “that's a comforting thought, Springer says it sounds like it might be a titan. Next time pay attention to someone when they are telling you something, just because I'm around your age doesn't mean you should ignore me when I say stuff. I've been a Seeker for the past two years, I'm the most qualified individual for telling you about the dangers of titans at the moment. So when I say to not do something, you better actually take my advice next time.”
“Okay,” said the CMC in unison.
All of a sudden Applejack and Rainbow appeared next to them, all five breathed sighs of relief. “We heard armor clashing to the ground,” said Rainbow, “I hope it wasn't anything serious.”
“Nope,” said Orchid, “I told them about a titan called Invisible Knight and they figured one of the suits of armor might be one. Also... what did you say you're smelling Jirwolf?... You sure?... Weeee might have a problem!”
“Define problam,” said Applejack.
“Something big, quiet and mean is headed this way,” said Orchid, “Jirwolf says it smells like a titan of some kind, one he's not familiar with. West side of the castle, everyone out there now! Breaker give those three a ride, I'll ride Jirwolf, it'll be faster.”
The two mares nodded, “they'll also keep you safe,” said Rainbow, “we'll handle whatever it is, don't worry.”
*************************
After three and a half minutes of waiting, and feeling the large thing get closer, they all finally saw it. It looked like an apple tree walking on two legs with large swinging wood arms that ended in branch-like hands, it's wood was a dark mahogany color, its eyes were glowing bright green, its leaves were a dark emerald color, and the apples in the branches on it's back where the leaves were came in a variety of sizes and colors. “Whut in tarnashin is tha' thang,” said Applejack, “et looks lahk uh walkin' apple tree.”
“How are we supposed to fight that?” said Rainbow Dash.
“We aren't,” said Orchid, “Jirwolf says that's the titan, in other words its a test. Remember, what you think is is right approach isn't always what you need to do. It looks like it has apples hanging in its branches, how do you harvest apples?”
“Whut?” said Apple Bloom, “ya buck 'em, Ah dun't see how 'at'll 'elp us!”
“The test of a guardian has all the clues and resources within reach, that titan can emulate any kind of tree, so ask yourselves, why an apple tree? Why not some other kind of tree fruit like limes or lemons? The answers is simple, the way to defeat the guardian is in the knowledge an apple farmer holds, and last I checked our current apple expert is Applejack. You know how to best handle the test, I just asked a question that was supposed to get your thinking on the right track. Stop thinking of that thing as some kind of monster, instead think of it as some new kind of apple tree.”
Sudden realization dawned on Applejack. “Thanks, Orchid,” she said, “Ah know jus' whut ta do. Rainbow, don't interfer wid this, et's my challenge ta overcome on mah own.”
“Okay,” said Rainbow, “but if it makes a move to squash you I'm pulling you out of there, no matter how much you complain.”
“Wouldn't 'ave et any odder way,” said Applejack as she rushed over lumbering tree-like monstrosity. Once she was in front of it she started shouting about how she was going to help get it's apples out of the branches. To everypony's surprise, except Orchid, it really did stop and stood perfectly still, suddenly a bunch of baskets materialized around the entity, Applejack took it as as a sign and gave one of the “legs” a mighty buck causing all the apples to fall into the baskets and fade out and in bright flash the creature was gone.
When Applejack returned she was wearing a silver tree twig shaped amulet with a bright green gem in the shape of an apple leaf hanging of to the right of the twig. “Well,” said Orchid, “looks like we have ourselves a new Seeker, I'll see about having my brother give you a few lessons on what that means, mostly because he's the closet we have to a master seeker at the moment.”
“Oh, no fair,” said Apple Bloom, “mah friends and Ah search all over fer uh titan amulet and mah sister beats uh monster by apple bucking et only ta get one.”
“So,” said Applejack, “whut's this guy called?”
“You tell us,” said Orchid, “just focus on the amulet and listen to what the titan says.”
Applejack closed her eyes and focused on the amulet, “She sez 'er name iz... Tree-ant,” said Appljack.
“I heard about them,” said Orchid, “they're in the old seeker records we have, they were supposedly all lost centuries ago, they were said to be powerful titans with great physical power. If memory serves right they also had some sort of rule for bonding with them.”
“ And what would that be?” said Rainbow Dash with a snicker, “being stubborn as a tree?”
“Actually, yes,” said Orchid, “the Tree-ant titans were supposedly only willing to bond with tenacious seekers. Applejack apparently a very tenacious individual, but is willing to listen to suggestions.”
“Well a'course Ah am, Ah'm supposed ta take over as tha new clan matron when Granny Smith decides et's time ta step down.”
“And now you have a way to help others know through the generations,” said Orchid, “Tree-ant can be a symbol of the matron and passed on to each new matron when the time comes, sometimes, a few additions to the traditions can help breath life into them. Tree-ant will be your loyal and honest companion for as long as you hold on to him. All titans are loyal to their seekers, it's a trait that comes from the bond. There's only three titans I know with certainty that have distinguished loyalty.”
“What are there names? I have a connection to the element of loyalty, so maybe one of those titans will like me,” said Rainbow Dash.
“My brother's Vitaguard, he's loyal to his allies to the point of giving allied titans a boost and ensuring their safety, from what we've learned from what Vitaguard told my brother they are one of the lost titans so there's a chance we could find one in Equestria somewhere; Cavalier, but mostly because he only bonds with the pure of heart; and Albion, his ability is called Fierce Loyalty, from what I've heard there were once many Albion titans but something happened to make it so they aren't seen all that often.”
“I've already seen Cavalier,” said Rainbow, “he's pretty awesome looking, “what about the other two.”
“Vitaguard is a knight in all white armor with a sword and shield for effective attack and defense.”
“Okay,” said Rainbow Dash, “sounds like somepony Rarity would swoon over, the other.”
“I really can't describe Albion, I've never really seen him, all I know is what I've seen in a Mythichive display. From what I recall he has a sword attached to some kind of energy rope.”
“Okay, that's pretty cool,” said Rainbow, “I'd totally like him as a buddy.”
“There is one other I've heard about, but I've never seen any image of,” said Orchid.
“Oh yeah,” said Rainbow, “what's he called?”
“Kilthane,” said Orchid, “all I've heard about him is that he's supposed to be inspiration for the black knights and that they have a tremendous loyalty.”
“So, tha' big tree feller turned inta this little amulet,” said Applejack, “or did Ah miss sumthen?”
“You missed a few things,” said Orchid, “some guardian will actually form around their amulets and once they've been beaten their amulet drops. You might experience some of Tree-ants abilities for a a little while. Just remember, he's meant to be a friend and not have his power abused. Think of him as a last resort type protector for the orchards if you want, but just remember he's as alive you or me and if you treat him as just a tool then you might be violating your own principles. My brother, his friends and I all see our titans as good friends and... yes Jirwolf you're my best friend... Breaker I'm glad you're not as destructive as when we met... Springer, stop messing with Fluttershy's mane... did you ask permission?... Then stop, you should always ask for permission before doing that sort of thing. Titans have distinctive personalities, and the greater their connection to their seeker the more they take on personality aspects of that seeker.”
Fluttershy giggled before saying, “I don't mind, in fact I find that you have conversations like that fascinating. You really are close to all them, you don't want to lose any of them.”
“That's true,” said Orchid, “Breaker, take a rest,” the bear-like titan turned into a blue wisp and shot into the gem on his amulet as she returned the amulet to her pouch, this also caused the CMC to drop to the ground with a little thud.
“So,” said Applejack, “how da Ah call out mah new friend?”
“You need to be touch the amulet, which you are when you wear it, and just call out the titan's name,” said Orchid as she petted Jirwolf.
“'at's all fine an' dandy, but jewelry really aint mah style,” said Applejack as she looked down at her amulet, “or really any Apple's fer that matter.”
“That might be true,” said Orchid, “but you'll want to keep the amulet close in case you need it for something, you can keep it under your hat if you want. Of course you could always have the hat altered to have a pouch for holding the amulet on the inside.”
“Nopony is touchin' mah hat,” said Applejack, “et was given ta me by mah folks, same with AB's ribbon. No way, now how is anypony touchin' our family keepsakes.”
“It was just a suggestion,” said Orchid, “but just remember, that titan turned you into a seeker. That doesn't mean you have to drop your current responsibilities, it just means you've taken on some new ones. There are just as many kinds of seekers as there are ponies, you've taken on a great responsibility that you can either choose to share or shoulder on your own. You should remember this, if you had seeker potential then your sibling probably do too, and maybe even your children will have it when they come around. How you choose to expose your family to the seeker world is up to you. It's unavoidable with your sister, she was here for all of it.”
“Yeah, but where does this power com from? Ah don't think Ah have what it takes to command that kind of power,” said Applejack with confusion.”
“The way I was told it,” said Orchid, “a seeker's powers come from their will, a weak willed individual can't become a seeker. You have a tremendous amount of will, it comes from that old family pride and stubbornness I heard your family has.”
“'at's nice ta hear,” said Appljack.
“And when you start learning spells it will be amusing,” giggled Orchid.
“Yeah, Ah suppose ya... did you just say Ah'd be learnin' spells? Ah'm an Earth Pony we can't use spells!”
“Seeker powers work on different principles than the magical principles you've been told about in school or from Twilight,” said Orchid, “seeker spells are designed to be discreet, they sound more like phrases you might hear everyday than actual spells. When I say BoltFlare what does that mean to you?”
“Bolt Flare? Sounds like a stallion that's out there somewhere,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Well to a seeker the expression BoltFlare,” a light orange sphere with a static dark orange flame in the middle appeared next to her head, "means a simple spell that most seekers learn early on. It's a light spell and fire spell in on convenient package. And that's how most seeker spells are, they're usually multipurpose and have a number of applications. If you wanted go faster we have a few spells for that, lift things without touching them, we have a spell for that too. My favorite is a spell for applying and adhesive that can't be overpowered with with brute force, it's one of the spells we have in our archives. We have a variety of spells that can be applied any number of ways, if you noticed my horn didn't glow when I invoked the spell, and isn't glowing now that I have the spell active. In short the spell doesn't work on the same principles as standard unicorn magic.”
“You have spells for moving quick,” said Rainbow with excitement, “I saw you use one. But multiple speed spells, awesome.”
“Most seeker spells have short periods of time that they last, either a few seconds or a few minutes,” said Orchid, “I've grown up in the seeker world, you all are just in your introductory phase. Normally you'd be taken to one of our faction's training grounds and taught by someone there, but since that doesn't seem to be an option lessons from my brother are your best bet for the time being.”
“We dun't know 'im beyond the short intro we got at tha party,” said Applejack, “whut's 'e really like?”
“Well,” said Orchid trying to think of how to best describe her brother, “he's a bit of magic nut, which I hear is trait your friend Twilight shares with him. He doesn't get riled up when he's mad, instead he gets freakishly calm and analytical to the point it can be terrifying. He really likes to cook, and watching him work in the kitchen with his titans is always a treat. Last I checked his favorite dessert was apple cinnamon pie, with chocolate ice cream. I think his favorite food is some kind of salad, mostly because that's what he always eats for lunch and occasionally dinner. But really, if you want to know about him you should ask him yourself.”
“'at's plentay fer us ta know fer now,” said Applejack, “'e caunt bay ull bad ef 'e lahks apples.”
“That's your deciding thought on everything,” retorted Rainbow Dash, “come on there have to be some jerks that like apples. Not that I'm implying...”
“I know what you were getting at,” said Orchid, “but to be fair my brother is one of the good ones, he actually takes time out of his schedule to spend time with family whenever possible. Our older siblings can be jerks a bit more than once and a while, but deep down they're all good.”
“What's your family like? You just said you had older siblings,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Dad and his first wife are divorced,” said Orchid, “he met mom a little over twenty years ago and they hit it off, Rec and I are her only children so far.”
“Yer dad had anudder mare en 'is life bafer yer mum,” said Applejack with a disapproving voice, “whey ded thay seprate?”
“We didn't get any of those details, but as far as Rec and I know she doesn't know about the things seekers do, but all of her children do. Mom found out pretty early on into their relationship and her understanding of magic made it much easier for her and dad to talk and share the truth about the world. Mom never once tried to learn any seeker spells or bond with any titans, she says that she's perfectly happy as she is. Rec and I have a good relationship with mom, our half-siblings not as much. They all love us the way family does, but they still aren't happy about mom's relationship with dad. Of course they're more annoyed with their mom than ours.”
“Um,” said Scootaloo, “why?”
“Because their mom filed for divorce and pretty much forced dad into it,” said Orchid, “he tried to stop it from happening. From what we've been told their mom and our dad had been living pretty happily up until their mom slapped the divorce paper on the table in front of him and told him to sign it. No explanation regarding that, at all, she didn't even explain herself to her own children. In fact we still don't know why she did all that.”
“So your family has few issues they're trying figure out? That's a little odd considering how close your brother and you are to your mom,” said Rainbow.
“Yeah, but we haven't really connected with dad as much as he would like,” said Orchid, “admittedly he wasn't there for bonding as much as mom. Most seekers find themselves in lives of adventure.”
“Oh, well if that's the case I don't mind not being one,” said Fluttershy.
“We wanna 'ave that kinda life,” said Apple Bloom, “et sounds like fun.”
“Yes, well,” said Orchid, “traveling all over the world and uncovering forgotten secrets and claiming lost treasures might sound fun, but it's also dangerous. You have evil seekers, guardian titans, ancient curses, and lots of paperwork to contend with. Mostly the paperwork, you would not believe the bureaucracy involved in being an explorer these days. And that's all on top of whatever job you have in the ordinary world, you have to find a way to balance your life in the Seeker world and the world everyone else lives in. It's far from easy, and some even say it's rewarding.”
“Well, that's a bummer,” said Sweetie Belle, “I guess we won't be getting our cutie marks in this. Since you don't have a cutie mark either feel free to join us when we go crusading.”
“Do you even know what crusading means?” replied Orchid.
“Well duh,” said Scootaloo, “it means you go searching for something with passion and vigor.”
“Close,” said Orchid, “the dictionary definition is 'any vigorous, aggressive movement for the defense or advancement of an idea, cause, et cetera', in other words you were close, but still wrong with the definition.”
Scootaloo groaned before saying, “great, another Sweetie Belle. No offense to Sweetie, but she has tendency to correct us and spout out dictionary definitions when she feels the need to correct us on something.”
“Hey,” said Sweetie, “just because I have aspirations of being a refined and educated mare doesn't mean you can just mock me to make a point.”
“She's right,” said Orchid, “she's your friend, that means you can tease her or play the occasional prank on her, but true friends never intentionally mock each other.”
“Sorry,” said Scootaloo, “I guess I just felt threatened by the fact that you're a bit too much like Sweetie Belle, I guess I just thought she might want to spend more time with you instead of me and Apple Bloom.”
“First off the proper way of saying it is 'Apple Bloom and I' and secondly just because she finds someone to relate to in me doesn't mean she's going to stop wanting to spend time with her best friends, said Orchid. “I'm just a newcomer, and truth be told this the closest I've had to having real friends. I thought some girls at my school wanted to honestly make a try at being my friends, we hung out for a few weeks with them being all sweet and nice. Then at a party they were throwing I brought a store bought jewelry making kit because they said to bring something fun and some jewelry, I thought I could solve two challenges with one solution was cool. They pretended to be interested in the kit for a minute before saying they wanted to borrow some of my amulets, I told them I couldn't because I was afraid they wouldn't return them and that they had too much sentimental value.”
“What was the real reason?” Asked Rainbow as they headed out of the forest.
“All of what I said and the fact that I was afraid what those girls would do with if they showed seeker potential when I passed them my amulets. I had seen what those girls were really like from the get go, I thought if I spent some time with them I could at least try and transition them into nice individuals. The moment they heard me say I wouldn't give them my amulets they threw the jewelry kit, which was actually pretty pricey and something I had spent almost half my personal savings on at the time, in my at out the window. I fortunately had thought ahead and had my then newly gained Springer near the window to catch anything they threw out, none of the contents were damaged and all that happened was ding in one of the corners. Once they thought it was a massive mess on the ground outside they started telling me the whole reason they had spent so much time on 'a lost cause' like me was so I would give them some of my amulets. They thought they were just really pretty jewelry. I almost freaked out and summoned Breaker to teach them a lesson, but I remembered my brother telling me a Seeker has more than titans at her disposal and to summon a titan for something so petty was an insult to me and all my titans.”
“So, what did you do?” Squeaked Sweetie Belle.
“I cast a SimpleMind spell on them told them to forget ever asking about amulets and then take a nap, they went right sleep and the next day didn't remember anything involving my amulets the prior day so they were shocked when I broke of our relationship off.”
“Oh man that so good,” laughed Rainbow Dash, “you have a spell making ponies forget stuff and do whatever you want.”
“It's a spell that scrambles someone's short term memory and make them highly susceptible to outside forces for a few seconds,” said Orchid, “and should not be left in the care of irresponsible individuals, I had only learned the spell a few days prior to my using it. Besides the spell only works on the the weak willed, those with strong wills can't be influenced by the spell. Last I checked you all have some pretty strong wills, even if some of you might show signs of poor impulse control from time to time.” The CMC and Applejack turned their gazes to Rainbow for a moment as they continued to walk.
Rainbow gave a little chuckle before making a flying dash to Ponyville saying something about getting Rarity to look over Applejack's new accessory. “What was that all about? Rainbow acted a little weird,” said Scootaloo.
“She's jus' not used ta somepony younger than 'er callin' 'er out so easily,” said Applejack with a chuckle.
“When I said that I was talking about miss Fluttershy,” said Orchid with genuine confusion, “she's always impulsively hiding behind the nearest thing when something startles her.”
The four other ponies looked at Orchid for a few seconds, it would have been longer, but Orchid said, “Applejack, low hanging branch, girls, bush!”
The four took notice of the obstacles in time to avoid them in time. “Whoa, good catch thar darlin',” said Applejack with her eyes squarely up front this time, “ya jus' caught us off 're guard es all.”
“Seeker policy number one,” said Orchid in a voice imitating her brother, “always assume there's more than one meaning in what you are told. Seeker policy number two, never assume or jump to conclusions, always make sure you have enough evidence to support your theories or claims. Seeker policy number three, while honesty is the best policy it is also important to keep secrets from the majority of the populace to as to not incite a potential panic. Seeker policy number four, only talk about the Seeker world with those you know can be trusted with the information and will not abuse it. Seeker policy number five, never use your abilities or titans for personal gain. Seeker policy number six, always look out for your friends and team. Seeker policy number seven, commit all of the policies above to memory to the best of your ability.”
“Well, that's different,” said Sweetie Belle, “wait, you really think of us as friends?”
“Of course I do,” said Orchid, “if I didn't I would have only shared the bare essentials with you and done my best to not speak with you again.”
Fluttershy smiled and said, “You really look up to your brother, he must be real nice to you.”
“He's always there for me,” said Orchid, “he's actually cut his prior obligations short a few times to come to my rescue. Like he says 'family and friends first, duties second and never forget that is the order of obligations', mom says she likes that policy and has made it her personal motto as well.”
“Yer stallin', darlin', Ah can tell,” said Applejack, “yer hidin' behind what yer brother says, and yer attempts ta imitate 'im.”
Orchid gave a deep sigh and said, “and I'll keep doing it, if I let out what how I really feel I'll be a quivering mess that one of you'll have to carry out of here.”
“Ah don' mind,” said Applejack, “and 'sides if ya can't show yer real self in front of yer friends then ya'll just burn yerself out, Ah learned uh similar lesson uh while ago.”
“It's too...” Orchid broke down into sobs and sniffled saying, “I really thought... I could get them to change for the better... they were just using me and if I hadn't used that spell I could have...” she just set out outright crying while holding a hoof to the amulet around her neck. Orchid curled up into a sobbing ball and in muffled voice that Applejack and Fluttershy just barely made out said, “Mwee thonely vun vat mows miss shwide woff mwee wiz mwy bwoffer.”
“you poor dear, your more sensitive than you have been letting on,” said Fluttershy as she picked up the filly and placed Orchid on her back, “why go through with the masquerade? Is it because your brother told you too?”
“N-no,” sniffled Orchid as they all continued back to Ponyville, here on Applejack's back, “he says no matter what I should always be myself, be who I want to be, not who I think others need me to be,” she gave another sniffle before noticing her own tear stains under her eyes and saying, “I want to be like big brother, so I try to act like him as best I can.”
“Ded 'e 'ave antyhang ta say about et?” said Applejack as they continued out of the forest.
“Yes,” said Orchid as she pulled her ears back in shame, “he said that I should stop trying to be like someone else and just try to be the best me I can.”
“Yer brother's uh smart one,” said Applejack.
“He is,” said Orchid with a sad smile, “but I'm not sure what the real me is supposed to be, I care about all my titans, but so does he.”
“Did 'e say thar's anythang special aboutch ya?” inquired Apple Bloom.
“He said I seem to have a talent for bonding with animal-like titans, but I don't see how that's helpful.”
“Yer a dense little filly,” said Applejack, “ya seemed to form uh connection ta Flutters in uh very short time, she's an animal caretaker. Is thar uh job lahk that among Seekers?”
“We call them Amulet Watchers,” said Orchid, “they watch over safehouses and make sure all the titans and artifacts that are brought to them are kept safe until the right individual comes or the items in their care need to be shipped out somewhere else.”
“Well why can't you start preparing for that?” said Fluttershy, “it sounds like a calm and relaxing job.”
“I guess,” said Orchid, “but I really do want to go on globe trotting adventures like my brother, I want to uncover anciet secrets and find lost titans, I want see the secret sides of the world, not sit in an old building for weeks on end looking into whatever the adventuring teams bring into me.”
“So in other word you want to be like Daring Do,” said Scootaloo, “a kick-flank, awesome adventurer who hunts down ancient artifacts and battles evil forces.”
“Yep, that sounds about right,” said Orchid, “but who's Daring Do? That's an express, not a name where I come from. That name doesn't even tell me what their gender is. Although if this 'Daring Do' is as you say then they must be like Indiana Jones, that is one amazing guy.”
“What kind of name is that?” said Scootaloo, “that name makes no sense.”
“Well to me the name Daring Do makes next to no sense,” retorted Orchid with indignation, it seemed this line of conversation was just what was needed to pull her sorrowful musings, “I am so showing you those movies when I get the chance, of course I could also grab the books for you as well.”
“Books and movies,” said Scootaloo, “ah mare, Daring only has books, this Indiana character totally has her beat.”
“Word of warning,” said Orchid, “his adventures get pretty gruesome at some points. You actually see quite a few characters die, and he's even shot a few of them himself, killed a few of them too.”
“Whoa, he's hardcore,” said Scootaloo, “Dash is the Daring do expert, I am so going to ask her about all of that. I've only read the first two books in the series, my parents don't want me reading anymore Daring's stories until I'm done with school, no clue why.”
“Don't look at me like that,” said Orchid, “you know more about this place and who lives it than I do,” as the CMC all glanced at her.
“Yeah, but you know more about magic stuff than any of us,” squeaked Sweetie Belle, “and you've actually been on a few adventures with your brother.”
“He's taken to, like, four places that aren't my hometown and of those four 'adventures' only the most recent had me in a Seeker battle. It was pretty tame, then again our opponent were team of moronic narcissists lead by one of the biggest narcissists I have ever encountered,” Orchid huffed, “Spending time in the far east was fun, but I mostly spent it on the training grounds getting to know my titans and learning a few new moves.”
“Whudda ya mean new moves?” Asked Applejack with a quick skeptical look.
“Seekers have a tendency to defy the norms of magic and combat, traditionally a spell caster hangs back while their tougher allies act as a break against an oncoming attack.”
“That sounds about right, from what Twilight's told us about magic based team combat,” said Fluttershy, “it's practice that we don't really use in Equestria anymore.”
“Well, Seekers don't play that way,” said Orchid, “usually after summoning titans we fight alongside them, a Master Seeker is said to be a master of all forms of combat. That means armed, unarmed and magic based combat are all something they know. My brother's not a Master Seeker, but my father is. What I mean by new moves is that my brother was teaching me some unarmed combat moves. I'm much more fit than other girls my age on account of all the combat practice I've had for the past two years. I wouldn't put it past my brother and his friends to prove a point to established military members with egos that are a bit too inflated to show them just how lacking they are, my brother would probably trounce them in three moves or less, that's why I want to be like my brother. I want to be able to handle any potentially dangerous situation that's sent my way.”
“But ya said tha ones that watch tha safe houses have ta keep unwanted forces away from thar charges,” said Apple Bloom, “ya could still be a kick-flank pony and do all tha keep 'em out stuff.”
“True,” said Orchid, “but I want a few really memorable adventures before I'm told that's my role in the Association, “I'm not as good at research as my brother, but I've been told I'm good enough to impress a few higher rankers.”
“You've got a chance at a job without knowing your special talent?” said Sweetie Belle with surprise, “you don't have a cutie mark yet!”
“Where I'm from we don't have cutie marks,” said Orchid, “many in my world actually go their entire lives without knowing what their special talent is or what they want to do with their lives. Some know what they want to do without knowing their talent, others go through life knowing their talent while not knowing what they want to do with their lives. Everything isn't as set in stone as you think. As mom and bro say, 'friends are like mirrors, they reflect pieces of who we are and only with a sharp eye will you notice those reflections, sometimes the best way to self-reflect is to spend time with your friends instead of meditating in silence', I admit it's a little wordy and in a sense beautiful.”
“Well, Ah like et,” said Applejack, “but what's this bit about self-reflectin' an' meditatin' have ta do wid anythang?”
“A common method for understanding oneself, what is called self-realization, is to go someplace quiet and stay still with your eyes closed thinking only about everything you know about yourself and what those that know you have told you,” said Orchid, “the practice is called 'self-reflecting', meditating is common method for that. The essence of meditating is sitting perfectly still and relaxed, it can also be used to relax. The calm body posture, slow even breathing and lack of tension in the body can tell you if someone is meditating.”
“That sounds boring,” said Scootaloo, “sitting in one place for extended period is what school is for.”
“You're always in a rush, you've got learn to slow down,” said Orchid, “you can't know one thing truly, meditation also helps with little exercises. Like this one, I want you to imagine your favorite kind of flower and tell me what it is and after you do I'll share the rest of the exercise with you.”
The three fillies looked at each other while walking back to town before Apple Bloom said, “Apple blossoms!”
“Blue Orchids, they're really cool,” said Scootaloo.
“Roses,” said Sweetie Belle with sense of romance in her voice.
“Okay, that's a good start,” said Orchid, “now imagine someone you've never met, seen or heard the name of and describe them in a manner that is accurate to the real thing.”
“That's impossible,” said the CMC, Applejack and Fluttershy in unison.
“Actually it's not,” said Orchid with a chuckle, “just really freaking hard, and when you pull it off right it's awesome wrapped in cool with a ribbon of amazing. My third time with this exercise I pulled it off, it didn't require any magic, besides I still don't know any spells that could help with this exercise. Most the time it's a total miss, but since it's a thought execise it really doesn't matter if you do end up describing a guy who always goes around in trench coat with ginger hair and fedora and black shirt with sea foam green shorts a monocle on his right eye, with a light gray coat and sapphire blue eyes with a mark that looks like a bunch of spare mechanical parts who goes by the name Jalopy.”
“Applejack looked at the filly for moment before saying, “we 'ad somepony down to the mark get uh whol mess uh apples from us last month, there's no way ya coulda described him down to the letter widout meetin' him.”
“Actually that really was all of the top of my head, I was trying to be ironic. Where I come from the word jalopy means an old, decrepit, unpretentious ground vehicle. I had no idea that it really would be someone's name.”
“Ya and yer bro keep doin' tha' thing wid yer words,” said Apple Bloom as the exit to the forest came into view, “ya say things like 'someone' and 'anyone' instead of words like anypony or somepony, do ya 'ave some kind of aversion ta tha words?”
“Not at all,” said Orchid, “it's just a force of habit we picked up from mom, she always talks like that around others.”
“Com on let's get ya all ta Rarity's, if Ah remember right Bloom said somethin' abou' uh slumber party tanite.”
“Can you join us for the party, Orchid?” Squeaked Sweetie Belle, “that little speech of your makes me want to try at this a few more days.”
“I'll have to check with Rec,” said Orchid, “he's responsible for me while we're away from home.”
“Ah'm sure we con wait uh bit fer 'is answer,” said Applejack, “after all 'e's off doin' somethin' fer the princesses.”
**********************************
After a few minutes they trotted into Carousel Boutique and the first thing that happened was Rarity saying in her usual prim voice gesturing at the new amulet around the farm mare's neck, “Applejack it's such a wonderful thing to see you're actually try at wearing accessories, darling.”
“Actually the accessory kind of chose her,” squeaked Sweetie Belle, “she got of those cool titan amulet things.”
“Yup, she's uh big un,” said Appljack, “so darn big en fact that Ah can't let her out en the store widout causin' some serious damage. Uh course Ah wouldn't uh figured out 'ow ta get 'er if Orchid 'adn't said et challenge that wuz more a puzzle that only an apple farmer could solve.”
“She's a problem solver, well a proper mare must always know how to solve problems when they arise.”
“It has more to do with the fact I've been taught to think things through a bit differently than most.”
“Well, regardless,” said Rarity, “it's nice to see Applejack with something a bit more feminine.”
“This is going to be interesting,” said Orchid, “if there was a titan in the forest there could be more waking up around the country, maybe even the world. Things are starting to get a whole lot more interesting.”
“I wonder what we'll all find,” said Scootaloo with excitement, “I hope whatever Rainbow Dash is awesome.”
“Any titan can be awesome, it just depends on how you define awesome,” said Orchid with a smirk.
“So what are defining characteristics of Seeker magic again?” Said Twilight Sparkle with a notepad and pencil floating next to her, “I want to make sure I get it all right, I mean when you used your spells your horn didn't glow at all.”
“Seeker powers are drawn from the seeker's will,” said Rec calmly with a light smile, “we have to utter the name of a spell to cast it or name of a titan to invoke them,” he pointed to the two amulets that now hung from Twilight's neck, “I've heard with enough practice you don't even need to call the names to invoke some powers, but those have been nothing more than rumors as far as I can tell. Each titan has a distinct ability that can prove useful in certain situations. Akmen-Meo has an ability called Loremaster, and you know what that means right?”
“She can translate any language and read through any written work like a carving on a wall or a text of some kind,” said Twilight.
Claudia groaned, they'd only been on the train a half hour and she was already very bored. Mandi was doing her best to lessen the boredom of Claudia, with varying results. Pinkie Pie was just giggling in the her seat, she seemed to get amusement out of just about anything. Claudia reached into Rec's bag and pulled out the Mythichive before trying to bring up the map of the school. The Mythichive said, “please state password.”
Claudia gave another groan before saying, “The unicorn of the meadows watches the sea of fire upon the rock of ages.”
“I am sorry, that is no longer a valid code,” said the Mythichive in its even voice.
“Rec, what's the new password for the Mythichive? I'm bored,” said Claudia.
“You're a seeker, solve the puzzle,” said Rec before turning his attention back to Twilight, “now Ironsquire has an ability called Defender, can you guess what that means.”
“he's really good at defending others and things?,” said Twilight.
“That's part of it,” said Rec, “his combat prowess actually increases when he's fighting multiple opponents. Under normal circumstances he'd have a basic human design to go with his large shield, he doesn't carry any weapons. He's well armored, but that's about the as far is it goes. Since he's known for his physical prowess, and from what you've told me about the different pony subgroups, I would guess he'd take on an appearance similar to an earth pony if he was invoked in this world.”
“A fair assessment,” said Twilight.
“The nerds are talking magic,” said Mandi teasingly.
Pinkie took the Mythichive from Claudia and said, “Cupcakes riding a rainbow is such a pretty sight, but not as pretty as my last coat dying party...”
“Oh come, that makes very little sense,” said Claudia, “even Rec wouldn't...”
“Password accepted, welcome to the systems,” said the Mythichive, “what function would you like to take advantage of.”
“I wanna look at Rec's super awesome diary,” said Pinkie with a smile.
Rec's blissful face disappeared before he said, “Please don't, my journal is private for a reason. It has all my notes on my personal projects and...”
“Secondary password required,” said the Mythichive.
“Butterscotch Taffy sliding down a chocolate waterfall is so fun to watch,” said Pinkie with a smile.
“Password accepted,” said the Mythichive.
“Seriously,” said Claudia, “how did she get it on the first try?”
“I've learned when it comes to Pinkie you just don't think about it,” said Twilight, “less chance of a mental breakdown.”
“Let's see what his oldest entry is,” said Pinkie with a smile, “ooh I didn't even think of that as a party favor, that's so superfic and fun sounding. A chocolate jacuzzi with floating graham crackers and marshmallows.”
“I was eight,” said Rec with hint of annoyance in his voice, “and it sounded like a good idea at the time, dad didn't appreciate it and had me spend the day be for my birthday with a psychiatrist. Not a fun thing when you're that age.”
“You've had that thing since you were eight?” said Twilight with surprise.
“Got it as a gift for my eighth birthday,” said Rec, “didn't start keeping a personal log 'til a little before my ninth birthday. Mom just giggled when she found out what I wanted to do for my birthday, honestly it was going to just be for one day.”
“I wonder if the spa will let us do that,” said Pinkie with a smile. Let's see what he wrote for yesterday and last night,” she jumped forward in the journal,” Claudia and Mandi groaned, Twilight stared on with interest and Rec started feeling uneasy.
“Let's see, aha her it is,” said Pinkie with a giggle, “ it says, 'turned into a unicorn, don't know why or how. Also I apparently took to this new body a little too quick, same with Orchid and my friends, probably has something to do with magical properties we possess or the nature of our bonds with certain titans. Met a Pink blur that calls herself Pinkie Pie, wish the rest of my family had a tenth the energy she displays when we do our regular family gatherings, Also apparently since we were surrounded by mythological equines I decided to use Nordrake to calm down Mandi, I really didn't have any other choice since my more subtle ice based titans are back home in my room and if I used any of my cold spells on her with all the extra magic flowing in this place I might have hit her with a bit to much power. No surprise that the natives were surprised that I summoned a dragon, but it wasn't for the usual reasons. I've decided to share what I know with them for now in hopes of them helping get us home.' this is off to a good start.”
“Thanks for the trust in us,” said Twilight.
Pinkie kept going, “ Let's see what else, 'taught one of the natives a bit about Seeker magic, Twilight seems to have tremendous Seeker potential, or it's just her talent for magic, could be an amalgam of both. Gave her my only Ironsquire, figured he would be a good fit for her. She got a hold of an Akmen-Meo titan, those things are really hard to find these days. Egyptian scribes used have them all over the place, but now you're lucky to find one anywhere. She was studying a Nordrake amulet, stashed it under my mattress before turning in for the night. Speaking of nights, Inari just had to make an entrance, and to make it worse some being called Discord showed up. Those two are both major tricksters, still need to run a scan on Discord to see if he has similar properties to a titan. It's times like this I wish I was more like Merlin, he was a truly great master of magics,' that's a cool name.”
“So he's a great spell caster, like Starswirl the Bearded,” said Twilight, “Pinkie I think that's enough embarrassing...”
“He thinks I'm cute,” cried Pinkie, Rec started blushing so hard his cheeks went almost black, “that's so nice of him, usually my energy has a tendency to scare colts off.”
Rec gave a light cough before saying, “Yes, well I'm not going to pursue that at any point in the near future, I'm not jumping onto that ship just yet.”
“He's really good at keeping his emotions mostly in check,” said Claudia with a smirk, “too bad we know he likes someone now, I am going to tease him about this so much.”
“You are most definitely not,” said Mandi, “we have work to do, keep your mind on that.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” said Claudia, “so, Twilight, you used to used to go to this school. Before we begin our investigation maybe you could tell us a bit about the school itself.”
“Sure,” said Twilight beaming with pride, “Princess Celestia founded the school exactly nine-hundred years ago as of the the third Thursday of next month, the school was established to cultivate the magical talents of the most gifted unicorns of each generation.”
“I take it they have a standard lesson structure,” said Rec.
“Um, yes,” said Twilight, “I don't think anypony's ever heard of somepony blending spells together, so I'm sure the school never anticipated something like that.”
“Seekers aren't what you'd call conventional spell slingers,” said Rec, “please continue with what you know about the school.”
“Okay,” said Twilight, “the school has five floors above ground and six floors below ground. Some of the lower levels actually extend into the tunnels beneath Canterlot. Canterlot itself is built into the mountainside, so it's really a stunning view. I grew up in Canterlot, but you want to know more about the school. The school has a staff of well educated unicorns to teach new students, several of which are prior graduates of the school. Everything from the basics to advanced magical theory and practice are lessons at the school. There are also more generic classes like Geology, Genetics, all manner of mathematics, Chemistry, Alchemy, Astrology and Astronomy. All the sciences are at the school. Also the school has five story dormitories for colts and fillies individually.”
“Astrology has been dropped to being a pseudoscience where we're from,” said Rec, “and alchemy is treated as the precursor to chemistry. Also Seekers have found other ways to integrate magic into technologies beyond devices like the Mythichive,” he shut the Mythichive, which was in Pinkie's hooves, and floated it back into his saddlebag. “Personal journals and diaries are meant to be private,” he said shooting Pinkie an annoyed look, “if I want to share my secrets with someone I will, but until my trust in them reaches that point I suggest they respect my privacy. Why did you have to go reading my private records?”
“Because it would be fun,” said Pinkie, “and the passwords were just fun to say.”
Rec gave sigh before saying, “thankful my passwords are moderated by a randomizer algorithm, the moment they're used a new one for that set takes its place.”
“You have sweets based passwords?” Said Claudia with confusion.
“A few, also some passwords centered other aspects of my diet.”
“Just like a seeker to devise puzzles that require a little unusual thinking,” said Claudia with a smirk, “so the real reason you insisted on Pinkie coming along is because you just wanted to spend more time with the hyperactive pink cannonball?”
“All the reasons I gave were legitimate ones, and maybe my infatuation with the energetic pink mare played a bit into it.”
“Aw, he's so sweet,” said Pinkie with a giggle.
Giving light cough Rec said, “Yes, well, we'll be relying on your skills miss Pie, maybe if you're lucky you'll find a titan to bond with like Twilight.”
“You gave her a second one,” said Pinkie, “how come?”
“It's a sort of tradition,” said Twilight, “when a Seeker that's on good terms with another seeker sees they've been able to acquire a titan they give them another one that they think will be a good assistant or compliment the seeker.”
“Yes, well I'm no Master Seeker, but I'm doing my best to help Twilight understand the world of Seekers,” said Rec.
“But your both unicorns, magic comes easy to you,” said Pinkie.
“And two other seekers on this train are a pegasus and a griffin,” said Rec, “Seeker magic cares not of your tribe, all that matters is your will power. And you miss Pie have will to spare, I can see it, you're practically radiating your potential power, I suggest you reign it in a bit.”
“Pinkie has trouble reigning things in,” said Twilight, “she's a bit to much expressive at times.”
The rest of the train ride was in silence.
***************************
After the train came to a stop they all stepped out, the first things out of Claudia's mouth were, “transportation sure is slow in this world, if we had our vehicles we would have been here in a fraction of the time, heck I think I could have flown here in half the time the train took.”
Mandi shot the griffin a look and said, “you're being abrasive again, try reigning in that sort of talk, besides I liked the ride.”
“Where to next?” Said Rec, looking around. The station had a nineteenth century vibe too it, almost like like stepping back in time for the three young seekers. In addition a cursory look at the city itself evoked lessons on medieval architecture and communities for Rec. The whole city was coated in lovely whitewash, and almost all the roofs had a yellow painting or tint to them at first glance. The three seekers looked around in awe at, “We're headed there,” said Twilight pointing to what looked like a white keep with a ring of six ivory towers encircling it.
Claudia just snickered before saying, “that complex has the subtlety of a flying golem, I'm sure a number of rich brats have attended the school.”
“Well, I suppose a large portion of noble foals have attended the school,” said Twilight, “but before anypony can be accepted there's an entrance exam, and those are randomized to ensure nopony can say that they knew what the test was going to be. I didn't even know about the entrance exam when my parents brought me to the school after showing me I had earned a scholarship to the school. The instructor are all top notch, in fact I think Rec would do well as a member of their staff.”
“If we are stuck here longer than a few months and Princess Celestia asks it of me I won't have problem with it,” said Rec as they made their way to the complex.
“He's practical like that,” said Mandi.
Silently the rest of the way they made way for the school.
*************************************************
After what Claudia described as the longest seventeen minutes of her life they were coming up on the entryway of the school. Up close the building was pristine white with bright yellow paint, a pair of gold colored unicorn statues flanked the door. One was holding an open book in its hoof while the other was rearing majestically. On closer inspection the rearing unicorn appeared to be a stallion and the reading unicorn appeared to be a mare.
“This place is really flashy on the outside,” retorted Cluadia.
“We have nobles visiting for various reasons,” said Twilight, “some that are from outside Equestria, this is Equestria's premier school of magic.”
With that they all made their way in and were greeted with the sight of Princess Celestia standing next to a male griffin who had a scar along his beak and over an eye that looked as if it had gone blind some time ago. “So,” said the griffin in a thick, imposing, rumbling masculine voice, “these are the new investigators into disappearances the school has had,” he gave a sly grin, “and one of them is a griffin, that brings a bit of ease to my mind, at least they will know just how much is at stake. His lordship was more than glad to hear that you are giving the investigation another go, while he doesn't think you will find much he would like to have some sense of closure regarding the disappearance of his daughter.”
“Which is why I asked for a liaison from the Griffin embassy be here to meet the team,” Celestia said.
“Very good,” said the griffin, “I believe introductions are in order, I am known as Iron Talon.”
“I am Recorded Formula,” said Rec, “but friends and good associates call me Rec.”
“I'm Mandi,” said Mandi, “a pleasure to meet you mister Talon.”
“Name's Claudia,” said Claudia, “I'm usually the muscle when some heavy lifting needs to be done. I'm also no to shabby in scuffle.”
“Excellent,” said Iron Talon, “who are the other two?”
“My former protege and her friend,” Celestia, “Twilight used to study at the school so she seemed a logical choice to aid with the investigation.”
“I'm Pinkie Pie,” said Pinkie in a serious voice, clearly knowing this was not time for her usual antics, “Rec insisted I join in the investigation because of my ability to spot little details more effectively than most.”
“Very good,” said Iron Talon, “glad to see mares aren't some kind of intentional distraction for the stallion.”
“One that is very rude to insinuate,” said Rec, “two I grew up with Claudia and Mandi, they're more like sisters than anything else, and three I'm always focused when on the job. I find insulting when someone implies otherwise before the mission officially begins.”
“It's a mission for you to learn what happened to the disappeared,” said Iron Talon with surprise before smiling, “good, since you don't see it as just another job you might find what the other investigators couldn't.”
“Thank you mister Talon,” said Rec, “now if you will excuse us, we need to be briefed as to the full extent of all the incidents and situations by the Princess before we begin the official investigation.”
“Very good,” said Iron Talon heading out, stopping at the door he said, “when can we expect to see any results?”
“Since the investigation has yet to officially start it is hard to say,” said Rec, “it could be anywhere from a couple of hours to a few months, if you wish to receive updates on the investigation I recommend you ask for the Princess to relay any copies of the investigation that may prove of importance to you and those you represent.”
“Very good,” said Iron Talon, “I applaud your professionalism, Princess several of the griffin lords would like to be kept in the loop on this investigation. If you could send any copies of the investigation's progress to the embassy so we can send copies to the appropriate houses.”
“Of course, sir knight,” said Princess Celestia, “it is all in the the interest of keeping good relations with our nations.”
With that the griffin departed. “Well, that was a thing,” said Claudia.
“If you would follow me to the room I have prepared for the briefing,” said Princess Celestia as she made her way out of the entry hall. The five followed the ivory alicorn. They entered into what looked like a staff meeting room and the princess carefully shut the door once the last guest was inside. “This is more of problem than Twilight probably realizes, I've got the best spell and magic theorists on staff looking into possible reasons for all this, they don't have anything they think could be conclusive or of use to an investigation.”
“The other investigators probably took their word for it because they're the experts on the subject,” said Mandi.
“That's a rookie mistake,” said Claudia, “I thought the investors before us were supposed to be experts.”
“Yes, well I told them to respect the wishes of the staff,” said Celestia, “this is a school after all, and there are a number of students that take lessons here almost year round.”
“I'm sure they didn't want to invite disfavor from Princess Celestia either,” said Rec, “so how long have the disappearances be going on? When was the most recent event?”
“The disappearances have been happening for the past four hundred years,” said Celestia, this caused Twilight's jaw to drop in surprise.
“It gets any lower and it might crash through the floor joked Claudia.
“Yes, Twilight, please remove your jaw from the floor,” said Celestia, Twilight pulled her jaw back up and kept her surprised look focused on the princess, “the most recent event was thirty years ago, it involved one of the school's more promising students and her friends, the details should all be in the student files on the fourth floor.”
“I knew a few student's disappeared all of sudden in the past few decades,” said Twilight, “but I assumed they all had something to do with some kind of magic experiments they had been running in secret.”
“Rule one of study,” said Rec, “never assume anything without sufficient enough evidence. While assumptions lead to errors, informed assumptions can help find the pieces of the puzzle we might miss on a blind guess. Twilight, you have a lot to learn about the kind of research we do.”
“The clues to the truth are always hidden in the guise of speculation, rumor, lore and myth,” said Claudia, “all you have to do is look at things from different angles.”
“Sometimes you need to look at it all from multiple angles at the same time,” said Mandi, “the kaleidoscope effect is confusing, but sometimes it can be a good friend.”
“What is that even supposed to mean?” inquired Twilight.
“It means pieces of the picture are spread out and you have to find a way spin them so they form the missing images,” said Pinkie with a giggle, “you've never played with one before?”
“I thought about it, but never really followed through,” said Twilight.
“We'll have to change that,” said Pinkie, reaching into her mane.
“Another time Pinkie,” said Rec, “we have some records to look through first. Princess Celestia, is there anything else you would like us to know before we begin the mission?”
“Only that if your investigation bears more fruit than any of the investigations before then it will greatly improve our relations with the Gryphons' nation,” said Celestia, “I wish the best of luck.”
**************************************
On the fourth floor in the school's student archives a full forty minutes later, “Agh, a half hour of looking through these student reports and nothing conclusive,” said Twilight, “the reports of student disappearances are varied and the ones that seem to have some kind of connection also seem to have counterpoints. Pinkie usually find the exact piece of literature we're looking for in a matter of minutes, but even she's been having trouble.”
“You're still thinking your old way,” said Rec as he looked through a series of files with interest his Gareon and Gremlow bringing him new files to look over, “you have a Titan that can help, call on her and ask for her aid.”
“How do I do that,” said Twilight, “I know you probably told me and I probably wrote it down, but I'm so frustrated I can't recall what you said regarding titans.”
“Akmen-Meo has an ability that can help you, just make sure you're touching her amulet and say her name to invoke her, most seekers make a declaration when invoking a titan.”
“Like when you summoned Gremlow you said 'Scurry about' or when you summoned Springer you said 'Trick the Trap', I get it,” said Twilight, “why do you do that?”
“It's an old seeker tradition,” said Rec, “Orchid's still trying to find the right declaration for some of her titans.”
“Okay,” said Twilight taking a deep breath before declaring, “Read the Script, Akmen-Meo,” suddenly the cat like titan with the appearance of a hindquarters that was decayed down to the bone appeared, “I need you to look through all the documents here to help figure out what the Princess asked of us,” said Twilight without thinking her command through, “you'll be allowed to do as you please after you've relayed what you've found to me,” the titan gave curt nod before rushing up to an open file cabinet and flashing its eyes in the same purple as Twilight's aura when she lifted things with her levitation magic. Three minutes later Twilight was surprised to learn that the titan had literally read through all the documents and relayed information to her, “Whoa,” said Twilight with surprise, “she found something, a third of the students had plans for visiting Froggy Bottom Bog, no real confirmations as to whether they followed through on the plans. The most recent disappearance was at one of the rooms at the entrance hall of the school. Akmen-Meo is incredible, and she doesn't want to be parted from me”
“Some titans are like that,” said Rec, “it's possible that because she's your first titan and because of your immense magical capabilities that in addition to acquiring some of your eccentricities she also developed a strong attachment to you.”
“She says your theory is acceptable, and reasonable,” said Twilight.
“My Red Searcher says he found something,” said Claudia, “this way,” she motioned for them to follow and lead them over to a painting of three unicorns bowing to Celestia. She pulled the painting down, then pulled a panel that looked like it was solid part of bright yellow wall out to reveal a safe with a combination lock.
“I know what's coming next,” said Mandi, as she said it Claudia had her talons positioned to feel the effects of the tumblers of the safe being screaming frustration after turning the dial a few inches to the left and right.
“What seems to be the problem?” said Mandi with concern.
“I can't feel the damned tumblers,” said Claudia, “I'm usually a good safe cracker, but that god damned block of metal is being difficult.”
“Let me give it a try,” said Rec as he put his ear to the safe and began turning it to the left a few inches, “well that's a problem,” he said before pulling away from the safe, “didn't hear the tumblers.”
“Wait, you are actually versed in how to break into somepony's safe?” Said Twilight with surprise.
“I've known since I nine,” said Rec.
“I was ten when I fully learned the art of safe cracking,” said Claudia.
“I've known how to break into safes since I was eleven,” said Mandi in a monotone voice.
“So, um, what could this mean? In regards to the safe, that is,” said Twilight.
“Three things come to mind,” said Rec.
“What are those?” said Twilight
“The safe has been enchanted to have no sound so it makes it impossible for a thief to figure out the combination, the safe is a dummy and can't even be opened in the first place or the safe is genuine and just has some kind of charm that doesn't let anyone who doesn't meet the requirements to access it.”
“Don't you have a spell that can just take care of that?” said Twilight.
“The FarSlip power isn't a good idea here, even I know that much,” said Claudia, “we're in an elite school of magic and trying to break into a safe in a room that staff usually have access to, chances are the safe is warded against magic that could accelerate the opening of the safe door.”
“Power? I thought you were coming about a spell,” said Twilight.
“Seekers usually refer to their spells as powers,” said Mandi, “you have to remember Seekers developed a series of expressions and code words so they could talk about things out the open without spilling anything to the populace.”
“Oh,” said Twilight, “that's right you don't use magic openly in your world.”
“Sure we do,” said Rec, “just not in ways that could grab someone's attention. It might be hard for you to imagine, but the only places magic truly used in the open is in stories. We do have stage performers that claim to use magic, but it's all a set of carefully crafted optical illusions. You don't need magic to cast an illusion, in fact some of the best illusions are devoid of magic,” he stood there thinking for few seconds before saying, “could it really be that simple?” He reached into his bag and pulled out a set of lock picks.
“What are those? They look so unusual,” said Twilight.
“Lock picks,” said Mandi, “we don't just know how to crack safes, we also know a variety of non magical means for unlocking doors. What's with the picks Rec?”
“I had a thought,” said Rec as he moved his hoof over the safe door before giving a slight grin, “what if the combination dial was a decoy, and the safe really just required key that you fit into a cleverly hidden hole,” he slid a pair of the picks into what looked like a solid piece of the door and about twenty seconds later the click of a lock opening was heard by everyone's ears. Opening the safe door fully Rec pulled out what looked like a tome and set of files.
“What are all those?” said Twilight as she floated the tome over to herself, she took a quick skim through the book before saying, “this is an account of the first four decades of the school! Why would anypony lock something like this in a hidden safe?”
“Probably the same reason a unicorn that has a hairstyle and color similar to my mother has had her dossier in the safe,” said Rec, “it says here she was one of the school's most promising students, easily the top five from what I'm reading here. They were also considering giving her a teaching position here when she graduated, says here she disappeared with a pegasus mare and female griffin thirty years ago.”
“Does it say there names?” inquired Claudia.
“Their names and identifying marks have been censored,” said Rec, “the old fashion way with ink, not a spell.”
“Something's rotten in the state of Maine,” said Claudia, “something tells me that safe was placed in such a way Princesses Celestia wouldn't be able to spot it.”
“Does it at least give some useful information? We need some kind of lead,” said Mandi, “seeing as the other student profiles just said the students left with friends for mandatory break from school.”
“The file says the three were going to explore Froggy Bottom Bog,” said Rec, “there's even a copy of the formal request form.”
“One of the staff or the Princess had to have signed that,” said Twilight, “so who signed it.”
“A one professor Shadow Charm,” said Rec, “also a one professor Dark Seal, but something's off about that. Twilight, Claudia, think you can find files for any faculty or students with those names.”
“Sure thing,” said Claudia, “Searcher, let's look for files with those names.”
“Akmen-Meo says she's already on the search,” said Twilight, “she found them, Akmen-Meo please bring me the files.”
The cat-like titan began jumping from high up in the file cabinets with the to profiles in her mouth, she dropped them at Twilight's hooves once she was in front of the lavender mare. Twilight floated them both up her face and flipped them open and skimmed both files before saying, “I guess it's good you were a little suspicious, according to these files both were students at this school that were suspended multiple times for endangering other ponies with their magic experiments, apparently it got so bad that Princess Celestia banned them from the school for half a year and that was the last anypony claims to have seen them. It also says that the Princess barred anypony matching their names or descriptions from obtaining any jobs that had any relation to magic without her personally checking into the backgrounds of the ponies in question. So now the questions we need to ask are, how did they supposedly get jobs at this school? How was the Princess not notified of this?”
“I think I know who put the safe here,” said Rec, “Twilight, we're going to need you to put a covert tracking spell on all the safe's contents, after we've gotten copies of its contents,” he floated the profiles to his open Mythichive and started scanning everything from the safe into into it. Once that was done Twilight cast tracking spell that she was sure was undetectable to anyone that didn't have access to alicorn magic.
“I just cast a tracking spell I created a few weeks ago, don't know if it's any good seeing as I didn't finish the gauntlet of tests new spells should go through before they are tried out, but I'm sure without alicorn magic the spell won't be detectable.”
“Sometimes a raw field test is the best thing for a new spell,” said Rec as he put everything back in the safe exactly as he found it when the safe was opened.”
“You know that you didn't have to spend thirty seconds on making sure everything was the way be fore we went through it all,” said Twilight as Rec shut the safe and used his picks to return the safe to being locked, not as easy as it sounds when you're using lock picks.
“Are you kidding,” said Rec, “as the saying goes 'the devil is in the details', if I hadn't done that and they returned for their stuff and noticed something wasn't as they left it they might decide to destroy all the evidence and skip town.”
“Ooh, he's right,” chimed Pinkie, “ever since the cake fiasco on the train ended I've been reading a lot of mystery novels. All the really good ones have the detective and his adversary noticing little details that everpony else overlooked because they were seemingly minor details.”
“Pinkie,” said Claudia as she rolled her eyes, “this isn't a mystery story!”
“Yes,” said Rec, “but we should be treating it like one, our current... ponies of interest are former students here that got blacklisted, or individuals claiming to be them on paper, I think it best if we treat everyone involved in this case as characters in mystery story that is in the works. As of now, on this mission, we are the main cast of the story and just found some compelling evidence. With that in mind, what is our next step?”
“Ooh, ooh, I know,” said Pinkie hopping up and down.
“Tell us, Pinkie,” said Rec.
“We go to the pony who hired us for the case in first place to see if they can give us any leads,” she gave a big grin.
“In other words,” Twilight said, as Claudia and Mandi rolled their eyes, “go see Princess Celestia, which she asked us to do by the way.”
“Even so,” said Mandi, “we don't have a whole lot to work with, remind anyone of anything?”
“Which time,” said Claudia rhetorically, “the time in Italy where Rec somehow manged to discover a previously unknown titan type, the Yukon when when all we had to on most of the way was rumors of werewolves haunting the forest, the time you 'fell up' to Olympus, the time I fell into a supposed griffin's nest, the time Rec found the hidden glen of the unicorn in Ireland, we've been through a lot of adventurers like this, you're going to have to be more specific.”
Twilight looked at the three with confusion and Pinkie just giggled as they made their way out of the complex after putting the hidden panel back up and placing the painting over it. On the way out Twilight said, “I remembered what you said about thinking a little differently, so I also put the tracking spell on the safe itself.”
“Nice to hear,” said Rec, as they descended the stairs they saw Iron Talon at the door.
“Leaving so soon,” he said with a cold voice, “I hope it is too...”
“BreakSpell,” said Rec as they continued toward the door, revealing a black unicorn with coal green mane and tail with a florescent green magic circle that formed a trigram in the center as his cutie mark. “Hello, Dark Seal,” he said with a hollow greeting, “come to gloat covertly? Or did you want to make a social call to one of the party?”
“How did you...”
“Know,” said Claudia finishing the unicorn's sentence, “when we met with Princess Celestia a number of physical markers for the griffin you tried to impersonate were different than you were projecting, if you think we'd tell you how you futzed it up your going to be waiting until the final judgment of the world, we're not that stupid.”
“I didn't even notice,” said Twilight with surprise.
“Well," said Rec, "I also have this nifty little natural effect on my eyes that can see where a spell's focus is and what it's being cast on. SunLock,” he stretched out his right foreleg and released what looked like a living form of Celestia's cutie mark bound all four of the unicorn's legs together.”
“Ya hogtied the nut, nice,” said Claudia, “where you learn that one?”
“Found its instructions in what looked like an abandoned Casterwill compound, took almost an hour to learn the sucker.”
Twilight's eyes went wide before she said, “What's it do?”
“Physically binds the target for a few hours and prevents them from being able to use magic,” said Rec with a smirk, “he won't be able to cast any spells for a while, we should personally take him to see Princess Celestia.”
“Why not just turn him over to guards?” said Twilight.
“And either risk his partner, who is probably masquerading as a guard by the way, braking him free,” said Rec, “no way, besides with the enchantments on all the guard armors my little extra trick won't be very effective in determining which of the guards is actually his accomplice.
“He has a point,” said Pinkie, “if you were writing a mystery novel with all the pieces we have, what you have the antagonists do, Twilight?”
“Probably exactly what he's expecting with the little reveal our associate pulled,” said Twilight as she picked the now bound unicorn with her magic.”
“You're all going to be sorry,” screamed Dark Seal, “my friends will make you all suffer!”
“Which alicorns are they prepared to deal with?” said Mandi with a smirk.
“Princesses Celestia and Mi Amore Cadenza of course,” said Dark Seal not hiding his confidence, no matter what they do they won't be able to touch my friends, even if they did manage to get me to divulge everything I know about everything.”
“So they still don't have contingency for when a very angry Princess Luna hunts them down,” said Rec shaking his head, “and in case you forgot there currently is a grape colored alicorn taking you in her magic to see Princess Celestia.”
Dark Seal's face fell, he started sputtering, “How were we supposed to know Nightmare Moon would actually return, we're still working on how to counter her, and who prepares for when a unicorn ascends to the ranks of the alicorns? We're devising a means of countering her magic.”
Mandi shook her head this time as she said, “You're all a bunch of shortsighted idiots, in a couple of years you'll be nothing more than a cliff-note in the list of disgruntled citizens that decided that revolution was the best option for the nation. Your country is more prosperous than most, and Celestia has been on the throne for over a thousand years, that means your little coup club has has probably had a large number of predecessors that have probably tried everything your group is trying. You probably didn't find any mention of them because those records only could be found in a document archive that is only accessible to the rulers of Equestria, in part because the only ones who know the location of the entrance to the archive are in all likelihood just Celestia and Luna.”
“But there are a few records of ponies trying to overthrow Celestia's rule,” said Twilight.
“Did any of your resources say how they tried to bring this?” said Claudia with a smirk.
“Three said political pressuring, I'm sure that won't work now; four cases of forced abjection, those only lasted a few weeks before Celestia resumed he mantle as ruler of Equestria and the rest is unwritten,” said Twilight.
“That's what we were getting at,” said Rec, “all the alicorns are so respected by the majority of the populace that if anyone publicly removed them from power they'd effectively make the populace despise them instead of make claims of adoration in their name. What we have here is a zealot that is so hopped up on someone elses propaganda he might as well be an automaton.”
“Why you,” said Dark Seal, “I'm my own pony, nothing will change that.”
“Really,” said Rec as Twilight lifted their apprehended perpetrator with her magic and they began the walk to the castle, “you look like a weak willed individual to me. You're planning on overthrowing the leaders of the nation, which to my knowledge have yet to earn the time for planning a revolution against; dropped out of an elite magic school for doing unsanctioned magic experiments, at the behest of other students that you have yet to name; and came to gloat in a disguise, that is so shoddy that anyone with a mind for real magic or eye for detail would have spotted as being fake inside a minute. I've got you figured out, mister. You have a natural aptitude for magic, but not the enough will to execute it effectively. I'm the reverse, I have will to spare and hardly any real aptitude for magic, especially when you compare me to the rest of my family. It took me four days to learn that SunLock spell, my dad and older siblings could have done it inside an hour; my older siblings are all much more skilled in combat, so I started plying my magic in ways most others don't consider; I had to consult about three dozen texts on magical theory while developing a new spell, which is still incomplete by the way. You are someone with the aptitude for promise, and you waste it all on getting caught up in the claims and proclamations of others.”
Turns out Rec's entire speech was just long enough to go from the school stairway where they encountered the unicorn to Celestia's throne, Twilight just smiled at her former mentor who in her infinite wisdom had canceled court early that day, before saying, “How much of that speech did you hear?”
“Truth be told,” said Celestia, “not much, but Luna was there for the entire thing, disguised as one of my guards.”
A flash of midnight blue revealed the dark blue alicorn in her complete regalia standing behind them all just before said alicorn said, “You always ruin my best fun, sister. By the way his speech was wonderful, I will have a full transcript of it for you t read later.”
“Somehow I am not surprised this is a test of some sort,” said Rec.
“I'll admit,” said Celestia, “it is a bit like a test, but only to see what it is you managed to uncover, aside from one of the former students of my school anyway. How ever did you manage that?”
“He came to gloat,” said Twilight with a chuckle, “as the griffin liaison that you met us with, Rec used a spell for canceling out other spells the moment he was in range, which he definitely has to teach me.”
“How did he know?” inquired Celestia.
“His eyes,” giggled Pinkie, “he can see magic wrapped around stuff and can even spot the magical lines that lead the source of the spells.”
“I've never heard of such an ability,” said Celestia with interest.
“To be fair, could someone please move the prisoner to a cell before we continue,” said Claudia a pair of royal guards nodded and walked off with Dark Seal, once all those ponies were out of ear shot, “as I was saying, to be fair, Rec's only had the ability about two years, and we still don't know where it came from. I would say it has something to do with him having a Legendary Titan, but he's only had Inari's ring about seven months now, he adapted to her... eccentricities after about a month and a half.”
“And even then the ability was flickering in and out,” said Mandi, “it's not until about two weeks ago that it stabilized. If it had something to do a titan bond it wouldn't have been as erratic at first or at the very least be constantly stable.”
“Yes, well,” said Inari seeming to materialize, “it's his unique properties that made me decide to bond with him in the first place, his sister and him have unique a magical field that I've only seen in two others.”
“And whom would those be?” Inquired Luna.
“Uh, uh, uh,” said Inari with a smirk, “that would cross into spoiler territory, and we can't have that now can we?”
“Of course not,” said Pinkie, “those ruin the story sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much,” pulls out a script that looks like it was done in early grade school pictures before looking at and saying, “and those are some doozies of spoilers,” shows it to everypony.
“What does a crudely drawn house, a really badly drawn sun and chicken with a head that is modeled after a pony have to do with anything?” Said Claudia with confusion.
“I think that's a chicken coop,” said Mandi.
“All I got out of it was Fluttershy and an amulet,” said Luna, “I'm usually good at translating art, but honestly the rest was something about Pinkie and Rec working together in the kitchen to make everpony lunch with some kind of desert Pinkie is currently unfamiliar with.”
“Oh, good she just gave minor spoilers,” said Pinkie, “and how she worded them makes them more teasers for the coming chapters,” she put the script back in her mane.
“Back to the matter at hoof,” said Celestia with confusion evident on her face as she was trying to return the train of thought from its unscheduled stop by a seemingly random tree.
“Oh, yes,” said Rec taking out his Mythichive, “this is all the data we have on the case so far,” a holographic set of documents appeared before everyone in the room with all the little tidbits of information they had managed to uncover, “we'll take a look a the bog in a few days, but for now you should probably have someone transcribe some copies of files on the case that are here, I'll open all the files to you, it should take a few hours for your court clerk to copy everything down, that is if my calculations are correct.”
“This is such a marvelous device,” said Celestia, “it has so many unique properties and functions, would you mind letting us attempt to replicate it.”
“Yes,” said Rec flatly, “duplicating my personal unit could create a number of problems, however your creating a device that is similar would not be opposed. I actually have a copy of the notes the Association used for making the Mythichive, I'll open those files up to you as well. You can send the copy of those notes to whomever you think is best suited to the task, I'll even load all the information on this unit to a spare Cypherdex crystal when I get home and bring it to you so you can have a starting point for your system datum and network. They are rather difficult to produce in our world, so not very many seekers actually have one.”
“What's a Cypherdex?” Inquired Celetia and Luna in unison.
“The original,” said Rec, “the Casterwill clan has a device just like the Mythichive called the Cypherdex, the Cypherdex is actually the original and the Mythichive is merely the Association's best attempt to replicate the Cypherdex and its abilities.”
“So in a sense you're giving us plans to make a copy of a copy,” said Twilight, “the further a copy gets from the original the more that's lost. At some point we're going to have to take a look at a Cypherdex and make notes on it to produce our own device of similar capabilities, but at least what you're giving us will be a good start.”
“That's just it,” said Claudia, “the Association hasn't really been in contact with the Casterwills since before its foundations were laid out, you're going to have to track down a Casterwill, or an associate of a Caterwill, in order to ask them for the rights to study their Cypherdex unobtrusively.”
“Why do I feel it won't be that easy?” said Twilight with a note of disappointment.
“Probably because the Casterwills are very secretive and don't like sharing their information with anyone,” said Mandi, “what little we do know about them is that they are on good terms with the Huntik Foundation, but the thing is...”
“The Association hasn't tried for friendly outreach with the Foundation as of yet,” Celestia said with a finishing thought.”
“Exactly,” said Rec, “and if seekers do start to become more abundant in this world you will need to devise a name for the faction that manages them. While seekers are usually responsible for founding their own specially designed little clubs, we've become far to noticed by the rulers of the nation for that to remain a possibility, so instead you are going to have to form the group as sort of faction under the purview of Equestria's crown. The group will need a name, something that says that says something about what you plan for it to do for the world as a whole. In our world there are the Huntik Foundation, The Organization, the Base Collective, the Blood Spiral Brotherhood and the Tempest Association. Each has different edicts, and it's own distinct icon to subtly let other seekers know who's territory is where.”
“Tell us about them,” said Celestia, “starting with your group, the Tempest Association.”
“Very well, keep in mind most of what I provide is limited and might not be entirely accurate.”
“That is fine,” said Celestia.
“The Tempest Association is a a group that's been hiding itself for centuries. The association's guiding philosophy is there are coming storms to the world and it is the duty of those that know about them to prepare for the storms that are to come, I'll admit we kind of dropped the ball with the Red Comet incident.”
“Red Comet?” said Luna
“Sometimes it's referred to as the Red Star,” said Mandi, “it's when the Spirals started making themselves known to the other Seeker factions. The event set a lot into motion, titans started acting strange and in some cases sleeping titans started to awaken with a vengeance.”
“Some titans are still awakening,” said Rec, “but as for the titans acting strange, well there were a few incidents at well known tourist sights around the world that involved bonded titans that just acted like they were wild and destructive. We had an incident at Nijō Castle a few months back and the cleanup was a nightmare for the Association. Nijō Castle is a major landmark for the city of Kyoto, which is also the city that houses the Association's world headquarters.
“The city has a pretty name,” said Twilight, “is it in your home nation.”
“No,” said Claudia, “we live in a country called the United States, Kyoto is in a country called Japan.”
“Japan is an archipelago nation,” said Rec, “and for those you who didn't study up on the word that means the nation is a cluster of of islands in close proximity to one another.”
“Different factions have different locations which are recognized as their territory,” said Claudia, “like Kyoto in Japan is recognized as the Association's, New York city in the USA is recognized as Huntik territory, and Prague in the Czech Republic is recognized as Organization territory. Other factions usually don't invade facilities or storm grounds that are recognized as belonging to other factions.”
“The primary edict of the Association is to do all we can to lessen the damage to the coming storms,” said Rec, “and if necessary act as a break wall to the storm when it comes crashing towards those that were unaware of it.”
“A good policy,” said Luna, “my sister and I will discuss what it is we want this group to represent and do.”
“Remember,” said Rec, “seekers traditionally keep themselves hidden from other groups,magic is highly populace in this world, but the world we live magic is not very common. We don't use magic openly regularly or in an open forum, not like unicorns and the alicorns do. We don't advertise our schools for learning magic, in fact we don't have any official magic schools. Seeker powers work on the premise of calling on our internal magics and channeling it perform certain actions, just looking at my friends you can see the power of the magic we wield is not limited in the way magic is between the tribes of ponies and even the non-pony demographics.”
“But you are just wearing jewelry,” said Celestia with confusion.
Luna gave a knowing smirk as Rec stroked the amulet on his neck and pulled an amulet from his flank pouch with his magic and placed on his outstretched hoof. The amulet he pulled out was a round pendant shaped piece that was jade green with a light green gem in the center, a pair of light gray spikes in a vertical line above it and the bottom are looked like a jaw with four upward facing teeth, “Appear, Gareon,” suddenly what looked like a large iguana with a large head dark green head fin, three large back fins, four long light gray claws and a mouth full of sharp teeth appeared on his shoulder, “he may look menacing, but,” the the titan made a gentle gurgling growl sound before literally disappearing before reappearing in Luna's mane giving the dark coated alicorn an affectionate nuzzle, “he's actually really friendly, really that's who you decided to go with?... Yes... no... not the time for that kind of... you do realize how this looks?”
“It looks as if he was having an argument and conversation himself,” said Celestia with concern.
“It's called the bond,” said Twilight, “a seeker can hear what their titan says within the realm of their mind and nopony else can hear them.”
“Yes, but the bond is not at its greatest level,” said Rec, “that's why I need to give my titans verbal suggestions and commands, Gareon is what is known as a Yama-Titan, they are known for being very intelligent and with a strong sense of independence. Gareaon was one of the first titans I found after I officially became a seeker. The first titan I ever found and bonded with was Vitaguard, his amulet is around my neck at all times, he's my best friend and I see all my titans as good friends. Gareon likes my approach, his last seeker did nothing but command him and demand things of him.”
“Last seeker?” said Luna with interest.
“Most titans we find had a seeker prior to us,” said Mandi, “those seekers have usually long past to the realm of the final sleep. When you find a titan that had a prior seeker you need to have similar personality traits to the seeker that once had the titan, if you find a titan that had no seeker you don't usually need to worry about fancy rules.”
“Usually?” said Celestia with piqued interest.
“Some titans like Rec's Vitaguard and our Cavalier titans have special rules for who can bond with them. The same is true with Pegasus, Grypharian, and Unia; all three of them required we have some kind of personality property.”
“Pegasus? That is the name of one of your titans? Fascinating,” said Celestia.
“According to the lore surrounding him he was the last of the flying stallions and a really full of himself,” said Mandi, “I bonded with him about a year ago.”
“I bonded with Grypharian around the same time,” said Claudia, “And a few months before us Rec bonded with Unia. They are quite impressive at times.”
“But the others had impressive sounding abilities,” said Twilight, “when you filled us in on them on the train ride over your device said that Grypharian had the ability to fly and strike while flying, and Unia could create a barrier that purifies. By comparison it said that Pegasus only had the ability to fly.”
“His flying may not be as quick as your friends', Twilight” said Mandi, “but he's a nimble flier and is capable of pulling off complicated aerial maneuvers while carrying sizable loads of weight, before you say anything I asked him if he wanted test his limits and we went from there.”
“Well,” said Celestia, “maybe this briefing should start with what you learned on the train ride over.”
“Please keep my personal info that you broke into as vague as possible if you would, please,” said Rec.
Taking a deep breath Pinkie said, “well it all started with...”
Rec, Twilight, Claudia, Mandi and Pinkie found themselves having stay the night in Canterlot, by the time Pinkie had finished explaining everything in her distinctive manner it had gotten to be evening. The five found themselves having to spend the night in Canterlot, Twilight didn't mind because she could go catch up with her parents, of before everyone split up Rec reminded them to remain discreet on matters that could pertain to Seekers.
That had been three hours ago. Rec was pacing around the room he had been provided, for some reason he and his sister had always felt more alive at night. Rec decided to do the one thing that helped relax him best, go to the nearest kitchen and cook something. When he opened his door he noticed a pair of bat winged ponies on each end of the hall and a pair patrolling the hall itself. He waved down the patrolling guards and asked if one of them could escort him to the nearest kitchen.
“Why would you wish that? If you are hungry you could just ask one of us to take an order,” said a the guard closest to him, whom realized was a mare and hadn't noticed initially because of enchantments within the armor.
“I don't desire a midnight snack,” said Rec, “I'm just having trouble sleeping, cooking up something in the kitchen usually helps with getting me calm enough to sleep.”
“Ah, I see,” said the mare, “anything else you care to share?”
“When I'm not expected to be up with the sun I'm usually active at night,” said Rec, “now my personal habits aside, will one of you good ponies provide me an escort? Or call someone else for the task?”
“Follow me,” said the mare and motioned for her partner to motion for another assistant while she was attending to Rec. After trotting the halls for at least five minutes the mare said, “most of the unicorns I've dealt with are very full of themselves, granted most of the unicorns I deal with are resident of Canterlot's elite.”
“Make you ant to tear your hair out, I know the feeling,” said Rec, “in fact there's someone from a rival faction that has a serious narcissism problem.”
“Thinks he's Celestia's gift to mares?”
“More like Heaven's gift to the world.”
“So in other words his ego is above the average for Canterlot's nobility, sounds like a standup stallion.”
“I've beaten him every time we've encountered each other.”
“How many times has that been?”
“Fifty-three, as of just before the incident that brought my friends and I here.”
“Yeesh, you'd think he'd pick up on a hint!”
“He'd get a new Titan or learn a new spell and think it made him invincible, I always outdid him and his team.”
“I was told those creatures you can summon on a whim.”
“Titans reside in amulets, you have to be in contact with them to invoke the titan within.”
Silence followed and after a few more minutes they were at kitchen that looked like it wasn't used all that often, the kitchen fire was just above glowing embers, but that was more like preparation for use than actually being in use. “It's an overflow kitchen, for when the castle hosts events and needs to have a few extra chefs on hoof to help out.”
“Thank you for guiding me here, you may return to your post.”
“I must ensure you are safe.”
“I am more than capable of handling myself, and I have more than enough means of returning to my room without trouble.”
“Very well, I will be just down the hall if I am needed,” she trotted away.
After she was considerable ways down Rec said, “BoltFlare,” the light glowing orange sphere floated next him and he brought it to the kitchen flame to bring it up to a more reasonable level before more wood in the compartment from it's storage area and stoking it before closing the under flame door. He then pulled out the amulets of Springer, Gareon, Gremlow and Tinkertock and invoked them. After that he checked the kitchen supplies and got to work making an apple and huckleberry pie.
Rec had just finished putting the pie in the oven and closing its door, a process that for him actually to about five minutes do to his typical kitchen times and concerns about managing the quality of his work, when he turned around to see Pinkie uncomfortably close to his face, “Hi,” said Pinkie in her chipper voice, “whatcha put in the oven?”
“A pie,” said Rec calmly and as he sidestepped the pink mare and moved to the prep counter for his next project.
“You're very guarded about your emotions! Why?”
Rec took a deep sigh, looks like Pinkie's perceptiveness would get him one way or another, before saying, “I used to be a lot like you when I was little, from the time I was six the time I was nine my elder half-siblings would ignore every attempt I made to make our time together fun,” he took another deep breath, “so, if they didn't want take part in all the fun I tried to have with them I decided to guard my emotions in front of everyone, including myself. It's more of a habit now than anything else, one that's very hard to break out of these days. I want to be able to cut loose and be happy party animal, kind of like you, but I just can't anymore,” he shook his head, “at the very least you deserve to know that much, you read my earliest journal entry for what I wanted for my birthday, but all other birthday plans I made after that were boring and uninteresting, none of my elder siblings even bothered to pay attention to my birthday plans for them or me.”
“They're family,” said Pinkie with a hurt voice, “why didn't they like you.”
“Because my only full sibling is Orchid, all my other siblings had a different mom than the two of us. They saw us as invaders to their father's life, they didn't like mom, and it extended to us. We get along a bit better now, but I can tell that they're just trying to make up for everything they put me through, they don't want to make the same mistakes with Orchid as they did with me.”
“But all that came to late,” said Pinkie with a sullen voice, “it takes a lot more to reconnect than that just be a family.”
“Yes, and you must follow the same rule as me when in the kitchen.”
“What's that?”
“No sadness in the kitchen, it ruins the food.”
Pinkie perked up and said, “okie, dokie, Loki. I came here to tell you something important, I tried waking everypony up to warn them, but they were to sound asleep.”
“Tell me what?” The magical lights in castle went dark.
“That,” said Pinkie, “something just cut off the magic for the castle,” her eyes went large with surprise, “and disabled our magic.”
“BoltFlare,” the light flickered into existence, everything was bathed the light orange glow of the sphere, “looks like it doesn't affect seeker powers.”
“Oh thank goodness, thou art alright,” came Princess Luna's voice as she trotted into the kitchen, “something is disabling our magic, in a few hours when it comes time for our sister to raise the sun it may not come to pass. How is thou can use a light spell.
“I see,” said Rec, “you were the bat winged mare I flagged down, clever, that's the only way you could be here that fast. As miss Pie and I have just discovered this magical disruption doesn't affect the ability to use seeker magic,” Luna nodded with a smile, “CypherCall,” his mythichive appeared next him on the counter.
“What exactly are thou doing?” Inquired Luna, “we wanted to learn more about thee.”
“Thanks for the interest,” said Rec, “if the whatever is affecting everything doesn't work on seeker powers then the mythichive can find it, it can scan for magical frequencies.”
“Please state password,” said the Mythichive.
“Silver cupcakes aren't as fun as they sound,” said Rec.
“Access granted,” said the mythichive.
“Okay good,” said Rec, “Gremlow go and wake everyone, including Princess Celestia, we need all eyes and ears for this,” the rat-like titan nodded with a squeak and was gone, “a simple light spell won't work for any ponies, but you are fortunate we have a journeyman seeker, two adept seekers and one in training on the premises. I already taught Twilight the BoltFlare spell, so she should be able to provide the light she and others might need.”
“Except she will figure out something is jamming her ability to use magic when she tries to light up the room,” said Luna.
“That is until she notices Gremlow,” said Pinkie, “she'll figure out her conventional spells don't work, but her new seeker spells will be usable.”
“Hopefully yes,” said Rec, “but we all know Twilight can be a little slow on the uptake from time to time.”
“She will, I know it,” said Pinkie, “but now I'm cut off from my Pinkie senses, I won't know when or where something possibly dangerous could happen.”
“So now what? We need a place with a bit more space,” said Luna.
Rec swung open the oven door and said “DoubleSpell, BubbleLift,” a light blue bubble appeared around the mythichive and another one floated out of the oven with his pie, “we move to the dining hall, it has more than enough room and I really don't want to put my baking to waste.”
They all made there way to the dining hall shortly after, Rec's titans in tow.
*************************
Twenty minutes had passed before Twilight, Claudia, Mandi and Princess Celestia were in the dining hall, Pinkie and Luna were in the midst of downing a collective third of the pie, with their fifth piece each.
“Ah man,” said Claudia, “they're eating Rec's apple-huckleberry pie, those things are gooooooooooooood.”
“Rec's practically a master chef,” said Mandi, “of course it's really good.”
“It's sooooooooooooooooo totally is true,” said Pinkie, “now that everypony is here I think it's time Reckie here explained everything.”
“Okay, three things,” said Rec, “one, never call me that ever again; two I'm pretty sure the mythichive can identify and locate the cause of this magical dead zone we're under; three, I'm going to need the most current map of the city for an overlay, I want to be very thorough with this.”
“You got it,” said Pinkie as she pulled a map of the city from her mane.
Twilight just shook her head and commented on how random Pinkie is.
Rec unrolled the map and laid the mythtichive flat in the open position before placed the map on it and said, “Mythichichive, scan map,” the light of the mytichive moved up and down on the map much like a scanner or copy machine. A moment later an aqua green holographic image of the city was being displayed.
“Impressive,” said Celestia, “a device like this could advance Equestria's understand of technologies and magic for generations to come.”
“They can also be used for telecomumication,” said Mandi with a smirk, “in other words you could have conversation with someone over a great distance in what amounts to real time, as opposed to sending letters back and forth.”
The three alicorns looked at Rec and his friends with surprise, Pinkie was marking off on a checklist that looked more like a bunch of macaroni art with boxes next each of the macaroni images.
“That kind of communication isn't anything new in our world,” said Claudia, “everyone we know has a personal communication device that is multi-functional that fit in their pocket. We also have also have devices for seeing and hearing things over great distances, really it's nothing new to us.”
“But it is to us,” said Twilight, “these devices could revolutionize every aspect of life in Equestria, once we figure out how to produce them en mass everypony could have one in their homes, every aspect of life and business could be made better.”
“And if some delusional nut cases get a device like this in their possession,” said Claudia, “did you ever think of that? There is a reason why devices like the mythichive have limits on who can have one, Rec has one because his family meets all the criteria for having personal units, all of his elder siblings have one and Orchid will get one eventually, because it's more of a tradition at this point.”
“Oh,” said Twilight, “I was so focused on how something like this could make things better...”
“That you didn't think of how something like this could misused,” said Mandi, “to be honest a lot of historical figures were the same the way in the world we lived in.”
“Some were seekers,” said Rec, “they saw the best in the peoples of the world, and some saw the worst in them as well. Remember this, above all else, hardships are the start of a true crucible, and when you come out from it you will be all the stronger.”
“It takes time, and a little experience to recognize a crucible,” said Claudia, “some are short, and others go a length you couldn't fully understand. Some come from their crucible broken, others can't find a way to leave, but those that brave and keep to their faith that it has to end will break free and show just wait true strength is.”
“You've all faced one,” said Luna, “one that's changed you.”
“You've endured one too, Princess Luna,” said Rec, “and I believe you've come out the stronger for it, some may believe you are still within it.”
“Nightmare Moon,” said Twilight, “hers was Nightmare Moon, Celestia probably faced a few over her thousand year reign, but I have yet to face one.”
“But you already did,” said Mandi, “every great challenge is a crucible, you've faced down monsters that few could full comprehend and won. Our crucibles were far more inviting by comparison.”
“Explain,” said Princess Celestia.
“We had to prove we were worthy to carry certain titans,” said Rec, “Mandi had to face the challenges of Olympus in order to carry Pegasus, Claudia had to brave the trials of the cliffs to claim Grypharian as a friend...”
“Rec had to prove his purity to earn the right to Unia's friendship. He also had to brave Summer and Winter to claim guardianship of Crom Cruach.”
“All of which are not with me at the moment,” said Rec, “I left them at home.”
“Sounds like a story,” said Luna.
“A series of them really,” said Rec, “but we'll save story time for after the crisis, Mythichive locate the source of the magical disturbance, mark our current location in green and the source of the disturbance in orange.
A green dot appeared on the castle icon and an orange one appeared a good distance below and to the left of the dot, “total distance between us and the marked point,” said Luna, the words two point six miles were displayed in blue between the dots.
“According to this the source is in the caverns within the mountain Canterlot sits atop,” said Celestia, “that looks about as far as any pony has ever dared go within the caverns.”
“Mythichive,” said Rec, “can the source of the disturbance be identified?”
“Magical signiture of the disturbance is similar to records of the titan known as Archwarder,” said the Mythichive.
“Mythichive, Archwarder,” said Rec.
The mythichive then displayed what looked like a rotating three legged walking plant with a bud for a head and a pair of root like arms that ended with four digits on each hand and the mythichive said, “Archwarder, Attack: 3, Defense: 3, Size: Average, Special Abilities: Makes high power titans difficult to control, Type: Meso-Titan Guardian.”
“I'm guessing because of the immense magic flowing in this world that ability extends to ponies as well,” said Mandi.
“But all the ponies lost their magic,” said Celestia, “not just the most powerful ones here.”
“The energy is similar to Archwarder, not identical,” said Rec.
“In what we have on file that usually means one of two things,” said Mandi, “either someone is using and artifact that posses similar properties to a titan, or they are using an artifact that holds a titan and they are just able to access a limited version of the power through some kind of ritual or chant.”
“Explain,” said Twilight, “we need to know as much as possible.”
“Sometimes titans are kept in places you wouldn't expect,” said Rec, “much like the instructions for some of the spells used by seekers. A seeker known as Saint George of the Dragon kept a titan in his sword, the instructions I found for the SunLock spell were woven into a tapestry and well hidden within the weave. When it comes to seekers you have to redefine your thinking.”
“If it was well hidden within the tapestry, how did you find it?” Inquired Celestia.
“My mythichive,” said Rec, “I initially scanned the tapestry so could try recreating it for a personal project, that's when I was informed that there was a set of instructions hidden in the tapestry.”
“So many uses,” said Twilight with excitement.
Ignoring Twilight's comment Rec said, “I'll map the caverns as we go, the mythichive can do that. Twilight, please remember while the magical disruption is in place only seeker powers work. Claudia, Mandi, since they can't utilize their magic, nor can their guards, I suggest you play guard for the princesses while Twilight, Pinkie and I investigate this.”
“But Pinkie's abilities are cut off from her,” said Twilight with confusion.
“Her ability to sense things may be turned off for the time being,” said Rec, “but her perceptive skills and seemingly supernatural luck you described are still very much unaffected. Twilight, where are your titans?”
“I put them in my saddlebags, which are in my room right now,” said Twilight.
“Remember to use BoltFlare and go get them, also try and keep your titans close all times in the future. If my calculations are correct sunrise is in four hours, that's how long we have to find the source of this disturbance and terminate it.”
“Five actually,” said Celestia, “but your estimate was good enough, it might take some time for the effects to dissipate.”
Rec nodded and headed from the room. A few minutes later Rec was in his room at the castle and throwing on his vest and checking his flank pouch, both were good to go. He slid on his saddlebags, how his backpack had turned into a pair of saddlebags he didn't quite get. When he and Twilight were back at the impromptu meeting place. He noticed the lavender mare was looking like she really wanted to share something.
Celestia gave chuckle and motioned for the purple alicorn to share what she looked she needed to. Twilight took the cue and said, “this light spell they have as a beginner's spell is amazing, it illuminates more than any other light spell I've seen thus far and takes next to no energy to conjure up.”
“It can also be used to light candles, camp fires and fire places,” responded Claudia with a chuckle.
“Not to mention an impromptu warmer for your food, drink or clothes,” said Mandi with a smirk.
All three alicorns looked at the three seekers like they had just said something that changed the foundations of magic as they knew it, Rec chuckled a bit before he said, “Twilight, remember when I said most seeker spells are utilitarian in nature?”
“Um, yes,” said Twilight as she shook herself out of surprise, “I just didn't expect a spell to be so multi-functional like that!”
“Yes, well, that's how things are with seekers,” said Rec, “our spells are usually intended to be multipurpose. A SimpleMind spell has numerous applications, and is quite effective in its job.”
“What does the spell do?” Inquired Twilight, “I really want to learn that SunLock spell of yours.”
“Small steps,” said Rec, “SimpleMind is a spell that scrambles the target's short term memory and makes them open to any suggestions for a few seconds, in short you can have someone else do something you want them to for short period of time. Although it has its limits, just like any other spell.”
“What kind of Limits? A spell like what you described could be potentially dangerous in the wrong hooves,” said Celestia with equal parts displeasure and interest.
“The spell won't work on those who have strong wills,” said Mandi, “which means it will never work on a seeker, considering our ability to use magic and invoke titans is linked to our will power.”
“Ooh,” said Pinkie, “if I could use that spell I would make sure nopony ruined my surprises.”
“Good to know the spell can double as a safety measure,” said Luna with a smirk.
“Let's put a pin in all this for another time,” said Rec, “we have the issue of dealing with the magic canceling energy artifact in caverns beneath the city. Just remember you two are going to be playing royal guard while Twilight, Pinkie and I are making our way through the caverns beneath the city.”
“I don't mind,” said Mandi, “so, who will I be guarding until this whole issue is resolved?”
“You will be watching after me,” said Princess Celestia, “I have a few things to converse with you about.”
“Looks like I'm going to be looking over you, Princess Luna,” said Claudia, “Rec, make it all quick.”
“Agreed,” said Rec, “we don't know what this group that claims it wants to bring down the alicorns is really after.”
“You have your doubts that what we were told is their objective,” said Celestia.
“I believe it might be an objective, but not the main objective, they probably told that to those that joined them some kind of story about how the world would be better without the current rulers. Come on, let's get going.”
“Good luck,” said Claudia as Twilight, Pinkie and Rec made their way from the room.
********************************
“Are you sure there's an entrance to the caverns here?” Inquired Rec.
“Yes,” said Twilight, this is the room where Cadance and I came out from the old caverns when we rushed to stop Chrysalis from marrying my brother under the guise of Cadance. I just can't remember where the door back down is.”
“Found it,” giggled Pinkie as she kicked open a wall that revealed itself to be secret door.”
Rec pulled out his mythichive from his bag and said, “BubbleLift,” causing the mythichive to float in a bright blue bubble, “Mythichive, begin mapping protocols.” The mythichive started scanning the room, “Let's get going,” with that he stepped into the passage with his mythivhive scanning the the chambers as they progressed, Twilight and Pinkie following behind.
Twilight lead them through all the passages she could recall.
After around twenty minutes Twilight stopped and told them that was all she could lead them through. Pinkie bounced off and came hopping back with a silver amulet shaped like a faerie hat that had it's center holding a green triangle shaped gem. “Look what I found,” said Pinkie.
“Mythicive, identify titan,” said Rec.
The light of the mytichive played over Pinkie and the amulet, causing the pink mare to to giggle like she was being tickled. The mythichive then said, “Gnome Trickester Puck, Special Abilities: Illusions.”
“You found a good one here, that's interesting,” said Rec, “I wonder why... I smell huckleberries and yogurt,” Rec followed his nose, the mythicive still mapping the caverns. He stopped in front of a giant bowl huckleberries in plain yogurt with a rather large spoon in the whole thing, “I see Inari had some fun with Discord.”
“This is so random,” said Twilight, Pinkie just went over to the giant bowl and started shaping the yogurt and huckleberries into something akin to snow ponies.
Rec noticed a green aura flash around Pinkie, he leaned over to Twilight and said, “Puck just woke up her seeker potential, be prepared to see a mass of illusions.” Almost as if on cue six Pinkies were seen doing six different things.
“I would be worried about this,” said Twilight in a calm manner, “if Pinkie hadn't already duplicated herself with a magic lake.”
“Not even going to go there or think about it,” said Rec.
“That's usually our response when it comes to Pinkie,” said Twilight.
Turning attention else where Rec closed his eyes and said, “PowerScan,” snapping his eyes open he pointed to the right of Twilight and said, “the source of the disturbance is in that direction.”
“How do you know that? We don't don't even know where to start looking,” said Twilight.
“The PowerScan power allows the caster to detect magical energy, it also allows us to determine its relative position to us and get a rough gauge of the extent of the level of power something has. If I had used it while you or the other princesses could still use your base kind of magic I would have probably given myself a a headache since I'm not quite used to your natural power levels, but seeker-wise your power isn't all that high.”
“What about Pinkie? You said she just awoke as a seeker,” said Twilight.
“You just confirmed Pinkie has her own separate rules than everyone else, she has so much will power that I could feel it the moment she awoke as a seeker and began putting blocks in place to limit my exposure to her power levels.”
“Why are we still standing here?”
“You I have no idea, for me huckleberries are my favorite food and I'm trying to determine what a plan of action for what comes ahead so that I'm not thinking about the mass of my favorite food before me.”
“Ooh,” said Pinkie, once more seeming to pop up out of nowhere, “we should get this mission over with and return to the princesses, with the that mass of yummy yogurt.”
*************************
Almost a half hour later the three were stopped at tunnel intersection, “so,” said Twilight, “which way now?”
Rec pointed to the floor, “see that mark,” the other two looked over to see what looked like some kind of sigil and nodded, Rec threw a small pebble onto it and nothing happened, “they probably set that trap up before activating the artifact suppressing pony magic, which means instead of dropping a small hill's worth of stones on us it won't do anything. They definitely don't want to be disturbed. Alright, I have a plan.”
“Good,” Twilight, “what is it?”
“Twilight and I will run distraction while Pinkie secure the artifact.”
“Um, why Pinkie,” inquired Twilight, “she's much better suited to being distraction, no offense Pinkie.”
“It's okay, Twilight,” said Pinkie, “I know what you were getting at, so why is it me to get the artifact?”
“Because Twilight and I are the only ones with capacity for spells right now, and you, Pinkie, will be able to move about less noticed.”
“Um, not be parade rainer, but she kind of sticks out in this kind of environment.”
“I'll hit her with an invisibility spell, she just has to remember to not interecept attacks or make any for it maintain itself. For future reference the spell considers hugs of every kind a form of attack, same with throwing things.”
“Got it,” said Pinkie.
“We're going to have to report everypony we can remember down here to the guard,” said Twilight.
“And hope that they are reported to someone not allied with them,” said Rec, “they couldn't have been operating as long as they have with such little detection without having well placed members in strategic locations within certain groups, the guard included.”
“Sounds like the princesses will have to do some serious house cleaning,” said Twilight, “but getting them to be truthful may prove difficult.”
“I read about a seeker power called OathMaker, it's a spell that forces the target to confess what they believe is the truth. However, I don't know it, and neither of my friends do either, all the spells my sister knows she learned from my friends and I, so she wouldn't know it either. It's a spell known originally by the Casterwill clan, but if you look in the right places you might be able to uncover the knowledge of how to perform it. Time to get to work!”
“How is Pinkie going to get to where she needs to without being seen?”
Rec pointed a hoof at the pink mare and said, “HideSight,” causing Pinkie to become invisible, “there's your answer, let's start running that interference. Simple spells like BoltFlare and RopeTrick should be all we really need to get their attention anyway.”
____________________________________________
At around this same time Princess Celestia and Mandi were settling down in the throne room, “So,” said the Princess of the sun, “how long have you been capable of what you are now?”
“Going on six years,” said Mandi with a reminesent smile, “on the very day I met Claudia and Rec actually. We met and found our first amulets that day, Claudia and I had no idea that the new jewelry we had both bought was something that would change the course of our lives,” she gave curt nod and another smile before continuing, “It was Rec who noticed what we had and helped to acclimate. Claudia kept burning everything she touched for a full ten minutes, it was not fun thing to watch. As for me, I had half a building collapse on me and came out without so much as scratch, although I did need to buy some new clothes, my parents weren't happy about that one.”
“How did you survive a mass of building materials falling on you? For that matter, how did you get out from under all of it?”
“My first Titan, Undergolem, I got his limited invincibility, and immense strength,” Mandi stroked the amulet around her neck.
“Care to explain that one in a bit more detail?”
“Undergolem is naturally extremely strong, it comes from his being made of stone and being very large, he also has special ability that allows him to become something that looks like an ordinary stone statue, while in his less than showy form he's completely indestructible, the trade off is he is completely unable to move while in his alternate form. He awakened my seeker potential, and for almost a half hour loaned me his abilities.”
“Seems his loans were well timed,” said Celestia with a vested interest, “I take it your mark is his amulet for reason.”
“Undergolem is a protector, and I am a guardian,” said Mandi with pride, “I'll keep all I see as important safe with everything at my disposal, most my titans are a reflection of this, but Undergolem was my first, the first powers I ever got down were EverFight and StoneGlove, they're effective spells. EverFight is healing spell that can only target the caster, and StoneGlove forms a glove of stone over one fore-appendage of your choosing. They're both excellent spells, I didn't learn BoltFlare until later,” she pointed to the floating orange sphere illuminating the entire room.
“The principles of your magic are different that those taught to unicorns here, the fact that pegasi and griffins can learn it is remarkable.”
“All that is really required to be a Seeker is a strong will, that's where our power to use spells and invoke titans comes from.”
“So I heard, but there must be more to it than that.”
“It has been theorized Seeker potential is passed on through the bloodlines, and that seekers are actually descendants of long forgotten royal lines, honestly I'm hopeless at seeker lore, if you want that you need to talk to Rec, his family kind of specializes in that sort of thing.”
“I figured there were specilists among this demographic you call 'Seekers',” said Celestia, “care to elaborate a bit?”
“I suppose so,” said Mandi as she shook her head to keep awake, “Rec's what you would call a 'Knoweldge Seeker', in other words he's a seeker that searches for answers, his particular specialty is spell combinations, most seekers to don't think to use the majority of spells he does in concert; Claudia's what you'd call a 'Challenge Seeker', she likes to seek out ways to challenge herself, her specialty in the field is combat; and guess you could call me a 'Guardian Seeker', I'm a kind of seeker that focuses on protecting or safeguarding something, as it stands now that's usually my friends.”
“You don't seem to operate like any spell casters I've seen so far, and considering how long I've been around that is saying something.”
“Seekers seem to defy the logic of most kinds of spell casters, we are as adept in armed and unarmed combat as we are at magical combat. The total list of spells we have at our disposal is small when compared to the sheer volume of spells other kinds of spell casters have at their disposal, the trade off is Seeker spells are typically utilitarian in nature and more often than not will serve more than one function. The BoltFlare spell for example is light spell, but can also be used as an attack spell or used to warm drink or ignite a fire. AugerFrost is an attack spell that can also be used for focused cooling of a target. There are a few others, but those two are the best examples I could pull off the top of my head at the moment.”
“You said this BoltFlare spell is a basic spell for seekers, which means it is learned very early in ones training.”
“Yes, it's usually the first spell a seeker learns, my friends and I are little weird since BoltFlare was closer to the third or fourth spell we each learned.”
“I see, you have set of spells that are quite useful. When you've solved this mystery what will you do next?”
“Hopefully find a way back home, but with the way things are going we might encounter a few surprises.”
“And I hope they are all quite good,” came Discord's voice before he seemingly materialized next the two, “you know, maybe it would be better for Celestia if you called up one of your friends so she could see it for herself.”
“I suppose,” said Mandi as she reached for her flank pouch, “now who should I bring out?” She mused as she dug into her pouch, “Ah, yes, I know,” she said as she pulled a Solwing amulet from the pouch, “take flight, Solwing,” the hawk-like titan appeared with its helmet and chest collar adornments in all their glory, the bronze colored accessories on the bird-like titan gleamed gently in the light of the BoltFlare.”
“Well, that's a cute name,” said Discord, “this bird doesn't look like anything too special.”
“If you must know, Sol is the name we gave our sun, so in a way his name means 'Sun Wing'. Solwing, Keep Princess Celestia company, I can tell you like her,” the bird glared her from its perch on the princess's head, “don't give me that... I'm well aware of... no I am not going to... you want what? I don't think that... you can be so infuriating sometimes.”
“What seems to be the problem? I hope it's nothing serious,” said Celestia.
“Depends on your definition of serious,” said Mandi, “I've been bonded with this Solwing for the past year or so, but it seems he likes you so much he wants me to turn over his amulet to you. I don't don't have a problem with it, it's just I've never heard of a bond being exchanged while a titan is active and we don't really know what could happen. Rec's your best bet for lessons in what it means to be a seeker, besides when I bonded with this Solwing we agreed that I would only be keeping his amulet until a more suitable individual was found and deemed worthy by him.”
“So he wants to bond with me, I'm flattered. What does this bond entail?”
“It's a sort of mystical, I guess you could call it magic, connection that seekers have with their titans. It links our minds in a way that makes it so that no matter what the only one that can hear what the titan 'says' is the one bonded to it. When you're bonded with a titan you have to decide what kind of relationship you have with them. In the case of Rec it's treating them as friends, for Claudia it's more akin to treating them like trusted allies, and for me it's somewhere between the two. Some seekers see their titans as nothing more than tools, and will treat them as such, we don't like those kinds very much.”
“You can hear what he has to say in your head, but you still have relay everything verbally, it seems a rather ineffective system,” said Celestia.
Mandi chuckled before saying, “when you first bond with a titan that usually means the bond is incomplete, but once you 'powerbond' with a titan you can communicate entirely by thought. A powerbonded titan has more abilities than the standard version of the titan, and in most cases it's appearance will change as well.”
“What is this 'powerbond'? I would like to know more.”
“My knowledge of such things is kind of rudimentary, but...”
“You save it for later,” said Discord, “much later, I have some things I need to discuss with Celly her. And since her magic is currently not a viable option I know that any bouts of aggression towards me will be limited.”
“You forget,” said Mandi, “I'm currently her guard, and the titan perched on her really likes her, if you do anything to anger him then you might get a surprise of your own,” she placed the Solwing amulet on Celestia's neck, “it looks better on you anyway,” she winked and began trotting backwards.
The gem on the amulet flashed before Solwing fluttered to the ground in front of the dais and started to glow, when the glow settled what looked like a six winged eagle with bronze armor on its talons, a bronze Roman style helmet with silver flourishes creating outlines of the sun in the Athenian art style, and what looked like a winged sun insignia blazoned on its chest in design similar to Celestia's own mark; the bird-like titan was now had wings that were each the size of the ivory coated alicorn, and his body looked like it was built for flying with an entire elephant.
“He's powerbonded, that means he's beyond anything before,” said Mandi
“Well this is a nice surprise, and will make that private chat I wanted with you all the more awkward, Celly,” said Discord.
Meanwhile with Claudia and Princess Luna things were going in completely different direction. The two were positioned in the great hall, where the Gala was usually held. Claudia was pacing in circles around the nocturnal alicorn, clearly annoyed or worried.
“Why does thou find being my guard until the matter is resolved so disconcerting? It is not an important duty you need to perform? You have yet to explain why thou art so agitated,” said Princess Luna.
“You really want to know?” Fumed Claudia, “I should be down their with Mandi and Rec, I'm warrior not a babysitter. No offense your ladyship, but I'm not very comfortable when I don't have a clear idea of what it is I'm supposed to be fighting.”
“Thou hast a most unusual choice of companions then, yon friend with our sister seems content in her current duty and thine other friend seems quite capable of adapting to new situations.”
“I suppose that's true enough,” said Claudia, “I'm a warrior, I feel most useful when I have something to hit,” she took deep sigh before saying, “IronHand,” her right talon looked like it was encased in a thick, flexible piece of iron that perfectly conformed to her appendage, “it's defensive power, but I use it offensively, it makes my hits harder. I should be with Rec, he needs a warrior by his side to watch his back. The three of us form a sort of triad of power. I guess Rec would be the power of the mind, Mandi would be defense and I would be physical power. We work well together, Rec's been there for us since we found out what we're a capable of, but it turns out there's a bit more to it.”
“What exactly would that be? We hope it something that is not problematic,” said Luna.
Claudia sighed before saying, “it turns out our moms all know each other, the three of them are actually old friends and spend at least one day a week catching up with each other at a diner in the town we live in.”
“Anything in particular about the three of them?”
“Other than they're all strong willed and in the know about how things really are in our world not much comes to mind.
________________________________________________
“Are you sure the spell you have in mind will hide Pinkie? I know our options are limited, but I'd feel better if it were somepony else staying hidden,” said Twilgiht.
“She'll be fine,” said Rec before extending his hoof to the bouncing pink mare with a silver amulet around her neck and saying, “HideSight,” causing the pink pony to completely disappeared, “now, Pinkie if you perform any actions that could be considered an attack, and yes hugs count as attacks, or intercept an attack the spell will automatically cancel itself. They'll probably be guarding the artifact, so once it's been secured this plan is over. Your new plan is improvise and keep the artifact out of enemy control.”
“That is terrible plan,” stated Twilgiht as they trotted down the hall, “we should be making plans for ever eventuality.”
“Which considering my penchant for be thorough at times could mean us holed up somewhere for the next couple of days drawing battle plans at the fastest rate we can manage. Twilight, no plan survives its first contact with the real world, you have to learn to think on the fly devise counteractions in split second. You usually deal with long winding problems or problems with simple solutions that become obvious if you just bother to take a few steps back. Seekers usually deal with problems that require a quick wit and looking at problems from a different angle. In short you need to learn how to properly think on your hooves, usually while tackling one or more other problems aside from the one that is right in front of you.”
“Oh,” said Twilight, “how many problems do you see you have to deal with?”
“Yeah, how many? Tell us,” cried the disembodied voice of Pinkie, which sent a shiver down the spine of the lavender alicorn.
“If it's any consolation I am not going to be teaching her the one for turning herself invisible,” said Rec who then lightly coughed and said, “anyway, I currently see six problems before me, half of which involve the mares I'm currently working with, two involving the task at hoof, and one immediate concern involving how to properly set up a seeker organization in Equestria. We can't just treat any of them similar to the way we would in my world.”
“So, after all this you'll be giving Pinkie magic lessons,” Twilight blinked a few times before saying, “that sounded really weird, unicorns are supposed to be the only ponies that can use spells!”
“Like I said,” said Rec, “with seekers you need to refine your thinking, that usually means you need to redefine what is possible. Now let's hammer out the first details of this plan.”
“It would be easier if Pinkie were actually visible for this part.”
“She needs to get used to the nuances of being invisible before she plays her part, and I'm not entirely sure if whatever she touches after she's been made invisible will automatically turn invisible as well. Also I'll probably just do the intro class for all your friends just to be on the safe side, you never know what's happening when you're out.”
“Fair points,” said Pinkie and Twilight in unison.
“So let's hammer out the plans for this party,” giggled Pinkie.
“I can't believe this plan was something I agreed to,” Twilight grumbled as she and Rec were quite obviously moving through the corridor that had a non-functional magic trap, “I mean seriously the very thought of doing something with so little preparation despite having plenty of planning and forethought is just...ugh, how you not go mad over these sorts of things.”
“Desensitization,” said Rec, “I'm so used to doing these half baked plans that it has become more of a force of habit, if it makes you feel better the plan we hammered out wasn't the whole plan.”
“Say what?” Shouted Twilight, “what's the rest?”
“That depends on whose in on the first part of the plan,” said Rec with an eerie calm, “it's your job to figure out the rest of the plan on your own, in other words improvise and devise a set of plans tailored to you specifically and what you know about your partners. Claudia and Mandi are pretty good at it, then again we have very different dynamic than our current team. Just remember you that Seeker spells require you to actually say their name, to mask them seekers usually work them into conversations, I'm sure you'll excel at that.”
“I've only learned four total Seeker spells, and only one of them is an attack spell.”
“Seekers will often use the 'light spell' I showed you as an attack, it can serve many purposes beyond simply lighting your way. Besides any spell can serve more than one purpose, you just have think about a new way to apply your spells.”
All of a sudden a group of earth ponies with masks hiding most of their faces surrounded them with swords in their mouths, a pegasus in pure black armor in a style that reminded Rec of Roman legionnaire armor stepped forward, the style was completely foreign to Twilight. Rec just shook his head like he had been expecting something more, especially since pegasus was wearing a centurion's helmet that had its decorations done in the style of a pegasus wing. To be fair it was taking a noticeable amount of his will power to keep from laughing at the look. The pegsus also had a circular madallion with the image of an alicorn with an X overlaying it.
“Well,” said pegaus in a commanding, raspy voice, “her ladyship Princess Twilight Sparkle is here with only an unknown unicorn for assistance, you should have brought better help, especially since everypony here can't use their magic. You would have been better off with an earth pony, since they're used to not being able to openly use magic.
“That condescending attitude look bad on you,” said Rec evenly, “might we inquire as your name, you can call me Amulet Scholar if it's all the same to you,” Twilight almost made a move to question the unicorn next to her when it hit her, Rec was assuming an identity since this group obviously didn't know anything about him.
“Yes, well,” said Twilight, “we were doing some midnight exploring and charting of the caves, Scholar's specialty is magic items and all that and I figured it might be good to have his company in case we encounted anything unusual, after all we didn't really know what could be down here and having somepony who might know a thing or two about any unusual artifacts we found would be nice. We were just minding our own business when all of a sudden we couldn't use our magic anymore, we did come with one of my friends, but she got lost a while ago, and since we've been charting the caverns down here we don't know where or when we lost her.”
“Well formalities are important,” said the peasus, “I'm Noble Demon, and all I want to know now is which of your friends came with you?”
“The kind you can't really miss,” said Rec, “bouncy, hyperactive, overly gregarious, that sort of thing.”
“You brought Pinkie Pie with you on an exploration mission? Why would you bring that overly energetic ball of pink with you?” said Noble Demon
“She's very perceptive, and perception is what we need when charting unknown territory,” said Rec matter-of-factually.
“Yes well, the energy of somepony like that doesn't agree with me,” said Noble Demon. He motioned for the guards to follow him while leading his new 'guests' and started trotting the direction Twilight and Rec had been going.
******************************
After about another half hour of trotting they were brought to a large chamber, in the center of the chamber was a golden statue of an earth pony holding a winged staff aloft around half the size of Twilight. Around the statue were unicorns who were wearing the exact same accessory as Noble Demon. Rec and Twilight both realized they must have some sort of significance, and both deduced the madallions might have a relation of some kind to the neutralizing field. There deduction proved correct when Rec tried to get closer to inspect the statue and was blasted in the leg with an energy burst from one of the unicorns before being shoved by one of the eight earth ponies surrounding him and Twilight.
Both he and Twilight gave the fifty-three ponies in the room, including their guards and Noble Demon, a disapproving look.
“Who are you? What do you want? Why have you made all of Canterlot lose it's ability to use its magic? Your putting innocent ponies at risk,” said Twilight.
Noble Demon stood on a platform next to the statue before saying, “we are the Pony Liberation Council, we regret that Canterlot has to suffer like this, but it is necessary to ensure the oppression of the alicorns has be made more difficult.”
“Oppression? What have I done to oppress anyopony? I've just barely ascended,” said Twilight, “not to mention all of the greatest innovations in technology and self-expression blossomed under the rule of Princess Celestia, she doesn't really do anything other than raise and lower the sun and hold open court for anypony who wants to address her with a matter they believe is of great concern. Princess Luna has just barely returned to holding the night court with the same expressions as Celestia's day court, Princess Cadance isn't even in Canterlot and she hardly does anything in the Crystal Empire anyway. How can any of us be oppressors or tyrants?”
“Celestia and Luna rule as absolute queens, yet have the gall to only go by 'Princess', it is something that truly makes me sick.”
“That's your reason for trying to insight rebellion,” said Rec calmly, “do you have proof that the rule of this nation would be better if turned over to another power? Do you have historical evidence to suggest that a rule with the abscense of the alicorns is better? Are you sure the populace wants this? Wil the populace accept this? Have thought any of this through? Or are you just some board spoiled brats who decided to play at revolution so as occupy your time in a way you think is meaningful? You need to think it over a bit more if you're coming up short for answers.”
“Silence this infidel,” said Noble Demon, “he knows not of the powers he is up against!”
Rec just shook his head and reached into his flank pouch and brought out the amulets for Gearheart, Nordrake and what looked like a silver shamrock with a green gem in the center. Before shouting out, “Meet the trials, Gearhaert; take the shot, Nordrake; Crush the unjust, Crom Cruach,” as if on cue Nordrak appeared flying in the air, a mechanical looking earth pony (whom Twilight assumed was Gearhaert, she was right), and what looked like a giant worm with a dragon's head appeared next Rec. “Alright, you all know what to do, just remember no lethal force. You ponies ready to eat my NimbleFire and ShadowSpeed?” With that he was already on the move and in just a matter of seconds all eight of the earth ponies surrounding them were dropped to the ground unconcious. Twilight saw Rec moving at high speed batting at each pony he came across with his forehooves at a rate that she figured even Rainbow Dash couldn't match.
“What? That's impossible! Nopony should be able to use magic without the medallions,” sputtered Noble Demon.
“You just need to redine your thinking a bit,” said Twilight, “let me introduce you to, Ironsquire,” with that what looked like an earth pony with heavy armor that went all the way up and protected everything, including the entire muzzle and ears, with a large shield held securely the right foreleg appeared next to her, “keep me safe, I have a plan, Noble I hope you don't mind if I give your accessory a BubbleLift,” with that the main part of the medallion around Noble Demon's neck was caught in a light blue bubble and started floating up over his head.
Meanwhile pegsi with medallions were moving at top speed to try and catch Rec unicorns blasted at Nordrake and earth ponies used their blades to cut at Crom Cruach. Crom was proving most difficult because every few seconds after bing separated his pieces literally grew from both ends of the cut to rejoin and make the worm-like dragon creature large before it squeezed the helpless ponies into unconciousness. Gearhaert was proving trick because not only did he seem to be composed of metal, but he also kept cycling through a variety of utensils to combat the unicorns and earth ponies that were ganging up on him, and losing.
A few minutes later Rec's speed spells wore off and Nordrake was finally taken down, as was Gearhaert, Crom was still going strong until he was lifted by magic of eight of the twelve unicorns still conscious. The whole battle had only taken eight minutes, and Twilight became dismayed at how easily her bubble was burst when she tried to raise Noble Demon's medallion of him. Despite all that Twilight was smiling, it had been so long since she had tried a new spell. Ironsquire was still active, but he only hurt anypony that drew near Twilight so they decided to just leave the magicless alicorn with her surprisingly adept guardian.
“That was pointless,” said Noble Demon when the dust settled, “what did you hope to accomplish? All you did was render a few of us unconscious, that's all!”
“Yep, the distraction worked perfectly,” said Rec with a smile, “you didn't even notice your statue went missing within the first minute of the fight, I call the operation a success.”
“Agreed,” said Twilight, “I just wish I had done more, but I'm still learning this new magic you introduced to me.”
Noble Demon looked over where the statue had been and found it was no where to be seen and all he could say a the sight was, “but how? When? Huh???”
“Our so called 'missing' companion has been invisible this entire time,” said Rec, “while you were all busy focusing on us she was free to take the artifact and make off to somewhere else with it, the best part is we didn't really decide on a rendezvous site so it could be anywhere, and so could she.”
“And with that phase one of the plan is complete,” said Twilight, “honestly I thought it would be a little harder than this, I mean seriously you only have twenty active ponies right now, we just took out over thirty ponies a few minutes ago.”
“I put my faith in my ponies,” said Noble Demon, “and if need be step in to keep them from incurring further damages. You, unicorn, whatever you called yourself, you're far more adept at combat than I surmised, usually unicorns are no good in a fight by themselves.”
“I've had practice,” said Rec, “tell you what, how about we have duel? The stakes, if I win you cease this coupe and have all the members of your order turn themselves in to the authorities to await a trial, but if you win you can choose your demands of me. The rules are simple, anything goes so long as there is no outside interference or help, what's in the arena at the start is all that can be used. You can take a few minutes to gather the resources you want to use for the competition, I'll wait, I have all I need on me.”
“Challenge accepted,” said Noble Demon, “I find the terms acceptable, and I'm a pony of my word. If I win you show me how you managed to use magic in a magical dead zone and explain how all these other ponies and monsters appeared and helped you and Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
“I find your request amicable,” said Rec with a nod.
“Are you sure this is a good idea? Look at him,” said Twilight, “he's clearly had military training.”
“The kind that lacks subtlety,” said Rec, “his armor and helmet are of a similar style to an ancient empire from my world, one that was very heavy on the use of its military and had its structure practically built around the military. That said their combat style was the basis for several major western fighting styles in my world, all of them had one thing focused on brute strength. I've been trained in a series of combat styles that are a bit more... open.”
“I just hope you know what you're doing,” said Twilight.
“So do I,” said Rec as he turned to see a smile pile of weapons land in the impromtu battle arena.
Noble Demon yelled out, “the battle shoe has been thrown, nopony is allowed to intervene or interrupt, this is a battle between ponies, a sacred rite that few have the courage to acknowledge these days, it is rite that all pegasi should be taught to honor, that all unicorns should be willing to understand and earth ponies should learn to embrace, this is a one-on-one duel with no rules for the combatants, this kind of competition hasn't be held in Equestria since before its official founding, I urge everypony to respect it without question, watch and honor the terms of the victor regardless of the outcome. If you fail to acknowledge the terms of surrender because the victor was not who you wanted you will personally answer to me as I teach you just what it means to honor an agreement.”
“Nice show,” said Rec evenly, “but we both know you're just putting on a show, the moment you see you're losing you'll tell them they can join in the fight. You just said all that because your extremely confident you'll win with very little effort. I've encountered your kind before, egotistical and highly charismatic, I have to deal with one on a regular basis when I'm out in the field. So, let's see how far we can take this thing, hm.”
“You know not of what you speak,” said Noble Demon.
“Do you even know the meaning behind your name,” said Rec as he got into position.
“It's just a name,” said Noble Demon, “there is no meaning behind it or to it.”
“Every name has a meaning to it,” said Rec, “it says something about the individual it's attached too.”
“In the language of the Celts the name Arthur means bear, a name that has connotations of strength behind it. Your name is a bit more interesting with its meaning.”
“And what would my name mean? Once the answer is given the fight will commence,” said Noble Demon.
Rec smirked and said, “a noble demon is a villain with a code of honor, they have rules that dictate how they interact with the heroes, other villains, underlings, and even bystanders. In other words they have rules that dictate how they do things even to the point of restraining them from taking advantage of events, and will do all they can to never deviate from those rules. You have yet to show any of that, in fact I think you've just assumed the name because you think it sounds imposing, you're and idiot with a lot of charisma and that's all there is too you.”
As if on cue the pony calling himself Noble Demon launched into the air and made a mad dive at Rec, Rec just shook his head and sidestepped without even using any spells, Demon missed him with the attack and shot back into the air, “you dare mock me, the greatest of the great pegasi warriors in a thousand years?”
Rec just shook his head again and under his breath said, “DoubleSpell, HyperStride,” blue flames appeared around all four of his legs, first time I've tried something like this, thought Rec. Turning his attention to Demon he said, “I hope can hand my FlashJump,” in bright burst of light that dazed Demon and Twilight, along with the onlookers, Rec appeared above Demon and said, “Get ready for an OverSlam,” a blue aura surrounded Rec's falling form before he collided with Demon and hopped the pegasus and mutterered “NimbleFire, ShadowSpeed, the auras of the two speed spells encased him just before he hopped of the cavern ceiling onto Demon again. He continued the high speed jumping onto the flying pegasus, who in addition to being very annoyed was showing signs of being hurt and damaged. After the twelfth pass Rec said, “and now for a FeatherDrop,” he stopped in midair and started falling at what looked like the normal falling rate with a bright orange dome beneath him and landed light as a feather on the ground.
“Why is it you can still use magic? It shouldn't be possible,” shouted Demon who charged from the air only for Rec to quickly sidestp him again just as his remaining powers wore of.
“A mystery for another time,” said Rec evenly, “you've lost this one, you just haven't realized it yet. You've taken heavy damage while I have yet to break a sweat with my actions. Face it this is your loss. How often do you train? How do you train? These are things you must consider.”
“I am example of physical perfection, why would I require training?”
“When I say train I mean practice.”
“There is no need for one such as I to practice! Everypony you may now make your assault on this infidel,” with that all the other ponies in the room made their way to attack Rec.
“I practice every day, for several hours, and spar with my friends and family almost as long,” said Rec, “it helps to build our relationships and helps keep us fit. Those that claim to be perfect are the most imperfect, perfection is not something that be objectively defined, perfect is a subjective term, its meaning is different that if you asked a hundred ponies to define perfect you would get a hundred different answers, perfection is like beauty,” he sidestepped the attacking pegasus, “it is always in the ye of the beholder. Now I think it's time we ended all this, you really should be careful before you slip into a DarkSleep,” his eyes gave flash of violet before everpony in th room, other than Twilight, collapsed to the floor asleep wherever it was they were in the room.
“How long will that last?” Inquired Twilight.
“Judging by the size of the room and total number of occupants I can see, by my calculations, about twenty minutes,” said Rec, “let's go find Pinkie and the statue, also we're taking it to your place.”
“Why? It would make more sense to study it at the school,” said Twilight with puzzled look and confused tone to her voice.
“A school that has been potentially compromised by a rogue faction, we're better off taking it someplace that has not potentially be compromised.”
Something clicked in Twilight's head, “oh, the evidence we found in school, I see where you're going with this line of thinking, let's get out of here and tell the princesses what we found.”
“First we need to disable the enchantment that's active on the statue. A quick analysis with the mythichive, which they didn't bother to relieve me of for some reason, should help us determine the best way to disable the atrifact. By my calculations we still have an hour and a half before sunrise is due.”
“And you said that sleep spell would have everypony out cold for twenty minutes, we can't disable the statue's magic and fight a rogue faction at the same time. We need to hurry.”
“Yuppers,” came Pinkie's voice from in front of them, Rec dropped the spell from the pink mare to reveal Pinkie was literally four feet in front of Twilight, standing on her head on top of the statue.”
Twilight rolled her eyes before saying, “let's just get this thing deactivated and back home with us.”
“Sure thing,” said Rec as he pointed a hoof at the statue and said, “BreakSpell,” they all felt like a heavy coat had been lifted from them.
Twilight lifted the statue up in her magic before saying, “we'll do a thorough analysis at home!”
“And I have new beginner's Seeker lessons to prepare for, we really need a master seeker here for this. I have feeling that Pinkie isn't the only new seeker we're going have to face.
Meanwhile with Claudia and Luna. Luna asked, “You named your sun? Did you also name your moon?”
“Of course,” said Claudia, “the moon's name is Luna.”
Luna smiled and said, “what does it mean in your world?”
“Luna means Moon, a little uncreative when you think about it.”
“Why would you name your sun and moon.”
“It's a holdover from earlier cultures,” said Claudia with a sense of amusement, “but it continues because we have found new suns and moons throughout the cosmos, it started with our solar system then moved to worlds and suns further out. We have nine heavenly major bodies in our system, eight of them are full planets.”
“And the ninth?” Inquired the nocturnal alicorn.
“A dwarf planet, its erratic orbit is one of the reasons it doesn't have a status as a full planet. Our world is the third planet from our sun.”
“What are the ones that are closer?”
“Well, Mercury is so close to the sun that solar winds have blown its atmosphere away before it could properly form, that and it takes longer for a day to pass on the planet than a year. Venus is closer to us, it has its own moon, but it has such a dense cloud layer that you wouldn't be able to see anything, and the surface is so hot that the acidic rain of the planet evaporates to rejoin the clouds before it reaches the planet's surfaces, the unmanned probes we did send to planet have confirmed the atmosphere is too toxic for us survive on it.”
“You've learned of the other worlds in your system without visiting them?”
“Advanced technologies can do that for you,” said Claudia with a smirk, “we've even sent explorers to visit our moon a few times.”
“What did you learn about it?”
“That while the moon is pretty to look at it has a lack of atmosphere so we would need to put some work into making it a place for us to live at some time in the future of our world.”
“Oh,” said Luna as she blinked a few times, “when I was Nightmare Moon I was trapped on our moon, I feel like it needs a name from our little chat. I am at a loss as to what its name should be, I am the one who controls its rising and falling.”
“In the mythology of the Greeks the name of the goddess of the moon was Diane, but that seems a bit wrong when I look at your moon. It feels like a vigil guardian watching over those who wander in the dark of the night, what do you think of the moon?”
“I think,” Luna stopped to think, “the moon is a sentinel, it kept Equestria safe when I was a being of terror that would doom the world as we know it. It has remained a vigil guardian and good friend regardless of the years.”
“Your sentry, as it were,” said Claudia with a smile, “one that wards off the worst of things.”
“Yes, Warding Sentry,” sounds like the right name,” said Luna with a smile. Suddenly she and Claudia felt the effects of the artifact being disabled, “It would seem your friend and Twilight were successful, I wonder what they will report for us. We should make our way to the throne room.
Rec, Pinkie, and Twilight arrived up with their prize in time to witness the sunrise. Twilight smiled and said, “It's nice to see Princess Luna and Celestia's schedules were throne for a loop, “we still have to present this thing to the princesses and give a report.”
Rec gave a nod and gestured for the mares to lead the way. Pinkie teased him by saying, “you just want to look at our flanks.”
Rec gave a light blush before saying, “Well, I will admit that thought might factor into the decision, but it's mostly because I don't know my way around this place just yet. I'll be honest, you both do have attractive rears.”
Twilight gave a light blush, as did Pinkie combined with a giggle. A few minutes later they set their prize down before Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, Mandi and Claudia and gave their full report, taking turns.
“Well,” said Celestia after they finished, “we'll look into this new faction, in the mean time we should follow mister Formula's suggestion, I believe he is right in assuming the school could be comrpromised, I'll speak with all the most trusted members of the staff to look further into this matter. Luna approached the statue while her sister was talking and reached out a hoof to touch the artifact, she had always been a patron of the arts and this was a beautiful statue with a lot of detail put into it. A small light blue light started to glow from statue and suddenly the lunar alicorn was wearing an amulet that looked like a set of four gray open flower petals with a blue oval gem that had a yellow highlight.
Rec looked over at Luna and then back to Celestia before facehoofing and saying, “And now I need to give beginning Seeker lessons to both of Equestria's diarchs, a hperactive pink mare, who knows who else when we get back to Ponyville. I can't believe I'm actually saying this, especially since I'm at the journeyman level of being a seeker at best, but Celestia and Luna need to cancel court for a few days and join us in Ponyville so I can better teach them and whomever else just so happened to awaken as a seeker while we were out.”
Celestia gave big grin and said, “This is going to be fun.”
“Mandi, you can explain why there is a Solwing amulet on Princess Celestia later, right now we need to arrange for our transit back to Ponyville.”
“That we can provide,” said Celestia with a smile.
“I can tell I'm going to hate it already,” snarked Claudia.
“Oh relax, they're royalty,” said Mandi, “I can't see how whatever they provide in terms of transit can be that bad.”
“Trust me,” said Twilight, “you're probably going to like this.”
Rarity was sitting with Orchid looking over several of the young filly's amulets. “They're all quite lovely, darling. It's nice that you're getting along with Sweetie Belle and her friends, but your still chasing after your brother.”
“I want to be the same kind of Seeker my brother is,” said Orchid.
“You do realize that being the same kind of something as somepony isn't the same being exactly like them?”
“I never really considered that,” said Orchid folding her ears back, “Rec keeps saying I'm a smart girl and I'll figure it all out, but I don't want to figure out, I just want to be the kind of seeker I want to be as soon as possible.”
“You have the same problem as my sister and her friends, you're in so much of a hurry to have your talent you aren't stopping to see just what you're truly good at. Your not perusing anything, you're just jumping out in the street because you think that is the best place to help ponies. The difference is that your imitating somepony you admire because you think you might have the same talent, stop trying to be your brother dear, it's not healthy. You may not know what your passion is yet, but someday something will ignite the fires of passion in you in a way that only you can feel.”
“Thanks, miss Rarity,” said Orchid before getting up and heading out, the filly stopped when she opened the door, “Miss Rarity, were you expecting a delivery? There's a package in front of your door.”
“Oh, those would be some samples of next seasons most sought after accessories I asked a friend in Manehattan to send me. I might be one who tries to see if she can make the years greatest original styles, but if I don't keep up with fads in my profession it could prove disastrous,” the white mare levitated the package in past Orchid, who closed the door and followed Rarity into the kitchen.”
“I really don't see accessories the same way you do, since amulets are a bit different for Seekers. I think I'll hang around with you to see if something catches my eye at the very least.”
“Very well, darling,” said Rarity as she eased the box open with her magic.
Inside the box were a collection of bracelets and pendants with very expensive looking appearance, the sight caused Orchid to giggle while saying, “I think someone's been had!”
“What do you mean? Orchid,” said Rarity with confusion, “explain it to me, these gems look a bit off, but other than that they seem to be good quality.”
“You have a good eye, these are what my world calles Rhinestones,” said Orchid as she lifted some of the pieces in her magic, much to a surprise that almost caused them her to drop them, “they're fake jewels, they're made with a mix of plastics and ceramics. They're cheap because they're easy to mass produce for little cost, in short they're cheap synthetic gems. Using the base elements it is possible and techniques it is possible to artificially create a genuine gem. We call synthetic diamonds made from the same material as real diamonds cubic zirconium.”
“So, you're saying these gold and silver chains are holding cheap imitations of the real gems, I see this fad won't go far. I am so glad Coco sent me just a small box, I'll send a note back to her about this, and I'll be sure to mention the part you played in this. Now, tell me more about these synthetic true gems.”
“Well, I'm no expert on the matter, I just know what I learned from the educational program that talked about them, but...”
_________________________________________________
At around that same time on Sweet Apple Acres Applejack was once again staring at the amulet on her nightstand. She had fortunately decided to not go into town with it, mostly because she did not want to deal with the barrage of questions on the orange mare's new accessory from a certain pearly unicorn. “Are ya jus' gonna keep starin' at tha' amulet until it does somethin' fer ya?” Came Big Mac's voice to her right, the first thing she had done was explain the circumstances of her getting the amulet to her family, and even shown invoked the titan just outside the house to prove she hadn't gone off her rocker. Her sister predictably spouted how cool it was, Granny Smith just burst out laughing and giggled about how her granddaughter had found a way to prove it was possible for an earth pony to cast spells like a unicorn, and Big Mac just gave her a look that said he honestly didn't have anything to say.
“Ah'm naught sure et's uh good idea ta 'ave that thing en our possession,” said Applejack after the awkward silence that followed her brother's question, “Befer Orchid went ta ask Rarity if she could stay wid 'er she just had ta tell Ganny about tha' stupid tradition in 'er world, an' Granny actually thought et was uh good idea ta follow up on tha' tradition! Jus' what went through 'er 'ead when she said that?”
“Ya could jus' ask 'er instead uh going on about how ya gettin' one uh these 'ere titan things goes against apple tradition,” said Big Macintosh in a solemn voice, “et's a good symbol fer us, et's a tree an' yer amulet looks like et came from uh apple tree made uh silver, yer stubborn pride is jus' getting tha bes' uh ya again, Ah jus' figured et was time fer somepony ta come an' give ya knock upside tha head befer yer friends decided ta do fer us, an' don' think Ah won't really smack ya one jus' cause yer mah little sister, tha's more uh a reason ta give ya a good kick en tha flank.”
“Ah know,” Applejack said with a sigh, “Orchid even said her brother would more than likely be givin' me a intra course en what et means ta be a Seeker, she keeps goin' on abou' 'ow will ez most important fer a seeker, she also says Ah got et en spades when et comes ta will.”
“Tha's cause yer tha mos' strong willed among yer friends AJ, et's trait all us Apples got en abundance, but all our matriarchs have been known to be the most stubborn of thair generation, yer no exception thare.”
“Ah suppose,” said the orange mare with a confused look on her face, “when Ah'm near tha amulet Ah kin 'ear tha big guy en et, 'e's as stubborn as Ah am, tha only reason 'e listens ta me is because 'e knows the kind a mare Ah am through our link an' 'e genuinely respects me.”
“Well, et least ya got a good trump card fer when et gits really dicy en tha future,” said Mac as he put a hoof on Applejack's shoulder, “come on AJ, put tha' amulet on an' get tha thin yer havin' fears abou' outa tha way, Rarity will find out abou' this one way or another, after all 'er sister was thare fer yer exchange wid 'im.”
“Ah suppose yer right, Mac, thanks, Ah needed this,” she walked over and put the amulet back on, “besides et might 'elp wid showin' ah can be jus' as 'refined' as Rares claims she is.” Macintosh smiled as he followed Applejack down the stairs.
Rarity had emptied the box out and found a small package that was wrapped with a note that said it held something that the alabaster mare might genuinely like. When Rarity opened the tiny box she beheld what looked like a circular gray stone piece with a purple diamond gem with a yellow outline. “Well,” said Orchid looking at the accessory with interest, “what are the chances your friend would send you an amulet, maybe he's still sleeping. I can feel his presence, maybe your touch will wake him up. I heard about the titans with this amulet, I don't know what he's called though, he's one of the 'lost titans', not all of their names were recorded, we just know what their amulet looked like most of the time.”
Rarity put the amulet on then said, “Ooh, tingly, I can feel a presence. How do I, call him up?”
“First let's go somewhere outside and away from the shop, we don't know how big this guy could be, do you want to invoke an entity that could potentially demolish half the building by just coming into the physical world?”
“Oh, that isn't so good darling, I think I know just where to go for this.” Rarity motioned for Orchid to follow her, turning the sign to closed and locking the closed door behind them Rarity lead the way. After a few minutes they were near small pond with no one else to be found.
“This looks good enough,” said Orchid looking around a bit, “now, close your eyes and focus on the amulet, the titan should tell you his name, speak his name to invoke him from the amulet.”
“Alright,” said Rarity as she closed her eyes.
“Hey you two,” came Rainbow Dash's voice, “whatcha up to?”
“A lesson on titan invocation,” said Orchid evenly, “which you are interrupting by the way,” she gestured to a very annoyed looking Rarity.
“Oh, sorry,” said Rainbow with an honest embarrassed tone.
“It's fine, Rainbow,” said Rarity, “I figured it wouldn't be an easy feat.”
“Especially considering some of the situations titans are invoked under,” said Orchid.
“How come unicorns get all the cool magic lessons? I mean, Twi and Rare both get a lesson in this sort of thing,” said Rainbow.
“I would like remind you I gave Applejack a crash course in titan invocation and recalling a few hours ago,” said Orchid, “this kind of magic can be used and learned by anyone.”
“Applejack has an amulet?” Said Rarity with surprise, “what's it like?”
“She has Gaia-Titan,” said Orchid, “the amulet of the titan she bonded with is a silver twig with a green leaf like gem.”
“Now, I have a new set of outfits to design around that for her,” said Rarity with excitement.
“Something tells me she's not going to be very happy about that,” said Rainbow with a smirk on her face.
“Maybe not immediately, Rainbow,” said Rarity, “but when we have a formal event that requires our presence she'll thank for the ensembles I've prepared.”
“Can we please get back to your lesson, Rarity? Miss Dash,” said Orchid with a hint of amusement in her voice, “if you would be so kind as to not distract us any further.”
“Um, sure thing,” said Rainbow.
“Now, Rarity,” said Orchid, “focus on the amulet and call the name the titan tells you.”
Taking a deep breath the white mare closed her eyes and focused on the amulet, “he says his name is... Jeweled Colossus,” with that a stone gray figure that was covered in a variety of jewels around the standard size of a pony appeared, in addition to having a few strips of purple leather armor around the shoulders and a red cape upon its back. Upon closer inspection different kinds of jewels with different colors and shapes were all throughout the titans form, the chest possessed a large, purple, diamond shaped gem. At his sides the titan had a circular shield and elegant looking sword.
“This guy is so you, Rarity,” said Rainbow as she hovered around the titan, “I mean look at him, he's covered in jewels.”
Rarity opened her eyes and smiled before trotting over an inspecting the stone gray titan. “Yes, well,” said Rarity with a smile, “he certainly has a special kind of elegance to him... he also says his gems have magical properties he can activate at will, how is it that I heard that and you didn't?”
“That's the bond,” said Orchid, “he's relaying directly to your mind, but you still have to talk to him verbally.”
“Well, that loses it's subtle elegance,” said Rarity with a concerned face.
“When your connection reaches its ultimate extent you'll powerbond to him, when that happens you will both be able to communicate by pure thought.”
“So, we need to build our relationship up, just like with friends and family,” said Rarity with a smile, “I kind of prefer it that way.”
“Ah man,” said Rainbow, “now you, AJ and Twilight all have some cool companions that will always be there when ya need them. When am I going to get a cool friend that's as awesome as I am?”
“When the time is right, and you least expect it,” said Orchid with a smile, “I'm sure your future friend will be just what you need.”
“That is so vague,” said Rainbow, “and sounds almost exactly like what Flutters or Rares would say.”
“Well, darling, she has a point,” said Rarity, “you can't just rush these sorts of things.”
Rainbow stuck her tongue out playfully before saying, “I'm heading home, gotta feed Tank,” with that the cyan mare was gone.
Noticing the confused look Orchid was giving her Rarity said, “Her tortoise, dear, that's his name. So how do I...” Jeweled Colossus turned into a purple wisp and shot back into her amulet, “never mind, I can wait for your brother's return and lesson plan, if it's all the same to you?”
“I take no offense,” said Orchid, “he's the one who has taught me the most of what it means to be a seeker.”
“You said your father and older siblings were seekers as well,” said Rarity looking at her new accessory with a smile, “didn't they teach you anything about what it means to be one?”
“Dad taught me the basics and left me to study under Rec,” said Orchid, “my other elder siblings aren't as inviting. I can tell they're just going through the motions when they try to make things better between us.”
“Is this your brother talking? He told us something similar,” said Rarity. Rainbow just waited in silence, something that she usually found very difficult.
Orchid shook her head and said, “he didn't tell me what he thought about our elder siblings, he just told me to look at the information and see what it tells me then told me where to find the records pertaining to our family. He wanted me to take it all in without any bias and make my own conclusions, I suppose that makes him a good big brother. He hides his emotions as best he can, but you can see just how much he cares.”
“Um, yeah,” said Rainbow, “why is he so guarded with his emotions? Especially around his family and friends.”
“Simple answer,” said Orchid, “our siblings treated him as an outsider, they thought our mom was a replacement for theirs in their dad's life. A legitimate fear, but a bit inaccurate. Dad kept on loving their mom, he just felt it was time to have someone else by his side to give him support when he needed it most, that's where mom came in.”
“So, you and your brother have a different mother than your other elder siblings? Why should something like that matter?”
“I guess it shouldn't,” said Orchid, “but sometimes others put more stock in their fears than the facts, there's an old saying that goes, 'the truth will set you free', but some choose to ignore the truth in favor of some kind of belief or misguided faith. It's always easier to follow than decide for yourself, free thinkers aren't treated as good as they should at times.”
“I can attest to that,” said Rarity, “I've learned that lesson a few times myself, ponies are more willing to accept somepony into their social circle if they follow with the others as opposed to try being themselves.”
“Yeah,” said Rainbow, “I was there for one of those moments, anyway,” she turned her attention to Orchid, “what have you found out about yourself?”
“That I've spent too much time trying to be my brother,” said Orchid, “I don't even know what really motivates me, I just know I bond well with animal like titans, that doesn't tell me a whole lot.”
“Maybe,” said Rainbow, “but Flutters might be able to help, her special talent is understanding animals. If anypony can help you make sense of something animal related it would definitely be her.”
“Thanks,” said Orchid, “could you guide me there? I really don't know where to go just yet.”
“Sure thing,” said Rainbow and lead the way to Fluttershy's cottage. Rarity smiled as she watched the two head off, it was nice to see Rainbow in a role like this and to tell the truth Sweetie and her friends needed somepony that could possibly reign in some of their more dangerous ideas. Orchid seemed well suited to reigning in the Crusaders, at least to a point.
**********************************
The whole way Rainbow had asked Orchid which of the titans she had seen was the most awesome, each of the twenty plus times Orchid had asked her define awesome, much to the aggravation of the cyan mare. Rainbow just stated that it should be obvious in her usual eccentric, and somewhat blunt, manner. Once they arrived at Fluttrshy's and the yellow pegasus had opened her door Rainbow had practically shoved the filly into the pink maned mare with the statement, “how can anypony not know what awesome is? Seriously, awesome is just awesome.”
“That's it?” Said Fluttershy with a confused look.
“I just wanted you to be more specific,” said Orchid with an eye roll, “you should know there are different kinds of awesome, just as there are different levels of awesome. Maybe if you would specify instead of being so vague we wouldn't have had several minutes of circular conversation.”
“Oh,” said Rainbow with a sheepish look, “well you two, have fun,” with that she flew off.
“It's not often somepony can embarrass Rainbow like that,” said Fluttershy, “so, what brings you to my home?”
“Well,” Orchid looked a bit uneasy as she said it, “I bond well to animal like titans and you have the ability to understand animals, so your friends thought it would be a good idea for us to spend some time together.”
“Oh, that's lovely” said the yellow pegasus, “feel free to help out however you can.”
“You weren't interrupted from anything, were you?” Orchid as the pegasus lead her into the cottage.
“Oh no, I was just finishing feeding the animal. Angel's been a little demanding again today.”
“Oh, is he asking you to make him a salad or something?” Said Orchid, half joking.
“Yes, he does every once in a while. He's such a demanding bunny sometimes.”
“I wouldn't know, we never had any pets back home, still don't.”
“Why not? Having a special animal friend is something everypony should at least experience.”
“It comes down to the lives Seekers can lead,” said Orchid as she moved amongst the animals and down on the couch, Fluttershy closed the door and headed for the kitchen, “we can be asked to look over a library or museum one day and then be sent half way around the world for who knows how long the next, having a pet just isn't practical. Besides what if someone decides to actually make a play at attacking our homes, we couldn't put any animals in danger because of something like that. Besides, I have all the special friends I need with my titans, although I would like some friends outside my titans.”
“Well, it looks like you're making good progress with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo,” the sound of her tossing the salad could be heard, and Orchid could swear she heard the pegasus mare smiling, “maybe they already consider you a friend. Why don't you have any friends back home?”
Orchid pulled her ears flat to hear head as she said, “Every time I try to make friends some mean kids ruin it. They all know how to push the social buttons at the school to make me be not wanted by anyone. There were these girls that were really popular that invited me to be their 'friend' and I really hoped it would be genuine, I knew what they were really like. I just thought that if they spent time around someone like me at least one of them would genuinely want to be my friend, was that wrong?”
“Oh no, it's a wonderful thing to think. You were willing to try and see something better in others, it's not your fault it didn't work out for you. Did they do something really bad?”
“They... threw the kit for making your own jewelry kit my mom had given me a month prior out the second story window of the house we were at, if my brother hadn't taught me FeatherDrop and BubbleLift before that I would have spent hours trying to find all the pieces that fell out of the box that made up the kit.”
“Oh, do you like making jewelry?”
“Not really, it was a sweet gesture on mom's part, but it just didn't feel right whenever I used what the kit. It's a really nice kit, it came with garnets, pewter chains, and I even got a real moss agate. Mom just wanted help me find my talent, she always does.”
“So, what it like when your brother got his cutie mark?” The butter yellow pegasus came back out with a large salad bowl filled with a variety of veggies between her wings and expertly slid it down without a spill in front of her white rabbit. Angel gave it a few quick sniffs before giving nod of approval and diving into it like a mad goat. Fluttershy carefully backed away and joined Orchid on the couch.
“Oh, um well,” Orchid moved a little uneasily in her seat, “we don't have cutie marks in our world. There's no way to physically show what your special talent is beyond showing it.”
“Oh, um, are the animals nice at least? Is there somepony to look after all the wild animals?”
“Um, no. The entirety of our world operates a lot like the Everfree forest, minus the mystical and magical creatures. Every creature needs to fend for itself, and the there is no one to manage the weather.”
It was at this point Rainbow crashed through the door, nearly knocking it off its hinges, “Sorry Flutters,” said Rainbow, “I'll pay for the damages.”
“That's okay Rainbow,” said Fluttershy, “this house really isn't built for your energetic arrivals.”
“You're so understanding,” said Rainbow with a smile, she then turned to Orchid, “what do you mean you don't have anypony managing the weather? How do places get the weather they need.”
“Most of the time they don't,” said Orchid, “we don't have the means to influence the weather like the pegasi in our world, like I said our world works a bit more like the Everfree Forest in terms of natural phenomena.”
“I heard that already,” said Rainbow with dismissive hoof, “I just thought you were trying to be funny.”
“We need to tell Twilight once she gets back,” said Fluttershy. Rainbow just nodded vigorously.
After her nodding Rainbow said, “So, about that four foreleged bear, think I could get one some day?”
“His name is Breaker,” said Orchid with indignation, “and titans choose who bonds with them, you can't force a bond. It's like friendship, if you try to force it you find it wasn't real, but if you let it happen naturally then it proves to be very strong.”
“Heh, you're right there,” said Rainbow, “give me some hoof,” she held out a forehoof.
Orchid stared at the cyan mare, “Um, you're supposed to tap your hoof to Rainbow's,” said Fluttershy, “if you feel up to it.”
Orchid took a deep breath before saying, “Sorry, I've never really had any interactions like this.”
“It's okay, sweetie,” said Fluttershy, “we won't force you.”
Rainbow lowered her hoof back to the ground and said, “Yeah, it's cool, I just didn't consider somepony wouldn't know how to hoof bump. How about Flutters and I tell you about some of our adventures?”
Orchid smiled and said, “Okay, I could tell you about some of the things I've been through as an exchange, but they're not much.”
“It's cool,” said Rainbow, “but we'll have to wait for that, we need the right setup for sharing of awesomeness. Catch ya two later.”
“What was that about?” Said Orchid.
“Rainbow just remembered she has things to do,” said Fluttershy, “you said that you think your talent might have something to do with animals.”
“Um, yes. You see whenever I tried bonding with an animal-like titan it was easier. Also miss Rarity has a titan now.”
“Oh, is it friendly?”
“He seems to be a good fit for her, maybe you or another one of your friends will get one. Miss Applejack seemed to be having trouble deciding how to treat the whole having a titan thing. I'm not really qualified to be teaching seeker stuff, at most I can just help everyone acclimate to having a titan and explain some pretty basic stuff. I've only officially been a seeker for two years, my brother and his friends have more experience in things like this than me.”
“Is it common for somepony so young to be something like what you are?”
“Oh no, usually Seekers begin their training closer to their teen years, from what I've been told my brother and I are a little odd that way. My closest friend is Jirwolf, since he's been with me the longest. Having a connection like the bond is wonderful, strange and a little empowering, it means you never have a least one friend to far away. Something that seekers try to avoid is giving up their amulets, because that's where our titans live. Without a titan to balance it's magic an amulet will break, a titan's link to their amulet is so strong that if they didn't return to their amulet after they took an immense amount of damage that the amulet could take damage along with the titan.”
“Oh, well, they seem to come in quite a variety. You said you form a bond easily with ones that are like animals, does that mean you also feel a strong connection to animals as well?”
“I don't really know,” said Orchid, “I've really spent much time around them,” she paused a moment to pet a squirrel that stopped in front of her before saying, “I have wondered what it would be like to live like you from time to time.”
“Apart from the town and helping any animals that need you?”
Orchid smiled and shook her head, “No, surrounded by animals and being at peace with who you are.”
“Oh, you don't feel comfortable with who you are?”
“I'm scared of who I might become.”
“We've all had that fear to face, when I discovered my talent all my fears about that sort of thing seemed to just melt away. When you get your cutie mark it will reflect who you are, whatever that talent is.”
“We don't have cutie marks in the world we call home, it's not something you get. There are those that go their entire lives trying to figure out just what it is they're good at, what does my ability to bond with a certain grouping of titans even mean...okay, I can do that,” she gave a small smile and pulled out a jade and blue colored amulet shaped like a smooth curving arrow-like hat with three gray spikes at its top and a pale green gem in it's center, “Reveal yourself, Hellynx,” with that red house cat like creature with spike like fur and three spikes coming out of its head and a few other spikes on its body with what looked like blue gloves with gray trim on its forelegs and a collared jacket with same aesthetic, “he wanted to come out and stretch.”
“Oh my, he's definitely different than what I would expect, he's not very frightening looking.”
“He's not sure what to make of that comment, he likes having a scary appearance. He's not a very strong fighter, so he uses intimidation and surprise attacks.”
Angel glared at the strange cat-like creature, Hellynx just met the white rabbit's gaze with a lackadaisical leer. “Angel behave,” said Fluttershy, “you seem to be able to understand him like I do animals.”
“Every seeker can understand what their titans are saying, but as far as I know Rec and I are the only ones can understand titans when they are still in their amulets.”
“You'll find your talent at the right time, that's what happened for me and my friends. We later learned that a single event connected us before we even met, you'll find the right friends for you eventually.”
“Thanks, I'm sure you're right.”
“Seems you're off to a good start with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.”
“Maybe, they're a lot nicer than my schoolmates, at times it seems all the teachers and students are turned against me. Why do they focus on me, I've done nothing to deserve the wrath of anyone. I just tried being friendly, when things turned against me I tried imitating my brother, he has two really good friends, they travel the globe and have amazing adventures together, sometimes they even take me along.”
“I didn't have that many friends when I was a filly the only friend I really had was Rainbow Dash, it wasn't until I moved to Ponyville that I started making more friends. I just have to ask, do you really have creatures like that Breaker creature in your world?”
“Oh, no, we have animals like your rabbit, Angel, and that bear.”
“Oh, do you have any hydras or manticores?”
“Only as titans, noting as fantastic as all this. We don't really have any wild dragons, we have ordinary animals like bison, deer, pumas and timber wolves.”
“You have timber wolves in your world! What are they like there?”
“Um,” Orchid gave the yellow pegasus a confused look, “big, furry, and friendly once they warm up to you.”
“Oh, that doesn't sound like the timber wolves that roam the Everfree.”
“What, are they actually made of twigs and sticks or something?”
“That's it exactly, have you really seen them?”
“I was being ironic,” said Orchid, “I didn't think there was actually anything like out, well, anywhere.”
“Oh, so you don't have anything like that in your world then?”
“We might have some titans like that, but all the animals are pretty simplistic compared to the wildlife here.”
“Oh, your friend had one she called Cerberus, it was a bit different when compared to the Cerberus I saw last year. Oh, have you seen an Orthrus before?”
“Um, no?”
“Oh, they're just so cute.”
“A full grown two headed dog that is your size is cute? Everyone has their concepts I guess, actually I heard the Orthrus titan has been lost for a very long time. I'll help out around here, it might help guide toward the path I'm meant to walk.”
“What's a bison? You mentioned earlier.”
“Some folks call them buffalo.”
“How could you call another culture animals, that's very insensitive.”
Orchid facehoofed before saying, “They have a culture here, I've got to tell my brother that. And the truth is equines aren't at the same intellectual level they are here, it's not just buffalo that are technically animals. Horses, ponies, tapirs, elephants, giraffes, and more all aren't quite up to the cognitive level they probably have here.”
“Oh, thanks for explaining that, I really didn't want to tell my friends you said something offensive about another culture.”
**********************************************
It was a few hours to sundown when Spike came with a note for Orchid saying that Rec, Claudia, Mandi, Twilight and Pinkie would be spending the night in Canterlot. At the time the Crusaders had come to Fluttershy's to see if Orchid could help them with another one of their crazy stunts for the following day that they hoped would mean one of them would get a cutie mark and Sweetie Belle offered to put her up for the night with her and Rarity, of course Apple Bloom had made the counteroffer of her family putting Orchid up for the night. Much to Sweetie's dismay, and Apple Bloom's joy, Orchid had chosen to spend the night with the Apples.
While walking alongside Fluttershy and Apple Bloom, the earth filly had waved goodnight to her friends before heading home, Orchid got the feeling something was a little off. Fluttershy picked up on the unicorn filly's unease and said, “Is everything Alright?”
“No,” said Orchid, turning her attention to a bird's nest in one of the trees on the way to Sweet Apple Acres, which in turn caused her traveling companions to stop as well, “that's a raven's nest.”
“Yes,” said Fluttershy, “they're very smart birds, and so friendly too.”
“Not so much where I come from,” said Orchid, “they're attracted to shiny things, and have been known to stock their nests with them.”
“Yes, well they do the same here in Equestria, I'm always telling them to return things every few days,” said Fluttershy.
“What're ya getting' at?” said Apple Bloom.
“I can feel the presence of a titan of some kind coming from the direction of the nest,” said Orchid, “it could mean the raven took an amulet to its nest. Miss Fluttershy, maybe you could get the raven to give it up, we don't want cause to much trouble or risk it falling int the possession of someone that will possible be irresponsible on top of being clueless to their seeker abilities potentially awakening from touching the amulet.”
“Oh, okay,” said Fluttershy, “anything in particular I should look for.”
“It feels like a Gaia-Titan, so it probably will look like a jewelry piece composed of silver with a green gem.”
“Like Applejack's piece,” said Apple Bloom with excitement, “Ah want one too, but Ah don't wanna get mahself 'urt befer dinner, AJ an' Granny Smith'll give me tha speech about safety.”
“It'll only take a short time girls,” said Fluttershy as she lifted herself into the air on her wings and headed for the tree. When she arrived the pegasus mare found a raven pecking at the one of the four root like extension of the oval shaped silver amulet with an oval shaped green gem in the center.
“Oh mister raven you really shouldn't be doing that,” the raven turned to her and gave her a few caws and clicks before turning his attention back to the amulet.
“Well, yes, I know you found it, but it really is possibly dangerous, could you please give to me so that my friends and I can determine if it really is safe or not.”
The raven gave more caws and a hiss like sound, all in a very aggressive manner.
“Now there's no need to be rude like that,” said Fluttershy with more authority, “you will give me that amulet and will sit here for as long as it takes to realize what you've been doing wrong, and don't make give you 'the stare', got it buster.”
The raven just nodded and gave the amulet to the yellow pegasus, she gave it an approving nod and pat on the head once it was in her hooves and fluttered back to the fillies.
Looking at what was in Fluttershy's hold Apple Bloom said, “So, what is it?”
“I'm not familiar with this amulet, we'll need for my brother to come back before...” she noticed a green aura flash over Fluttershy, “or we can just ask Fluttershy to tell us, it seems the titan bonded with her.”
“Oh, um, how do I ask who lives in the amulet?”
“I'll tell you tomorrow,” said Orchid, “it's getting late, and we all will need our rest. Just remember to keep the amulet safe, if anything happens to the amulet it can affect the titan.”
“Oh, gosh darn et, Ah wanted ta see another one uh those titan things taday, Ah mean Applejack got one.”
“That can wait,” said Orchid, “we need sleep for whatever your friends, and you, end up dragging me along for, besides we don't want to worry your family. Did you tell them about your inviting me to stay the night?”
Apple Bloom gave a sheepish grin, “Um, not really, why ya ask?”
“We should never forget our manners,” said Fluttershy, “I'll explain the situation to the Apples and head on home.”
After several more minutes of walking the trio came upon the entry to Sweet Apple Acres, and a very unamused Applejack was there to meet her sister. “Ah know, Ah know,” said Apple Bloom before her sister could say anything, “Ah should let ya'll know when Ah'm gonna be out so late, also Ah should let ya know when Ah invite somepony to spend the night.”
“Eeyup,” said Applejack, who then blinked a bit, “an' just whom was et ya invited ta spend tha night?”
“That would be Orchid,” said Fluttershy, “her brother, her brother's friends, Twilight and Pinkie are all going to be spending the night in Canterlot. Since Twilight won't be home Orchid thought it best to spend the night at somepony else's place.”
“Ah take et Spike's probably using that fact as an excuse to spend the night with Rarity then?”
“Most likely,” said Orchid, “can we please stop standing around and get to actually having something to eat then go to sleep, I'm starting to feel like the day is running longer than it should.”
“Well, Ah guess et's alright,” said Applejack, “although Bloom an' Ah will be having a little talk about a few things tomorrow, which could decide as whether or not she can go and have fun wid 'er friends.” Apple Bloom gulped rather loudly, “But, et's always nice ta have company over. Maybe ya could explain what Ah have ta expect now.” It was at this point Orchid saw that the amulet the orange mare had acquired earlier was missing from her figure.
“Speaking of which, where's your amulet?”
“In mah hat,” said Applejack pointing to her iconic stetson hat, “et just dosen' feel right wearing something around mah neck if et's not uh special occasion.”
“You don't have to wear your amulets, most seekers do that because it means they have a titan to help if needed, it's sort of a tradition for for seekers.” Said Orchid, “But we should really head inside now.”
Applejack just gave a nod and waved goodbye to Fluttershy as the pegasus took flight back to her home. Once Fluttershy was was leaving Applejack lead the two fillies to the Apple homestead. Once the three were in the house Applejack said, “Mac, put out another bowl, we're gonna have company fer tha the night.”
“What kind uh company,” came Granny Smith's elderly voice from the kitchen.
“That Rec feller's little sister, Apple Bloom offered ta put 'er up fer tha night et our place, without telling anypony.”
“Oh, no worries, just foals bein' foals,” said Granny Smith with a bit of an elderly chuckle, “Mac, go make up the guest room af'r dinner.”
“You got et Granny,” came Big Macintosh's voice as the mare and fillies approached the kitchen.
Seeing the quaint kitchen/dining area Orchid said, “This is nice, of course if Rec had his way the table and chairs would hauled outside, he has an issue with others in the kitchen when he's using it.”
“As 'e rightfully should,” said Granny Smith, the elderly apple green mare almost matched the filly's eye color perfectly.
“Ya ever been on an apple farm befer?” Said Big Mac as he opened the silverware drawer to get out a spoon for the vegetable soup the family was partaking in.
“No,” said Orchid as she took a seat next Apple Bloom, “I did grow up on some old farm land, last I checked I still am. The closest I've gotten to an apple farm before today was the small grove of trees my brother grew out in the woods.”
“So, he tends the trees himself?” Inquired Applejack.
“In a sense, tended to the trees for their first year or so then just left them for nature to look after them.”
“That seems a mite irresponsible,” said Big Mac.
“Different worlds, different rules,” said Orchid, “besides the animals out there don't seem to mind. Nature can manage itself just fine without interference, you just need to give it a little nudge in the right direction. We don't have folks that manage the weather back home, that sort of thing is firmly in the realms of fantasy and science fiction.”
“But, don't ya have one uh those titan critters that has that kind of power?”
“Not really, titans can only affect or emulate aspects of the weather in a very limited space. The most powerful weather like titans I'm aware of are my brother's Summer and Winter titans.”
“Summer and Winter are seasons darlin',” said Applejack as Orchid began to dig into her soup.
After cooling a few spoonfuls with her breath and carefully sipping them, in manner that reminded Applejack of the way Rarity ate her soup, Orchid said, “They're also the names of the titans. In Irish lore Summer and winter are the queens of the faerie courts. Summer is said to rule over the Seelie, a large group of fey that are known for being mischievous without any sort of malice. The Seelie have no intent on severely harming anyone, they just want a few good laughs, they actually are said to go out of their way to make sure any damage their targets incur is minor. The Unseelie are ruled by Winter, and they're exceedingly malicious, in the stories about some of them they're known for being responsible for actually ending the lives of a few of their victims.”
The apples looked at the filly with a sense of dread, Orchid paused for a few seconds before saying, “The titans responsible for the stories of the queens are Summer and Winter, in their stories they're described as embodiments or avatars of the seasons that share their names. In the reality of our world they were titans with ability to control the temperature and affect localized weather patterns. Summer can manipulate extremely high temperatures, and Winter can affect control over extremely low temperatures.”
“Say what now?” Said Apple Bloom.
“Summer can make it really hot, and control how hot in localized area, and Winter can do the same with cold.”
“Oh, that's a really powerful ability,” said Granny Smith, “what kinda range does that kinda ability have?”
“We don't know,” said Orchid returning her attention to her soup, “I think Rec said our best estimate is the maximum range of the abilities is pretty large, I forget what he said the exact range of the ability was.”
“Et's alright,” said Big Manintosh, “et's just a bit of uh surprise ta hear all this.”
“What're faeries exactly?” Inquired Applejack.
“Since magic isn't as common in our world as it here we have stories about supernatural creatures all over the world,” said Orchid before putting a few more spoonfuls of soup into her muzzle and gently swallowing it before continuing, “in nations that inhabit the continent we call Europe we have stories of supernatural creatures called faeries. The island nations of Britain, Scotland, and Ireland are considered part of Europe, which a sort of massive peninsula. Anyway faeries are supernatural entities with various kinds of magics that inhabit a number of different regions. They're also called fey, and fair folk. Their abilities and features vary depending on what culture they're connected to. In Irish lore there's the Kelpie, which is also has the nickname the water horse.”
“That doesn't sound too bad, et's a pony,” said Apple Bloom with a little excitement.
“Yes, well the Kelpie is a member of the Unseelie, which means that?”
“She's not very nice, and actually likes hurtin' folks,” said Applejack disapprovingly.
“Kelpies are worse than that, they are stated have ability to shift between three forms. Their natural state, in Equestrian terms that would be a black earth pony; a big black dog, one that can be frightening very quickly; and a human in black, in all likely that's just a reference to the Seekers that held the Kelpie titan.”
“So these kelpie things are said to change thair form, Ah don't see what's so wrong about that,” said Applejack, “sure they could mess wid folks a bit with that ability, but that's about it.”
Orchid shook her head before saying, “According to their lore kelpies would use their abilities to trick travelers into getting to close to the deep rivers and streams that they called home.”
“An' the nickname water horse suddenly makes sense,” said Applejack.
Orchid nodded and gave somber look before saying, “So they could drag the travelers into the water to tear out the liver of the travelers and eat it.”
“Oh,” said Granny Smith, “maybe ya should talk about somethin' else befer ya make everypony lose thair appetite.”
“Among the Seelie is a little faerie called the brownie (she pronounces it Broo-Nee), they're your typical mischievous trickster types, but it's said if you can catch them they will be at your service for the rest of your life.”
“Well, that sounds nice,” said Big Macintosh, “but Ah wouldn't feel right jus' having somepony work for me fer no compensation.”
“According to their lore you just have to feed them table scraps from at least two meals daily for their service to continue, if you don't pay 'em then they leave your sorry flank to do what they were doing before you caught them.”
“So ya feed them an' thair responsible,” said Granny Smith, “but if ya forget then thay're harmless trouble makers,” she gave a little chuckle, “sounds like Apple foals ta me.” The three sibling gave a light chuckle themselves.
“Pretty much,” said Orchid.
“You said they work fer ya fer yer life if ya catch 'em,” said Applejack, “how's tha' work out?”
“Well, Brownies (she pronounces it Broo-Neez) are notoriously hard to catch, however as I've stated before they're all linked to seekers that used the titans to do all those things.”
“Oh that's right, you and yer brother both said something along those lines before,” said Applejack. The older apples smiled as the the two fillies went back to their dinner.
Rec, Twilight and Pinkie were trotting down the streets of Canterlot, only because the train station wanted to do a few extra security checks, as a result the station was closed for outbound transit until noon. This left Rec and the rest some free time to kill, Twilight had offered to guide the three around the town properly, Claudia and Mandi had decided to do a little sparring in the guard training grounds, they had started to draw a crowd and when they had asked Rec for any advice on fighting he had just told them to not think about it and just act naturally. Thinking ahead he insisted that he, Twilight and Pinkie go through the town with saddlebags, the two didn't argue since they thought he might want to make some purchases, despite having yet to be paid by the princesses.
Twilight, Pinkie and Rec had informed the waiting diarchs and Rec's friends of what they had dealt with, this in turn prompted the pegasus and griffin make their plans for getting a little combat practice out of the way. Which somehow lead to Rec going towards a jewelry store with a critical eye with Twilight and Pinkie in tow. “Could you explain what we're doing heading for a jewelry store?” Said Twilight, “it's not something ponies like me keep an eye on, that's more of Rarity's thing.”
“Yuppers,” said Pinkie with a vigorous nod.
“It's a seeker thing,” said Rec calmly as the two mares came to stop next him just at the door, “I want to know what caused titans to fall to this world, there doesn't seem to be any lore that can be tied in to that sort of thing, heck what my friends and I thought were just titans last week turned out to be very real creatures in this one.”
“Oh, you want to see if any of those amulets you told us about are around here, and you figured somepony might have ended up putting them in a jewelry story,” said Pinkie.
“Yes,” said Rec, “now, would you two care to assist?”
“How exactly will we know what we're looking for is what we're looking at?” Inquired Twilight.
“Trust me, you'll know,” said Rec, “even if an amulet is unfamiliar seekers can usually tell if it is an amulet or random jewelry, we can feel the distinct mystical energies radiating from amulets and some seeker artifacts. So if you're confused as to what you're looking for you just need to focus on the pieces that feel similar to your amulets. Different types of titans have different sort of feel to them, not everyone picks up on it though. For instance Gaia-Titans like Pinkie's new friend usually have a feel that can be akin to admiring a plant; Hecto-Titans like your Akmen-Meo typically have a feeling that's a bit like moving your... forehoof over a piece of sandstone; Litho-Titans, like Nordrake, have usually have a feeling that's akin to a cold stone in your hold; Krono-Titans usually have a feeling of self-assurance to them; and Draco-Titans usually have a feeling of having good friend at your back. Those are just some of the feelings you can get, just try to be aware of jewelry that makes you feel different than it normally would and you'll be fine. I would also like to point out that if we find anypony else with amulets we will have a potential mess on our... hooves, so we need to approach everything with a certain level of caution.”
“Can't you just send one of your titans in to find out and have them report back what they found?” Said Twilight.
“While the populace of Equestria seems to be a place where titans can be seen a bit more openly, I would like to avoid using them in the open without the assurance that folks won't take their presence the wrong the way. Think of it like this, if you knew that a fully grown dragon was the most harmless creature on the planet, but nopony in a town you were visiting did, it would probably be a bad idea call him in to help with the delivery you promised a friend. In the same regard a location that is unaware of titans is probably not a good place to invoke them openly. You also have to remember that seekers have been taught to do things a bit more covertly, only use your titans if you believe it to be necessary.”
“But you had me using Akmen-Meo in a situation where I didn't think she was required,” said Twilight.
“You also pointed out you didn't even consider her, or her ability, at all for situation where her ability proved useful,” said Rec.
“He got ya there,” said Pinkie, “now, let's go amulet hunting.”
“Probably should have brought Rarity along with us for this,” said Twilight as they entered the storefront, a little bell over door gave soft jingle for a couple of seconds.
“Welcome to my humble store,” said a lilac blue mare with a lime yellow mane and cutie mark that had was a gold banded ring, a silver bracelet and a bronze pendant with a white diamond in it.
“Um, hi,” said Twilight a little nervously.
“Oh my... Princess Twilight Sparkle is in my shop, it's an honor to be in your presence, what is you're looking for?”
“We're looking for amulets that seem to posses unfamiliar magical energies, have you encountered such items at any time prior to this moment?”
“Well, I did find a few unusual amulets in my storeroom last year, I used them as display pieces and replicated their appearance, last I checked they're still in good care.”
“So, you haven't sold any then?” Said Pinkie.
“I almost sold a few to mister Fancy Pants and miss Fleur de Lis last month, they were visibly disappointed when I said that those were strictly display pieces and could not be sold, after all if I made an exception for one high profile client the other high profiles might try to take advantage of me. Are the amulets dangerous?”
“Potentially, yes,” said Rec with a tone that denoted seriousness without a hint of being overbearing or condescending, “certain conditions have to be met with the amulets, some more specific than others, however it's possible for ponies to get the wrong idea with the amulets and we don't want to cause any undesirable incidents, after all we don't want anyone screaming about how some kind of dragon suddenly appeared in the middle of a major city without anyone noticing its approach.”
The mare's eyes went wide before she said, “They can summon dragons?”
“Some of them can, others can call some other kind of mystical creature that if under the influence of the wrong pony could be more trouble than it's worth.”
“Influence?” Said the shop keeper.
“Oh, yes,” said Twilight, quickly picking up on what Rec was playing at, “the amulets in question have distinct magic that can allow an a pony to influence certain creatures, Princesss Celestia and Princess Luna just became aware of such things themselves, as did I. My associate here,” she gestured to Rec, “is an expert on such things, if you don't believe just take a look at his cutie mark.”
The shop keeper took note of Rec's distinct mark before saying, “Ah yes, a pony with a talent for magically infused jewelry would make sense as an expert, I'll prepare them for transit right away.” She headed over to the display case.
“Be sure to not touch any of them,” said Rec, “a few have been known to have unexpected reactions with the magical fields of those that touch them.” The shop keeper stopped at moving her hoof at the case door, looked over and gave a nervous smile before gingerly pulling the tray out and heading to the back.
“You call that covert?” Said Twilight unbelievingly.
“Adapt to the situation and utilize it your advantage, a basic tenant of ninjitsu and how I was told seekers best operate,” said Rec.
“What's ninjitsu?” Inquired Twilight.
“A style of combat that utilizes unconventional strategy and tactics to catch opponents off guard and gain an advantage on the battle field, roughly translates to ninja technique. You'll find out more consulting a database with the information, which you will probably have access to if you decide join my friends and I on the return trip when and if it happens. We aren't sure how long we're going to be here, but it's best to plan for any event. Magic is more openly recognized and practiced here, if it were back home I would just tried bargaining with the shopkeeper and upon realizing that wasn't getting me anywhere I'd resort to using some of my more covert spells to secure them, I'm not joking on that either.”
“That's potentially illegal,” said Twilight.
“Which is why I try to avoid such things,” said Rec, “the truth is I've had to make some difficult choices over the time I've been an officially sanctioned seeker, and every time I did something like what I described left bad feeling all over me, I've only done it twice before, but those choices still haunt me.”
“Why did you do it that way then?” Said Pinkie in a concerned voice.
“Because all the alternatives I saw were mass panics that were far worse than a jewelry store owner being confused and calling for law enforcement to track down their merchandise,” said Rec, “supposed monsters potentially duking it out in a shopping center, while awesome sounding, is a quick trip to mass hysteria.”
“My favorite kind of hysteria,” came Discord's voice, “Celestia's new bird keeps giving me the stink eye, I don't like it,” he suddenly appeared in a flash of light, “oh, and your friend is showing up the Royal Guard in practice.”
“Ah, Claudia's daring them to go six on one against her, my odds are always on Claudia,” said Rec, “she's our best fighter.”
“Six? She's going eight on one and kicking their flanks,” said Discord.
“Oh, so she's already trying to end the warm up session,” said Rec with a level of calm that was a little disturbing to his companions, and Discord, “let me know when she gets to fourteen, that's her personal best.” They all stared at him.
“I suppose her parents are less than thrilled by that prospect,” said Twilight.
“Her dad isn't too happy about her fighting in general, even more so when it comes to her sparing matches that somehow make his well trained and paid bodyguards look like rookies at the academy,” said Rec, “her mom, however, just beams with pride that her little girl is so capable in combat situations, it also doesn't help that Claudia's mom is the one taught her how to fight.”
“That does explain some disparity between the two,” said Twilight. It was at this point Discord disappeared, presumably to stir up trouble somewhere else.
“It's made all the more amusing, in the opinion of several we are acquainted with, when you take into account how influential her family is.”
“Come again?” Said both mares at once.
“Claudia isn't just our team's muscle, she's also the most well educated,” said Rec, “it comes from being a member of the Hawkson family, the Hawksons are one of the most wealthy and influential families of our modern age, also she's apparently their only seeker.”
“How do you know?” Said Twilight.
“She dropped a few key words that would identify her to a seeker as another seeker at her last family gathering, none of them gave the response she was looking for.”
“Oh,” said Twilight.
The shopkeeper came trotting back out with the amulets in a rather mundane magic case with cardboard on every point other than the top, and looked like it could easily fit into a saddlebag with room to spare. A quick look at the amulets showed that they appeared like some sort of golden Greek shield with the sides having arcs that turned inward, a small V like gap in the top, orange highlights and an oval shaped aqua colored gem in the center.
It was at this point the bell rang and a slim pink haired white unicorn mare and distinguished looking white unicorn stallion in a tuxedo jacket with a bow tie and blue mane, the stallion said in his refined voice, “Madam Pearl Necklace I was under the impression that wouldn't be selling those.”
“And she's not,” said Twilight, “this is more of a matter of citizen safety, the crown has just recently been informed of the potential danger of some of this jewelry, I'm afraid I can't share more than that for the time being,” she took the case in her magic and slipped into Rec's saddlebag.
“Perhaps we will meet under more desirable terms,” said Rec giving the two a courteous bow, turning to Pearl Necklace he said, “I am deeply sorry for the inconvenience we have given you madam, but you understand the urgency, I believe.”
“Not exactly,” she said, “but if one of the princess says they and that something that was in my care could be too dangerous for the populace then I will trust her judgment.”
“I'm afraid that won't be good enough for some of ponies in the circles we frequent said the stallion, may we join you?”
“I suppose,” said Rec, “we have a few hours before our train is available.” The five exited the store, the amulets now safely in Rec's bag. “What additional information can we share with them?” Inquired Twilight once the they were all at a secluded part of Canterlot's park.
Rec thought for a moment, “You are aware of the magic in castle going out last night?” Said Rec.
“It was more than that,” said the unicorn mare in a refined, respectful and highly confident voice, “the magic of the entire city went out,” Rec had been made aware of that a few hours before leaving the castle, but decided to hide that fact showing a level of surprise that told Twilight he had more than enough practice at such things.
“Well in that case,” said Rec, “the event was caused by a rebel faction within the populace using an artifact with similar magical energies to the amulets we have here, speaking of which, we really should be getting these back to the castle,” he turned to the two, “please hold off on sharing most of this information, we don't want to cause some kind of panic.”
“Of course,” said the two in unison.
It was at this point the unicorn mare noticed the new accessories on Twilight and Pinkie as well as the piece on Rec's neck. “Princess, I was unaware you were trying out jewelry in the store, I hope you payed for it.”
“Oh, no, Miss Fleur,” said Twilight indicating to her amulets, “I had these last night, Pinkie acquired hers last night, and he's had his for years.”
“It's not often you see a stallion going around with such wonderful accessories.”
“They aren't just accessories,” said Rec, “they're trusted friends, and not every piece of jewelry is what it seems.”
“And he has a distinct opinion not seen that often as well,” said the stallion with amusement in his voice.
“Fancy Pants, darling,” said Fleur, “let's not embarrass him any further, besides, we have an important appointment within the hour.”
“Oh, quite right,” said Fancy Pants, “I wish you all good a day,” he gave the three a courteous bow, as did Fleur, and the two were gone.
“Well, that was interesting,” said Rec, “care to fill me in on who we just had a chat with?”
“Sure,” said Twilight, “you see Fleur de Lis is...”
While Rec, Twilight and Pinkie were out on the town Claudia and Mandi decided to get some practice in. When they asked for advice on how to fight in their new forms Rec just told them to not think about it and fight like they normally would, something that irritated the two. Rec had a tendency for doing that sort of thing, knowing it didn't make it any less frustrating. Mandi took the most natural combat stance to her, a position that ironically was similar to a standard guard defensive stance. Claudia's stance was less recognizable to most of the onlookers.
Celestia was confused by the stance she saw, Luna was very familiar with the pose. Claudia was standing on her hind legs with one wing positioned like a forward shield on her her right and her left wing was positioned like a shield facing behind her, her talons were positioned in a similar manner with her forward facing talon more open than closed as sort of open fist while the other was more of a loose fist facing behind her. “I am unfamiliar with that style,” said Celestia, “of all my encounters with the griffins I have never seen any with that particular combat composure.”
“I have,” said Luna with concern, “it is a style used by one of the griffin warrior houses, in particular one of their highest ranking warrior families. I wonder how she learned that, the family does not share its combat knowledge with non-family members.”
“Perhaps she learned a similar style in the other world,” said Celestia with a vested interest.”
“And her shoulder placements lined up with how to position the wings,” said Luna shaking her head, “no, it's not similar, it is in fact the same style, sister. I may have been gone for centuries, and not be in the know of many things that are common knowledge in this era, but that is one of the few things I would still be able to recognize if my sight were dramatically failing me.”
“I take they are formidable,” said Celestia.
Luna merely nodded and indicated for her sister watch.
“You ready?” Said Claudia.
“I guess,” said Mandi, let's do this.” The two started circling each other, for a full five minutes. After getting tired of circling her opponent Claudia charged, which Mandi knew would always be the case from her prior skirmishes with her companion. Claudia swung right with her left arm, predictable, Mandi moved out of the way by jumping back and to the right, what she didn't notice was black griffin wing following the talon's motion and got knocked back by it.
“Hah, gotcha Manders,” said Claudia in her taunting voice.
“Only because I didn't anticipate the wing following your punch,” Mandi glowered back, “and you know me, once I've encountered something once it's exceedingly hard for it to get me again.”
“True,” said Claudia, “but you know how fighting me tends to go.” With that she charged again, Mandi leaped up and gave her wings a strong flap, which in turn took her up higher, all avoiding the attack made on her, she then dive bombed Claudia.
Claudia caught sight int time and instinctively used her wings as an angled shield to deflect the attack. The griffon gave a chuckle, even though it hurt more than she thought, before both shot up into the air. Claudia made and aggressive aerial charge, which was highly expect by Mandi. The pegasus mare dove out of the way by shooting up and to the right, taking all the limbs of griffin into account. Claudia missed her mark by a good two feet, she grinned at how fast her associate had figured out aerial maneuvering. After keeping at it for few more minutes they both landed and Mandi excused herself with her usual polite thanks for the exercise.
“So,” said Claudia turning to all the guards that had been watching, “who wants to workout with me?”
“You're forgetting that we saw how you fight,” said a unicorn stallion in golden armor, “you don't know any about what our combat style is like.”
Claudia looked like she was mulling over what was said before saying, “you know what, how about three of you at the same time as me.”
All the guards chuckled and three stepped into the ring, thirty seconds later they were all on their backs wondering what had just happened, “She took them each out in ten seconds,” said one of the guards with surprise.
“Yeah, still warming up,” said Claudia, “it should have been at least half that.”
The gathered ponies looked at each other eight of the fifty-plus ponies decided to swarm her. Celestia looked on in amazement while Luna just giggled, unknown to either Discord was watching and decided to pop out for a bit.
“I was unaware there was a griffin combat style so effective against multiple opponents,” said Celestia as she watched a team of sixteen various ponies get knocked back by the griffin.
“From what I was able to gather on that style of combat,” said Luna with amusement, “it was intially created for taking on enraged creatures that are known for being dangerous such as manticores and even dragons. I read the file on the three that disappeared thirty years ago, one was a griffin hen that was considered a prodigy in her family's fighting style, I have my suspicions about which griffonian martial art it was, I've managed to narrow it down to a list of the top fifteen most likely griffonian martial arts.”
Celestia looked over at her sister and blinked before saying, “I was unaware you were being so thorough.”
“I felt that in my absence from Equestria's development that I should at least take the time to investigate cases such as the one you had our new arrivals look into. I must say, sister, a secret vault within the hallowed halls of your own institution was something I expected.”
“I quite agree,” said Celestia turning her attention back to the practice ring only to see seventeen of her guards get knocked on their backs.
Luna chuckled as she returned her attention back the display before them. Before they knew it Discord blinked in next the two just in time to see twenty-six ponies begin making their attempt, and said, “I must say I am quite surprised a single griffin, especially one that young, can make old Celly's best units be so humiliated so fast.”
“Technically they're not,” said Celestia with a mischievous smile, “all of her opponents thus far have be recent training graduates with an overly cocky attitude, this sort of thing is a good way of humbling them.”
“Not to mention the way she moves indicates she has combat experience outside of training,” said Luna with a smirk.
As they talked the twenty-six guardsponies tried a classic guard swarm technique, they were all thrown to the ground thirty seconds later.
“Is that it? This all you have for me,” said Claudia with a smirk, “this barely qualifies as a warm-up.”
“It would seem she needs to be knocked down a few pegs herself,” said Celestia with a chuckle.
One the guard's more senion lieutenants stepped into the ring and said in a gruff voice, “You showed my ponies they aren't as hot as they think they are, but can you handle a true guard?”
Claudia looked the river blue unicorn with an amber mane up and down before saying, “I take it you're off duty and just came over to see how the rookies were doing in training,” the unicorn nodded, “go gear up, I was taught you always want to take as much advantage in fight as possible, and you're armor is definitely an advantage if you know to properly utilize it,” she chuckled and thumbed at the pile of ponies nearby, “unlike these amateurs.”
The unicorn chuckled a bit himself and went into the guard house before coming out in golden armor that was somehow making him appear white and a spear, once he stepped into the ring he said, “Do you always hold back in practice?”
“Of course,” said Claudia taking her stance, “I don't wanna hurt anybody to badly, and besides, I need conserve my strength for legitimate threats.”
The two alicorns and draconequus chuckled to themselves as they watched. Instead of charging with his spear the unicorn charged up an energy blast, Claudia didn't try to dodge she just said, “My ArmorBrand is bit different,” and that was it, the three long lived observers noticed the air around her distort for a fraction of a second. The energy blast fizzled into harmlessness the moment it reached her.
“What in the... how did... that shouldn't be possible,” said the unicorn.
“I have a few tricks up my wings,” said Claudia with a smirk, if you're using magic then so am I.”
“But griffin spell caster don't know how to fight like you were, they're so focused on their craft...” the rest was cut of by a taloned hand tossing him across the arena.
“I learned to fight before I started learning magic,” said Claudia with a smirk, “and the brand of spellcraft I learned goes well with martial arts. Do you want to keep going, or are you good? I'm starting to feel all loosened up now, so I won't be as sluggish as I was a few minutes ago.”
The spectators blinked, as did her opponent before he said, “I think that's enough practice out of you for the day then.” Claudia gave a respectful nod before leaving the practice grounds, a few minutes later she was standing with the princesses and Discord.
“That was most amusing,” said Luna, “We haven't seen the use of a combat style similar to the one used by thee in a long time! Pray tell, where did thou learn thine combative art?”
“My mother taught me,” said Claudia, “she said it's been passed down the family for generations.”
“Dost thou know much of thine mother's kin?”
“Nay, good princess,” said Claudia in a manner that was not making fun of the princess, “mine mother always finds ways to dodge the issue her ilk.”
The three looked at her with surprise, Celestia carefully said, “How is it you were able to speak similar to my sister and yet not due so in a disrespectful manner?”
“My father's family, the Hawksons, are very high up in the echelons of our world's society, they are rich, powerful, and a quite egocentric at times.”
“Sounds like the nobility of Canterlot,” said Discord casually, while in a maple brown tuxedo with a pine green top and a black oaken cane.
“Why do think I dislike those pompous twits so much,” said Claudia, the two mares giggled, “I've spent a large portion of my life around high society, and I have a lot of displeasure towards it, then again so does mom, guess that makes me a mommy's girl. Then again Mandi and Rec are both very closely attached to their mothers as well.”
“Speaking of which,” said Celestia, “where did your compatriot get off to?”
“Knowing that girl,” said Claudia, “she's probably in the library reading something, she's like her mom that way.”
“As long as she isn't getting into trouble we have no qualms,” said Luna with a smirk.
“Please, that girl is the one making sure we don't get into trouble,” said Claudia with a flick of her talon, “well me in particular, Rec is not someone to worry about in that regard.”
“But you said you are of a noble house where you come from,” said Celestia with a raised eyebrow, “you should know more about etiquette than your friends, is that not right?”
“Oh, it is perfectly correct,” said Claudia with a smirk, “but I'm what you call the rebel of the family, I only follow etiquette when I believe it absolutely necessary, which is why I don't ever really bow to anyone claiming to be royalty, I know it's rude, but I want to see how far I can push my luck with that sort of thing. Besides I seem to have special sense about what kind of etiquette required in in almost any circumstance, bugs the Hell out of my family when I come of as the 'most refined' one of the family.”
The two alicorns and Discord gave a few chuckles, “Well,” said Celestia with a smirk, “you certainly know how handle yourself. Let's go find your friend.”
A few minutes later they were trotting through the halls, well Discord was floating on a cloud made of white bubblegum that was raining orange juice up into supposedly empty bottles. Claudia kept sneaking peaks at the event before saying, “Alright, that is it! I don't care if anybody has bets going on regarding this, but up until now everything he's done could be explained away as possible titan abilities, but this is just ridiculous. The whole you two can move the sun and moon thing I was willing to take in stride because different dimensions have different rules. But this, she gestured to Discord as they kept up their pace, with Celestia leading, “is something makes me seriously makes me start worrying for my sanity.”
“Oh, good somepony actually is getting close to a mental breakdown,” said Discord with a Cheshire grin was floating above his tail, “have message sent to Shining Armor and let him know I won the bet.”
“There was a bet of some kind,” said Claudia in an emotionless voice with a flat tone, which happened to send waves of rainbow colored shivers down Discord's spine, and regular chills down the back of Celestia and Luna, “I figured there might be.”
This caused Luna to burst out laughing, and Celestia just chuckled. Claudia just gave the two mare's a confused look. “It's because you predicted a random event,” said Discord, as if he had read her mind, from what she was seeing that probably wasn't much of a stretch, “that and you've managed to take all this in stride despite not being familiar with it.”
“If you saw what constitutes a typical month for me you'd probably be about as well adapted as I have been,” said Claudia with a huff, “some of the things my friends and I have dealt with have been pretty wacky. What with dealing with three different hydra variations, walking thorough puzzle mazes that have different gravitational pulls in different rooms, and the incarnations of various divine beings running about I would like to believe that somebody without anything remotely similar to Seeker experience might think this world a mad house, and that's before becoming aware of the Lord of Chaos over here.”
“One does not lord over chaos,” said Discord indigently, “they merely nudge less likely events into happening.”
“It was a figure of speech,” said Claudia, “it's just expression that means you're good at chaos.”
Celestia chuckled before saying, “You two seem to be a good mix.”
“Probably has something to do with the fact I'm not quite what you'd consider a high society girl,” said Claudia.
A couple of minutes later they came up to the entrance to one of the palace's libraries, the closet one to the observation deck that looked over the training grounds. Celestia swung open the doors, the first thing anyone heard was Luna laughing her flank off. Inside was Mandi wearing her Cavalier amulet like an eye patch with a map of some kind folded to look like a sailor's stocking hat, quite expertly in fact, reading a novel titled “Buccaneer Bobble, the Pirate That Could Never Be” Discord just made an offhand remark about amateurs with Celestia giggling a under breath and Claudia just face palmed.
Mandi suddenly became aware of their existence and said in the most obviously fake pirate accent, “Avast me hearties, what do ya think uh me cabin?”
“What are you reading?” said Claudia, clearly ignoring the look of her friend, or just not caring about it.
“You know all those Monty Python skits we would watch every once and a while?” Said Mandi in her normal voice, the sound of the princesses snickering could still be heard in the background.
“Yeah,” said Claudia, then after a few seconds worth of pause she said, “wait, are you saying it's a book that's actually a pirate parody?”
“Aye,” said Mandi, giving a salute to her friend, “it's got Monty Python level genius.”
After she calmed down to occasional chuckles Luna said “We would very much like to meet this 'Monty Python' pony, they sound like somepony that can bring about great comedy.”
“That would be rather difficult,” said Mandi, “seeing as that's the name of a group, they're a British comedy group known for some amusing parodies and satires, they've made a few highly comedic films, which are actually a compilation of skits of various length.”
“Entertainers that focus entirely on comedy, much like the the fools of yore,” said Luna.
“Only with a bit more variety,” said Claudia, “if we can we'll try and bring you some samples of their work back so that can see their unique stylings, consider it a cultural exchange. After all, we've already introduced you to the concept of Seekers, what you do with the knowledge is entirely up to you.”
“I have question,” said Celestia.
“Go ahead your majesty,” said Claudia.
“Why does the exterior of the device mimic wood?”
“Each faction has a different approach to how they produce the units,” said Mandi as she removed rather silly outfit and put its components back where she had gotten them, in rather excellent order, “Celtic and Japanese culture are strong driving point behind the Association, and in both cultures forests have a powerful mystical significance, aspects of nature are given forms, some of which are tied to titans. The design is about paying homage to the heritage of the cultures, it also is reflection of the edicts of the faction.”
“I see,” said Celestia, “it's a physical representation of what the order stands for, I think I've decided on what we will call our little grouping of these new magic users.”
***************************************
A few hours later Rec, Twilight and Pinkie were all back with rather sizable collection of various amulets in their saddlebags. “Ugh, seven jewelry stores with amulets in them, fortunately all of the ponies that had them had the foresight to use them only as display pieces or in back until somepony qualified could authenticate them.”
“I just don't get it,” said Rec with genuine confusion in his voice, “all these titans fell to Equestria within the past year, some even before the Red Comet event,” he took a deep sigh, “what major events of mystical significance happened in the past year.”
“Well,” said Pinkie as they all took a seat in the throne room after instructing a guard to inform the princesses of their return, “there was the return of Nightmare Moon, Discord getting free of his stone prison, the changeling invasion of Canterlot, the restoration of the Tree of Harmony, the whole Tirek incident, and the Tree of Harmony giving Twilight her spiffy new castle.”
Rec just stared at both mares for a moment before saying, “That all happened in a year? And my team thought we had a hectic year. What did the 'Tirek incident' involve?”
“Oh nothing much,” said Pinkie, “just every pony, and Discord, getting their magic drained by an evil centaur escapee from Tartarus.”
“I think we found our incident,” said Rec, “Titans in an initial fall are all about keeping a sort of mystical balance, but Lord Casterwill called the titans to Earth for their first fall, what could possibly have called the titans here for their fall to this world. It would have to be either someone very powerful or knowledgeable about magic to pull off something like that.”
“It was me,” came Luna's voice as she entered with her sister and Rec's friends, causing everyone to look at her with confusion, “as a backup plan should Tirek actually achieve victory I reached out to the many realities that can be touched upon within the dream realm.”
“And your call reached into the Spirit World all the way to Huntik,” said Rec, “but instead of becoming this world's original seeker you just allowed them to appear rather haphazardly across the nation, possibly the world.”
“I feel bad about what I did, especially since I hid it from everypony until now,” said Luna with guilt in her voice, then with conviction said, “but I stand by decision, should Twilight have failed to best Tirek we would require the assistance of these 'titans', I am thankful that those with knowledge about such things made their way to us regardless.”
“What is Huntik? You said that was the name of one of the Seeker factions,” said Celestia.
“Before the Foundation took the name it was the name given to the dimension of the spirit world from which the titans reside and come from,” said Rec, “unfortunately it's also where their greatest enemies are from and reside as well.”
“Oh,” said all three alicorns at the same time.
“How bad was it with original titan fall in your world?” Inquired Princess Luna.
“He actually told me about that one,” said Twilight, “the enemies he's referring to are called the Nullifiers, they don't know how or why the nullifiers came to their world. But the first seeker, someone named Lord Casterwill, did something to call the first titans to their world. Through sheer will power he kept himself alive for the entire length of the battle with the nullifiers, which was centuries. Keep in mind this all passed down through oral tradition because all the events predate their world's written history, even if we did have access to their records chances are at best we would get is a massive collection of lore. If Lord Casterwill was indeed real then there's a chance he was their world's equivalent of an original alicorn, he introduced an understanding of magic to their world before anypony else. If we were to draw a comparison I would say that his word would be akin to the foundations of magical practices all over the globe, a Source Caster event.”
“Something that most ponies have dismissed as a mere theory in regards to magic,” said Luna, “it's argued that all understanding of magic has to have come from an originator, but magic is so intertwined with our culture it's become next to impossible to tell fact from fiction.”
“That's the way it is with Seekers as well,” said Rec, “we have supposed proof that Lord Casterwill was real because of what the descendants of his sons and daughters call themselves 'the Casterwill Clan' some members of the clan even have it as their family name.”
“Too use a more current analogy as to why this is a big deal,” said Mandi, “I want you to consider the Apple clan, while they most certainly are excellent in apple related skills and abilities you still need to ask who the original Apple was? By this time the clan probably has a massive lore built around their ancestor, it's the same way with the Casterwills. We know that Lord Casterwill was the original seeker to hold three legendary titans, keep in mind every other seeker entrusted with a legendary titan at that time is stated to only have held a single legendary titan, and they are believed to be the founders of sub-clans of the Casterwills.”
“So, who was the original seeker for Inari?” Inquired Twilight.
“Inari's a special case,” said Rec, “while she was certainly there during the conflict, she kept her existence mostly unknown, her original seeker was the secret student of the Champion of Casterwill, she personally told me that only the Champion and Lord Casterwill were aware of her existence. Lord Casterwill said that should the Nullifiers ever return that she would be playing a mjaor part in a hidden contingency to stop them.”
“There was a major conflict between the the Blood Spirals and the combined forces of the Casterwills and Huntik foundation last year,” said Claudia, “we wanted to help out, but the higher ups put an end to that attempt.”
“Her mom wasn't too happy that we were stone walled,” said Mandi, “the reason they gave us was that should the united front fail we were the contingency.”
“We didn't buy that for a second,” said Rec, “they just didn't want get involved in a battle that could potentially decide the fate our world, and risk any resources that could result in potential deaths. We need to stop hiding from the other factions and let the Foundation and Casterwills know they have another ally should they need one next time. Currently the most well known seekers in our world are Dante Vale, Lok Lambert, and Sophie Casterwill. They all work for the Foundation.”
“Not really all that surprising,” said Mandi, “the Foundation has been the most public of the factions since it's formation in the 1800s, they haven't gone public with all the seeker stuff though, they still keep that stuff secret and play cleanup when they have to. The train station will be ready for use in three hours by the way, looks like you did some 'shopping' while you were out. Get anything good?”
“See for yourselves,” said Rec as he floated the containers for the amulets he carried out of his saddlebags, Twilight did the same for hers and Pinkie's bags. In addition to the gold shield like amulets were some smooth, triangular shield looking amulets with a pinkish-gray gem in the center, brown oval like triangular amulets with an upward curving stinger like protrusion at the bottom and red circular gem near the top, what looked like more Gremlow amulets, and a small hoard of Read Searcher amulets.
“That's quite the haul,” said Claudia with a smirk. How you get so many so fast?”
“We convinced them it was matter of national security,” said Twilight in a rather blunt manner.
Claudia took two her talons and pinched the base of her beak before saying, “And we need to teach you girls the lingo, seriously, you need to learn the code words and key terms.”
“What are you a club, secret society, hidden order?” Said Twilight.
“All of the above,” said Rec, Mandi and Claudia in unison.
“Oh,” said Twilight as if she was finally catching up.
“And the last horse crosses the finish line,” Claudia deadpanned.
“We do not use that kind of language in place like this,” said Celestia with a bit of anger and far more amusement.”
“She didn't mean anything insulting,” said Mandi, “she used the word H-O-R-S-E, horse, it's a type of large equine that's part of several cultures in our world, in fact many different breeds have been produced to perform a variety of jobs more effectively.”
“Oh,” said Twilight, “that's actually fascinating, I'll have to do a study on the different equine variations of your world if I ever end up going there.”
“Thanks, miss Guard, for explaining that for them,” said Claudia with an indignant huff.
“You're a guard where you come from? I can see now how you understood how to fight so effectively,” said Luna.
“No, Guard is my family name,” said Mandi with a shake her head, “just like Hawkson is Claudia's family name and Mage Staff is Rec's family name.”
“Recorded Formula Mage Staff,” said Twilight with an amused smile, “that's quite a name for a unicorn.”
“Yeah, well if we end up back home mom will probably drop my middle name,” said Rec with an evenness to his voice that was far more chilling than he intended.
“Same here,” said Claudia, “that and she's probably gonna kill me, again.”
“You two are lucky,” said Mandi in an irritated voice, “my mom didn't give me a middle name!”
“So you've complained before,” said Claudia in a calm manner, “having a middle name isn't all that important if you ask me, just another way for parents to make your name look more impressive.”
“My name is already long enough without my middle name, thank you very much,” said Rec.
“What's a middle name exactly?” Inquired Twilight.
“Where we come from you have your given name, family name and sometimes a name between the two,” said Rec, “names are dependent on the parents, and I'm sure you know what those kinds of variables are like.”
All the mares gave a little chuckle and Claudia said, “Not that funny folks, can we please just get on with our day.”
“We have a little under three hours to kill,” said Rec, “or did you forget that? Considering it's around half hour to the station from the palace under light circumstances, and assuming the princesses have not only made accommodations, but are deciding to join us with a few items I would say they get to packing now and by my calculations we will be ready to go to the station in one hour, and assuming we leave shortly after the princesses have all their things I believe we will arrive at the station five minutes after it is once again serviceable, that is unless I've run the numbers wrong.”
“No, actually,” said Celestia, “you crunched the numbers rather accurately, honestly I can't understand why the castle staff has to work itself into a tizzy every time either of us says we want to leave the castle grounds.”
Luna rolled her eyes and said, “She's ruled for centuries and she still talks like that.”
“Don't you dare say it like that,” said Celestia, “do you remember that time on your thirtieth birthday?”
Luna blushed and made a not so discreet cough before saying, “Well, the guards did find me before nightfall at least.”
Celestia burst out laughing, “I'm never going to understand any of this,” said Claudia, “and I've been taking it in stride long enough, there is no way either of those two is a day over forty if you ask me.”
“But Princess Celestia reigned over Equestria for a thousand years after being forced to banish Nightmare Moon,” said Twilight, “it's a well documented fact that Celestia has ruled for centuries.”
“How is you two are taking this in stride and not calling bullshit on this sort of thing?” Said Claudia with a glare at both her friends.
“One, we've already seen things don't quite work in this world the same way they do in ours,” said Rec, “two, how is the tales of Lord Casterwill any different than those of Celestia, Luna, or Nightmare Moon? And three, mom used to tell me bedtime stories about stuff like this.”
“What's your excuse?” Said Claudia with a glare at Mandi.
“Pretty much the same as Rec,” said the pegasus mare with a shrug, “not that I think about it our moms all seemed to know each other when they met.”
“My mom didn't tell me stories that were that load of malarkey,” said Claudia, “She'd tell me about amazing warriors and powerful kings. You two are just taking it in stride because you didn't see them do anything other than some parlor tricks.”
The three alicorns gave the griffin a withering look, which she just brushed off.
“Did you forget last night,” said Mandi, “we literally saw Celestia and Luna move the sun and the moon with their magic. And really Rec's the one who worked at all on blind faith, which ironic considering he's the last of us that I would consider would do something like that.”
“Well considering who he's bonded to I wouldn't call it too much of a surprise,” came Inari's voice before seeming to materialize next to Rec, “every now and then you seem to forget he has a tendency to be running a lot of info in his head at any given moment, those files you found in conjunction with the stories his mother told him and what you've learned about this world have began to lead him to start thinking about things in a different light, but he's still got some big holes in the puzzle. I mean even Lord Casterwill didn't have as many answers as seekers seem to think he did, I should know I was there for a considerable amount of it.”
Twilight turned her attention to the nine tailed white fox and said, “You were there? You're a firsthoof source on the war between the Seekers and the Nullifiers.”
“Yes, but that was so long ago my memory of that time is pretty spotty, heck I can barely remember what things were like two thousand years ago, so try to imagine what it's like trying to remember things from before the dawn of recorded history.”
The three alicorns blinked and Rec gestured to Inari as he said, “She's the main reason I pretty much take them at their word that they are a few thousand years old.”
“Okay, your making your point,” said Claudia, “but she,” she gestured to Inari,” is a legendary titan and has an immense amount of magical energy coursing through her.”
“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna also have immense wells of magical energy within them,” said Rec, “that argument is not as sound as you think.”
“Point made,” said the female griffin.
“I'm going to enjoy gathering research from and on Inari,” said Twilight.
“You'll have to wait on that said Inari, “Also, we're bringing the amulets with us to Twilight's castle, it's a security thing and no arguments from any of you, I'm technically the oldest one here, so you better listen to your elder children.” Celestia and Luna burst out laughing, as did Inari.
*******************************************
Three hours had passed and all of them were in a private train car headed for Ponyville, all the while Twilight was jabbering with excitement about the new magic lesson plan. Celestia was just enjoying how her guards would have to wait a full five hours for the next Ponville bound train, although chances are some her winged guards would be there a half hour after her. Luna's guards were basically in the same boat as Celestia's. The white and dark coated alicorns were having a long discussion with Inari about how the past played out at certain points in their experience, Twilight was listening with great intent when she was pontificating about the greatness of learning a new kind of magic.
Rainbow Dash looked around with Tank floating with his rotor pack next her, all her friends were now sporting amulets of the variety that Rec, his friends, and little sister had. And yet she didn't, at this point she'd settle for a not so awesome titan now, especially since Fluttershy apparently since Fluttershy now had one and Applejack had managed to get walking tree that could help her out when she wanted it to. Twilight getting the ones she had made sense, and so did rarity with her new guardian that looked to be made of a mass of rock with gems all over it. The only consolation she had was that Pinkie had probably not gotten one either, although according to the note Twilight had sent them that morning Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were now sporting titans of their own. Rainbow didn't mind that very much, after all they were alicorns, and frankly she was waiting to hear how Cadance had somehow ended up with a titan after hearing that.
“Seriously Tank, how am I being left behind here?” The tortoise just gave her his usual lethargic look, “I mean seriously, how did this happen? They all found these titan-amult things, and I haven't,” she huffed, “When Twilight got hers I didn't think much of it, then when AJ got hers I started thinking I could find one somewhere that could be as awesome as I am, I've searched over all over the Ponyville area, and you know what I found?”
The turtle gave her his usual calm look, “A whole lot of nothin' new,” cried the cyan mare with frustration, “and that Rec guy said he found his collection all over the globe, so is it unreasonable to think I might find one around Ponyville as well?” Tank just stared at her, “Thanks for letting me rant buddy, I needed to get that off my wings,” she said with a pat on the tortoise's head. After that she went to see Fluttershy, she still couldn't believe her best friend had one those amulets. Earlier Orchid had helped Fluttershy with the invoking and recalling the titan, Rainbow hadn't seen the act, but when she heard what Fluttershy's titan was capable of she thought of how she and the titan so much alike, actually that was true with all her friends that had titans. Twilight's Akmen-Meo had an ability that basically said it was the biggest bookworm in the world, Rarity had a titan that had an appearance that practically shouted the unicorn's main policy, and she had no doubt that if Pinkie had managed to get a titan by now it would be just as eccentric as her.
Thinking along those lines Rainbow figured she'd get a titan that was known for its speed, assuming that there were titans that fast. The only downside was that none of the titans actually talked, she was told that they did talk, but only the titan's seeker could hear the titans voice, as awesome as that sounded she was starting to doubt that was true. She didn't doubt there was kind of magic involved, and the conversations she had witnessed seemed one sided now that she thought about it.
Rainbow decided to head to Rarity's place, as much as she hated to admit it she needed to know more about the magic things involved and Rarity was the closest thing to a magic expert while Twilight was out of town. Tank followed her as she headed for the boutique. Rainbow didn't like how all this new magic stuff just seemed to happen, she thought it was cool that there was a pegasus that could cast spells, but she didn't know how that was possible just yet since nopony had explained it in a way that she could properly understand. It also annoyed her that while Applejack wasn't casting spells, she was still able to call up that walking tree thing.
Once she got to Rarity's she decided she better not, as much as she hated to admit it Twilight's geek babble made more sense than Rarity's explanations most of the time, she couldn't really understand either. She decided to instead drop Tank off with Fluttershy and go on an extended fly to clear her head. When she reached Fluttershy's tree she gave a the bell by the door a more vigorous ring than was needed, the result was a loud ring that lasted about three minutes, which meant that Rainbow had to practically shout over the bell what she wanted Fluttershy to do, that was not a fun experience, especially since half the conversation was twice as long as Rainbow intended in addition to assuring Fluttershy she wasn't angry with her. Now she really needed that stress liberating flight.
A few minutes later Rainbow was winging it over the pond when she saw the CMC with Orchid painting toy boats. She landed next them and said, “Hey fillies, what's up?”
“Not much,” said Scootaloo with a smile, “when Orchid asked if we'd tried boat building or painting and we told her we hadn't thought of that we asked Rarity for some water resistant paint and Applejack for some scrap wood and nails for the boats she was glad to to hoof them over with a hammer for us.”
“On the condition that Big Mac oversee the building process,” said Orchid, “Bloom's got a good head for that sort of thing by the way, once we were done making the boats Mac took the hammer and left us to paint the boats by ourselves; after all we're just a hop, skip and jump from the folks out here.”
“That's one uh mah new favorite phrases now,” said Apple Bloom, “AJ's gonna be uh little confused when I ah use et, Orchid had to explain tha kinda context it needs ta be used en, but Ah don't mind tha' so much.”
“That's cool, and all girls,” said Rainbow, “but I'd like Orchid to explain somethin' for me real quick, it's kinda been bugging me since yesterday.”
“Shoot,” said Orchid.
“How does seeker magic work? I get that it's different from pony magic,” said Rainbow, “but all the explanations I've been given so far kinda went over my head.”
“Okay,” said Orchid, “first of all I want you to imagine you have this reserve of magic you don't normally touch, even when you think you're giving your all.”
“Okay,” said Rainbow, “I can do that, but I'm gonna need a bit more.”
“That was just step one,” said Orchid, “now imagine that when you put enough will into it you can actually tap into the magic reserve, that in a nutshell is what seeker magic is. Everything is tied to our will power, if you don't have enough will to do something then you can cast a spell or invoke a titan,” the filly smiled and tapped the amulet around her neck, “not every seeker has titans, or know how to cast spells. If you sink enough will into something in the right situation you can do some pretty impressive stuff.”
“You said your brother can make a sonic boom if he uses all his speed spells together,” said Rainbow, “I wanna learn those and do that combo you talked about.”
“Rec really doesn't want to repeat that combo,” said Orchid with concern, “and there is next to no way he would ever consider doing that combo again, he nearly put himself in the hospital when he did that combo, the kind of bodies we have in our world aren't designed for extreme speeds. Since you can do that Sonic Rainboom thing you might be able to hold up, but chances are he's going to want a bunch of baselines to see if teaching you those spells would even resemble being safe.”
Rainbow chuckled before saying, “That is such an egghead thing to think about.”
“Safety is no joke,” said Orchid, “we don't know just how we can get back, especially since we really haven't checked where we came out of the portal to Equestria, but I figure my brother and his friends along you and your friends should be checking out that area some time later this week, so no worries there. To be honest, this is closest I've ever been to having friends.”
Rainbow gave a chuckle and Sweetie Belle said, “As far as we're concerned you are our friend, besides we need a fourth crusader after Babs go her cutie mark, it's just felt like there was a space that needed filling.”
“Yeah,” said Scootaloo, “and you didn't ask about anything like that, you just took all of our antics in stride, not a whole lot of ponies our age are like that.”
“Well, to be fair,” said Orchid, “I see some pretty wacky stuff at home, heck I've done a few of them myself. I once had Springer make a net and tightrope for me to practice with, Rec and mom practically freaked, I never did get to try the whole tightrope walking thing, to be honest I don't know why I felt need to do that.”
“How long ago was that?” Inquired Scootaloo, Rainbow just quietly listened and smiled at the conversation happening in front of her, despite her irritation at not being able to do seeker stuff like the rest of her friends the CMC always managed to find a way to unintentionally look at things with a bit more clarity.
“About a month month ago, why?”
Sweetie's eyes lit up and she squeaked, “Girls, she tried tightrope walking around when we tried for the circus clown stuff after getting back from the rodeo in Appeloosa.” Rainbow remembered that day, there was so much paint Rarity was screaming about some of her cloth getting stolen for almost an hour.
“Ya mean,” said Apple Bloom turning her attention to Orchid, “she was trying to do Crusader stuff befer she even met us?”
“Honestly, that is kind of cool in a way,” said Orchid, “but I can't understand why they freaked, my brother had taught me FeatherDrop the month before.”
The mare and three fillies looked at her, “So, whut's this FeatherDrop spell like? Et sounds a little weird,” said Apple Bloom, “like somepony was tryin' ta spit thair foal with uh name that makes next ta no sense.”
“It's just a spell to make things land gentle on the ground,” said Orchid, “I will admit that the spell does sound a little weird. But then again saying half the list of seeker spells I'm aware of is the same way.”
“Yeah, not mention a lot of the titans we've seen have names that seem to escaped every pony we've known,” said Rainbow awkwardly, “I'll see you fillies later, but before I go I have one more question for Orchid." The filly in question motioned for the mare to continue. “How did you and your brother get your first titans?”
“I went out to the forest by our house in the middle of the night, something is recommended no one do, and met Jirwolf,” said Orchid, “one night I just felt like something was calling me, and when I went the directions that felt right I found him. On a family visit to England Rec got lost in an old tower and somehow managed to navigate the traps without hurting himself before finding the amulet for Vitaguard on a pedestal like it was just waiting for someone. Titans can be hiding in a lot of places, you'll find one eventually, and I mean that to everyone here. I'm sure my brother's trying figure out how titans got here the first place.”
“Whatcha mean by that?” Said Rainbow as she and the three other fillies looked at her.
Looking a little nervous as she said, “Well according to seeker lore, which us as good as history for us, a great evil called the nullifiers descended to Earth.”
“They don't sound pleasant,” said Scootaloo, “how bad was it.”
“They tried to destroy all intelligent life in our world, according to the stories. So, Lord Casterwill summoned the titans to our world, we aren't sure how exactly, some say he used an artifact that we now call the Ancient Amulet of Will, that artifact was lost after his passing, last I heard the Huntik Foundation found it and was fighting with The Organization over it.”
Rainbow started laughing loudly and between chuckles said, “You actually have a group that calls themselves 'The Organization', the pony who thought up the name for the group was uninspired.”
“That may be true,” said Orchid giving the mare a look between amused and something trying to be a death glare, “but they're no joke, they're highly organized, one of the largest known seeker factions, and last I heard The Professor was the kind of guy you don't want to mess with, I heard my brother mention some rumors about him going missing before the Red Comet event.”
“What happened to him?” Said Sweetie Belle, “if he was some big shot I'm sure he just couldn't up and disappear with nopony noticing.”
“According to what I overheard,” said Orchid, “the Huntik Foundation sent a team to take him on at his stronghold, a gutsy move if you ask me,” the other four ponies just nodded, “no one saw him since the night the Huntik team took him on, no reports of his lifeless body being in the facility, it's just not known what happened that night besides the fact that it was a big battle.”
“Okay,” said Rainbow, “so, The Professor got taken out of the picture, is this Organization still a threat?”
“Most definitely,” said Orchid, “it's got no shortage of ambitious nut cases vying for power, considering one of their directives is world domination that's not surprising.”
“Sounds a little cliché to me,” Sweetie Belle, “but I guess sometimes clichés happen for real.”
“So,” said Scootaloo in an effort to redirect the conversation a bit, “do your brother and his friends go on Daring Do type adventures?”
“I have no idea who that is,” said Orchid, “but from sound the way you say that name I'm guessing they're like Indiana Jones.”
“That's such uh weird name,” said Apple Bloom, “Wut kinda name is Jones?”
“That's what's kind of the opposite of what I expected,” said Orchid, “I was expecting you to ask about the first part of his name.”
“He's a dude, that means you have a stallion version of Daring Do,” said Rainbow with surprise, “ah man, that's just great, the most kick flank adventurer in your world isn't a mare.”
“Yeah, but to be fair most of the ladies that end up in his adventurers with him can really hold their own, I say most because there was this one woman in one of his movies that was beyond useless.”
“Did you say movies? As in more than one?” Said Rainbow with surprise, “I heard rumors that they just started filming on the first Daring Do movie, and he already has a collection of movies.”
“Only four,” said Orchid, “and to be fair most of the fan base considers the fourth film to be not part of his official cannon story lines, as much as we thought the majority of Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls was good with a bunch of new and interesting elements it was all ruined in the third act with a single line.”
“Wow, that's pretty bad,” said Scootaloo, “will that...”
“Probably not with the first two films,” said Orchid, “the first film will probably expand the fan base, the second one will be an attempt further appease the fans, after that it's hard to say.”
“That actually takes a load off my wings,” said Rainbow, “I'll catch you fillies later.” With that she shot into the air, while Orchid's explanation wasn't very good it had at least was something that Rainbow had managed to wrap her head around enough to get a basic understanding. She decided to do some tricks to burn off some of her frustration.
While she was in the middle of her third spiraling loop the loop she spotted a glint in a cloud, this rather unusual since she knew quite well that clouds don't glint. As she approached she saw the source of the glint fall, it was a jade four pointed star shuriken with a rather large black outline near the center and in the center it had a circular pale green gem, the shuriken points were strait like a dagger and were a dull gray. Rainbow flew towards it and caught it, “Where did you come from?” She said and saw a massive unkindness of ravens surge from from the clouds the moment her question had been uttered. She tossed the amulet on her neck and made a beeline for Fluttershy's cottage at a speed so fast she nearly made a sonic rainboom.
*************************************
When she got there Orchid and the CMC were out front with Fluttershy discussing something about otters, and large fish. “Flutters we have a problem,” said Rainbow in an agitated voice, “there's a flock of ravens big enough to make a big black cloud out there, and I just did something to make them chase me.”
“Actually a massive grouping of ravens is called an unkindness,” said Orchid in a surprisingly calm voice, “and you call a grouping of crows a murder, no idea why either of those is a term though, probably the same reason you say flock of sheep instead of heard so...”
“Animal info later, problem now,” said Rainbow with more agitation.
“Oh, um,” I don't think I could calm down that many birds,” said Fluttershy. Looking over the direction Rainbow had come all six ponies saw what looked like a massive black cloud moving on its own towards them.
“Oh dear, Rainbow, is that a rogue cloud the weather team didn't get?”
“No,” said Rainbow, “that's the ravens I just told you about!”
“Oh my,” turning to the fillies she said, “girls get inside.” For once the CMC didn't argue and headed toward the door to Fluttershy's cottage.
Before heading and closing the door Orchid said, “Nice to see you finally got a titan, Rainbow, that's a pretty cool one too. Its name is Shinobi,” she gave a wink, “might be helpful. Miss Fluttershy, call up Wildwood Druid, she can help you out.” With that Orchid entered the cottage and Sweetie shut the door while the rest of the fillies made sure to close and lock all the windows.
Rainbow made a quick knock on the door before saying, “Orchid, wha can Shinobi do?”
“No idea,” came her muffled voice from behind the door, I don't even know that the titan's supposed to look like, all I know is that someone showed me an amulet that like yours and said that it contained a titan called Shinobi, and that Shinobi was one of the cooler titans. You should keep in mind that since it is a Yama-Titan it will be rather independent and they often think their way is better than their seeker's. In other words calling one out for the first time for your first impending fight with it is not a good idea.”
“Maybe, but my level of awesome might be enough to make it listen,” said Rainbow.
Scootaloo gave hoof pump, Apple Bloom rolled her eyes, Sweetie Belle and Orchid Spell facehoofed. Orchid just looked at Sweetie and without a word the two fillies exchanged a wordless, yet annoyed, conversation about Rainbow's overconfidence.
“Okay, um, Wildwood Druid,” said Fluttershy in a barely audible voice, suddenly a mare that looked like she was made of wood with moss growing on her forelegs and branches branches that looked healthy with no leaves in a short, dark red dress with yellow highlights appeared. One of the branches on its back came up giving the illusion of a unicorn horn if you looked at her from an angle, otherwise she looked like an earth pony that was formed from a small tree. Her mane looked like a mass of vibrant, green leaves, as did her tail.
“Okay, so let's do this,” said Rainbow, “Shinobi!” A form that looked like it was made of smoke appeared before her, it was barely visible in the daylight. Rainbow took a closer look and found it's lower body was some kind of dark smoke while its upper body was lean and well toned form that resembled Tirek's upper torso, but the horns on the head were rather small and a light gray, the place where the mouth should have been was a dark gray mask with black highlights, the figure had long white hair, a pair of gray gloves holding a pair of katanas, and a dark gray jacket like thing that had black highlights, this was all made more surreal by the pressence of a pair of crimson colored eyes in the mask that didn't seem to have pupils or irises.
Rainbow didn't know what to make of her new companion, it had a serious look on its face, well as serious as a figure with a well hidden face could get, and turned to face the oncoming mass of ravens.
“Okay, everypony,” said Fluttershy, “we don't want hurt them too bad, we need to find out why they're acting this way, so if you could please find a way to stop them without serious injury or ending their little birdie lives.”
“You got it Flutters,” said Rainbow, “you heard her Shinobi, no potentially fatal strikes to the oncoming ravens... did you just, that's not nice, if you... to hay with efficiency of the acts, if it is potentially lethal then don't do it... YOU are infuriating, to think I was told you're cool, you're not cool, you're just a cynical creature that wants to get things done quickly with no regard for the wishes of others.”
“Oh dear,” said Fluttershy, “um, Druid, if you have some kind of pollen that can knock out the ravens without putting their lives in danger could you please use it... oh you need a wind for that, okay, um sure. Rainbow, we need to send a wind at the ravens, Druid will do the rest.”
“Works for me,” said Rainbow, “okay Shinobi, if ya wanna use your fancy swords I won't stop you, just keep me safe and don't use the sharp part on the ravens, is that acceptable?... Well, it's a start,” she muttered the last part. She flew over next to Fluttershy and started flapping her wings generate wind, Fluttershy did the same. Wildwood Druid started releasing some kind of pollen, and Shinobi was begrudgingly on protection duty. After a half hour most of the ravens were sleeping on the ground, there were a lot of them. Another twenty minutes saw the last of them falling to the ground.
“This has to have just about every raven in Equestria,” remarked Rainbow as they landed and let the fillies out, “what the hay is going on?”
“I don't know,” said Fluttershy, “but I'm going to find out,” she picked up the two closest ravens and flew the birds into her cottage before carefully placing them in cages large enough to hold them and locking said cages, she didn't want any of the animals getting hurt, or hurting each other.
“I'll get the fillies to Rarity's,” said Rainbow, “her new 'friend' is probably the best bet for keeping these four safe right now.”
“Hey,” said Orchid, “what am I, Garden salad? I can help out with my titans, but if you want titans with major defensive power then Mandi's your girl.”
“And since she's currently out of town,” said Rainbow, “Rarity's your best bet, well either her or AJ. Applejack said something about wanting you fillies out of her mane for the day, she thought it was a blessing come to her when you four said you wanted to make toy boats by the pond, so it's off to Rarity's.”
“You do realize she's going to go all fashionista on you when she sees your new accessory,” said Sweetie, as she finishes she points to Rainbow's amulet.
“I'm cool with that,” said Rainbow, “hay, I'll even tell her what he looks like and show her if she wants.”
“What's he like?” Asked Scootaloo as Rainbow led the four fillies to Rarity's place.
“Like Orchid said,” said Rainbow, “also kind of a jerk.”
“That'll change with time,” said Orchid.
“How's tha'?” Said Apple Bloom.
“You girls really need to listen,” said Orchid, “I've already said it twice around you!”
“Oh,” said all three in unison.
“This is the last time, so try and pay attention.” The three fillies nodded and as they followed Rainbow.
“Actually listen this time,” said Rainbow, “you girls might need to know what she stays here next time.”
The three fillies nodded again, “Well,” said Orchid, “when titans form a bond with a seeker that means that the seeker's mind is linked to the titan, that's how they know what the titan has to say.”
“I can vouch for that,” said Rainbow, “mine is pretty rude.”
Orchid gave the mare a good natured glare be fore continuing, “anyway the longer a seeker has a titan, the more powerful they are, or a mixture of both the more a titan takes on that seeker's personality traits.”
“Oh, Ah see,” said Apple Bloom, “et means mah sister's tree thingie...”
“Tree-ant,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah, that,” continued Apple Bloom, “will be just as dependable and stubborn as her in a few years.”
“Maybe sooner,” said Orchid.
“An' in a few months,” continued Apple Bloom, “Rainbow's will be as loyal as her, but also a bit of a showoff.”
“Hey,” said Rainbow as she continued to lead the fillies to Carousel Boutique.
“Sorry, RD,” said Scootaloo, “you do have a tendency to toot your own horn a little too much or loud for some ponies' liking."
“Okay, yeah, that might be true a little,” said Rainbow.
“The point is that you girls get it now, usually the most expressed or strongest traits will pass on over to the titan.”
“So Twilight's egghead personality will go to those titans she has,” said Rainbow, “and if Pinkie were to get one it would eventually get some of her eccentricities.”
“Pretty much, yeah,” said Orchid.
“Oh no,” said Rainbow, “that means the one Rarity got is going take on some of her prissy mannerisms.”
Orchid facehoofed before saying, “It doesn't really matter, all kinds of folks have had titans in our world. Some were said to be evil incarnate while others were said to be pure souls. Heroes, villains, and those between have all had titans, and let's face it they've had a wide variety of personalities.”
The five ponies entered the boutique a few minutes later, and of course Rainbow Dash was rushed by Rarity thanks to the white mare's eye for detail.
“Oh, Darling,” said Rarity, “you got one of your own, and by the look it's definitely you. So how did you get ahold of it?”
“Well you see Rarity some stuff happened when I got it, it all started this morning when...”
Rec, Claudia, Mandi, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie were all in a rather extravagant train car heading for Ponyville, Celestia seemed to get some mild enjoyment out of surprising her guards with the impromptu visit to the town, fortunately she had prior obligations that day or the following day. They still had a half hour until they arrived at the Ponyville station, Inari had since decided to retire to her ring some time earlier. An almost eerie silence had fallen over the car with the fox-like titan's leaving.
A silence that was finally broken by Twilight saying, “So, could you explain why we're taking the amulets we've collected from all over Canterlot back to my palace?”
“As Rec said before, it's a security thing,” said Mandi, “while placing the amulets in the Canterlot royal vault is logical it also means every two bit thief and wannabe master burglar will take their placing in the vault as a challenge, and we reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaly don't want potentially dangerous artifacts ending up in the possession of possible nut jobs.”
“Makes sense,” said Twilight, “but why my palace, why not ship them up to the Crystal Empire with a note for Cadance and Shining Armor.”
“Okay, two things,” said Claudia holding up two talons, “one, we didn't know there was a Crystal Empire until the twelfth minute of the trip, thanks for dropping that bombshell on us by the way. And two,” she brought her talons down, “we really don't want to have some nutcase play Jesse James and rob the train.”
“What an odd name,” said Celestia, “I suppose it's a name that follows the distinctive convention of your world?”
“Yes and no,” said Rec, “traditional naming conventions are dictated by the cultures that employ them. Religious names are always popular no matter the era, that is to say names that are a reference to the religion the parents practice. In our world you have a given name, also referred to as a first name, and a family name, which is usually referred to as a last name.”
“And usually a middle name,” said Mandi, “but not always, they have middle names, but I don't.”
“Won't stop our moms from playing the full name ultimatum when we get back home,” muttered Claudia, “and trust me when I say that it is not fun hearing your full name from your mother when she is mad.”
Twilight, Pinkie, Rec and Mandi all nodded in agreement. Celestia and Luna just giggled before making a comment about how things like that seem silly once you reach a certain age.
“So, what do we have now? I'm rather curious,” said Twilight.
Rec gave her an amused smirk and said, “All will be revealed during the course.”
Twilight gave an excited squee, the prospect of redoing the introductory course and experiencing an extended course was making her excited. Pinkie just giggled. Celestia and Luna just smiled gently.
Rec turned his attention to the midnight blue alicorn, “You do realize what you did was reckless, foolhardy and poorly planned, right?”
Luna nodded and said, “I just thought we needed a contingency, just in case.”
“That's not what I meant,” said Rec, “you called titans to this world without a physical focus, it's a miracle they fell to this world as it is. All they had to work off of was a trail formed from your magic. It's said the Lord Casterwill used the artifact we call 'the Ancient Amulet of Will' as a physical focus for the titans.”
“Oh, well, I did use a physical focus,” said Luna with a smile, “an old amulet of mine that my sister gave me when we were fillies.”
This caused everyone in car to stare at her.
“Do you have it with you?” Inquired Rec.
Luna nodded and revealed a circular medallion like amulet that had the impression of the sun and moon with a midnight blue crescent shaped gem in the moon, green circular gem in the sun, a pink gem in the space between at the top, and purple gem in the same position at the bottom of the amulet. Rec and the others stared.
After staring at it a few times Claudia nudged Rec and said, “Pst, hey dummy, scan the freaking thing already.”
Rec pulled out his Mythichive and opened it, Luna held the accessory over and and the light danced over the amulet.”
After a few seconds the Mythichive said, “Titan found. Attention, Titan Cannot be identified.”
“What the...” said Mandi.
Celestia cut off the rest asking, “How is that possible?”
“Powerful spells can interfere with a device like the Mythichive and make it next to impossible to do things like identify a titan in an amulet, but only with the aid of powerful spells or curses,” said Rec.
“There are only a few rumored cases that we can think of,” said Mandi, “and they're all unconfirmed. Did that amulet have any enchantments on it before all this?”
“Just an anti-breaking spell,” said Celestia, “I wanted to make sure Luna's gift wouldn't be destroyed easily. I was never the artistic one, not like her anyway, so I commissioned somepony to make it. Luna knew,” she smiled at her sister, “but since it had been crafted specifically with her in mind as a one of a kind piece she didn't seem to mind.”
Luna giggled before saying, “I wore it to one of my first formal dances, the nobility were so enamored by it in those days that mock ups flooded Canterlot for a decade.” Both mares laughed at the memory of what had followed.
“Even if it is a powerful version of a single spell it shouldn't be interfering with the Mythichive,” said Rec, “which means that the titan inside can influence things like magical scans before being invoked. Some legendary titans have a special condition required, like a ritual, to invoke, maybe whatever is in there is the same way. However without knowing the titan within we can't know the proper ritual. As it stands this amulet is now an equivalent to the Ancient Amulet of Will, which means that it needs to be kept safe.”
“Why?” Inquired Celestia, “what makes this amulet so important?”
“Legendary titans,” said Claudia, “the three most well known were said to have powerful curse on them that only could be broken by the Amulet of Will.”
“And those would be?” Inquired Twilight with a vested interest.
Rec flipped his Mythichive all the way open and said, “The Legendary Titans of Mind, Body, and Spirit. Mythichive, Lord Casterwill's Legendary Titans.”
“One moment,” said the Mythichive, a bipedal hippopotamus with a horn on its head, a massive sphere on its back, with elongated cloth-like bracers and leg guards with a shirt that only covered the upper region of the upper torso appeared in the display, “Behemoth, Size: Colossal, Special Abilities: Earthshaker, Type: Legendary Warrior,” it flickered to show a massive bipedal spider-like creature, “Araknos, Size: Large, Special Abilities: Mastermind, Mindhold, Type: Legendary Sorcerer,” the image flickered to that of a humanoid figure with the lower portion of a robe being held by some kind of belt, no sort of shirt, what looked like smoke beneath the robe, what looked like swirling water-like energy in the form of something akin to a cape or cloak, face save for featureless eyes, and hair held at the base with a band in a sort of growing grass formation, “Tao, Size: Large, Special Abilities: Flight, Radiating Aura, High Power Area Attack, Type: Legendary Quester.”
All the ponies just stared as the image flickered out and Rec closed the device. Twilight slowly came out of her numbed phase first, “Those were all held by the same pony? From the sound of it anyone of them could prove a threat to any nation.”
“Why isn't yours as dangerous?” Inquired Pinkie, everyone was surprised by her sudden question.
“Well, the truth is,” said Rec, “she is, her abilities just aren't as flashy, and she's not quite as powerful as most of the other Legendaries, but she can still could be considered a threat if she felt like it. Fortunately for everyone she isn't, she's more interested messing with folks. Of course according the culture that talks about her she's seen as a harvest deity and ruler of a group mystical foxes called kitsune.”
“How she got a more serious personality in the telling of her lore I'll never know,” said Claudia, “that fox is crazy, erratic and likes throwing a wrench in the works if it'll make her amused.”
Luna shook her head before saying, “Sounds a bit like Discord, Celestia told me some of the stories that were generated about Nightmare Moon after my banishment a thousand years go, some of which were just plain ridiculous, so I can understand the stories told about these creatures if they have been around in your world as you have claimed.”
“Can they truly have been around before the dawn recorded history?” Inquired Twilight.
“Let's save the rest of the Q an' A for Seeker basic 101,” said Rec, “I suppose your friends will want to learn about all this too, also there's always the chance at least one of them could have also found a titan, just look at Pinkie.”
Twilight turned her attention to the pink mare, who just so happened to be playing with her amulet by juggling it between her mane and tail with said body parts. “Yeah, but that's Pinkie,” said Twilight, “she's got a bit of a different way of doing things, it's no real surprise she'd end up like this.”
“Even so, this is a new kind of magic, Twilight,” said Celestia, “while your talent for magic gives you an advantage in learning it you have to remember that unicorns and alicorns aren't the only ones with spells now.”
“True,” said Mandi, “although it might take some time to learn spells in the seeker lists regardless. HonorGuard was the first power I ever learned, Claudia's was AugerFrost.”
“Followed by RayPulse,” said Claudia, “After that was StoneGlove and IronHand.”
“They're here favorites,” said Rec.
“Um, what do all of those do?” Said Twilight.
“Once again, saving it for the class,” said Mandi, “Seekers aren't as reliant on their spellcraft as unicorns.”
“That has more do with the lack of populace magic practice in our world,” said Rec, “like we've said before, we try to limit our spell and titan use.”
“And yet you invoked your Nordrake to chill your friend's panic attack,” responded Twilight.
“That had more to do with thinking that we were in some sort of shared delusion,” said Mandi, “you already know about how pegasi and unicorns are viewed, in addition equines don't really come in the color pallets we've been seeing around. It's white, black brown, red, gray, and yellow when comes to fur and hair color for the most part, sometimes you get lucky and find yourself an orange one. At least in my experience.”
“Actually orange is a common equine color in our world,” said Rec, “that said, violet, indigo, cyan, magenta, green, blue, pink, turquoise, silver, bronze, gold, and several other colors I've noticed are not something any equine has shown signs of having in all the history we have on them. Also, they're nowhere near as intelligent as any of you.”
“Oh, but you have ponies in your world?” Said Luna.
“Yes and we also have horses, H-O-R-S-E, they're noticeably larger than ponies.”
“Why did you just spell it out for them, literally?” Said Claudia.
“Because he wasn't sure just going by the sound of the word it would be an insult or not,” said Mandi, “it's always best to be polite.”
“Um, thank you,” said Twilight, “the sound without the spelling does sound slightly offensive for some reason.”
“Better you not know why dear,” said Celestia then turning to Rec and his friends, “I have no doubt you will find your way home, and when you do I will be sending Twilight to take notes on that world.”
“Considering the last two excursions to other world that would probably be wise, although I don't think my friends will like being left out on this one.” She then turned her attention to Rec and his friends, “Seen anypony that resembles us?”
“Nope,” said Claudia, “and trust me I've been dragged to a lot of social events across the globe by my family, I didn't meet anybody who had similar appearance or mannerisms to your friends, and if seventy-five high class parties and fifty-seven open space charity events have shown me anything it's lots of people.”
“We trust her on this one,” said Mandi, “she has the most experience with new folks.” Rec just nodded.
“Oh, and we will give you fair warning before crossing the trans-reality divide,” said Rec, “there are some things that you'll need to be warned about.”
“Like that horse comment?” Inquired Twilight.
“Yep,” said Rec.
The rest of the ride was a sort of uneasy quiet.
*********************************
The train was finally coming to a stop, Twilight assured everyone that she just needed a few minutes to set up the materials for the course before anyone had even gotten up. They trotted towards the doors of the car, well Pinkie bounced, when they came out of the car all of Twilight's friends, the CMC and Orchid were all at the platform waiting for them. Rec could tell immediately that all of Twilight's friends had amulets.
“Twilight,” said Rec, “I think you're going to need to find a larger space for the course.”
“Oh, Why is that?” Said the lavender mare.
“Take a look at their necks,” Claudia deadpanned.
Twilight noticed and only could say, “Oh, I'll go and start getting everything prepared.”
“What are you rushing off for, darling?” Said Rarity.
“They have a lesson plan for helping acclimate you to the whole 'seeker thing',” yelled Twilight as she rushed off.
“I'll go help her,” said Rec before galloping after Twilight.
It was at this point that the the four ponies noticed the CMC bowing and realized that Celestia and Luna had also stepped off the train. They quickly went through the same motion, Pinkie just giggled. “Rise, my little ponies,” said Celestia, “there is no need for such things, it also looks like we will be joining you in the lessons you will be experiencing.”
The mares and fillies stared at the two alicorns. Then Orchid noticed their amulets, “Solwing and Archwarder, those two very good titans. How did you get them?”
“Your brother's friend held Solwing,” said Celestia, “she said something about him liking me, got into a bit of a debate with him then hoofed me his amulet. As for my sister, she found her new companion in a statue. You'll probably hear about what happened last night in a few hours, one way or another.”
“What about you, little ones,” said Luna, “did you learn anything.”
“Yeah,” said Scootaloo, “Orchid's more awesome than we thought, and has this ridiculous weakness for cupcakes.”
Orchid rolled her eyes, “I told a dozen times already, triple chocolate strawberry swirl is my favorite kind of cupcake. We just just happened to find one in the Everfree Forest, and one at the edge of Ponyville.”
“And by tha pond,” said Apple Bloom, “and tha orchard, mah family wasn't happy when they heard uh about tha' one.”
“Yeah,” Sweetie said with a giggle, “well at least you let them know how that giant sweet got there, also alleviated their worries when you said you also really liked apple products, telling them that earned us some pie slices.”
“Only because I somehow managed to keep you three from doing anything crazy, like I've heard you are prone to doing.”
The CMC gave a sheepish grin, and Luna giggled at the interactions of the four.
“Come on,” said Rainbow, “let's head to to Twi's castle and ready for the boring stuff.” the other four mares shot the prismatic maned mare a look before everyone headed for the castle.
On the way Scootaloo said, “I'm surprised Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon haven't shown up to cause us any trouble.”
“Mah family does plenty o' business wid her family,” said Apple Bloom, “Ah think Applejack can explain that one, Ah wish Ah could tell ya girls, but Ah didn' overhear anythang this time.”
“Good ta hear mah precautions fer keepin' ya fillies out uh our manes durin' business is payin' off,” said Applejack, “ta answer yer question, Filthy Rich an' 'is daughter 're visitin' an ole business associate uh 'is. Fair warnin' fillies, accordin' ta tha schedule 'e tol' us they'll be back tomrrow afternoon.”
Sweetie, Scoots and Bloom groaned in unison, Orchid just raised and eyebrow and asked if she should be worried.
“Ya know those mean girls you were talkin' about earlier?” Said Scootaloo.
Orchid nodded. “Well,” said Sweetie, “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are our versions of them.”
Orchid did a facehoof before for saying, “It's like some kind of universal constant, jerks with an inflated sense of entitlement. There are times I find myself wishing I could knock those kind down a peg, but the fact is that isn't going to happen over night. You need to learn to be practical, and give a stealth insult.”
“What's a stealth a insult?” Inquired Rarity, who had been paying much closer attention than the others during the trot to Twilight's.
“A stealth insult is an insult that comes off as sounding like an unrelated comment, or in some cases even masquerades as a compliment.”
“Really,” said Rarity, “could you give an example.”
“Someone you think of as being quite unintelligent saying they'll teach someone else all they know, usually with some form of improper grammar, earning the response from you along the lines 'it shouldn't take too long' is a bit of a classic,” said Orchid, “of course my personal favorite is someone saying that you're trying too make them look like a fool or idiot with you just stating you aren't needed for that, it's made even funnier when they say that you're right and move on.”
Sweetie burst out laughing, while Scootaloo and Apple Bloom just shook their heads at their friends apparent outburst.
“I really don't see how that's funny,” said Rainbow, “I can see how it can lead to funny moments though,” she said with a grin.
With a giggle of her own Rarity said, “Of course you wouldn't get the apparent humor of more refined comedy,” turning to Sweetie, “I see we're going to have to work on how to make your showing approval of something comedic more elegant.”
“Et's actually a small miracle that these three 'aven't tried anythang too dangerous in past few days,” said Applejack, “Prolly 'as somethin' ta do with Orchid.”
“Thanks,” said Orchid, “I learned to be more practical, and reserved. These three,” she gestured to the Crusaders, “seem to lack restraint, that said, maybe some of my restraint could rub off on them.”
“Yes, well, let's hope that not too much of their recklessness rubs off on you,” said Rarity.
The Crusaders gave Orchid a sheepish grin.
“Is it really that bad?” Inquired Orchid.
“Well there was that time they tried for base jumping cutie marks,” said Rainbow, “as awesome as that would be even I knew how dangerous that was for them and stopped them before it could end with somepony in the hospital.”
“A prudent course of action,” said Orchid, she then shot the crusaders a look before saying, “before you ask, no I am not going to call up Breaker so you can get 'Bear Wrestling' cutie marks, I am also advising miss Fluttershy to not entertain that thought. If you want to wrestle, that's fine, I'll even help set up a practice ring, if not then that's it.”
“That sounds awesome,” said Scootaloo with a flutter of her wings, “we never even considered that, and your just making it so we can't try it.”
“Same goes for crocodile and alligator wrestling,” said Orchid, “they're far too dangerous, at best you come out with a few scrapes, bruises and possibly scars. At worst, you end up with a few missing limbs in the hospital with potentially fatal wounds, or maybe even iced.”
“What's ice got ta do with fighin' a really big reptile? Which I'm not gonna let mah sister or 'er friends try,” this caused to Crusaders to moan in unison.
Orchid gestured to the mares to bring their ears to her muzzle, which caused the group to stop a few seconds as she explained the euphemism to them. When she was done Fluttershy said, “Oh my, I'm definitely going to tell all my animal friends to not allow them to do that now.”
“Good,” said Orchid as they resumed the trot to the castle, “I know some of my titans might look like they could be good ways to help these three,” she gestured to the Crusaders again, “but I'm not going to entertain any of the ideas I foresee as potentially dangerous. I might bring out Searcher and Spinger for some investigation or detective stuff, maybe even film centered stuff, but there is no way in the cosmos I am going to help them do something with potentially fatal consequences.”
“What's fatal mean?” said Scootaloo, the Crusaders hung back for a few seconds while Sweetie Belle whispered the meaning into the ears of her two friends, which caused them to given an 'oh' of realization.
“Tha' would be pretty bad,” said Apple Bloom as the three caught up.
“You three have a risk might mean a simple reward mindset,” said Orchid, “while I won't chastise you about it, I've done some pretty stupid stuff too, I will try and keep you three from doing anything that I see could possibly result in broken or missing limbs.”
“I like that policy,” said Sweetie Belle, “it means I can be just as pretty as my sister when I'm older.”
“There's and old cliché where I'm from about beauty being skin deep,” said Orchid, “basically the expression is way of saying just because someone is pretty on the outside you'll find they aren't always so when you take a closer look, and I don't mean physically. Of course there's also saying about true beauty flowing from the soul and another one about it shining from the heart. Do you know what those basically mean?”
“Just because somepony doesn't look or sound beautiful when you encounter them sometimes when you get to know them they're one of the most stunning ponies you could ever hope to have met,” said Rarity with a smile, “I'm just fortunate I'm also fabulous on the outside as I am on the inside.”
“Hubris, thy name is Rarity,” muttered Orchid, who was once again next to the Crusaders during their trot.
This caused Sweetie to giggle, “I beg your pardon,” said Rarity, “but I'm not prideful or arrogant, unlike those so-called Canterlot Nobles.”
“She's still sore about what Prince Blueblood did her at the Gala last year,” said Sweetie.
“Uh huh,” said Orchid, “I wouldn't know anything about that sort of thing, I've never really attended those kinds of parties,” she gave a smirk, “but Claudia has, and I said that because from the way she said it Rarity might be a bit over confident in her abilities.”
“Well, I am an aspiring fashion designer,” said Rarity, “indulging a little over confidence is...” her eyes went wide before turning to Claudia, “you've been to high society parties?”
“Much to my displeasure,” snarked Claudia, “you may not like to hear it, but I prefer stuff a bit more down to earth than those lofty high society parties. I keep telling dad that, but no he keeps going on about how 'the house of Hawkson' has a noble duty to keep up its role as 'an example of the pinnacle of society', honestly I just want to gag every time he goes on one of those tirades,” she made air quotes with her talons in a mock stereotypical upper class twit male's voice, this caused both the princesses to giggle, “I mean seriously, who cares if the family can trace its lineage back two hundred generations to dozens of influential noble lords and ladies, the family history doesn't have any baring on who I am in the present. While it does dictate some of the social graces expected of me along with the social responsibilities that should be demanded of me I have yet to see ANY of my dad's side of the family actually follow through on their societal obligations beyond fancy parties and buying exceedingly expensive items. At least with my job in the Association I can actually get some sense of following through on my true societal responsibilities, and if I end up blowing a lot of cash in process I can make my family think I'm living up to their convoluted expectations.”
“Thou treat us as if we were equals, not thine superiors,” said Luna, “we are most curious why.”
“Short answer,” said Claudia, “you have yet to earn my trust beyond that point, since you are reasonable authority figures I figured the least I could do is show you the respect I believed you deserved.”
“It isn't often we encounter one who is so brazen with their behavior,” said Celestia, “I would like to say that you are a welcome breath of fresh air to societal interactions that are usually performed in our presence. Care to explain why?”
“It has more to due with cultural ignorance than anything else,” said Mandi, “that and Claudia is always looking for an excuse to get away with something her family wouldn't like, she's a bit like her mom in that regard.”
“How would you know that, darling?” Inquired Rarity.
“Easy,” said Claudia, “I've made sure she was invited to a few of the events my dad's family held, admittedly they were events that were intended to be 'more open to the public',” she finished with another set of air quotes.
“What's with those motions she did,” inquired Rainbow Dash.
“They're called air quotes,” said Mandi, “they're a way of mocking someone's words, you could probably do it with hooves.”
Meanwhile Rec and Twilight were coming into the castle and Twilight hollered, “Spike, we need you to get some lecture materials.”
“Coming Twilight,” said Spike, “just finishing up some cleaning.”
“I hope you steered clear of the guest rooms that are technically in use,” said Rec, “there are some materials in there that my friends and I would prefer no one touch.”
“Um, yeah, sure,” came Spike's nervous voice.
“He probably entered the rooms we're using,” Rec deadpanned to Twilight, “I know that sort of tone inflection anywhere, I hear it a lot at family reunions.”
“I didn't expect you back at the so soo... *achoo*,” his sneeze let loose a small stream of light blue that froze the stairs in front of him and caused him to slide down said stairs.
“BoltFlare,” said Rec sending the sphere to melt the ice, “called it, I took the Nordrake amulet you were studying and stuffed under my mattress,” said Rec, “frankly I'm surprised you didn't mention it disappearing from your study area, Spike head back up and put the amulet you touched on before returning to help us.”
“But I put it right back where I found it,” said Spike barely cutting off another sneeze.
“Yes and you apparently bonded with the titan in that amulet, I find it somewhat amusing that a dragon bonded with a dragon titan, hopefully Spike hasn't touched any other potentially life changing items in my room. Spike, try not to touch anything else in my room without permission.”
Spike gave a sheepish grin before heading back up to do what Rec asked of him.
Rec shook his head as Twilight said, “There's another new student for you, I didn't expect that. It's almost like something Discord would do.”
“Surprises are part of being a Seeker,” said Rec, “we often find we will have a need to be flexible, informed, and adaptive. As the old saying goes, 'no plan survives contact with the real world', you need to learn to adjust your approach at a moment's notice.”
“I like making plans, preparing for things is one of my strengths.”
“Twilight, I have to ask you a very serious question.”
“Okay, go for it.”
“Do your plans take into account they could potentially fail?"
Twilight gave him a nervous look before saying, “No, I don't ever consider it, my plans have an amazing success rate.”
“Every plan should take into account its own failure and the possibility that a new one will be needed. That's where my friends excel, it's why we're considered one of the best young seeker teams in the Association, we can think on the fly and develop plans while on the move with little need to stop and analyze because we're usually doing the analysis on the move. You said you've faced a number of monumental threats that weren't really a thing until last year. The fact of the matter is that you and your friends are used to a calm and serene setting, my friends and I practically grew up in a setting that was a little more erratic. Then there's... you know what, I'll address the rest during class.
*******************************************
It was a few minutes later when Twilight's friends, the crusaders and Orchid arrived at the palace. Applejack turned to the fillies and said, “Since Orchid pretty much already knows the basics that we're gonna get told, and ya three 'aven't really shown signs uh bein' one uh these seeker types yet Ah think et's best ya just 'ead off an' play fer a bit, we don't know 'ow long this intra is gonna last.”
“Well,” said Orchid, “Rec likes to be quick and efficient most of the time, so at most it should run about an hour. Come on girls, I know the whole amulet finder thing didn't pan out, but we can try for treasure hunting, the only question is what kind of treasure do you want to hunt first.”
“Ooh, I know,” squeaked Sweetie Belle as the four trotted off.
“I feel like we should be worried,” said Rarity, “but hopefully she'll be able to reign in some the less desirable actions a bit.”
Soon as they all trotted in Spike was there and just said, “Out back,” with a gesture that indicated the yard before he headed into the kitchen to start making refreshments. They all trotted out the backyard to see a collection of desks with six chalkboards before them. Rainbow let out a groan, mostly from remembering her failed lessons on the Wonderbolts with Twilight.
“Fear not,” came Rec's voice, “I've been informed about your learning styles and we put together lesson plan that takes as many into account as we could. Mandi, Claudia, you will be acting as teaching assistants.”
“I'm cool with that,” said Mandi as she trotted over to the chalkboards.
Claudia gave an exasperated groan before saying in a snarky tone, “It's my tenth birthday all over again, only with more people in the know and less fire.”
Rainbow quirked her eyebrow and gave a statement about that sounding like an awesome birthday.
“That's when she and I became Seekers,” said Mandi with an uneasy grin, “admittedly the lack of grand pianos above me is a relief, I have no intentions of reliving that moment.”
“Yes, well at least a few minutes of invincibility is preferable to a few minutes of a literal burning touch,” said Claudia, “that said I wouldn't change which of us got which as a first for all the world.”
Twilight's friends just watched the exchange for a bit with varying levels of interest that ranged from mildly amused to out right horrified, the mild interest was Applejack while the outright horrified was Rarity.
“I'd like to hear about that for my research,” said Twilight as she trotted into view with a mass of notebooks, quills, ink pots, pens, pencils, and pencil sharpeners before seating herself in one of the front desks.
“Going a little overboard there aren't you, darling?” Said Rarity, “I mean you already got the first part of this introductory course transcribed.”
“Yes, well,” said Twilight as the rest of her friends chose seats and placed themselves in them, “you know me, it's always a good idea to have a backup of the notes, besides this time it's more along the lines of a proper course,” she gave out a little squee, “this isn't just a new field of magic, it's a whole new magical philosophy and practice, the number of ways this could revolutionize our understanding of magic is almost incalculable, and all the new spells we'll be learning. Think about it, Rarity, spells that are little effort to maintain that have multiple applications.”
Celestia gave a little chuckle before saying, “Twilight, as much as I find your enthusiasm endearing, we should probably wait for a break in the program before you let your enthusiasm gallop around with little restraint. Although I am curious as to learn how this type of magic makes it possible for pegasi and earth ponies to cast spells as if they were unicorns. In truth I find it amusing that we are once again students, it has been many a year since such things were a concern for us.”
“Forsooth, sister,” said Luna, “this new kind of magic may even lead to a better understanding of magic across all the races of our world, not just possible insights into alicorn magic.” This unfortunately caused Twilight to giggle excitedly.
“Alright class,” came Rec's voice as he trotted out in front of the assembled mares, just as Spike came out with refreshments and set them on the prepared table before rushing over to an empty desk as close to Rarity as he could find. “I suppose it would be best to explain how seeker magic is different from other kinds of magic you are probably familiar with.”
Claudia took a piece of chalk and drew the images of a unicorn, pegasus and earth pony, which were all quite well detailed. She cleared her throat a bit before saying, “As you know unicorn magic is the most evident with their ability to focus magic through their horn, a unicorn can perform a variety of tasks of varying difficulty to them, the more difficult the task the more focus and energy they find they need to exert.”
Mandi gestured with her wing to the pegasus diagram and said, “the innate within pegasi allows them the ability to fly and have a greater degree of control over their speed and weather phenomena than the other tribes, we realize this is pretty basic and well known info to you, but to us this is still pretty new.”
“Indeed,” said Rec, “but we also felt it necessary to point out the different kinds of known magic to help illustrate how seeker magic works. As you probably know the magic of earth ponies makes them naturally stronger, tougher and also provides a higher regeneration level when it comes to damage when compared to the other tribes. This is actually a good starting platform for us, earth pony magic tends to be the most practical while unicorn magic is more versatile, and pegasus magic seems to most quickly accessed. Seeker magic has all of these properties, however instead of being tied to a readily innate magic that courses through the bodies and seems to pool at certain points based on tribe seeker magic is connected to a pool that is deeper within the body. If you could imagine for a moment,” Claudia drew a diagram of a generic pony with a large circle much closer to the center of the body, “a pool deep within all your bodies waiting to be unleashed, that is the magical energy seekers call upon. We can tap into the pool with our will power, however in order to focus the energy into spells we need to literally call out the name of the spell, to our knowledge this is the only way to cast spells and invoke titans since we have yet to hear of any cases of a seeker performing either act without saying a single word. We will be taking a few questions at this point before moving on to the next section.”
Twilight raised her hoof, Rec gestured to the lavender alicorn, “You said you use your will to tap the magic, but need to vocalize a spell's name to focus it. Why is it your magic is structured that way? For unicorns all we have to do is have the spell knowledge and will our energies to perform the spell.”
“An excellent comparison and question,” said Rec, “short answer is, we don't know. The longer answer is that we don't have much experience with the magic of any of the races or tribes here. As a result we really can't explain why these differences exist, there are a number of theories as to why seeker magic works the way it does, but the fact of the matter is that no matter what the theory is physically saying the name of the spell is needed for casting. The spells can be said in the quietest of whispers or loudest of yells or screams.”
“Any more questions?”
Celestia raised her ivory hoof, Rec gestured to the white mare, “Your friends have said that you like to combine spells regularly, and with some measure of ease. Is it a common practice for seekers to do so?”
“No,” said Rec flatly, “most seekers don't think of combining spells and focus on one spell at a time, each spell used expends the will of the user, as does each titan invoked. We'll get more into both at later portions of the seminar.”
“Moving on,” said Mandi, Claudia cleared the boards, “we'll now be discussing spells proper, also referred to as powers,” Claudia prepared for more diagrams, “as Twilight has undoubtedly been told,” everyone gave quick glance at said mare, “seeker spells are utilitarian in nature, that is to say they are usually intended to serve more than one function.”
“One of the most basic, and often first learned spells,” said Claudia as she drew out a set of diagrams that had a clearly glowing sphere that floated about with a number of uses being shown in several diagrams as she spoke, “is called BoltFlare. At first glance it might look like simple light spell with enough power to illuminate a large room while having a glow soft enough to not hurt anyone's eyes, but it's more than that. The spell can be used to light fires, warm drinks and light your way, many ancient seekers actually built safe houses that made it so that only light cast by this spell would allow entry while light that is not inherently of seeker origin would trigger a potentially deadly trap.”
“Seekers like their secrets, whether guarding them or uncovering them,” said Mandi, “they would often shield rooms or chambers with spells that protected them from being accessed through magical means, many of those ancient warding spells have been lost to the ages, but we do know is that the key to dropping those shields lies in a puzzle or riddle nearby, by proving the solution you could undo the shield.” All three alicorns present started thinking about this, especially Twilight, they were all snapped out as Mandi continued, “the more powerful or newer the spell to the caster the more will they tend to expend.”
Claudia nodded and moved on to another board and drew out a different set of diagrams; one looked like vines wrapping around a generic character, one looked a beam being blasted from a forehoof, one looked like some kind of translucent shield, one looked like a griffin's talons had morphed and one looked like an earth pony was knocking something back from a distance.
“Some of the more advanced spells we are aware of are BristleVine,” Claudia gestured to the mass of vines, “StoneGlove,” Claudia gestured to morphed griffon talons, and AugerFrost,” Claudia gestured to the beam, “each falls into a different category of spell, some categories are not being shown for safety reasons. StoneGlove is a defensive spell, but can be applied for offensive purposes. BristleVine is general spell that is also referred to as an offensive spell, the spell has numerous nonlethal applications. And AugerFrost is an offensive spell, but is also a basic cold spell and can be used for rapidly cooling a target, due to its status as an offensive spell it was not considered a good idea when a little freak out occurred shortly after our initial arrival.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” said Mandi as she rubbed the back of her head with a forehoof.
Celestia and Luna giggled a little, especially knowing how together the team had appeared when they were in Canterlot. Luna raised a hoof, Rec nodded to the dark blue alicorn, “What dost the diagram of a shield represent?”
“A spell called HonorGuard,” said Mandi, “you generate a magical shield facing a set direction that you can control the size of, it only covers a singular direction and only offers limited damage reduction versus magical attacks.”
The mares all nodded with understanding before Twilight raised a hoof, Rec gestured to the mulberry mare, “You said it's a basic defensive spell, are there any spells that offer better protection?”
“There's the OverShield spell, that drops the damage all attacks from above to zero, and ArmorBrand drops the damage of one attack from any direction to zero. While unicorn spells can probably be made to last longer seeker spells are a bit more energy efficient in that they take little to no focus to maintain once they've been cast.”
Pinkie raised a hoof, Rec gestured to the overly pink mare, “What was that spell you used when you first got here?”
“A basic speed spell called NimbleFire,” said Rec, “it slightly raises the caster's base speed in addition to upping their stamina. With it you can actually run on water if you maintain your motion, we know because we've done it a few times before.”
“Awesome,” said Rainbow Dash, this caused the three seekers to shoot her a withering look.
“I'm sorry that all we can really do is give you a run through on the basics, but none of us are master seekers just yet.”
“We still have a few years before that happens,” said Mandi, “Rec's as close as you're gonna get for for the time being, but even so at best he could be considered at the early intermediate level of his training. Even so, we're a team and go on missions. Claudia, could you go and collect the amulets that Rec managed retrieve,” Claudia nodded and headed into the castle.
Celestia raised a hoof, Rec gave her the go ahead, “If none of you are at the master level of your training, why is it you are unsupervised?”
“We give regular reports to our master seeker,” said Rec, “despite my not having completed my training as of yet I am trusted with the training of my friends and sister, my teacher tells me its a better method for my lessons this way.”
“That and your dad is a bit too busy to bother with training you, or anyone else,” said Mandi.
Rec gave a polite cough before saying, “Yes, well, different teachers have different methods. In three or four more years I calculate I should be a master seeker with you and Claudia having another year or so following before you also reach that level, of course something go always accel...” the sound of someone consuming a loud and crunchy food caused him to turn his attention to see Discord opening chestnuts, which were ironically being held in a cardboard chest, and tossing the seeds aside before flash roasting the shells to be exceedingly crunchy and biting down on them in a way that was designed to be very aggravating, “if you wanted to listen in on the lesson you should have just joined the rest of the class on the same floor.”
“Or at least bothered with pants if you decided at some point to go out in public,” said Mandi.
“I didn't decide on anything,” said Discord with a smirk, “although this show is bit boring if you ask me,” Mandi quickly moved to sit next Pinkie, everyone that was not Pinkie, Discord, or Rec gave her a confused look.
With closed eyes Rec said, “Some spells might sound, look, and quite possibly even feel like something that encroaches on one the pony tribes, keep in mind these spells were initially created in a a world none of what you take as natural was how it was where we're from.” He raised a hoof and pointed it at Rainbow Dash and said, “WindRush,” Rainbow was hit by a blast of wind that sent her flying back a few feet, “that was all me, no other ponies, pegasi or otherwise, helped with that. Did you enjoy the the demonstration, Rainbow Dash?”
It was at this point everypony looked back to Rec, who just gave a, 'What?' sort of look. Celestia cleared her throat and said, “Yes, it does seem that some spells might give the appearance of infringing on the domains of various tribes, if that example is anything to go on, please continue.”
Rec nodded then said, “being a seeker doesn't mean having amulets and titans is a must, nor does it mean accumulating a number of spells and memorizing them is required. Some seekers are known to go their entire careers without a single titan or spell, it can be one or the other, but as general rule it's a varying mix of both. Some of the spells I know aren't known to other seekers within my faction, and the inverse holds true as well.” They all spotted Twilight writing it all down.
“Now that we've gotten powers out of the way,” said Mandi, “we'll move on to amulets and titans.”
Rec started clearing the board with his magic, since he was still getting use to that aspect of himself the erasers did slip noticeably a few times, almost hitting the ground before he caught them at least once.
Once the boards were cleared, and Claudia returned with the boxes of amulets to set out in front of the class Rec said, “You will probably notice by looking at the amulets of everyone here that each has a distinct set of aesthetics, the coloration of the amulets and the gems set into them will usually denote the kind of titan you have. While titans will vary in size, temperament, personality and appearance each grouping has properties that are carried throughout. Yama-Titans such as Claudia's Fireblade and Rainbow Dash's Shinobi are typically characterized with being cunning and having a strong sense of independence.”
“Yeah, we butted heads early on in our relationship,” said Claudia with a smirk, “we got better over time.” Rainbow gave the griffin a smirk of her own.
Draco-Titans such as my Vitaguard are commonly characterized with a strong sense of loyalty and strong nobility to them. Gaia-Titans like Fluttershy's Wildwood Druid and Applejack's, I'm sorry I didn't catch what your titan is called, are denoted as possessing a need to be protective and helpful while also having some kind of tie to nature, usually plant life or wood.”
“Mah new friend here is a bit off there pardner,” said Applejack with a chuckle.
“Twilight's Akem-Meo is a bit of a case an exception defining the rule,” said Rec as he continued, “as a general rule Hecto-Titans like Akem-Meo are the type to take a sense of enjoyment from causing fear and destruction, in short they typically tend to be the kind that like to cause chaos.”
This caused Discord to take a very interested look at the lavender mare. “What? Really? But she's so friendly, and organized,” said Twilight.
“As I said, Akem-Meo is an exception that defines the rule. Due to their distinctive natures Hecto-Titans actually have bonding rules, that is say they're only willing to bond with seekers that they like for one reason or another, usually that means the seekers they are bonded with take some measure of delight in destruction and chaos. Akem-Meo is the inverse, in a sense. She's a titan that takes enjoyment in preservation and discovery of new information.”
“Oh, I've never heard that term before,” said Twilight.
“It's not really used all that often,” said Claudia, “moving on.” She pulled up one of the shield like amulets that Rec, Twilight and Pinkie had commandeered.
“This is an example of Krono-Titan,” said Rec, “they typically are known for having a sort of warrior personality.” Claudia returned the amulet to it's container.
Fluttershy raised a hoof, Rec gestured to her, “They don't sound very kind. Why are they like that?”
“No one really knows,” said Mandi, “the culture that they seem to be most closely tied to was very violent itself.”
“Oh my,” said Fluttershy
“Next are Litho-titans,” said Rec, “like Mandi's Undergolem, they are typically known for having bodies that are stronger and tougher than other titans, in short they're very durable. They also tend to have bodies that seem to be composed of rock or ice.”
Applejack raised hoof, Rec gestured to her, “So thay're a bunch uh literal tough folk,” she said, “whut's thair temperment like?”
“Hard to say,” said Mandi, “some are very calm and serene while other are rather vicious and aggressive.”
“Next are Meso-Titans,” said Rec pulling out his Springer Amulet, “they are known to have powerful abilities and are also known for being rather hard to control.
Luna raised a hoof, Rec gestured to the midnight blue alicorn, she said, “Just what makes this type of titan special?”
“We don't really know,” responded Rec, “what I'm telling you about each of the titan types is some overly simplified explanations that addresses things that were noticed to apply to most titans of these classifications.”
Luna gestured for him to continue. Rec returned his Springer to his pouch.
“Next are the Swara-Titans,” said Rec as Claudia lifted one of the brown amulets with a red gem up.”
“Oh my, such horrendous aesthetic,” said Rarity.
Claudia rolled her eyes and said, “Swara-Titans are known for having some rather aggressive personalities, they're also known for being a bit less than noble in their approaches.”
“True,” said Rec, “any questions?”
Fluttershy raised her hoof again, Rec gestured to the yellow pegasus, she said, “They don't sound nice. What do they look like?”
“Most have an insectoid appearance,” said Mandi, “in fact the titan in the amulet being used as an example is called Strix, it looks like a large cross between a wasp and mosquito.”
Fluttershy gave an 'eep' sound as if something had startled her.
“Pfft. This is ridiculous,” said Rainbow, hearing about all these is nice and all, but when to do we get to the cool stuff, like casting spells?”
"Once we get through this last part,” said Rec, “You've seen the spells, and the creatures, now we will move on to tools,” he floated out his mythichive, “each team has a device like this, we call ours the Mythichive, I honestly don't know the name for the similar tools in most of the other factions so don't ask. It's a sort of duplicate of the Casterwill tool called the Cypherdex, I've never seen one personally, but I think it would be easy to identify once it was spotted. This tool can be used for number of different tasks,” he flipped it all the way back, “from storing notes,” a picture of a file folder flashed in the holographic display, to mapping,” a map of a cavern flashed in the display, “to identifying titans.”
The strix amulet was held up to it, an image of what looked like a cross between a wasp and mosquito fluttered in the display and the device said in its feminine voice, “Strix, Attack: 2, Defense: 1, Size: Small, Special Abilities: Sting, Type: Swara-Tian Scout.”
“And even communication,” said Rec, “but this one is currently cut off from our network, so I can't really demonstrate that one.” he closed the device, “And that's all the basics, and quite frankly all I'm really qualified for, aside from teaching a few spells and moves.”
“Teaching moves, not so much right now,” said Claudia, “the style he's been trained in didn't take ponies potentially using it into account, same goes for the rest of us.”
“Well you can still teach us some some basic spells and see how we do,” said Celestia.
“An excellent suggestion, and for diversity we'll each be instructing in how to execute different powers,” said Rec, “alright, you two, what basic power will you be instructing in. I will be teaching BoltFlare.”
“Pfft,” said Claudia, “I'll be showing you how to do AugerFrost.”
“I'll instruct you in how to do HonorGuard,” said Mandi.
Everypony set up in the open space and chose where they would be starting. Since Twilight had already learned BoltFlare she was trying decide which of other two she would learn first. Rainbow went strait for learning AugerFrost, Fluttershy decided to learn HonorGuard first, everypony was making their decisions as best they could. Twilight decided as the questions she had regarding the Legendary Titans during her spell lessons, she figured it would be quicker that way, and she had actually had her questions slip her mind in the excitement of learning the basics of new magic.
Once everyone was in place, Twilight had decided on HonorGuard, the three impromptu instructors said, “Alright to begin this spell you need to...”
While the lesson on seekers was going on for the elder ponies the CMC and Orchid were trying to occupy their time with something that wouldn't land them in too much trouble.
“We already tried treasure hunting,” said Scootaloo, “all we uncovered was the mane brush Sweetie Belle lost last week.”
“Rarity wasn't happy about that,” Squeaked Sweetie Belle, “and since we don't have any spare capes just yet we can't give you your initiation, Orchid.”
“You three really want me as member of your club, and not just pulling my leg.”
“Pfft, we're better fillies than that,” said Scootaloo, “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are like those girls you talked about, snooty and arrogant.”
“Yeah, you keep talking about those two, and in the kind of voice that indicates you have contempt or disdain for them.” Scootaloo gave Orchid a confused look.
“She means we talk like we don't talk like we don't like them,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Because we don't,” said Apple Bloom promptly, “they've made 'ur live uh livin' Tartarus just because thay got cutie marks an' we don't.”
“Where I grew up no one had cutie marks, in fact the concept never existed there,” said Orchid, “Adults, children, and teens all don't have anything like a cutie mark. In fact there a full grown folks that are stuck in jobs they don't like because they haven't been able to find that one thing that they're good at above all else. Rec found out what he was good at because he's smart, adaptive, and not afraid of change. You three are always open up for new experiences, that's something a lot of folks aren't willing to even try.”
“Why not?” Squeaked Sweetie Belle.
“Because they like their boring and safe lives,” said Orchid, “they like things that don't challenge them, but that's no way to test yourself. You have to be willing to try and fail to really test yourself. Testing yourself shows you just what you're capable of.”
“That's terrible,” said Scootaloo, “they like their lives to be boring.”
“Folks will say they want something interesting to happen their lives,” said Orchid, “but truth is they don't like it when something interesting doesn't happen, they don't like their ideas of how the world is shaken up.”
“But you don't seem to mind,” said Sweetie Belle.
“As my brother and his friends are fond of saying,” said Orchid, “it's all about finding a balance in your perceptions.”
“That sounds really corny,” said Scootaloo, “you said your brother and his friends go on globetrotting adventures, they have awesome Daring Do type adventures.”
“Still don't know who that is,” retorted Orchid, “besides, they would much prefer a few days of free time than being sent on missions across the world. I guess seeing old cities, ancient ruins and fighting mythical beasts does sound like living an awesome life, but my brother and his friends are tired of all the missions they keep getting sent on and just want a few days to do what they want, in fact that's what this week was supposed to be, that is until someone decided to ruin their week off with calling them in for a mission.”
“Wait, mission,” said Scootaloo, “you mean they got somepony that tells them where they need to go so they can showcase their awesomeness.”
“Um, no,” said Orchid flatly, “seekers are the type that go for being all subtle, we try to keep everything as low profile as possible. We don't go trouncing into an excavation site and set off a bunch of explosives when we find out an artifact is too dangerous to be left in the care of anyone. Instead we send a team to retrieve the artifact in question and put in a secret safe house in the care of someone whose very job is to make sure no one gets a hold of the artifact until it proper research has been done on it. What I'm saying is that we try to be more practical, like farmers.”
“Did ya just say that mah family mindset is part uh what et means ta be one uh those seeker-types?” Responded Apple Bloom.
“Yes,” said Orchid, “but we already have a few that are in on all this info here, which can be as helpful as it is unhelpful, you girls need to promise in the strongest oath to your knowledge to not share any of the seeker stuff except in the case of it being absolutely required that you reveal it for a very important reason. In short, no one you know at school, in town, the country or the world outside those that already know can know about what I've revealed to you, you can't even say you're crusading to be seekers in public.”
The three fillies looked at her with amazement, then Sweetie Belle raised a hoof, followed by Apple Bloom and Scootaloo before they all started a dance that began with twirling their hooves and ending with poking their eyes with the hoof while simultaneously saying, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, Stick a cupcake in my eye.”
Orchid stared at them and said with confusion, “What was that?”
“A Pinkie promise,” said Sweetie Belle, “the most important promise, ever!”
“If ya break yer Pinkie promise Pinkie will find you, an' Ah don't mean et en tha figurative sense,” said Apple Bloom, “an' show ya why ya need ta keep yer Pinkie promises.”
“What are you blank flanks up to now,” came a self-important filly's voice.
They all turned to see a pinkie coated filly with a silver colored tiara that had a white diamond adornments and a gray filly with sky blue framed glasses.
“It better not be anything we'll be embarrassed about,” said the gray filly in a snobbish voice, “looks like you found another blank flank to try and make yourselves seem special.”
After they got closer the pink filly saw Orchid's Jirwolf amulet before saying, “At least she has good taste, that jewelry looks pretty good, I might have daddy buy me some.”
“You can't buy an amulet like this,” said Orchid with indignation, “friends like him don't like your type, only jerks would like Enforcer would like you.”
“Hey, do you have any idea who we are, blank flank?”
“No,” said Orchid flatly, “and I'm proud to say I don't care who you are. I could care less who your parents are. And above all I think anyone who thinks they're above others needs to get a reality check, preferably by getting bumped down a few pegs. And before you even try, you couldn't buy any of my amulets off me if you had all the money in the world!”
The two just stared in dumbstruck surprise, Orchid just trotted off and asked the other three were coming with her.
Once the two new ponies were out of earshot Sweetie Belle said, “I can't believe you managed to say something that actually made Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon just freeze up like that, you gave them a speech about not caring who they were or who they were connected to. I don't know if you were being brave or crazy, because I know you didn't know who Diamond Tiara and Silver looked like before today.”
“From the way they talked and moved I can honestly say I would not like them one bit,” said Orchid, “heck I probably still won't know who their folks are until I meet them.”
“Diamond's dad is Filthy Rich,” Scootaloo, “he's a highly influential pony in this town, he's also one of the wealthiest as well.”
“Wait his name is... you know what never mind,” said Orchid, “I'll explain later.”
“Maybe your special talent is pointing out flaws in another pony's arguments,” squeaked Sweetie Belle.
“Chances are that was one time deal,” said Orchid, “if I try something like that again it probably won't work.”
“Oh, but that would be a cool talent if it was that you could keep doing that,” said Scootaloo.
“Quick question,” said Orchid, “does that mean I'd have have an image someone being berated by someone else?”
“Ooh, ya got a point thare,” said Apple Bloom, “what would an argument ruiner cutie mark look like? Not somethin' Ah'd want on mah flank now that Ah think abou' et.”
“Well, we can cross that one off the list,” said Sweetie Belle.
After a few minutes they started making their way to Sweet Apple Acres, a few minutes into the trot the sound of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon approaching could be heard, Orchid had always found she had an ear for that sort who was going somewhere by their sound (she wondered why that that could mean, then decided to address it later).
“How dare you mock us then just leave us there,” said Diamond Tiara, “you have no idea who you're dealing with.”
Without looking back, and continuing to trot, Orchid said, “I know exactly who I'm dealing with, a pair of spoiled brats who think that their families have enough resources they can do whatever they want. You have no idea what Noblesse Oblige is do you?”
“That the name of some important pony,” said Diamond with a mocking tone, “one you made up to make yourself sound more informed than us.”
“Um no,” said Silver Spoon with a bit of worry in her voice, “Diamond, it's a more refined way of saying 'noble obligations', she just effectively called us out as members of the noble class.”
This caused the Crusaders to halt, causing Orchid to do the same, “What do you know about noble obligations,” said Silver Spoon, “you're a nopony with some fancy looking jewelry that you probably found and decided was pretty and decided to put it on.”
Orchid turned to face the two with an annoyed look on her face, “You can mock me all you want,” said Orchid before continuing, “make fun my understandings of society, and even make fun of my choices of style. BUT NO ONE, AND I MEAN NO ONE makes fun of MY friends like that.
My amulets are my connection my friends and family, all good memories despite the times, the joys despite the hardships, all the trust despite the deceit around us. You have no right make fun of the ones I trust and care for with such expressions. I learned to always look at things beneath the surface, it's a policy that has been passed down through my family for generations. We may not be old money, but we certainly aren't new money either. We have long standing traditions that tell us how to interact with other in public and private. We may not be nobles, but certainly aren't the kind you can just look down on. All you seem to focus on is the surface, you don't bother to look deeper, if you did bother to look past the surface you would find such acts like the ones you seem so fond of are meaningless in the long run. While you might be more important than any one of us now, chances are that any one of, if not all, of us could end up in a position of greater importance than you in our futures.
Our futures are unwritten, but you seem to think that because you found the path to a future you have the right to lord it over those that have yet to find their life's path. Your kind make me sick, I tried to get along with your kind before, what that got me was a nearly smashed jewelry making kit and lot of pent up aggression that I knew would never lead to anything good, so I did my best to quell that disdain, and you just had start poking around and find those old scars. Well, congratu-fracking-lations you pressed the wounds hard enough to open them, I suppose you're proud of yourselves for acting all important and not showing you are.
Noble obligations means doing what is expected of you and your status, it's an ideal of doing what society demands of you, but the nobility mostly use those an excuse for why they can't do something, so guess what, you wanted me to crack and you did it, you fracking did it, you got me to crack and explode. But you thought my little tirade would happen in a way that you could manage, or use as an excuse to your parents for why you were heckling me, jokes on you, my entire tirade has been about responsibilities that you seem to be dodging.
You know what the real joke is here? If you had tried this a few years ago or a few years from now I would have just let it all slide off me like water off a duck's back.” She huffed and stomped off, the other five fillies just staring in surprise at her.
“Did...did we just get scolded on our behavior from a filly our age and take it?” Said Diamond Tiara finally breaking the silence, “I wanted to stop her, but the way she talked just wouldn't let me find a point to do so.”
“She just kept ranting,” said Silver Spoon with a semi-glazed look in her eyes, “and the worst part is I couldn't tune it out, I didn't just hear her. I was actually listening to her, it was like my mother giving me lessons on how to be a proper noble, I just couldn't stop actually listening to her.”
The Crusaders blinked few times and rushed after Orchid, “Ya did et again,” said Apple Bloom, “Only this time ya got the Crusaders caught up in what ya said.”
“That was some speech,” said Sweetie Belle, “you just kept going, and we had no idea what you were getting at. Whatever it is that was must be your special talent.”
“Yeah, you were awesome,” said Scootaloo.
“I was just getting my aggression out in socially acceptable manner,” said Orchid, “I didn't expect it to go that long, maybe a couple of small sentences, but not that freaking political speech.”
“Ya seem ta got uh talent fer givin' those speeches,” sad Apple Bloom.
“But I feel a stronger connection with animals than anything else,” said Orchid, “knowing those two things doesn't really tell me what I'm really good at. Even if they're difficult to bond with the more animal-like titans bond easily with me. To be be perfectly honest, I don't know why. Mom seems to have a solid grasp on magic concepts, but they seem to be a little skewed from those my brother and I learned. She's also so strong willed that when dad tried to wipe her memory of all the seeker stuff when she witnessed him doing it in the place as her that his spell actually failed.”
“Wait,” said Apple Bloom, “yer sayin' tha' if yer will is powerful enough it can keep a spell that affects yer mind from not working.”
“Seeker magic is connected to will power, the stronger your will the more powerful you are, in order to override a SimpleMind spell you need to have a will equal to or greater than that of the one casting it, in short despite not being able to do magic mom is awesome in that she can shrug off seeker mind affecting spells because of her sheer force of will.”
“Okay, yeah, that does sound like your mom is awesome,” said Scootaloo.
“Hey you,” the sound of a indignant Diamond Tiara approaching, without Silver Spoon (who was still standing dumbstruck where she was), “that little speech of yours was cute, but even so I'll just tell Daddy and then...”
“Is that all you're gonna do? Hide behind your daddy and hope that he'll solve all your problems,” said Orchid cutting off Diamond Tiara.
“How dare you. You, you, wo...”
“Gonna have to stop you right there,” said Orchid, “you've had everything you ever wanted. I'm reminded of the tales of the ifrit and djinn. You have an ifrit at your beck and call, everything you want is yours with little to no effort. I'm the djinn for the Crusaders, I'm not as powerful, but I serve as a tempering agent when they say they wish for something I ask them if that's what they need. You see, you can't discern between want and need because your daddy spoils you rotten. Go back to your 'daddy' and keep living in your little fantasy, I'll be guiding the story of my friends to something even I can't see,” what made it all the more impressive was how even kept her voice during the entire time, “just because you have a genie that can give whatever you want doesn't mean you should keep wishing for things of little consequence. Wealth, in the long run is meaningless. Connections, good or ill, can last lifetimes.”
Diamond didn't respond and just left with an indignant trot, Silver Spoon followed closely behind.
“Ah don't know if yer brave, reckless, crazy, or somethin' else,” said Apple Bloom, “but ya just gave Diamond another one o' yer speeches, Ah didn' really follow et all that well, ya were usin' a bunch o' terms an' words Ah'm not familiar with.”
Orchid smiled and said, “Let's head to your clubhouse and I'll tell you the tale of 'Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp', and maybe a few other tales if you want.”
“Maybe you'll get your cutie mark in story telling,” squeaked Sweetie Belle.
“Sounds lame to me,” said Scootaloo, “the story cutie mark sounds like it wouldn't be all that cool and listening to some pony tell me a story doesn't sound all that cool either.”
“The tales I'm going to tell are of awesome adventures, Aladdin's story is just the beginning here,” said Orchid as they continued, “There's also Alibaba, the king thieves, and Sinbad, the greatest sailor ever.”
“Sounds cool, I might listen to a few stories,” said Scootaloo.
“It's made epic by the story of how the stories came to be,” said Orchid as they approached Sweet Apple Acres.
“What ya mean?” Said Apple Bloom.
As they climbed into the clubhouse and settled down Orchid said, “The way they came about involved a sultan and a lady named Scheherazade, the way the story goes is the sultan found out his brother's wife was unfaithful to him, then shortly after discovered his own wife was unfaithful to him.”
“Tha' is most definitely not right,” said Apple Bloom.
“When he found out he had her executed.”
“Yikes,” said all three bringing their hooves subconsciously to their throats for a few seconds.
“In his grief the sultan decided all... mares were the same, so he began to marry a succession of pure maidens only to slay them the following morning.” The three fillies gulped.
“This is not cool, it's actually kind of scary,” said Scootaloo, “is this going to give me nightmares.”
“Only if you don't listen to story all the way to the end,” said Orchid, “I would know, I made that mistake.”
“Phew,” said all three.
“But you might have some not so pleasant elements in your dreams for a few night regardless of that fact. Anyway, when it came to be her time Scheherazade decided in order to keep herself from being executed began to tell a story that lasted the whole night, but wasn't completed when the sun rose, so in order to hear the rest of the story the sultan had to spare her until the following sunrise, and let her know this, because she said she'd only tell him the stories at night. When she finished one story she would begin another, and cycle continued, for a thousand and one nights.”
“Oh, wow,” said Scootaloo, “story telling must have been her talent.”
“Actually, no,” said Orchid, “if you were to take a closer look a the stories you would find most are poorly put together, but it would hard to tell because she put stories within stories and had intersecting stories, or the same story as one before with an entirely different cast of characters. She basically kept going because she was not interested in dying, ironically enough the telling of her stories slowly caused the sultan to fall in love with her.”
“Aw, that's sweet,” said Sweetie Belle, “I'm going tell Rarity about that one, she'll be so happy to hear about love saving the day.”
“What about the stallion that the love story revolves around killing every mare before her,” said Scootaloo, “she probably won't appreciate that.”
“You're probably right, but she'll probably shrug it off with saying a stallion with such a brutish mindset towards mares being wooed by a mare through her stories is probably one of the greatest things ever.”
“Don't presume to speak for family,” said Orchid, “it's in bad taste, and something that everyone should really stop doing.”
“That somethin' yer brother insist on?” Asked Apple Bloom.
“Nope, a philosophy I came to on my own, but had no initiative to voice about,” said Orchid.
“So, ya finally stopped tryin' ta be yer brother,” said Apple Bloom
“He's a good role model,” said Orchid, “but everyone is right, I need to find the real me and let her out. I honestly think you three can help with that.”
“Well, if the the speeches you gave Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are any indication to what your meant for,” said Sweetie Belle, “it seems we are helping bring out the you that is meant to be.”
“That was just me trying to be assertive, yet non-hostile,” said Orchid.
“Well, you came out looking awesome in our opinion,” said Scootaloo.
“Yeah,” squeaked Sweetie Belle, “we don't get along all that well with Diamond and Silver. The way you dealt with them is something my sister says we should do.”
“There 're times Ah wanna give 'em a good buck ta tha face,” said Apple Bloom, “but that's not uh good policy, especially when 'ur families do business together.”
“I'm not much of an action gal,” said Orchid with shake of her head, “that's why I've always entertained the idea of being someone who looks after places, anyway you girls wanted to hear some old stories. So here we go, you see our first story starts...”
“Apple Bloom, get yer flank down 'ere, that goes fer tha rest of ya fillies,” came Applejack's voice, “et's a half hour ta dinner.”
The four fillies came trotting out of the club house slowly, “Ya sure that mare that told those stories didn't have a story telling cutie mark?” Said Scootaloo as they trotted up to Applejack.
“Wait, ya fillies were just tellin' stories? Ah figured it would be somethin' a bit more alarm worthy,” said Applejack.
“Nope, I was just sharing some old stories with the girls,” said Orchid.
“Yer still on tha first one,” said Apple Bloom.
“And I have three more I want to share,” said Orchid with a smirk, “I got a mind like a steel trap when it comes to stories and lore.”
“And ya can repeat them with almost perfect accuracy, based on how we spent the whole time in the Club House listenin' ta tha story ya chose,” said Apple Bloom, “can't ya just tell us how et ends.”
“Each story is an adventure,” said Orchid with a a teasing authoritative voice, “Everyone knows the best part of an adventure is the journey, not the destination. Besides, I wanted to share the whole experience with you girls, remember how I said the stories came about.”
“Oh,” said the Crusaders in unison.
“I'll ask Rarity to make you a crusaders cape,” said Sweetie Belle, “but right now we need to head home, see you tomorrow. You better finish that story, it's fun.”
They all waved to each other and headed home, Orchid returning to Twilight's castle.
“Now, how was yer day,” said Applejack, “and be honest.”
“Pretty good, we bumped inta Diamond Tiara an' Silver Spoon, Orchid stopped 'em in thair tracks wid a couple o' speeches, it was pretty fun ta watch,” said Apple Bloom.”
“She didn't end up sayin' anythang ya can't repeat, Ah hope,” said Applejack as they headed for the farmhouse.
“Oh, Ah can definitely repeat it, she didn't use any words tha' sounded like ya wouldn't approve o',” said Apple Bloom, “if Ah cou' jus' remember 'er wordin' that is, ya cou' ask Orchid what she said ta those two, chances are Diamond and Silver will have blown it out of proportion wid thair own spin on thangs when they tell thair folks.”
“We'll cross tha' when we come ta et,” said Applejack.
“Ah guess tha's as good as we're gonna get et,” said Apple Bloom.
“How 'bout ya tell me abou' these stories Orchid is sharin' with ya.”
“How about et tha table wid tha whole family,” said Apple Bloom, “tha' way Ah don't 'ave to repeat mahself ta everypony.”
“Sounds good ta me,” said Applejack.
************************
Dinner was coming to a close at Carousel Boutique When Sweetie Belle basically dropped the news about what Orchid had told her and the crusaders about the stories before jumping for joy at actually getting the chance to hear some of them. Rarity was predictably dramatic about the whole thing. First revolted that a stallion would dislike mares so much, even if his actions were somewhat justified, then spouting about the romanticism of a mare capturing a stallion's heart with a seemingly simple act that was born out of a desire for self-preservation.
“So, tell me what is the first story she is telling you?”
“Aladdin and his wonderful lamp,” squeked Sweetie Belle, “it has this evil adviser type character that tricks the main character into entering an enchanted cave which holds this magic lamp that contains a powerful creature called an genie, but to help through the challenges he was given a magic ring that held a different kind of genie that wasn't as powerful as the one in the lamp.”
“Did she give you distinctions about the two?”
“Yeah,” said Sweetie with an excited nod, “the one in the lamp is called and Ef Reet, or something sounded like that, and it is exceedingly powerful, any wish you make it grants without a second thought, but you have to be careful how you say your wish to it because it will use your exact wording when granting the wish. They're also really big jerks, they don't care about anypony and keep going on thinking things like 'I'm immortal and you'll be buried a couple of decades and then I can grant the wishes of the next fool', basically they give you everything you say you want without you having to work for it.”
“Yes well, Spike gave a book with a spell that did something similar,” said Rarity, “of course I didn't remember most it and had to be told by my friends just what I had been up to, it was quite embarrassing really.”
“Um, yeah, I remember that day,” said Sweetie Belle with a nervous look, “but the one in the ring is a lot nicer, he's called a djinni, and he hears what the hero of the story wishes for and says things 'are you sure? I can give you that with no problem, but that's really shortsighted of you, if I were to give you this other thing it would really help you out more and wouldn't have to worry a few more problems down the path you're taking right now.' He says the genies are basically wants vs needs, and the story is basically the hero learning just what those differences are.”
“A good lesson to learn,” said Rarity.
“Yeah, but Orchid stopped it just as the hero was getting ready to rescue the daughter of the king, she says she'll finish it tomorrow and start another story, but that's like one of the worst places to leave off in the story.”
Rarity chuckled and tousled Sweetie's mane, “Don't worry darling, she did promise to finish the story so it's not like it'll be all that bad. Besides, maybe she's testing your ability to keep interested by telling these stories.” Then thinking to herself, And keeping them out of trouble for a day or two might be what everypony needs. She then directed Sweetie too bed, made sure the door and windows were properly closed and locked, and got the lights before heading up herself.
*********************
The next morning found Rec, Claudia, Mandi and Orchid doing basic martial art exercises with the rising of the sun. Twilight was a little surprised to see the four going through their exercises so early. she usually wasn't up that early herself, but at the events as of late caused her friends to force her to get some sleep and so here she was at sunrise watching her guests go through the series of intricate maneuvers that amounted to basic combat. To her it was more of a surprise that the four did it all without some sort of alarm system, or at least she couldn't figure out what their alarm system for getting up so early.
After watching the four go about their warm ups for a few minutes she trotted up to Rec and said, “I think I figured what you're doing, but how in the name of the princesses did you manage to up so early?”
“I'm always up this early in summer, weekends and holidays,” said Claudia as the all continued their stretches.
“When I don't have much to do I find it difficult to sleep like anyone normal,” said Mandi.
“I'm used to operating at odd hours,” said Rec.
“I caught him heading out on my way back from the restroom,” said Orchid.
Twilight just stared at the four with a bit of confusion, here they were at early daylight hours exercising and only the youngest one present didn't give a statement that it was routine for her.
*****************************
A few hours later over a breakfast of pancakes, which Orchid was diving into with much fervor, Twilight got a few more hints about their world that confused and fascinated her.
“Okay, so you're sure nopony moves the sun and moon in your world,” said Twilight.
“For the seventeenth time,” said Claudia as she ran talons down her beak in a facepalm, “The sun and moon rising and falling is optical illusion created by the our planet's rotation.”
“Although there are stories about beings were said to command the movements of the sun and the moon,” said Rec, “in ancient Greece Apollo was said to pull the sun behind his chariot, the Aztec's believed Qutzatacoquatal reined over the sun and agriculture, the Egyptians had the god Ra ruling the sun and Amun holding dominion over the moon, not to mention there are hosts of other cultures across the globe with some variation of one who commands the sun. The fact is the idea of beings with the power to move cosmic bodies like the sun and the moon does exist in the lore of our world, but science has proven it's nothing more than our planet rotating as it orbits our sun when the sun rises and sets, our moon orbits our world and its passing produces similar results.”
“Okay,” said Twilight as she jotted down her notes and double checked them before moving on, “Who manages your weather?”
“Doesn't work that way,” said Mandi, “the weather operates with no influence from the populations of the world, it's all erratic and automated. Just because we need rain somewhere doesn't mean we'll always get it, some places get more rain than they need and that's just how life is.”
“Don't you have a weather factory and ponies that manage it?” Inquired Twilight.
“No,” said Claudia flatly, “you see 'the weather factory' is nature itself, the sun heats water and when the water becomes steam it rises into the atmosphere where the steam crystallizes into the collection of ice particles that we call clouds, of course due to their nature no one can walk on clouds because doing so would mean falling to that person's death.”
“You used that word again, 'person' and you've also used the word 'people', I'm not familiar with those terms.”
The three ponies facehoofed and Claudia facepalmed, “We'll address some of the lexicons of our world later,” said Rec, “right now we're trying explain how things are different between worlds.”
“Claudia and Mandi were there when Princess Luna and Princess Celestia moved the moon and sun, Mandi doesn't have a problem with believing it, but Claudia isn't quite convinced.”
“For all we know it was a pretty show of lighting their horns at the exact moment the celestial bodies moved,” she huffed, “the only reason these three,” she gestured to Rec, Mandi and Orchid, “don't seem to mind it all that much is because they grew up on stories about that sort of thing from their mothers.”
“Different worlds mean different rules,” said Rec, “it is entirely possible that Princess Celestia can move the sun and Princess Luna can move moon, I didn't get a chance to witness any of that because I was in a cave dealing with a bunch fanatical zealots that managed to get possession of an item that disabled the magic to an entire city that runs on it, in light of the fact there are entire cities that are regulated through magic I am more than willing to believe the claims that Celestia and Luna make regarding their command of the heavens.”
“Okay, fair point,” said Claudia, “but I'm still not willing accept they command the sun and the moon.”
“Well, I kind of had to command the sun and the moon during the Tirek threat,” said Twilight as she finished up her notes, “the sun was supposed be up hours before I realized the sun and the moon needed to change places in the sky, moving the sun and the moon is very difficult.”
“See, that's my problem,” said Claudia, “all the supposed proof that the sun and moon are moved through magic happened before we could get a clear reading on the subject.”
“Well, I still have that potion that Zecora gave me to see how events of the past unfolded, maybe if I give you a sip it'll let you watch one of the events of the past year and you'll finally stop doubting me.”
“Or it could be some powerful hallucinogen that makes me think I'm seeing the events of the past,” retorted Claudia.
“That's probably how it would treat you anyway,” said Twilight, “Zecora said it only reacts with alicorn magic. Wait, I could just use a spell to put copies of some of of the memories in your head, like I did when Discord turned my friends and I into opposites of ourselves.”
“Speaking of which,” said Rec, “when I finally scanned Discord with the Mythichive it proved absolutely nothing.”
“But the Meso-Titan Mariachi band was entertaining,” said Mandi.
“Yes, the Springer with maracas and a party sombrero was fun to watch,” said Claudia, “and unexpected.” Turning to Twilight she said, “I doubt seeing anything in your memories would help ease my doubts, but if it will help ease your mind then do it, but my friends have to experience it too.”
“Ooh, me too,” said Orchid.
Twilight smiled and gestured for them all to gather close together before igniting her horn and passing the copy of the memories on to the four. The memories flashed by their mind's eye like they were watching video in fast forward.
“Ow, my head,” said Claudia when it ended, “note to self, don't tick off Discord, if that nut has that much power then it's a very bad idea.”
“We could just ask him to make us a portal home,” said Orchid.
“Sorry sis, not gonna happen,” said Rec, “we need to find out just what we were asked to do first.”
“I'm surprised you haven't asked to be paid yet,” said Twilight, “having a few bits on you would probably be a good idea for when you stay longer.”
“Well, we're not used to getting paid for our services,” said Claudia, “I'm usually financing our outings and the others have monthly allowances provided by their parents.”
“Well, that and we don't like pressing others for compensations,” said Rec.
“We're going to need to go over a few things,” said Twilight.
***********************************
“Okay,” said Apple Bloom once they were away from the palace, “care ta tell us what tha meetin' is abou', Orchid.”
“Just habits and economic practices we utilize back home,” said Orchid, “the kind of stuff that would probably put Scootaloo to sleep.”
“Good call,” said Sweetie, “I've caught her drooping a few time in mathematics lessons, and economics is basically mathematics with a bunch of jargon thrown in.”
“Now don't be rude,” said Orchid, “it's a bit more complicated than that.”
“How would you know?” Said Apple Bloom.
“I took a few courses in introductory economics,” said Orchid, “practically gave me a headache.”
“Okay, could finish up that story you were telling?” said Scootaloo, “the hero was about to go and rescue the princess from the evil sorcerer.”
“Later,” said Orchid, “before that let's have a bit of fun. I don't think you girls want to spend all day in clubhouse, we could do a morning adventure and then after lunch I could try wrapping up the story.”
“That sounds reasoning to me,” Sweetie Belle, “none of us really wants to be in the clubhouse all day.”
“Where did ya learn tha story ya decided ta tell us?” Inquired Apple Bloom as the four fillies continued to trot towards nowhere in particular.
“I read it,” said Orchid, “It's all a collection of stories titled 'A thousand and one Arabian Nights', and trust when I say it's more of a tome than a book. It's one of my faves, I have a personal copy on my shelf at home. Anyway, care to tell me who this 'Daring Do' character is?”
“She's only the most awesome adventurer ever,” said Scootaloo, “she's got a whole lot of books that detail her adventures, she fights these evil forces and makes off with these really cool artifacts from all over the world.”
“Sounds like character of literature from my world,” said Orchid.
“Oh, really,” came Rainbow's voice from overhead, “and just who would that be?”
“His name's Indiana Jones,” said Orchid, seeming to have not realized it was the cyan mare hovering above the four that asked the question, “he has whole bunch of books dedicated to his adventures, and also a few movies.”
“Oh, darn it,” came Rainbow's voice with annoyance, “I've only been hearing rumors about a Daring Do movie coming out in a few years, and this guy you talked about already has more than one.”
“Four, to be precise,” said Orchid, “although the fourth one isn't considered cannon by a lot of the fans, so technically it's only three.”
“No fair,” Rainbow said with a pout, crossing her forelegs in annoyance, “figures the coolest pony in your world would be a dude.”
“That's the way it is in our world, most of the major cultures have been dominated by males. So we have very male centerpiece hero system. There are few notable great female heroes, but all the ones I can think of are well with the realms of fantasy and science fiction.”
“Well, I guess it's a start,” mumbled Rainbow.
“Anyway, miss Rainbow, what can we do for you?” Said Orchid.
“I was wondering if you could show me how to do any of those speed spells, your brother and his friends are refusing to show me how to do them.”
“You already have an ability that can break the sound barrier,” said Orchid, “that and I'm pretty sure they think you'd use it to get an unfair edge on competition in your races, it's best keep to temptation away from someone until they can better manage those impulses. From what I've heard you're a bit of a glory hound with shades of a spotlight hog, and are quite prone to showboating. All in all it's probably best you not know any speed enhancing spells just yet.”
“Well, when you put it like that it does sound like a good idea to keep the tricks for enhancing my speed with magic out of my hooves for a bit.”
“Yeah, and the last time my brother tried the triple speed combo he looked and acted like he could collapse at any point.”
“That bad?” Said Sweetie.
“Worse,” stated Orchid, “after his first attempt he vowed to only use that trick again if the situation required it.”
“Oh, but those NimbleFire and ShadowSpeed spells sound so cool,” whined Rainbow.
“They only enhance your speed for a short time, and when they fade out it's best not to be moving the way you would like to,” said Orchid.
“Are there any spells they know that I could possibly try out?” Inquired Rainbow
Orchid seemed to be thinking a bit before she said, “The WindRush and SnowBlast spells might be right up your alley, and if you want something a little more destructive TouchRam or RayPulse might be more your speed, although DoubleSpell is always good to know, as is FeatherDrop.”
“Okay, I've seen the wind spell, heck I was the target of it during a demonstration, I've seen the snow spell. What the rest like?”
“TouchRam creates a cone of energy that pushes the target back, you can also throw it as a condensed ball. RayPulse you shoot a beam from your...forehoof, DoubleSpell let's you cast two of the next spell, and FeatherDrop makes it so when you land it's light as a feather no matter how high up you are, it can also be used on others and items.”
“Thanks, catch ya girls later,” with that Rainbow was off.
“You said that your family farm has been here for centuries?”
“Tha past two hundrad years,” said Apple Bloom, “why ya ask?”
“Titans tend like hanging around places with a lot of history to them, and your family farm might just fit that bill.”
“Why didn't you tell us sooner?” Squeaked Sweetie Belle.
“Because thought you three would figure it out from eavesdropping on what my brother and his friends had to say,” said Orchid.
“Well ya did say tha' these titan things like ta hang around places wid a lot o' history,” said Apple Bloom, “Ah jus' figured tha' et wouldn't involve mah family's territory.”
Orchid rolled her eyes and said, “Anything that has been around for more than forty years should qualify for our purposes. I mean there are places in the world grew up in that are barely fifty years old that have rumors that could indicate them.”
“Oh, is that all?” Inquired Scootaloo.
“So, Apple Bloom,” said Orchid, “are there any old stories your family has about the farm?”
“Um, tha' Ah can think o', but we could ask Granny Smith, she might know a few o' tha old tales abou' tha farm.”
“And bore us with an overly story,” said Scootaloo.
“Hay,” said Apple Bloom, “Ah like Granny's stories, she was an amazin' mare back in her day.”
“Yeah, but now she's not all that exciting,” said Scootaloo.
“Having a family changes you,” said Orchid, “some folks are wild and wacky when they're our age, and even when they're adults, but there are plenty of recorded instances of them becoming much more subdued, even the complete opposite of they were before, when they start having a family.”
“Wait, are you saying that Rainbow Dash will stop being Rainbow Dash as soon as she gets married or has foals?” Said Scootaloo with surprise.
“You don't stop being who you are, you just change a bit,” said Orchid, “Rainbow will still be Rainbow, I'm just saying that if she were to become a mom that mama Rainbow would be a bit different than the current Rainbow. We all have properties of our parents, maybe her babies will end up with similar personalities to the current her, the future is unwritten and it our duty to author what comes next, for we are the heroes of our own stories.”
“Well that was cheesy,” said Scootaloo, “and kind of sounded like something Twilight would say.”
“Actually, they're a pair of old sayings where I'm from,” said Orchid.
“Alraht everypony, ta Sweet Apple Acres,” said Apple Bloom, “Granny maght be able ta give us some ideas o' where ta go next.”
*********************************************
“...and that's why we Apples 'ave stayed on this patch o' earth fer as long as we 'ave,” finished up Granny Smith, “et's nice ta see younin like ya showin' an intrest en these sorta things.”
Once they were out of the farmhouse, and ear shot of Granny Smith, Scootaloo almost yelled, “Three hours, we were stuck listening to who know how many old Apple stories for three hours. I can barely feel my legs, or flank.”
“Did ya at leas' get some idea o' where ta look fer anythang,” said Apple Bloom turning her attention to Orchid.
“Maybe,” said Orchid, “but that will involve digging under the farmhouse, and I'm pretty sure your family wouldn't take kindly to potentially dropping a section of the homestead on the off chance we find an amulet.”
“We could always go back through the Everfree,” said Scootaloo.
“We aren't old enough to do that unsupervised,” said Orchid, Apple Bloom and Sweetie at the same time.
“You guys are no fun,” said Scootaloo as she crossed her forelegs indignantly.
“You want to go into a forest teaming with potentially dangerous creatures on the off chance one of us might find a cool creature to help us,” said Orchid, “my titans can't be there to keep you safe all the time, what if we decide to split up and I haven't invoked any titans, or the titan I pair you with has very little to offer in terms of combat. Face it Scoot, you're just going to have to wait this one out a bit longer.”
“Oh, but I wanted to try wrestling a manticore to get one,” said Scootaloo.
“Wait, did you just say manicores are real here?” Said Orchid with genuine surprise.
“Yeah, our sister ran into one on their first adventure through the forest with Twilight,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Manticore is the name of titan, I don't have one personally, but I did see someone invoke it once.”
“How'd that go?” Asked Scootaloo.
“Fleeing, screaming, destruction of shops, and some attack spells before some warrior titans were invoked to deal with it. Had to wipe the memories of the entire shopping district during and after the event, not as fun as it sounds.”
“Wait, you know a spell for removing memories?” Inquired Sweetie Belle.
“More altering than removing,” said Orchid, “and I had to prove I was responsible enough to not abuse that kind of power before I learned it. It's a very dangerous spell in the wrong...hooves.”
“You've been pausing a bit before saying that sort of thing quite a bit,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Sorry, last week I had digits was bipedal, now I don't have those digits and am a quadrabed. It's taking me some time to get the wording right for some the things I say, and if that means I need pause mid sentence to find the right word I guess that's the kind of quirk I'll have until I'm fully used to it all.”
“Alright, lets search the farm for clues,” said Scootaloo, a little too eager to get everything going.
“Just remember that nothing is quite as you expect,” said Orchid as the girls spread out a bit.
Celestia and Luna were looking over the choices they were given, as were Twilight and her friends and Spike. Learn another spell or get to know some more titans, Rarity had an aversion to the Strix amulet out her aesthetic sense while Fluttershy was debating whether she should take the Strix or not, after all it did resemble some animals she interacted with. Rainbow was asking Claudia which of the new titans was the most awesome, with Claudia trying explain that wasn't how it works with little success. Pinkie was asking Rec how the titans she had or could have might make her parties better. Applejack was debating with herself as whether she should keep the one or have more, after all some of them might be a great use at the farm. Twilight was asking Mandi for detailed information about the spells the young pegasus knew. And of course, Spike was focusing on Rarity when he could get away with it.
“What are the titans in the shield shaped amulets?” Inquired Luna.
“See for yourself,” said Claudia, “you have access to all of our resources as long as we're here.”
Luna picked up one of the amulets in question and let the light of the Mythichive dance over it as she held it over the the device before it said, “Hoplite,” as the image of a being with a lower body resembling a lion on all four legs and an upper body that was humanoid holding a shield that resembled the amulet and what appeared to be a short sword along with wearing a piece of armor with nothing to guard the arms on its torso and a helmet that was adorned like some of the helmets in Equestria with added flourish of what looked like something resembling a lion's mane flowing down the back, “Attack: 2, Defense 1, Size: Average, Special Abilities: Teamwork, Type: Krono-Titan Warrior.”
Celestia and Luna both blinked as Luna set the amulet back where she found it before Celestia asked, “What exactly does that ability entail?”
“The Hoplite titan is distinct,” said Rec, finally managing to divert Pinkie's attention elsewhere, “its ability doesn't really show itself when you have one on field, they gain power the more of them there are working together, in a sense they grow more powerful by having more friends at their side.”
“So there ability reflects the concept of friendship makes you stronger,” commented Twilight, “you did say that titans had varying abilities, I just didn't expect one to have an ability like that. And we have a small collection of Hoplites, I suppose they'd make good introductory units for this little group we're working on building. And I think that your suggestion that we put Princess Luna in charge of it all is a good idea, she needs all the help she can get building a good reputation with everypony out there.”
“Yes, well just remember that all the seeker stuff is supposed to remain secret, it is more of a tradition at this point,” said Rec, “while I am aware many traditions are subject to change I urge you to think about what certain members of the populace would think if it came to light some potentially powerful creatures could be under the command of a select few and could possibly pop up anywhere and if knowledge of such things were to become a matter of public record.”
“Oh, there would be panic and suspicion all about, darling,” said Rarity.
“Basically, yeah,” said Claudia, “which is why you all have to keep this secret, your younger siblings too.”
“I'm sure Orchid has already got that part dealt with, or is dealing with, it now,” said Rec. “The circle may be small now, but will slowly grow to something a bit larger, we have to make sure certain individuals are trustworthy on matters like this.”
“Speaking of trustworthy,” said Twilight, “care to explain how a spell that can influence memories is a good idea?”
“We've discussed this before,” said Claudia, “the SimpleMind spell is mainly in place to help keep the masquerade going. Before any of us could learn it we had to prove we could be trusted to not use a power like that irresponsibly.”
“What did that entail?” Inquired Celestia.
“The trial is based around the individual,” said Rec, “but usually entails carrying an item carefully packaged in such a way that you that the one carrying it has no idea what it is. They are then told they must watch over it for a set amount of time before delivering it to a specific individual. All without using any means of seeing what they have in the package. For instance, if it were Rainbow we'd probably tell her she has to hold onto it for sixteen hours before delivering it to one of her friends. There would be a small collection of observation spells on the package itself so as to not interfere with Rainbow's natural reactions. If she managed to go the entire time without using any means to see what was in the package she'd earn the right to learn the spell, the catch being she has to remain with package the entire time, which means she can't just leave the package in the care of someone else when she's starting to feel the pressure, and the set time period is to keep her from trying to use the mail to send it where it has to go during the time she is to watch over it.”
“Pft, sixteen hours watching a package before a lightning speed delivery, easy,” said Rainbow.
“That was an example,” said Rec, “I had to look after my parcel for several days before I learned the spell. The time period imposed is intended to drive you to the breaking point in terms of your curiosity, then when you're almost ready to crack you get word of who you're supposed to take it. So you're left with a choice, take it to its intended destination and possibly learn what's in the package or just tear it open and satisfy your own curiosity.”
“If you choose the latter you have to do the whole thing over with a longer waiting period,” said Claudia, “I know because that's what happened to me. My initial wait period was twenty-seven hours, the moment I was told I who it had to go to, which was another half hour of transit, I set out to deliver the item, I made it another fifteen minutes before I broke down and opened the package. After that I had to wait a total of two weeks for item delivery, I looked like I was going to crack any minute by day six.”
“To learn SimpleMind you must have a great self-discipline so as to better know when is an appropriate time to utilize the spell,” said Mandi, “something martial training usually bestows, when Claudia was given the test she had just recently become a seeker. Rec and I were more aware of our limits back then and waited a few years beyond that point before making a go at learning it ourselves. Of course our moms were in on all the seeker stuff at that point, and Claudia's mom was always looking for ways to further Claudia's martial arts training.”
“Which is why she allowed Claudia to undergo the test for learning SimpleMind to begin with,” said Rec, “self-control is highly important to a martial artist, without it all that training becomes undisciplined brawling instead of refined forms with an elegant grace.”
“It's also why I usually spend a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the evening practicing,” said Claudia.
“You need a similar sort of self-discipline with certain spells,” said Mandi, “it's why to be a master seeker you need to be a trained martial artist. It takes years of discipline and self mastery, we've all been practicing martial arts since we were little.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” said Twilight, “the part about the spell anyway. I suppose my brother would approve, he was captain of Canterlot's royal guard before he married my sister-in-law, then a few months later they moved to the Crystal Empire. He was my best friend when I was a filly.”
“You had a sibling growing up, lucky!” Said Mandi, “I'm an only child.”
“I'm only child too,” said Claudia, “the difference being I'm glad I don't have siblings, I wouldn't want to subject to the garbage my family likes to heap on its members.”
“I have a few older sibling, well more half-siblings,” said Rec, “they don't really like me all that much.”
“How can somepony be half yer sibling? That make no sense ta me,” said Applejack, “either thay're yer kin or thay're not.”
“It's a term,” said Rec, “we all have the same father, but Orchid and I have different mother than others, they like taking out their frustrations on me when they can.”
“Why's that?” Inquired Applejack.
“Their mom filed for divorce with dad, and they blame my for it. The honest truth is dad didn't meet mom until five years after the divorce hearings.”
“I'm not familiar with the term,” said Twilight.
“It's a legal process by which you cease to be married to someone,” said Rec, “that's the way it in our world sometimes. Some folks just rush into somethings without putting much thought into it and after they realize they made a mistake they want the legal system to help fix it.”
“That jus' ain't right,” said Applejack, “kin 're kin, you can't deny that. An' that whole part abou' getting a judge to okay tha marriage o' ponies just don't sit right wid me.”
“Same here,” said Rec, “but since it all happened before I was born there's not a whole lot I can say on the matter.”
“Rec,” said Claudia, “you're really old fashioned sometimes.”
“Then answer this quick question, how many wedding have you been to that had the line 'until the courts do you part'?”
Claudia just sat there and blinked a few times as Mandi said, “You have to admit, he got you there. To my knowledge no weddings ever had the service speaker ever utter those words.”
“We're all mommy's kids anyway,” said Claudia, “we all have philosophies shaped mostly by our mothers.”
“True enough,” said Mandi, “and our moms didn't freak when the whole 'things aren't as they seem thing' fell in their laps.”
“From the stories my mom tells me about her first exposure to the seeker world she just giggled,” said Rec, “almost like she found something funny or amusing about it all.”
“Now that you mention,” said Mandi, “my mom had similar response.”
“My mom had a 'that's it? I was expecting something more' response,” said Claudia.
“So,” said Rec, “have any of you fine mares come to any new decisions?”
“Yes,” said Twilight, “my friends and I will each take a Hoplite, they might be beneficial in the future.”
“Now hold on thare, Ah didn't agree to anything like tha...”
“Applejack, you should be more appreciative of the extra help you're getting,” said Rarity, cutting off her friend.”
“Fine,” said Applejack with an annoyed tone to her voice, “but Ah'm still keepin' 'em in mah hat until Ah think Ah'll need 'em.”
“We all have our styles,” said Rec, “anything else?”
“Yeah, I'll take two of each amulet we have available presently,” said Twilight, “a more detailed study of amulets and titans is in order.”
“Okay,” said Rec, “just don't let things go too far, titans need their amulets to remain anchored to this world, that and over exposure to a certain kind of magic could trigger a change in a titan causing it and its amulet undergo a transformation some kind. I've heard of some less than ethical seekers doing tests on titans, and in some cases causing the titan to become a whole new titan. Granted, these mostly unsubstantiated rumors, but considering those tend to be something many seekers consider probable cause for investigation I would recommend you treat such hearsay as if it were potential fact until proven otherwise.”
“I'll keep that in mind,” said Twilight, “we don't want be unethical, that's being rude. How will I know what is happening to the titan during my examinations?”
“I'll save you some trouble,” said Inari seeming pop out of nowhere, again, “titans do not require air, sleep or food. That all said, some of us enjoy the acts to varying degrees.”
“Wait,” said Fluttershy, “they don't need to breath?”
“Yes,” said Rec, “and to prove that point Inari willingly placed herself in a vacuum chamber for seventeen hours, I could still hear her over our link, she said it was one of the most enjoyable experiences she's had centuries.”
All the present alicorns turned their attention to the white fox with inquisitive looks. Twilight snapped out of it first when she realized Rec had said something, “Wait, vacuum chamber! What is that?”
“A room designed to be both airtight and be able to have all the air within it sucked out,” said Mandi, “we often use such rooms for preservation purposes. No air means whatever living things were in the room have low likelihood of being active. Due to their nature of not requiring things that creatures of the physical need to survive titans have the added bonus of being able to operate almost anywhere with little to no difficulty.”
“It's also good way to drop somebody uncouncious,” said Claudia, “if you deprive someone of air long enough they go unconscious. The trick is not making it last too long since doing so can potentially kill them at worst and at best cause brain damage.”
Everyone else there recoiled at what she said, “Yes well,” said Mandi, “Claudia has bit more of a militaristic view of things. Even so that is a horrible thought, and you should feel bad for it.”
“If they're a threat the option stands you take it, period,” said Claudia, “but you are right that doing something like that is a bit extreme.”
“Now that we have that disturbing imagery out of the way,” said Twilight, “I'm fascinated by the fact titans don't require what we do, what do they use to sustain themselves?”
“Mostly ambient mystic energies that tend to be plentiful enough to sustain us when we're active,” said Inari, “within their amulets and rings titans gain the sustenance they require.”
“Alright,” said Twilight as she took down notes, “wait, is any of this information put out to intentionally mess with me? Rec, Orchid, Mandi and Claudia all mentioned you are a bit like Discord from time to time.”
“That is true,” said Inari, “but I wouldn't mess with someone like you about matters like this, there is so much mystic energy flowing through this world that I wish to know what the new limits imposed us just is. Your research into such things may be able to answer the questions related to all that. I know know when to get serious.”
“She's not lying,” said Rec, “one of the benefits of a link with a titan is you can read their honest intentions.”
“Of all the titans we've encountered Inari is the only that seems capable of communicating with those that aren't her seeker,” said Celestia.
“Well that because of my properties,” said Inari, “I'm a Legendary Titan whose power is closely related to the aspect of the mind that deals with problems. I've got a few fragmented memories the war with Nullifiers, but they're pretty jumbled. And to be honest I followed the course of another titan that learned the speech of mortal well before recorded history. I can't quite remember his his name, I think it was he anyway. Did the name start with a Ch sound or Ca sound. Well, whatever, point is I'm beyond the range of most titans.”
“Legendary titans have the most powerful abilities among all titans. For example Pinkie's Puck also has the illusion ability, but his illusions can only affect one or two of the senses,” said Rec.
“Yupirooni,” said Pinkie, “sight and hearing, that's it.”
“Inari's illusions can affect all the senses, even ones you aren't aware you have. In fact they're so thorough that they gave rise to the myth that fox spirits and fox demons had the ability perform slightly imperfect transformations.”
“Nothing is perfect,” said Inari, “my illusions can't completely fool all the senses. If you were to look at things you normally don't pay much attention too you'd notice more fox-like features, my abilities can't completely fool everyone's senses. Although my illusions have proven quite effective at fool a number of titans. I've also taught Rec a long standing illusion spell.”
“Most annoying weekend of my life,” said Rec.
“It only took you a total seventeen hours to get,” said Inari, “That's still pretty impressive.”
“What did she teach you?” Inqiured Twilight.
“An illusion spell called ThoughtSpectere, it's not something I see myself using most of the time. Usually a HideSite or CamoForge will do the trick.”
“What do those do?” Inquired Rarity.
“HideSite makes it so other things stay as invisible as long as you want them to, the exception being moving objects that use a motion that can be interpreted as an attack,” said Mandi, “CamoForge is spell for turning the caster the invisible.”
“ThoughtSpectre can do all that and project any image the caster wants,” said Rec, “if I wanted to look like an old mare in her final years I could do it, and with practice I could even make sound the part.”
“Oh, that's fascinating,” said Twilight, “most of our illusion spells are very limited in their range, but as you said most seeker spells have a bit more of a wider range of applications.”
“Cool,” said Rainbow.
“Illusion spells in the Association are carefully managed,” said Mandi, “don't want the wrong sort getting a hold of a spell that could cause trouble for several members of your faction. You have to keep in mind that sometimes your faction may have infiltrators, that is to say seekers that actually work for a different faction. Think of it having spies from another agency well set up as loyal members of your agency, that's pretty much what it's like.”
“As fascinatin' as this all is Ah would like ta et least learn a few more tricks ta help out on tha farm, BoltFlare trick seems mighty useful fer a number o' thangs on the farm.”
“Would you prefer a DragonFist or HyperStride,” said Mandi, “Dragonfist increases your strength and HyprStride increases the strength in your rear legs, we usually use it for jumping higher than usual. Rec, care to give an example?”
“Sure thing,” said Rec before turning to the castle, “HyperStride,” a set of blue flames seemed to envelop his rear legs and he suddenly jumped a distance that most that could only be achieved with wings and hopped about until he was the peak of the castle, at which point the flames seemed to die out, then in a literal flash he was back where he started, “the power I used to get back her was FlashJump. Oh, Claudia, your Salamander is complaining about not being able to stretch in a while.”
“Only seeker who can hear the voice titans he isn't bonded with when they aren't invoked,” she snarked before reaching into her pouch and tossing out a steely blue amulet with flourish, upon her catching it they saw the amulet resembled a dragon's claw with a flame patterned grayish-pink gem embedded into it, “burn the villains, Salamander,” with that an salamander-shaped dragon without wings colored flame red and flame green in a flame pattern across its body with deep yellow cat-like eyes appeared next her, “so, we're pestering my teammates for a little flexing now,” she said teasingly the titan. It just gave her a look, “yeah, yeah, I get it, sheesh, go do your stretches and then its right back to the amulet, and driving the populace into a state of worry this time...I'm aware that only happened once, but the you can't fault for wanting to be cautious.”
“That looks more like a dragon than a salamander,” said Fluttershy as she hid behind Twilight.
“Yes, well salamanders are indeed a kind of amphibian,” said Rec, “but long ago in our world it was used as a term a wingless fire breathing dragon. Claudia's Salamander is one of the few surviving titans tied to those old stories that we're aware of.”
“Surviving?” said Celestia, “why did you say it like that?”
“There things known as lost titans,” said Mandi, “they're titans that disappeared centuries ago for some reason. Before Claudia found her Salamander it was believed those titans had been wiped out through various means. There are a variety of Meso-Titans that actually have recorded cases of peoples of different cultures actually being active in the destruction of their amulets, those are titans that will no longer be able to be invoked or form meaningful connections with a seeker.”
As they all talked Salamander was just leisurely walking about, it took a few minutes to sniff Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie before giving them an affectionate lick. “He likes you,” said Claudia with amusement when it happened.
“Why would anypony that knows what the amulets are like willingly destroy them,” said Twilight and Rarity in unison with a sense of revulsion.
“You have to remember after the war that brought the Titans to our world new cultures were established across the globe,” said Rec, “some of the seekers from those cultures weren't the kind of folks you wanted making contact with cultures that were new to them, some of those same seekers saw certain titans as a threat so they ordered the destruction of the amulets of those same amulets.”
“Keep in mind that seekers are in minority where we come from,” said Mandi, “most of the individuals carrying out the orders given to them had no idea what they were actually being told. Most them wouldn't have been able to recognize an amulet because chances were high they weren't in the know.”
“It's still a deplorable practice,” said Luna, “we would order such artifacts kept secure until such a time that they could possibly be dealt with better.”
“Well the good news is that all of those titans that cocievably became lost might have fallen to this world when Princess Luna called them this world,” said Rec, “although she might have opened up the world for a possible Nullifier encroachment.”
“That sounds pretty bad,” said Twilight, “do you what we should look for?”
“Anything that desires destruction above all else would be a good start,” said Claudia, “oh, come on!” Everyone turned their attention to where she was looking to see Salamander sunning itself and, apparently, sleeping. Discord immediately had the titan wearing a monocle, top hat, and clown suit along with a ridiculous fake beard that could be clearly seen as fake.
“Why is my dragon in top hat? You know what, never mind,” said Claudia.
“You actually have a dragon, and it listens to you,” said Rainbow Dash, “that is so awesome!”
“He's a troop and I'm his commanding officer, that's just how things are.”
“Now, is that any way to talk about a friend,” said Luna.
“Salamander is a firecely loyaly titan, but he needs to be commanded by somebody,” said Claudia, “if you don't establish yourself as an authoritative power to him he tends play the evil dragon with a penchant for destruction.”
“That and he only respects bossy types,” said Rec, “he doesn't really like you if you try to play the 'I just want to be friends' card with him, Claudia's bested suited to the role of his seeker. Remember how I said that some titans have rules for bonding with them? Well, Salamander, Vitaguard, and Akmen-Meo are some of those titans.”
“Oh, really?” Inquired Twilight.
“Yeah, and before he showed up at home his Vitaguard was considered a lost titan,” said Mandi, “the older seekers wouldn't shut up about it when he introduced us to the Association. It might also be one of the reasons his older siblings don't try to get along with him.”
“Has he et least tried?” Asked Applejack.
“I tried extending an olive branch dozens of times b"efore I met my friends,” said Rec, “the constant refusals to accept the attempts for better relations are why I'm not quite like Pinkie these days.”
“Oh, I bet you were fun to be around,” said Pinkie.
“Mom seems to have thought so,” said Rec, “but she knows that everything can stay the way we want it to. I might get back to the chipper persona, but for now I'm not. I still do what I can to make others happy around the place I call home, but outside that place I'm mostly serious.”
“Not every family is as happy and stable the ones you've all seem to have known,” said Mandi, “Rec hardly every actually sees his dad and all his elder siblings seem to be intent on making his time difficult when they're around him, Claudia has as much contempt for her father's family as her mother does in addition to them being disapproving of the two. I had a pretty uninteresting life until Rec came and helped orient me to all the magic stuff. Point is, we all have different experiences with life, it's what we do with them that allows us to define ourselves.”
“Nice speech,,” said Claudia, “I didn't think you would do anything like that.”
“It felt like I was supposed to do that,” said Mandi, “with that said, since he's taking nap, maybe you should call him back.”
“Do all of you have dragons in your pouches?” Inquired Twilight, “Rec has Nordrake and Claudia has Salamander.”
“Not really,” said Mandi, “we did go on a little sailing trip through the Mediterranean where I got a pretty fierce one, he's one of my few titans that's more aggressive than defensive.”
“And that would be?” Inquired all three princesses at the same time.
“He was considered a fierceness foe for a powerful hero, but I want tell who he his just yet. Besides it wasn't pleasure cruise, we were told we needed to do it.”
“That was two years ago,” said Rec, “it was far more of a headache than we wanted to deal with, one of the titans we found was so feisty that last we heard it was actually being moved between a variety of safe houses every few months.”
“I don't quite understand,” said Twilight.
“That's easy,” said Inari, “some of the more powerful titans can actually exert some of their power while within their amulet. I've done it a few times before, that mostly during the time when I still could not free myself of my amulet of my own volition.”
“From what we've able to gather no other legendary titans have that ability,” said Rec.
“Yes, you've told us before,” said Twilight.
“It's worth repeating,” said Mandi.
“It took me centuries to figure out that trick,” said Inari, “and to be frankly honest, I'm the most imaginative among my fellow Legendary Titans,” she seemed to transform into a unicorn with an orange coat and and pink mane in Rainbow Dash's style, “and that is why the other Legendary Titans won't be popping out of their amulets on their own. They're to stubborn try learning new tricks. They aren't don't see problems as challenges or obstacles to overcome, they just see a challenge as something to meet head on, especially the Legendary Titan of Champions. I find it ironic that the seeker who held that titan was my original seeker's mentor.”
“You're awfully chatty, and forthcoming about some things, today,” said Rec.
“Yes, well the fall to your world was one of the best things to happen to me,” said Inari.
“But you said they all fell to your world a long time ago,” said Rarity.
“Actually I said they first fell to our world a long time ago,” Inari nodded and seemed to disappear again, “but titans that never had a seeker before are still being found in our world, it's been theorized that there points around our globe where titans are still falling to our world. We call these theoretical locations 'Fall Points', but they're not so theoretical anymore.”
“How so?” Asked Twilight.
“Because,” said Claudia, “the gate that brought us here was near one of those, we confirmed it, but couldn't share that info with the team that was present there. Some sort of magic was keeping the teams out, but we passed on through like the shield wasn't even there.”
“Then when we cam back up,” said Mandi, “it looked like everyone there had up and left without the equipment or vehicles. We had some our titans try to find them to no avail, then Rec got the idea to ask his Janusea for help. Next thing we know we've found gate and we're waking up in the field next to Poyville in our current states.”
“Fascinating,” said Twilight, “we'll have to look further int this later.”
“Agreed,” said Rec, “but as it stands now you all are going to need some new accessories to hold your amulets. You've probably noticed our...flank pouches, back where we come from they were hip pouches. Seekers with titans like to keep them within reach, so we wear pouches at our hips and various clothing with pockets to ensure they are indeed easily accessible when needed. Rarity, do you think you use your skills to make some pouches for everyone?”
“Well I suppose so,” said Rarity, “it's definetly a different sort of style than I'm used to.”
“Maybe if you're lucky it kick off a fad or trend throughout the country, after all you are making some for Celestia and Luna in addition to Twilight and your friends,” said Mandi.
“And they pretty easy personalize,” said Rec, “provided you have the right equipment and materials.”
“So these pouches 're fer carryin' amulets? Mah hat is good enough for that,” said Applejack.
“You can also carry a variety of small items with you,” said Rec, “like documents, pocket magnifying glasses, eye glasses, various small accessories and a variety of other things. Seekers just use them because they're practical an pretty easy to get a hold of. Remember we have a policy of being practical with our magic, it also extends to some items we may need to manage.”
“There are stories about artifacts that are bonded with some individuals in our world,” said Claudia, “such artifacts are considered highly valuable for a variety of reasons.”
“Is there a way to forcibly sever a bond?” Inquired Twilight.
“Yes,” said Rec with a shiver, “it's spell called SorrowBond, it cuts out the link a seeker has with an artifact or titan when it's in its amulet. Many seekers see it as a definably evil power, there is no one on our team that has learned it.”
“And we have no intention of doing so,” said Mandi, “we haven't studied its instructions.”
“It sounds like could be useful, in the right hooves,” said Celestia, “we could work on making no longer seen as something evil.”
“It's not that simple sister,” said Luna, “a spell like that could easily find itself in the wrong hooves, while I agree that we should probably have some ponies know it I believe that they must go through a comprehensive screening to ensure they wouldn't go and use it for the wrong reasons. But I must warn you, even with all the precautions somepony of dubious nature might still gain knowledge of the spell and use it for all the wrong reasons. Most spells are associated with a moral alignment, but those that are have labeled as such for good reason. They just said that by using the spell you cut off a magical link between the pony and item they are connected to, imagine for a moment if a pony learned that spell and used it separate Twilight and her friends from the Elements of Harmony, imagine what could of happened of Nightmare Moon had known such a spell and used it sever your link to the elements you wielded before Nightmare Moon attempted her coup.”
Celestia shivered, “A valid point Luna, we are most fortunate we were unaware of such a spell until now.”
“The spell does have one glaring flaw,” said Claudia, “if the one who had their connection severed manages to make physical contact with item again the spell undone, but the thing is most the cases we know about the spell involve seekers being separated from their amulets and taken to a different place than said amulets.”
“Use the spell then break them up,” Twilight, “a reasonable strategy.”
“Actually a common practice among seekers when they take someone into custody is to search them for amulets,” said Mandi, “and then confiscate any that have been found.”
“It's why Claudia put forth the resources to giving us some tricked out footwear,” said Rec, “shoes with hidden compartments are very useful, mostly due to the fact almost no one bothers to check your footwear when they do a search.”
“Hoofwear with hidden compartments,” said Rarity, “how delightfully clever! I might look into that at sometime, oh but that would mean special padding for the interior compartment and reinforcing for the chamber to insure stability, would also have find a way to make sound like any other hoofwear composed of the same material.”
“You just got Rarity pulling a Twilight,” Spike deadpanned, “I don't know if I should be impressed or frightened.”
“Well,” said Rec, “that's it for now, if do share any of this make sure who share it with can keep a secret.”
“Got it,” said all the Equestrians.
“Rainbow,” said Rec, “that means no showing any your seeker related abilities and things, you can brag about how cool the amulet is, you just can't show anyone outside the know your titan or give display of spells.”
“You're going to withhold lessons on those speed spells,” said Rainbow Dash with annoyance in her voice, “that's not fair!”
“Life is seldom fair,” said Rec, “besides you'd be too tempted to use them in conjunction with your move sets.”
“He's got you there,” said Twilight as she passed by with her recording materials, “who would of thought the basics would be exhilarating!”
“Yes,” Rainbow snarked, “because learning how augment my jumping with magic is so useful. In you haven't notice, we both have wings! We can fly!”
“Rainbow,” said Twilight, “we've been given the kind of opportunity that few magic researchers have, and aren't you happy that kind of spells aren't exclusive to unicorns?”
“I guess,” said Rainbow, “but the way they talk about this stuff its like they've lived a whole bunch of unwritten Daring Do novels and don't even care.”
“Yo, standing right here,” said Claudia, “and to clarify for you, the only reason we're so unenthused by our adventures is because the joy of it feels like its getting sucked out. I mean finding uncharted islands with monsters out in the middle of a well traveled body of water is nice and all, but when you end up facing the same villain one too many times in a row it just feels like repetition more than some exciting adventure. Damion is that villain, he's with the Base Collective and acts like he's the gift of the heavens to everything. Rec, Mandi and I always seem to knock him down a few pegs in each of our encounters with him, he's blinded by his own arrogance and vanity.”
************************************************
It was a few hours later, the fillies weren't back yet, but that wasn't much of an issue. Rainbow Dash was pestering Mandi for some sparring practice. “Rainbow, how many times do I have to say no? I'm interested in that sort of thing,” Mandi said with annoyance laced in her voice.
“Then could at least come and be my flying buddy? It will take a few minutes,” said Rainbow, “besides I'm bored, I finished my entire workload before the class course even started, and I'm more of the type that learns while in motion, not sitting around listening.”
“So, you're a kinetic learner,” said Mandi, “I'll give you a run through of the basics while on the move later, right now I need some alone time so I can meditate. Rec and Twilight are prepping for the expedition through the bog, it'll take some time, hopefully we'll find something. Also I really don't want to have to deal with any monsters. Know anything about potential threats at this 'Froggy Bottom Bog'?”
“Oh yeah,” said Rainbow, “we ran into this hydra and then Twilight bounced off this really big bubble, and then nearly blew her top. It was great.”
“Wait, hydra? You were chased around by a real hydra? Great! Where there's one there are bound to more, I really don't want have to deal with that sort of thing. You would think two would be enough for a lifetime.”
“Wait, you've dealt with two hydras.”
“Not at the same time, and they were in different places. Although there is one titan that can be likened to a hydra, so technically it could be three. I have two of those amulets, they just like me for some reason. What did it look like?”
“You know, big and dragon like with multiple heads,” said Rainbow.
“Where I come from we mostly have stories about hydras, and they're described as having anywhere from three to twenty heads. So, please tell me what the hydra you encountered looked like.”
“Oh, um,” said Rainbow trying to recall the creature as she floated around Mandi, “Bigger than most of the buildings here, brown all over, two legs, and four heads.”
“Well seeing as it lives in a moisture rich environment that could mean it's akin to the Lernaean Hydra,” mused Mandi, “probably would be bad idea to try lopping off its heads.”
“Okay, one that is disgusting image, and two, why?”
“The Lernaean Hydra is what most in our world think of when you say hydra, they have the ability to grow back two heads when they lose one, it's kind of creepy when you think about.”
*******************************************
It was almost an hour later with Rainbow having finally left Mandi alone. Upon seeing Rec again she said, “So, what's the word?”
“We're going have wait a few days, turns out that location is slated to get torrential ran until the end of the week. How was your time?
“Rainbow pestered me for a few minutes, she mentioned running into a hydra down there.”
“Yeah, Twilight mentioned the same thing, she was pretty thorough in describing it. I hope Omni can handle it. I noticed you had his amulet, I brought Masker just in case.”
“Yeah, well I also have my favorite 'snake' for just in case as well.”
“Cool, the princesses insisted paying us for our services, I didn't object. I told them half now, the rest after we're done chasing down this lead. Besides we do need the currency of the realm if we want to try fitting in here, I'll working on splitting with everyone later.”
“Even Orchid?” Asked Claudia.
“Yes,” said Rec, “she deserves a reward for keeping those other girls out of trouble.”
The swamp was teaming with insect, but strangely enough to Rec and his friends they had no interest in biting anyone there. Froggy Bottom Bog seemed aptly named, they couldn't go a few minutes without seeing or hearing a frog of some kind. As they passed through the swampland confusion was evident on the faces of all three of the visitors. Also something to note that Twilight and her friends all had flank pouches for their amulets, each was in colors that complimented them and had their cutie mark emblazoned on it.
“What's with the looks of being lost? It's just a swamp,” said Rainbow as she floated above and next to them.
“The last swamp we went to bugs were making meals of us,” said Mandi, “that's not counting the normal members of the crocodilian family that looked like they were wanting to make meals of us as we drifted by on our boat, I swear those caimans were giving me the stink eye.”
“How could it be that bad? Even the little bugs are nice when you take the time to talk to them,” said Fluttershy.
“I don't think discussing things with a female mosquito is going to do a whole lot of good,” said Rec, “seeing as in our world the males like to feed on plants while the females literally drink blood.”
“And they're not the only blood drinkers to worry about,” said Claudia, “there's also the blood sucking parasitic worms called leaches and and roughly twenty four percent of all bats world wide are members of the vampire family. That reminds me, I wonder how the pets mom and I share are doing.”
“You have pet vampire fruit bat at home?” Asked Applejack.
“One, all vampire bats in our world feed on blood and two the bat I have at home is indeed a fruit bat. She's a flying fox, they're so named for their fox-like appearance, he's not actually related to any foxes.”
“What's her name? Oh, bet she's cute,” said Fluttershy.
“Her name is Eclair, it means lightning.”
“That sounds pretty cool,” said Rainbow, “let me guess you named her that because she's fast.”
“Nope,” said Claudia.
“She has cool scar that looks like lightning?”
“She doesn't have any sort of scars or body art.”
“Her fur is lightning colored?”
“Not even close.”
“Then I give up.”
“We found her unattended while thunderstorm was rolling in when I was eight, and at the time I was really into making obscure references.”
“Seekers don't usually have house pets,” said Rec, “especially field operatives, we usually don't have the time we should to dedicate taking care of them. Claudia's fortunate enough to have a parent and hired help to assist in taking care of her animal companion.”
“Oh, I'd just love to see her,” said Fluttershy.
“Maybe you will,” said Rec, “you're all welcome to come with us when we figure out how to return home.”
“You said you arrived at the field near Ponyville,” said Twilight, “why not just return there and do what you did last time.”
“That would require Janusea,” said Mandi, “and the gate we used connects to a remote area of Ireland, our reasoning is that if one gate exists there might be more, we want to use the gate closed to the place we call home.”
“That and gateways between worlds have been known to be rather unstable, sometimes the gate one side can have geographically moved from its last known location. For all we know the gate we used could be under a mile of water, and last I checked humans don't the ability to breath underwater or survive at that kind of depth without special equipment.”
“Same holds true with ponies,” said Twilight.
“It's nice to come here without the hydra this time,” said Rarity.
“Oh boy,” said Mandi, “you used a tempting fate phrase, we try to avoid that kind of talk.”
“Why is that?” Inquired Twilight.
“We call them tempting fate phrases because after they're said things have a tendency to take turn for...” said Rec shortly before getting cut off by a set of four voiced screams that gave the impression of something very large. Looking about the nine noticed three hydras coming in from three different directions.
“I don't think I'm skilled enough in my alicorn magic to handle this,” said Twilight.
“Allow us,” said Mandi pulling out two amulets, one was an orange serpent shaped amulet with yellow highlights and an aqua gem where the should be and black amulet in the shape of serpent with jade highlights and a light green stone where the of the snake would be, “Strike in all directions, Omnihydra. Protect, Mucalin,” with that a five headed, serpent-like, dark yellow hydra with a pair of grasping forelegs appeared next to a seven headed orange snake with a white underbelly.
“Show your magic, Hydramasker,” said Rec holding up an amulet that had the appearance of a gray mask in the shape of an Aztec war mask with black highlights and the the blue gem being held in the mouth. Suddenly a four legged creature with a similar body design to that of a turtle or tortoise with no shell appeared with three long necks that ended in three differently designed masks for heads, the creature itself was colored brown and green with the heads having yellow highlights around and near the eyes, it's feet ended in five gray claws and it seemed to have green serpent like tail at its rear.
“Okay, Omnihydra and Mucalin will take the two on the right and front.”
“That means Masker gets the one the left. Alright, let's start things off with halt that thing's advance. A little ice should do the trick, go for it.” The creature called Hydramasker opened the mouth of its left most head and sent out a beam of magic that froze the oncoming hydra's feet to the ground, “now to send him the far side of the swamp.” The left most head closed its mouth and the central head opened its mouth and let a shadow magic pour out and surround the hydra before turning into a massive shadow disk all about it and pulling down slowly making it disappear.
Mucalin was taking attacks that were aimed at the ponies only for the hydras to have all their necks snatched by the heads of Omnihdra before being flung a great distance by being picked up by their legs by Omnihydra's forelegs. The match was over in a matter of minutes.
“I suggest we keep them active,” said Rec, “and also use them as transport to our destination... Masker seems fine with the plan.”
“Mucalin and Omni seem to like the idea as well,” said Mandi.
“So, who's riding with whom? I'm gonna ride Omnihdydra,” said Claudia.
“You could have shared the fact you had some hydras of your own,” said Twilight as she climbed onto the shadow head as Rec climbed onto the head that hadn't been used, and Rarity climbed onto the ice head.”
“No, offense to anyone, but,” said Mandi as she and Pinkie boarded Mucalin, “we weren't sure how any of you would take that bit of news, better to keep them a surprise while hoping they weren't needed than tell and be forced to show them in a location that could cause quite a bit of panic.”
“That actually makes sense,” said Fluttershy as Climbed onto one of Mucalin's heads.
“Yeah, but keeping something as awesome as these guys in reserve,” said Rainbow as she landed on one of Omnihydra's heads, “we had a right to know, and so do the princesses.”
“Ah'm surprised thay're so well trained,” said Applejack as she got on one of Mucalin's heads.
“Oh, this was fun to see,” said Pinkie, “and the one that has heads like masks could really do some fun stuff for parties.”
As the titans continued on the course for the cave in the bog Twilight asked, “What exactly is with the heads of this guy anyway.”
“My Hydramasker is female actually, or rather she prefers to play the part in terms of references and voice work. She's magic user, each of the heads holds a different kind of magic. One head holds ice magic, one holds fire magic and the third holds shadow magic. When she uses a particular kind of magic she has open her mouth to release the magic. I got her from a safe house after I was told they thought after careful analysis I was the best option for holding onto her. Mandi got Mucalin during one of our trips to Japan and she Omnihydra when we were on mission that involved following the route of a certain hero.”
“It was more of a self imposed mission,” said Mandi, “and to be honest I thought Omnihydra would bond with Claudia when we got a hold of his amulet.”
“Surprised us all when he bonded with Mandi,” said Claudia, “considering how aggressive he is.”
***************************
After another twenty minutes of riding the nine came up on their destination. “Well, there's the cave that we're sure was mentioned in the travel request at the school,” said Rec, “Masker, let us off and stand guard, we don't want something coming in and trapping us here while we look around.”
“Mucalin, Omnihyrda let us off here and do the same,” said Mandi.
“It's a little dark in here,” said Claudia when they came up closer to the entrance, “BoltFlare,” the orange sphere of light appeared next her and illuminated the cave, “let's get going.”
“Right,” said everyone else in unison. They made their way down the narrow cave entrance, Rec was scanning the hallway with his Mythichive, until they came to an intersection that split three ways.
“Okay, three groups of three,” said Twilight, “one of the more veteran seekers will be in each.”
“Alright,” said Rec, “Claudia, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash will take the left tunnel, be sure to map out the route as best you can in any way you can, mark the way the came whenever possible. Rarity, Applejack and Mandi will take the route the right, same note as what said about routes. Which means Twilight, Fluttershy and I will be taking middle route, I'll be mapping it all with my Mythichive. We'll meet back her in thirty minutes share what we've found.”
“Sounds good ta me,” said Applejack.
“Sure thing,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Seems efficient,” said Twilight.
“Let's get this show on the road,” said Claudia as she headed down her designated route.
“Works for me,” Mandi as she led her her group, “be careful everyone, we don't know what could be in here. BoltFlare”
“Catch you all later then,” said Rec as he and his group headed for their tunnel, “BoltFlare.”
“It sounded cool checking out an unknown cave, now it feels boring,” said Rainbow Dash, “we've been going down this passage forever.”
“Don't be silly, Dashie,” said Pinkie, “It's only been three minutes and forty-two point six seconds since we started down the passageway.”
“Be quiet you two, I thought I just heard something,” said Claudia as she raised her talon up, she then reached into her pouch and pulled her Red Search and gently whispered, “look about, Red Searcher,” the titan appeared before her and she said, “could look ahead for anything potentially dangerous and report back what you find, I'm worried about what we might run into.”
Read Searcher just went, “Mweuh,” and was off.
“I don't like that flying eyeball,” said Rainbow, “he kind of gives me the creeps.”
“But he'd be so amazing for a Nightmare Night party,” said Pinkie.
“Girls, I said quiet,” Claudia growled at them.
“Oh, so now the great villain sent a flying eyeball monster to finish me off, I'll take you on, soon as I'm out of these bindings,” came a brash, snarky female voice with a hint of pride.
“We know that voice,” said Rainbow before getting up in the air as much as the tunnel allowed and shooting down the passageway at high speed.
“Who did we just hear?” Inquired Claudia as she and Pinkie continued down the route at more even pace.”
“That was just Daring Do,” said Pinkie in her usual voice, “wonder what she's doing hear.”
“I thought she was just character in a book,” said Claudia, “I skimmed the first chapters of one of the books during our time here, it's pretty good writing if you ask me, if it was a little heavy on the death trap scene. As far as I know there is no real Indiana Jones in my world.”
A few minutes later they found a pale yellow pegasus mare strapped to a stone slab by ropes and a slightly cut stalactite over her her that looked like any particularly loud noises could cause it to drop. “Help me out,” said Rainbow, “we need to save Daring Do.”
Claudia rolled her eyes and said, “Stand back, also this hurt a little, so don't scream or yell or make any death threats.”
“Sure thing,” said Daring.
Claudia silently commanded the BoltFlare sphere to lower onto the lower left rope and began burning it away, after that was done she moved onto the right and then moved the upper right before finishing with the upper left. As Daring rolled off the slab Claudia said, “Better now?”
“Yeah,” said Daring, “Rainbow what are you and your friend doing here? And who is this?”
“My friends sometimes call me Talon,” said Claudia, “that should do until we get the time for a more appropriate meeting, as the old saying goes 'there are eyes and ears everywhere', so I suggest we get a move on.”
“Soon as we take out that eyeball,” said Daring, pointing at Claudia's Searcher.
“His name's Red Searcher, and he's with me,” responded Claudia, “more detailed information later, head to meeting point now.”
“You brought more than one friends, I see,” said Daring as they made their way out of the chamber with the BoltFlare acting as guiding light and Red Searcher a bit further ahead of it.”
“Yup, we brought the whole band,” said Pinkie, “plus her and her two friends. Also, they have some hydras they command guarding the entrance, they can also act as transports if we want.”
“Mandi and Rec have control of those things, I don't have any say regarding them.”
“How did they get control of hydras?” Inquired Daring.
“The same way I have control of Red Searcher,” said Claudia, “let's keep moving.”
While all that was going on Rarity, Mandi and Applejack were coming up on chamber of their own, “So, what do you think of my little contribution to amulet carrying? I think they're just fabulous,” said Rarity, “and maybe in a few months they'll be all the rage all across Equestria.”
“Fashion really isn't my thing, same holds true with teammates. Claudia might have some understanding of fashion, but just looking at her when she hears someone talking about it you can tell it's of very little interest to her. She's good at faking stuff at social gatherings, but then again it was skill she needed to acquire when you consider her family's standings.”
“Is this rally tha time ta even be talkin' abou' tha' sort o' thing,” replied Applejack.
“Oh, come now now, darlings,” said Rarity, “now that you're carrying functional accessories maybe you should start thinking about fashion.”
“I've been a seeker for the past six years,” said Mandi, “and not once have I thought about things in terms of fashion, I don't even entertain the idea of things in terms of fashion. I'm guardian first, and everything else second. Guardians aren't really all that fashion conscious, at least last time I checked.”
“That doesn't mean you can't be interested in fashion,” said Rarity, “have you ever worn an eloquent dress?”
“No, I've never been to those kinds of parties,” said Mandi.
“Really? We've been ta tha Grand Galloping Gala twice already, not usually mah kinda scene, but et's usually funner than Ah anticipate.”
“It's the kind of event you need to experience at least once in your life, darling,” said Rarity, “just be wary of self-important nobles, my first Gala had me spending time with one of those.”
“Historically speaking the upper class has been full of narcissists,” said Mandi, “my team's dealt with a few ourselves, they aren't fun to be around. Besides, fancy dances really aren't something that interest me.”
“Ah hear that,” said Applejack, but tha' sorta thing don't matter much ta Princess Celestia. An invite ta tha Gala from 'er is a bit more o' uh decree she wants ya there, or Ah've heard from some o' tha more regular types fer tha sorta thing.”
“Besides, darling, you're probably going to be part of a new branch of Equestria's government,” said Rarity, “the princesses would likely want to show off the ponies that made it possible.”
“I'm sure Princess Luna is still working on a proper name for the group,” said Mandi, “she probably wants to get it just right, after all she's going to be the one with the highest authority within it.”
After a few more minutes they came up on chamber that basically looked like a dead end. “Well, looks like we turn around now,” Applejack.
“Always question appearances,” said Mandi, “for they have tendency to decieve,” she reached into her pouch and pulled up her Red Searcher amulet, “Red Searcher,” the red flying eyeball like titan appeared before them, “we need you to find any potential incongruities.”
“Mwuh,” came the sound from the Red Searcher before departed from the group.
After disappearing for a few minutes it returned with what looked like a light gray amulet with black highlights in the shape of a hand grasping a blue gem. “Looks like your friend found an amulet,” said Rarity, “and one with a rather interesting design at that.”
“Let's go meet the rest of the crew,” said Mandi, “Searcher, you hold onto that for now.”
“Mwuh,” came the sound from Red Searcher as they headed back to the meeting place.
While that was happening Rec, Twilight and Fluttershy were heading down their passageway. They came to a decently sized chamber that they all quickly recognized as not being entirely natural. Twilight was thenkful the BoltFlare illuminated the whole room, as was Fluttershy. The Three ponies stopped at the entrance to the chamber to asses how the room was at first glance.
“Well, looks like nothing scary so far,” said Fluttershy.
“Let's be sure,” said Twilight, smiling down at the amulet around her neck she said, “read the script, Akmen-Meo,” the cat-like titan appeared before her, “you think you can find any hidden traps, or writings in the room?” The titan gave her nod and entered the chamber proper.
“We're going to need a master of disarming if there are traps,” said Rec, holding up his Springer amulet he said, “trick the trap, Springer,” the little foxy squirrel titan appeared before them, “see what you can do searching the room, disarm any traps you find and see if you can have Akem-Meo help you with retrieval if you find something you can't quite carry that looks like it might be a good idea to bring to us.” Springer gave a quick nod and headed into the chamber proper as well.
The two titans returned carrying device similarly shaped to the Mythichive that had arcane looking tiles with a blue boarder after a few minutes, Rec's eyes practically popped out of his head when he saw it. “What is it? It looks important, and quite old,” said Twilight.
“It's a Cypherdex,” said Rec with a bit less of his usual composure, “but what is it doing in this world? It would suggest that someone that was tied to the Casterwill clan once visited this world. We're going to have go back with it and be very careful, chances are it has a much more refined security lock than I use for my unit. After we manage to transfer copies of the data it holds we can turn over to a team for analysis and hopefully after a few months of studying the device they can figure out how to duplicate it. Granted, the team will have to be able to keep a secret and and brought in on all the seeker stuff. In all likelihood the first of the units will go to the princesses filter down to high ranking members of the group established to deal with seeker related scenarios.”
“You said you'd try to help speed things along by seeing if you could copy some of the files in the production of the units your group uses to what you called a Cypherdex crystal,” said Twilight, “does that mean it store information on the crystals?”
“And more,” said Rec, “the units can't even operate if they don't the crystals.”
“We better tell the others all of this,” said Fluttershy.
“Right,” said Twilight as she took the device in her magic, “let's go.”
Akmen-Meo jumped onto Twilight's back and Springer scurried onto Rec's head. “Aw, they look so cute when they do that,” said Fluttershy.
*****************************************
Once they were all back at the meeting place the first thing they heard was surprised Daring Do saying, “Augh, there's another flying eyeball,” and a quick look at Twilight had her adding, “and a cat that is half a skeleton yet still managing to be alive.
“Um, Daring,” said Rarity, “why are you here?”
“Some weird magic invoked by Ahuizotl, next thing I know I'm in one of the chambers here well tied to a stone slab with massive pointy rock ready to from the ceiling into some of my vital organs. Where is here anyway?”
“Froggy Bottom Bog,” said Pinkie cheefully.
“And you didn't bother tell me sooner, why?” said Daring with irritation in her voice.
“You didn't bother to ask until now,” said Pinkie.
“Sorry I've been trying to figure out how the griffin can command that weird flying eyeball, and the glowing orange sphere, last I checked griffins don't have magic like either of those.”
“We'll explain that later,” said Mandi, “for now let's focus what we found. My team found this unusual amulet, we'll scan later. What did your team uncover Rec?”
“A new mystery with potential for a massive headache,” said Rec, Twilight floated out the Cypherdex from her bag, “evidently a seeker's been here before, and one from the oldest known faction at that.”
“Care to clue me in,” said Daring, “you share your info and I share mine, sound fair.”
“Alright, we're reading you in,” said Rec, to which Rainbow gave a hoof pump, “we're going to have put you in the report anyway. Claudia, Mandi and I are what are known as seekers,” while saying the names he gestured to each, “we use a type of magic derived from will rather than whatever you've been taught is the source of the magics you're familiar with. The magic we utilize allows us to invoke the creatures in the amulets we carry, we call them titans, and cast a variety of spells. The BoltFlare is one such spell, and the strange creatures you see with us are all titans. Rainbow and her friends have bonded with some titans and have recently awoken as seekers, we're doing our best to explain and show what that means.”
“Alright,” said Daring, “I'm sort of following you with this, can I examine that amulet?”
“Maybe later,” said Rec, “chances are it has titan inside, let's take a look.” Red Searcher dropped the amulet into Mandi's waiting hoof before returning its amulet, Claudia's did the same.
Rec took out his Mythichive opened it before Mandi held amulet over the device and the light played over amulet before the image of a creature that resembled Ahuizotl appeared and walked around as the device said, “Hoozoto, Attack: 2, Defense: 2, Size: Average, Special Abilities: Grows Stronger while holding items, Type: Meso-Titan Scout.”
Daring's jaw dropped and she quickly snatched the amulet away from Mandi, while saying, “This could confuse the jerk, I gotta find a way to utilize this guy on my adventures.”
As she said all that a blue aura quickly pulsed around the black maned pegasus mare, this caused Claudia to facepalm and say, “Rec, looks like you're going doing another introductory lecture.”
“Congratulations, Daring Do,” said Mandi in a snarky voice, “you just became a seeker, and Hoozoto is your first titan. My friend, the unicorn stallion over there, will be giving you the lesson and rundown on everything you just opened yourself up to. Although, based on what I've managed learn about your lifestyle, not much is going to change. Now, care to explain to us what it is that brought you here in a bit more detail? Also, you might want to wear your new accessory, what you do with your titans and how you do with them is ultimately up to you.”
“Well,” started Daring, “Ahuizotl and I came across this highly degraded text that said that there are seven animal figurines made out of seven precious materials. We could only make out three of them though. A wolf cast from gold, a fox cast in silver, and a bear carved from jade. There was one I partially made out that had a P, A, and L spaced so far from each other I couldn't make a proper guess on the material or what animal it was based on. Ahuizotl already has the wolf, I have the fox and we were fighting each other near the chamber of temple we both thought the bear might be in. The text said that when a all seven are in are together and all the conditions have been met they will bestow a great power on the one who assembled them, so now its a race to get all seven creatures. For security reasons I was going to split the seven up among several museums, collectors and keep one or two for myself as some special little trophies. I could care less about the supposed great power they could bestow me, I just want make Ahuizotl or any of his known associates are incapable of assembling all seven in one place.”
“We should get going,” said Mandi, “our Hydra's are parked outside, we'll ride them to the edge of the swamp, it sounds safer than just hoofing it through the place.”
“So, let me get this straight,” said Daring, “you've got these hydras at your beck and call, but aren't really hydras.” They were about half through the swamp, everyone was back in the positions they were prior with Daring riding one of Mucalin's heads.
“Well to be fair Mucalin isn't a hydra, she's actually a Yamata no Orchi. That is, if you want to get technical about monster terms.”
“That's an interesting sounding name for a creature,” said Fluttershy.
“Translated from language of the culture it's from the name means 'snake demon',” said Rec.
“And now it sounds more awesome,” said Rainbow, “although this on pouch my flank feels weird.”
“You get used it,” said Mandi, “I wasn't one for accessories when it all happened to me, took me months get used the idea of wearing the pouch. For some reason your first always seems to not evoke the feeling of it being weird when you wear it.”
“Come again,” said Daring, “this happened dramatically to you as well?”
“Yeah,” said Mandi, “just be thankful a grand piano from several stories up didn't try to crush you, if it hadn't been for this guy,” she held up the Undergolem amulet around her neck, “my best case scenario would have been a coma in the nearest hospital at the time. Claudia got hers at around the same time as me, she spent about a half hour making everything that wasn't her outfit or amulet look like it was spontaneously combusting.”
Daring gave a little laugh into her hoof, “That must have been a sight!”
“It was, thankfully Rec got us before any major incidents happened and did some quick clean up before calling someone better suited for the job. We've been friends ever since.”
“You've got the look of somepony that spends plenty of time exercising, care to explain how you keep so fit.”
“Seekers are usually highly active, your lifestyle probably won't change all that much.”
It at this point Rainbow decided to join the conversation with, “Just make you more awesome!”
Mandi rolled her eyes before saying, “We talked about this, Rainbow, your levels of awesomeness and coolness aren't always proportional to being a seeker.”
“How? I don't see why that can't be the case,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Some of the seekers I know are still monumental scardy cats, while they do indeed have stronger wills than most they still let their insecurities define how they interact with others and deal with situations. If I miss my guess, you would probably say those sorts are most definitely not cool or awesome.”
“Okay, yeah, you have a point there,” said Rainbow.
“The best way I can explain it is, being a seeker acts as an amplifier for who you are, it usually doesn't define you, it just helps to magnify certain aspects of the individual. There are cases where someone goes from being ordinary and next to pathetic to being a seeker and almost the total opposite of that. Sometimes you just need the right push to go where you need to. Before I became a seeker I was someone more interested in just being safe and was more dedicated to getting decent grades in school, then I found my first Titan and exposed to this whole new world that lay beneath what I thought was the real world and somehow that made me go from being a safety conscious bookworm to the defense minded gal that some would call awesome now. Mom was a little surprised when I came home with a seemingly different personality that day, we still go through our usual routine, but she was a little shocked to see my confidence overflowing that day. She said that for a moment I reminded her of her sister. I've never really met my mom's side of the family, every time I try to talk with her about it she redirects the conversation to somewhere else, she does it with everyone.”
“Well have things we don't like discussing,” said Daring, “I don't like discussing my family either, there some things there that I don't think I'm ready to have enter any conversations.”
“Ah, come on there have be some great stories about how cool you were as a filly,” said Rainbow.
“Every adventurer gets their start in some way, Rainbow,” said Mandi, “some are pretty awesome sounding, while most are fairly mundane. Chances are an adventurer started their career because it was a family tradition, a parent or grand parent was an active or formerly active adventurer, or just to look for someone they felt a certain level of kinship with or for. Daring doesn't have to tell us what started her career as an adventurer, but I'm just saying that it probably isn't as interesting as your imagination is making it out to be.”
“She's right,” said Daring, “I don't have to tell you how all this started, but I will tell you it was one of the more mundane beginnings.”
“As the old saying goes,” said Mandi, “often times the greatest stories have the most unassuming beginnings.”
Rainbow folded her forelegs together and grumbled something about ruining her vision of the origin of Daring's adventuring lifestyle.
“How long have you been doing this sort of thing anyway?” Daring asked Mandi.
“I've been a seeker for the past six years now,” said Mandi, “but you might get a bit of a shock when you take the introductory course, Rec isn't going to be happy, he just finished the one he gave Rainbow and her friends.”
“Really? That's interesting,” said Daring, looking over at Rainbow she actually noticed the new accessory around the cyan mare's neck, “I take that's her new special friend then.”
“Yep,” Rainbow, “his name is Shinobi, I'm told he's awesome. I don't see it.”
“She's still at odds with him,” said Mandi, “the 'family' that her titan belongs to is known for being highly intelligent and fiercely independent.”
“The guy's a jerk,” said Rainbow, “he keeps talking about efficiency and effectiveness, but he keeps ignoring the important stuff like how other ponies might feel about it or what it could mean when it's over. He just doesn't care about how anything, he's heartless.”
“Actually he's callous,” said Mandi, “it means he lacks sympathy. He's all thought and action with no emotional context to help prioritize, a good counterbalance for you since you tend to mostly be the opposite. You're not an idiot, he probably wouldn't have bonded with you if you were lacking the mental capacity to best apply his capabilities, but to him you probably seem like some meat headed sports enthusiast.”
“That's not very nice,” said Rainbow.
“In our world we managed break intelligence down into subgroups,” said Mandi, “the group of intelligence you would fall under is Bodily Kinesthetic, that means you learn best through actions and have a grasp how to optimize your body's capabilities while being able to better asses physical limitations of yourself and others. Fluttershy has what is called a high Emotional Intelligence, she's better and empathizing with others and reading the emotional state of her environment. There are a few others, those are just two examples.”
“Hah, Twi is going to nuts when learns about all that,” said Rainbow, “she's going to probably try to find out where you leaned that.”
“School, it's pretty basic info for students at a certain level of education where I'm from, although most of us tend to forget about it a few years later because of the mindset of 'how is this possibly going to help me in the future?' Trust me, a lot of folks have been falling into that pitfall.”
“You just used used a pitfall as an analogy,” said Daring, “I've never heard anypony do that before.”
“Common vernacular where I come from,” said Mandi, “the terms 'dragon to slay' and 'demon to face' are also common turns of phrase to refer to challenges that can at often times be very personal.”
“Let's hold off on using that first one around Spike,” said Rainbow.
While Rainbow, Daring and Mandi were having their discussion Twilight, Rarity and Rec were having one of their own. “So, that thing we picked up is a Cypherdex,” said Twilight, “fascinating, I suppose we could turn it in to the princesses so that they can get to work figuring out how to recreate it.”
“After we manage to get all the information off the unit,” said Rec, “or did your desire to gather information from one method blind you to obtaining information through another method?”
“That's Twilight for you, darling,” said Rarity, “her excitement about learning something new overrides almost everything, although this is the first time I can think of where a desire for knowledge from one source overrode knowledge from a different source,” Twilight gave a sheepish smile.
“Yes, well regardless,” said Rec, “you're still going to need crystals to actually have the units function.”
“I can help, darling,” said Rarity, “my special talent is being able to detect gems and crystals.”
“They're going to need to conform to certain parameters,” said Rec, “I'll try a test of how well you can narrow down your detection ability with a Cypherdex crystal, the crystal can hold several libraries worth of information,” Twilight gave a delighted gasp, and Rec was sure she was having some sort nerdgasm, and decided ignore the the sounds of the elated alicorn and continued, “but from what I've learned about the units they tend to have crystals that are dedicated to a specific function or subject.”
“Like one crystal runs the analysis and scanning spells and another holds the personal titan database,” said Twilight as she managed to snap herself out of it.
“Yes,” said Rec, there is also small collection of 'blank' crystals that can be used to take on the function of another one of the crystals if they become compromised in some way. I'll be using one of those from my personal unit since I've taken the time to memorize where which crystal are in the unit. If this plan works out we'll probably gather enough of the crystals to make a few units.”
“But you need to see what's stored on the Cypherdex before any of that,” said Rarity.
“If it's in a language I'm familiar with I can give Twilight and any of you other girls lessons on the language so that you all can assist in the research while I find myself indisposed for other reasons,” said Rec.
“How many languages do you know?” Inquired Twilight.
“Just three,” said Rec, “what we call English and Japanese are both languages I know, they also happen to be active and vibrant languages that are still experiencing their natural change cycles, like all 'living languages'; the third language I know is a 'dead language' called Gaelic. It's called a dead language because there is no longer an active culture using it on regular basis, that means it experiences almost no changes. It's also what's called a 'root language', that means there is at least one existing language that derived from it. A culture that is no longer around in my world that spoke that language naturally was known as the Celts, some people in my world mistakenly refer to the Gaelic language as the Celtic language. Although the education system in the country live in is a bit lacking, and tends to be underfunded in all the places that matter.”
“Um, why?” Inquired Twilight.
“A number of reasons, but one of the main reasons is an unrestrained national military budget, they actually cut funding to areas of the government that politicians keep agreeing are important to feed the beast that is our military, and to make matters worse they seem to be actively wasting money on pointless endeavors. But that's all I'm going to share, we're not here for me to complain about national policies back home.”
“Right,” said Twilight, “I already knew most of the stuff regarding dead languages anyway, but I wasn't aware of anything regarding root languages.”
“Also, not what you want to really talk about,” said Rec.
“So, these crystals have special magic properties,” said Rarity, “I'm looking forward to our time together, I might even get you to do something for me.”
“I'm not interested in you like that,” said Rec, “so please don't word it some way that could mislead.”
“Well, there goes some of the fun I was planning on,” said Rarity, “I suppose that...oh, I'm sure that would never work,” the ivory unicorn chuckled to herself.
“Why do I feel like something weird is going to happen,” said Twilight to herself.
While that was going on Claudia, Fluttershy and Applejack were having their own discussion on Omnihydra. “Yer friends say yer really good in a scrap,” said Applejack.
“Oh my,” said Fluttershy, “you have scary special talent.”
Claudia chuckled a bit before saying, “Fighting isn't my special talent, in fact I have no natural ability when it comes to fighting,” the two mare looked at her with surprise, “it's all the product of hard work, I put the effort into refining my combat skills. In our world there's saying among martial artists, 'hard work and effort will always win out over natural talent', do you know why they say that?”
“No,” said Fluttershy, “pony society is basically built around finding our special talent, the ability that we can naturally do better than anypony we know.”
“See, that's a problem,” said Claudia, “you let your natural talent define the terms of what you can do, those with no talent that put all the work and effort into something they don't have a talent for will continue to practice those skills and ability longer and harder than anyone else, they spend time refining their skills well beyond the point others would. Rec has a talent for combing things, we all know this, but his natural ability to grow plants is utter garbage. Right now he has a vibrant garden and small grove of very healthy trees at home. That wasn't always the case, when Mandi and I met him he had been trying at both for a little over three years to grow everything, those plants just kept dying before they could reach maturity. He didn't give up on them, and two years after we met him he finally had little grove growing. Turns out he was overcaring for all the plants, he just needed to step back a bit and not be such a mother hen about it all. It took him five years to realize it, he can be pretty stubborn sometimes.”
“Why did he go through all the trouble in the first place if he didn't have a talent for it?” Inquired Fluttershy.
“Because cooking is one of his favorite pastimes,” said Claudia, “the fresher the ingredients the better the food is how that belief goes, he figured if he had place for the bulk of his ingredients to grow then he could have them at their freshest. A little crazy, I know, but that's why he put so much effort int the plants, he did it with the belief the outcome would be worth more than everything he put in. That little grove of his doesn't really need him mothering it anymore, he just checks on the trees once or twice month and gives them some help it looks like that he needs to.”
“Ah think Pinkie might have said somethin' similar regarding ingredients,” said Applejack, “but fer yer friend to go so far when et was clear 'e didn't 'ave uh talent fer et is uh little crazy if ya ask me. But Ah can admire 'is tenacity and commitment to what 'e was doin', so Ah guess et's alright.”
“Something your family is known for, I take it,” said Claudia.
“Eeyup,” Applejack, “tenacity, stubborness and strong wills, mah family has reputation fer em. An' jus' tol' me 'e has stubborn streak, an' we all know ya need a strong will ta be whut ya an' yer friends are.”
“Rec and Mandi both told us about how you learned to fight from your mom, we don't have a whole lot of fighting like what they talked about here.”
“Yes mom taught me a family style, I still use it, but I've moved beyond the the tenants of it. She said the style of combat used by her family is for proving superiority and showing what you're capable of. I dedicated myself to learning about martial arts, there are even a few resources that I have in my personal collection that help me when times feel rough. Where we come from martial arts isn't . something intended to assault, it's intended protect when you get down to its purest essence. In martial arts there is the expression 'the greatest battle is the one not fought', it means we learn how to fight so that avoid fighting entirely. If you can recognize a conflict before it happens and resolve the issue ind peaceful manner then you've achieved victory before the fight has even started to begin. That is a philosophy I follow, I practice and refine my fighting skills to keep healthy, but I also use the words of wisdom from the great masters of the past as a guide of just what I have to do.”
“That sounds complicated when you say it that way.”
“The best way to win is to fight without fighting,” said Claudia.
“Tha' makes no sense,” said Applejack, “how can ya fight widout fighting?”
“Think about it, I mean really devote some time to figuring it out, then come back to me when you think you've got it figured out. I solved that riddle after four years of contemplation, you might get it in less.”
“Ah don't get et,” said Applejack.
“I'll give you a clue,” said Claudia, “most think there's only two options, resist or surrender. When you resist you put you're all into a fight you are sure you might lose, but don't want give up on. When you surrender it's effectively saying that you've grown to wary to put up the fight. However there is option that most don't consider as even a chance of a possibility.”
“And what would that be? I hope it isn't something too dangerous,” said Fluttershy.
Claudia shook her head and said, “The third option is acceptance. When you truly accept something you embrace and tell it you aren't afraid of it in the slightest, when you accept something for what it honestly and truly is it like saying you have come to an understanding with,” she shook her head again, “I'm still resisting the idea that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna can influence the passing of the day and night, I can't see how I can accept it, but I know blindly surrendering to that belief about them influencing heavenly bodies goes against what I believe in.”
“Why are you so resistant to it.”
“Because of how I learned the universe I'm from works, Rec and Mandi are more willing accept how things are in Equestria. I suppose it has something do with how they were raised. Rec grew up with all the seeker stuff, he knew about many of the mystical elements of our world for most of his life. Mandi grew up with stories about great champions and amazing beings in a world that was overflowing with magic, so much so that some of the characters could influence natural forces well beyond the scope of what many of the other characters of the story thought as possible. Me, I grew up learning combat at tactics, they grew up with things that most in my world think of as fantasy while I grew up only truly learning about the physical world. I may be the best fighter on my team, but I'm the worst when it comes magic.”
*******************************************
They had returned from the bog a little over a few hours now, Twilight offered to put Daring up for the time being. Rec had started her introductory course before turning it over to Mandi, mostly on account that he had Twilight had retreated to the study to work carefully with the Cypherdex. Before heading to work on the artifact he decided to what he said he'd try with Rarity.
They were in the back room of Carousel Boutique, thankfully Orchid and Crusaders were out doing other things. “Alright,” said Rec as he set his Mythichive on the table, Twilight had tagged along since she was curious as how Rec would do what he had proposed, using his unicorn magic he lifted the lower panel of the opened unit to reveal a lattice of several glittering crystals that were somewhere between Rainbow's coat and ice blue in color, some of the crystals even had veins of aqua green them while others were fully aqua green. He carefully pulled one of the crystals out and gently set it on the table in front of Rarity, “I would like you to pick up this crystal,” he gestured to the crystal he had just set down, “with your magic, remember to to be gentle with it.”
Rarity nodded before gently picking up the crystal in her light blue magic, the color difference was so close that it almost looked as if no magi had picked up the crystal at all. Rarity was so surprised she almost lost her hold on the crystal, “It really is lovely,” said Rarity, “and you use them to power the device and store information, I don't think anypony ever thought of using magic to store information within a crystal,” she brought the crystal closer to her eyes for a better inspection.
“I've actually done research on alternate knowledge transference and storage,” said Twilight, “that's how I found the memory spell I used on everypony when they weren't themselves. Although I did read that Starswirl had theorized that a spell on certain items might allow them to act as an additional storage medium, when I dug further it didn't find how he came to that theory.”
“Okay,” said Rec, deciding to ignore Twilight's inclusion for the time being, “now that you have general idea of its superficial appearance it's time to move on to rest, you might want to put it somewhere secure just in case one of these practices results in you dropping the crystal.”
“I wise move, darling,” said Rarity, “it would be a complete crime against aesthetics to break a crystal as beautiful as this,” she set the crystal back on the table.
“Alright,” said Rec, “do remember how it 'felt' in your magic,” Rarity nodded, “good, but I'm guessing it was just a general feel.”
“Um, yes,” said Rarity, “how come you said it that way?”
“Because,” said Rec, “we need you to memorize as much about the crystal as you can so that can focus your gem detection spell towards a certain family of jewels, like the Cypherdex crystal.”
“Ah, I see,” said Rarity, “let us continue then.”
“We need you to memorize the composition, the texture and the magical presence of the crystal, the first two are very physical and you can probably pick up on them with a little focus on how you hold the crystal in your magic,” Rarity nodded and picked up the crystal again before closing her eyes and letting the sensations of the crystal's 'touch' come back to her.
“I think I got those details down now,” said Rarity, “this could help me in determining the quality of the gems I manage to collect.” She set the crystal back on the table.
“Now I would like for you to try focusing on how the innate magic of the crystal 'feels', if you need some help I know spell for detecting magical presences in a local area.”
“I don't think it will come to that just yet,” said Rarity before lightly touching her horn to the crystal and closing her eyes, after a few minutes they snapped open and she said, “oh my, that is an interesting sensation,” said Rarity, “I think I've got it all committed to memory now.”
“Good,” said Rec as he returned the crystal from where got it and placed the lid back on the unit, “Twilight and I will be working with the Cypherdex for an indeterminate amount of time, I suggest you get some of your friends and go seek out the crystals, just apply what you learned about the crystal to your detection spell and I'm confident you'll at least be able to narrow down where a few with similar properties can be found. And if the load is too heavy you can always ask your titans to help.”
“I'll do my best to help you,” Rarity, “I've really applied my special talent this way before, but I'm willing to give it a try.”
********************************************
“When Rec and Twilight returned they heard Daring saying, “... I can't do spells, that's a unicorn thing.”
“You're saying that no matter what kind of magic you're dealing with only those born with a natural capability for spellcraft will be the only ones to be capable of it,” came Mandi's voice with a hint of annoyance, Rec and Twilight figured the two pegasi had been having the argument for a while.
“Yes,” came Daring's voice rather loudly, “I've told you that over a dozen times already.”
“Is that so,” said Mandi, “and the demonstrations of powers I gave you to try were refused on the what grounds again?”
“That an alicorn and unicorn are in the building and making appear as such.”
“Actually Twilight and I have been out on the other side of town for the past half hour or so,” said Rec as he popped his head into the room that being used as a classroom, “and even if we weren't Twilight and I both will be working on a piece of magical technology from a bygone to the point we will be completely unaware of what is happening outside our designated study room, all the spells Mandi showed you she really did learn, you need to redefine your thinking. Mandi, we're headed to try and access the Cypherdex. Try and make sure nothing gets too damaged, Twilight's very protective of the library here.”
“Sure thing,” said Mandi, “Daring, you need to at least put forth the effort of trying before deciding it can't be done, I don't think you'd have made it very far in your adventures if you had the sort of attitude you're showing me now.”
Daring huffed as Rec and Twilight headed to the room they had set up. Once they were inside Twilight closed the door and Rec flipped open the Cypherdex, immediately a riddle popped up in a set of glowing yellow characters Twilight was unfamiliar with, this prompted her to say, “What language is that?”
“Gaelic,” said Rec as he skimmed the riddle, “I'm not so good at saying speaking it, but I am proficient in reading it. And this riddle, a pretty unusual one at that.”
“What does it say?”
“Name the sword of the prince that was hidden and made him king.”
“I don't get it,” said Twilight, “it's asking for the name of sword.”
“A sword that made its way into legend and lore,” said Rec, “there's only sword that matches the description given, a blade known as 'the sword of selection', but it seems to easy, there must be more riddles after this one. Whoever it was that had this Cypherdex wanted to make sure the next seeker to find it was worthy of what lies inside.”
“What was the name?”
“Calaburn,” said Rec with a knowledgeable tone, “some scholars believe it to have been the sword known as Excalibur, however in many accounts an entity known as the Lady of Lake gave it to him. But this asking in Gaelic, and Excalibur's name in Gaelic is Calicbolg.”
“Yes, the sword Calicbolg,” said a refined female voice.
Twilight turned her attention to device with more interest as the next set of character formed a new riddle. Rec read off what it said, “An enraged dragon is bearing down on the village that you are standing in and none of the inhabitants are willing to flee, what is the proper course of action?”
“Can it understand the language we're using?”
“I think so, since it responding a vernacular language we're using.”
“Right,” said Twilight with a nod, “stand our ground and do our best to calm the dragon.”
The characters changed to a new riddle, “I guess that means we solved that one,” said Rec, “let's see,” taking a look at the characters he said, “ah, it says, this is jumbled mess, I think it wants us to reassemble this into the next question. Like this one here,” said Rec touching one of the symbols, “it's more like it has been turned upside down,” carefully with his hoof he rotated the character until it was in what he believed to be the proper orientation, “this might take some time.”
Almost two hour later Twilight said, “I can't believe there were extra characters thrown in to mislead.”
“I would have still been trying properly place them all if you hadn't suggested spreading out one of the sentences to possibly move entire words to different points,” said Rec before turning back to the characters, “It's asking for the 'four great virtues of the Casterwills'.”
“This might be bit hard, especially since we don't know what those are.”
“But the clues to the identity are probably in the riddles,” said Rec, “what did the first riddle talk about.”
“A prince becoming king,” said Twilight, “what are rulers known for?”
“Nobility,” said Rec, both saw the word appear in Gaelic on the holographic monitor.
“Oh, I get it,” said Twilight, “that question about a dragon was to test our understanding of courage and the puzzle that lead to this was test of our skill in finding a hidden message,” they saw 'courage' and 'skill' appear on the monitor.
“And this last one?”
“Our problem solving abilities.”
“What's a single word for the ability to solve problems?” Said Rec.
“Intelligence,” said Twilight with a sense of accomplishment as the last word appeared and the whole screen flickered to what appeared to be a journal entry.
“What do we have hear, 'Cngratulations to you have passed the test of worthiness for the knowledge that lies in here, I am Merlin, counsel and mentor to Arthur Pendragon. It has been a few months since I ended up in this strange land that has me walking about as if I were unicorn, an act I have been finding quite enjoyable as of late. I have been working with a unicorn who goes by the name of Starswirl on a way to return home, his mind works wonderfully on magical application and theory. I like to think the two of us have become good friends, he looking after a pair of young fillies with tremendous, and is acting as their mentor as I was once for Arthur.' Do you realize what this means?”
“The greatest master of magic from your world actually met the greatest magical mind from mine,” said Twilight.
“More than that,” said Rec, “the two of them bounced highly advanced magical theories off each other, it's possible that well over half the spells both of them devised were direct result of their interactions with each other. Merlin also made a passing mention that Starswirl was the mentor to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. He came here when they were younger my sister, do you realize what this means?”
“Some of the spells in the Starswirl wing might have been influenced by Merlin, this is huge. We need to copy all of the data from this and get it to the princesses, then turn this marvelous device over to the team selected to examine and eventually replicate it.”
The sound of the door to their room getting blasted in broke them out of their musings and Twilight quickly caught the flying door with her magic before looking over at a very sheepish Daring Do. “Sorry,” said Daring, “when she explained what it did I wanted to give it a try.”
“What powers has she gotten a handle on?” said Rec with his attention on a very annoyed Mandi.
“BoltFlare, and now TouchRam,” said Mandi with irritation on the name of the last one spell, “I also told her to not try a stunt like that in a friendly environment.”
“Sorry,” said Daring, I just figured it would come in really useful next time I have to face Ahuizotl.”
Rec just shook his head as he pulled his Mythichive close to the Cypherdex and said “Cypherdex, load a copy of all files to the Mythichive. Mythichive prepare a file folder for all files being transferred from the Cypherdex.”
“Of course,” said the Cypherdex, “establishing connection.”
At the same time the Mythichive said, “Undertood,” and displayed folder image that had the the words 'Cypherdex data' before saying, “connection request detected, allowing.”
Twenty minutes later both units simultaneously said, “request completed.”
“We'll bring this all to the princesses tomorrow, then they can begin the hard part. And by that I mean getting ponies that can keep a secret and establishing a branch of the government meant for dealing with all the seeker stuff. However we still haven't found any clues to what we were asked.”
“Regardless,” said Twilight, “we've made great strides in uncovering some secrets I don't think even they were aware of.”
“Tell me about Merlin,” said Twilight, “what are some of the more outstanding stories about him?”
“Let me see,” said Rec as he looked about the study and tapped his chin with a hoof, his friends and Daring had departed for some exercises elsewhere, Pinkie and Fluttershy had come over just in time to hear the story. “How about the tale of Merlin and Dragons?”
“That sounds fascinating,” said Twilight.
“It sounds a little scary to me,” said Fluttershy.
“I assure the dragons don't do anything too scary for the story,” said Rec, “there are a few scenes that you might not agree with, but for the most part the story doesn't have anything all too scary.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” said yellow pegasus, “and thank you for telling before the story even starts.”
“Now, how did it go again?” said Rec in mock contemplation, “ah yes, the story starts with a boy named Emrys. He was boy with eyes sharp like a hawk, with a face that never seemed to smile. He lived in a mountainous, rugged wilds of what is now known in our world as Northern Wales. He was a lonely, fatherless boy. The reason he rarely smiled was because he was troubled by dreams and visions he did not understand.”
“Now, that is most interesting,” came Luna's voice.
“Princess Luna,” said Twilight, “how long have you been here?”
“The part about a colt having no father to speak of,” said Luna as she settled in to listen to the story.
“Yes well, anyway,” said Rec, “as the story goes, since he had no father he made time with an old man who spent his time in the mountains. This was a man that was so old that it seemed he had been around forever. He seemed to know everything from reading and writing to how the birds speak and why the colors of the leaves changed color in the autumn. You have to remember the world from which I come has very different rules to how nature operates, when the leaves change color they fall to the ground on their own. I might tell a story about how some thought the leaves changed color, but for now this is the tale of a young boy and the experiences that helped set the foundations for being one of the greatest of all time. The old man liked the young Emrys and taught the boy all he could. It is said that the mother of Emrys was a princess, but she lived far away from her father's castle and knew almost nothing of the things boys like to do, like climbing trees or catching tadpoles. That meant that Emrys was left to figure all that by himself. It was lonely, indeed, the other boys in the village would make fun of him and as it were seemed to always be teasing about not knowing anything of his father. They called him such names as 'mother's bane' and 'little apron pull', and never invited him to take part in their games.”
“That's just terrible,” said Pinkie, “no wonder he had trouble smiling, nopony wanted to be his friend.”
“I suppose interruptions are inevitable,” said Rec, “try to keep your commentary to a minimum so the story doesn't run too long. As I was saying, because of this he was left to himself. He would observe the fish, marvel at frogs and watch butterflies. All the while keeping his strange dreams to himself. Although it was his strange way with animals, especially birds that finally brought the other boys to him, it was more their curiosity than any sort of friendship that kept them around him. He would try to impress them by making up what he thought were harmless little predictions to amuse them.”
“With one who knows little of such great abilities such an act is inevitable, but still potentially dangerous,” said Luna.
“Moving on,” said Rec, “things like saying that ir would soon rain, which it soon did, and the first bird of spring would be arriving shortly, then so it was. Remember, in my world the acts all on its own and wild animals tend to themselves.”
“So it's basically a world that acts like the Everfree forest,” said Twilight.
“Yes, but minus a few of the fauna flora,” said Rec.
“Come again,” said Pinkie, “I'm not familiar with those names.”
“They're words from an old language in my world that mean animals and plants,” said Rec, “Fauna means animal or animals and Flora plant or plants.”
“Oh, we have those terms for the same things,” said Twilight.
“Anyway,” said Rec, “the truth be told, any farmer's child could make the same guesses. After a while the boys lost interest in him. However, when he was around nine years old Emrys found a book of seasons and planetary movements in the old man's cottage. And with this he tried to impress them by saying that sun would disappear the day he made the prediction, he thought it was harmless, but everyone else not so much. There was an eclipse of the sun that day, just as he had read in the book from the old man's house.”
“Eclipse of the sun?” came Luna voice.
“We know that what is called a solar eclipse, an eclipsing of the sun, is caused when the moon passes between our world and the sun,” said Rec, “a lunar eclipse is when the shadow of our world physically passes over the moon and blocks sunlight from reaching it. Both events are actually quite rare.” Twilight and Luna gave each other concerned looks. “Don't worry, the events are known to not last more than a few hours. Moving on,” he said, “when this happened and the village seemed to be plunged into darkness, to the villagers this was some kind of foul magic. They avoided him all together after that.”
“They thought because he made a prediction about the sun disappearing he was doing dark magic, I can't say blame them,” said Twilight.
Rec facehoofed before saying, “he didn't do any dark magic or any kind of expressly evil magic. The planetary actions operate on their own mechanics without influence from any other force. The moon orbits our world and our world orbit our sun. The rising and setting of the sun and the moon is a naturally occurring optical illusion that requires no magic to execute. It's merely a result of our world rotating on its axis, nothing more,” he then muttered, “why am I trying explain basic scientific information that every grade schooler should be learning?”
“What was that?” said Twilight.
“Nothing to concern yourself with yet,” said Rec, “anyway, the point is he didn't use magic, all he did was make a prediction based on the book of planetary movements that he read.”
“Oh,” said Twilight, “I need to get one of those kinds of books into my library.”
“Maybe someday you will,” said Rec, “but for now, let us continue the story.”
“Yeah, about that,” said Twilight, “you said this story is called 'Merlin and the Dragons', I realize it will take some time to build up where the dragons are, but I have yet to find Merlin in this story.”
“Think a bit,” said Rec, “who have I been talking the most about in this story?”
“Some colt name Emrys,” said Pinkie, then started bouncing up and down with excitement like she just figured something out.
“Exactly,” said Twilight, “who is Emrys? Really?”
Rec gave a knowing smile and said, “Maybe you'll figure it out by the end of the story, and if not then I'll share it with you if you ask the question again after the story. After all the set up for this story was Merlin himself telling a newly crowned king Arthur this very story when Arthur had trouble sleeping.”
“Such an odd name,” said Fluttershy.
“It's a Gaelic name,” said Rec, “it means bear.”
“Oh, that makes it sound almost pony in nature,” said Twilight quickly jotting down note in one of her books.
“Now, where was I? Oh yes,” said Rec, “Emrys had managed to frighten the town because they thought he had performed a terrible magic. It was after that they started saying that he must have been spawned by a demon, or some other evil creature. This made him more alone than any prior time time. Then one day when Emrys was about twelve a ruthless man called Vortigern arrived and was unjustly calling himself the high kin over all the lands of Britannia. He had slain all his enemies and had traveled for weeks on end. He finally arrived in Emrys's home valley with a tired army of soldiers and a handful of magicians. The peaceful life of Emrys's tiny village was about change forever. Vortigern forced the villagers to do all the labor required him in making a fortress like tower so that he could watch over the valley for any enemies he might have missed from a position of strength.”
“Well, that's just rude,” said Twilight, “but I guess bad ponies are a bit of a constant at this point.”
“Yes, well,” Rec, “before long a tower that seemed to dominate everything in valley below, including the village Emrys called home, had taken form. However that very night the tower began to shudder and shake until it came tumbling down. The shaking cracked the mortar, and whole thing came crashing and tumbling down in a heap rubble. Now for the part that frightened Emrys, it was just as he dreamed it would happen.”
“Oh, that's right he didn't share his frightening dreams with anypony,” said Luna.
Rec nodded, “He was frightened because he did not know what to make of his powers to see into future. Vortigern however believed it to be the work of the villagers, saying such things as their work was careless, he forced them to rebuild his tower again and told them that when did so to pray that would do it right. As the villagers returned to work Vortigen drove them even harder. By the following night the tower had been almost rebuilt. And once again the mountain gave a great shudder and tower fell once more, the day's labor laid in ruins. Vortigern was not happy, in fact was furious and worked the villagers even harder than the day before. He worked the villagers until they dropped, but the tower fell to the mountain's shuddering a third time. The tower once again lay in rubble. Even a stubborn man would have looked for a better place to build, but Vortigern was far too proud for something like that. He turned to his magicians and told them to find him an answer as to why the tower kept collapsing, he also told them he wanted a solution to the problem. He demanded that his tower had to built there.”
“Such a stallion isn't fit to rule an alley,” said Luna.
“Agreed,” said Rec, “the following morning his magicians put on the most impressive robes, drew the circles of power, cast the sacred stones of fate, consulted the sacred sticks of prophecy and consulted each other on their findings.”
Twilight gave a giggle before saying, “All they did was put on a show before entering into debate.”
“In a nutshell,” said Rec, “that is being generous. When it was all done they announced their findings to Vortigern, they told him that he needed find a fatherless boy spawned by a demon and sprinkle his blood over the stones, only then would the powers of the land allow the tower to be built. It was a load nonsense anyway, they were merely telling him what they thought he would want to hear, such a tactic was common among charlatans such as they. Vortigern told them to go and find him such a boy, they told him they weren't even sure if such a boy even existed.”
“That's just a barbaric,” said Twilight, “even ponies wouldn't consider something so atrocious.”
“There are quite a few out there that would agree you,” said Rec, “anyway, as the story goes, Vortigern offered a moderate sack of gold to anyone who could bring him such a child to his soldiers. As the greedy soldier hurried off to search for a victim one of the village boys caught his attention and asked for mercy as he told Vortigern of Emrys and where he could be found. At that same time Emrys was immersed in a new vision, one in which he saw a pool of water under or within the mountain, the accounts are unsure of such details, and in the pool he saw two large stones, he was unsure of what the stones might mean at the time. After hearing of Emrys Vortigern ordered the boy brought to him.”
“This is starting sound scary,” said Fluttershy.
“Sometimes the best stories scare us a little,” said Rec, “it's so we can better see courage when it is displayed within the tale. When Emrys was going to be brought before Vortigern he asked the old man for advice, the old man told him to trust his dreams. When he was brought before Vortigern the tyrant asked if he was indeed Emrys, the boy sired by demon. Emrys said that was indeed his name, but was not the child of a demon. Vortigern said he cared not if the boy were right or not and ordered the boy to be slain. It was at this moment Emrys said that it would be better Vortigern have his dreams, then told Vortigern to ask his magicians what lay under the tower. Vortigern then ordered the boy untied and asked him what lay under the tower. Emrys told him of the underground pool, Vortigern reasoned that underground water might indeed be the cause of his tower's problems with its foundations, but told Emrys that if he was wrong then the boy's blood would indeed be used to satiate the ritual his magicians were set to perform. Vortigern had the underside of the mountain dug into, and indeed there was large pool water. Within the pool they saw two great stones that looked as though they were breathing in and out. With each expansion of the stones the mud around them them would tremble. Emrys told Vortigern these stones were places where two great dragons were sleeping.”
“Dragon eggs? Of what size? I need specifics,” said Twilight.
“They were said to be the size boulders,” said Rec.
“The kind when somepony says boulder? Or Maud's pet rock?” said Pinkie.
“Seeing as I was unaware of anyone named Maud until you mentioned the name,” said Rec, “I meant boulders as in very large rocks.”
“Those are some really big baby dragons,” said Twilight.
“Indeed,” said Rec, “Emrys told Vortigern that it was the dreaming of the dragons that shook the earth each night and made the tower fall. Vortigern's men descended into the muddy pit and with mighty hammers pounded upon the stones. Once, twice, three times their hammer rang out and jets of lighting in the cracks ran about each stone. Out them came two dragons, one that was said to be with a belly white as milk and other had a body red as wine. The two were huge, angry creatures with battle cries that echoed in the air. The dragons took wing and circled one another, rising higher and higher into the sky. They wheeled about, poised to strike. Then came the fire. They clashed breast to breast, raining teeth and scales down upon the ground. Vortigern's men were too much in awe to shoot at the dragons, so Vortigern grabbed a bow and shot at the at the red dragon and pierced its wing, distracting the creature. It was just Emrys had foreseen in his childhood with a vision of these very dragons, the white had defeated the red. It should be known that Vortigern's own insignia was that of a red dragon. Vortigern asked Emrys if he was so good at prophecy what it all meant after the white dragon had taken off and flown to parts unknown. Emrys boldly proclaimed that one day Vortigern would share the fate of the fallen red dragon, which in its death was set ablaze by the white dragon before it had flown off.”
“He would meet his end just as the real red dragon had,” said Twilight, “fascinating, who was the one who bore the white dragon as their mark?”
“We're getting there,” said Rec, “Vortigern let his pride state that his tower be rebuilt and demanded that Emrys not have anymore dreams that led to the mad ruler's downfall. It was then that Emrys could feel his confidence growing every hour, he watched and waited on the hillside for any sign of help for his village. With the assistance of a hawk that seemed to have read his thoughts after he beckoned it onto his arm he searched for aid. With it he saw a great army led by two men in gleaming armor, these were Vortigern's enemies and the true heirs to the land. They saw the hawk and took it as a good omen, they followed it through a mountain pass and toward Emrys's village. It was after he had come out of his vision Emrys came down from the hillside to confront Vortigern. He declared to Vortigern that he was going be defeated by righteous knights and his cruelty brought to an eternal end, just as Vortigern was about to strike the boy down his men proclaimed the arrival the army of the two knights. The two kings came up to the foot of the tower and demanded that Vortigern come and meet his fate. Vortigern gave the order to defend the tower, but in the face of an army of thousands no soul would stand with him, his soldiers all fled at the sight of great army leaving Vortigern alone with the tower he had ordered to be constructed. The kings urged Vortigern to surrender, he declared he would never surrender.”
“Prideful and stubborn to the last,” commented Twilight.
“This is true,” said Rec, “in the end Vortigern was burned right up within his own tower. Now, can do think you can answer the question you asked earlier?”
Twilight returned to deep contemplation, looking over the notes she had compiled over the course of the story. “Could it be that, Merlin and Emrys were one and the same?”
“That's right,” said Rec, “Emrys grew up and took the name Merlin in the years before he met Arthur. Now, Princess Luna, to what do we ow the pleasure,” he said as he got up and stretched, after all he had spent around a half hour telling the story.
“We came to check in on you, and I also think I finally was able to devise a name for group that will handle all the seeker related issues.”
“And what would that be?” Inquired Rec.
“We have chosen to call it the Preservation Society,” said Luna.
“I see,” said Rec, “and have you been able to find some more individuals that can keep secrets when need be?”
“I believe so, yes,” said Luna, “but due to the fact that ponies will agree with almost anything their princesses say I thought it prudent to put their claims to a little test. We'll know the results in a few days.”
“Nice to see you're being practical,” said Rec.
“Given some of the potential dangers that you have expressed we thought it best to be extra careful.”
“Um,” said Fluttershy, “what about Merlin's connection with animals.”
Rec gave a small chuckle and said, “he kept company with an owl named Archimedes for many years, the owl always seemed to be much smarter and wiser than most other birds.”
“Twilight has an owl,” Pinkie, “but he seems to only pop up when it's narrtively relevant.”
“It's Pinkie Pie, just go with it,” Twilight.
*************************************
It was a few hours after all that, Luna departed after hearing that seekers didn't tend to have a set uniform since they preferred to be low profile. Although she did like the idea of a council to manage the administrative decisions for effectively. Rec now found himself in Carousel Boutique being prepared for a fitting by Rarity. His many pocketed vest near the white mare. Twilight had left for Canterlot with a the Cypherdex, she wanted to magically examine the crystals herself before sending them off to Canterlot as well.
“This piece has such a simple elegance to it,” said Rarity, “although I can tell it was created for practical reasons with aesthetics not being considered. Darling, this just will not do. It needs to be practical and turn heads, maybe something that identifies it as yours needs to be on it, and the black so drab, it needs to compliment your coat.”
“I'm aware my coat is indigo,” said Rec, “but back home I just have a hide with no coat, it's a peachy pink by the way. You might be a little hard pressed to make an outfit that compliments both, considering they seem to be pretty close to opposite each other on the comparative color chart.”
“Rarity seemed be lost in thought for moment before she gave a dramatic gasp, “Oh dear, you're right. When you finally do get home you'll require an attire to compliment your look.”
“Forest green always worked for me,” said Rec.
Rarity seemed to be making the evaluation in her head for a moment, “Yes, I do believe that will work just fine,” said Rarity, “it seems your talent for combinations extends into aesthetics, that will make this a bit easier than I was initially anticipating, usually the ponies I work with are a bit lacking when comes to a sense of Aesthetics.”
Rec looked around uneasily a bit before saying, “Don't expect the dimension you get her will properly transfer,” Rarity started giving him worried puppy dog eyes, “but if you think there are some colors that could properly compliment the other coloration I talked about then I suppose you could bring a few samples for comparison on the other side.”
“What a marvelous idea,” said Rarity as she started taking his measurements and scribbling them down with a few notes in a ledger, “and your idea for training my ability to find those very special crystals worked out beautifully, I can probably turn some of the surplus into adornments for my work, the variety we have is absolutely gorgeous. Those aqua greens might be wonderful for you, but I think a blend of different colors might prove better for us.”
“You're not going to have final say in that regard,” said Rec, “besides a more constant and cohesive color makes it easier for logistical reasons, if we had a rainbow's spectrum with every unit there's a chance we could end up causing sight problems. Are you familiar with the term 'color blind'?”
“Yes, it's where a pony has no sense of how colors work well together.”
“It's a bit more complicated than that,” said Rec, “we've found in our world it is a medical condition, some folks are born with an inability to see certain colors. Imagine for a moment you encountered someone who had a physical inability to see the color red, how would try explaining crimson or scarlet?”
Rarity blinked for a moment before saying, “I don't I could properly convey that, it would almost be like trying explain to a pony that had been blind their whole life what the color blue is,” she started chewing her lower lip, “I never thought somepony would actually have such an inability.”
Rec shook his red mane a bit as the measuring tape seemed to be trying get the dimensions of neck, “Are you trying to make me a whole a wardrobe? That's really not necessary,” he said, the tape continued by measuring the dimensions of his forelegs.
“You can never be to careful, darling,” said Rarity, “and all of these new things have given me so much inspiration.”
“Glad to help,” said Rec, “I just remembered you politely refused to invoke your titan during the exercise, we chose to press it on grounds you probably weren't ready to try it. Applejack refused, but in her defense Rainbow pointed out that she had very big titan. Powerful and big titans take more energy to invoke than those that are small or moderately sized. Due to his size the first few times Mandi invoked Undergolem she was visibly drained, fortunately for her all of those were practice and in a secure environment with competent medical staff nearby should things get a bit to traumatic.”
“So for larger titans and more powerful spells you need to build up your reserves,” said Rarity as she set her measuring tape aside. “It makes sense, how do you build up your reserves?”
“Practice your seeker spells mostly,” said Rec, “also try invoking the big ones enough times and it isn't quite so draining, you get used it and call on them with less of effort or draining with enough practice in both spells and invoking of the titan itself. Just there are different kinds of ponies there are number of different kinds of seekers, some have even been known to have titan related talents.”
“So, in many respects its very much like regular spellcraft, like that used by unicorns.”
“Yes and no, it's kind of hard to explain, but bottom line is the greater your will is focused the more powerful of a force you can express or command.”
“I see,” said Rarity, “Applejack is certainly the most stubborn of us.”
“Stubbornness and a strong will aren't the same thing, they're often mistaken one another, but what you need to remember is that even a strong will is willing to concede to reason, stubbornness is an inability to entertain reason since the only reason you and the only reason listen to in that state is your own flawed season of reason.”
“Oh, well she also is one of our most strong willed members too, it's just sometimes...” Rarity started making a face that said she didn't want say something mean or unjustified.
“She can take things so far that her strong willed drive digresses into some state of stubborn pride,” said Rec with a knowing nod.
The ivory mare just gave a prim nod. He gave Rarity a nod as well, he then bid her a silent goodbye. He had feeling she'd drag him back to the boutique once her work was finished, at first he thought letting her look at the vest with numerous pouches wouldn't be much of an issue, esspecially since it was made of what was called a cheap material back home. He half expected Rarity to pester him about all he knew about the material.
It as he was leaving the boutique that he heard a somber, yet serious, female voice say, “I finally found one of you. Do you know how hard it is to track down you three? Especially over the course of a week!”
A dull yellow pony with a mane and tail colored in stripes of pink in the center and a dulled blue on the outer sides trotted up to him in a huffy manner, Rec also noticed a somewhat concerned sea foam green unicorn mare racing who seemed to be a little tizzied racing up to join them.
“Can I help you miss...?
“Ponies around these parts call me Bon Bon,” said the mare, “an familiar dragon near Princess Twilight's castle the day you and your friends arrived, it also looked like it attacked the poor mare near you before disappearing into thin.”
“Bon Bon,” yelled the sea foam green unicorn as she came up next the pair, “I thought we we agreed no more of these 'errands' of yours, that's not your line of work anymore. I'm so sorry, she does this 'monster hunter' thing every once a while, I swear I have no idea why she thinks she needs to do that sort of thing. I'm Lyra, nice to met you.”
“My friends call me Rec,” said Rec, “pleasure meeting both of you, as for the thing about the dragon I can assure you it was non-harmful. Good day.” With that he gave a courteous bow and left them alone. On his way back to the castle he started thinking about what he should say to Twilight about it all.
As he was heading out he hard the pony that called herself Bon Bon saying to Lyra, in an annoyed tone, “Great, that even less then I anticipated, why did you have to interrupt us like that?”
After a few minutes Rec was back at the castle, he was treated to the sight of Spike swing stick around as if were a sword or spear. “Preparing to save the damsel, I presume,” said Rec, this caused the young dragon to lose his focus and fall over. Spike gave a sheepish grin, “Is Twilight in? Or did she decide to head off to assist in studying Merlin's Cypherdex?”
“Actually,” said Spike, “she's in her library with a few bags and boxes having a debate with herself over that very thing. On one forehoof she could learn about the magical technology, possibly more than you given the statements about the device you gave, on the other forehoof she could stay here and figure out how to integrate the two different magics to create an all new school of magic.”
“Several, actually,” said Rec as he headed inside, “I will admit the possibilities that exist for existing Equestrian magic and Seeker magic are far more numerous than she's probably calculated. However, the reverse engineering of the Cypherdex might take more time than she thinks, after all the princesses need to ensure that those they choose for the project aren't members of an unwanted element, and more importantly can keep a secret. Seekers are pretty new phenomenon in this world, and the fact almost any demographic has potential as a seeker means a whole new way of...” he entered the library of the castle and several pillars worth of bags and boxes that seemed to be crammed packed with books, “looking at things. Was it like this when you headed outside?”
“Um, no,” said Spike, “she had at most twelve bags and fifteen boxes worth of books,” he took a quick look around, “I think Twilight wants to bring her entire library with her on the off chance she misses something.”
“Well, this unhealthy,” said Rec, “Let us get miss Sparkle and get her somewhere healthier, like the sweets shop or a sporting event before she has an event of her own that requires medical aid.”
“Um, how?”
“FlashJump,” this was followed by a bright flash that caused Spike to start rubbing his eyes, while doing so he heard Twilight being very vocal about the same thing.
A very annoyed Twilight reappeared in a BubbleLift bubble with several books, which Spike assumed were on some kind of magic theory, following behind Rec. Spike kept on telling himself mentally to not laugh, especially since Twilight seemed more like a pouting filly than a mature mare (alicorn or unicorn Twilight's mannerism were basically something the young dragon had very much been able to know as a constant).
“I warned you about some of your tendencies,” said Spike, “I said you at most you might need 'a bag and a few boxes', but it looks like you tried to find a way to take the whole library with you.”
“This is a whole new kind of magic for us, I need as many reference materials as possible for us to work off,” said Twilight, her voice slightly distorted by the bubble (almost like she was talking from inside a balloon).
“Sorry, but you need a study break,” said Rec, “if your idea is to take every book on Equestrian magical practices as 'study materials' then I think it's time you took a break. Spike, you can ask Nordrake to help you out on getting all these reading materials back where they need to be, there's more than enough room from him to fly, just make sure to keep the windows shut, don't want anyone freaking out over an unknown dragon without next to no details.”
Spike just gave a salute as Rec left the castle with Twilight.
Half way to Sugurcube Corner Twilight said, “I'm calmed down now, you can let me out.”
“No can do,” said Rec, “and you remember what I said about the spell that's holding you?”
“You can set the resistance for the inside of the bubble based on your intentions for it's use.”
“Which is why your bubble can only be affected by magic and physical damage from the outside, you really do need a break from your travel preparations, at least I left you with some reading material.”
Twilight rolled her eyes before saying, “I'm really appreciative of the act, but you can let me out now.”
“Nope, you're stuck in their for a few more minutes,” said Rec.
“You just want to make sure that I'm not just trying to say what you want to hear, I get it. Did you want talk about something?”
“I had Bon Bon bump into me as I left Rarity's place.”
“Don't you mean you bumped into her?”
“No, she hunted me down and told me she's been trying to find me all week.”
“Oh, this can't good.”
“Thankfully, Lyra caught up to her and managed to divert enough of her attention for me to take my leave. I'm sure she'll try something like that again.”
“Yes, well if she here's even half of what you told us the day you arrived she would probably assist Bon Bon in tracking you down.”
“Have you gotten word from the princesses regarding anyone who can be trusted to keep a secret that also happens to have some talents or skills that will be useful in starting up the Society?”
“Princess Celestia did send word that Luna was doing a detailed search into the matter, she made a few suggestion. But the final say will in the matter will be Luna's, I think it was actually a smart move to make Luna the main power with this sort of thing, she's been trying to get caught up to date on everything and her establishing this Society might help out in a big way. From the way you explained things she can decide what kind of facilities are established to the public, with some extra rooms for members or those that have been brought into the know about the full mission of the Society. Celestia told me how things were in terms what Luna did before the Nightmare incident, she'll never be able to go back to that, but at the very least she'll be able to help Equestria's citizens with the Society.”
“The main reason I suggested Princess Luna was because she seemed to have a lot of time to kill, and with those who are supposed to be in power that usually isn't a good thing.”
“Good point,” said Twilight as they came up on Sugurcube Corner.
Almost as if on cue Pinkie popped up and said, “Hi, why is Twilight in a bubble while I'm not?”
“Because you didn't try to pack up the bulk of your personal library to the point the boxes full of books could potentially be used as auxiliary support pillars,” said Rec as he continued to the sweets shop, “Pinkie, please get her the best snack you know for calming nerves.”
“Okie, dokie, Loki,” said Pinkie before she hopped into the sweets shop. Rec followed with Twilight still stuck in the bubble in tow from him, no one in the town seemed be bothered by the fact Twilight was being pulled along in a bubble.
The moment he entered with Twilight in the bubble he heard the loud sound of Rainbow laughing her flank off. “Oh, I didn't think it got that bad,” came Fluttershy's voice from same direction of hysterically laughing Rainbow Dash.
“Could someone please cut Rainbow's laughter short,” said Rec as he turned toward the table noticing it was occupied by Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Applejack. Pinkie was returning from the back with a rather large looking chocolate malt. Rec set Twilight by the table and released his hold over the bubble causing it disappear without a pop, but Twilight did make a distinct sound of hitting her seat a little hard. Almost at the exact moment she was released from the bubble Pinkie placed the malt in front of the lavender alicorn.
“It was probably a good idea to get Twilight out of castle before things got further out of hoof,” said Rarity.
Twilight just grumbled to herself as she slowly sipped the straw of her malt. Rec shook his head a bit before saying, “what can you tell me about Lyra and Bon Bon?”
Pinkie took a deep breath before going “Well if you really want to...” a hoof from Applejack plugged up the pink mare's mouth.
“Any reason yer asking sugar cube? Pinkie, stop lickin' mah hoof.”
“Bon Bon almost bumped into me after I departed Rarity's place, she seemed very invested about confirming someone's claim to have seen Nordrake. Lyra managed to divert her attention me to make a discreet exit when she finally caught up to Bon Bon.”
“I'll... send word to Princess Celestia,” said Twilight before taking a much larger sip of her malt.
“Are we back to a more reasonable mannerism now?” Said Rec as he looked at Twilight.
“Getting there,” she grumbled, “another few minutes should do it.”
Rec chuckled to himself when he looked what all the things Twilight and her friends were consuming.
“What's so funny? It helps when you're in on the joke,” said Rainbow Dash.
“I'll tell you when we don't have any potential audiences,” said Rec, “it will a take a while to help explain the context, context and timing are the things most important to a joke.”
“Who told you that?” Asked Rainbow.
“Mom, and popular culture where I come from,” said Rec.
“What can get you while you're here,” inquired Pinkie.
“I'm good,” said Rec, “just needed to bring Twilight back to a where she's actually listening reason. Twilight, when you get back try to limit it a dozen relevant reference materials.”
“But there's so much to compare,” said Twilight, “if we're missing an appropriate reference piece the debates could go in a direction that could be more hindering than helpful.”
Rec shook his head a bit before saying, “Before you start packing your references ask yourself if they have that particular reference where you are going, and the answers is yes then leave it where you have it. I like reference materials a lot, but my friends and I know we need to pack light when we go on a trip. Pack only the essentials and then play it by ear seems to be what find ourselves doing a lot. Twilight, you need to do a better job packing light, you won't always have the comfort of your reference materials to fall back on. The magic I showed you is very different from the kind of magic you're familiar with.”
“I suppose you're right,” said Twilight, she then perked up, “but the artifact we found mentioned Starswirl, which means...”
“It also mentioned Princess Celestia and Princess Luna as foals,” said Rec, “which means you are going to go back to some of his earliest records, didn't you mention during our last discussion of great spell users that a great number of his personal accounts were lost before the original Nightmare Moon incident?”
Twilight's ears drooped as she said, “Yes, and if there were another great spell caster in the known records we would have debates about him back at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns year ago,” she gave a frustrated sigh, “and from what you've told me of this Merlin is pretty limited. A small hoofful of accounts of his younger years, almost nothing from his prime, and a small saddlebag's worth of lore when it came to his later years.”
“The Casterwills are very secretive, the Association doesn't have the kind of relationship with them that would give us access to their records. Merlin was a Caterwill, that means he was part of the longest standing traditions. I would be a bit more extensive, but we are in a public setting, it also helps almost no one bats an eye when magic is discussed in public.”
“Right, you do your best to keep certain...elements out of the public eye,” said Rarity, “which I think is absolutely understandable.”
“Yes, but the elements that he and his friends are used to keeping secret aren't the same as what they need to here,” said Twilight.
“I suggest we take the rest of this somewhere else,” said Rec, “we're starting to draw the wrong kind of attention. Pinkie, I would very much appreciate it if you would pack up some conference and meet us later at where we're going.”
“Okie, Dokie, Loki,” said Pinkie.
As they made their way out Rec told the others, “Which reminds me, I have some things to tell you.”
*******************************************
It was a half hour later at Twilight's castle. Rec had filled everyone in on some extra details and was finishing up another story regarding Norse mythology. Some were showing concern, but Rarity most of all.
“He did what?” Shouted the ivory unicorn, “That is just...I don't have the appropriate words to express my disapproval.”
“About Loki turning into a mare? Or actually having a foal?”
“That this Odin characther would d that to family. I mean while Loki is a stallion, of sorts, the fact he could turn into a mare that can concieve foals is startling enough, but for Odin turn that poor pony into a steed.”
“That's just how story goes,” said Rec, “Loki and Odin were actually ancient seekers, I heard some rumors that a couple of years ago the Foundation got into a skirmish with some of the the follower's of Thor.”
“Which is a pretty cool sounding name,” said Rainbow Dash, “he must have been pretty awesome to have a bunch of followers.”
“Well, if you were to believe the stories he reigned over thunder and lightning,” said Rec.
“Which is pegasus territory here, which means if he ended up here he would have been one.”
“Not so fast there Rainbow,” said Rec, “he was also the god of the forge, and was incredible warrior. But from the stories about him before he attained his divinity chances are he'd be more of an earth pony, after all he was blackmith. He had a talent crafting metal and fighting, and an understanding of metal means understanding the earth and materials that come out of it. The Norse, the culture that the gods of Asgard are from, had a lack of mines for iron so they needed do it a different way.”
“At what way was that,” inquired Twilight.
“Peat, they refined peat moss to get their iron. They were talented sailors, mostly because of where they came from, and they knew how to make boats that go almost anywhere. In fact there's a story about ship that could sail anywhere.”
“Cool, I'm totally naming my future foals Thor and whatever ship was named.”
“Yeah, well Thor wasn't the brightest of individuals, in fact he pretty dumb. When he had dress up as female, which actually quite often, he needed someone with Loki's wits help keep up the charade.”
“He had dress up look like a mare,” said Pinkie, “that's actually pretty funny.”
“Usually was his sister, Freya,” said Rec. “See, Thor was actually the elder brother of a pair twins that also were given divinity. A set of twins named Freyr and Freya, haven't been able to find which of the two elder though. Point is, Freya was said to such a great beauty that a lot of fights got started over her. Every deity in the Norse pantheon was warrior, and twins were no exception.
“So, other than who his mother was what made Sleipner so special? If if you don't mind telling us,” said Fluttershy.
“Sleipnir was a horse with six legs that could run faster than anything in all the realms, he was the fast creature to ever exist. Loki always seems to have an odd family. Fenrir, the wolf that bit off Tyr's hand; Jourmangandr, the Midgard Serpent; and Hella, the half faced goddess.”
“What's so special about this Midgard Serpent? If you don't mind my asking,” said Twilight.
“It is said he was big that he could wrap around the entire world,” said Rec.
“That is a very snake,” said Fluttershy, “he must be very mad about being away from his family.”
“Well he was prophesised to kill Thor during Ragnarok,” said Rec.
“What's that,” inquired Pinkie, “it doesn't sound very nice.”
“It's the end of the world, literally. And it all goes out as a massive war where everyone dies, speaking of War in another religious structure that heralds the end of the world with War being one of precursors.”
“Care to elaborate,” said Twilight.
“JudeoChristian lore there the end of the world will be heralded by four horsemen, or here guess they would just be horses. They're known as War, Famine, Pestilence and Death. War is Red, Famine is Brown, Pestilence is Gray and Death is White. The event they herald is called the Apocolypses.” At the end of his statement they all looked at Rarity.
“Seriously,” said Applejack, “care ta elaborate on that one. Ah think a little frame o' reference would do us all good.”
“The first herald, War, means a great conflict will come, and with him the others will follow. The other horses of the Apocolyse are actually things that come through itself. When I say conflict I don't mean just few family or communities having a disagreement that is difficult to resolve. War is a conflict that has two sides literally hurting each other, sometimes in ways never before imagined. When War of the Apocalypse comes we talking about a global level event, nations fight other nations,” everyone shivered with fear, and Fluttershy hid behind her friends, “After War comes Famine. Famine is horrific. For frame of reference imagine Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Easy 'nough,” said Applejack.
“Now imagine its abundance withered to to the point that it can barely support its caregivers and the community, now imagine all the local farms are in the situation, that is famine on local scale. When Famine of the Apocalypse comes it will be global event, which ironically will drive forth the war so that each nation can have more farmland to support their citizens.”
“Okay, Death is pretty strait forward,” said Twilight, “what is Pestilence?”
“An olden time term for disease, in particular an incurable disease.”
“Oh,” said Twilight, “that doesn't sound good. Why is Death white?”
“Ever seen a dead field?” Said Rec.
“Ah have, once,” said Applejack, “it was when we were tryin' a new method wid tha corn one year, before we knew it the entire field was full of dead stalks that had gone completely white.”
“There's your answer,” said Rec.
“Okay,” said Twilight, “so these four, are they a bit more real than most would think?”
“Titans are influenced by their seekers in many ways, it's possible that someone found a way to create legendary titans that embody all the things we want to avoid as it is with legendary titans that embody everything that we seek to improve or should aspire more towards. It's possible with the titans falling to this world that the Elements of Harmony you spoke of drew titans towards them and the power they hold transformed into a whole new set of Legendary Titans. A Legendary Titan for each of the Elements, but this is just theory right now, you'll have to verify it at a later date. Twilight and I have a meeting with the princesses tomorrow, and Princess Luna is most likely going over a comprehensive list of individuals that meet the criteria we need. Twilight, thanks for you and Spike getting that message sent out soon as we got here. I'm sorry I wasn't as careful as I should have been.”
“Don't worry about it,” said Twilight, “we all make mistakes, besides the one you made wasn't as big of an issue as you think.”
Rec cocked an eyebrow and his head in confusion. “This is Ponyville, darling,” said Rarity, “ever since we freed Princess Luna from her curse the kind of stuff that happened when you arrived was on par for what happens on an average week here.”