> Mystic Wonder. > by Mystipony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mystic Night paced back and forth in his room, talking to himself, rather nervous about what he was about to do. "Come on, you can do this, you just have to go there, knock on her door, and ask. That's not hard, right?" The black rainbow haired alicorn colt opened his door, took a deep breath, head over to his sister's room knocking on the door with his hoof gently. "Um...Blade? Can I come in?" A gray pegasus filly, a little bigger than Mystic Night opened the door and spoke. "Sure, do you need something Mystic?" Mystic Night was very noticeably nervous about this, but he really needed to ask this, so he took a deep breath and started to speak again. "Can I...um...please..." He blushed very deeply then asked in very quick voice "Can I please try on your tiara?" he covered his face with his white wings and almost hoped that she couldn't understand him. Blade blinked a for a minute, unsure of what to do. After a minute of deliberation, she took a hoof and pulled Mystic's wings from his face. "You want to try on my tiara?" Blade asked, thinking that maybe she could get some quality time with her brother, he'd been a bit reclusive since their mother passed away a year ago. This was the first time he'd come to her with something he wanted to do, so she thought it might be a good opportunity to do something nice for him. "Alright, you can try it on, let me get it." Mystic nodded and waited for her to get the tiara. Blade went into her closet, retrieved a very ornate looking pink and purple box, and came back. Mystic looked at the box with wide eyed wonder, he much preferred it to the blue one his crown was held in. Blade noticed him looking at the box excitedly, and it made her wonder about things. For now, she opened the box and revealed a rather simple but beautiful golden Tiara with a pink gemstone in a diamond shape as the center piece, followed by some smaller purple and pink alternating gemstones in the same shape flowing from each side of the tiara's center stone in an arcing pattern. "It's beautiful" Mystic said in a voice filled with wonder and anticipation. He had seen it before, but not this close, only during the ceremonies where the family needed to gather in formal wear to address the kingdom his father ruled over. "Are you really going to let me?" He was nervous again. Blade smiled, seeing her brother like this, made her giggle a bit. that made Mystic blush again, embarrassed a little. Blade then speaks up to answer his question. "Yes, but first, let's do something about your mane so it looks better okay?" Mystic blinks he didn't think that his mane was all that messy or anything, but nods in agreement to Blade's suggestion. She sits him down at her makeup table and starts brushing his mane in front of the mirror, soon, she's braiding the white and black stripes in it together. The other colors shes brushes and makes a little smoother, otherwise leaving them unchanged. then she ties the end of the braid with a pink ribbon from one of the drawers in her makeup table. Mystic can't help but smile as he gets this treatment. "Alright we're ready for the tiara, please be careful with it, okay?" Mystic nods lightly, almost as if he is already wearing the tiara. Then Blade brings it out and places it delicately on her brother's head and deciding that it should be just slightly off center so that his white horn wouldn't get in the way of the center jewel. Mystic looked into the mirror of the makeup table and his eyes lit up, as he saw his own image rather beautifully done up with the braided mane and tiara. He wanted to cry and hug his sister but remembered to be careful with the tiara so he first took it off and placed it gently in the box it came in before rushing to hug his sister tightly. "Thank you so much Blade, that made me really happy! You're the best!" Blade blushes at the praise and hugs her brother back. "No problem, Mystic, I'm glad you liked it so much" She untied the ribbon from his mane and un-braided his white and black stripes. "You looked pretty good in that. with a little more work..., oh, never mind, sorry, just thinking out loud." Mystic Night blushed at the comment, before slowly walking towards the door. "Maybe next time?" He asked with a twinge of hope on his voice, before smiling to his sister and leaving to return to his room. The castle silent at night, Mystic Night lie in his bed, awake with thoughts rushing through his head. 'What's wrong with me?' 'Why did I have to be so different?' 'I didn't ask to be a prince!' 'I don't wanna be a girl' 'I just want to feel pretty.''Why is it so hard.' 'Dad can't find out.' 'He can't know any of it.' "NNnng!..." after a while of tossing and turning on the bed he got up and sighed. "Well, if I can't sleep, maybe now's a good time to try that on." Mystic thought he'd never have gotten this into his room and under his bed without anyone noticing. He was sure a guard or somepony would have noticed and said something, luckily things were pretty lax at the castle that day. He pulled out a box from under his bed, it was a box you'd put clothing in. He opened it and inside was a pink and white garment with gold trim. It was a dress he had purchased at one of the dress stores around the island that was his homeland, Inferno Valley. He took the dress out carefully, as if he was holding a holy relic, not wanting to ruin it he didn't even want to wrinkle it much as he carefully put it on. It was quite contrasting with his pitch black coat. His rainbow mane seemed quite nice with it, it was a little messy though, from him tossing in bed. He took his brush and proceeded to brush his hair humming lightly. "Let's see if I can get my mane in that style from earlier, it was pretty cute." He giggled a bit at that. Soon his mane was styled and all the colors of his hair were shining softly in the dim light of his desk lamp. He went over to look at himself in the full length mirror, he looked quite nice. The dress fit him better than he thought it would, especially considering he couldn't try it on in the store. Even if they would have let him, he'd have been far too embarrassed to even think of asking. "Blade was right, with a little more work, I could maybe pass, almost." Mystic thought about that and looked over to his bookshelf he'd been studying magic lately as a pastime, and this might be a good time to learn a new spell. He was sure that one of this books had a spell that could work. "Hmm, Illusions and You, this might have it." After a bit of skimming through the index, he found the entry he was looking for, a spell called 'Change Visage' it seemed it could alter the physical appearance of living creatures, for a limited time. "target; self or friendly creature, duration; 3 hours plus one additional hour per caster level after 5 up to 8 hours or until dispelled, Spell level 3. 'a suitable form should first be considered before attempting to cast the spell, as previous attempts by various casters have caused undesirable results with many being the first thing that came to their mind, some more monstrous than others.' Good to know. Might be best to start with the base and not have anything covering it then." Mystic Night said as he took of the dress and carefully put it away in the box under his bed again. "okay what should I look like if I'm going to go as a filly? Hmm, I don't wanna drastically change too much. The horn and wings might be a good start to change, maybe go as an earth pony? Maybe I could even go shopping for my own things if I manage to do this well enough. Then the rainbow mane is a dead giveaway that it's me. Also gonna have to change my cutie mark. This might be harder than I thought." He spends the next hour or so writing down things that he should and shouldn't change and after a while, he gets a picture of what he would like to look like. "If only I was a better artist, I could just draw it and have a picture to go off. Oh well, I'm happy I'm at least half decent with magic. Can't ask for everything. Now, I've got the image in my head, I just need to recite the spell from the book." The spell was written in an old language that most didn't use much anymore almost everyone just spoke the common pony language, and if they didn't simple spells and amulets would let them translate flawlessly with each other. Mystic began the incantation. "Kio Thera Hocho Albeedi Bal Ther!" The glow in the room intensified for a moment and then subsided as the colt in the room had been transformed into what looked much more like a filly, with a dark gray coat instead of the pitch black, fiery reddish orange mane and tail with yellowish orange stripes, and the cutie mark was now a red heart with white wings set upon a fiery circular background with flames at the top. Mystic looked at himself in the mirror again and was taken aback by how much he had changed. His frame hadn't much, but he was not too much different in size from a filly his age to begin with. "Wow, that worked better than I thought it would, and on the first try!? Mom was right I do have a knack with this stuff!" For a moment, reminding himself of his mother he got rather sad, missing her, but knowing she wouldn't want him to feel that way, he shook it off. "Sorry Mom, I just miss you." Mysti smiled as he remembered his mother and then returned to get the dress again. Putting it on once more, he looked in the mirror again and saw a rather beautiful filly. This made him smile very happily and giggle a little more. He very much liked this look, but he had to remember that he was under a spell and needed to make sure no one saw him like this, at least not yet. He also wanted to surprise his sister tomorrow with this. Maybe they could even do some work on his makeup. "I'll save it for later, but I think I can sleep now. Too bad I can't sleep in this, I don't want to ruin it though." He took the dress off and returned it to it's hiding place and got back in bed, as he slept the spell wore off, and he returned to his colt state. He slept rather peacefully for the rest of that night. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next day Mystic Night yawned awake, he looked towards the window and noticed it was rather late. He then looked to the clock on the wall. "10:30? alright, why wasn't I woken up? its a school day isn't it?" He look to the calendar and confirmed it was not a weekend or holiday. He then went to his door, before thinking for a moment and checking in the mirror, sighing as he wasn't in the dress from last night nor was he still transformed from the spell. though he did need to wash up and fix his mane and brush his teeth. "Let's not go out looking sloppy now" After his morning routine he was looking presentable, he went to find his father to ask why he wasn't woken up for school today. He walked down the hall and started hearing voices, too quiet to make out just yet, but he could tell it was his father talking to his sister at the very least. He was hesitant to move forward, but knew he would have to sooner or later. He just hoped it wasn't about his trying on of her tiara the other day. He slowly started walking over to them, the white unicorn with a royal blue mane smiled to him and motioned him over. "Hello Father, Blade, it's pretty late in the morning, why wasn't I woken up for school?" Mystic Night asked as he approached, trying his best not to seem nervous about anything. "Today is going to be special for you and Blade, I thought I'd let you rest" The white unicorn's smile made his son calm from his nervousness about the tiara, he didn't seem to know anything about that. "Special?" Mystic asked his father, King Excellency. "Yes, I want you and Blade to go do something very important for me, and for your Mother as well..." He still smiled but his eyes showed that he was slightly saddened as he remembered his wife. "Mom? What do you mean?" Mystic was somewhat confused by what his father had said just then, but if it was something his mother wanted too, then he'd be happy to do anything asked of him. "I promised your mother that you'd not be kept in the castle too much. So I want you two to go out and have some fun around the Island. I know your mother would want you to enjoy yourselves. Besides, it's important for you to get to know your kingdom first hand." Excellency said and smiled to his two children, before embracing them both in a gentle but firm hug. "Sounds like fun, doesn't it, Mystic?" Blade asked her little brother, with a grin on her face, he could tell she was very much looking forward to this. Mystic Night nodded and smiled, he wondered what they would do around the island, they had most of the day left. Then he had a thought. "Are you sure it's okay for us to be going around by ourselves?" The king nodded and patted his son's head. "I'm sure, you two can handle yourselves, and besides, I trust the ponies of Inferno Valley. We are in a time of peace and plenty I doubt anyone would want to bring either of you two any harm. Besides, you're very skilled with magic if you need to I am sure you can teleport to safety." "I suppose you're right, I do know a few spells that'd get us out of trouble, and teleport is pretty easy." Mystic was rather reassured by his father's words. He nodded to his father and smiled, it wasn't often they got to get out of the castle, let alone without an escort. He hugged his father and sister. His sister then placed a hoof on his back and motioned him to come with her. "Come on Mystic, let's get ready to head out." She said happily to him, and they both walked down the hall. They went to their respective room's and prepared to head out. Neither took much, Mystic Night took a bag with a few scrolls in it and some money. He was hoping to get to use this for something special later on. The two then set out to beyond the castle walls. They made sever small stops in various towns. The island kingdom wasn't all the big, but still it would have taken them far more than a day to traverse one side to the other of it. Blade took the initiative and led them to a large hill that overlooked one of the towns. It was her favorite spot to just lie and rest while looking at the clouds or the town below. As Mystic and Blade lie in the grass on the hill overlooking the small town, Mysti sighed as he then spoke up, "Blade, can I ask you some things? I don't mean to be down when we were having fun, but...I just don't know who else to ask about this, I'm scared Dad'll get mad at me or something." "What is it, I'm sure it can't be that bad. If you need to talk, I'm here." "I feel like I'm not suited be a prince or anything, I just don't feel like I'm going to be up to ruling the kingdom. I just think I would mess something up, and I wouldn't know how to fix it." "I think that's a fine attitude to have, I feel like that sometimes myself. Though, since I am older than you, I'll be the next in line to rule the kingdom, so you don't have a lot to worry just yet when it comes to that. Just enjoy yourself for now." Her brother nodded to her words as she finished and smiled lightly, reassured in that matter at the very least. However his expression got sour as he spoke again. "There was something else though..." "Something Bothering you Mystic?" Blade asked rather concerned for her brother, she could tell something was definitely up with him just from the sound of his voice. "Remember when I asked you about trying on your tiara?" "Yeah, didn't you like that?" "I did, but that's the thing...I feel like there's something wrong with me for liking it, and for wanting to do even more after that. I got really excited when you said 'with a little more work' and was really hopeful when I said 'Maybe next time?' But, I'm a colt, I shouldn't like that stuff, should I?" Blade hugged her brother and shook her head. "It's okay with me, I think you're wonderful and special, and liking things like that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you. You are who you are, even if it's a little different, okay?" Mystic hugged his sister back, but something was still bothering him as she said that. "It's like there's two of me though, this me that you see right now, and another one. One on the inside of me, one that is more confident. The one on the inside might even look like a filly, and be proud to be more feminine. But, I just don't know, it's hard for me to understand what's going on." As he finished, Blade hugged him closer. "Sometimes I wish mom were still here, she'd know what to do. I'm not sure I understand what's going on, but I know I can be here for you, at the very least." Mystic Night hugged her back and started to tear up before apologizing to her. "I'm sorry sis, I just needed someone to talk to." "It's okay, Mystic. I have something I want to tell you, it's something mom told me. She said 'We all have something we're here for, but that is for us to find out. When our hearts know what it is we want to do, they will let us know.' She said that to me when I was unsure of myself too. My heart still hasn't let me know, but I know I can trust her words." "My heart huh? Thanks, Blade, that means a lot to me." "Anytime, Mystic." He smiled to his sister and felt a weight lift from him. He was still unsure of what to do about this whole situation, but at least he was happy for right now. "Oh how much time do we have left before we need to go back?" He asked as he remembered something he wanted to do while he was out with her. "About 3 hours, why?" Mystic got really excited and almost started bouncing in place. "I want to show you something, and maybe we could do a little shopping after that?" Blade giggled a bit, her brother was really excited about what ever it was he wanted to show her. "Okay, let's see it then!" She said encouraging the colt on. He removed one of the scrolls he had taken with him out of his pack. He steadied his movements so as not to make the spell go awry and began the same incantation as he had last night in his room. "Kio Thera Hocho Albeedi Bal Ther!" And with that, just as before, the pitch black coated rainbow maned alicorn with white wings and horn, turn into the gray coated fiery maned earth pony filly. Blade looked at him with wonderment, she had no idea he could already cast spells of that level, and with such ease. More than that though, she was in disbelief of the filly she saw before her. "Is that really you Mystic?" The filly nodded. and pranced about a little. "Is this that other you that you were talking about?" He wasn't sure of the answer to that, not yet. "I don't know, maybe. I just thought I could do some dress shopping like this. It'll be fun, I mean...Please?" he looked up at her with his emerald eyes and pleaded hopefully that they could. Blade giggled again and nodded to him, which made him actually bounce this time. He was so happy. "On one condition that is." Blade told him, making Mystic stop his bouncing, and ask "Condition?" He was afraid this wasn't going to end well. "After we get back, I want you to show dad your spell. And tell him about how you feel." Mystic's heart sank, he was so terrified of telling his father about any of this. He just wanted to keep it between him and his sister if at all possible. "But what if he gets mad?" "Mystic Night, dad loves you, he wont get mad, I promise." Somehow that made him feel a litter more at ease. He was still unsure of the whole thing, but he knew he'd have to reveal his secret sooner or later. It wasn't long before they were at a rather fancy boutique, and Mystic looked around at all the pretty outfits on display. He was so excited just to be there and look around, the last time he was in a store like this, he was pretty embarrassed and barely managed to get that dress he had under his bed. The store owner greeted them. "Hello Princess Blade, and who is this you have here?" The store owner asked gesturing towards Mystic who had almost forgotten that he was in his filly form now. "Go on, introduce yourself." Blade said, pushing him forward a little. Thoughts raced through his head before he finally landed on a name. "I'm Mysti, it's nice to meet you." He bowed to the store owner, who smiled and spoke again. "Well, if you're a friend of the princess, feel free to look around, I can even make things special order if you need." The store owner then let the two look around as she went back to tending the rest of the store. "I really like this one" Mysti said, trying on a gold and orange dress with heart embroideries. "That looks great on you, Mysti" Blade said as she watched her transformed brother model the dress. She smiled as he seemed so happy just being in the dress. she could even see him in her imagination without the spell transforming him and being just as happy. Mysti paid for the dress and made the store owner very happy for having sold such a nice dress. it brought in quite a bit of money for them. "Thank you so much, it's a lovely dress. I hope you have many more sales, and I might have to come here again for more clothes!" The store owner nodded and saw them off. The two made their way back to the castle, the spell fading just before they were in sight. This made Mystic very relieved, he didn't want to have to explain that to the guards. "Blade?" Mysti said, hesitantly. "Yeah, Mysti? I mean Mystic? Sorry, forgot there for a second." "That's okay, I like the name Mysti. But, I promise I'll tell day, but could I wait until tomorrow? I just want one night to prepare. please?" "Okay, but I'm holding you to that promise, tomorrow." Mystic nodded and smiled, thanking his sister and hugging her. The rest of the day went well and not much happened, they told their father about the towns they saw and the hill Blade had brought them to. They left out the part about the talk they had and the dress shopping they did. Mystic was happy, and even if it was only one night, he had some time to prepare for the reveal tomorrow. > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mystic Night paced about his room once more, it was time for him to confront his father about what he and his sister had talked about yesterday. Luckily today was a weekend so he didn't have school today. He wondered what he should do about this. Blade had told him to also show his father the transformation spell he had made. He took a while, but finally decided what he was going to do. He folded up the dress he had bought with Blade the other day, put it in a bag gently as not to wrinkle it any more than necessary. He then went to the hall leading to the throne where he knew his father would be. He took a deep breath as he approached, glad that the area was clear of other ponies. His father smiled to him as he approached and spoke, "Ah, Mystic, I'm happy you and Blade had a good time yesterday." He noticed that his son was carrying the bag with him and also that his expression was not one of joy, something was bothering him. "What's wrong, Mystic? You seem troubled, can I help you." "I don't know, but I promised Blade something the other day." King Excellency nodded to his son and went over to him, placing a hoof on him reassuringly and smiled to him. "I'm sure it'll be fine, now, please let me know what's going on, son." Mystic felt a bit better at that, he was still very unsure of what he was about to do and say. "Okay, fa...dad. Blade and I had a talk the other day about some things. About something, different about me" The black alicorn looked down to the floor as he said that, almost ashamed of what it was that was different about him. "Different? Everypony is different, that's nothing to be ashamed of." Mystic sighed and then set his bag down and prepared to show his father what was going on. "Just promise you won't get mad, please?" "I'll promise I won't get mad, Just tell me." "Dad, I like something colts aren't supposed to like" He took out the dress from the bag, and showed it to his father. "We went shopping yesterday and and I bought this, for me." He blushed deeply as his father look upon the dress and his son unsure of what to say, what to do. He was dumbfounded for a moment. "You? A dress?" Was just about all he could muster at that point, thoughts were racing through his head as he then watched his son then put on the dress. Mystic's mood changed slightly when he was finally in the dress, a slight smile graced his face and he sighed happily. "There is also one other thing I'm supposed to show you, but if I do it, it won't wear off for 3 hours. Though, you might know how to dispel magic." Mystic said as he went to the center of the room and began his incantation to transform into his filly form. After doing so, the young mare standing before his father was rather stunning in the dress. "This is a spell that changes the physical appearance of living beings, I originally though I could use this form to go out and buy my own mare things without feeling so embarrassed and without ponies looking at me funny. But, I feel happier like this. There's something wrong with me, isn't there dad?" Mystic started to cry as he hugged his father tight and buried is face into his father's chest. "I'm sorry, I just, I don't know..." Mystic was at a loss for words. So was Excellency, the two just hugged for a while. The embrace made them both feel calmer at least. a while past and Excellency spoke to his son. "Can I ask you some things about this, Mystic?" Mystic looked up at his father and nodded, as he wiped away some of the tears that were still slowly falling from him. "Do you, want to be a girl?" Mystic thought for a bit about this, and decided no and shook his head before expanding "No, I don't think so at least, I just like feeling pretty and this makes me feel that way. I like being a boy, but I just don't want ponies laughing at me or calling me names, or worse." His father nodded to him. "I know, some ponies can be cruel. Even in our peaceful kingdom, not everypony would be accepting of you. If you were dressed that way, even if you are the prince of the Island." All Excellency could do was offer a smile and a hug to his son. "I'm not so sure I'm cut out to be the prince, I don't feel like I'd make a good ruler. Not just because of this and turning some ponies off, but I feel I'd keep messing up and make the kingdom worse." "I understand, I've felt that way too. But I think you've got a little ways off before that, I'm not going anywhere soon, and your sister proceeds you." Mystic nodded to his father and smiled "That's what Blade told me." He giggled, getting a little more comfortable with his father seeing him like this. "To be honest with you, I don't really know what to do about this. I don't want to hurt you, but at the same time, I don't want anypony else to hurt you either." It was then that Blade came into the throne room, smiling to her brother and father. "I might have an idea, though Mysti might not like it too much." "Mysti?" Asked Excellency looking down at his son, who nodded to him and blushed a little. "I like the name Mysti" He said, and his father just smiled to him and hugged him closer. "What is this idea of your's Blade?" Excellency asked, knowing if Mystic wasn't going to like it, he probably wouldn't either. "There's a place with a vast amount of magic across the sea far from our kingdom. It might be possible to use that magic to turn Mysti into that form permanently, if he wants that of course." Mysti didn't know what to think, he'd like this form to be his default one, it made him feel pretty and while he didn't hate his stallion look, he was pretty sure he preferred this one. "I don't wanna leave home though, and what about school? and who'd watch over me? and..." Blade put a hoof up to Mysti's mouth and shushed him. "You'll go to school over there, and on the trip, we can hire a tutor for that. I'd offer to watch you, but I'm still in school myself. I do know someone over there, though. I'm sure she'd be happy to be your guardian while you're there." Excellency looked at his daughter with a quizzical expression. "How do you know someone there? It's not even remotely in flight distance." Blade just grinned widely at that. "We've been there before, remember dad? Mysti would have been too young to remember most likely." "You met somepony on that vacation?" Blade blushed a little and nodded. "We've kept in touch through magic notes, I may not be a unicorn, but mom taught me a few of tricks. She's a couple years older than me, and I recently have been asking her about situations like Mysti. She told me there were other like him, but they were few and far between. Still, it might be good for him to meet some of them, if possible. She said she'd be happy look after him and let him stay with her while he is there." Excellency was unsure of what to do. If his son could be helped and would be allowed to be the pony he wanted to be, what kind of father would he be to stop him. "It's up to you, Mysti. I can't hold you back if this is what you truly want." He hugged his son once more before letting go and awaiting a response from him. "Our hearts will let us know..." Mysti whispered, before looking up to his father and sister. "I'm not sure yet, give me a day or two to think about it, please? It's a really big decision." Blade and Excellency both nodded to him and smiled. "Yes, time is needed for this. When you're ready to make your decision let us know. For now, go play with your sister, I'm sure you two can have some fun to get your minds off all this seriousness for a little while." Excellency told his children. They both nodded and smiled running off down the hall to Blade's room. > Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mysti and Blade went into Blade's room, and Mysti hugged his sister close and teared up a little, burying his face in her chest. "You're the best sister ever Blade! You're doing so much for me, I need to do something for you!" He was adamant about that it seemed, he really wanted to help his sister out in some way for all of the help he was getting from her. "Something for me, huh? I'll have to think about that, I'm sure there's something I can think of." Mysti nodded to his sister. "Okay, just let me know when you think of something. I'll do my best to do everything I can." He smiled happily as he told her this. Blade then sat Mysti down at her makeup table, and started to brush his mane. She then began to talk with her brother about some things she was curious about, she hadn't gotten to do much talking with her brother for the past year. Now that he was being a little more open it might be a good time to learn some things. "So...is there anypony you like? You know, more than just friends with?" Mysti blushed deeply as his sister asked this, which made Blade giggle. He shook his head, he hadn't thought of anyone like that before. "No...not yet, haven't gotten out much, so I don't have too many friends. Especially not like that." Mysti thought a while and decided to ask a question of his own. "Do you think I'll meet some nice ponies there, and what if one of them becomes like that with me? I mean we'd live so far apart..." Mysti was concerned about this it seemed. "I don't think you need to worry about that just yet. Besides, if you meet somepony like that, maybe you could invite her to the Island." Mysti fidgeted a little when Blade said that, he wasn't sure what to say, but something just came out of his mouth almost involuntarily. "...Him..." Mysti's face would be redder than a beet if his coat wasn't so dark as to obscure most of the color. His sister blinked a bit when she heard him say that, almost as if to make sure she heard him right, she asked, "Him?" "Oh Gods, did I say that out loud?" Mysti's was super embarrassed at this point, wanted to cover his face with his wings, though even if had had, the spell he was under would have rendered them invisible. Noticing this rather quickly in the mirror, he put his hooves up to his face and hid it that way. Mysti didn't know what to do, Blade was blushing a little herself now. She had no idea about that about her brother. She placed a hoof on his hooves that were covering his face and pulled them down. "It's okay, that's nothing to be embarrassed about." She smiled gently to her brother. "Sorry, Blade. If only Mom was still around, I wouldn't have to put all this on you." Blade hugged her brother, before shaking her head softly. "I know Mysti, I miss her too. I know it's hard, and I guess I just do a good job of hiding it. But at night, sometimes, I still just cry a little bit because I miss her. I'm sure she'd want to help you too, and I want to make her proud." Mysti smiled to his sister and nodded. "Me too, I just hope I'm not disappointing her. I sure don't want her thinking I'm a bad pony." Blade and Mysti hugs softly before Mysti remembers the conversation from before. "Oh right, I guess I just don't like mares like that. If I find a special somepony, it will most likely be a stallion. But I think I'm at least a little ways from that. I don't really even have a crush on anypony." Mysti blushes as he admits that. "I think you're special somepony, when you find them, will be the best pony for you, whoever they are." Blade reassured her brother before returning to brushing his now fiery mane. The two continued to play around with each other's manes and tails. Blade even gave her brother many of her old dresses that no longer fit her, that would still be of use to him. This made Mysti very happy. "Blade? Can I ask you something?" She nodded to her brother. "The place across the sea, the other ponies there that might be like me? Do they have ponies around to support them?" Blade was unsure to say to that, she just didn't know. She decided the truth was the best option. "I don't know, Mysti. Some may, some may not. I do know the friend I said would watch you would be supportive of you, and she would do what she can to help." Mysti nodded to her, and with that, he had his answer to the question of wether or not to leave. "I've made up my mind then, Blade." "Already? What made you decide?" "If there are ponies out there, like me. Or even if they are somewhat different, and don't have anypony to support them, I wanna at least be their friend. I just want to let them know they aren't alone." "You always were that kind of pony, ever since you were a baby. You must really like making others feel better." Mysti nodded blushing lightly. "It's nice to be nice. I just don't like it when others are hurting. Being totally honest though, I also kinda wanna make some friends. I also don't wanna let them know I'm royalty, I just wanna be a normal pony to them." Mysti smiled, his sister hugged him tightly "Love you, Mysti. I don't blame you, but I don't want you to hide who you are, just be yourself and I'm sure ponies will like you." Mysti nodded to his sister. "I suppose I can't hide forever, can I?" Blade nodded back to that. Still, she'd be happy if Mysti could make some friends that liked him for who he was, not because he was a prince or anything. "It's getting late, we should head to bed, and tomorrow you can tell dad about your decision and start getting ready to leave. I'm gonna miss you while your out there, I know dad will too." "I'm gonna miss you and dad too. I'll write to you about all the stuff that happens there! Good night Blade, thanks for everything." "You're welcome Mysti, Good night, and sleep well." Mysti left for his room, got ready for bed and drifted off to a rather peaceful sleep.