What happens when you go to a convention as one of the most infamous Rangers who actively chose to go dark? How would you redeem his actions... through your own?
Little did I know what I was getting into when I went to the Denver Morphicon dressed as LordDrakkon. I knew there were others who had cosplayed as the infamous “Dark Dragon” though not in the same way as I was.
Of course, I'd heard of the so-called 'odd disappearances' at the conventions, but this one isn't a comic or anime convention, so I should be fine, right?
Little did I know what I was getting into when I went to the Denver Comic-con dressed as LordDrakkon. I knew there were others who had cosplayed as the infamous “Dark Dragon”, though how many had actually used forged metal in their gear? I used brass lacquered with dark emerald flake around the edges whilst I also, just for the hell of it, forged my own bronze copies of the Zyuranger DinoMedals and the Dairanger crystals from smoothed rocks. The emerald for "Tengensei" Daigo and ruby for "Tenkasei" Ryō were the more difficult to find as I made each of the 'crystals’ the size of a golf ball.
Oh, by the way, my name is Thomas. Thomas Oliver, no intentional relation or reference to Jason David Frank's character of Tommy Oliver.
I'm nineteen, with raven hair falling over my shoulders and upper back and crystalline aquamarine-emerald eyes. I've been told that they sometimes seem to glow intensely, though everyone knows it's impossible for someone's eyes to glow. Even as I drop my gaze from the mirror to the helmet in my hands, I inhale slowly before lifting it over my head and sliding it into place before clicking the latches on the sides, the cherry red tint on the darkened lens making the helmet quite intimidating.
My gaze drops to the Zyusouken, or the 'Dragon Dagger’, sheathed at my left hip, the DragonMedal merged into the handguard. However, the sheath that should hold Saba, lies empty as it's very difficult to find someone willing to part with one. It's the only item missing, unfortunately.
Obviously, some details of the suit, like the shield and Saba, were either too detailed or large for the limited amount of metal I owned, so I had to resort to other ways to get the items.
A low sigh escaped as I left the bathroom, my gaze instinctively scanning around constantly to nullify the usual loss of peripheral vision from the helmet. I had a total of $650 with me for food or anything that caught my interest.
I had checked for Saba, and most of the replicas were cheap plastic, whilst I would much prefer something more dense and durable.
“Nice costume, man,” I heard before I paused, looking at the speaker. I blinked before chuckling a bit.
“Hello, Jason. I'm Tommy,” I quipped, amused as Jason David Frank’s almost immediate grin.
“Heh, that brings back memories. Don't have a Kimberly?” he said with amusement. I shrugged, the shield rattling slightly as the lacquered Plexiglas shifted.
“Not yet, though I'm keeping an eye out,” I deadpanned before shaking his hand and drifting through the crowd. I blinked as I noticed not only a Saba replica, but the recently released Legacy version which was primarily black and gold where the original was white and gold. The seller looked eerily like Bartley the Shopkeeper from Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, even down to the boisterous voice.
I do have several tricks that very few people know about, one which I suspect may be genetic, though being able to store things in a subspace pocket for easy access wasn't all that helpful most of the time. I also possess an eidetic memory for the martial arts, specifically Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Judo, Akido, and a couple of different styles of Kung Fu, specifically Dragon and Leopard.
Fortunately, I primarily used the subspace pocket for storing survival gear, walking staff, and my electric guitar and rarely for other things. Sometimes, just to freak people out, I drew things out of the dimensional pocket that couldn't possibly fit in something like a pants pocket. He grinned beneath the helmet as he tilted his head, the tight tendons popping rather loudly.
“Ah, the infamous Dark Dragon…. seems you're missing something, my Lord Drakkon,” the Bartley lookalike said boisterously.
“Saba,” I said shortly, making it clear what I wanted.
“Ah. Which would you prefer, then, my Lord?” was his energetic reply.
“Both, preferred. Heard the Legacy version is selling for $175, with the original selling for around $45 to $50. I'll offer $210 for both,” my tone was calm but firm and stern through the voice changer installed under the mouthpiece.
“Well, well, a man who knows what he wants and does his research. Quite refreshing, my Lord. These are unique as where most are made of plastic or, rarely, plate metal, these are fully forged and molded. I'll take $350,”Bartley said with a grin.
I chuckled softly, noticing a few cosplayers backing away as I unintentionally radiated the feeling of a predator hunting. I didn't notice Jason David Frank's body tensing subtly as if readying for a fight.
“Forged, eh? Of what, 1040 steel core with a 1065 outer layer?” I deadpanned. I was slightly surprised as Bartley grinned even more, as if enjoying the banter.
“1065 core folded into a layered 1040, 1095 outer layer,” was his reply. I cocked my head, mildly impressed.
"Intriguing. I assume that the outer jacket was twisted into Damascus before hot cutting the core groove and pressure forging?" I quipped, making the Shopkeeper laugh.
"Since you seem to know your blades, I'll sell you both Byakōshinken and Yorūshìkon for $250," the Shopkeeper offered.
"Done," I barked sharply, ignoring the oddity that the Legacy Saba had such an odd name. I did notice that he had used the Japanese name of the so-called 'classic' Saba.
"Don't be too surprised if that old fox wakes up. He's been in your family for a long time," he quipped as he passed me both blades. I could tell his claim that the weapons were forged was true from the weight, though unnoticed to me as I hung Byakōshinken from the empty sheath, Power Coin shimmered as the raised marking shone a metallic silver as its counterpart shone a dark indigo-black color.
I thought about the Shopkeeper's words as I stalked into the crowd and vanished from sight... unfortunately... in more ways than just visibly. I felt a surge of vertigo as mingled amethyst and silver-black energy surged around my body before engulfing my form.
What happens when you never see it coming? Vigilance will save lives...
Clouds swirled in a controlled manner around the broad continent of Equus, homeworld of mythological anthromorphic creatures such as unicorns, pegasi, dragons and griffons to name but a few.
It was very common for creatures here to use magic, whether actively as the unicorns did, or passively, as the 'earth’ ponies which lacked both horns and wings, did to use amplified strength or other such gifts.
Inversely, the Alicorns, who had both wings and horns, were amongst the strongest of the active magic-users.There is one young female unicorn with great potential in the magical arts above most of the others. What fate has in store for this young woman? We cannot be sure.
Even now, watching this thirteen year old unicorn filly, her mulberry fur contrasting with her indigo and rode streaked mane, she is clearly skilled as a young draconian male between ten and eleven years of age with purple scales and a lighter green abdomen and chest walked into the sunlight from the archway of a large ivory and gold palace with swirling white and pale grey towers. The amethyst eyes were narrowed a bit against the sunlight as she looks up from the scroll clutched in long, slim fingers.
For some reason, her eyes widen as our perspective shifts to see the light yellow, goldenrod, and orange streaks trailing a silvery black comet blazing fast before striking a cobblestone square several dozen yards north of the palace. The scroll flutters in the breeze before being grabbed and rolled securely by the young draconian male.
“Thanks, Spike. Princess Celestia might get upset if we lost that scroll detailing the lost Chí Beasts although nobody is quite sure how they could be summoned,”she said as she darted quickly towards the rising smoke from the impact of the unknown meteorite.
“No problem, Twilight. Hey, what was that and why were the Wonderbolts chasing it?” Spike replied as he jogged after the young woman.
“That's what we're going to find out. Ooooh, it could be some lost creature, or maybe some super element that could channel magic more strongly!” Twilight Sparkle hypothesized. Spike rolled his eyes a bit, blocking out most of Twilight's rambling before they slowed, going quietly but stopping a good twelve to fifteen feet away from the smoldering stone as an echoing boom sounded. The most telling detail, however, was the slight rocking of the meteorite as if something was within it.
It was very well known that humans were little more than a myth, Spike mused as a chunk of the meteorite the size of his head shot off, rolling to a stop, revealing that the interior of the meteorite looked to be gold, though the spider-webbing cracks gave away the probability that the deepest core of the meteorite may well be hollow.
PerspectiveShift - Thomas Oliver Thomas groaned as he came to, feeling very nauseous as his eyes fluttered open behind the ruby lens of his helmet before he lurched to his feet, unable to see anything before his hand rose to his chest, a warm radiant sapphire-teal aura flaring up as he found himself in what appeared to be a jagged eggshell, especially at the apex over his head whilst most of the surrounding areas was rough golden-amber stone. He drew a fist back and threw a hard punch at the stone, eliciting an echoing boom that sounded almost like a shotgun blast.
Fpov I narrowed my eyes as I unlatched the helmet, setting it aside as my gaze slid around.
“You do have your Chí, remember? Why don't we try that to get out?” a dry voice cut in, sounding like Hugh Jackman. I blinked before looking down at Byakōshinken.
“Eh? Byakōshinken? How are you… talking?” I said with confusion.
“Not important at the moment. This thing looks completely sealed in, which means,” Saba said dryly.
“No fresh air. So… we need to make a hole… that way fresh air can get in…. I wonder,”I said with a grimace as I tensed my legs before focusing, feeling an intense energy flowing through my body before throwing a powerful strike at the same spot, noticing that a burning silver-black aura flared up as my fist plowed into the stone, tiny shards kicking up before I jerked my arm free, a rush of cool air the most welcome sound in that moment before I blinked, hearing faint yells of surprise and probably shock.
“Mhmm, interesting. Using the Bunsun Zankyō in a focused state as a hammering strike. Kou would have liked your style, I think,” Saba deadpanned.
“You say that like he actually…” I said before Saba cut me off.
"He did exist, long ago," was his curt words. Admittedly, that fact intrigued me to know what that meant, but we had other things to worry about at the moment.
I inhaled slowly and carefully as I concentrated, not having noticed that the helmet had, several seconds after I'd set it aside, had dissolved into motes of sparkling graphite grey and gold light that streamed into the buckle. A wavering sphere slowly formed, crackling with restrained force.
“I've always wanted to try this… never thought I actually could,” I muttered with a smirk.
“What do you mean?”Saba said curiously as he hovered free of the sheath whilst his dark counterpart remained quiet.
“This… Hadōken!!”I said, barking the second word as I shoved the unstable sphere forward hard, the sphere detonating on impact.
Twilight jumped as a sudden plume of dust detonated from the cracks, though she wasn't surprised that, moments later, no less than three squads of fifteen guards, plus her older brother and mentor, materialized, the guards surrounding the meteorite in two rows. “What are they freaking over? It isn't like it's a monster or something,” Spike quipped rolling his eyes. The cracks had widened revealing the glistening obsidian layered over sandstone which melted into a brilliant glittering golden surface.
"Who knows? It would be very preferred, I suspect, that it's not some dangerous monster, Spike," she replied before noticing the odd rose quartz disc near her foot. It was half as thick as her pinkie and around an inch and a half wide and at most a third of an inch thick.
What will happen next? We'll find out if the dark past of 'Lord Drakkon’ has any bearing on the present.
Equus, the country of Equestria, city of Canterlot
Thomas Oliver, FPoV I gritted my teeth as I focused on recreating the Hadōken, yet concentrating it into a more explosive burst to widen the crack which was very far from easy as the energy kept trying to explode, though the crack was maybe a couple of inches wide at most.
‘This is going to hurt, I’m almost certain. Hopefully nobody is on the other side,’ I thought as I pressed my palms a bit closer, the energy crackling and glowing almost a hot bluish purple.
“What exactly is that? That does not feel like what you used before,”Byakōshinken said carefully.
“It’s different. I guess… the equivalent… would be a darker form of the Hadōken… the Metsu Hadōken. The most literal translation of both is ‘Wave Surge Fist’ and ‘Destructive Wave Surge Fist’,”I sighed, shrugging my shoulders.
“Interesting. I assume you have used these before,” Byakōshinken commented.
“Never, actually. Where I came from, they're techniques used in a particular video game series about street fighting, though the people in that series are able to use their Chí, so, reasonably, I should be able to recreate the techniques, though I guess I should be thankful that the Metsu Hadōken seems, at least for the moment, only requires intense focus and not the dark, malicious energy,”I sighed before shoving the energy hard, breathing hard. The energy surged forth much like a cannonball, barreling through the dense stone shell before I heard curses and yells as a sudden boom caught my attention, making me wince.
PerspectiveShift — Princess Celestia I have never seen such an odd, dense stone. It appears to imprison something male, possibly two, from the voices my hearing picked up.
“Halt, do not harm our new visitors,” I commanded. I was mildly surprised by the sudden surge of energy before a foot and a half diameter sphere shredded through the stone, the acrid scent of burning sand hanging in the air. I noticed, through the smoke and mist, a sudden surge of graphite grey and emerald green energy that faded almost immediately. I half noticed the sphere detonating against a wall slated for demolition anyway as I focused, my golden yellow aura flaring up for a few minutes as I pushed aside the dust and smoke before I noticed the form half slumped over the heavily fractured stone just under two feet above the cobblestones of the streets. Clearly, he was semi-conscious, I observed.
“Carry him carefully into the palace and into a empty bedchamber. Make certain that he is comfortable. I will check on him shortly,”I said calmly.
Clearly, he is not a pony, so what is he? His clothes are rather tattered, unfortunately. I wasn't very surprised to see Twilight Sparkle approaching alongside her young ward Spike.
“Princess Celestia!! What was that? Can we speak to it?”Twilight said excitedly.
“Of course, though we'll have to make sure that he's healthy first, then once he feels better, we will be able to see where he came from,” I said with amusement.
PerspectiveShift - Thomas 'Ugh, what happened? At least I know what clothes feel like in the dryer… wait… Byakōshinken… Saba… was actually talking… wonder why he sounded like Hugh Jackman, though. Too bad I don't have a Zordon to help me understand what the hell is going on. Call it a gut feeling… that something just feels… off,’I thought as a groan escaped me as I sat up slowly, feeling like I'd been used for the football in the Super Bowl, sore, aching all over, and exhausted… and starving. “I have a craving for fish and chips,”I muttered, wincing before I let my gaze slide slowly around the room.
The arching pale golden-bronze ceilings made me think vaguely of Italian architecture, though the windows were almost definitely French in nature. The windows were a soft creamy white that made me think of meringue, though I don't recognize anything. 'Whoever owns this place is most certainly rich, though… I vaguely remember something about a motherly voice saying something about I will check on him shortly and we'll see where…. something… I can't remember the rest,’I thought. I did notice the double doors as well as the other broad door with marks I don't recognize on it. I shifted in the warmth of the bed before sliding slowly from beneath the covers before shivering slightly as I realize that I'm clad in naught but a pair of dark green boxers.
“Ugh… I feel shakier than Jell-O…” I mutter before I slowly walked around the room, noticing the dark stained cherry wardrobe with deep sapphire inlays and coppery inlays. I slowly walked to the unknown door before tentatively opening it, my eyes widening at the broad bathroom.
I guessed it had to be easily ten or fifteen feet across and probably the same in breadth. The tub I saw could probably hold at least five or six people and looked about five and a half feet deep. “Damn, I've seen pools this deep and it's a freaking bathtub. Ugh… hope I'm not in some rich bitch's place… she'd probably perve all over the idea of a guy… in my position,”I muttered with a grim look.
I hadn't missed the fact that I felt like I'd been rolled in sand and gravel whilst my head was throbbing like Triple H was using his infamous sledgehammer on the inside of my skull. I tentatively touched the spigot that had the ruby on it, which immediately glowed softly as water poured into the tub, steaming softly before I touched it again, the flow and glow ceasing as I tentatively touched the sapphire, cold water pouring into the tub before I stopped that as the water reached the four foot depth, though I did notice the amethyst spigot that I touched lightly, bright creamy gold foam spraying over the water's surface before I stopped that.
I looked around, spotting the low cabinet a foot or so from the tub alongside a few thick towels and washcloths. I sighed softly as I slid slowly into the water, groaning softly at the heat as my muscles relaxed. I slid into what looked like a curving seat before sighing softly as my eyes drifted closed. A soft giggling caught my hearing, though I saw nobody. The sudden sensation of fingers gliding through my thick, often unruly dark red hair, distracted me before I heard the click of a shampoo bottle. My gaze snapped upwards as my eyes met bright cerulean blue eyes and a bright shade of raspberry hair that fell over her soft pale raspberry skin, partially covering her left eye in slightly wavy locks. I cocked an eyebrow at her, as she giggled before sighing softly as I very, very carefully restrained the urge to FreakTheFuckOut. I let my eyes drift closed before I felt her fingers running through my hair before I felt the slight chill before her fingers began moving gently in circles as I shivered slightly, drawing another giggle from the strange young woman, whom I guessed to be… roughly twelve or thirteen, maybe fourteen.
I'd actually never had someone wash my hair for me, strangely enough.
RyuTsukino here!! As much as I'd like to get the next chapter out quickly, and it is a work in progress... with twists and turns that frankly even surprise me, lol!!! Unfortunately as of next week, I will not be able to access the internet as I will be offline for personal reasons. I will, however, try to work on the next chapter as I can. It is, however, unfortunately possible that I may not get the next chapter out before Halloween, or Nightmare Night, which happens to be my favorite holiday of the year.
I enjoy scaring the hell out of people and I was thinking about recreating a scene, if slightly different, from an old horror movie, Re-Animator, though that plan will have to wait until next Nightmare Night, unfortunately, I suspect.
Before I'm flamed, I do have plans for Nightmare Moon, ones that will, hopefully, be quite... unique.
Guest Room - DawnWing, CanterlotPalace Point Of View: Thomas Oliver FPOV ‘Don’t know who this cute chick is, but I don't really mind that she's washing my hair. Admittedly, the pale raspberry pink skin is… slightly unnerving. Call it a gut feeling that this may be the most relaxed I am going to be for a while,’ I thought. “Who are you?” I muttered.
“Rose… Rose Quartz Pie,” was her reply, for some reason, her voice reminding me of Halle Berry. I stiffened more in surprise as warm water streamed over my head and shoulders, my head falling back slightly as she chuckled softly. “Your mane is thick and silky, yet strikes me as unruly and as stubborn as its owner,” she teased as I shivered slightly before blinking as she slid into the tub with an appreciative sigh.
“I suppose I can be stubborn, though many people can be stubborn about different things,”I deadpanned as I shrugged.
“Good point. My twin sister is crazy about her party planning business and surprisingly good at it, despite having moved to a small village. Me, I'm more… creative in a different way,” she commented.
“I can tell, you're like me. A musician,” I quipped, amused by the mildly interested look she gained as she sighed softly, settling into the bubbly tub.
“What kind of music do you prefer? I'm more of a Gothic Rock myself,” Rose asked.
I shrugged. “A variety, I suppose. I can do everything from heavy metal and hard rock to country and blues,” I sighed as I shrugged. My ears twitched slightly as I heard the door open in the other room.
“You're what, fifteen? Sixteen?” Rose commented abruptly, confusing me.
“Eh? Last I checked, I was…. nineteen,” I muttered in confusion.
“Huh, I could have sworn you were fifteen, about the same as Pinkamena,” she said thoughtfully.
“Pinkamena? Huh, sounds like a bit of a… unique name. Though I did know someone who preferred to be called… well,” I started before pausing, glancing away from Rose Quartz's curious gaze.
“What did he prefer?” I heard her as I saw her shift closer in the bubbly water, pert B cup breasts bobbing in the bubbles.
I swallowed slowly. “He preferred… Onager Irranu,” I said slowly. From Rose's blank look, she didn't get the ridiculous joke. “Essentially, the nickname he preferred…” I said, whispering the real meaning in her ear.
Rose's eyes widened as I sat back before she snorted, then broke into husky laughter. As she shifted, apparently to keep her balance, I couldn't help but notice that a certain part of her body was rather… obvious as it was no more than a foot or two from me.
Her nipples were a dusky pink as I tore my gaze away. I didn't realize, at this point, that Rose was roughly twenty minutes older than Pinkamena “Pinkie” Diane Pie. Of course, I also didn't know that dragons ate gemstones, though I am well aware that rose quartz is a type of uncommon gemstone.
My ears twitched slightly at the voices before my senses, specifically hearing and sight, sharpened abruptly, letting me catch the motherly gentle voice and more excited female voice.
“Eh? How are you doing that? The tips of your ears look almost… pointed… with silvery white fire,” I heard Rose comment, distracting me as what I termed as 'aura flames’ winked out like a blown candle.
“Huh? I guess… the only thing I can think of…” I commented, thinking. “Would be if I were focusing energy through my ears, sharpening my hearing. Read of a similar ability… never imagined it was possible,” I sighed.
“What do you mean?” Rose said curiously.
I shrugged. “There are little known tricks to manipulate the energy within one's body, which can take different forms at times. One skill is enhancing one's senses, which, if used with sight, would make you more vulnerable to sudden flares of light. Hearing, vulnerable to loud noises. Smell… heh… kinda obvious,” I quipped. I could see the curiosity in her eyes.
FPOVPerspectiveShift - Rose Quartz Pie
Admittedly, he seemed to know what he was talking about, though from the sound of it, such abilities as he spoke of were either extremely rare, or almost forgotten. The small smirk he gained was rather cute, though, even if he's a bit younger than me. Knowing Pinkamena, the first things she'd be asking about would be his favorite desserts, drinks, colors, and foods, in no particular order. Probably, she'd ask, subtly, about his birthday. Eh… who am I kidding? Pinkamena isn't really that subtle but she does tend to be diligent and stubborn.
“I saw a video of a prank in a middle school cafeteria… using something called Liquid Ass… sprayed four spritzes… on the back of a bully's chair… it ended up clearing out a third of the whole school,”he said, pausing only to snicker a few times. I blinked before I snorted then broke into laughter. “I have a feeling that Pinkie would find you hilarious,” I quipped jokingly. I scooped up a soft washcloth as I noticed the unsure look that flickered across his face before I slid closer to him before carefully rubbing it against his shoulders and chest, noticing how smooth his body felt against the lighter fur of my fingers and palms. I cocked my head, noticing that other than on his head and his mane, there was little fur on his body.
FPOVPerspectiveShift - Thomas Oliver
I shivered as Rose bathed me, the closeness relaxing as it was utterly foreign and unfamiliar. She soon pushed me towards the steps into the tub, which confused me until I realized that she was saying, through action, that it was wisest to rinse off and find some clean clothes.
“Can't remember the last time someone did that for me,” I muttered. I heard Rose say something, but ignored it as I slid into the nearby shower, cranking it nice and warm, though it was habitual for me to cool it down gradually to prevent my muscles from cramping up.
'Now that I consider it, I never got the chance to mention that it was Stephen Cardenas who trained me, someone Jason would have known,’ I mused thoughtfully. A small smirk crossed my face as I exhaled softly as the heated water ran over my skin though over the next several minutes, I cooled the water a little at a time, every thirty or forty seconds. I cut the water flow as I shook myself, absently noticing the feel of restrained power that flowed through my body.
'Guess it's time,’ I thought as I stepped out of the shower before focusing as I felt the water stream off to hover over my right palm before I flicked it over my shoulder into the shower.
Celestia advised that I write this in a journal, to 'help me adjust’ in her words. ––––––♠––––– I was startled to find a pair of boxers, slippers that reminded me of Kung Fu shoes and a fluffy white robe in a neat little pile in the small sitting room, if a 'small’ sitting room was a good ten by fifteen feet and eight feet tall. I sighed softly as I shook my head slightly, glad for the dry clothes, though admittedly I wondered where my costume was. I blinked as I noticed the belt buckle and picked it up, noticing the way the thick plastic glinted, unaware at that moment that it wasn't thick plastic as when I'd constructed it, but a thick piece of 'Crystal Empire Opal’ instead known to amplify magical force.
My thumb brushed over the narrow release switch, blinking in mild surprise as a small spark of flared and died in that brief second of contact. “Somehow, I get the sense that this is… different. Though… Byakōshinken and Yorūshìkon… if one is actually sentient, it's likely that the other s as well. Not sure if Byakōshinken sounding like Hugh Jackman is some kind of secret joke, though,” I muttered as I pushed open the door to the bedroom before stiffening in surprise upon spotting what appeared to be an anthromorphic mare, at least I gathered from the fact that she obviously had breasts and what I was almost certain were hooves as feet.
What caught my attention, though, was what was in her hands… the street clothes I'd had on beneath my costume… which were in very poor condition. “Something tells me that you didn't do anything to my clothes… though it also makes me wonder what did occur to leave my clothes like that,” I sighed. She noticed me and yelped, looking frightened.
”Don't bother thinking I'll do anything to you, lass. My head's still pounding. Guess I hit my head on something,” I sighed as I stepped closer carefully. I noticed the soft aqua mane streaked with Caribbean blue that lay in messy curls. I cocked my head, not sure why that looked wrong to me.
”Come here,” I said,sighing at her squeak of fear. I gently sat her down before picking up the hairbrush. She was stiff, I noticed, before I began brushing her mane, feeling her go still as if she'd expected something else. She sighed softly as she relaxed before I smirked slightly.
”I don't know what you thought I would do, but I wouldn't harm you, nor anyone else if I can avoid it,” I sighed as her mane fell in gentle waves now.
”Wise of you, despite being something that appears to be a shaved pony,” a motherly voice, gentle and warm, spoke. I noticed that the mare, who had been relaxed, stiffened as she shot to her feet.
She was slightly over seven feet tall and quite curvaceous, I absently noticed. Her hair… er.. mane… was a soft pale aquamarine streaked with pale lavender, pale rose, and pale sea green.
”Somehow, I don't see you as a maid. You carry yourself too… nobly for that,” I said dryly. She smirked slowly as if amused.
”You would be correct. I am Princess Celestia, Diarch of the Sun… and for the Moon,” she said regally.
I noticed that slight pause as if she had said that for a long time, yet something bothered her. ”Something else is troubling you. I won't press what is bothering you as it's not my business,”I deadpanned. Her eyes widened slightly as if not expecting his observation nor his discretion.
I sat on the bed before picking up the belt buckle. “Wish I knew what happened,” I muttered dryly.
“That could be arranged, you know. You are a guest here. Admittedly, a few guards would have to keep an eye on you, if so,” Celestia said warmly. I didn't miss the unsaid “do not attack them for their duties” in her voice. I blinked as the case of the forged Dairanger crystals and Zyuranger DinoMedals floated to me, held within a golden aura.
“They do not seem dangerous,” Celestia observed as she dismissed the aura, which to me felt like warm, tingling air.
“Appearances can be deceiving, though… what's this onyx coin?” I said curiously. It had a dull purplish dot hovering over an upturned crescent moon. Something about the moon made me curious. “I got a gut feeling about this particular one, Celestia,” I said thoughtfully before lifting the buckle.
It was a segmented belt before,” she said curiously.
“I made it that way, and forged the coins, though… this one isn't one of them. Funny how sometimes the villains become heroes later, though if my guess about this particular Coin is right… it's my personal favorite villain, though in his case it wasn't irredeemable villainy and darkness, unlike others I know of,” I said thoughtfully.
I blinked at the sight of a dark navy blue Kung Fu vest over a black tee shirt and pants alongside the sneaker-boots which were the same deep navy-black as the shirt, all neatly folded.
“I will give you time to change into the clothes,” Celestia said warmly and kindly.
“I'm human, if you were curious, not a shaved pony,”I quipped as she slipped out quietly with the maid. I soon had the clothes on, finding they fit snugly, but didn't restrict my movements.
Thinking back, I might have embarrassed Celestia by correcting her with such a blunt statement, but I've never really bothered to be subtle. I flicked my leg in a fluid inside crescent kick before fluidly pushing off into a roundhouse kick that I turned into a aerial back kick, all in a flowing movement.
I exhaled softly, bouncing lightly on the balls of my feet before pressing the buckle into position, the segments of coppery amethyst metal forming the belt which sat snugly around my hips. “Now, let's roll,” I muttered as I snapped the Coin in place, lightly flicking the switch.
“Hōkō, Kurākami!! Henshin,”I declared as the belt spoke in an odd tone that reminded me of Ryōtarō Okiayu, the Japanese voice actor for Byakuya Kuchiki. In that instant, black energy erupted from the Coin, swirling around me before engulfing my body as my eyes snapped wide, the irises flaring a bright golden-amber as the armored form of Zen-Aku formed, though I noticed almost immediately that the helmet that formed was more like that of Lobomon from the Digimon Frontier season, though with a shorter snout and no snarling mouth, merely a blank armored mask over my mouth and throat, my glowing golden-amber irises staring into the mirror. I blinked as I saw the semi transparent form of Zen-Aku himself staring back before fading away.
“Kurākami Zen… that works,” I muttered, noticing my voice was a low growl identical to Zen-Aku's own. I cocked my head as the door opened forcefully. “I was right about that Coin… it holds the spirit of one of those Redeemed villains… the Wolf Of The Dark Moon… Zen-Aku,”I stated as I turned my head, seeing Celestia staring in mild surprise at me. I ejected the Coin, the transformation dissipating in a rush of black and golden flames that were dragged into the Coin as I caught it between my forefinger and middle fingers, my clothes rustling softly in the displaced air before I slid the Coin with the others.
Dawn Wing, Canterlot Palace FPOVPerspective — ThomasOliver 'I'm still getting used to this place, this “Canterlot” though it does sound like a somewhat poor pun of 'canter’ and 'Camelot’ which was King Arthur's intended peaceful city.
A pipe dream, unfortunately. I'm fairly certain that this place also has its own darker side as well. Not sure who Princess Celestia insisted I meet with and in her words 'hopefully forge a strong bond of friendship with’. Meh, ain't in my nature to be rude, unfortunately.
Mhmm, gotta remember to look for a good music store or recording studio. Pretty sure the music I'm familiar with doesn't exist here, so that could be a quick source of income. I'm out.
------- 𝌜𝌐𝌚𝌲𝌡-------
Thomas Oliver sighed softly as he rolled his shoulders, his crystalline aquamarine-emerald eyes deepening to a cool, cautious teal-emerald at the knock on the door. He opened the door to see someone with a Maya blue coat, periwinkle mane and tail with a deeper blue streak, dark blue eyes, and a Cutie Mark of an hourglass. His eyebrow rose slightly at the sight of the mare, whom he guess to be fourteen or fifteen.
“I’m Minuette, and I’m going to escort you to Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. I go to school there along with several of my friends, though one was recently chosen as Princess Celestia’s ‘personal student’, though I’m not sure why,” the mare said, his gaze flickering momentarily upward to the gently swirling horn that stuck a little over two inches from her forehead, partially covered by her mane.
“And you’re a bit jealous, aren’t you? Don’t be. Sometimes it’s not the attention that we gain that proves to be the harshest, but the pressure we put on ourselves. I know what that’s like, personally, and it’s far from enjoyable,” Thomas deadpanned, shrugging.
He exhaled slowly as he walked after the unicorn mare. ‘Strange that I would end up in a place where… ponies…. seem almost human, as strange as it sounds. Have to remember that assumptions about others make the assumer look like a fool or an ass, depending on perspective. Actions are what prove one’s truth, not words nor assumptions,’ he thought, his gaze scanning around cautiously as they walked, his body tensed for action.
He grimaced at the surge of sunlight as he blocked the sudden light with one hand before he blinked, grimacing for a few seconds before his ears twitched at the soft sounds of a violin and lyre. He noticed a gray mare with a lightly curled raven mane and soft purple eyes. The light green unicorn mare had a pale sea green and cream colored mane.
“Do you mind if I join you? Your music brought something from my memory,” he said.
“Surely, though I am curious what it brought to mind,” the gray mare said curiously.
Thomas smirked slightly as he plunged his hand into his pocket before pulling out his acoustic guitar. He saw the purple eyes widening in surprise as the soft green mare laughed, clapping a bit at the simple trick.
“You'll see,” he teased as he settled close to the pair, though he did notice Minuette nearby with a curious countenance.
His fingers strummed gently and slowly, though he was a bit impressed as the gray mare joined in after a few bars, followed by the unicorn mare.
“You spoke a word and life began, Told oceans where to start and where to end... You set in motion time and space, But still you come and you call to me by name... Still you come and you call to me by name…
If you can hold the stars in place, You can hold my heart the same. Whenever I fall away, Whenever I start to break,
So here I am, lifting up my heart... "Lifting up my heart," To the one who holds the stars…
The deepest depths, the darkest nights... Can't separate, can't keep me from your sight, I get so lost, forget my way... But still you love and you don't forget my name…
If you can hold the stars in place, You can hold my heart the same... Whenever I fall away, Whenever I start to break,
So here I am, lifting up my heart... If you can calm the raging sea, You can calm the storm in me... You're never too far away,
You never show up too late... So here I am, lifting up my heart, To the one who holds the stars...
Your love has called my name, What do I have to fear? What do I have to fear? Your love has called my name, What do I have to fear? What do I have to fear? If you can hold the stars in place, You can hold my heart the same...
Whenever I fall away... Whenever I start to break,
So here I am, lifting up my heart..." "Lifting up my heart," "If you can calm the raging sea... You can calm the storm in me,
You're never too far away, You never show up too late... So here I am, lifting up my heart, To the one who holds the stars…
You're the one who holds the stars,” he sang quietly, his voice low, but it carried clearly for quite a distance. He was very impressed that the unicorn mare joined in when needed.
He was a bit startled by the sudden applause from the crowd, which had easily tripled in size, though it hadn't really escaped his notice that quite a few more of the golden coins were in the violin case nearby than had been before.
“I'm Octavia, and this is Lyra,” the gray mare said, introducing herself and the unicorn mare.
“Thomas Oliver,” he replied. He exhaled softly as Octavia bent down, scooping several dozen of the gold coins into a pouch before holding it out to him. He was a bit confused, but took the pouch. “Where most magicians may pop something up their sleeve, I’m going to prove that I don’t,” he deadpanned, making the crowd more curious as evidenced by Lyra Heartstrings’ broad grin and curious stare as he rolled up his sleeves to his elbows, tightening the strings so they were out of the way and it was impossible for him to slip anything up them without it being seen.
“What are you going to do?” Lyra said curiously. “Make it disappear… like this,” Thomas quipped, holding the softball sized satchel in one hand before he closed his other hand over it, hiding it from view before he spread his hands, the satchel vanishing into thin air when he’d sent it into his subspace pocket. He heard gasps of awe and surprise as he smirked, picking up his guitar and pushing the neck of the instrument into his pocket, where it sank in like the pocket was far larger than it actually was before the instrument completely slid in. He wasn’t that surprised as Minuette darted to him, sliding her hand into his pocket so it was slightly above her wrist before she pulled it out with a confused look as he grinned.
Canterlot- Charlemane Street, Equestria ‘Interesting duo. I get the sense that Octavia seems to lean more towards the classical music, though she has an innate talent for softer rock and probably country music as well,’ Thomas mused as he walked alongside Minuette, his crystalline teal-aquamarine irises scanning instinctively for threats. He couldn’t explain what bothered him, but he had a strong sense of being watched, and not by anything friendly.
He had never told anyone that he had had a fondness for music, though he had never actually done what he’d just done… actually playing not only in front of a crowd, but with someone else and in front of someone else. It genuinely surprised him how… relaxed it had felt. A small smirk crossed his face as quite a bit of the music he knew of was more… intense…. compared, he was sure, to anything these ponies were likely used to.
“Guess that weapon convention did more than gain me those,” he muttered.
“Huh? What do you mean?” Minuette said curiously, trotting alongside him.
“The last thing I remember… before finding myself… here… wherever here is compared to Earth… was buying a pair of blades, ones that were usually molded plastic but this guy had done more… forged them as actual blades yet they looked identical to the usual fake blades that were usually sold as props. The only real difference was the weight, though to me, they aren’t heavy, strangely, they’re almost… light,” he said carefully. He was telling the truth, just not everything in detail.
He blinked in mild surprise as they came around a wall, seeing a building he didn’t recognize.
------- 𝌜𝌐𝌚𝌲𝌡-------
------- 𝌜𝌐𝌚𝌲𝌡-------
His eyes narrowed fractionally as a sudden plume of dust detonated to the right side of the building, which he got the sense was some sort of school or academy. He darted forward at high speed, followed closely by Minuette.
“W-what is that thing? And those… things with it?” Minuette said fearfully. There were several young women and men cornered by them before she heard a sharp inhalation.
“I don’t know what the larger thing is, but the Bārohei, I recognize… they’re essentially fodder… if I’m right,” she heard Thomas say before she gasped as he darted at the creatures.
------- 𝌜𝌐𝌚𝌲𝌡-------
The larger Android turned, its drill torso whining as Thomas’ eyes narrowed as he pushed off the ground as he summoned Byakōshinken from his subspace pocket.
“That doesn’t look good. Let’s make sure those people are okay,” Byakō said with a slight whine.
“Agreed. Not too sure what the larger one is, but I don’t see it as harmless, though those Bārohei should provide a decent workout,” Thomas deadpanned. He also had the distinct sense that he wasn’t alone as his hand darted behind him, pulling out the first Coin he’d forged. “Ōtakebi, Tōra!! Henshin,” he barked, swatting the switch with the tip of his finger as golden white fire erupted, shoving the larger droid back with several blasts of sparks spitting forth before it wrapped around him, forming into a far more streamlined form of the Kibaranger’s armor.
He twisted Byakōshinken so it rested along the underside of his forearm in a reversed grip before slamming the butt of the hilt into the gut of the Bārohei nearest to him twice in a short jabbing strike that slammed the weaker droid into the corner of the wall, spinning it onto its face. A very faint smirk crossed his face as he rolled his shoulders, slashing the Bārohei across the chest in a burst of sparks before he felt two thick metal bo staffs slammed into his chest and shoulder, shoving him backwards. He grunted as he rolled backwards onto his feet, wincing a bit.
He cocked his head as magenta and violet bursts of energy flared, detonating either directly on the ground inches from the Bārohei or directly on the Bārohei droids themselves, tearing three of them apart, leaving only four and the larger droid. He shifted his weight as he kipped up from the ground, narrowly evading sharpened discs that ripped into the grassy ground before his eyes narrowed beneath the visor, noticing the hud picking up two power signatures similar to his own. “Let’s see you handle this, Kirameki Yari,” he snapped as he drew the pads of his forefinger and middle finger along the edges, absently noticing the golden fire that trailed after his fingers before he thrust Byakōshinken at the Bārohei droids, impaling one with a spear of golden light that detonated in a fireball that ripped the other two apart and shoving the last into the larger android who was running up.
------- 𝌜𝌐𝌚𝌲𝌡------- ------- 𝌜𝌐𝌚𝌲𝌡-------
“You’re not attacking my school, and especially not when I was busy elsewhere,” he heard a female voice speak with tight annoyance. He glanced over his shoulder, tilting Byakōshinken so he too, could see the odd girls. One had light yellowish gray skin, a messy red mane falling over her shoulders and an equine tail with purple highlights, deep purple eyes, and a design of a crescent moon and three stars upon her shirt whilst the other had moderate violet eyes, dark sapphire blue hair streaked with moderate purple and raspberry in a bob cut, and light mulberry skin. He noticed the pink starburst surrounded by five smaller white starbursts.
He didn’t think twice about the horns, though he absently did notice them, more focused on the rising whine as his gaze flicked back to the larger drill themed robot as its arms shifted to be angled their direction, the gun barrels obvious to him. His eyes widened as bursts of light detonated from them, making him cry out in surprise and pain as a dense blast of sparks blew from his chest as well as several more on the ground, probably from shrapnel from whatever hit him as he was hurled backwards onto his back, Byakōshinken flying from his grasp as the sentient blade yelped as he managed to catch the Tigerzord Coin as it was ejected hard, making him wince as the armored form dissolved into motes of light as he felt the mulberry skinned girl help him to his feet.
“Any idea what to do?” the other girl said.
“Get the ones they were trying to apparently kidnap out of here, for one… though how we’re going to delay that thing or distract it, I have no idea,” he said quietly, wincing.
“I know we haven’t gotten along lately, Moon Dancer, but this isn’t about us, but about them,” the mulberry girl spoke then.
“You must be Twilight, then,” Thomas said, noticing how the mulberry skinned girl stiffened in surprise. “Celestia said something about meeting a ‘new student of hers’, though she didn’t say who it was,” he clarified.
Twilight exhaled, shaking her left wrist, exposing a pale pink copper bracelet with a open Coin hatch. She glanced at Moon Dancer, who had done the same but exposed a golden copper bracelet with the same Coin hatch. Simultaneously, they slid what he recognized as the Gingaman Pink and Yellow coins, made of rose quartz and golden topaz respectively, into the hatches before clear lenses slid over the coins before the Coins flared with light.
He checked the case, finding that those Coins were missing from his case, along with quite a few of the others. He noticed something hard underneath his hand in the smoking soil and pulled free what he immediately recognized as the Gingaman Red Coin, made of ruby which hadn't been easy to acquire or carve, unfortunately. ‘Well, shit. Looks like I may end up recreating those teams here, since the Zyuranger Coins are also missing, and I never made the crystals for the Dairanger Blue, Pink, or Yellow… so it’s entirely possible that they may be found elsewhere by others,’ Thomas realized as he tugged out the ruby Coin, brushing away the dust. He inhaled sharply in surprise as the crystalline Coin flared with flames before wrapping around his left wrist, forming into a reddish copper bracelet with an identical hatch opening.
He winced as he stood slowly, coughing a bit not only from his aching body, but the smell of burnt soil and grass. He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that all but one of the students had fled out of sight. As the drill android turned towards her, he slapped the Coin into place, his eyes narrowing as he gritted his teeth, feeling like fire was rushing through his body as the Coin flared with energy. His eyes drifted closed as flames whirled around him in a wild cyclone, forming the bodysuit before motes of light formed into the helmet over his head. His eyes snapped open as he inhaled deeply, feeling the heat rushing through his body and soothing his injuries.
His eyes flickered to the sides, where Twilight had become Ginga Pink and Moon Dancer Ginga Yellow. “Let’s see how this thing handles this,” he said wryly. “Right,” both girls echoed, though he could hear the awe in their voices. Fortunately, he was able to keep his own awe in check. His hand dropped instinctively to his left hip, finding the Seijūken sheathed. He tilted his head slightly, seeing the drill droid angling its arms again before pulses of light flared out. He leaped to the side, not that surprised to see Twilight do the same in an acrobatic cartwheel as she reached behind her, drawing out what he recognized as the JizaikenKiba.
His hand dipped behind him, finding the JizaikenKiba sheathed at the small of his back as he exhaled softly, pulling it forth. He tilted it, folding the blades outside of one another, forming its crossbow blaster form.
“Huh, that would be wisest. It seems to be strongest at close range, so we should rely on long range attacks,” Twilight remarked, flicking her wrist so her own did the same.
“Heh, let’s see how easily we can distract it, though… destroying it may be best,” he replied wryly. He saw the drill android stagger as Moon Dancer blasted it, several bursts of sparks following it. He fired several bursts of ruby light, making it yelp in pain and surprise as it spun before Twilight’s consecutive blasts made it stumble and fall flat on its ass.
“You aren’t going to kidnap nor harm anyone,” he started.
“Anypony else,” Twilight interjected.
“Whatever. It’s not going to harm ‘anypony’ else,” Thomas said dryly as he shifted his weight, drawing the Seijūken although he kinda ignored Twilight’s gasp as the sword blade seemed far too long to fit into the dagger sized sheath. “Honō Issen… kiri,” he muttered, swiping the blade upwards diagonally to the right before slashing downward from the left to the right as electrical flames from the thick arcs of ruby red energy impacting flared and danced over the droid’s body before it collapsed and detonated in a large fireball, fortunately more than far enough the Academy was undamaged.
“I doubt this would be a lesson anyone would want to learn, that’s for sure,” he sighed as he sheathed the blade as Moon Dancer darted to them, a golden white aura flaring before dying as she stumbled, only for him to catch her before she sprawled on the ground. He could feel the scrapes and bruises on his body already as his own suit dispelled, though he noticed the flare of pink out of the corner of his eye before Twilight pulled Moon Dancer's arm over her own shoulder.
Thomas frowned as he dismissed his current Ranger form, that of Gingaman Red.
“I don’t know where I am exactly, but I do know that thing isn’t supposed to be here… gut feeling,” he muttered.
“Princess Celestia needs to know about…” Twilight started as her form flared before fading to reveal her civilian clothes, which were a bit wrinkled, but otherwise intact. She noticed the odd creature glancing her way before she heard Moon Dancer snort.
“I love Celestia as much as the next pony, but I doubt she’ll even listen to this,” she said dryly.
Thomas glanced skyward, noticing a winged form with a faintly golden aura trailing from it.
“What makes you so confident in that? Someone tries to kidnap innocent… ponies… and you essentially want to sweep it under the rug and ignore it? You’re intelligent, obviously, or you wouldn’t be at a ‘gifted’ school. People or ponies, whichever, will notice when their own start mysteriously disappearing, especially if it’s young children. How do you think it would look if somepony knew about these possible disappearances yet did nothing to alert anyone else, nor try to stop it?” Thomas said dryly, seeing Moon Dancer wince at his words.
“Besides, even if you kept it a secret, those we protected… and saved… most likely wouldn’t. My experience… it isn’t those who hide things who are praised as heroes, but those who don’t hide who and what they are and what they stand for. You protect innocents, you’re a hero. You stand by and do nothing when you have the power or strength to protect them? You might as well assist those who harm them, then,” he sighed.
“A bit overly blunt, I suppose, and harsh, indeed, but correct. I won’t say there aren’t things I do not hide, but why I would hide something is almost always for the betterment of my little ponies. I do not like the thought of someone trying to kidnap my subjects for unknown reasons? Do you have any ideas?” Princess Celestia cut in as her golden sandaled feet touched the grass, the resplendent cream and ivory dress belted with a mother-of-pearl belt as her chromatic pastel hair swayed in the breeze.
“No, Princess, I don’t, and I’m reasonably sure that Moon Dancer and,” Twilight said, pausing as she glanced at the human, curious about him.
“It’s Thomas, Thomas Oliver, and I’d agree with you that we don’t have any clues as to why those machines would attempt to kidnap anyone, but I doubt it’s for anything good or innocent,” he said wryly, grimacing slightly as he had the really strange feeling of an itch between his shoulder blades, yet it didn’t feel like a surface itch, but almost like something were stirring within him, like something was trying to come out.
“Is something wrong with you? You’re twitching worse than that Ditzy Doo pegasus,” Moon Dancer said harshly.
“I don’t know. Feels… itchy, like something inside me is trying to come out… localized around my shoulder blades, from what I can tell,” Thomas said dryly, through gritted teeth. He felt a light touch on his shoulder blades, inhaling sharply as he felt a dull ache growing sharper before he felt an intense burning erupt from his shoulders as what appeared to be wings of dense flames exploded from his skin, steaming blood splattering whoever was behind him as they staggered back as he quickly shed the top of his outfit, leaving his muscular torso exposed as the fabric ignited almost the moment it left his fingers.
“Gah-ack!!” he heard as he glanced over his shoulder, seeing the wavering heat from the intense flames before he spotted Twilight stumbling back. He groaned as the flames abruptly went out, revealing deep auburn, copper and ruby wings with pale creamy silver undersides.
------- 𝌜𝌐𝌚𝌲𝌡-------
He winced as he felt the breeze brushing over the feathers before he blinked, realizing he could feel the wings almost as an extension of himself. He did notice the surprised look on Celestia’s face, however, before a small, playful smile crossed her face that distinctly reminded him of that ‘Troll Face’ meme.
“Somehow, that smile is creeping me out,” he muttered, shivering slightly. He watched one slim finger rise to Celestia’s lips as her eyes drifted closed as he felt his wings settling against his shoulders before he heard a high pitched whining as his gaze shot skyward, seeing what appeared to be strange octopus looking ships before his eyes narrowed as he saw Celestia’s eyes snap open. “What are those?” she said with mild wariness.
“Nothing good… though… from where I’m from they’re… fake… not real, essentially created for television, though here… it’s pretty obvious they aren’t fake, especially with that drill based robot that attacked,” Thomas said dryly, grimacing. He knew they were called Takonpas, and that they had a land form and air form, but couldn’t remember much else about them.
Celestia frowned slightly as, in a flare of golden light, her wings flared out. She bent her legs before she felt a hand touch her forearm. She paused, seeing Thomas, the odd creature, frowning slightly. “What troubles you?”
“I’m getting the feeling that I’m forgetting something important, yet… at the same time, I think I have an idea,” he said slowly as his hand drifted to the small of his back before he pulled free the same Coin, onyx and amethyst, that she recalled seeing that had caught her eye.
“What about your wings?” she said carefully.
“If I’m right about my gut instinct, then they should be protected as well,” Thomas replied thoughtfully as he flipped the Coin into the air. It flipped three times before sliding into the slit within the belt as he caught the ruby Coin as it was ejected. He slid it into the case as the black fire, tipped with golden energy and pale silver energy, erupted, engulfing him as the belt called out “Hōkō, Kurākami!!” twice followed by his whispered “Henshin.”
------- 𝌜𝌐𝌚𝌲𝌡-------
Thomas’ crystalline aquamarine-teal irises shone for a few seconds before his eyes widened as they flared a hot golden amber as his arms rose crossed over his chest and face as his clothes shimmered as chains of darkness shot at his arms and legs, wrapping around them almost lovingly before shattering into the armored suit of the Duke Org, Rouki, or as the ‘Power Rangers’ had called him, Zen-Aku.
A stream of moonlight surged from the rising moon, engulfing him as the masked helm formed, protecting his mouth and throat, though surprisingly, the mask over his mouth was more formed with thicker plates and a vertical plate with seven horizontal slits crossing it over his mouth.
------- 𝌜𝌐𝌚𝌲𝌡-------
The energy faded away, consumed into the armor. He exhaled slowly, a gust of icy steam escaping the mask. Unknown to him, this particular form bolstered his agility, power, and reflexes as well as allowing him some cryokinetic abilities. He felt a tingling at the now onyx belt around his hips, which appeared to have merged with the armored form. He blinked as a sphere of pale silvery white light shot out of the Coin, forming into an ornate nodaichi whose hilt landed lightly in his palm as his fingers curled around it in a firm grip. A very faint smirk crossed his face beneath the mask. “Nice blade,” he muttered appreciatively.
“Hmmm, it appears you were correct,” Celestia said thoughtfully, as every single feather of the human’s new wings was sheathed in a layer of onyx metal. She had to wonder what else he could do.
First True Battle -- "What have I gotten myself into?"
OOC-From the sound of it, it seems like the action’s picking up, lol. Canterlot- Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns Thomas Oliver exhaled softly, nervous. “Hopefully I don't look like a great fool,” he muttered.
“As compared with how you usually look?” Moon Dancer said dryly.
“Damn, Tsukimai, could you please be a bit more sarcastic?” Thomas quipped, amused as Moon Dancer sputtered, apparently caught off guard as he chuckled, crouching.
Celestia gently touched his shoulder. “I'll be there right next to you,” she said comfortingly.
“To quote Wiz Khalifa: I never fear death or dyin, I only fear never trying,” he quipped. He stared skyward, unaware that his helm shifted with very soft creaks and squeaks, becoming more of a predator's helmet.
He exhaled softly, not noticing the mouth of the predatory helm opening a bit to reveal razor sharp teeth as steam curled out of the slightly open maw before he shoved off hard, his wings flaring out before pushing down quickly.
Celestia tilted her head, her hair swaying in the sudden surge of air. “Clearly he's unaware that, from my guess, that this form has what appears to be a 'battle state', I suppose you could call it,” she mused as she pushed off gracefully.
------- 𝌜𝌐𝌚𝌲𝌡-------
Thomas did notice that his vision had shifted into the infrared state, which was a bit distracting. It was mostly shades of pale blue, luminous orange, dark sapphire blue, and red, though he did notice that, when the 'Takonpas’ charged their weapons, there was a growing pulse of greenish blue light before they fired.
He heard gentle flapping as he took a careful breath, wincing slightly at the tension in his shoulders from using the unfamiliar muscles to flap the new wings. ‘It would make sense, if I’m able to summon them, could I dismiss them as well? Though… I’m getting the strangest sense of deja vu, despite the fact that I know for absolutely certain I’d remember anything even remotely similar to this,’ he thought. He glanced over his shoulder at a soft throat clearing before he blushed slightly, seeing Celestia smiling slightly as he hovered, though she did so with far less effort than himself.
“Getting used to your wings?” she said teasingly.
He shrugged. “I guess, despite the fact that I’ve never had any, nor do I recall any dreams of them,” he said wryly, the mouth of the helm moving with his words. Hollow booms sounded as explosions of smoke detonated around them before his eyes narrowed, glowing a hot orange. “I don’t know about you, Princess, but these things are pissing me off,” he growled, his voice sounding almost like Nicolas Cage’s version of the Ghost Rider from the first movie right before the encounter with the fallen angel disguised within the wind itself.
His hand flicked out, the nodaichi surging forth from its sheath and flipping rapidly, deflecting several laser blasts with the blade that detonated harmlessly away before the hilt landed in his palm. His golden orange eyes narrowed as the blade lowered before igniting with black and golden fire. “Let’s take these Takonpas out… preferably for good, before they do any more damage,” he said quietly as the flames winked out, though the edge of the blade still rippled with the aura while the upper part of the edge near the tip was glowing a hot silvery white with steam curling around the blade. “Kuresu… Shēnbō,” he barked as he slashed it upward, releasing a silvery white arc of burning energy that trailed pitch black flames as the ‘Sonic Crescent’ sheared through half of the Takonpas approaching before detonating in a large fireball.
He saw Celestia smirk before she fired a blast of golden energy from her horn, impacting another ship that detonated. “Double or nothing?” he quipped, smirking slightly, the corners of the predatory helm holding a similar, if a bit more intimidating and frightening, smirk.
“You think you can manage it?” Celestia quipped, smirking.
“I’m sure we can, working together,” Thomas said in a growling tone as his gaze swept around before he shot higher before twisting, the pulsing, glowing blade forming a spiraling aura that looked almost like a drill bit. “Zuǎnkǒ Biāo,” he growled as he shot at one as it fired several bursts that deflected off the aura as it narrowed, glowing a heated silvery white that trailed black flames and golden sparkles as he felt the tingling heat of Celestia’s aura speeding his movements as he sheared through one, followed by the second a few dozen feet behind him. He uncurled from his ‘drilling position’ as he felt disoriented before twisting, shearing a arcing Kuresu Shēnbō at the pilot of one of the Takonpas. The ship itself detonated in the sky as a burst of golden plasma sheared through it as he glanced down at Celestia, seeing her wielding a halberd with a heavy axe blade with three radiating sunbeams forming the blade with a narrower, lighter straight blade hovering near her before she slashed it upward at an angle, shearing through another Takonpas ship as it detonated a few feet behind her.
He noticed a few diving towards a distant town before he inhaled deeply, his glowing eyes shifting to a baleful crimson. “I don't think so, you bastards,” he muttered as he shifted the blade as he pressed the pads of his fingers along the razor sharp edge as golden-ruby flames erupted, following the blood trickling down to the tip of the blade. He lifted his fingers, wincing at the immediate burning ache before he saw the cuts heal.
The blade drifted, forming a ring as two slowly rotating silver crescent moons formed. “Seijitsuki Konzetsu,” he murmured huskily as he rotated the blade over his head, the ring following before it shattered, the crescents surging forth at such high speeds, it sounded almost like a lightning strike.
He saw, out of the corner of his eye, Celestia’s jaw drop as the crescent blasts of energy sped, trailing golden red tipped black flames as they sheared through the ships, which detonated explosively, though the crescents faded as they arced back around, vanishing as they slowed. “Somehow, I get the feeling that coming up with a theory on how that attack works wouldn’t be easy, though I suspect that I’m condensing the air to such an extent that it doesn’t just ignite but shift to a quasi plasmic state, though it seems to need a certain medium to keep the energy stable,” he said softly, thinking. Unfortunately, almost in that very instant, he felt the exhaustion hit him like someone had hit him in the back of the head with a baseball bat as his armored form shattered before being sucked into the Coin, which fortunately didn’t eject, though his wings also dissolved into wisps of flame that faded away, unfortunately. He distantly felt himself being caught before he felt the breeze for a few seconds before he completely passed out unconscious.
Canterlot Hospital - PrivateRoom261 - Equestria #12571325 “Bakayaro… my head’s pounding worse than the drum set in a Metallica concert,” Thomas groaned as his eyes fluttered open.
“Metallica?” he heard Twilight’s confused voice.
“Heavy metal and rock band, might do some of their music sometime… preferably when my head isn’t pounding like I’m getting run over by a train with my head between the rails,” he said wryly, wincing as he covered his eyes with one hand, noticing an intravenous line out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t see Twilight wince, as trains were the primary mode of transportation for the most part other than flight by pegasi or chariot, the latter of which were reserved primarily for nobles or those favored by nobles. Twilight was of the latter category, but she had never ridden in a pegasus drawn chariot before.
Twilight turned as she heard the door open behind her before she noticed a nurse with a dark gamboge coat, pale amaranth mane, and soft but warm periwinkle eyes and a feathered heart as her Cutie Mark as well as a doctor with a clipboard, a deep cream coat, lavender mane, and chocolate eyes. His Cutie Mark was a dark blue heart with a green grid overlaying it and a rhythm strip forming the pulse of a heart over it. Their names were Nurse Skyheart and Doctor Calmheart, cousins, in fact.
“How’s the patient?” Nurse Skyheart said gently.
“One hell of a headache, mainly,” Thomas deadpanned, wincing.
“Not to mention you were somewhat dehydrated and your magic was rather… low, lower than most Unicorns I’ve seen with magical exhaustion. How did you survive?” Calmheart asked.
“Wait, magic? Only magic I’ve seen, other than Magirangers, whom I doubt exist nor have even been heard of here, would be magicians. As far as I’m aware, I have no magic, period… though… I do have something else,” Thomas said, quite confused. He was oblivious to the fact that it was utterly impossible, as far as the ponies knew, to survive without some amount of magic. He missed the glances that both Skyheart and Calmheart shot Princess Celestia, who looked curious and a bit worried though she hid the latter very well.
––––––♠–––––
He lifted his hand without the intravenous line before focusing as a slow aura of sky blue and silvery light flickered around his fingertips before he shifted his hand a bit, his hand seemingly disappearing into thin air within a misty ring of pale lavender-blue light to the gasps of not only the doctor and nurse, but Twilight and the just arrived Moon Dancer and Princess Celestia as well.
“You can open dimensional pockets?!? That’s extremely advanced magic!! What chant do you use? What seal do you use?” Twilight burst out before she was mildly surprised as he pulled out… a rubber chicken. Her jaw dropped at the utter randomness before Thomas snickered as he lobbed the rubber chicken at her before Moon Dancer snorted and started giggling.
“Honestly? This is the first time I’ve revealed this to anyone, period. I don’t know anything about ‘advanced’ magic or magic in general. I do know that when I found myself in that… shell… or whatever it was… I apparently gained certain gifts, though… I have no idea, frankly, where the heck the wings came from, but the ones I did gain seemed to be aura manipulation, some sonokinetic manipulation, though I have a feeling blocking out rambling questions may be partially practice or an advanced trick which I don’t know yet,” he deadpanned, amused as Twilight blushed and pouted a bit at the ‘rambling questions’ referral, obviously to herself.
“Although I have a strange sense that Byakōshinken sounding like Hugh Jackman may be some ridiculous joke. Makes me almost fear what Yorushikōn may sound like when he talks… if he talks. Hope he doesn’t sound like Michelangelo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which would really be annoying,” he sighed, not noticing the confused looks of everypony.
He blinked at the random tangent his thoughts had drifted, unaware he’d been thinking aloud which also happened to be a odd habit of a certain mulberry pony, who was smirking a bit and trying to keep from giggling.
“Great, another Twilight,” Moon Dancer groaned.
“No, she’s Twilight, I’m Sirius,” Thomas quipped almost immediately. Twilight burst into laughter, as did the nurse and doctor while Princess Celestia chuckled demurely.
“So your middle name is Sirius?” the doctor said with amusement.
“Thomas Sirius Oliver, actually,” Thomas deadpanned, chuckling. “There was a book series that had a character by the name of Sirius Black… he’d always pull that pun, and pardon the pun, but for him, it was like kicking a dead dog… or in his case, a Grim dog, as he had the ability to shift into the form of a large, furry black dog whom most assumed was an ‘omen of death’, which frankly was ridiculous, but that particular world was a bit… how to say this? Illogical and idiotic at times,” he explained.
Twilight smirked before realizing she had done so and blushed slightly, looking away. It seemed Thomas had a logical side to him and a strange, random side to him that was oddly endearing, she mused. She noticed absently that the doctor and nurse were checking little things like his heart rate and blood pressure.
“Is a blood pressure of 77 over 115 normal for you?” Skyheart asked.
“For me, in particular? It’s a bit lower than normal, which is around… 85 over 120, though I’ve always had low to normal blood pressure,” Thomas deadpanned.
“So… this… Byakōshinken and Yorushikōn… what precisely are they?” Princess Celestia asked carefully.
“Bluntly? Swords… well… sentient swords. Thus far, I’ve only interacted and summoned Byakōshinken, who fortunately, seems to be helpful. As for Yorushikōn... no idea. He may be as pleasant as Byakōshinken or as sarcastic as George Carlin or R Lee Early. Between you and me, Early’s overreactions were rather comical,” Thomas said with a small smirk.
------- 𝌜𝌐𝌚𝌲𝌡-------
Elsewhere far to the north -- CrystalCavern | Equestria #PX913Δ 1,000 years before the present…
Suddenly a slender anthromorphic rabbit with creamy fur in black leggings and boots with a burgundy half skirt on her right hip notices a small meteor falling across the sky with a powerful energy signature and runs after where it landed thinking it would make the heart even easier to get with the extra energy, her crystalline pale aquamarine eyes glittering in the dim sunlight. The meteor strikes the ice with a sharp crackling sizzle a little under a third of a mile away, or half a kilometer. The shard, which was a good eighteen feet long and thirteen feet thick yet shaped much like a giant, extremely rough hewn diamond with a blunted, dully glowing emerald tip, shimmered with a malevolent rainbow of onyx, ruby, sapphire, rose, emerald, and dark gold hues. The rabbit wore a set of deep amethyst gloves that covered all but the ends of her fingers, excluding the pads of her bared fingers, beneath black leather gloves and had a black onyx and blackened leather choker around her neck with a small elliptical blue gemstone hanging from it just above the hollow of her throat.
As she reached the embedded shard, the energy that seemed to hang off it was rather intoxicating. She reached for it almost greedily before, had anyone been around, a brilliant flare of bluish black light that for just an instant, turned the sky from soft hues of orange, gold, and red to harsh hues of dark purple, black, green, and blood red as well as turning the pale gray mountains some distance away a harsh fuschia and the snow a deep pitch black rather than its soft creamy white. It was one of those things that had you blinked, you would have missed it. Even so, in that brief instant, the bunny and the large shard vanished, replaced by a crater several meters deep and around four and a half meters in diameter.
Canterlot Hospital, Private Room 261, Equestria # 14571325 Thomas exhaled as Moon Dancer, Princess Celestia, and Twilight Sparkle and the odd little dragon that stuck to her side… Spike… had left, citing personal business to take care of. He had the strangest feeling that, other than the intravenous line in his hand, that something else was coming to him, something very different. He smirked at the confusion Twilight had shown at the abrupt rubber chicken joke, though other than a weak giggle, she had seemed more confused than anything.
He focused to pull something out of his subspace pocket, but felt a sudden feeling like he’d stuck his hand in an open flame, only it came from his abdomen just behind his navel. The sensation spread quickly over his entire body, though he was unaware that his entire body was engulfed in pale azure flames as he thrashed, his teeth gritted.
A low pop sounded as the intravenous line snapped before the needle shot across the room like a bullet, puncturing through the wall into the next room and into its opposite wall. He distantly heard the door slam open as he felt his awareness fading.
He did, however, notice a rumbling voice in his mind moments before he passed out. “Intriguing. So he did have a kit of his own.”
Near Canterlot Palace Twilight stiffened as a breeze blew past, frowning suddenly as she glanced around before her ears twitched as her soft, short muzzle dipped in the breeze. Since finding that odd rose quartz Coin, she mused, her awareness in the air had sharpened substantially. It was almost as if the very wind itself were whispering to her, nature itself. She was unaware, however, that it was the link through the Coin, to its element of nature, that she was feeling. She shivered slightly as she heard Spike calling her before she exhaled.
“Did you hear me, Twilight? The guards would,” he started, only for Twilight to speak over him, finishing his question.
“They want to question us about what happened. There’s not much we know that they don’t, unfortunately, though,” she said softly before frowning. “I can’t shake the feeling something is wrong,” she said after a moment.
She heard a hollow boom as she saw glass falling from the hospital as she darted towards it, being only a block and a half away. She saw the glass falling, unaware she was moving quite a bit faster than she normally could. Her hands and horn lit up as she cast a simultaneous shield and levitation spell in conjunction, the glass near the dazed and fallen civilians freezing in the air, some feet, others inches from them. Only a few, fortunately, were cut by the glass, while much of the glass hit and shied away from the shield spell she employed, shattering harmlessly on the ground. Her eyes narrowed on the room, noticing an azure glow that faded away within moments. Deep within Thomas’ mind --
Thomas groaned as he lay amidst a swirling current within a deep pond, the current forming a sphere around him, unaware that it matched what was happening with his body, which was levitating slightly off the bed as the pale bluish lavender energy swirled and grew denser, almost liquid, around him. The magitronics in the room were going crazy before they blew out, overloaded from the dense energy, which was stronger than most magical sources at least at the moment, especially since the technology they relied on was primarily magic focused through crystals and converted into electrical energy.
“Wake up, boy,” he heard distantly, the same rumbling voice he’d heard before. Thomas’ eyes snapped open, their irises, for an instant, a blood red with a single silver comma shaped magatama floating within them and rotating slowly and lazily before the bluish lavender glow within his sclera engulfed them again as he focused, his body shifting upright before the sphere of dense energy exploded outward in a blast of icy air, shredding the cotton within the mattress and shattering the plastic and metal of the bed, sending the latter skidding across the floor and the former up in the air in a sudden cloud. Unknown to him, he also blew out the windows in the room and hurled Doctor Clearheart and Nurse Skyheart into the wall near the door and bathroom respectively. It also, embarrassingly, shredded the hospital gown covering his body, exposing far more than he undoubtedly would have been comfortable with, though his unconscious form was oblivious to this.
Thomas’ gaze rose to the surface of the pond and he shoved off the bottom of the pond hard, shooting out of the pond before he groaned as he hit the grassy ground outside after somersaulting twice.
He heard a deep chuckle that held a distinct feminine edge to his hearing before his eyes fluttered open, his crystalline aquamarine-teal irises glowing with restrained power as the pond seemed to bubble behind him, its potential unlocked as he could feel energy rushing through his body.
“Took you long enough, now, restrain your chakra from lashing out. It’s curious to me that it seems to have aspects of lunar, star, and pyro energy flowing through it though I do not know their source,” the Kitsune growled.
“Somehow, I don’t think your name is Kurama. Though… I… may have a suspicion on that thing with the energy sources,” he said, slowly realizing that the Coins may have done this, enhancing his body.
“It isn’t. I do know of a Kurama, a few of them, actually, but only one is like me, a Kyuubi, though I… gave my word that I would watch over you… from your father,” the Kitsune growled. “It’s Shun Kasai,” she growled.
“Huh, Kasai, seems to fit with your fiery personality, or is that your hot body?” Thomas teased, smirking. He saw the Kitsune facepalm as if his joke was ridiculously corny. “Meh, I could come up with ridiculous jokes all day, but this isn’t the time for humor. What’s going on?” he spoke seriously. He cocked an eyebrow as the Kitsune smirked, apparently liking his bluntness.
“Your inheritance,” was all the Kitsune growled before he felt a sudden pressure shoving his mental form away, unaware that his subconscious avatar shot backwards and exploded.
------- 𝌜𝌐𝌚𝌲𝌡-------
Thomas groaned, pressing his hand to his head as he stumbled for a moment, blinking as he felt the cool floor beneath his bare feet before he realized the hospital room was utterly trashed. Tiles and wires were busted, hanging out of the ceiling while where the bed had been was… nothing… save for dozens of shallow cuts and scrapes as if someone had dragged a knife along the linoleum. He noticed the doctor looking a bit dazed, while the nurse was licking her lips with an odd look on her face.
“Do you need some help? Maybe a shower, or would you prefer a sponge bath?” Nurse Skyheart said with a small smirk at the human’s confused look before his face calmed, though his cheeks were flushed. She took his hand and guided him into the bathroom, which fortunately was mostly untouched, if a bit dusty. “With help, or without?” she said in a sultry tone. It didn’t help that she’d gone into heat a few days before.
“With, I think. If you do intend to help me, though, it might be better to not get your uniform dirty,” Thomas deadpanned. The vanilla and ginger scent that was wafting off the nurse was quite pleasant, though he wasn’t quite certain why she was acting so affectionate suddenly. Maybe it was the fact that she was concerned about him.
He didn’t realize that a particular part of his body between his legs was growing rather… interested.
------- 𝌜𝌐𝌚𝌲𝌡-------
{Clop Warning!!} He couldn’t help but notice as the nurse’s hips swayed slowly, her tail rising as her fingers slid up her uniform from her thighs over her hips and sides. ‘Somehow, I get the feeling she’s trying to entice me into something a lot more naughty than a simple shower or sponge bath, though honestly, I’m more used to the Japanese style of bathing,’ he thought. He shivered as the nurse unbuttoned her blouse slowly before folding it, revealing more and more of her body. He absently noticed that her breasts were easily B cups in size, held in by a dark red bra. A small, faint smirk crossed his face as she bent down, seeing a flash of dark red beneath her skirt as she slowly, watching him with her periwinkle eyes, untied her sneakers. He cocked an eyebrow as he noticed that her feet were soft hooves, though he shrugged as her fingers slid up her legs before he swallowed hard, seeing the light blue skirt fall, though she caught it deftly on one hoof and flicked it over her shoulder, catching it and folding it on the counter next to the sink atop her blouse before she turned to face him, her breasts bouncing.
He cocked his head as she slowly unlatched her bra with a small smirk before slowly setting it atop her skirt before she stepped closer to the shower and turning it on. She glanced down his body before he followed his gaze, noticing his manhood was quite obvious… and stiff. It was just under eight inches long and a little over two inches thick. He didn’t, however, see the mare lick her lips as she stepped closer to him, although he did notice the soft warmth of her touch as her fingers trailed over his shoulders from his chest. His gaze rose before his fingers slid up her neck before he smirked slightly and kissed her slowly and gently, amused as she sighed and shivered.
He slowly smirked as he retreated before kissing the side of her muzzle before trailing the kisses down her neck, amused as she cooed and shivered as he nipped her collarbone. “Most humans would find it odd… but me, I’ve never been what anyone would called ‘normal’,” he commented wryly as he shivered, feeling her warm fingers drift down his back before he felt them tighten around his ass, making him inhale sharply.
“Oh? What would be ‘normal’?” Skyheart purred.
“Boring. Which I’m not, both by choice and preference,” he chuckled as he felt her gently push them closer to the shower as he glanced over his shoulder, noticing several bottles of shampoo and body wash, though he noticed they said ‘mane wash’ and ‘coat cleanser’ instead of what he was familiar with. There were also fairly thick towels.
“Most hospitals I’ve gone into, the towels weren’t very thick, though these… are rather plush,” he commented thoughtfully.
“Let’s focus on getting clean… or would you prefer to get good and dirty first? I make sure to get clean everywhere, you know,” Skyheart commented with a naughty smirk.
“Prove it,” Thomas challenged with a slow smile that was both playful and hungry.
Skyheart smirked as she pushed him into the shower, the steam swirling around them both as she stepped in after him, grabbing up the coat cleanser before she scooped up a soft terry cloth to wash his body with. She shivered as most stallions weren’t quite built as he was, especially in Canterlot. She had to admit that the fact that he had so little fur was rather… attractive. She soaked the terry cloth in the streaming hot water, heated like everything else by magitech. She smirked at his somewhat nervous face as he could see it warring with the arousal his body was showing. “Just let Nurse Skyheart help you see heaven,” she purred as she added some of the cleanser to the cloth before rubbing it into a rich, magnolia and camellia scented lather.
Thomas swallowed as he shivered at Skyheart’s tone. ‘If I’m right… they’re equine based creatures, to some extent, so… ah damn… heat cycles, and unless I’m mistaken, she’s rather… needy,’ he thought with a faint smirk as she approached with a sultry, rather naughty smile as the mingled vanilla-ginger scent grew stronger. He inhaled sharply as the cloth, surprisingly soft, rubbed against his chest with surprising gentleness and firmness.
Skyheart saw him relax at her touch, a bit amused. “This is the first time you’ve done this, isn’t it? Showering with a mare,” she said gently.
Thomas swallowed. “Yeah. I did meet Rose Quartz, though she seemed more interested in talking than anything,” he said softly. He was unaware that Rose Quartz was a fairly famous musician in this particular Equestria. He took a careful breath as Skyheart washed his skin with gentle, firmly massaging strokes. He inhaled sharply as she slipped behind him before washing his back and shoulder blades.
Skyheart giggled as she felt him shudder as she washed his shoulders and upper arms before letting the cloth slide down to his forearms and hands. She blinked in surprise as he twisted his fingers, deftly snagging the cloth before a small smirk cross her face as he added more coat cleanser to the saturated terry cloth.
“Turnabout is fair play, though I wonder how much you’ll squirm, since I have a feeling you’ve never done this with someone like me,” he teased, making her shiver as her gaze slid down his body to the thick, bobbing cock before her.
“True, I haven’t… and admittedly… I haven’t really had to worry too much about my heat cycles with the Moon Tea… it suppresses it,” she explained, not mentioning that, unfortunately, she had run out of Moon Tea the previous week.
Thomas’ eyebrow rose before he smirked. “Well… I’ll make sure it’s very suppressed,” he said huskily, amused as the nurse shuddered, inhaling a deep breath, unaware of his own musk to her stronger sense of smell. He washed her body thoroughly, amused as she squeaked in mild surprise but intense arousal as he washed her breasts before he let the cloth slide down to her hips, washing her ass slowly and lazily, hearing her breathing shortening to almost panting breaths as he noticed a slightly thicker liquid between her thighs which she was squeezing together. “Naughty nurse… did you cum from me washing your amazing body?” he teased, amused further as she blushed deeply.
Skyheart blushed deeply as she shivered, feeling his fingers directing the cloth down her thighs and calves before she yelped slightly in surprise as he lifted one hoof, then the other, washing each in turn. She gasped softly as he gently nudged her legs apart before, on his knees with the water rinsing away the lather, his head slid between her thighs. She blinked, looking down in confusion before she cried out in surprise as something ran across her marehood. It was then that she remembered that sound could enter the bathrooms, but not, thankfully, exit. She could feel her legs trembling as she felt him lapping at her marehood as if savoring it.
Thomas heard Skyheart’s cry of surprise and pleasure as he lapped at her marehood. To his mild surprise, it tasted almost like mangoes. He happened to enjoy mangoes, and so kept lapping, tasting the fragrant citrus scented fluid as it escaped, feeling Skyheart’s fingers clenching in his hair before the flow increased further as he fixed his lips around her marehood and suckled hard, amused as she gave a whinnying cry as he felt her fingers clench and tug, apparently trying to pull him closer as she shuddered under his touch before he smirked slightly, his fingers drifting over her ass lazily before sliding his fingers between the toned cheeks before sliding a finger into the hole between them. Her cry grew louder as the flow increased even more as he gulped it down, amused as he retreated his finger before shifting the heavily panting Skyheart beneath the water, rinsing her clean. “You enjoy that one?” he teased gruffly, using Erron Black’s line from Mortal Kombat X.
Skyheart was trembling from the intense pleasure, breathing hard as the water ran over her body before she managed to catch her breath. “Dear Celestia… if that’s what you can do… with… whatever you did… then,” she said with a hint of nervousness.
“It was oral. If you would prefer not to do it with more… intimate ways… I don’t mind,” Thomas said, a bit surprised as she stared at him with a look of surprise and near awe.
“You aren’t going to force me?” Skyheart said, surprised by the look of surprise and mild disgust on his face, thinking it was because of her, that he was disgusted by her.
“Force you? Hell no!!” he said, caught off guard, though from her look of shock, she didn’t expect that reaction.
“Forcing anyone, human or pony… into intimacy… makes it worthless. Better to be rejected outright than force yourself on someone else. If I saw someone forcing themselves on another, I’d knock them the fuck out,” Thomas said bluntly.
“Fuck me,” he heard Skyheart say with lust in her voice. He smirked slightly as he massaged her body, noticing her horn before he cocked his head, his fingers drifting over her face before lightly touching her horn and trailing it from base to tip and back, noticing how her breath hitched almost immediately. He smirked slightly as he had an idea, though her head came just up to his shoulder. He dipped his head and slowly, deliberately, ran his tongue over the horn, noticing it felt almost like stiff bone encased in hard rubber.
Skyheart let out a loud moan as she felt intense pleasure rush through her body, almost another orgasm. She felt something down low, though she knew she lacked a hymen. She groaned softly as he trailed his fingers over her horn as she felt the pressure in her lower abdomen before she yelped at a soft slapping sound as she glanced down, her eyes widening at the subtle bulge in her abdomen before she moaned at the intense fullness and even more intense pleasure.
Thomas saw Skyheart’s periwinkle eyes widen at the subtle bulge in her deep gamboge coat before it shrank as she gasped, his low inhalation the only warning as he slowly pumped his hips, the slow, steady slap of his hips meeting hers and the bulge reappearing the only sound above her moans that grew louder as a soft squelching sound joined it. He smirked slowly as he moved a bit faster, amused as she moaned loudly as her fingers dug into his shoulders as his hips pumped steadily as one slim, muscular leg curled around his left hip and thigh.
She shuddered in his arms, surprised at the pleasure and heat surging through her body. The sensation was unlike anything she’d felt before and extremely enjoyable as his hips pumped before a small, playful smirk crossed her face as she twisted, pressing her palms to the wall of the shower before he looked surprised as she looked over her shoulder. She groaned as she felt his thrusts accelerate, moving faster as she cried out in pleasure, intense warmth rushing through her body and marehood, though she didn’t miss that he hadn’t cum yet. She smirked as she pressed one hoof to his thigh before pushing.
Thomas blinked as Skyheart pushed him out of her intensely slick, heated body, though he was startled more when she sat on his lap, taking his cock straight in her ass as she gently pushed him onto a stool a few steps away. He groaned at the sudden sensations rushing through his body, though he could feel her hands massaging his legs as she washed them before her hips started moving slowly and steadily, the soft slaps growing louder every few seconds as he could feel himself throbbing and knew she noticed as well. His eyes rolled back in his head as he felt himself cum hard, though she heard her cry out in pleasure and intense arousal as she pumped her hips faster before he felt the rush of cool air before more intense heat followed, unaware that his cock was pumping potent creme deep into the mare’s most intimate depths. {Clop Ends}
Thomas breathed heavily as he felt Skyheart lean back against him, almost purring as he felt her shifting against him as if hoping he would do something more to her. “Well, that’s one way to get clean,” he panted before she chuckled.
“We’re just getting to washing up, Thomas,” she purred. He shuddered as she said his name, feeling her clenching tight around him as if insisting he did something more. He pumped his hips once before she stood, though he couldn’t help but notice a certain white liquid dripping down in rather obvious fashion. She smirked as she washed his body slowly, amused as his thick cock twitched under her touch as she washed it as well before rinsing everything from shoulders to feet. “Now for your mane,” she said with amusement.
Thomas shivered slightly, not noticing a violet eye staring through the cracked doorway framed by dark sapphire hair streaked with warm magenta as the steam kept him from seeing too much beyond the curtain.
-------
Twilight had come, after blocking the glass from harming civilians with her magic, to see Thomas, though she was shocked to see that his room was utterly destroyed with Doctor Clearheart lying semi-conscious near the door. She could tell the Earth Pony was getting himself together as he stood before she heard the shower running not through the door, but through the wall, which wasn’t soundproofed. She cracked the door to check on Thomas, to make sure he was okay, only to see something she most certainly didn’t expect to see… or to smell… the nurse, Skyheart, apparently in heat… and getting very stuffed. Her ears twitched at the rhythmic slapping as she couldn’t help but watch. ‘I’m not d-doing this for perverted reasons… just… research. It’s clear that his way of mating is very… similar… to…’ she thought before her jaw dropped in mild shock, seeing the thick shape. What she did notice was that it didn’t retract into a sheath or something similar. She shivered slightly, looking away to take a breath of smoky, charcoal scented air, though the smoke was decreasing every second. --------
Thomas smirked as Skyheart shivered as he washed her after she washed his ‘mane’, making sure to get her to squirm as much as possible, unaware that they were being watched. He did notice the hungry look in her eyes before he chuckled as he swatted her ass suddenly, amused as she yelped. “I’m pretty certain that I won’t need another room… though I’d strongly advise cordoning this one off so nobody else potentially gets hurt,” he said softly before he kissed her deeply. His ears twitched, noticing a slight scuffling sound though he knew it wasn’t them as Skyheart cut off the water, making him shiver slightly at the loss of heat.
“I can definitely say that was one of the most… enjoyable… showers I’ve ever had,” he commented.
Skyheart giggled. “Well, I’m always available to help you relax. I am a nurse, after all. We do make sure to take care of our patients,” she said with a smirk that held a hint of that naughtiness from the shower as she scooped up a towel before tossing it his way.
He smirked slightly as he had an idea. He lifted a hand, engulfed in a silvery white aura that caught the towel for a second before flicking it back at Skyheart, who yelped more in surprise than fear or shock. She lobbed the second towel, which he caught and draped over his shoulders before stepping closer to her and starting to dry her off, amused as she shuddered and moaned softly.
“Careful, Skyheart, or you might start something that ends in us needing to shower again. Or maybe you prefer a good bubble bath… after a spanking,” Thomas teased, a bit amused to see a glob of white push itself out of her body. He shivered as she deftly caught it and sucked it off her fingers, never taking her eyes off of him.
He saw her smirk before she slid the towel off of his shoulders as he tucked the towel around her upper chest, noticing it reached just above her knees, so they were quite large. He mused idly, thinking Skyheart was roughly 5’8” tall, give or take an inch or two, about three and a half inches shorter than himself. He shivered as she dried him off slowly, taking her time doing it, though he did notice she crouched a bit low for his liking before he inhaled sharply as he felt heat rush across the tip of his cock as she straightened, her smirk far more naughty than before before she giggled. He realized she’d licked his cock, which admittedly was a very new sensation to him.
His ears twitched as he heard a hollow thumping sound almost like a dry ice bomb detonating from a soda bottle with the slight sound like tinkling glass. ‘If I’m right, I know who that is,’ he thought. He suspected it was Celestia, though he had to admit he was very curious as to what precisely was this ‘inheritance’ that Shun Kasai was talking about. Not to mention he recalled the Merchant’s last words: “Don’t worry about that old fox, he’s been in your family for a long time,” though just what did that mean?
CanterlotHospital, PrivateRoom #263 - Equestria#12571325 Thomas winced as his eyes snapped open, his head throbbing. “Any idea what the hell hit me?” he said dryly, grimacing as he sat up, surprised to see Twilight, Moon Dancer, Princess Celestia, and Nurse Skyheart.
“Exhaustion, though you fought admirably, I must admit. And apparently for a land that is not your homeland,” Princess Celestia.
Thomas cocked an eyebrow as he lifted his leg, his toes exposing themselves before he deliberately wiggled them. “What, the lack of hooves didn’t tell you I wasn’t a local? That, and the fact I don’t know well… anything… about anything around here?” he deadpanned, seeing Twilight frown a bit before Celestia laughed.
“You have a point, though from what I can guess, your land is far from here, though… admittedly, if you do decide to stay and hopefully build bonds of friendship, you will have to know of the history of Equestria,”Princess Celestia commented.
“Meh, could be worse. Although… I’m honestly shocked that those Coins… actually activated. When I made them… it was from the minerals that most emphasized their colors, honestly. Rose quartz for the Pink Gingaman Coin… and they’re not really technically Power Coins, but more the symbols emblazoned on the sword guards.. and I used yellow topaz for the Yellow Gingaman Coin. Lapis lazuli for the Blue, and green turquoise for Green. For Red… which apparently linked itself to me… I used bloodstone,” he said softly, thinking.
“What exactly are ‘Gingaman’, if I may ask?” Twilight said curiously.
“In my world, they were a series of ‘superhero’ style shows… well… one of roughly thirty different series and still going… I took specifically from three main series… Zyuranger, in which supposedly humans and dinosaurs lived in harmony, only for a certain quintet to be placed in a stasis and wake in the modern day… turns out their sixth was the brother to their Red… using this Coin,”he said wryly, pulling out the DragonRangerCoin, its tri-claw marking obvious. He pulled out a Coin of a roaring reptilian head, the ZyurangerRed Coin. “The others were Dairanger, which claim that another branch of humanity with strong spiritual energy fought against an opposing tribe with darker spiritual energy who allowed their energy to corrupt and twist them into inhuman monsters. They fought with the Tenpō Rairai no Tama or ‘Heavenly Lanai Jewels’ which protected the ‘good’ humans from the corruptive energies. I had intended to find or create the Gao no Hōju from Gaoranger, but was never able to. That particular team sought to protect nature and wildlife from destructive entities known as ‘Orgs’ created from the sadness, despair, and pain of others,” he said wryly as he slid both Coins back into the case on the side table.
“Do you know anything of these robots?” Princess Celestia asked kindly.
“Unfortunately not, though it’s obvious they are seeking to kidnap your subjects, and I doubt it’s for kind or pure reasons,” Thomas said wryly, being entirely truthful. He had suspicions, but no certainties. He thought he heard a distant boom, though he couldn’t tell what it was immediately.
He did, however, notice Princess Celestia's head turning. His gaze slid to his right, out the window at a streak of dark bluish gray smoke.
“I told them to not do any of their tests without my presence,” Celestia sighed.
His eyes narrowed as he inhaled sharply, feeling a tingling sensation as if pricked by red hot needles at the base of his skull. “Something's very wrong. I don't know what… but I'm getting the distinct feeling… like superheated needles pricking my skin,” he said slowly, unaware that his eyes were faintly glowing a luminescent bluish lavender.
Celestia and Twilight looked unsure, whilst Skyheart looked concerned. He took a careful, controlled breath. For just an instant, his awareness sharpened abruptly as, to his senses, Moon Dancer had a light ceriseish gray aura blending with a bright, crackling golden yellow aura. Twilight had a pale, light grayish orchid aura blending with a breezy bright pink aura. He glanced at Skyheart for a second, seeing her aura was a rich pale turquoise, though it was blending with a chaotic warm emerald aura. He glanced down at himself, seeing his own aura was a powerful bluish lavender with flickers of warm silver, deep jungle green, pale crimson, and warm golden-amber. He noticed a radiant golden aura and flicked his gaze up for a second, for just an instant seeing Celestia's form wreathed in intense golden flames as he blinked, his vision clearing, unaware that his irises had been a shimmering crimson with lavender-blue edges and a single silver magatama.
'Hmmm, so all but the Blue Gingaman Coin has apparently found a wielder, if my guess is right,’ he thought. He exhaled softly as he half closed his eyes, taking a slow drink of water before setting aside the glass of water. “What exactly are they 'testing’? Is it that shell of whatever I got here in? If so, I'd advise being extremely careful with it, as it's unknown what sorts of energy it could have absorbed… as its likely that anything it could have absorbed could have been either good… or dangerous,” he said quietly before he swung his legs from underneath the blankets, inhaling slowly and deeply.
“I will remember that, my little human,” Celestia's voice was warm as he stood.
“Your little human? Sounds a bit possessive,” Thomas quipped, laughing at the slightly flustered reaction from Princess Celestia before she chuckled softly.
“Rather funny how that could be perceived, though it's more endearment than possessive,” she teased.
Twilight closed her mouth as she cocked her head. “For a moment, I thought,” she started.
“If a Princess is seen as I think, it's never wise to intentionally insult one, though I find it extremely refreshing that a Princess would prefer to be close to their subjects,” he said wryly before he winced slightly as he felt a sensation like ice surging up his spine. He saw Celestia's head turn before her eyes widened slightly as he heard crashes from outside.
He darted quickly the window, his eyes widening at the sight of the eight and a half foot tall creature outside.
Thomas’ eyes narrowed on the beast as his shoulders rolled before he turned, surprised to see clothes flying at him wreathed in a pale pinkish mulberry aura that faded as he caught the clothes.
For just an instant, he felt a surge deep in his abdomen before he blinked as he noticed the hospital gown in his grip before he exhaled softly, tossing it towards the bed.
Twilight Sparkle blinked as a burst of pale lavender-blue smoke imploded before she noticed the confusion on Thomas’ face. 'Hmmm, it seems he will need lessons to control this new talent, if it's his particular gift, like mine seems to extend to Magic in general,’ she thought as he tossed aside the hospital gown. For just an instant, a shiver rushed through her, recalling what she'd witnessed between him and the nurse a few feet away.
Skyheart tilted her head, as the burst she'd felt didn't feel quite like Magic in the way she was familiar with, which, it was theorized, was primarily spiritual and mental energy, hence why it required fervent study, research, and practice as it was always changing. 'Wonder if the exercises we are familiar with would help, or will we have to find new, unique exercises for him?’ she thought as she fingered the green turquoise crystalline Coin in her pocket. Though her talent was primarily medical in nature, she was very accurate and skilled with ranged attacks.
Thomas exhaled softly as he rolled his shoulders, smirking slightly as he rather liked this outfit. It was a dark bronze armor that felt like leather, though the dark brown and black undertones along his inner thighs and biceps was rather nice for contrast. The dark copper bracers held firmly on his forearms.
“Let's make sure that draconian creature doesn't try to harm anyone else… especially a certain pastel,” he said dryly, his gaze flickering over Celestia. Had he not been looking at her directly, he doubted he'd have noticed the very slight pink hue entering her soft alabaster cheeks.
He half turned as he walked towards the door, noticing Twilight and Moon Dancer following him. He thought he heard hoofbeats as he jogged down the hall, fairly sure who it was following them. ‘Skyheart, if I’m right, has the Gingaman Green Coin,’ he thought as he moved steadily, noticing the staircases were open to the exterior air. A small smirk crossed his face as his eyes narrowed fractionally before he vaulted over the barrier out into the air before curling into a somersault and rolled into the landing, grunting a bit, though he saw both Moon Dancer and Twilight follow him.
He glanced at his wrist, seeing the Gingaman crystal bracelet before he felt a nudge deep in his mind. It wasn’t the presence of the Kitsune, but something else. He cocked his head slightly, feeling the presence in his mind as if it was measuring him before it retreated. ‘For just an instant, I was struck by the thought of Zordon, yet… it doesn’t exist, or does it and we just don’t know it?’ he thought. Admittedly, the thought of the Morphing Grid actually existing was possible, though, he didn’t really think it existed. “Ready?” he said quietly.
“Ready,” he heard the girls echo.
“Kōseki Saisei,” he intoned, hearing the girls echo him as he felt the heat rush through his body, crystalline ruby light flaring out as he twisted, ruby light shattering into dark red boots and lighter red greaves before white quartz shattered to revealed armored scales covering his thighs and hips as he pushed off, for just a couple of seconds in the back somersault, seeing the Gingaman belt form along with the Seijūken at his right hip before he saw the garnet armored vest and ruby pauldrons form alongside the same odd serpentine scales covering his upper arms before dark copper and ruby bracers and armored gloves formed over his forearms and hands.
He half closed his eyes as the glow engulfed his head, forming into a helmet with a dark ruby lens though the helmet had primarily black and dark red tones over it with a white vertical streak over the helm.
He glanced over his shoulder, seeing Moon Dancer in similar armor, though hers was a silvery armor with deep topaz, gold, and dark copper armor. Twilight wore similar, though hers was a deeper grayish white with rose, dark pink, and copper armor. He did notice the gemstones where their horns were, apparently to act as alternate foci.
He tilted his head slightly, took a slow breath as he rolled his shoulders as a small smirk crossed his face underneath the helmet before he heard whining whistles before his eyes rose, noticing a HUD picking up close to two dozen forms incoming. He did, however, notice that quite a few civilians were helping others to safety. He shifted his weight before he darted forward, catching three civilians, one being Minuette before pushing off into a somersault and narrowly evading two metallic pods with spear bases that disintegrated into golden and amber powder to reveal pairs of Bārohei droids in each pod.
“Not going to have the opportunity,” Twilight said dryly before the gem in her helmet shone before both Bārohei droids were hurled forcibly backwards and over a nearby stone wall edging the walkway though he noticed three more pods hit the ground as she fought. He pushed off, driving both booted feet into the chest of one droid before he smirked slightly as it detonated in a fireball, blowing one pod apart and heavily damaging another as it hit the ground before he snorted a laugh as it slammed into the odd jackal-dragon creature, who backhanded it aside and shattered it, chunks of metal and gears scattering over the ground.
‘If not all of those pods are headed here, as it appears, we may need to mobilize others to keep casualties to a minimum,’ he thought. He noticed the marketplace below as several pods slammed into it, creating fear and panic. His eyes narrowed as he rolled his shoulders. “Let’s keep those droids put out of the way,” he said dryly, seeing Moon Dancer and several guards assisting them, delaying the droids that had already impacted within a couple of hundred feet. 'I wonder what sort of energy is within that meteorite to corrupt someone into… that… and more importantly… how can we keep it from those who would use it for darker purposes?’ he thought. He pushed off the ground, noticing, out of the corner of his eye, that electrically based, piercing, and bludgeoning spells seemed to be the most effective against the Bārohei droids.
He jogged along the rooftops, not all that surprised Twilight joined him, though he did notice a flicker of periwinkle out of the corner of his eye. His eyes narrowed fractionally, inhaling slowly. He had a sneaky suspicion of who it was, though. ‘Wonder if the Lights will show themselves,’ he mused. He took a soft breath as he kept his pace steady and quick along the rooftop edge before his eyes narrowed fractionally as he pushed off, drawing the Seijūken from his hip as he touched the pommel before drawing the tips of his fingers along the flat of the blade as a bright red glow grew along the blade to its tip as he somersaulted twice, gaining speed before he touched the ground and crouched sharply in the same fluid motion of slamming the blade into the paving stones. A crescent shaped jet of burning energy seared the air, shearing through several pods which glowed a brilliant orange-yellow that was blinding before it detonated, blowing a trio of close planted pods apart.
“Nice Kaen Shuji, here’s my Hana Chūshin,” Twilight said with amusement as she drew her fingers along the first third of the blade, a warm rosy pink glow engulfing the blade within seconds before she slashed diagonally upward, then downward, the energy arcing forth and shattering before ripping into the pods in energy ‘petals’ that vaguely formed a heart before imploding in arcs of electricity that sliced through close to a dozen Bārohei droids.
He smirked before chuckling before he noticed a cloaked figure swinging one Bārohei droid into others before he snorted a laugh. “Maybe we should batter up too, eh, Twilight?” he quipped as several droids charged at them. He shifted his weight, twisting into a tornado kick that sent one into Twilight, who caught it and fell back in a textbook belly-to-belly release suplex before she bent back and shifted her weight so her ankles and calves were cinched firmly around the neck and shoulders of the large Bārohei droid before she shifted her weight suddenly, throwing it off balance before he caught it and fell back into a heavy DDT. He rolled to evade two extending spears before blasts of energy slammed into both, hurling them backwards in showers of sparks.
It didn’t escape his attention that these droids were larger and bulkier than the supposedly ‘canon’ Bārohei droids with ugly inhuman ‘faces’ and heavy blades on their shoulders and outer calves, so he assumed these were heavy shock troops of some sort. He noticed the ‘canon’ ones moving in for backup, he assumed. He noticed heavier cylindrical weapons that looked like a cross between a hammer and trident, though the hammer head was vertical rather than horizontal opposite the trident head as it extended into a weapon just under two feet from end to end.
His gaze flicked up, spotting Skyheart crouched on a rooftop and holding her left arm extended. He noticed a flicker of deep sapphire-periwinkle light before a bolt tinted with deep green edges fired, detonating in a shower of sparks before two more slammed viciously into the weaker droids, disabling them as electricity arced over their bodies before they dropped like puppets with their strings severed.
“You’ve never heard of an infamous move known as the ConChairTo, have you?” he muttered to Twilight, who cocked her head, apparently curious.
“No, though I’m curious now,” she said with an amused edge to her voice. She watched Thomas take out the legs from underneath a droid that was apparently weaker before grabbing it by the belt and ankle before she quickly mirrored his actions, grunting slightly with the weight.
“Headshot,” he deadpanned before he swung the droid hard, slamming it into the larger droid’s face as she twisted, slamming the one she had into the heavier droid’s head and neck from behind. Both weaker droids shattered in plumes of electricity, smoke and metal as the heavier droid dropped to its knees, swaying before dropping with a low whining sound of gears. She was struck by the thought, had it been a pony, it would have had a severe concussion if not a broken neck.
Twilight giggled before she drew her Jizaiken Kiba before flicking it so it extended into a bow. A small smirk crossed her face before she rolled her shoulders as she lifted the Beta Bow before firing several jets of bright pink energy as arrows before he pushed off, somersaulting over two of the weaker droids before tossing them towards the stronger droids, unimpressed as the cloaked figure slammed both down into the ground with a harsh somersault. He chuckled slightly as the robots weren’t, technically speaking, sentient.
He exhaled as he noticed that he flicked the blade, forming it into a bow as well before firing ruby light jets as arrows that caused some of the larger droids to stumble back a step or two.
He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, the cloaked figure retreating. He ducked beneath a wild slash before his eyes widened slightly as the heavy hammer end struck him in the shoulder, tossing him harshly to the right, though he managed to roll with the blow. He noticed two green tinted bolts slamming into the droid and forcing it back a bit before he managed to vault over the next swing from another droid before landing on the hammer end of the same droid’s weapon that had hit him. He noticed as the other reared back, that they didn’t seem to grasp the term ‘friendly fire’. ‘Hmmm, maybe we can use that against them,’ he thought as he pushed off, somersaulting twice as the heavy hammer end slammed into the droid, disarming it and disabling it as he fired several quick bolts into the droid and disabling it as well. Both dropped and moments later, detonated in small fireballs that rendered the possibility of analysis to figure out who was managing to send them extremely difficult to impossible.
“You noticed that?” he remarked to Twilight, who nodded as she fired a few magical shots at the weaker droids, blowing them apart.
“The stronger ones are tougher, but they don’t distinguish between enemies, like us, or each other,” she said analytically.
“Exactly. Maybe we could use that to our advantage. The larger pods that impacted, roughly one of every four, seem to have the tougher droids, while the rest have the weaker ones, and half of the stronger ones, so far, we’ve disabled, give or take, while around half to two thirds of the weaker ones have been disabled here, anyway,” he said wryly.
Twilight giggled before she gasped, seeing the large draconian creature, easily seven and a half feet tall with a heavy scythe, gripping a struggling Moon Dancer, demorphed, by the throat before he shifted the heavy scythe closer before green tinted bolts hit the creature from behind, forcing it to drop Moon Dancer.
Thomas darted forwards, catching Moon Dancer before sliding on his knees to evade the wild swing of the large scythe, coming to a stop several feet behind the creature as Moon Dancer coughed, gasping for air.
“I-i’m okay… just a bit dizzy,” she said shyly and a bit hastily.
Thomas glanced up as Skyheart dropped down before she pulled out a Coin he recognized as she slid it into a crystalline bracelet before a spiraling emerald green aura flared around her as jungle green, deep silver, and white armor formed around her body.
A dull aching throb formed just above his eyebrows. Had the helmet been out of the way, it would have revealed a odd birthmark in the shape of an upturned crescent moon with a six pointed star within the points -- a birthmark that was only given by one particular pony.
Just then an explosion could be heard from the nearby market sounding like lightning had just struck. This was followed by of course much screaming, which was drowned out by what could only be a voice that had been amplified somehow. “ATTENTION, SNOBBY, STUCK UP, PONIES OF CANTERLOT. THiS IS AN OFFICIAL ATTACK ON YOUR TACKY CITY!!! IF YOU WANT IT TO STOP, BRING ME THE IDIOTS CALLED THE POWER RANGERS!!! THAT IS ALL~” after the voice ended even more explosions were heard that caused even more panic to be spread.
He noticed guards charging at the robed figure , who to him, looked to be the height of around a ten or twelve year old child, around five feet tall, and around seven inches shorter than Twilight. He blinked in mild confusion as the figure deftly disarmed and knocked out several of the guards in movements that made him, strangely, think of a cross between the tango and ballroom waltz. He tried to keep from snorting a laugh at the strangeness of the situation.
“I’d have to agree with the snobby and stuck up part, but… tacky? Maybe the city’s tacky somewhat, but I don’t see really destroying it helping anything,” he said dryly as they darted around the corner while Moon Dancer stumbled after them, rubbing her throat.
“Besides, one of the first things I’d call tacky, would be that robe. I mean, it looks like something that came off of a shepherd,” Moon Dancer said dryly, grimacing.
Thomas saw the figure turn towards Moon Dancer before he saw the figure twist, driving a palm strike into the ribs of one guard and hurling him sideways into Moon Dancer, leaving them in a dazed pile as Moon Dancer huffed in surprise and groaned as the back of her head hit the cobblestone.
His eyes narrowed as he could feel energy flowing through his body as he sheathed the Seijūken before his eyes narrowed fractionally as he shifted his weight, not noticing that the ruby gemstone in the forehead of his helmet was pulsing rapidly as was the birthmark.
He did, however, notice arcs of electricity crackling over his armored bodysuit before concentrating into his fists as they condensed into what seemed to be bluish lavender flames with ruby red tips. He threw a hard punch at the figure before twisting with the strike into a spinning hook kick that the figure evaded easily before he grunted as the figure shoved him hard with a feminine giggle, hurling him over several tables and through a storefront window. He heard a gasp of shock as he winced, sitting up to see the figure grinning and giggling as she held a sphere of mulberry pink light that paled to a deep sapphire blue.
“I love when unicorns do that. The shock on their faces is so funny,” the figure remarked childishly.
His eyes narrowed as his hand curled as if holding a ball as he felt the strong tingling gathering before he hurled it at the sphere in the figure’s hand in an arcing bolt of lightning. To his surprise, the energies clashed violently, detonating in a large fireball that hurled the figure back, decloaking her to reveal an anthropomorphic rabbit with creamy pale white and tan fur with deep cyan eyes and black clothing on. He cocked his head, noticing, for a brief split second, a chaotic aura of crystalline colors in onyx, dark sapphire, dark rose, deep ruby, and dark topaz blended into what appeared to be a pale lavender aura. ‘Can’t be who I think, but… considering Zen-Aku exists… or existed… and is part of me now… who’s to say that other villains can’t?’ he thought.
He cocked his head as he took a shaky breath, feeling the itchy sensation fading as he stumbled out of the now heavily damaged storefront. He saw Moon Dancer grab some of the fallen chairs and hurl them at the bunny, though the sphere expanded into a half dome barrier, the chairs deflecting harmlessly with ripples of light as he concentrated, a sphere of dark sapphire light with ripples of lavender forming between his hands.
“Hadōken,” he barked as he fired the blast, which, to his surprise, not only struck and seemed to ‘stick’ to the barrier, but quickly began to ‘eat’ the barrier like his energy was some sort of acid to whatever she’d absorbed. Unfortunately, it fizzled out as the barrier dissolved, though he didn’t miss the momentary look of surprise on the bunny’s face at the reaction of the clashing energies.
“The last thing I expected was a Displaced human here. I suppose that means you’re one of my targets?”
“A what human? I have no idea what you’re talking about, though… seems like any definition of ‘normal’ jumped off the nearest cliffside, as of late,” Thomas said dryly, sighing near the end.
“Tell you what, if cute and adorkable agrees to go out on a date with me, I’ll tell you all about the subject, and probably some things about me, too,” the bunny said.
“I don’t know, though… with the Academy closed, it isn’t like the few friends I have or myself have that much to do. And what exactly are the Power Rangers?” Twilight said uncertainly.
Thomas saw the bunny frown before her eyes narrowed, a dark aura flickering around her. “Keep in mind that wasn’t a yes, but it wasn’t a refusal either,” he said dryly, tensing as he flicked one of the umbrella shafts up with his foot, not noticing that the makeshift bo staff gained a crystalline shell of red diamond at his touch.
The bunny smirked with a slightly nasty edge to it. “So sorry to have to destroy you right now,” she said with a slightly different tone. He was struck by faint memories of Psycho Yellow’s voice in that moment.
“Sounds like it’d be annoying with them, ain’t it?” he remarked casually. The bunny smiled broadly.
“Meh, it’s mostly random battle strategies and yells to destroy you. Annoying, but easy to ignore,” she remarked airily.
“Sometimes random is the most fun,” he quipped with a shrug.
“So, about Little Miss Dorkable?” she said nonchalantly.
“Maybe later, I think, preferably without whatever is influencing you to 'destroy' us,”Twilight said with an annoyed edge to her voice. The bunny’s eyes tightened, though Thomas noticed the distinct flicker of dark yellow as her arm twisted, revealing a thick crystalline bracelet with a black opal set into it before the crystalline surface spread like a thick liquid over her body and darkened into a crystalline metallic appearance before shattering to reveal her oddly colored Psycho Ranger form.
It was mainly a silvery white shade, though the odd emblem behind the helmet that looked vaguely like an Omega symbol was a dark grayish black. The lenses over her eyes were a deep golden color while the bracers over her forearms were a light gray with cobalt undertones and black gloves while the greaves on her calves were a darker shade of gray with almost crystalline cobalt undertones. He cocked his head fractionally, noticing that the normally black background of the malefic ‘M’ marking that the Psycho Rangers had was almost constantly shifting in hue.
Thomas sighed softly. From what he could guess from the anthropomorphic bunny’s comments, she had the Psycho Rangers locked in her head, so potentially, she also had access to their weapons and powers, which was a very troubling thought. However, he suspected, that since she wasn’t quite listening to the Psycho Rangers, it was equally likely that she had access to unique capabilities all her own.
“You aren’t going to create chaos as I doubt that’s going to help anyone, save for drawing attention I doubt you’d prefer to want,” he said dryly, his eyes narrowing behind the ruby-gold lenses over his eyes.
The ‘Psycho Usagi’ cocked her head as she seemed to smirk. She twisted, spinning as a shaft from an umbrella shot over her shoulder and narrowly missed her. He wasn’t all that surprised when she grabbed the end and twisted, swinging it hard towards Moon Dancer’s shoulder, though he deflected it in a flicker of light as the crystalline shell flickered from the contact. She seemed almost amused as he redirected it, twisting as he did to swing it towards her hip before she blocked it, though his quick flicking jab to her ribs seemed to surprise her as she stepped back, the staff scraping along her armored upper abdomen with a soft rasping sound like a file on metal, though it did almost no damage.
His eyes narrowed fractionally as she swatted several quick strikes, which he was able to deflect before he shifted his weight on his back foot before he pulsed the energy suddenly before he shot forward at this ‘Crystal Psycho Usagi’ and drove his foot into her chest and shoulder as she swung the makeshift bo staff as he twisted, narrowly ducking into a tight somersault before planting one booted foot into her shoulder, spinning her backwards.
“You’re going to regret that,” she said childishly.
“Really? Prove it,” he retorted as she pushed off, somersaulting into a hard overhead strike as he twisted at the last moment, though the resulting detonation of bluish black fire hurled him into a wall hard.
He grunted with the impact as he winced, groaning softly. “Gonna have to do better than that,” he said weakly before managing to sit up. His eyes widened as she thrust the staff like a spear, though he managed to evade it, even as several showers of sparks blew off her armored form. ‘Seems her Psycho Ranger form dulls whatever energy manipulation she possesses, if not nullifies it fully,’ he noted.
He noticed out of the corner of his eye Skyheart and Moon Dancer approaching, Jizaiken Kiba extended in their 'crossbow’ form. He noticed the Crystal Psycho retreated, but not in a hurry, as if she were gliding backwards in odd, flowing strides.
“Back off, you bitch,” Moon Dancer snapped angrily. His eyebrow rose at her comment before he saw the Psycho Usagi shoot a clear glare skyward as he managed to get his feet beneath him and tense his muscles before he felt a numbing sensation tingling over his body as he was frozen in mid-leap to tackle the Psycho Ranger.
He didn't see the lenses suddenly seemed to glow a pale blue light from her mask causing Thomas to feel like he was paralyzed and numb. She tossed the pole aside held up her hand as it formed a white ball of light. “Sorry, but we will have to finish later.” She threw the orb to the ground causing a blinding flash of light. “No way am I kissing the GLORIOUS, IVORY COLORED, ASS, OF NEMESIS SUNBUTT!!!” With that the light faded and the rabbit had fled.
——
Thomas groaned as he slammed into the debris strewn ground as he demorphed, his armored form dissolving into motes of sparkling ruby-garnet light. “Nemesis Sunbutt? Really? Silly, but somewhat unimaginative,” he muttered as he flinched, hearing a lion’s roar suddenly, his ears twitching. He felt Twilight’s hands on his shoulder leave abruptly, as if she’d heard it as well. He managed to catch himself from faceplanting on the ground before he noticed a pile of rubble pulsing with red and golden light. The glow dimmed as he staggered closer before he concentrated, unaware of the formerly invisible and hidden birthmark of six garnet triangles forming a six pointed star within a crescent moon just above his eyebrows. It immediately shimmered for a few seconds as the pile blew apart, a small cloud of dust kicking up from the abrupt telekinetic burst. His eyes widened at what he saw… the Gao no Hōju of GaoRed of the Gaorangers. To his surprise, however, when he reached for them, they shone brightly before shooting at him at high speed. He didn’t see them swirl around the gemstone at his waist, forming a thicker golden ring with four gemstones within, a Hessonite crystal, a ruby, an Uvarovite crystal, and a red onyx crystal. He grimaced, seeing they’d vanished before he heard wingbeats, his eyes narrowing as he saw Princess Celestia touching down, her hooves softly clicking as her feet touched the debris strewn ground before she frowned, sighing softly before she shook her head, her horn dimming.
“From what I can tell, there were no deaths, though quite a few injuries and a lot of damage,” she said softly. She saw the lone human of the group grimace.
“We got off fortunate, though hopefully those androids didn’t try to kidnap anyone else. From what I can tell, it was meant to be more of a shock campaign and hopefully nothing more,” he sighed as he straightened before he winced as the muscles of his back and shoulders bulged abruptly before contorting as if something were beneath the muscle, forcing its way out.
Twilight Sparkle darted quickly forward to touch his shoulder before the sickening sound of tearing meat sounded along with a yell of intense pain from their human friend as something slid off his shoulders, falling with a wet splat onto the ground. Moon Dancer gagged before staggering back. Skyheart glanced at Princess Celestia before darting to the unconscious human, her fingers brushing away the blood trickling away from the gashes before her eyes widened as a gasp escaped her as she stood.
“We need to get him somewhere cleaner than here. The dirt and dust won't help these,” she said in a businesslike tone.
“Right away,” the Princess said with a concerned look as she focused a teleportation spell.
—∆—∆—∆—∆—
In a distant forest wild with untamed nature wild and rarely friendly or kind known as the Everfree Forest, a dark pink and purplish black smoke crawled along the ground. Malignant energy seemed to cling to the smoke close to the territory of a very old and powerful pack of Timberwolves.
Dark grayish tangelo bark with dark green moss showed an old female Alpha with hungry golden yellow eyes stalking through the trees and bushes, the low rustling the only warning.
The malignant smoke shifted, lingering close to the ground in a hollow at the base of a slope before it lashed out, forcing itself down the Alpha’s throat, its snarls and growls being muffled forcibly as barely visible tendrils of pink light flickering through the bark 'skin’ of the Alpha.
Tiny cracks began to form as the light grew brighter slowly as the Alpha male stumbled out of the cavern several meters behind. The Alpha female spun almost immediately, malignant dark gray smoke leaking from the bark just above her paws as her eyes glowed a malevolent, hateful pink before she snarled, leaping at the half asleep beast.
As her fangs sank into his throat, eliciting a spray of dark sap-like blood, tendrils of sapphire blue fire erupted, being dragged into the altered female as the male shuddered, his bark flesh dulling as the wood dried out harshly. As the bushes rustled, howls and loud crunches were the only sign of the old pack’s demise.
“Very interesting. Whatever the energy that sustains these… wooden beasts… was enough to give me a semblance of my own body,” a malicious voice muttered as the humanoid form straightened, with B cup breasts and broad hips. Her form might have been attractive, despite the fact that crystals of dark pink and purple festooned the dark grey shoulders and forearms as well as forming long, lethal looking fangs on either side of her mouth, her eyes a glowing dark cerise-pink with slitted pupils whilst the sclera were pitch black.
A chuckle escaped her as she clenched her fists, pink static crackling from the crystalline structures and flickering around her fingers. The chuckle might have been thought of as warm if not for the anger, hatred, and malice in her voice.
The chuckle grew into sadistic laughter as she decided to find a way to regain her true form. She was fairly sure that consuming whatever life force those wolves had would make it easier.
“Psycho Pink is back to stay and no damned Rangers are going to stop me!!” she crowed as she smirked, her crystalline pale amethyst fangs curled upward slightly in a rather disturbing, predatory manner.
She cocked her head, hearing a rustling before she heard footfalls. She turned before darting at high speed into the bushes, the bushes almost exploding from her momentum as she bodily slammed into the tiger with extreme force, hurling it against a tree that leaned drunkenly over with a splatter of dark red blood on it. She felt the crystal lengthen over the backs of her hands and fingers, forming into razor sharp claws before she drove them into the feline, the same pale sapphire flames flaring up as the feline yowled in pain, though the sound swiftly died off as its muscular frame and lively, defiant gaze both shrank and dulled respectively as its muscular frame became thin as its fur became lackluster and dull. Its gaze was empty as she yanked free the claws in a spray of blood, the corpse twitching several times as it collapsed on the ground as she turned away, licking at the blood on the crystalline claws.
“That idiot bunny… Reina… thought she was being amusing by holding us back… I will find a way for the others to escape… and become stronger than ever... and maybe... I could mulch those idiots that call themselves my teammates,” Psycho Pink snarled as she rolled her shoulders as the crystalline structures grew slightly, curving over like crystalline blossoms about to bloom. She glanced down at herself, seeing that new slices had formed underneath her wrists before she focused, crystalline tendrils tipped with vicious serrated tips and various thorns of varying length sliding free before she smirked. “This… is going to be fun,” she muttered as she retracted all but the tips, which rested against the undersides of her wrists as she stalked through the trees, hunting for more life force to become stronger.
—∆—∆—∆—∆—
Thomas groaned, his entire torso aching not only from the fight, but from whatever had followed. He remembered intense pain and the sickening sensation of his muscles tearing in his shoulders and back and little else. He realized, rather than lying on his back, he was lying on his chest. He blinked a few times, confused as his dark aquamarine-teal irises shimmered iridescently as he realized he lay on what seemed to be a cross between a hospital bed and massage table.
“Heh… stay gold,” he muttered weakly before he jumped slightly at feeling a gentle touch on his shoulder just above his bicep before his gaze flicked to the slightly curving mirror to see Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle.
“What does that mean? Is it some sort of reference to something, perhaps?” Celestia asked kindly, her tone concerned but warm.
“It’s a book reference, actually. It was a book called ‘The Outsiders’ primarily driven from a teenager’s point of view. At the beginning, he uses those words, though it’s also a reference to a poem. Essentially, it’s a story in a state called Oklahoma between two rival groups, one a privileged group called the ‘Socs’, the other a much less privileged group, the ‘Greasers’ as they have to work for everything they have,” he said wryly, noticing Twilight’s great interest as he spoke, unaware of the mare's great fondness for reading and books in general.
“Go on, I’m really curious now,”Twilight said excitedly, bouncing slightly on her hooves.
He did notice the amused look Princess Celestia shot Twilight before she patted his shoulder again and stepped out of the room quietly. “It’s told primarily from the perspective of Ponyboy Curtis, who’s a young man… if I remember fifteen or sixteen, though I can’t remember for sure. Essentially, the Socs look down on the Greasers and neither group gets along very well, if at all. Sometimes they’ll get into fights, though other times they’ll simply be nasty to one another. Ponyboy is on his way out of a movie theater when he gets ‘jumped’ by several Socs, only for his older brothers, named Sodapop and Darry, short for Daryl, and a few others to save him from being attacked. They do run into one Soc girl by the name of Cherry Valance and her friend Marcia the next night at a drive-in theater. You see, movie theaters usually came in two main forms, a large building that held everything from the snacks and candy, along with carbonated drinks and popcorn, to on average between eight and as many as twenty one different rooms that played various movies. There were also the rarer ‘drive-in’ movies in which you drove your car in, parked, and watched the movie from your car, often listening to the movie through a speaker you could hang from your window or through the radio of the car itself,” he said wryly.
Twilight seemed fascinated by his words, he noticed. “So Ponyboy and Cherry end up becoming friends, though Cherry’s boyfriend doesn’t like Ponyboy simply because he’s a Greaser. Ponyboy has this friend by the name of Johnny who tends to have bad luck in getting jumped from time to time by Socs, one recent incident being with Cherry’s boyfriend who left him cut up from heavy rings the youth, Bob, wears. So Cherry’s boyfriend and Marcia’s boyfriend, Randy, try to pick a fight, only for it to go nowhere, fortunately. Unfortunately, Ponyboy gets home late, and as a result gets yelled at by Darry who overreacts and slaps him, though he immediately regrets it as Ponyboy flees.
Ponyboy ends up meeting with Johnny and they consider running away from the constant fighting between Greasers and Socs, only for no less than five Socs to encounter them in a nearby park, including Bob and Randy. They get into insults until Ponyboy spits in the face of one of them and they try to drown him in a nearby fountain and nearly succeed. Of course, they forgot about Johnny, who lashes out at them and kills Bob with a knife, causing the others to flee. They end up going to Dally, an older friend, who gives them a gun and money… a weapon that propels tiny chunks of metal at high speed… and tells them to hide in a nearby town at an abandoned church.
They do so, hiding aboard a train that passes nearby, then manage to leave the train despite it not reaching a station,” he said wryly.
“They leaped from the moving train? Wouldn’t that be dangerous?” Twilight asked.
Yeah, and it is, though I’ve never done it. You’d have to know exactly how to fall and roll with the impact, I think. So Ponyboy and Johnny got food before getting on the train along with a few other things, like a book called Gone with the Wind and peroxide to bleach Ponyboy’s hair. I don’t know what cutting your hair would look like using a knife, but I don’t imagine it would look very good,” he said wryly.
“You said that phrase, ‘stay gold’, was a poetry reference. Do you know the poem?” Twilight said curiously.
“Nature’s first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; but only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, so dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay,” Thomas recited from memory. He saw Twilight shiver before he noticed Skyheart and an unfamiliar mare with a bright gold coat, strong orange eyes that were both stern yet compassionate, and a dark amber and vivid orange mane as they entered, followed by Princess Celestia.
As Thomas closed his eyes nervously, he became keenly aware of how the air was moving in the room, though he was unaware of the broad wings carefully spread from his shoulder blades. He was unaware that the muscles in his chest, shoulders, back and upper arms, had grown several times more dense and powerful to support the wings and allow for use.
He shivered as he felt how the air was shifting before he inhaled sharply, feeling an odd tingling sensation shooting through his shoulders as he noticed Twilight blushing slightly as he saw the unfamiliar mare moving something that was a deep reddish golden hue.
“Are those… feathers? Like… wings?” he blurted in confusion.
“Yep, they’re your wings,” the mare said with amusement. “I’m Spitfire,” she said with a grin as she preened his wings, amused as he twitched and shivered a few times. “You act like you’ve never seen or had wings before,” she remarked before she smirked as he shot her a look that was both bored and insulted.
“I’ve seen wings… on birds. I’ve also seen wings in Greek Mythology, like Daedalus and Icarus or the winged horse known as Pegasus whom Perseus rode. Had them? No… because humans don’t fly,”he said dryly. He rolled his eyes, though he didn’t miss the curious glint in Twilight’s eyes.
“With my help, you will fly… and no doubt enjoy it,” Spitfire said with a smirk.
“Perhaps, though I don’t really see myself flying,”Thomas deadpanned, rolling his shoulders as he smirked, the tip of his wing swatting Spitfire across the muzzle, though he noticed she snorted as if surprised before she smirked.
He had a strange feeling at that smirk, though, like he was the butt of a joke. “We’ll see, won’t we?” she quipped.
“Hmmm. If it’s anything like skydiving, it could be fun,” he said thoughtfully. Spitfire’s eyebrow rose.
“Skydiving?” she said curiously.
“Essentially, jumping out of a plane without wings… only a parachute,” was his dry reply as he shivered, feeling tingles rushing through his body as he felt slight, subtle shifts as, he noticed, Spitfire shifted certain feathers.
Spitfire looked thoughtful, as she was, admittedly, curious. “I don’t know if I’d be able to do that. It’s almost second nature to fly with my wings,” she responded.
Thomas shrugged slightly, noticing his wings shifted in response, the feathers rustling softly before he concentrated, trying to move them as Spitfire backed away as his wings folded in fluidly before extending. “Ugh… that feels so weird… I can feel every bit of air brushing against them… wait… that pain in my back,” he said softly, his eyes deepening in color to a deep aquamarine that bled into a warm, deep cyan tone.
“Yeah, though we can’t figure out why the wings seemed to tear themselves free,” Skyheart said softly, her tone thoughtful, though Thomas noticed the troubled edge to her voice.
“I wonder if it has to do with the Gao no Hōju… one in particular is what I’m thinking of,” he said softly, thinking.
“Gao no Hōju? What are those?” Celestia asked.
“The group I mentioned that protected nature from destructive spirits used them. The most literal translation of the phrase is Power Animal or more appropriately, Wildzords. However, these creatures choose who wields them,” he said dryly as he concentrated as his new wings folded gently against his shoulders. He shivered at the sensations of the feathers brushing his bare skin.
He winced as he managed to push himself off his front, grimacing as his body was aching quite a bit. He felt a tingling chill rush over his body before the pain receded. He blinked, seeing Twilight holding out his buckle, though he noticed the thicker golden ring almost immediately as well as the quartet of gemstones. He cocked his head fractionally, seeing the small triangular selector as he took the buckle. He had the strangest feeling that these particular Wildzords had chosen him for some reason. “I hope I’m wrong in my guess,” he whispered as he slid shakily out of the bed, not seeing how Skyheart was licking her lips as he was clad only in a pair of boxers that hid very little. Twilight and Moon Dancer, however, were blushing as Princess Celestia simply smiled slightly, though he noticed her turning away as she cleared her throat.
His eyes narrowed fractionally as he had the distinct sense that the Princess was trying hard not to laugh at Twilight and Moon Dancer, though admittedly, he found the fact they were blushing somewhat adorable.
“Um… do you mind so I can get dressed?” he said wryly. Thomas was amused as Twilight and Moon Dancer fairly fled, while Spitfire and the Princess took their time. Skyheart, however, remained.
“I want to do a thorough examination, just to make sure you’re okay,” Skyheart said, the corners of her muzzle curling up with a smirk as she spoke. Thomas shivered, though he wasn’t sure why.
He shrugged as he half turned before he yelped as he felt her hand swat him sharply on the rear before he cocked his head, shooting a look her direction, though she had an innocent look on her face. He exhaled as he slipped into the bathroom, though he did hear her soft hoofbeats as she followed him inside. He heard her hum with interest, unaware that his wings, in that moment, looked more like tattoos than actual wings.
He turned his head as he flushed the toilet, cocking his head slightly. “What has you so interested?” he said dryly.
He felt her fingers brush not across feathers, but skin. He blinked as he half turned, seeing that his wings looked like a tattoo, though what caught his eye was that the top feathers were a rich, deep byzantine purple fading to a dark indigo and bluish indigo… much like the night sky. It brought back memories that he only half remembered as he instinctively hummed softly.
He stepped towards the shower, though he wasn’t all that surprised to hear Skyheart’s soft hoofbeats behind him as she started the shower, despite the fact he could have easily done so himself.
Around twenty minutes later, he was pressing his feet into the sandal-boots left for him, surprised at how comfortable they were.
“How about we explore the city a bit?” he said quietly, drawing a soft chuckling sigh from Skyheart, who was hugging him from behind. ‘No doubt the others are waiting for us, though… I’m still getting used to the idea of these anthropomorphic ponies in heat… much less any of them even remotely interested in what is, essentially, a stranger,’ he thought.
He exhaled softly as he slipped away from Skyheart, fortunately without her notice, as the other anthropomorphic ponies noticed them. He sighed softly as he wandered through the halls to a balcony, noticing the moon rising along with an odd grouping of craters that looked oddly like a equine face.
His voice was low as he sang softly, though he heard a distinct feminine voice joining his after a half dozen lines of lyrics, one that, deep down, he recognized immediately, yet he couldn’t remember why it felt so familiar… almost… motherly.
“I've begun to realize... That I'm better when I’m with you, You delivered me from the pain in my life... Easy now to recognize... All the misery I have been through, It was beating me to submission... Till the day you arrived, Suddenly, I felt alive... Strength I had lost was revived... and building inside... And we both know why...
'Cause you're mine... I knew I could be whole if you were mine... I'll vanquish any foe because you're mine...
Been betrayed too many times... Didn't think I would ever recover, Let it haunt me for the rest of my life... Then you opened up my eyes, And you helped me rediscover... Were the one who resurrected... A man who had died... Your power, it gave me new life... Made me reborn and refined, Rebuilt from inside... And we both know why...
'Cause you're mine... I knew I could be whole if you were mine... I'll vanquish any foe because you're mine…”as he paused to take a breath, he noticed the feminine voice continued.
“I never thought I would ever escape... At times, I wanted to die, Feared that it all was just a little too late... Thought that I wouldn't survive, I let you in and let go of the hate... My heart recovered now, I owe you a debt that I can never repay... I still believe... 'Cause you're mine, I'm burning inside... And we both know why...
'Cause you're mine… I knew I could be whole if you were mine, I'll vanquish any foe because you're mine... I can regain control because you're mine…” after which he heard the voice fade away. He heard a soft sniff behind him before he turned, seeing Princess Celestia, who had tears in her eyes. He blinked once then twice.
“That female voice… they’re close to you, from your reaction,” he said quietly.
“My sister… Luna,” Celestia said softly. “What is your connection to her?” she said softly.
“I can’t remember, that’s the problem. It’s like… part of my memories are… missing… or something was trying to interfere and trying to make me forget,” he admitted.
"Then we will find out together. I did not enjoy what I had no choice but to do," Princess Celestia said softly, regret clear in her voice to his ears.
"I won't ask what you're referring to, as it's obviously painful for you to remember. I get the feeling that... whatever I've forgotten... that has to do with her... presuming she's a Princess like you... wasn't just for her... but my own benefit as well. Maybe... I've blocked it out... thinking it was a dream," he said softly, thinking. As Thomas walked away into the castle, he didn't notice Princess Celestia's thoughtful look.
"Did you do that, sister? Was it deliberate, from the Nightmare? Or desperation, from you, Luna?" she murmured thoughtfully, her gaze rising to the moon.
CanterlotGardens, Equestria #12571325 Thomas’ eyes were on the rising moon as he stared off into space, getting a very strong sense of dejä vü. 'I get the feeling that there's something right under my nose that I'm missing,’ he thought.
He let his eyes glaze over as he felt himself falling into his mindscape, finding a tall, broad mountain that reminded him of the Animarium. “Heh, that would be funny if Princess Shayla were in my head,” he muttered, noticing narrow streams coming down the slopes before converging into a small waterfall in shades of pale golden amber, deep red, warm copper, and warm emerald all melding into a prismatic foam as he walked through the trees before coming to the clearing with a broad pond of lavender-blue water.
He crouched on the balls of his feet, his fingertips brushing the surface of the water, feeling an almost immediate rush of energy, unaware that the birthmark that was almost invisible on his skin rather than a deep garnet shade flared for a moment with moderate indigo light as his body was outlined by the same bluish lavender aura for the same two or three second period his fingers touched the surface of the water. “So… whatever energy I’ve been employing…. “ he muttered.
“Comes from that pool, yeah, dumbass,” he heard a feminine voice growl in a dry tone. He looked up, startled, to see Shun Kasai.
“Kasai-chan,” he said with a slight smirk. He noticed, for just an instant, the startled look on the large Kitsune’s face, though he did notice that her fur was a rich, if a bit dark, Persian red, with some tribal markings in Tyrian purple and warm Carmine red that seemed to trickle through her fur as she shifted. He tilted his head, staring into the Kitsune’s rich, warm Venetian red irises that faded to a deep, moderate Coquelicot around slitted pupils. He tilted his head, staring at the Kitsune, not noticing how she shifted before he winced, feeling a sudden shove just above his eyes as he staggered back.
“Quit staring, you little shit,” Kasai snapped with a growl. He smirked in response, seeing her tail retreating.
“What, nobody has admired how you look? Because I have to admit that you’re quite beautiful. Admittedly, I’ve never seen a Kitsune before, much less expected one to be in my head,” he said dryly, shrugging as he took his gaze from the Kitsune, not noticing that the vixen was blushing somewhat.
He exhaled softly as he glanced at the mountain that was, he guessed, around a half mile away and perhaps around twelve hundred feet tall, though he couldn’t be sure. He cocked his head, unsure if his wings were still there, though he felt a tingling rush between his shoulders before he heard a rustling, glancing over his shoulders to see his wings flaring out. “Huh… for some reason, I’m reminded of Max Marshall,” he muttered.
“Who?” Kasai growled.
“Book character, specifically from one of James Patterson’s books… 'When The Wind Blows' and its sequel, 'The Lake House', though I’m pretty sure if she were around, she’d have preferred a different name.. namely `O'Neill`,” he sighed, shrugging his shoulders before he took two fluid, long strides before he shoved off, taking to the air as his wings shoved down hard, launching him at high speed into the air. Instinctively, he concentrated as goggles with amethyst lenses and mother-of-pearl frames and an onyx gemstone just above his eyebrows formed, though he instinctively knew that the goggles wouldn’t fall off despite not having a strap.
His crystalline dark aquamarine irises flickered around as he felt himself shift into what some would think of as a ‘standing position’ in the air as he felt his wings beating the air in a steady hover. “Hmmm, maybe if I get experience here… I can figure out how the muscles feel and react and probably freak out… what’s-her-name… Spitfire. I know there was a old World War I plane named that… a British one, I think… and I do know there were spark plugs named Spitfires,” he mumbled to himself.
He tilted his head, looking up to spot four totems on large onyx bases with streams of ‘water’ surging from beneath them, standing out quite noticeably amongst the jungle green and forest green as well as the dark brown earth in this mindscape. One was a large Imperial red lion with a deep coppery gold mane and deep emerald eyes. “GaoLion,” he muttered. To his surprise, the eyes flared brightly as its head turned to meet his gaze before it nodded slowly, though its gaze remained on him, he noted, as his gaze slid to the next totem, which was a large pthalo green gorilla with rosso corsa colored eyes and a cadet gray jawline. “GaoGorilla,” he muttered. He was less surprised as the large gorilla reacted the same as the red lion. Next was the ruby feathers of the GaoFalcon along with its deep hunter green eyes. He smirked slightly, tilting his head slightly at the pale silvery eggshell tone of its chest feathers. He didn’t miss that the GaoBeasts looked far more organic here than mechanical. He inhaled slowly as he whispered “GaoFalcon," startled as the falcon let out a predatory shriek before staring at him as he noticed the golden copper shimmer of the ‘eyes’ on its wings. His gaze slid to the last of the four, though his eyes widened in shock as he stared at a slightly larger form of the Red Lion… though this particular one had dark ruby eyes, a darker golden mane, and ebony fur. He shivered as he remembered that particular Lion. 'Part of Animus…. within me,’ he thought.“Fuck me sideways,” he muttered.
He exhaled, focusing as he felt his mind drifting back into awareness, his subconscious form dissolving into shimmering feathers and mist before fading completely.
------☴☱☳-☳☱☴------
Thomas blinked a few times, wincing as his muscles protested. He glanced up at the moon, where the odd equine craters resided before he paused, noticing they seemed to flicker slightly as if light shifted, or more precisely, the ‘head’ shifted, almost as if noticing him. He glanced down, then back at the moon, guessing around twenty to thirty minutes had passed. “Luna… if you can hear me, I will see you… again,” he whispered. He thought he heard a soft inhalation as if someone were surprised. He thought about his words. ‘Why say “I will see you again? Have I seen her before and simply… forgot?’ he thought before he blinked, seeing for just an instant, a dark blue furred anthropomorphic winged woman almost identical to Celestia with moderate cyan eyes and a swirling mane of moderate sapphire blue and a grayish persian blue outline. Strangely, he had, at the same moment, a sense of frustrated anger and hunger that didn’t feel natural. He had the sense that this flash of memory was related to whatever he’d forgotten.
He sighed softly as he pulled out his electric guitar and let his fingers drift over the strings, not even really considering what came out.
He exhaled softly as he let the strings cease vibrating their notes, not noticing the luminous rainbow aura flickering over the strings. Had he looked out to his left, out of the arching window, he'd have noticed a prismatic aura pulsing through the very distant large Everfree Forest at a particular point, though he himself wouldn't have recognized that particular area, though Celestia would have.
His muscles tightened as he felt his wings flare out before settling against his shoulders. A faint smirk crossed his face as he sighed softly as he walked quietly, simply wandering around.
TheNextMorning Twilight Sparkle yawned as she stretched, pushing the door to the Grand Library open before she blinked as she noticed Thomas slumped in one of the chairs, making her smirk with a small blush as she noticed the small stack of books, as well as the one lying open beneath his fingers, the tips lightly pressed against the page. She cocked her head, thinking. 'Why do I get the sense that he feels… lonely?’ she thought.
She jumped slightly in surprise as he stretched, the book closing on his fingers, making him yelp rather amusingly before he yanked them free as she giggled, trying hard not to laugh.
“I’ve done that so many times, I’m surprised I don’t have book text permanently tattooed on my fingers,”she quipped, smirking as he set aside the book.
“Ugh… my muscles are stiffer than the Hoover Dam. I doubt anyone would get the joke about ‘asking all the dam questions’, though,” he groaned.
Twilight’s ears twitched in curiosity. “What do you mean?”she asked.
“There was a movie where a family took a tour of Hoover Dam, which is a concrete hydroelectric plant that was started September 1930, and was formally finished May 29, 1935. In the present day, which for me, anyway, was March 2002, it isn’t uncommon for Hoover Dam to hold guided tours. In the movie, the tour leader said and I quote You can ask all the dam questions you want,”he said quietly. He sighed softly. “I wish I knew what year it was now,” he muttered.
Twilight cocked her head. “It’s around the year 6403,”she said softly, shrugging slightly as she blushed slightly. “It is claimed that humans here died out around… 3500 years ago, though nobody can really confirm it for certainty,” she said softly.
“What do you mean?” Thomas said suspiciously.
“Evidence has been found that, in the mountains to the north of here, in Canterlot, that there were gathering places, almost like towns, but for creatures that looked like you. We found some skeletons in some places, and odd… crystalline rings... in others. Nobody has touched the rings for a very long time, so nobody is sure what they do,” Twilight said softly.
Thomas cocked his head, thinking. So humans, at some point, existed in this world. “Crystalline rings? Any particular colors to them?” he said quietly, a bit amused.
“I don’t know. Maybe Princess Celestia would know,” Twilight admitted sheepishly, bowing her head shyly.
“There is a comic book series that I know of that has rings, though I’d have to see the rings to make sure… if they’re the ones I suspect,” he said wryly, thinking aloud before he pushed himself to his feet.
He wondered if they were the Lantern Rings he knew of, though, admittedly, he had no idea if the Elemental Embodiments existed here or ever had, which implied that if they didn’t, then there was a good chance that once you ran out of ring energy, they would have to find ways to recharge them somehow. ‘I wonder how you’d recharge them without a Lantern Battery? Perhaps siphon the emotions directly?’ he thought. Even if they were those rings, he had no desire nor a need to use them.
“There’s supposed to be a festival in the city for the Summer Sun festival. You want to go? Just to explore it?” Twilight said shyly.
“Why not? Could be fun. Do you know if there are contests, like talents?” he said thoughtfully. Thomas had quite a few talents that made him unique.
“I’m sure they have those,” Twilight amended thoughtfully.
“I have a few that would surprise you,” Thomas said with a small smirk, though he heard the door creak open before he noticed Princess Celestia.
“A few what that would surprise us?” she said, sounding a bit amused.
“Different talents. Martial arts for one, though my personal preference is something a lot trickier to master, since no matter what, you’re always learning new ones,” he said wryly, shrugging slightly.
He noticed the glance Twilight shot the taller Princess as he took stepped a few yards away before twisting, his hand drawing free the acoustic guitar from behind him, apparently from thin air, as he faced the pair. He inhaled slowly and softly, his eyes drifting closed as his fingers drifted over the strings before moving rapidly, a complex rhythm flowing into the air. He found Twilight’s startled look amusing as she jumped in surprise.
“Would you go with me if we rolled down streets of fire? Would you hold on to me tighter as the summer sun got higher? If we roll from town to town and never shut it down?
Would you go with me if we were lost in fields of clover? Would we walk even closer until the trip was over, And would it be okay if I didn't know the way?
If I gave you my hand would you take it, And make me the happiest man in the world? If I told you my heart couldn't beat one more minute without you, girl, Would you accompany me to the edge of the sea, Let me know if you're really a dream... I love you so, so would you go with me?
[Instrumental]
Would you go with me if we rode the clouds together? Could you not look down forever, If you were lighter than a feather? Oh, and if I set you free, would you go with me?
If I gave you my hand would you take it, And make me the happiest man in the world? If I told you my heart couldn't beat one more minute without you, girl, Would you accompany me to the edge of the sea, Help me tie up the ends of a dream... I gotta know, would you go with me? I love you so, so would you go with me?”
Celestia blushed slightly, amused. Twilight shivered as she blushed deeply. Admittedly, she didn’t see Thomas as more than an acquaintance at the moment, though who could tell what the future held?
“There’s one other that really stuck for me… because I’ve come close to that very situation. One of my friends stupidly got drunk, despite being underage at the time; the drinking age was 21, while he was just under 17. Unfortunately for him, along with his girlfriend… they will never get any older,” Thomas said quietly, sighing softly.
His eyes drifted closed as his fingers strummed slowly, the tone of the music more… controlled and somber. “A farmer and a teacher, a hooker and a preacher, Ridin' on a midnight bus bound for Mexico. One's headed for vacation, one for higher education, An' two of them were searchin' for lost souls. That driver never ever saw the stop sign. An' eighteen wheelers can't stop on a dime.
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway, Why there's not four of them, Heaven only knows. I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world behind you, It's what you leave behind you when you go.
That farmer left a harvest, a home and eighty acres, The faith an' love for growin' things in his young son's heart. An' that teacher left her wisdom in the minds of lots of children: Did her best to give 'em all a better start. An' that preacher whispered: "Can't you see the Promised Land?" As he laid his blood-stained bible in that hooker's hand.
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway, Why there's not four of them, Heaven only knows. I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world behind you, It's what you leave behind you when you go.
That's the story that our preacher told last Sunday. As he held that blood-stained bible up, For all of us to see. He said: "Bless the farmer, and the teacher, an' the preacher; "Who gave this Bible to my mamma, "Who read it to me."
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway, Why there's not four of them, now I guess we know. It's not what you take when you leave this world behind you, It's what you leave behind you when you go.
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway....” his voice was low and soft, yet carried strongly.
“I must say, your musical talent is quite impressive. Telling stories through music is not as simple as some would imagine,” Princess Celestia commented.
“In my world, none of the music I know is, in fact, mine. But here? Nobody knows the music. I suspect somepony,” Thomas replied, glancing at Twilight, who gave an approving nod, “may know similar music, or even music I would recognize, but in a different form,” he said wryly, shrugging.
“It's possible. I do not know, though it is quite early. Perhaps we could share some tea and coffee cake?” Princess Celestia said warmly.
Thomas’ eyebrow twitched upward as Twilight seemed, to him, both excited and happy. “I don't mind,”he said thoughtfully.
“Can we get some..."Twilight Sparkle said excitedly.
“Cinnamon buns?” Thomas said, amused by her gaze flicking to him as she blushed deeply.
“Am I that obvious?”she said with embarrassment.
“Not really. I've had a craving for them for the last couple of days. I just have no idea where to find them,” he replied with a chuckle as he messed up Twilight's mane just for the amusement.
He wasn’t surprised when Twilight swiped a hand to push his hand away as he smirked before he shrugged, surprised as Princess Celestia’s hand gently touched both his and Twilight’s shoulder.
“You are fond of my student, are you not?” she remarked.
“Probably as a little sister, if anything,” Thomas replied wryly, smirking.
Twilight pouted before swatting Thomas’ arm before he snickered, rolling his shoulders as he saw a golden glow flare up in the corner of his eye before he blinked away the glare, grimacing slightly before he blinked, realizing they were in a broad hallway with a couple of guards nearby, unaware of Princess Celestia’s teleportation spell.
He allowed the Princess to guide himself and Twilight out into the Canterlot streets as he exhaled softly, rolling his shoulders as he felt his wings flaring out before settling against his shoulders naturally, the breeze sending tingles of awareness up his spine. He hummed softly, thinking. “I do have an idea for an extended riff… or more precisely, a series of riffs, though I suspect some might see it more as showing off,” he said wryly. “You see, where I came from… music could be surprisingly complex and startling in how different it could sound, though the kind of music I’m mainly familiar with has only been around between twenty and thirty five years. I do know some older music, but it’s mainly country music that is older,” he commented.
“How long would that riff series be?” Twilight said curiously.
“Twelve to twelve and a half minutes, give or take,” he said wryly, shrugging nonchalantly.
“I must admit I am curious,” Princess Celestia commented as they continued walking before Thomas blinked, noticing a simple doughnut shop. He blinked a few times, then shook his head slightly.
“Somehow, I get the feeling that this is a place that is famous for a certain someone’s presence,” he remarked dryly. Celestia simply smirked as she opened the door.
“I have no idea what you mean,” she commented with a small smirk.
--------⚍䷀䷁--------
InDeepSpace…
A ship was approaching what appeared to be a larger vessel made of gears that rotated slowly and steadily, though a distant city was visible. Who had made said city, however, was unknown. Within this ship, several heavier Bārohei drones had the large, almost seven and a half foot tall draconian creature, formerly an experienced Equestrian scientist, currently an instinct driven creature of rage and anger, chained to heavy durasteel pylons. Also within was a pair of more cunning androids, one with semi-folded plates of armor overlapping down its arms ending in rather human looking hands while his legs were similar in appearance, though its head was far from human, being merely a sphere of dull gray and red metal with faintly glowing red eyes.
A smaller robot clung to his left shoulder, a small round android who hummed softly every few seconds in a somewhat off feminine tone. The larger male robot glanced over his shoulder, smirking slightly as he could sense what was clinging to the monster. It was a power signature the android was very familiar with. As his gaze flicked back to the front, his eye sockets flared with dark green energy, for something, had anyone been near this particular android, was quite odd and off about its nature.
---- ᮹ↂ᮹ ----
Lyra sighed softly as she left the train station from Canterlot. She giggled as she remembered the odd pony that had spontaneously joined her and Octavia. She hadn't been able to see his hooves because of his footwear, which was still uncommon but was often more noticeable with the 'noble' ponies.
Reina trudged along as she made her way south into quaint little village. She wasn’t impressed with the village but it was less tacky than Canterlot in her opinion. She wasn’t exactly paying attention though. One of the psychotic voices in her head, the one that made her think of pink flowers, was strangely absent since the battle, not that she was complaining to be rid of it.
“Too calm for my liking,” she mumbled.
“Hi!! Who are you? Do you like cakes? What kind of icing do you prefer? Do you have any friends? I’ve never seen you around here, so you must be new!!” an excited mare’s voice said, distracting her as a light raspberry mare with a puffy deep raspberry-pink mane and warm, cheerful sapphire eyes hopped next to her, speaking rapidly, almost too rapidly to be understood.
Reina blinked and stared for a second as she processed the questions of the pink pony that had approached her out of nowhere, seeming to be genuinely excited to meet her. It was annoying how hyper giddy she seemed but she decided politeness might be better since she was a bit tired from traveling.
“Um, Reina?... Who doesn’t like any kind of cake?... Not many friends... Passing through?...” confused as the mare darted off, a trail of pale smoke surging after the mare before a softer voice cut in.
“You look exhausted. Want to go to the spa for a massage?” a curious mare’s voice said kindly. The brilliant gamboge eyed speaker had a soft, pale aquamarine coat with a light grayish cyan mane and white highlights. Lyra had just gotten back into Ponyville from Canterlot. Surprisingly, she had more than enough to splurge for a trip to the spa in addition to a good two, almost three months worth of rent for her and Bon Bon, though she had a sneaking suspicion that something was a tiny bit off with her close friend.
Reina was surprised by the sudden friendliness of ponies that this town seemed to provide. The unknown unicorn seemed to be friendly enough as well. “Um, I guess I should freshen up... I don’t exactly have any money though. Kinda was in a rush to leave the city...” she said blankly, unfamiliar with anyone being friendly without any desire to manipulate or abuse her.
Lyra shrugged. "I have more than enough bits to cover it. I'm Lyra Heartstrings," she said with a small, shy smile. Admittedly, she was seen as a rather odd pony, though she was mostly harmless.
Reina smiled. It was rare for her to see generosity shown toward her so she decided she liked this unicorn. “Reina Frost, nice to meet you!”
Lyra sighed softly, glancing at the other ponies milling around, a few glancing their way, but none bothering them as they made their way towards the spa. It wasn't that she'd dropped out of the School for Gifted Unicorns... it was more that she got bored with the stuffy, slow lessons.
"Most ponies think I'm strange, mainly because I don't really try to... what's the expression... go with the flow?" Lyra sighed as she shrugged.
Reina giggled. “Learning everything you can is an important part of life... But going against the grain and experiencing life for what it really is, also is important.”
Lyra smirked slowly as she giggled. "Buck the flow. I'd rather be a rock than the water. It's no fun being boring," she giggled.
“What’s worth the prize, is always worth the fight.” Reina quoted mysteriously.
“It's fairly peaceful here, though... I secretly made my specialty in binding and attack spells," Lyra said with a conspiratorial smirk as they reached the spa.
Contrary to popular belief, she was almost as intelligent as Twilight Sparkle was. The biggest difference, however, was where Twilight learned best through theory and study, she learned best through application and action.
Reina eyed the building with a look of apprehension. It looked to her like some pony had built it while overly fixated on the circus in her opinion. “Everyone learns differently I suppose.”
"I've always found this place just a little over the top. But Rarity lives in a boutique that genuinely looks like a circus carousel," Lyra remarked with a giggle as she pushed the door open and held it open.
Reina giggled as she walked in “Trust me, that sounds perfectly tame compared to the tacky buildings back home...”
Lyra snickered as she shrugged. "I wouldn't know. Sometimes I think that we could have some.... bigger places," she said before she yelped as the curtain opened with a flourish.
