Chapter 1: Training Day

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I take a deep breath before I mentally prep myself, putting a hoof on my chest; slowly exhaling and extending my foreleg out, letting out all my worries. I gaze out at the land of Equestria, from the balcony, glancing at some key landmarks as far as my eyes can see from where I'm standing.

"Okay, I can do this... First to Ponyville, then to Canterlot, then up to Cloudsdale, then shoot WAY over to Manehatten, after that is Applewood, a quick jump to The Everfree Forest, WAY up to Yakyakistan, then all the way down south to the Badlands, and finally right back here to The Crystal Empire," I say to myself out loud.

I inhale "Okay...," I say with an exhale. I continue to take deep breaths before I start to build up my magic into my horn, making it glow a bright yellow soothing glow. I reach over to put my hoof on the stopwatch that's sitting on the railing of the balcony.

"...Let's Do This!" That said I swiftly start the stopwatch and Immediately vanished. I then reappear standing on top of Twilight's Castle in Ponyville as my first stop. I gaze around for a half a second to confirm that I've made it and I throw a quick hoof-pump into the air before vanishing again. I then appear in Canterlot right in front of Princess Twilight while she sits on her throne. She gazes at me in a bit of a surprise for a moment then she smiles at me.

"Hi Twilight!" I say with an innocent smile.

"Well, Hello again Flurry Hea-"

"Gotta Go! Bye!" I interrupt before I poof away.

"Okay, Flurry, have fun!" She says after I leave. Or at least I think that's what she would say. This is not the first time I've done this. Next, I appear over Cloudsdale. Shortly after appearing, a pegasus pony almost flies into me as they were trying to get by. I barely manage to fly out of the way before the dude flies into me. as he passes me however he almost crashes into a cloud house. I bring my hooves to cover my mouth and my body tenses as I watch him almost crash.

"Oh! Sorry!" I shout to him before my horn glows again and I poof away.

Appearing in Manehatten, on top of one of the buildings, I look down at the streets below as everypony down their goes about their daily commute. I give a small chuckle before teleporting away again. I land myself right on top of the Applewood sign. I gaze around at my surroundings before I get ready to teleport once more but folks are quick to notice my presence from down below. Tourists from below start to say things like 'Is that Flurry Heart? Yes it is!!!' before they start taking pictures. I look down and give a smile for the cameras, but then I immediately teleport away. I would stay for the fans but I'm currently on a timer. I reappear within the Everfree Forest. I gaze around to confirm my location and then I see a Timberwolf growling at me. Not long after that It goes in for the pounce.

"Ahh!!!" I scarcely let out. Tensing my body up before instinctively poofing away. "Brrrrrrrr!" I shiver as I arrive just outside of Yakyakistan. I proceed to cover myself with my forelegs to try to protect me from the weather. In fact, it's so cold that my teeth begin chattering already.

"Look! It is daughter of Crystal Princess!" says a nearby yak. I give a soft wave and a smile while freezing my flank off.

"Hhh--i t-there f-f-f-folks!" I say while I continue to shiver.

"Come to visit, Daughter of Princess?" One of them asks.

"No, S-s-orry! Not today! M-m-maybe next time! Gotta go! Bye!" I teleport away shortly after. I then arrive at the badlands way down south of Equestria. I take a moment to confirm my location as well as take in the heat after being in a cold environment before poofing again. Finally, I come back to the empire, and I reach out quickly and slam a hoof down to stop the timer.

"Time!" I shout out, almost breaking the timer when I hit it. I check the time on it and give a smile, clenching my hoof in success.

"Yes!!! 15 seconds! Much better! Granted, I know I coulda done better if I didn't run into quite a few issues but no biggy! I'm getting much better." I say to myself happily. I then reset the timer and set it down, preparing to go again.

"Let's see if I can do it in 10 seconds, that'll be fun to tell Rainbow about," I take a deep breath to gather my magic again and--"Flurry Heart? Sweetie?"--get stopped by the voice of my mom before I could start again. I turn around to face her with a smile.

"Yes, Mom? What is it?"

"Just checking on you Sweetheart. Having fun?" Princess Cadance Explained.

"Yeah! I'm doing amazing! As always, of course! Hehe!" I brag with a wide smile that swept across my face.

"I'm sure you are. You are my daughter after all," she says with a funny smug grin on her face.

"Hehe, way to make this into a compliment about yourself, mom," I jokingly say.

She puts a hoof to her lips, and gives a soft giggle. "Oh, you know I believe you're amazing, Flurry. Keep doing what you're doing!" she said with an honest smile and puts her hoof to my shoulder. I get all embarrassed and just chuckle.

"Eheh, Thanks, Mom!" I happily hug her.

"How well did you do this time?"

I lean back to look at her eyes "15 Seconds!"

"That's wonderful! You're absolutely amazing. Like I said; keep it up!" she nuzzles the top of my head softly. I smile in response to her nuzzles.

"I'm going to give it another go. Wanna time me?" I ask.

"Why don't you take a break right now? You've been training hard since nine in the morning and it's already about three o'clock. I feel it's time you relax for a bit before getting back into it." She looked at me with a sincere look.

"But, I gotta keep going. I need to get better at honing my skills! Plus, didn't you just tell me to 'Keep It Up' Hmmm?" I say as another smile swept across my face.

"Hehehe, I know, but even hard workers like you and I need a break from time to time and you definitely deserve it"

"Hmmm, I don't know.. I'm not sure now's the right time to-"

"There will be ice cream if you come with me," Cadance Says with that same smug look.

"You know of my weakness, mother...," I reply in a deep tone whilst squinting my eyes at her. After a short moment we both exchange some laughter. "Heheh, Alrighty! Let's go then!"

She turns around to lead the way back inside and through the halls of the Crystal Empire.

"So, how's dad? What's he up to?" I ask.

"Oh, he's just fine. He's actually just wrapping up his usual routine morning-to-afternoon patrol with some of the other guards. Not that there's much need for patrols since hardly anything ever happens here. Then again, better safe then sorry, am I right?" She replies.

"Yeah, sounds like you and I aren't the only ones working hard, huh?"

"That's right. We all do our part here to make sure the empire is safe"

"And right now everything is going just fine right?"

"Of course! Nothing gets past Shining. He's made that very clear," She smiles.

"That's good. So... no danger of any kind?"

Cadance glances back at me with a questioning gaze, continuing to walk as her gaze persists. "How come you're so eager to know?"

"I'm just.. curious" I say as I turn my head away from her gaze.

"Hmmm," She turns here attention forward once more. "You wanna help out anypony who's in any sort of trouble, don't you?" She grins as she continues leading the way.

"Well, yeah, of course I do. I'd love to help dad sometime but he doesn't let me"

"He has his reasons. He worries about you a lot"

"More than you?"

Cadance chuckles. "Of course more than I do. I know for a fact you can handle yourself and so does he. But he just can't help himself when ever it comes to worrying about you. It just shows that he loves you very much and he wants to keep you, me, and this empire safe"

"Sounds like he's a little over protective if you ask me, heheh," I smile.

Cadance glances over her shoulder back to me once more with a smile for a brief moment. "Well, can you blame him? When you have something you care about most deeply to heart, as well as a wonderful home, you simply must do all you can to protect it"

"That, we can all agree on"

"Indeed we can and we all do," Not long after, we arrive at the kitchen. Once there, she opens the freezer and gets the tub of ice cream out while I go fetch the scoop.

"How about we go eat this in the throne room? Sound good, Flurry?" Cadance asks.

"Sounds just fine to me, mom" I reply.

We scoop out our ice cream into a little bowl for us to share as well as get ourselves a pair of spoons to eat it with. She then put the ice cream container back in the freezer and we head to the throne room. Once we arrive we approach her throne and she takes a seat upon it while I sit beside her. We soon start eating our ice cream. We filled the bowl with delicious vanilla ice cream, our favorite. As we eat she turns to me to speak.

"You know, I'm so happy that you're taking such initiative to train so hard. You know I'm proud of you, right?"

I look at her with a spoonful of ice cream in my mouth. I swallow the ice cream and take the spoon from my mouth to reply.

"Thanks! I have loads of fun with it. Especially when-"

"But... I wanted to ask you; When was the last time you did anything else other than honing your skills?" Finishing her sentence.

I swallow another spoonful of ice cream "Huh?"

"You know, going out and doing some other fun activities. Maybe hang out with some friends?"

"Uhm... I honestly can't remember," I say as I take in another spoonful of ice cream.

"Hmm. That's because it's been too long since you've done something else," She looks at me with a smirk.

I give a soft sigh. "I've just been too busy with magic is all"

"That's just it, Flurry. I feel you've been training a bit too much lately. Maybe you should take a break from it all for just a little bit, don't you think? I mean, you've been getting up at the crack dawn just about every morning just to practice. You even skip breakfast sometimes"

"S-Sorry, Mom," I bow my head with a sad expression while holding a spoonful of ice cream in my mouth.

"Oh, don't be sorry, sweetie. I'm not saying that pushing yourself like this is such a bad thing. All I'm saying is that maybe you could tone it down just a little. You're gifted and you're strong enough as it is, so you can relax for a little while"

"Huh, I guess you're right"

"Believe me when I say that I would NEVER want you to stop improving yourself. I just want you to have time for other things. For example; Spending time with a friend or two and maybe make new ones. Perhaps you'll even find somepony who shares a similar interests in conducting their magic in efforts to improve," Mom says while twirling her spoon on her hoof effortlessly.

"That sounds nice!" I smile at the thought.

"See? I've already piqued your interests, haven't I?"

"Hmm, yeah. I can honestly say you're right about that... but-"

"No 'buts'. Eat your ice cream," she firmly but politely claims. We both take another scoop of ice cream and eat it.

"I want you to do something for me, Flurry. If that's okay with you"

"What's that?" I say while giving her a look of wonder.

"Whenever you get some free time, which is just about everyday, I want you to go out and find other ponies out there and make some new friends, mingle about, but most importantly, have fun"

"Hmm?" I raise an eyebrow at her whilst having a spoonful of ice cream in my mouth.

"You need another pastime other than training in combat and magic. So, I feel having more friends to hangout with may be just perfect for you," Cadance explains with a smile.

I sit here thinking about her words and start to consider them.

"Trust me on this, Flurry. I know what I'm talking about"

I give a sigh "I guess so," I say with a sad tone as I put another spoonful of ice cream in my mouth and swallow it.

"Oh, cheer up my little Flurry, I'm not asking for much. At least consider it. For me?"

I gaze about the room for a second while I think. After taking a moment to think, I look back at her. "Okay... but at the moment, is it really necessary to make more friends right now. I mean I understand the importance of friendship and making friends. Believe me I do, but do I really have to do it now?"

Cadance smiles and gives a brief chuckle at my words. "Hehehe, you know the way you said that reminds me of another mare who was just like you back then who said that she didn't really feel like it was necessary to have friends, but when she finally did it turned out to be the best decision of her life. Sound like anypony we know?"

"Are you saying I sound exactly like Twilight?" I scoff.

"Yes, and that's not a bad thing. Twilight went to go make friends so long ago and look at where she is now! Soon, something like that will happen to you"

"Woah... Are you sure?"

"I know for sure that it will," She says with the most honest to Twilight smile on her face.

I look down, taking in her words for a moment longer, letting them sink in. I look back at her and gaze into her eyes with a wide, determined smile.

"Alright, I'll give it a shot. I promise!"

"That's the spirit, My Little Flurry Heart," She says while bringing a hoof up to brush along my mane. "If there's anypony that understands the true importance of making friends, it's you," Cadance smiles brightly while gazing deeply into my eyes.

"Heh! Thanks mom. That means a lot!" I say softly, feeling heart warmed by her statement.

"You're very much welcome, sweetie"

I think to myself for a moment, looking off to the side. I look back to my mom's eyes. "Hey mom?"

"Yes, Flurry?"

"Before I get into all that...," My expression changes to that of an innocent child's face. You know, the one where you make to try to get your parents to give you what you want? The face you make with the little puppy eyes? That's the one. I make that face at her.

"After this... can we go to the stadium and train together? Just for little while? Please? Then I'll go look for some friends and find some other activities to do! Pleeeeeease?" My eyes sparkle as I puppy eye her.

She lets out a soft sigh then smiles. "Oh... you know I can't say 'no' to that face.... So stop cheating!" We both exchange brief laughter.

"Hahah, Alright. We can train in the stadium for a little while"

My face lights up with excitement as I practically jump off the throne and almost caused our ice cream to fall.

"Yes!!!!" I shout. loudly I might add. After that, we continued to eat our ice cream. I take in a few more spoonfulls of ice cream quickly as I'm eager to get to training with mom.

"Mmm, remember, don't eat too fast or you'll get a-"

"MMMMGGGGRRAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" I Yell.

"Brainfreeze...," Cadance sighs.

I fall on my back and start to roll about on the floor, gripping my head while from the brain freeze. Shortly after, my brainfreeze subsides and we finish up our ice cream. This time I eat more slowly as I don't want to get another brainfreeze. After we finish up, we head down to the Crystal Empire Stadium where my mother and I usually have our magic training sessions. We reach the field of the stadium where we begin to take our normal positions a bit a ways from each other which is at least ten feet apart.

"Okay, we're here. Now what would you like to brush up on, sweetie?" Cadance asks.

"I'd like to continue training with crystal magic"

"Ah, a wonderful choice as always. Let me know when you're ready and we can begin"

My horn begins to glow a bright golden yellow and I take a deep breath. "Ready," I say confidently.

"Right then, let see if you can still handle yourself just as well as last time," She says with a grin forming on her face while her horn begins to glow a bright cyan. Shortly after, many crystal spikes begin to magically form floating around her.

"Still remember how to do this?" She asks

"Of course I do," I say while beginning to conjure up some crystals myself that float around me as well.

"Good, now let's brush up on defense. THINK FAST!" She suddenly launches all of her crystals towards my direction. My eyes widen and I quickly shift the crystals I formed to pierce into the ground in front of me. Quickly they enlarge upwards and form a crystal wall to block off the oncoming projectiles. Her crystals hit the wall and break into pieces.

"Good job, sweetie. You're pretty quick," Cadance says with a smile. I peak around the wall to look her way.

"You could at least give me a better warning!" I shout over.

"Oh? But you said you were ready, Hmhm"

"Yeah yeah.."

"Now then, back too it!" Cadance's horn glows and she suddenly fires a cyan beam at the wall. I quickly duck behind the wall to take cover. The force of the blast begins to cause the wall to crack. Cadance continues to press the beam against the wall until it completely breaks apart. Before the wall breaks I teleport away leaving Cadance still focused on my last position. After her beam comes to an end she quickly notices my disappearance. I appear behind her and shoot out crystals in return towards her. Cadance glances over her shoulder as her horn glows once again. A cyan barrier forms around her body like a bubble and the crystals I fired break into pieces upon impacting the shield. Noticeably, one of the crystals manages to put a crack on Cadance's barrier. Cadance's eyes focuses on the crack upon it. In that instance of the formation of the crack, Cadance's expression turns to that of surprised. Shortly after said moment she just gives a small smile.

"Very good," She says while dispersing her barrier. "Now dodge these," Cadance quickly forms more crystals, much larger ones, and begins to launch them at me. I quickly jump out of the way and continue to do so with each crystal she launches. Some crystals I manage to cleanly avoid while very few just barely graze me. I land quite the few paces away from Cadance's left side and keep a firm stance when I do. I glance up at her once the crystals stop being launched. She forms one more sharp, small crystal, small enough to fit in her hoof as she grips it. She then chucks it at me and I quickly jerk my head aside, letting it fly past me.

"Good, Sweetie! Now then, show me the barrier I taught you"

"I'll try..," I reply, though unsure about how to go about performing the action she wants. I haven't really had much practice in casting my mother's barrier as much as she has. Then again, this is why I'm here. I quickly form a yellow shield barrier around myself. I feel that it lacks strength but I try to keep it upheld. Cadance quickly fires another one of her magical emission beams at my shield. At the very moment of impact, most of the shield cracks. I quickly retaliate by adding a bit more of my magic into the shield. The only way I am going to learn to perfect my mothers barrier is to be put through this test that will truly push me. My magic begins to work as the shield's cracks begin to fade and the color of the barrier begin to flicker and fade between yellow and cyan.

"Grrrghh.." I grunt.

"Easy, Flurry. Focus," she calmly claims.

"I can... do it!" I say through my gritted teeth.

"I Know," She softly says as she adds a tad more power to her emission blast, thus causing more cracks to formulate around my barrier.

I know Cadance is holding back her magic to prevent my shield from completely bursting but this is strenuous enough as it is. I can only imagine if she wasn't holding back. She lets off firing her beam and stands up straight to gaze at me with a smile. I look up at her while by barrier continues to flicker and fade between colors. After realizing her beam had stopped I undo my shield. I take a moment to breathe while giving a smile of success at Cadance. Then I notice her horn is still glowing. I gaze more observantly at her and I can clearly tell she isn't looking directly at me. The realization quickly hits me as my eyes widen. I quickly form a gauntlet like crystal casing around my right hoof and sharply turn around to punch the returning crystal Cadance had thrown earlier out of the air, smashing it to pieces. I let out a slight battle cry upon impact. Cadance gives another brief, proud smile.

"Haha! Almost got me, mom! But not today!" I confidently say while glancing back at her.

"I knew you would be able to handle that little trick. It's getting harder and harder to get past your senses. What with how strong and smart you're becoming"

"Hehehe. Thanks mom. Now, what's next?" I say before I teleport a few feet in front of her.

"Next, I feel we should do some blast training"

"Alright!" I eagerly chant.

"Now go far back and wait for my go... and remember if things start to get a little dicey, move out of the way quickly. Got that, Flurry?"

"Loud and clear!" I hop back a great distance away from Cadance and wait for her go-a-head. Her horn begins to glow once more and she shouts over to me. "Fire away!" Just then she blasts a large, bright cyan blast towards my direction. Quickly, I fire a large yellow blast to retaliate. Shortly after, our beams collide with each other, creating a rumbling shockwave. We both hold our magical beams against each others to see if one of us could overpower the other's blast. Slowly I begin to increase the power and force behind my blast which causes Cadance's beam to push back towards her.

"Hehehe," Chuckles Cadance before beginning to putting more force into her blast.

"Surely you can do better than that, sweetie!"

"Oh yeah? Then how's this for 'better'?" I unleash a large burst of magic within my blast to push more against Cadance's blast. The sheer power of my blast is enough to nearly outmatch hers as her own beam pushes back closer and closer to her horn. Cadance begins to struggle and even starts to break a sweat. I smile, confidently as I continue to hold this force. I can feel her struggle as the form of her beam begins to lose its stability. I think to myself that I will be victorious if I keep up this amount of power. Cadance grins, stands more firmly to strength her stance, and unleashes a more formidable power behind her blast. My eyes widen as my beam practically retreats closer to me in attempts to get away from her blast. I stagger in my place, legs wobble, and I start to break a sweat myself. Realizing that my mother was just playing me on, her beam inches closer and closer to me. I refuse to give in so easily however. I begin to strengthen my stance in order to plant my hooves firmly to the ground. I grit my teeth once I pick myself back up and channel more of my magical strength in my attempt to retaliate.

"Remember, Flurry!" Cadance shouts over. I look up towards her direction.

"If this is too much.. just move out of the way... There's no shame in doing so, sweetie. You've done amazing work already!" I just smirk at her words.

"Heheh, Nice try mom! But you oughta know me by now! I'm not one to DO THAT!" Mid-sentence, I unleash even more immense power into my final push, causing my blast to quickly push Cadance's beam back once more. Cadance slides backwards across the ground where she stands, causing some dirt to be torn away from the ground beneath her hooves.

She takes a moment to breathe and regain her composure after almost losing her balance by my surprise final push. Our beams meet once more in the center just like when we started. I grin confidently once more, quite pleased at myself for being able to push back such a strong blast. Cadance and I stand firmly in our places as we continue to hold our blasts still. Cadance just stands there with a smile on her face as she retains her hold on her beam.

"Hehehe," I chuckle. "C'mon! you're hardly makin' me break a sweat, mom!" There's no response from Cadance. She continues to stand there with a smile while gazing past the clashing beams to look my way. We feel a shift in power but it's not coming from either of us. I take a moment to glance at the center where our attacks are clashing. I quickly notice sparks emitting from the point of clash. Our expressions quickly turn to that of worry.

"Uh oh," I simply utter.

The spot where our attacks are clashing sparks more violently and a sphere like source of energy within the center takes shape and begins to expand pretty quickly. We quickly realize what is about to happen. We both simultaneously conclude our blasts and I teleport to the top of the stadium's rim while Cadance jumps back as far away from the center as she could. The last bit of our magic collides at the center and what follows is a bright explosion that erupts and a rumbling shockwave spans throughout the field. The shockwave continues top spread out quite the massive distance and even begins to cause a great deal of the empire itself to shake. Soon after everything settles, a rainfall of magical particles begin to shower the stadium's field. I gaze down at the stadium as the rainfall of magic sprinkle down, giving a soft giggle after taking in what had happened.

"That was cool," I say with an excited smile.

I teleport back down to the field and proceed to walk through the magical rainfall. Cadance begins her approach back towards the center while dusting off particles from her mane.

"Perhaps we overdid it a just a teensy bit," Cadance chuckles.

"Maybe, but hey... These sparkles look pretty cool!"

"That they are, Flurry," She smiles.

We spend a short moment gazing at the falling sparkles. Not long after this we begin to hear hoof steps approaching. I gaze past Cadance's shoulder to find Shining Armor approaching us with a smile.

"Dad!"

"Ahhh, no wonder the empire had an unexpected tremor. It's just two of my favorite mare's having fun!"

"Hmhm, What brings you out here, honey?" Cadance questions with a smile.

"Well, aside from what just happened, I wanted to check up on you girls to see how's it goin'"

"We're fine, dad. Just doing a bit of practice. Not a big deal"

"Heheh, Alrighty then. Hey, while I'm here, how's about I join you two?"

"Didn't you just get done with patrol?" Cadance asks.

"Oh, what? I can't have a little fun with you both? Trust me, I still got plenty of energy left. Plus, I'm never too tired to spend time with either of you," Shining says with a smile.

"Hmhm," Cadance gives a subtle blush.

"Sounds good dad!" I eagerly reply while my eyes widen with excitement.

"Awesome, but if I'm going to be joining you we're going to need to tone it down just a bit. Wouldn't want to scare the residence. Though, I'm sure all that shaking startled them up a bit already"

"Yeah . . . ," I bring a hoof to rub the back of my head and my ears perk down for a moment.

"Oh, don't feel bad. You were just havin' fun, right? So it's all good! Now c'mon, Let's have a little fun together"

"Alright, What shall we do next?" Cadance Questions as I turn my head for a moment to ponder on the possibilities. As I put my hoof to my chin to think I begin thinking of ways to test out abilities in a speed test. My ears perk up as I get the idea to get my trusty stopwatch from the balcony.

"I have an idea! I just need to get my stopwatch"

"Well alright then, hurry and get it. I'm interested in seeing what you've got in store, Flurry," He proceeds to ruffle my mane while giving a brief chuckle. I gently shift out of the way of his hoof to get it away from my mane.

"Ease up on my mane, dad," I pout as I reach my hooves up to re-adjust my mane to its normal shape.

"Hehe, Sorry, but I can't help it sometimes," He says with a smug look. I begin to trot my way towards the exit.

"I'm also interested to see what you've got packin', honey," Shining says to Cadance with a sly smile.

Cadance turns to Shining with an embarrassed blushing smile "Stop!" chuckling through her words.

Shining chuckles softly "Hurry back!" dad shouts as I trot away.

Heeding his words, I teleport myself right back to the balcony and reach out for my stopwatch. I turn away from the balcony after picking it up and almost teleport back immediately. I stop myself and look back out at the view overlooking the land. I get the idea to give one more go at the time trial course for my teleportation.

"Hmmmm, I'm sure they can wait 10 seconds longer," I say to myself.

I set the timer on the railing again, take a few deep breaths, and hit start. Immediately I poof away to begin my usual destinations. Starting at Ponyville, then Canterlot, Cloudsdale, Manehatten, and Applewood. Once I arrive at The Everfree Forest I take a moment to confirm my location again as well as making sure there are no timberwolves to jump at me. Right as I'm about to poof away I sense something off.

"Whoa, what's that?" I ask.

I feel an odd tingle that lingers from my horn and slowly it begins to slither its way down my head. Soon after, this tingle reaches my back, my focus on the time trial has now been fixated entirely on this odd tingle. I start gazing around in suspicion of everything around me but nothing of interest was in sight. Just a bunch of creepy looking trees and bushes.

"What in the hay?" I question.

Seeing as whatever is going on with this strange anomaly has already interrupted my training, I start to turn my body to get a better look around me. As I turn I sense the lingering feeling redirect, trailing itself to my chest. I bring my hoof up to clutch at my chest and shift my gaze to it. I tense for a brief moment, expecting some sort of pain but this strange feeling does not seem to be hurting. I shift my gaze in front of me and stare into the dark opening between the crooked trees. I get the sense of a presence somewhere in the direction I am now gazing upon. I begin to feel drawn towards this presence and slowly I step closer to the path.

"Okay? This is getting weird. I never felt something like this before. I should probably just go," I quietly say to myself.

I suddenly feel the tension of this feeling spike which causes me to tense for a brief moment. Not even a second after the sudden rise in this unsettling feeling, it diminishes, feeling very faint.

"Well, then again I've never felt something like this before so I guess I better check it out," I proceed cautiously into the forest further towards the general direction of where I sense this rather peculiar disturbance. As I move down the path further, my sense of unease grows more and more prevalent. It becomes more intense as I inch closer but then it suddenly changes.

"Huh? Wh.. What happened?" I say as I gaze around as the feeling vanishes for a brief moment. I pick up on the trail again, but it appears to be coming from a different direction. I turn to it and start following it again, but this time quickening my pace. As I progress further, this disturbance grew more intense. Then, I come across some broken sticks and tree bark on the ground, but I quickly realize that this is no ordinary pile of wood. These are pieces left over from defeated timberwolves.

"Timberwolf parts? Something's up," I say in a more serious manner.

My first thought is maybe somepony out here is hunting timberwolves or something along the lines of that. The disturbance suddenly vanishes again and I grow more desperate to find the source. I sense it once more but it appears to be even further away so I proceed towards the direction of it at a much quicker speed. I start at a light but quick trot to pursue. I consider my current pace acceptable to keep up with the pace of it. However, it seems to only get further away, my trot turned into a jog. I get incredibly close now but I stop as I almost trip over another fallen timberwolf. Although, this time the pieces of the timberwolf appears to be different. Parts of the wooden pieces have some sort of black char on it as if it had been burnt.

"What's this?" I bend down to inspect the black patches on the wood. Then I notice the black stuff on it started moving slightly.

"Woah!" I quickly jerk back, worried of it being alive or something.

I then notice that the marks on it looks more like some strange form of dark magic rather than a burn mark. I use my magic to pick up a stick and begin to poke at the marks, scraping away black substance from the wood. I lift up the stick to bring the top closer to me to examine it better. the substance on the stick's end appears hazy and it even starts giving off this dark purple-y mist. The texture of the substance appears sleek and it even gives off faint glimmers of light as the sun shines upon it.

"Woah. What kind of gunk is this stuff?" I gaze in interest at this peculiar yet pretty looking substance.

"Well now I know that these timberwolves were attacked by somepony with magic. If you would even call this 'magic', but this stuff does have a strange magic-y feel to it so it has to be. " I start rubbing my chin for a moment, but as I stand here to ponder, something jumps out of a nearby bush and lands in front of me. "Ahh!" I shout, nearly losing my balance and falling. Catching myself, I gaze at what had jumped out at me. What stands before is a small critter that appears to be gazing right at me with glowing purple eyes. It has no pupils, just bright purple eyes that look like gemstones.

"What are you?" I ask. I examine it further and notice its full black coat which appears to be made of fur. It has a poofy tail and has a pair of long ears. "Are you . . . a bunny?" I say as my eyes widen at the realization of what this creature is before me. It just sits there, staring at me while making a few faint squeaks.

"I've never seen a type of bunny rabbit like this before . . . What happened to you little fella?" I ask. "I mean, not that you could answer right? Hehe . . . Can you?" It continues to stare, occasionally twitching its nose. I slowly begin to reach my hoof out at the bunny. The strange bunny turns its head and just hops off in the direction it looked towards.

"W... Wait! . . . Okay, something is definitely wrong here," I gaze towards the direction the bunny hopped towards. I can feel now that the source of this strange anomaly is in that same direction. In that instance I realize that my sense of the source is getting further away by the second. I drop the stick I had been magically holding and run towards the direction of the source.

This time, as I get closer I begin to feel a chill run down my spine. The chilling feeling grows more prominent as I race closer to the source. I feel I have no time to lose so I quickly shrug off the chills and press forward. I feel the source just up a head beyond some trees but then it vanishes yet again. I charge a head with a full on sprint towards it as I feel I'm going to lose it if I don't catch where it went, let alone find out what it is. I then jump way a head past the trees and over some bushes and land just on the other side, landing right where I felt the magic was last at. Sadly, to no avail as there is nothing here.

"Aww! What? Where did it go?!" I was standing in a bit of an open field within the forest. There was nothing much around me except a few rocks and a stream of water nearby. I start to walk around the area to investigate.

"Hmm, it couldn't have gone far... it has to be around here somewhere... whatever or whoever it is"

I start to turn over a few stones by searching all around and even start literally turning over stones. Sadly, I found nothing. Nothing seems out of place. My ears perk down as I start to feel I lost whatever it was that I was after. I did not want to give up though, as this really caught my interest.

"I gotta find out what's going on here," I say out loud to myself.

I desperately try looking around one more time and even try using my magic to sense anypony nearby.

"Hmmm, nothing yet..," I say softly to myself as I gaze around.

I then feel something appear to my magical senses.

"Huh? I found something! Coming from... behind me?" I turn around and as I do I start to hear loud growling. My eyes widen as I quickly realize that this isn't anything close to resembling the magic I'm looking for. I fully turn to find an enormous timberwolf emerge from the woods and looks directly at me. It's sharp fangs bare at the sight of me. The timberwolf gazes at me with the fiercest look a woodland creature could ever give. Its size is much bigger than normal timberwolves and it is much bigger than most of the trees around. I look up at it and take a few steps back.

"W-woah... e-easy boy! Just take a deep breath now..," I put my hooves up to try to gesture it to try to calm it down.

It roars loudly at me and its roar has quite the force to blow a gust of wind which slightly pushes me back.

"Nrgh! Down boy! Please!" I try to plead with it as I didn't want to get hurt by it. Suddenly, It raises a paw and swipes at me, hitting me directly and causing me to fly back and land on my back.

"Argh! Nrgh.. ooow... that...... is not okay," I say through my grit teeth. I lie flat on my back trying to recover from the pain of the strike it delivered to me. It growls at me and begins to step closer.

"Oh ho.. you're going to get it now," I say as I slowly push myself off the ground. I glare at the timberwolf and prepare myself to fight it. My horn gives off a yellow glow as I ready it to blast it to pieces.

"Alright.. C'mon you big puppy.. I've got a bone for ya!" I wittingly say as I take aim and wait for the right moment to fire. It roars once more before charging directly at me.

"Get Down.." Utters a voice from behind me.

"Huh?"

I blink out of my focus and quickly turn to the voice only to find some sort of magical beam heading right towards me. I tense and quickly duck for the magic beam to fly right over me. I turn my head to look forward at the timberwolf. It lunges at me only for the magical beam to hit it directly. The magic casted having an appearance that of dark lightning of some sort. The display being rather elegant before my eyes. The timberwolf then bursts into pieces after being struck by the beam and all of its pieces just dropped to the ground. I stand back up and continue to gaze at the defeated timberwolf. I start to turn back around to face the one who defeated it.

"Woah... Thanks for the save" I exhale. "Huh?..Wh..," I gaze out to where the being would be standing but there is nopony there to be seen.

"W...Wait! Where did you go? I wanna thank you!" I say while gazing around.

"You're very much welcome... but you should get out of here... It's too dangerous," The voice utters again from an unknown location.

"Hang on, I can handle myself...," I explained.

"Regardless, this is no place for the likes of you... So please leave this place before more show up"

I try to locate where this voice was coming from, although it sounds like their voice is projecting from all around me. I turn my body around a few times, glancing around trying to find them as well as using my magic to sense them. This voice sounds masculine so It must be a stallion talking.

"C'mon out, no need to be shy or whatevs..," I say softly

"I'm afraid I cannot do that..," The voice speaks out in slightly louder tone.

A certain thought comes to mind and I look back at the remains of the timberwolf and to my surprise I see that same black markings on the remains. I quickly turn back to speak out to them again.

"Hey Wait! You're the source of all that strange magic I've been sensing! C'mon out! I wanna meet you!" I shout.

There was a moment of silence before I quickly grow impatient. "Oh C'mon! Please? I wanna meet you! Your magic is interesting!"

"Like I said... I'm not coming out. Don't make me repeat myself again," The mysterious voice says in a heavier tone.

Me, not taking no for an answer, I decide to add more power to my sensing abilities. Somehow I'm able to find him right off the bat so maybe he's doing something to hide his own magic which could explain why I'm having trouble tracking him. I knew that if given a bit more time I could locate him. So, I decide to press more to get him to come out to buy me time.

"What's the big deal? I only want to meet the one who just saved me," I claim.

"That isn't necessary... Please be on your way and I'll be on mine.."

"Why? Are you hiding something?... I... promise I won't tell anypony"

"There's nothing else for me to say... I'm going to be on my way now.. Do Not Follow Me"

Right then, I locate exactly where he is standing. I turn and face a large tree just ahead of me. He's likely standing right behind it and I begin to approach.

"Stop... Approaching..," He says more heavily.

I quickly stop in my tracks. I take a moment to question how he knew I was approaching.

"L-Look... I'm not leaving 'til I know who you are!" I stomp the ground lightly, instating my decision to be final.

"That's unfortunate...," as he says this I start to feel a bit uneasy. Like the sense of dread starts getting to me. Something is trying to keep me at bay.

"...Because I do not wish for you to see me... so I say this one last time with dear concern for your own safety... I'm going to leave... and you are to not follow me... For if you are to follow me...," I grit my teeth, slowly becoming angry at his words.

"I Will Have No Choice But To Make You Leave..."

[Chapter 1 End]

Chapter 2: Hazy Demeanor

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My stance remains firm in spite of this uneasy dreadful feeling. I gaze upon the general spot on the tree, roughly where his height may reach on the other side of it. I take a moment to think on what I should do next. This feeling continues to grow and but I still maintain my composure.

"Please... just go... I do not wish to cause harm to you..." utters the mysterious voice.

"I already said that I'm not leaving until I know who you are. You deciding not to come out just gives me more reason to stay. So you come out here yourself, otherwise, I'm coming over there to get a good look at you," I reply.

There's a brief moment of silence. I look down at my hooves then back up at the tree. I raise up my right hoof and place it forward a step. Right then, a purple and black beam fires out from behind the tree and flies right towards my right hoof. I quickly jerk my hoof back to avoid it and give a shocked gasp as my body tenses. The spot were my hoof was set now has a charred burn mark upon it. My eyes widen at the sight of the burnt grass but then my eyes turn to glare back at the tree.

"That was a warning shot. The next one won't be."

"Seriously?!" I shout.

"Please, just be on your way already. I won't allow you to take another step,"

I continue to glare at the tree and question to myself how he is able to see me from his position. I begin to examine the tree more carefully from my position. I squint my eyes to focus upon the tree in an effort to see something that may give me a clue. In that moment, I notice a glimmer pear out from beside the tree. My eyes quickly fixate upon the glimmer before it slowly fades. I focus more on where the faint shine appeared from and I notice a dim glow of purple on what looks like some sort gemstone. I squint my eyes a tad more to examine the gemstone and soon enough I notice the faint reflection of a muzzle belonging to a stallion. My eyes widen at the sight for a brief moment then my gaze quickly returns to a glare.

"So that's how you're able to see me," I quietly say to myself.

The voice lets out a gentle sigh. There is a moment of silence before the stallion speaks. "You obviously have no intentions of leaving me be. Very well, so be it. Just know one thing before you try anything"

I stand firm, awaiting his words before I begin to make my move.

"You will not be able to catch me..." Right then, the reflection of the stallion fades and the gemstone flees behind the tree.

My eyes quickly dart at the spot to notice this as he proceeds to make is escape. I go to take my first step to begin tailing him but I hear a sudden rustling from a bush to my left. I turn my attention to the bush and to my surprise, the black bunny from earlier jumps out of it and makes a dash right towards me. Before I could react, the bunny pounces at me and latches directly onto my face and obscures my vision.

"Gah-Mmmmhhhph!" I let out as I reach up to grab hold of the critter. "Grr! Get off me!" I yell out as I try to pry this clinging creature off my face. This bunny continues to cling with a tight hold. I stagger about as It does but then I steady myself and lift up the bunny off my face and I throw it away from me. The bunny lands a few yards away from me without any loss of balance once it reaches the ground. I glare at the bunny while taking a moment to regain my composure. The bunny proceeds to stand on its hind paws and stare at me while twitching its nose.

"Ergh, What kind of a bunny rabbit are you?!" I shout over to the critter.

The bunny then proceeds to give me a wide creepy, malicious grin. My expression chances from anger to stunned as I witness the wide grin that swept across its fuzzy face. The bunny turns and quickly hops away into the forest. My eyes follow it until it is out of sight.

"Did... Did that bunny just.. grin at me?" I say to myself. I gaze down at the grass, puzzled by what has happened. I look off into the woods where the stallion may have ran off too.

"That guy is seriously strange.. and no doubt that bunny rabbit is his doing. But it doesn't matter now. I need to follow him!" I turn towards the direction he went and hastily proceed to follow. I jump past the tree and give a quick glance around to find him. I proceed straight away from the tree and run deeper into the forest to pick up on his trails.

"He can't get very far... Just need to find where he's headed," I say as I gaze down to find any hoof prints in the grass. I spot a trail of hoof prints leading in the direction I'm running towards.

"Good, this is the right way"

I run and run, catching up to him as I begin to hear the faint sounds of another pair of hooves hastily trotting through the woods. As the sounds inch closer with every step I take, my eyes gaze forward now to keep a look out for the stallion. I catch a glimpse of a dark figure ahead of me rounding a tree.

"Gotcha!" I utter to myself. Shortly after, I jump a head and land in front of the tree he rounded. My eyes quickly dart around the spot but he's not here.

"What?!" I stand confused, gazing about to try to find him. The gemstone belonging to the stallion pears out from the leaves from up top the tree. The tip of the gemstone aims down at me as I glance up to see it glowing a bright purple. I tense as it fires that same black lightening magic. I teleport out of the way before impact, placing myself a few feet further away from the tree. The magical blast hits the ground and causes the grass to be charred and covered in black, hazy substance. I grit my teeth and grunt whilst glaring up at the tree just in time to notice a dark blur jolt out of its leaves and enter another tree. My eyes follow him as he seems to proceeds to hastily jump from tree to tree.

"Hey! Get back here already!" I shout towards him.

"Stay away I said!" The stallion shouts back from the distance. "I already said I do not wish to harm you so why are you persisting?"

"You have something to hide and I gotta know what it is! Now!"

"Then continue at your leisure! Just know that you've been warned!"

He continues further until he is out of sight once more. I sprint towards his direction, nearing another open spacing within the forest. I stop once I reach the spot and shift my eyes around to find him.

"Ugh, this is getting annoying," I say as my horn begins to glow, using it to locate him. As I try to find him using my magic, I begin to hear growls from within the shrubs ahead of me.

"Huh?"

Three timberwolves slowly creep out from the darkness of the forest, angrily snarling at me.

"Oh great.... Wait a second.." I gaze at their eyes to find something off. Their eyes are not giving off their normal green glow. Their eye are shining the same bright purple as that bunny and upon further examination, parts of their bodies have black, hazy markings.

"Oh c'mon"

The timberwolves inch closer with growing intent on attacking. My attention turns away from them as I hear the sounds of what seems to be squeaky laughter. My eyes dart up to a nearby tree branch to find the bunny sitting on it whilst laughing at my with a wide ear to ear, malicious smile.

"Why you little..!"

The bunny proceeds to raise its left paw and give a gentle 'goodbye' wave. Right after it waves, it hops of its branch and falls out of sight, disappearing once more into the forest. As soon as it is gone, my eyes turn back to the nearing timberwolves. They ready themselves to pounce at me by lowering there stances. I steady my own stance in preparation to retaliate, but before I can fully ready myself, my horn picks up the stallion's general location. The feeling within my horn begins to fade fast though.

"Ugh, I don't have time for this!" I shout.

The timberwolves roar loudly at me before they all pounce at me in unison. My wings swiftly unfold and I perform a hard flap towards the ground and launch myself towards the sky. I successfully avoid their pounce and all of the timberwolves collide with one another. I fly up past the trees and gaze down at them all from my height. They appear stunned from the collision before regaining their composure and their gaze sharply shifts up towards me. They stand there, ferociously growling. I hover in the air for a brief moment to stare at them, questioning their feral behavior. The strange markings as well as the haze emitting from them being abnormal enough, but their behavior is quite more aggressive. Their eyes begin to change back to normal and the hazy markings slowly fade away. The timberwolves' behavior changes. They turn their heads to each other and give looks of visible confusion as if they are unaware of how they got there. Puzzled by this, I watch for a moment longer, only to find them causally walking off like nothing happened.

"He's controlling them... but I haven't seen any sort of puppeteer magic like this before." I turn my head to gaze towards the east section of the forest. I squint my eyes to focus upon the forest from above in search for any movement. I spot a dark figure trotting through a small open field and appears to be making their way towards an entrance to a cave.

"Gotcha now!"

The figure enters the cave. My horn glows brighter and I teleport straight to the entrance of the cave. I stare puzzled into the cave as I do not recall any caves within the Everfree Forest. I glance over my shoulder back into the depths of the woods for a brief moment. I watch carefully to make sure that bunny is not around this time as to not allow it to sneak up on me while I enter. I turn my head back towards the entrance and examine it from my position, though there is not much to see what with the pathway trailing into darkness.

"Hmm, I hope this is the only way outta this cave. I've gone pretty far to catch this guy and I don't plan on stopping here," I rush forward into the dark cave. As I rush in I keep a careful eye for any movement. I trot deeper and deeper into the cave it only grows darker to the point where I have to squint to see anything. The only illumination within the cave is the outside light shining in. I slow down my pace and proceed more carefully, making sure he doesn't slip past me. I reach a point where there's not much to see and I'm left standing in an open, spacious section of the cave that seems to have a path in front of me that turns a corner. I gaze around my current area to find any sort of hiding spots he may be hiding behind, thankfully to no avail. I look down the path ahead and tread towards it carefully. I peak around the corner to gaze down the path. I see within the distance faint shimmering lights. I round the corner and carefully tread closer towards the light I see ahead.

"If this is an oncoming train, I swear," I jokingly say to myself before giving a brief chuckle.

I enter a much larger, more spacious section of the cave. This section seems different, it has all sorts of strange reflective rocks all around, almost like crystals of some sort. Some of the rock's reflective parts blend with the walls while others protrude. These rocks appear to be the cause of the shimmering light as they reflect a light source that dimly Illuminate the cave. Though, I'm unable to tell where the light source is coming from. Perhaps the source of light is reflection all the way from a deeper section of the cave and the light has bounced from rock to rock all the way to this room. It's quite the pretty sight to behold as I gaze about the dark purplish blue tone of the dimly lit cave accompanied with the calming sounds of a deep hum along with faint water droplets hitting the ground from a distance. I would be inclined to take this moment to soak in the beauty and relax but I divert my attention back to locating the stranger. I gaze about to find all the potential places to hide, finding many. This makes it harder to guess where he may be hiding but from what I can tell, this cave most likely does not have another entry point that he may use to make his escape. If there is, then perhaps he doesn't know of it.

"There's no where to run! The only way out of this cave is through me!" My voice echos as I shout.

"How can you be so sure of yourself?" The sound of his voice bounces all around the room in a similar echo, though it makes it difficult to tell where the voice originated from. Me, on the other hoof, It's easy to pinpoint me via voice as I stand directly in the center of this spacious room. I smirk slightly at his reply.

"Because you responded to me. Had you known there was another way out of this cave you wouldn't have stuck around, now would you?" There's a moment of brief silence. No sounds emit from either of us, only the ambiance of the cave.

"Ahh, what's wrong? Did I get your tongue? You don't wanna speak all of the sudden"

"Leave this place!" He shouts. "Go now before I become truly violent with you"

I let out a gentle sigh. "Look, I don't wanna fight you. This has gone on quite enough already, don't you think? You already interrupted my training session so I can't just let this go now. Now I'm really wanting to get back home, but not before I know who you are and find out about this magic of yours"

"What part of 'no' don't you understand?"

"I'm sure you have your reasons for why you won't allow me to see you, but I'm asking you... Please, may I be allowed to see you and learn about you and your magic? I'm sure I can look past what ever the reason is why you won't come out"

"Why do you care so much about me, my magic, and what I can do with it? You'll only find that I'm far less interesting than I appear to be," He says with a softer, more sincere tone.

"Because everypony has something interesting about them and I'm very prone to finding out what that may be. You could say... It's more of a habit. I'd say that's just me being me," I reply with a more gentler tone as well.

"Tch.."

"And I know that what you just said is a lie. I'm sure there's a lot of interesting stuff about you"

"How could one such as yourself presume to know that if you don't even know who I am?"

"That's why I'm here! To get to know you! So if you could just come on out an-"

"Silence!" He shouts, his voice echoing throughout the cave system.

I go quiet for a moment after his shout and I begin to feel the looming sense of dread once more. I take a moment to actually consider leaving now but I've gone too far to give up here. The sudden sound of the emission of magic waves out throughout the room and in a swift moment, a beam of dark magic shoots out from within the darkness of the cave. It flies directly towards me and I quickly jerk my body aside just in time for it to miss me.

"Woah!" The blast impacts a nearby wall behind me, causing it to break apart into pieces. I glance back to look at the damage, looking quite shocked at the force it had. I quickly face forward and shift my eyes around to try to find where it came from. I wasn't able to tell where from the first shot since it was too fast, but now I know he's on the offense against me. I focus on the darkness of the cave, awaiting for him to fire once more. In that moment I hear the sound of magic being emitting once again coming from the similar spot within the darkness. I ready myself to dodge or maybe counter it, but then I hear the sound shift over suddenly to my right and shoot out from the darkness. I quickly dive forward and land on my stomach, letting the blast fly over my head. It impacts another solid wall beside me, breaking a wall to my left. I lift up my head and look both ways before standing back up again. I look up and about for any place where the magic may have came from.

"Hey! Take it easy!"

"I will not heed your demands," He then fires a few more blast from within the darkness, each one flying at me from different angles in front of me. I then proceed to jump and shift about to avoid the blast, similarly to how I avoid Cadance's crystal. As each blast impacts the ground and walls, smoke from the blast picks up and starts to cloud the room. With each passing blast impacting the cave's walls and ground, more and more dust and smoke pick up, making it harder to see. One particular blast shoots out from a high point from within the darkness. I somersault away from the blast and it impacts the ground, creating a crater. I land back in the center of the room and I try to take a breath. I start coughing as I breathe in some of the smoke and dust. I put a hoof near my muzzle to cover my coughing.

"Not how im-..magined I'd be spending my day today"

"If you're dissatisfied with this then feel free to exit"

"You think a little dust is going to slow me down?"

"No" He fires another beam somewhere within the cave. There is a faint sound of impact, but this sound is different. It sounded like something ricocheting off of a smooth surface. I see the blast shoot out of the darkness once more but it's trajectory flies no where near me. It flies right at one of the reflective rocks and bounces off of it, changing it's course towards me. I duck to avoid it and it flies over my head and impacts another reflective rock to my right. The magic bounces off again and flies up towards near the ceiling of the room and hits a pillar made of the crystalline like rocks. The magic bounces off the pillar and makes another beeline right for me. I'm caught off guard by this and the magic impacts me directly onto my chest, practically exploding into a bright purple wave of static.

"Uuuaaagghhh!" I cry out as the forceful impact from the blast sends me into a bit of a daze.

"But that might.."

I wince at the pain of the attack but it shortly begins to subside. I look down at my chest after the blast to check myself. I quickly notice a small patch of the same black substance from before now bared upon my chest. The black substance begins to grow and spread along my chest and even start emitting its haze. As this happens, I start to gain fatigue along with a shortness of breath. It's clear that this substance is the cause for my sudden fatigue as I try to take deeper breaths but I am unable to. I use my hooves to try to scrape off the substance but it latches on tight, like when gum gets stuck in your mane.

"W--W--What did you... do?" I say in an exhausted tone.

"Feeling tired? We've only just begun"

"You... Urgh... This won't stop me"

"Oh? Then how about a little more?" With that, he fires another beam onto a reflective rock and his magical blast begins to bounce all around from rock to rock. I try in my best efforts to shift and jerk myself aside to avoid them as they get close, my movements seem to be slowed while covered in this stuff. The substance spreads fully on my chest and I take a moment to stand still to catch my breath. I try to focus on dodging this oncoming magic before focusing on removing the substance. The magic reaches the same pillar again and reflects off of it again and flies towards me once more. I'm ready for this one however. I shift aside to avoid it and it barely misses me. I take a moment to smirk after I dodge it. I hear the sound of the magic hitting another smooth surface to which then my smirk quickly fades. I glance back to see the magic flying towards me. I have no time to dodge however. The blast nails me right on my back, causing me to stagger forward and almost fall over.

"Nrgh! Grrrgh.."

The black substance forms on my back from the magical impact and starts to spread and grow along it. I begin to feel twice as fatigued as before now as this substance consumes me. I try to open my wings to maybe use them for easier momentum but the substance quickly covers them and won't allow me to open them. I kneel down and try to breathe, having taking small breaths. I quickly try to dart my eyes around to try to locate the being. My shortness of breath makes it hard for me to focus on locating him. I'm left here kneeling and out of breath, looking down at the ground trying to support myself to stand back up.

"Look at you... you wanted to learn about my magic. Well, now you get to experience it first hoof. Enjoy it. Hope I've taught you a thing or two" The stallions voice says menacingly.

There is a moment of quiet where all that is heard is my heavy breathing. I pant here for a few moments longer before I start to regain control of my composure. I start to breathe more calmly as I put my hoof to my chest. I take a deep breath inward and I exhale as I extend my hoof outward, letting out all my worries using my mother's signature breathing technique. I begin to stand up slowly and my horn begins to shine yellow. The light from my horn glows brighter as I gather up my magic. From where the stallion is, he cannot believe his eyes.

"What? How are you even able to stand?"

I say nothing as I continue to gather my magic. My horn suddenly shines even brighter to illuminate the entire room. I concentrate my power into my chest and form my yellow barrier from within me. The shield expands outward and begins pushing the substance off my body until it is fully ripped away from me. I now stand within my yellow shield and all the substance now sticks to my shield. I take a moment to smirk and stretch my wings for a moment before folding them again. I then emit a pulse by breaking away my own shield. The pulse waves throughout the room and completely eradicates the substance. My horn's light dims down now as I stand firmly and gaze up into the darkness.

"What is this? How could ones magic be so capable of countering mine?" He asks.

"Thanks for the lesson on teaching me about what your magic does. Though I can honestly say... I'm not all that impressed"

"What?"

"I hardly learned anything other than it makes me feel a little winded. But it seems that's really all there is too it. That and it's.. actually pretty weak"

"You hold your tongue. M-My magic is not weak!"

"Prove it then... hit me with everything you've got and I'll retort with a fraction of what I've got. Sound good?"

"You insolent little.." He barks.

"Oh and by the way? I know where you're hiding," I say as I glare up at the reflective pillar that appears to be on a higher ground. It's large enough for somepony to hide behind and there are no other decent hiding places near my ground level. Especially when most of those magical blast came from higher up. The stallion's eyes widen at the sound of my words. He wonders if I'm bluffing or not.

"Hrgh!" He grunts out, seeming quite agitated.

"Your move, buddy!" My horn begins to light up yellow once more.

The stallion grits his teeth and suddenly pears around the corner of the pillar. He whips around what appears to be a staff and aims it directly at me from his elevated position. It glows a bright purple and even sparks up as it seems to be charging a very powerful blast. I gaze at the increasingly bright staff charging up as it illuminates the cave with its glow. The staff emits a rising hum that grows louder as it charges. I stand firmly in my place and await for the right moment to make my move. He unleashes the blast directly towards me and right as it gets close I jump backwards. The magical beam impacts the ground and lets out a massive kinetic explosion, creating a massive cloud of dust and smoke. There is a flash within the smoke and everything slowly grows quiet. The stallion gazes upon the spot where his blast made contact, awaiting for the smoke to clear. He stares intently without even blinking. Maintaining his focus, his eyes dart all around the spot, waiting for the slightest bit of movement within the smog. He keeps his staff held firmly as he completely fixates his aim upon the fading cloud of smoke. The cloud clears more and more, the stallion grits his teeth and the gemstone fitted a top the staff glows brightly, ready to unleash its magic. As the cloud fades, I am no where to be seen. He blinks and lowers his staff, as well as parting his teeth away from each other. Puzzled by my disappearance he gazes around the cave in front of him in search for my whereabouts.

"Where did she go?" He carefully scans the cave for my presence but to no avail. "She couldn't have gone far... and there's no way she could have gotten past me," All is quiet, all that is heard is the sound of the deep humming of the cave, the occasional drips of water from the distance, silence. He silently holds his breath and listens more carefully. All he hears is the quiet sounds of the cave. He hears the sounds of pebbles rolling and sliding across the ground behind him. He gasps, his eyes widen, and he sharply tries to turn around only for my tightened hoof to strike him across his left cheek. He falls to his side and drops his staff in front of me to which then I firmly step on it with my left foreleg as to not allow him to obtain it again. He lies upon the ground with a hoof gently held on his cheek, gritting his teeth from the pain. I stand firmly with my hoof still tightened, glaring down at him with a stern look upon my face.

"You see... I tried playing nice... I gave you plenty of chances to play nice as well... but it's clear that that's not going to work. I only wanted to get to know the pony who gave me a helping hoof. But now, all I wanna do is punch you as payback for attacking me. I can honestly say that I'm quite peeved by your rude behavior and now... you're gonna pay!" I real my hoof back to ready myself to deliver another punch. I throw the punch down towards him.

"WAIT!" He shouts while raising his hooves to shield himself. I stop the motion of my hoof a few inches away from his.

"Stop! . . . I yield..." He turns his head away and closes his eyes. The stallion pants to catch his breath, seeming winded from my strike. My expression of sternness turns to visible confusion.

"What? Already? You better not be trying to trick me. It will not work, I guarantee it."

"I'm not. Please understand. I do not wish to proceed this any longer than it already has."

I squint my eyes at his current demeanor, finding it rather strange. I take a moment to examine the appearance of this strange pony. Their coat appears to be a dark purple and their eye color seems to be similar of the same bright purple glow their gemstone emits. Their mane and tail is very dark and seems to be giving of the appearance of a hazy cloud, softly swaying in a similar manor a smoke cloud would. To compare the motions of his mane and tail, it's similar to how Celestia's, Luna's, and Twilight's mane and tail move on their own. Nearing the ends of his flowing mane and tail, it gives off the view of how it would look like to be staring into a smokey fog with a color blend of dark purple and grayish blue. Upon further examination I notice that the being before me wears a strange set of armor and hoof shoes. The color of these are a light black and upon the center of his chest plate lies a bright purple gemstone that glows and shines within the dark. The hoof shoes he wears also have similar gemstones like the one on his chest plate. All of these gemstones bare a similar ovular shape, kind of like the shape of an egg. I admire the gemstones as they are quite fascinatingly pretty. I look down at the staff that I am pinning to the ground and begin to take note of the detail of the gemstone that sits upon the top. Its shape is not like the other gemstones on his armor but instead the shape resembles that of a diamond. After taking careful analysis of this pony before me, I decide to play along with his mannerism. "Alright, fine. If you say you give in then I won't fight you anymore. I just wanted to thank you up close for the helping hoof you gave me as well as learn about this strange magic of yours. It didn't have to turn so rash you know." I lower my hoof and set it back down on the ground.

He opens his eyes and looks up at my face, taking notices of my appearance. He lowers his hooves and shifts his eyes up at my horn. Shortly after, he leans aside to look a bit past me and spots my wings. His eyes broadened at the sight of my wings. He looks back into my eyes.

"Wait... Y-..You're... Princess Flurry Heart, correct?"

"Yeah, that's me"

"I-I'm so sorry! I-I had no idea! P-Please... forgive me. Had I known you were a princess I wouldn't have even dreamed of attacking you. My deepest of apologies, Princess" From the ground he lies on, he proceeds to shift himself into a bowing position before me. I lean my head back a tad in response to this, showing visible confusion even further. I take a moment to consider his current behavior to be possibly genuine, but I still remain a bit weary.

"Hmm," I reach my hoof out at him, offering to help him off the ground. "I suppose it's alright. Here, let me give you a hoof,". He takes a moment to stare at my hoof and slowly raises his own to reach for it. He hesitates for a moment as if he is unsure if he should take it. There is a brief moment of silence as he pauses his motions.

"Oh c'mon, go ahead, take it. I'm not gonna hurt you anymore, so long as you don't try to hurt me" He gazes up at my eyes for a moment. I return his gaze along with a reassuring smile. He then takes my hoof and I carefully help him to his hooves. I set my hoof down and take a step back, letting my firm hold on his staff go as I do. He uses his horn, which glows a bright purple, to pick up the staff. He then grasps it in the middle upon what seems to be a soft foam like grip to what I can only assume helps with keeping a tight hold onto it. I carefully watch him as he checks his staff. There is a sound of quiet scurrying all of the sudden that appears to inch closer swiftly. The stallion takes notice of the sound first before I do and looks past me towards the direction it is coming from.

"Huh?" The stallion quietly says.

The dark bunny swiftly rushes out from the darkness and makes a beeline straight for me from behind.

"Lariat! No!" Shouts the stallion as he reaches out a hoof at the critter. The bunny lunges at me with its paws out, attempting to latch onto me once more as a form of attack. Its teeth bared whilst letting out a feral snarl. My horn glows bright yellow and my magic entraps the creature within a magical field, suspending it in mid-air before it could make successful contact with me. It viciously swipes its paws at me and continues to snarl like a wild animal when it's cornered. My expression shows annoyance at the stallion for the actions the bunny tried to commit.

"Please, don't hurt him, I beg you, Princess! He was just trying to protect me!" He begs.

The bunny continues to make snarling sounds at me whilst swiping at me along with an angry glare. I turn my head slightly to return the gaze to the bunny. I deliver a frightening leer that pierces through the bunny's glare and its behavior quickly turns from feral-like to frightened. The critter curls up and even starts to shake, realizing the trapped and defenseless position it is in. Lastly, its glowing gemstone like eyes dim a bit down, revealing that the creature indeed does have pupils. Their pupils are round and black while the sclera are still the same purple hue as before.

"Hmph," I turn my head back at the stallion in front of me.

"Please, let me have him back. He won't try anything else to harm you... W-Won't you, Lariat?" He looks at the bunny.

The bunny gives a nervous smile, nodding, and lets out a little squeaks the make it sound like it's saying 'Uh-huh uh-huh!'.

"See? He won't do it again! I promise!" He also gives a nervous smile. I say nothing an just simply levitate the bunny closer to the stallion to allow him to take hold of the critter before letting go of my magical hold on it. He clings to the bunny closely and begins petting it gently while the bunny returns the care with a soft hug. He lets out a gentle sigh of relief as he pets the bunny, seeming to relax now. I watch him as he clings to the bunny, taking note that it obviously means a great deal to him. There is a moment of silence as I allow him to take his time to coddle his supposed pet.

"Haaahhhh, thank you, Princess," He calmly says, shifting his gaze up at me.

"It's nothing," I playfully swipe my hoof in the air at him.

"It's not nothing, it means a lot to me"

"I see..." I turn my gaze to watch the bunny. It seems to be happily smiling while hugging the stallion. Its eyes are closed to enjoy the moment more. It opens its eyes and looks at me while I return the gaze. It gets frightened again and tightens his hug on the stallion. I start to feel a bit sorry for frightening the creature, despite the actions it has caused. I let out a subtle exhale.

"You mentioned your... friend there's name is... 'Lariat' ... right?" I inquire.

"Yes, Indeed that is his name," He looks at the bunny, softly rubbing his hoof on his head.

"Hmm, pretty interesting name for the little fella. He's actually pretty cute" I smile.

"Yes, he... he is" The stallion gives a brief smile at the bunny.

"While we're on the topic of names and seeing as you already know mine. You got a name of your own?"

He turns his eyes up at me while I watch his, awaiting for his response. He looks at his bunny friend for a moment then down at the ground. There is a moment of silence as he sits there thinking. "Well go on, you can tell me, if for some reason your name is apart of the reason why you didn't want to show yourself, you don't need to worry about that now. Your secret will be safe with me," I smile reassuringly. He looks up at me to take note of my smile. He gently opens his maw to speak.

"My name is Void Dusk"

"Void Dusk?"

"Yes, Indeed"

"Hmm, That's a very fitting name"

"Th-Thank you, Princess"

"You can call me Flurry if you want. No need to be so formal"

"S-Sorry. I wish to show you my respect. Especially for my actions earlier. That wasn't like me at all"

"Ah, don't sweat it. It's over now. All is fine. I already forgave you"

"I-If you... say so, F--... Flurry Heart"

Void Dusk stands up more properly now and takes a moment to set his bunny friend, Lariat, on his back. I carefully watch him while he does this and as I do I take full notice of what appears to be wings upon his back. My eyes shoot wide open and my expression is filled with pure shock. Even my jaw drops at the sight.

"Wait! Are you... an Alicorn?!" I say out loud.

"What? Oh... oh no no, I can assure you I am no Alicorn. You see.." he unfolds his wings and flutters them twice. "These technically aren't real wings. But I can see why you'd think I'm an Alicorn. This is... honestly part of the reason why I did not wish for you to see me," The ends of his wings appear to be made of a hazy mist of darkness that trail down and fade into the same color of his coat. The appearance of the darkness seem as if you were to try to put your hoof on it, it would phase right through. Within the darkness, faint glimmering sparkles can be seen, as if you were gazing into the night sky.

"Woah" I say in awe.

"Yes, it's quite interesting"

"Guess I was right, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"There is something interesting about you," I smirk.

"Oh, I... guess you were right about that"

"So, how are you able to have wings and a horn?" I inquire.

"With this," His horn glows, using his magic to highlight the strange ring around it. He even points to it with his staff.

"That ring around your horn?"

"Indeed, it's some sort of relic that imbues me with these dark, mystical powers that I... had used against you. Again, sorry"

"Heh, I already told you, it's fine. Mind telling me more about this magic? Like I said, your magic is interesting and I wanna learn more about it"

"Hmmm... to show that I was telling the truth about me not being an Alicorn," He proceeds to magically take off his horn ring. As it slides off, his wings begin to fade away into a smokey mist. His mane and tail no longer appear wavy and smokey like, but rather pure black and straight. His eyes turn from bright purple to black. Along side with the fading of his wings, his staff disappears entirely in a puff of smokey haze.

"W-Where'd your staff go?" I ask.

"It too is apart of this ring's strange magic. Once I take it off, the staff fades as well," He holds the ring out in front, between us, for me to get a closer view of it.

"Do you know where it goes?"

"Beats me..."

"Hmm, and what about the matching armor you've got?"

"As for the attire you see me wearing currently, They are mere set pieces that are to be worn along side with this ring"

"Huh" I lean closer to the ring and admire it. It has a small, yet similar gemstone like the others embedded within it. He slowly pulls it back and begins to slide it back onto his horn.

"So, how did you get such a cool looking relic?"

Void seems hesitant to answer. "I...." His mane and tail begins to return to it's flowing, smokey state and his wings slowly begin to reform upon his back through the wing holes of his armor. His eye color also returns to its bright purple state. Even his staff returns after forming from dark haze and he firmly holds it once more. By the looks of how different his body changes when he wears the ring, It's safe to say this relic has some great effects to him. Though, this isn't anything I've seen or heard of before.

"I.... let's just say I... acquired it... a long time ago. I do not wish to say anything more. I'm sorry" He looks down at the ground and perks his ears down, showing visible trepidation. I take note of his expression and give a deep sigh.

"A bit worried about something that makes you not so inclined to tell me?"

"A little... Well... Actually, quite very"

"Well, how's about you tell me the real reason why you wanted to hide from me?"

"Hmm well part of it is because of my magic. It's not the type of magic I'm really open to sharing. It's the type of magic that could frighten the average pony"

"I see"

"I'd much rather keep my magic hidden rather than to show it. Otherwise, I'd most likely draw unwanted attention to myself. Plus, my... mother wouldn't like that very much," He lowers his head and his ears perk down again, showing visible embarrassment.

"Your mom?" I ask while raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, m-my... mother does not really want me to draw too much attention to either of us, let alone, any at all. Or at least... the wrong kind of attention"

"Hmmm" In my mind, I question his behavior even more. He seemed fearless when fighting against me, but now he's more worried about going against his mother's requests. I give a brief chuckle at this thought.

"W-What's so funny?" He questions.

"Heheh, I just find it a bit funny how we have that in common," I smile.

"Have what in common?"

"We both listen to are mothers. We take deep consideration in their words and we enjoy following along to their guidance. Am I in the bucking ball park here?"

"Well... I... y-yes. That's exactly how I feel. You are indeed correct" He gives a brief smile, finding comfort in that similarity we share.

"Glad to hear it. There's no need to feel embarrassed about it. I always listen to my mom and she's always caring for me. There's nothing wrong with loving your family"

"You're absolutely right about that"

"So, is there anything else that's part of the reason as to why you didn't want to show yourself?"

"Well, there's also the notion that I'm not exactly the typical normal looking pony you'd find wondering along the streets of the major landmarks. Especially with my wings"

"That's what you're worried about? Your appearance? That's why you didn't want me seeing you? Because of how you look?"

"No, it's not like that it's just... it probably wouldn't be for the best if I were to walk among others when I will most definitely get pegged as an Alicorn. I mean you thought I was one just moments ago, correct?"

"Mmm, you've got a point there"

"Ponies and creatures alike would give me the attention that I do not deserve. I live a very quiet life and for the time being I would prefer it to stay that way"

"Ahh, I understand"

"Are you sure you do?"

"What's that suppose to mean?" I raise an eyebrow.

"I-I only ask that respectfully of course, Prince-- uh Flurry. I mean, life for you as royalty must not be so quiet, right?"

"Well... Honestly? Life as royalty has it's own little definition of a 'quiet life', but it does hold similarities to what you're describing about your own life"

"How so?"

"Well, I don't really do much princess duties. There are the occasional princess meetings but other than that I usually have lots of free time to do my own thing. Nothing really else happens much that's too exciting so I'd say I live a pretty quiet life too"

"Is that so?"

"Yup! It's true"

"Sounds fascinating"

A certain thought crosses my mind and I begin stroking my chin as I take a moment to think. The thought of my mother's words on going out and making friends float around in my mind and I feel this may already be the perfect moment.

"So, what's a princess like yourself doing out here in the Everfree Forest? You mentioned that our encounter had interrupted your 'training session'. Were you doing some form of magic training out there? If so, why way out here and not in the empire?" He asks.

"Well, I was doing a form of magic training, yes and technically I wasn't performing my training exercise here, I was at The Crystal Empire"

"What? I-If you were training at the empire then... how are you way out here?"

I give a brief, confident smile. "Throughout my life I've been really good with magic, Nowadays I spend most of my time honing on my skills. Oh! Which reminds me, I need to get back home. I have folks waiting for me and this whole 'us meeting' thing kinda stopped me from getting back to them. They're probably worried"

"Ah, I see. Well, if that is all then don't let me keep you here any longer than I already have" He looks down to gazes at his staff, brushing it off gently, yet awkwardly. I hold out a hoof to him, offering him to take it. "Would you like to come with?" I ask. He looks back up at me with a puzzled stare.

"What? M-Me? Come with you to the empire?"

"Yeah, why not? It's the least I can do after punching you in the face" I awkwardly smile.

"I... I don't know. The empire is so far and I must be heading back to my own home pretty soon and... "

"Oh, nonsense! No place is too far for me. Watch!" I gently reach for his hoof and take it.

"Wait? What do you--" In an instant, I teleport, Void, Lariat, and myself to the empire, placing us all in the middle of one of the open halls within the empire. Void and Lariat blink a few times before shifting their gaze around quickly to get a look at their surroundings, finding that they are now indeed within The Crystal Empire.

"--mean?" Finishing his sentence.

"Here we are! The Crystal Empire" I let go of his hoof and smile at him.

"Wh--What? H--How are we already at the empire?!" He questions.

"I'm really good at teleporting" I smile confidently at him.

"But... t-that was so instant. How is that possible?"

"Like I said; Really good at teleporting. It's always been one of my greatest skills"

"Wow," He gazes around in awe at the beautiful crystalline walls as they shine magnificently. The ground so cleanly kept, you're able to see your own reflection within it. Pillars of beautifully carved crystal line the walls, It's all a sight for sore eyes.

"This place is... More amazing that I had anticipated. And we got here... just like that..."

"Mhmm" I nod.

"And you wanted to learn about my magic? Your teleportation alone seems far more interesting than my magic"

"Heh, well I appreciate that" I rub the back of my head awkwardly, yet happily.

"This is... all very incredible" He continues to admire his surroundings.

"Flurry Heart!" Shouts a distant male voice from down the hall behind me. I tense for a moment and my eyes broaden. I turn around to find my mom and dad approaching me. Void steps behind me to sort of hide himself from their sights.

"There you are! We've been looking for you! Where'd you disappear off to?" Says Shining Armor.

"We felt something was wrong when you didn't come back two seconds after you left," Cadance chimes in.

"I'm sorry, mom and dad, I . . . got caught up with something"

"Caught up with something? How could you possibly get caught up with something while getting your stopwatch?"

"And... who's that behind you?" Shinning inquires.

Void turns and lowers his head a bit, feeling nervous about suddenly meeting royalty. I look back at him and then back at my parents. "He's... somepony I met in the Everfree and I sorta... brought him here," I step aside to allow them to see him. They both gaze at the strange looking pony with puzzled gazes. Void shyly looks up at the two and slowly shifts himself into a bowing position.

"It's.. an honor to be here and to... m-meet you, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza"

"Heh, you may rise, and please, call me Cadance," Cadance says with a smile while gesturing him to stand back up.

"What? I don't get a bow?"

Cadance quietly snaps to Shinning Armor. "Shinning!"

"What? I'm just sayin'"

"I-I could if you wish. M-My apologies for not," Void respectfully asks.

"Dah, you're fine, kid. I'm just messing with you"

Cadance looks towards me now. "So, who is this pony anyway?"

"His name is Void Dusk"

"Void Dusk?"

"That's a strange name"

"Dad, be nice"

"Why did you bring him here? Not to be rude to our... unexpected guest... but you can't just bring strangers into the empire whenever you please," Cadance asks.

"I know, mom, it's just... well, I went to go get my stopwatch and I was gonna return right away... but then I got the idea of doing one more quick time trial for my teleportation magic. Once I poofed over to the Everfree, I felt a strange source of magic coming from this guy. So I kinda... tracked him down and well... yeah"

"I see..."

"Yeah. Sorry I took so long, but his magic seems pretty neat and I wanted to learn about it," They take a moment to examine Void. They notice Void's wings and their eyes broaden.

"Are those... Wings?!" Questions Cadance.

"Uhh! Before you say anything else! No, he's not an Alicorn. He just has magic that allows him to have these hazy looking wings"

"It's true, The ring around my horn allows me to have these wings. If I take it off then these wings fade away," Void follows up.

"Woah, that's a neat trick" Says Shinning.

"I've never seen nor heard of an object that can grant wings" Cadance adds on.

"If it's okay with you mom and dad, could you keep this between us? I don't think Void here would like us blabbing to everypony about his magic"

"Of course sweetie, If he wishes to keep it under wraps for whatever reason he may have then we will"

"No need to worry, indeed. But I don't understand why you wouldn't want to show others this neat little power of yours. I mean, I'd like me a pair of wings to fly around with... Even though I'm not the best when it comes to heights," Shinning inputs.

"Right now I'd... rather not say... M.. My deepest apologies, you two"

"Oh, it's quite alright! I'm sure you have your reasons" Cadance says while smiling at Void reassuringly.

"Hey, what's with that red mark on your face?" Shinning questions.

I look at Shinning with a confused look, then I look back at Void's face. I notice a red mark on his cheek where I punch him. He reaches up and tries to hide it. "Oh! Uhhhh... I maaaay have.. punched him in the face," I give a nervous smile and shrug.

"Flurry!" Cadance calls out.

"I-I'm sorry!"

"I-I-It's okay, Mrs. Cadance, I'm quite alright. It's not her fault. I... provoked her into doing so. We got into an altercation because of... my own stubbornness. But we're both fine now it seems," Void chimes in to defend me for some reason. I look at him for a moment, confused. Cadance's eyes squint at us, giving us a disconcerting look.

"Alright, if you say so," She says.

"Mrs. Cadance?" Shinning questions under his breath.

"Do you need an ice pack for that? I can go get you one," Cadance asks politely.

"Oh, no it's quite alright. It still stings a bit but I'll manage. I do not wish to be a bother"

"Oh, nonsense! It's no bother at all"

"I highly appreciate the hospitality, Mrs. Cadance but really, I'll be fine. Honest"

"Are you sure..?" Cadance raises an eyebrow.

"Indeed I am" Void gives a nervous smile.

Cadance looks at him with a look of skepticism. "Hmmm, Alright... If you say so, 'Mr. Dusk'," Cadance gives a subtle smile after saying this.

"So is he like... your friend now or somethin'?" Shinning Asks.

"Uhh" I look at him for a moment and think 'why not?'. I look back with a smile on my face. "Yeah! He's now a friend of mine!" Void glances at me with a look of surprise but he doesn't say anything about my words.

"Really?!" Cadance questions while leaning in, gazing at me with a puzzled and surprised look.

"Yeah, see? I made a promise to you, didn't I?" I say with a smug grin.

"I know I asked you to go out and make some friends, but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly"

"Heh, well, you know me" I shrug with a smile.

"Well, good for you, Flurry! I'm proud of you!" Cadance smiles widely.

"What's that on your back?" Shinning points towards the bunny rabbit that sits upon Void's back.

"Oh, that's my little friend," Void reaches around and carefully picks up Lariat off of his back to bring him around front to show him to them. He gently holds him to his chest and even cradles him.

"Ooo! Is that a cute little bunny rabbit I see?" Cadance gleefully asks.

Shinning Armor takes a step back. "Yeah, but ... why does it look like that?"

"What's wrong with it? It's cute!" Cadance says while approaching the bunny and reaching out a hoof to it. "Hey little fella! How are you?"

"Normally, bunny rabbits don't look all dark and scary lookin' and have normal cute eyes, not glowing purple ones"

"Oh hush now, Shinning, I'm sure he's harmless!"

"Yeah... Totally harmless," I sarcastically chime in as I roll my eyes.

"May I hold him?" Cadance asks Void.

"Certainly! Just be gentle with him"

"Of course, sweetheart!" Cadance carefully lifts Lariat out of Void's hold and lovingly cradles him in her hold.

"Sweetheart?" Void questions under his breath.

"Heheh, Well aren't you a little cutie! Coochie coochie coo!" Cadance brings her muzzle down to nuzzle the belly of Lariat. Lariat proceeds to make cute little squeaks at Cadance's loving actions. Lariat returns the nuzzles to Cadance's muzzle. They both give momentary giggles at each other's tender care.

"Who's a little cutie? You are!"

Lariat gives a little purple blush and curls up more cutely in her gentle embrace.

"That thing ain't quite normal, hun"

"Oh Nonsense! You can't tell me that this isn't cute," Cadance holds out Lariat to Shinning and he takes a step back further.

"Hey, get that thing away from me!" He hollers.

"Why, are you... Scared?"

"Wh-What? Of course not!" He turns his head away from him.

"Then, Look at him! Say he's cute!" Cadance holds Lariat closer to Shinning. Shinning's gaze turns back to Lariat. Lariat gets a funny idea and maliciously grins at Shinning. Shinning gets scared from this and steps back. Void and I notice this and we both give a brief giggle.

"Woah! Would ya look at the time! I need to get back to guard duty! You all take care now!" Shinning leisurely trots past us and stops next to Void to look at him. "And you be careful with my daughter," He continues trotting down the hall until he exits the hall. I gently face hoof myself at my dads words. Void looks at me with a questioning gaze. Cadance watches and shakes her head at him while giving a smirk. "What am I gonna do with him?" Cadance chuckles. She faces Void now while petting Lariat.

"So what's the little fella's name?" She asks.

"Lariat"

"Hmm, Interesting. Why does he look like this? If you don't mind me asking"

"It's a long story. I doubt you have the time"

"Well, maybe one of these days you can tell us. I'd be happy to learn more about you" Cadance gently holds out Lariat back to Void. Lariat clings to Cadance's hoof for a moment longer as if he does not want to let go quite yet. Cadance gives a gentle kiss on Lariat's forehead and fully gives him back to Void. Lariat happily squeaks and smiles widely.

"Now then, I suppose I'll leave you two to get to know each other more and have fun"

"Alright, mom"

Cadance begins to walk past us but then grabs my hoof and pulls me closer to where I'm mere inches away from her face. She gazes into my eyes and gives me a serious look.

"But not too much fun" She quietly says. My irises dilate small in response to her words. I gently nod in agreement.

"Good!" She smiles and trots away. Void and I carefully watch her until she's fully out of sight. We turn back to each other and I give a small exhale.

"I'd say that worked out pretty well" I say to Void.

"Yes, quite"

"Thanks for the save back there. You know, clearing things up with my parents about the whole 'us fighting' thing"

"No trouble at all. Now if it's alright with you, I'd like to return home"

"Already? You just got here"

"Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful to be here but I feel a tad overwhelmed by this all happening all of the sudden. So maybe I could comeback another time when I'm more at ease to be here"

"Ah, alright, sounds fair. Sorry for overwhelming you with this"

"You're forgiven, Flurry Heart," He gives a genuine smile.

"So, where do you live anyway? I can take you home pretty easily"

"Manehatten"

I blink a few times in confusion. "M-ma... Really? Manehatten?"

"Yes, why?"

"Nothin' it's just... Manehatten is an easy trip for me but.. I didn't expect somepony like yourself to live in such a big place. I expected you to live in a place more... secluded"

"Hmm, I guess that is quite the surprise . . . Hey, you... still wish to learn more about my magic?"

"Sure! Why? You feeling up to telling me now?"

"I just figured... My mother would probably be able to help in telling you more about it"

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Well for quite the passing of years, she has studied my magic. I'm sure she has some notes she's willing to show you"

"That's a great idea! May I be allowed to visit your home?"

"C-Certainly! I'd.. enjoy the company"

"Alright, grab on. I'll take you there"

"Okay. I live in a---" My horn lights up and I teleport us to the top of the highest building in Manehatten.

"Alright so which one's your home?" I casually ask.

Void and Lariat blink a few times before looking down at the city from above. They both immediately get frightened. Lariat clings tighter to Void while Void suddenly clings to me tightly. I almost lose my balance from the sudden tight hold. I tense up and regain my stance while turning my eyes to him.

"Hey! What are you--"

"Why are we so high up?!" He cries out.

"Why are you clinging to me so tightly?"

"Just get us down from here!"

"Well I can't if I don't know where you live! Which building do you live in?" I turn my head about to look at the surrounding buildings.

"Couldn't you have at least teleported us to ground level?!"

"Look, relax, alright? I'm not gonna let you fall, I've got wings and so do you.. Kinda. So if I were to drop you, WHICH I'M NOT, I'd catch you. Now focus, tell me which building is yours"

"Alright alright... uhh..." He starts shifting his eyes and head about to get his bearings. "There! You see that white penthouse? That's where I live," I turn my head to look where he's pointing.

"Huh, Fancy! Alright let's go," I teleport us to the terrace of the penthouse. "Here we are, Your home"

"Oh, thank goodness" He still clings to me.

I smirk down at him. "So you can stop hugging me now," He looks up at me and gives an embarrassed blush before gently letting go.

"R-Right, Sorry," He proceeds to rub the back of his head.

"Hmhm, Now then, Let's get you inside"

"Right"

We proceed to walk along the terrace, passing by a nearby pool. "You have a pool? That's awesome!"

"You don't have one?"

"No, but I'm sure I could get one. We could probably fit an indoor pool in the empire somewhere," I put a hoof to my chin and think about the thought of a pool in the empire. We reach the front door and I turn back to him.

"Got the key to the door or do we just knock?"

"I got the key right here," He points to his eye.

"What?"

He approaches the door and stands in front of a little device that's next to the door. He closes one eye and leans closely to a spot on the device where It begins to emit red little lights that appear to scan his eye. Shortly after, he leans back and the device makes a few beeping sounds and lights up green. We hear the sound of the door being unlocked and he gently puts his hoof on the door handle.

"W.. What did you just do?" I ask.

"I unlocked the door"

"Well, yeah but how? What is that thing?"

"A Retinal scanner"

"A retina-wha?"

"A device that scans your eye and if you're registered in the system it unlocks the door for you. Currently the only folk registered in the system are my mother and I"

"I thought it was a doorbell"

He chuckles at my words. He opens the door a bit before looking back at me. "My mother should be inside still working on her inventions and stuff"

"What does your mother do?"

"My mother's a Scientist"

I get taken aback by his words, looking awfully surprised and just staring at him. He enters the home for a moment then peaks back outside. "You coming?" He asks.

"Y-Yeah," I soon follow him inside. He shuts the door behind us and magically levitates Lariat down to the ground.

"Go play with your toys, Lariat. I'm going to introduce, Flurry to mom, Okay?"

Lariat gives a gentle nod and a smile. He hops away into another room. I take a moment to look around the spacious penthouse, finding the décor to be rather intriguing. The house is rather luxurious with fancy and expensive furniture set about the room. The walls are painted white with golden trim and opposite of the front door is a clear view of the city. I look to my left and see a large theater like living room and to the right of that is the a large cleanly kept kitchen.

"Wow! I must say, I'm impressed!"

"Thank you! Please, follow me and I'll lead you to my mother's work space," He leads the way, taking me past the living room and kitchen. I admire the beauty of this magnificent home as he leads on. we reach some form of large metal door that oddly stands out from the rest of the place. There is a device on the side of the door that looks like some sort of pad that you type numbers into. Void looks back at me to speak.

"Uh, could you turn away for a second?"

"Huh? oh uh, sure," I turn away from the door for a moment and he proceeds to type in a code onto the pad. I hear the metallic sound of the door whooshing open and I turn back towards him.

"Welcome to my mother's work space"

We walk through the doorway and enter a very large lab room, filled to the brim with all sorts of science equipment. Machines, test tubes, beakers, you name it. It all looks like something straight out of a Sci-fi movie. There is a gentle sound of humming and beeping coming from the machines and devices around, giving this place soothing atmosphere to it. My jaw remains dropped at the sight of this place and my enjoyment expands the further we proceed.

"Woooah"

"Now where is... ah, there she is"

I turn my gaze back towards the direction we face and I take notice of the mare ahead of us tinkering with objects on some sort of workstation, their back towards us. They stand in a bi-pedal stance while they work. We approach the mare closer and from my position I can see this pony wears a long white lab coat that almost reaches the ground. The have a long blue mane and tail and the tone of their coat also is white. The mare seems like she's wearing glasses and is looking through a microscope. Gazing up further I notice that they are a unicorn.

"Void, Sweetie? Is that you?" The mare lets out in a soothing motherly tone.

"Yes, It's me, mother"

The mare looks up at a clock on the wall. "Well you're home early. I was expecting you within the next hour," The mare stops looking through the microscope and takes off their glasses, setting them aside.

"Yes, well... I had a little help this time and I brought them over. I hope you don't mind. They're here with us right now"

"Hmmm? You brought a friend? Well that's nice to hear! let's see who it--" The mare turns around after pausing her work. She spots me with her purplish blue eyes and gives me an intrigued look.

"Is... Huh. Well, I'll be..." The mare says with a grin upon her face.

[Chapter 2 End]

Chapter 3: An Eager Hostess

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"Now, whom do we have here?" The mare asks. She shifts back down on all fours and begins to trot towards me for closer examination. She starts to circle me with observant eyes, taking note of my features, such as my horn and wings at the same time.

"Well--" Void chimes in.

"A Princess! Well this is quite unexpected," She puts a hoof underneath her chin and continues to observantly watch me.

"Uh Hi, I'm-" I say.

"Princess Flurry Heart, right? It's a pleasure, privilege, and an honor to meet you!" She says as she stops her circle around me to hold out a hoof for a hoofshake.

"Uhh yeah, pleased to meet you to--" She eagerly takes my hoof as I raise it slightly and shakes it rather firmly with both of her hooves.

"I never would have imagined a Princess visiting my lab, let alone our home!" She ceases her firm hoofshake and sets her hooves down.

"Yeah well, it's happening, heheh," I say with a nervous chuckle. "So, seeing as you already know who I am, what's your name, Miss..?"

"This is my mother. Her name is-" Void says before his mom cuts him off.

"Lexi Dawn, at your service!" She smiles as she briefly takes up a bi-pedal stance to perform a respectful bow towards me.

"Th-Thanks"

"No no, thank you for honoring us here with your presence!" the mare resumes her examinations around my body, gazing at my physique with great interest. My eyes follow her as she continues her careful examinations. "Wow! Such a magnificent form you have, Princess!" She proceeds to unfold my left wing and closely inspect it. "And it's true what they say! You do have a large wing span!"

"Uhh, thanks again. I grew them myself" I give a brief subtle chuckle at my own little pun.

"Uhm... Mother?" Void says to try to get her attention. She lets go of my wing and shifts herself down low to the ground to inspect my left hindleg. She puts both her hooves around it to get a good feel.

"My my, such firmly strong legs as well. I believe you could lift quite the ton with these! And such lovely hooves!" She lifts up my left hindleg and examines the hoof portion of it. I continue to watch her as she performs her actions, having unsure feelings about what's happening.

"Mother.." Void says again in a slightly louder tone. She then lets go of my hindleg and stands back up. I decide to allow her to continue her 'inspection' and just gaze forward to admire her lab more. She then shifts to stand behind me and she suddenly lifts my tail up to examine it. "Such a gorgeous tail too! I absolutely love the color scheme!" My eyes widen, pupils dilate, and my body tenses up as she raises my tail.

"Uhhm, M-Miss?" I politely ask.

"Mother!" Void shouts out.

The mare's eyes widen and her ears perk down as she realizes what she's doing. She lets go of my tail and takes a step back, putting her hooves to her mouth as she lets out a gasp.

"Oh my goodness! I'm sooo sorry, Princess! Where are my manners? I should have asked for permission. Please forgive me!" The mare says with genuine guilt in her tone. I turn around to face her and just give her a soft smile for reassurance.

"Ehh, it's fine, Miss. I often get a lot of eager fans who would do the same thing just to get a good view of me," I say as I turn to face her.

"A-Are you sure? It's just so hard to resist! Especially when I have the honor of a Princess standing before me! I-I simply couldn't resist!"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Don't sweat it" I reassuringly say.

"Phew. Thank goodness" Her ears perk back up again.

"So this is your mom, huh?" I say as I look to Void and ask.

"Yes, that is correct" he replies.

"Huh," I take a moment to glance back and forth between the two. I take note of their physical appearances and how much they differ from one another. I even tilt my head as I look at them, performing my own little mental examination.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of a princess' visit to our home?"

"Well I ran into your son in The Everfree Forest and I noticed he was performing some interesting magic. The likes of which I have yet to see so I'm very interested in learning more about it"

"That's why I brought her here, to your lab, mother"

"I see," She says while putting a hoof under her chin while she continues to listen.

"He mentioned that you have some notes on his magic that you'd be willing to show me, is that true?"

"My notes? Well, of course! I'd be very thrilled having you read some of my notes!" She says with a wide smiled expression of pure glee whilst pressing her hooves to her cheeks.

"Great! Can I take a look at them now?" I politely ask.

"Certainly! I'm sure I can find th-.." Lexi turns to Void to where she immediately notices the red mark on his face from when I punched him. She gives a sudden gasp and quickly moves to Void to lean in and put her hooves on his face to examine the mark.

"My goodness, Void! What happened to you?!"

I immediately tense up at Lexi's reaction and become very worried. I had almost forgotten about the mark I left on his face. I quickly come up with something to say for Void.

"Wha-I uh.. well you see..." Void stammering his words.

I quickly cut in and answer for him. "He-He fell! On a rock!"

"He what?!" Lexi exclaims whilst sharply turning her head back to me. I tense more at her sudden gaze but continue speaking. "Yeah, w-while he was walking through The Everfree Forest and he tripped, fell on it and hurt himself pretty bad. I saw it happen and I helped him up to his hooves"

"He tripped and hit his cheek on a rock, huh..?" She gives me a skeptical look.

"Yup! That's what happened, heheh" I nervously smile.

"Hmmm. Is this true Void?" She asks while turning her head back to Void. His eyes turn from me back to Lexi and gazes into her eyes. Lexi stares into his eyes with an unnerving stare.

"Y-Yes.. that's what happened... It was.. quite embarrassing, especially in front of a Princess. That's.. why I was so hesitant"

"Hmmmmm..." She thinks for a moment while still staring into his eyes. It seems she's trying to tell if we're telling the truth through his eyes. There's a brief pause before Lexi begins to speak again.

"Alright, if you say so" She lets go of his face and stands up straight whilst taking a step back. "Though you need to be more careful. I'm going to get you some medicine for that mark"

"B-But.. mother, It doesn't hurt all that bad. I'll be fine"

"No 'buts!', I'm taking care of that mark right now" she marches away towards another side of her lab. Void lets out a sigh while I give a subtle chuckle. Shortly after she rummages through her belongings at a deep end of her lab, she returns with a small container with no labels. She magically opens it and dips her hoof inside the container.

"Alright now hold still," Lexi says while taking her hoof out of the container. Her hoof is a tad covered in a purple cream like substance to which she reaches over and begins to smear the cream along his red mark. Void gives a sharp inhale and grunts quietly when she applies the medicine. This gives me the thought that he was hiding his pain this whole time and that it still stings quite badly.

"See? It does still hurt, now hold still," Lexi politely demands.

Void gives a sigh of embarrassment and looks off to the side. "You really shouldn't waste that stuff on minor things, mother. We don't have much left"

"Using this stuff on you is most certainly not a minor thing. I won't let your face be ruined over something that can be easily fixed" She continues to smear the cream on the mark. "There, you should start feeling all better"

"Couldn't you just go out and get some more?" I inquire. "I mean, that stuff is just regular ol' ointment, right? I'm sure it's not that expensive if you're just going to buy some"

"Well... it's not exactly your average treatment medication" Says Void.

Lexi sets down her hoof and Void turns his head to where the mark on his face is now facing towards my direction to where I can see it. The spot on his face begins to glow a tad and the mark slowly fades away and his cheek returns to normal with no sign of any damage.

"Woah... what is that stuff?" I ask with my eyes widened in awe.

"A special concoction I was able to create myself" Lexi turns away to walk back to her workbench. She closes the container of cream and sets it down on. "I also dabble a bit in medicinal stuff," She turns back to face us.

"Wow, really? So is that like some special healing ointment?"

"Eeeyup!" Lexi says with a proud smile.

Void carefully begins to explain in full detail about this magical ointment. "It is a specially made magical cream that my mother figured out how to make all on her own. She performed quite the extensive research to produce such a creation. Through her studies, she learned how to make some of the ingredients and where to locate the rest. As for the ingredients she needed to go and collect, she would send me out to retrieve them. Although, most of the work was her. If not, then all of it was her. It helps relieve just about any form of pain and/or injury. Though.. the only problem is.. it's extremely hard to make"

"Wow, that's incredible! Your mom seems very talented!" I say with a genuine smile to Void.

"That she is"

"Well, I do try to be" Lexi humbly retorts, though having an off tone about her words. She turns her head away and looks off to the side, leaning against her workbench. I take notice this and tilt my head at her with a questioning gaze.

"Everything okay?" I ask.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah I'm fine," She faces her head forward to gaze at me. "Say, how's about we go get you those notes, eh?"

"Uhh, okay, sure!" I give a gentle nod along with a smile.

"Good, now follow me and feel free to take a looksee at anything that catches your eyes. Just. . . if you wanna touch stuff, do be careful. Some of my stuff are fragile," I nod at her words as she begins to lead on further into her lab. Void follows along side and I begin to take a look around at all the interesting things around the place. There are many strange objects strung about, the likes of which I have no idea what they are. Regardless, they still seem pretty interesting and unique. Each item I come across seems expertly crafted with fine metallic material. I look to another part of the lab to see more science equipment and some of which appear to be in use. Things like Bunsen burners and boiling beakers. There are some strange devices with knobs and needles making strange sounds and flashing little lights sitting upon some desks.

"Wow! This place is something straight out of a sci-fi comic book! It's awesome!" I say with glee as I continue my glances about the lab and its equipment. I feel like a filly in a toy store, gazing at every little intriguing object that enters my view.

"Well I do try to have a pretty decent laboratory"

"So, did you make all these?" I look to her and ask.

"Sure did!"

"Wow! I'm impressed!"

"Not only is my mother a scientist, but she's also a brilliant inventor," Void chimes in.

"Really? That's so awesome!"

"Well, I wouldn't say 'brilliant'. I'd say I'm pretty decent at best," Lexi says in that similar off tone as before. I take note of this again and give her a look of concern. I hear Void give a subtle frustrated sigh and I look back at him to see an upset expression on his face.

"Hmm.." I say as I start to get the feeling that something's wrong with her, like she doesn't feel all that confident in herself, regardless of the way she expresses herself.

"Sooo..." I say as I turn my head back towards Lexi. "What do some of these things even do?"

"Well.. let's see.. That over there is a water extractor device. It can extract water from just about anything I use it on."

"Cool!"

"Yes, though I wouldn't recommend using it to dry your mane" Lexi says with an awkward grin sweeping across her face.

"Oh.." I worriedly say as I reach up at my own mane to hold it gently.

"Annnnd... over there are a pair of X-Ray goggles"

"Seriously?!" I set my hoof down and ask with great interest about the goggles. I also approach the goggles and eagerly put them on.

"Yeah, although... they aren't quite. . . 'ready' . . ."

"Wh-What do you mean?" I inquire as I turn to look at Void.

"Well, they are quite functional, yes, but . . . they only let you see through . . . Ehem . . . clothes," Lexi puts a hoof to rub the back of her neck.

"Oh . . . I see," I take off the goggles and give Void an awkward stare while he returns with a similar look. "Though not everypony wears clothing all the time"

"Indeed... so they basically do nothing . . . but in due time I'll get them working properly"

I then set the goggles down and continue to glance around for any other invention to talk about. My eyes catch something else and I begin to ask about it. "Oh! What about this?" I say as I approach the desk that has a strange object resting on top of it. The object has many glowing buttons and dials along with a glass pitcher slotted in the middle. I lean in closely to admire this strange yet intriguing device. Lexi steps over to stand near me as I gaze at the device.

"Is this some sort of science-y potion brewing machine? Or-Or some form of device that magically stores magic in a glass bottle?" I ask with very gleefully sparkling eyes.

"Heh, somethin' like that"

"What is it?" I look to her whilst retaining my eager smile.

"That's just my coffee maker," she says with a smirk.

"Oh," My ears perk down in embarrassment and I take a step away from the desk. Lexi gives a little chuckle as she hits a button on the coffee maker and it swiftly fills the pitcher slotted inside with light brown colored coffee. She then pulls out the pitcher using her magic and, with one of her hooves, pulls out a mug from behind the coffee maker. She then pours a nice hot cup of coffee for herself, to which then she takes a sip of it with a smug grin, all whilst she's performing a chill lean against the desk.

"Ahhh, now then," She sets the mug down on the desk and turns to continue her walk through the lab. "Let's carry on shall we?"

We continue to follow her and soon she stops in front of a filing cabinet. She pulls out a little blue screw driver from a pocket on her lab coat and sticks it into a keyhole slot on the cabinet, using it as key as she turns it and unlocks the cabinet. I gaze at her in confusion for a moment but decide to shrug it off for now. She opens the cabinet while putting away her screwdriver and begins rummaging through the inside.

"This is so fantastic! I can hardly believe a Princess wishes to study my son's magic! Oh! I can barely contain my excitement! Finally some good is coming our way, Oh hoooo!" Lexi cheerfully says whilst digging through the cabinet. Aaalllright, the files should be here sommmmewheeerrrrrre. Ah-ha! Here they are!" Lexi pulls out a folder, shuts the filing cabinet, and turns back to me. "Here you go, just about everything I've written down over the years," She holds out the folder to me and I magically take it. The folder is dark purple color with the label 'Void Dusk' written on a strip of tape on the front end of it. I proceed to open it and take a quick glance at what's on the surface of each paper.

"Thank you so much, I really appreciate this," I say as I look back to Lexi

"You're very much welcome, Princess"

"You sure you don't mind me looking through this stuff?"

"Oh, not at all. Read away! You're a Princess after all. I know you're trustworthy. Plus it feels like an absolute honor that you are interested in my son's magic"

"Gee, thanks! Now.. where should I even begin?" I ask.

"Oh! Perhaps I could help? Why don't we go to someplace more comfortable so you may read through all the fascinating details I've written? The Kitchen perhaps? I could fetch you something to eat or to drink if you'd like," She says while retaining a happy, eager smile on her face.

"That'd be awesome!" I reply with a smile.

"Splendid! Follow me! Right back this way!" Lexi proceeds to lead on back down the other way where we came. We reach the metal door Void and I entered from and she presses a button on the side to open it. We exit her lab and proceed to the kitchen where she guides us to sit at the counter in the middle of the room. As I sit I lay the folder on the counter and open it once more, gazing at the first page of it.

"Is there anything you would like to eat or drink?" She asks. "I have no problem getting anything for you, Princess!"

"I'll just have some water if that's okay,"

"Certainly!" She proceeds to trot over to the fridge whilst magically taking out a glass cup from a nearby cupboard. She then places the cup into a water dispenser from her fridge. "So, if I may ask, how did you come across my son's magic?" I look up at her as she asks and take a moment to think of a reply.

"Uhm, well I saw him performing his magic freely out in the Everfree. Then after a bit of time watching his magical demonstration, I approached him to ask about it"

"Oooh, is that right?" She steps back over after pouring the water into the glass.

"Yup. Though, I startled him when I did and... that's what caused him to fall on a rock"

"You startled him you say? Hmm..." She says in a skeptical tone while having an eyebrow raised. "Well, it's been taken care of now so no harm, nor foul! Here's your water, Princess," She sets down the glass of water on the counter near me.

"Thank you so much!"

"What were you doing in The Everfree, if you don't mind me asking" She inquires.

"I was doing a bit of magic training of my own before I sensed the strange magic your son gave off"

"I see. So what exactly did you see?"

"I saw him performing some form of magical beams that gave the appearance of lightening. Dark lightening, like dark magic and stuff"

"Ah! That one! Of course! You'll find that little technique on this page," Lexi reaches over, flips the pages and stops on a particular page. On the page it has a few pictures and notes strung about. "Here's where you'll find all the little details on Void's magic beam that you saw. It's quite the interesting on at that too! I've even given it a nice little name. I call it... 'Darkness Thunder'," Lexi says as she sways her hooves gracefully in the air as if she were displaying the title card for a movie.

"Heh! That's a pretty neat name. I like it," I say with a smile.

"Glad to hear such!"

"I name some of my magical techniques too!" I say with a confident smile to her.

"Ooo! I would love to hear them sometime!"

"As would I, honestly," Void subtly chimes in.

"Sure! No problem!" I look back to the page. "So what does 'Darkness Thunder' even do anyway?"

"Well let's take a looksee," Lexi leans in and points to the page, directing my attention to a particular section of notes where there lies a piece of tape with the words 'Basic Description' written on it. Below the tape seems to be the beginning of the description. I begin to read out the description.

"... 'One of Void's offensive capabilities is the ability to conjure up a decently powerful magical emission beam, summoned from his mystical staff, that deals quite the destructive force. It gives off the appearance of a regular magical blast that's surrounded in lightening with a color scheme of black and purple, similar to his own appearance and the appearance of his armor. This magical emission beam can prove to stun individuals with said lightening.' ... huh interesting so far," I look up at Lexi.

"Oh, you have yet to see the rest of it! Take a look at what the rest says," She points to the other half of the written text and starts to read it herself. "... 'Darkness Thunder also has a second capability. If an individual is struck by this beam, a black hazy like substance will begin to form on the area that was struck. The individual struck by this and baring the black substance will soon begin to feel fatigued and their ability to stay conscious shall waver' ..."

My expression turns to a serious one as I am very much aware of this part. I recall the fatigue I felt when struck by Void's attack and how the hazy substance continued to spread across my chest. I give a subtle nervous glance to Void and he returns the glance back at me. I turn my attention back to the notes.

"Wow, that's quite interesting. . . Also.. you can read upside down?" I look in surprise up at Lexi as I ask.

"Yes, Indeed I can! That and... I've memorized every single little thing there is to know inside that folder. I know just about everything when it comes to Void, in and out," She says with a proud smile sweeping across her face.

"Heheh, so . . . this black substance... Do you know what it is?"

"Funnily enough, it's still unknown to me. I've studied it for years and couldn't find anything else about it other than its effects. That and it somehow relates to his staff"

"And what about his staff? What exactly is it? Some sortaaa... ancient relic?"

"That too is a mystery to us as well, unfortunately. All we know is what it does. But from what I gathered from hearing about it's . . . origin . . . from Void. . . it's safe to say that, yes, it is some form of ancient relic"

"Hmm," I turn to Void. "I'm guessing you still wanna keep the origins of that under wraps, huh?"

"For now . . . Hopefully that's okay with you" He replies.

"All, good. When ever you're ready I'm all ears," I say with a genuine smile.

"He doesn't like to talk about it much," Lexi says to me as I turn back to face her.

"Yeah, I can see that. So, what about the ring?"

Lexi reaches over and turns the pages a few times. "Well, the ring has the capability to 'grant' those who wear it with these hazy looking wings. The ones you see Void having right now. Of course without the ring he reverts back to just a regular unicorn"

"Well I can honestly say I'm aware of that part"

"Oh, I'm sure you are. I bet you were just full of questions when you saw another pony who looked like an Alicorn"

"Like you wouldn't believe. Void quickly explained that the whole 'wing' thing was the ring's doing"

"And like I mentioned before, it's also the source of a good portion of my magic," Void chimes in.

"And without it, your magic would be very limited. Is that right?"

"Unfortunately. . . without this ring, I'm not much use. . ." Void says while turning his head away and bowing it. His expression turns sorrowful after saying this. I take note of this and give a doubtful smirk to him.

"Somehow I doubt that," I say while retaining my smirk, hoping that my words will reassure him. He turns his head back to me a bit, seeming less sorrowful than he was.

"Hey, why do you tell me more about the armor you wear? You said that it was to be worn along side with the ring, kinda like a set piece. What, does it also help with the generation of magic?"

"You would be correct, Princess!" Lexi jumps in to respond to me. "Those bright pinkish gemstones within the armor are magical gems that help generate the flow of magic through out his entire body," Lexi points to the gemstones as she explains. I gaze at them as she does and notice them glistening from within. "The magic from within is something unknown and shows little to no similarities to todays modern magic-" I lean closer to gemstone fitted upon Void's chest plate and even squint my eyes at it. I see little waves of magic flow around inside of it deeply from within. There are even some faint magical whooshes that can be hear from the gem. I continue to gaze in awe at the gemstone and I even try to get a feel for the magic within through my senses. Using my senses to 'feel' the magic from within the gemstone, I try to mentally compare to other sorts of magic, the likes of which that are already well know in todays day and age. But it's as I figured, to no avail. This magic is completely new to me. "-So from what I've gathered from that is it entails as a conduit for this powerful dark magic from within that created long ago. But I haven't been able to tell from how far back it comes from."

I simply just gaze at it in awe still. I have to force myself to look away as I turn back to Lexi where I simply utter my response.

"Wow" Is all I say.

"Mhmm! Pretty interesting, right?" Lexi says with a smile that bares excitement.

"I'll say... but wait hold on," Having received this new information on his armor, it now begs a question in my mind. I decide to ask Void this particular question. "You mentioned that you acquired this stuff a long time ago... How long ago exactly? When you were a little colt?" Void nods in response.

"Really?" I take the glass of water and take a long sip.

"Indeed... I acquired these strange relics approximately thirteen years ago," Void states.

Suddenly I choke on the water after hearing when he found the items. I quickly swallow the water and begin cough, covering my mouth with my hoof as to not spit out any water as I do. I set down the glass of water and hunch over a tad. "Thirt- Krgh- teen?! No- Krgh- way!" I say, coughing through my words. They both gaze at me with their eyes broadened.

"Oh my goodness! Are you okay, Princess?" Lexi asks with a wide-eyed look of concern. Void reaches over and lightly pats my back to help me recover. I try to respond to her words and end up coughing through my words.

"Y-Yeah... Krph... I'm fine.. just.. rgh..-" I pound my chest lightly with my left hoof. "Got caught a little off guard after hearing how long he has had these items... ehem... for," I bring a hoof to rub my throat gently to help me recover.

"O-Okay.. just.. be careful" She says, still retaining her highly worried gaze. Void just sits beside me, staring at me in a frozen state, only moving his eyes to glance back and forth between me and his mother. I clear my throat after fully recovering and turn back to Void.

"So... did you really have all this stuff for like thirteen years?" I ask.

"It is indeed the truth," He replies.

"Wouldn't it have been best to tell somepony like us Princesses about this? We probably could have helped you in the studying of all this stuff" I ask Lexi as I turn to her.

"Well you see, Princess..." She brings a hoof to rub the back of her head awkwardly. "At the time I had preferred to keep this little thing a secret, even to this day. I gained quite the thrill from studying Void and his items and I didn't want that to go away. I felt that if I had went to a Princess for help... there was a chance that they would take the relics away from Void"

"I see," I say with an understanding gaze.

"This is what I meant by attracting the wrong kind of attention," Void says as he leans in close to me in order to say this.

"Forgive me if it seemed selfish, Princess... I just..."

"Don't worry about it. Honestly, if I was in your hoof shoes, I probably would have done the same thing. And, hay, if you decide to take this up with any other Princess, then I'll make sure they won't take these items away from you!"

"Really?" Lexi says with a surprised tone.

"Yup! My mom, Princess Cadance, already knows about Void's little secret and I made her promise to keep it under wraps"

"Oh! Well that's good news to hear! Wait, was Princess Cadance with you in the forest?"

"Oh no no! She wasn't with me in The Everfree, she was at The Crystal Empire. I took Void with me back to the empire to have him check out the place and meet my Mom and Dad," I say with a smile. "Then after that I brought him back here!"

"The Empire?! How did you... Huh?"

"Is something wrong?"

"I'm just confused... how did you have time to bring him there then.. back to here?" She gazes confusedly at me. "V-Void, you mentioned that she helped you get back home... Is that why you got home so early?" She says to Void.

"Indeed it is, mother. Turns out, Flurry Heart is incredibly good at teleportation. She teleported me to The Empire then back to here. And in doing so, she saved me from having to spend bits for a train ticket back home," Void says to his mom.

"Wai-wai-wait! You mean she teleported you ALL THE WAY HERE?!" Lexi asks with a wide eyed shocked expression while she leans in on the counter with both her forelegs on it.

"Yes she did. Quite fascinating right?"

"That's amazing!" She says to me, her eyes sparkling when she does. "That must mean you're more skilled in magic than I had anticipated!"

"Yeah well, heheh, I do hone my skills often," I say with a proud smile and a hoof rubbing the back of my head. "But back on topic. If all that stuff you were saying about finding these items so long ago is true then how would all this stuff fit you? Wouldn't the ring and the armor be too big for you back then?"

"They were, but the magical properties of these relics allowed themselves to be worn by a mere colt. Once I put it on, they shrunk down to fit into my size from back then... and over the years they grow along with my size. So, I guess you can see it's one of those... 'One size fits all' sort of thing"

"Incredible . . . So . . . Can I try it on?" I say with an eager smile while reaching up at the ring. Lexi suddenly slams her hoof down on the counter to make a loud impactful sound to halt me.

"NO!" Lexi shouts. I get startled and pull back my hoof. I turn to her with a startled expression and my body tenses up. "Uh... no, sorry Princess. I-I-It wouldn't be a good idea for you to wear any of those things.... I did once and.. it wasn't pretty... I didn't mean to startle you. Please forgive me," Lexi bows her head. I loosen from my tensed state and set my hoof back down.

"It's okay. I understand. You're good," I reply. Lexi lets out a sigh of relief.

"So, is there anything else I should know about you?" I say to Void.

"Well, I do have the ability to heal myself and others with this particular magic from the staff"

"Really?" I say with an intriguing smirk.

"Yes... although it's not much since I haven't had a lot of practice with it. That's one flaw. Another flaw is that... if I try to heal myself... it can be quite draining. Here..-" Void flips onto another page and points to it. "It says all that right on this page. It's called 'Mythical Restoration'. I chose the name myself," Void says with a bit of a proud smile.

"Ah, I see. Pretty neat! You know... I have a little healing trick of my own too! Though, it's not quite like yours, I'm sure"

"Oh? Well what is it? Care to tell?" He inquires.

"Hmhm," I bring a hoof up in front of the both of us. My hoof begins to emit crystal like particles that glisten and shimmer about all around my hoof for a brief moment. "Maybe I'll get to show it to you if you ever get hurt," I follow up my words with a casual wink. Void gazes at my hoof with an intrigued expression. There is a little muffled beeping sound coming from Lexi. She looks down at herself whilst her ears perk up and reaches into her lab coat, pulling out a small little device. She looks at the device she holds in her hoof for a moment. "Ohp, excuse me, Princess, I have to go check on something back in my lab. I'll be right back! Oh and if I may be allowed to say, Princess-"

"Huh?"

"Please, drink more slowly? I wouldn't want you to choke again," She says, speaking in a very concerned, motherly like tone. Very similar to how my own mom would speak to me when she expresses concern over me.

"I'll try. Sorry to worry you"

"No need to be, Princess! It was just an honest little mishap," She smiles reassuringly. She then happily trots back towards her lab, enters it, and the door shuts behind her.

"Hmm," I turn back to Void after watching her exit the room. "It's crazy to think that such cool, seemingly ancient relics have been kept away hidden by you two for thirteen years. And even longer before you even discovered them yourself"

"Well my mother is pretty good at hiding things. That among other things. She has me take off the ring when I'm in public as to not draw the wrong kind of attention. Which is why it has been hidden. We had wished to keep it a secret before taking it up with anypony more knowledgeable when it comes to ancient magic"

"I can help you with that, so long as you agree to show it to Princess Twilight. Maybe she'll know something about it"

"We'll see"

"Hmm... I guess now that we're alone we can speak more freely about your abilities without your mom catching wind about our little lie"

"Indeed ... What else do you wish to know?" Void says more quietly.

"Back in the forest, I ran into a group of Timberwolves covered in that weird black substance and it looked like they were being controlled. They also had very similar eyes compared to your little rabbit friend. Tell me more about that. Was that you?" Void reaches towards the file and begins turning the pages.

"This little ability?" Void points to the page where it shows examples of what I experienced with the Timberwolves. I read that the name of it is called 'Binding Lariat'.

"Yeah that one. It's kind of like puppeteer magic errr mind control, right?"

"Something like that," Void shrugs.

"How do you do it, Void?"

"Actually-" Void says while a sudden squeaking can be heard from our right. We turn our heads towards the sound to see Lariat hopping over towards Void whilst carrying a little carrot chew toy in his mouth. "Lariat here is the one who is able to cast this spell," Lariat jumps up and Void catches him. He then cradles him closely to his chest.

"Hmm, I had a hunch that the rabbit had something to do with it. But are you able to do it?"

"Sort of... though it's easier when he does it, considering he's an animal" Void rubs Lariat's belly. "The ability works by creating some sort of magical tether between him and the one he wishes to control. Funny enough, this little technique is the reason why his name became Lariat"

"Ah, I get it. A play on words. So... does this also work on ponies?" I tilt my head at him as I ask.

"I'm not sure... I have yet to test that, nor do I wish to do so anytime soon"

"Right," I bring a hoof to my chin. "Though that would be kinda cool if you could," I say quietly to myself.

"Did you say something?" He asks.

"Hmm? Oh nothing!"

"Hmm, alright"

I then take the folder and begin to skim through some of the pages, taking quick little mental notes of the info I see. It appears I've covered just about the basis of most things. There appear to be much much more details regarding Void that his mother, Lexi, had jotted down. I take note of this and give a little smirk as I see all this as a sign of Void being capable of quite a lot of things. I would take the time to read over it all but I decide on something much more interesting to do instead. I feel it would be better to hold off on knowing anything else and have myself be surprised later on when I discover something else cool about him when the time comes. After some time passes, Lexi exits from her lab and trots back over to us.

"Sorry about that! Like I said, I had to go check up on something! How are my notes? Are they of any help?"

"Very much so, Miss Dawn. I think I've read all I needed to read for now. I'd rather learn about them more through demonstration. Hopefully one of these days if you and your son will allow it"

"Oh yes of course! That will be no trouble at all!" She says with a gleeful smile.

"Great! So do you have a little space of your own that you test out your son's magic? He said you've been studying him for years, so you must have a go-to place in order to do so," Lexi's eyes light up as I say this and she even lets out an excited gasp.

"Yes! Indeed I do! It's a place I've built all on my own! Within this very building! Oh! but it's currently a mess right now! I wouldn't want to show it off to you it if it's all cluttered up with tools and inventions! Please, allow me to clean it up before you have a chance to see it!"

"No sweat! I'll just come back tomorrow! That'll give you all the time you need, right?" I say as I begin to stand up from my chair.

"You're coming back?!" Lexi's eyes light up even further and she puts her hooves pressingly to her cheeks as she eagerly awaits my response.

"Yeah! Why not?"

"Ooooohhhohohoooh!!! Wonderful!" She happily jumps up and down a few times, unable to contain her excitement. "I can hardly wait!" I watch her as she laughs and cheers all excitedly.

"Well, I'll let you get to it! I'll be back tomorrow when I can to check out more of your cool stuff! Thanks again for the help! I can't wait to get to know the both of you more!"

"Take care, Princess! Thank you for this wonderful honor!" Lexi suddenly jerks her head swiftly around the room like she's looking for something. "Now where's my hyper vacuum?!" She then rushes around the room, hastily searching for what she's trying to find.

"I'm going to step outside with her, mother. I'll be back soon," Void says to Lexi.

"Okay Void, honey!" Her voice sounds muffled as she's digging through a box she's inside of. I give a brief giggle at that before reaching the door. Lariat jumps out of Void's hold and hops away once more. Void steps in front to politely open the door for me to step out.

"Thank you!" I say to him and he nods before following me out the door. As we step outside and the door shuts behind us. There is a locking sound and the device next to the door beeps twice. I keep walking a bit a ways further out onto the large, spacious terrace of theirs as I glance around to admire their property. I turn to the side to face my body towards the center of the city, with Void to my left side. I gaze up at the tallest building as I think about how interesting this particular mare is.

"Your mom's quite a character," I say out loud to Void while maintaining my sights on the building.

"That indeed she is . . . I don't know where I'd be without her"

There is a gentle breeze that blows by and makes my mane and tail flow gracefully in its direction. I stand tall and proud as I retain my gaze upon the tallest building and think. Void gazes at me during this moment and he even seemingly admires the sight of me standing before him as the light of the sun shines down directly upon where we stand. His eyes trail along my body until his gaze halts upon where a cutie mark would be. But to his surprise, there is no cutie mark bared upon my flank. His eyes immediately broaden at the sight of this and even his jaw drops.

"I-I-I'm sorry..." I break from my little thinking trance when Void speaks. I turn my head at him with a confused look.

"What? What's wrong?" I ask.

"F-Forgive me, but uhm … I just noticed that … you do not have a cutie mark," Void says and he even points to the blank space of mine.

"Huh?" I glance at my only flank for a moment then back at him. "Oh yeah, no, I don't have one. You're just now noticing?"

"Y-Yes.. I just now noticed.. How come? I figured a Princess like yourself would have long since acquired one," He exclaims.

"Yeah well... it's actually quite the opposite for me"

"D-Does this not bother you?"

"Mmm, not anymore. To be specific; it started to get to me when I was younger, but as I grew older I learned to accept it and not to let it bug me. You see, I'm a very patient mare, so I always kept believing that someday I'll get my cutie mark no matter how long it takes"

"But... many ponies often get their cutie marks when they're young little colts and fillies. You're telling me that an Alicorn Princess has yet to earn one? I mean ... You're pretty much a teen, correct?"

"Yup, same as you, I'm assuming,"

"This can't be right... You're an Alicorn Princess. How could somepony like yourself, who seems extremely talented, not have a mark upon your-"

"Listen, Void," I say to cut off his sentence. "Don't worry yourself over it, alright? I've already moved past worrying over it. Besides, I've done quite a lot of great things over the course of my life that gave me the confidence I needed to press forward, even when I never got my mark for those particular things. I know that I'm a pretty talented individual and someday I'll get my mark to set my greatness in stone!" I finish my claim and Void stares at me in an awestruck gaze.

"Wow..." He utters.

"Mhmm," I nod. "It's why I get up in the morning and often train my magic. Because one of these days I'll need to use it to show what I'm capable of. And when I do, it will be spectacular!"

"That is ... hard to fathom, I must say"

I bring a hoof to rub the back of my head. "I just... hope you don't think any less of me for not having one"

"Why would I do that? If anything I'm even more amazing by you than I was before. A Princess who has yet to have a cutie mark, has astonishing power and talents!" I playfully roll my eyes and give off a cute embarrassing blush at his words.

"Hehehe, that means a lot! I only said that because well.. I'd imagine there are ponies out there who see me not having a cutie mark and think that I'm not all that great..." I set my hoof down and gaze awkwardly about the floor.

"Nonsense! Those who think that are underestimating you," Void smirks.

"Hehe," I give a smile in response to his words. "Wait, does this mean your mom didn't notice either?" I question as I raise an eyebrow, tilt my head at him, and even point back at the house.

"No, I don't believe she did, either!"

"Hmph, funny how you both have such observant eyes, yet neither of you have noticed something so obvious about me." I speak a little quieter for this next sentence. "Plus you were standing behind me for quite some time while I was talking to your mom so I figured you would have seen that there was nothing there"

"It is... quite the puzzler," Void puts a hoof to his head and looks down as he thinks to himself about this whole ordeal.

"Plus, I'm pretty sure just about all of Equestria knows that I don't have a cutie mark yet. I mean, hay, I believe it might even be written down in a book somewhere that I don't have one . . . Or . . . would it not be written down somewhere?" I say to myself, putting a hoof to my chin and looking off to the side. "Normally when something spectacular happens to a being of great importance, their successes would be captivated in a history book or somethin'," I go on talking out loud to myself as Void now watches me. "But would they write something about me not acquiring my cutie mark for such a long time? I'd have to check back on that by reviewing all the history books I've read ... 'course I could just visit a local library and ask-"

"Are you talking to yourself?" Void inquires with an eyebrow raised.

"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry! Force of habit!" I say as I look back at him and awkwardly bring a hoof to rub the back of my head. I even give an awkward smile to him.

"It's quite alright. But can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?"

"What were these things you speak of? The things throughout your life that were deemed cutie mark worthy, yet you've never received one"

"Ahhh, that's gonna be something I'll keep to myself until you tell me all about your little relic there!" I bring up a hoof to gently flick the ring around his horn. The ring makes a little 'Tink' sound when I do.

"Right.." He says as he gazes off to the side.

"While we're on the topic of learning more about each other, let me ask you somethin'. What exactly were you doing in The Everfree Forest?" I ask. Void's look shows trepidation once more.

"You see . . . I was out in The Everfree Forest hunting some Timberwolves, hoping to earn a couple of extra bits . . . for my mother"

"For your mother? W... Why?"

"For quite some time . . . my mother and I haven't exactly been doing so well when it comes to our income of currency. In fact, we're struggling to even stay living here," He gazes down at the floor and brings a hoof to rub his foreleg.

"W-.. how can that be? Your mother's a brilliant inventor, you said so yourself! She makes awesomely cool inventions in that nifty lab of hers and plus you both live in this amazingly fancy penthouse with a perfect view of the city from here! A perfect view of Equestria, even!" I jerk my head behind me to momentarily divert Void's gaze in that direction for him to see the view. From here, Canterlot and even The Crystal Empire can be seen. "From all that, I figured she would be swimming in bits!" I exclaim.

"Well ... Looks can be deceiving, Flurry Heart. The truth is ... it's quite the opposite of what you would expect. She makes brilliant inventions, yes... but no pony out there really considers taking her up on her work. She slaves away often at times just to make something truly great just to sell it for whatever she can in order to sustain us... and even finding somepony to buy her inventions is a hassle all on its own"

My heart begins to sink as I hear Void go on about Lexi's dilemma. I think to myself 'how can this be?', desperately trying to comprehend the craziness of this ordeal. I feel so bad, I can hardly believe it. I must find out why, so I decide to question Void further to get to the bottom of this.

"How did this happen? What caused all this to put you both in such a predicament?" I inquire with a worried expression on my face.

"Well, you see... quite the sum of years back... an incident occurred that caused many folks within this city to show distrust towards my mother. But it wasn't her fault... not at all. And ever since that day... she's been trying to pick herself back up as she fell lower and lower... trying to redeem herself for a mistake she didn't commit." I continue to listen as I gaze down at the ground with a serious expression, trying to process all this in my head. "So that's why we're here... in this state of struggle. On the surface we may seem fine... but because of what happened, it is the reason why she is struggling... and it's why I'm out there, trying my hardest to make a little extra just to ease her pain. Trying to hunt Timberwolves to do something... and I'm hardly even good at that. I can't even hunt them properly. I just keep blasting them to unusable pieces... My magic is too unstable currently for me to do any better for myself... and any better for her, especially," Hearing Void's words tug on my heart strings almost brings me to the point of shedding a tear. But I maintain my composure and continue listening for anything else he has to say.

"If I had better control over my magic I could do better... I just know it... I could finally be of further use"

"You need somepony to help you control your magic..-" I slowly raise my head up at him and give him a smirk. "I can do that"

"You can?" He looks up at me with a surprised look.

"I'm an Alicorn Princess who's extremely talented like you said, right? I can do it, no problem," I give Void a reassuring wink.

"W-.. Thank you, Princess," Void smiles a tad at my words.

"Not only that, I'll help you out even further. I'm gonna find a way to help you and your mom get out of this little mishap. That way your mom can be set on bits and you won't have to hunt Timberwolves for scraps!" Void's eyes broaden and he smiles even more.

"W-.. I don't know what to say! T-Thank you so much, Prince--.. Eh I mean, Flurry Heart!" He reaches up both of his front hooves and takes hold of my right hoof, then proceeds to shake it.

"Hey, what are newly found friends for, heh?" I firmly shake his hooves in return. After we shake hooves, Void takes a step back.

"Heh, indeed"

I turn my eyes towards the penthouse. "You know, I find it strange. I never expected something like this to happen to your mom. She seemed so kind and happy, like nothing was wrong and she was living her life very well," Void turns to look back at the penthouse as well.

"As I mentioned before... she's very good at hiding things," Void says in a soft, saddened tone.

"But why hide such a thing? Especially from a Princess," I ask.

"She probably did not wish to worry you. First impressions go a long way and perhaps she felt it would be quite embarrassing and pitiful if royalty like yourself were to find out the truth. So, she hid that fact and focused on impressing you . . . That's my guess at least"

"Pretty specific for a guess," I raise my eyebrow at him.

"Well it's more of my statement of understanding my own mother," Void turns back to me. "A Princess coming to visit her home, now of all times, feels like a once in a life time opportunity and she wanted to show her appreciation rather show her sorrows"

"Hmm, well I have great feeling that her luck is about to change. Though, I should get going. I can just drop on by tomorrow, right?"

"Certainly," Void says while giving a nod.

"Great! Cya around!" I give a wave and turn away from Void and he turns to walk back towards the house. I look over my shoulder at him.

"Hey," I say to get him to look back at me. "Thanks for letting me get to know you and your magic a bit. I can already tell this friendship of ours is gonna go a long way," I say all with a friendly smile on my face. My horn begins to light up bright yellow as I get ready to teleport back home.

"You're very much welcome. And I feel the same way," Void gives a friendly smile back and begins to turn around. I give a subtle chuckle as my horn continues to emit magic, ready to poof my way back to The Crystal Empire. "Oh and one more thing!" amidst his turn around, he stops to glance back at me. "About what I said... back at the cave..." I give a seriously sincere expression as I speak. "You know... callin' your magic weak and all... I should have said this before while we were there but... obviously... I didn't mean it when I said that. I only said it to throw you off your game. Your magic is quite impressive and it's worth learning about... maybe even letting it be known out there. Interesting magic like yours deserves to be known, deserves to be captivated in a... book or an article err somethin'. It deserves the right kind of attention," I say with a wink.

Void then turns back fully towards me with a heart warmed smile. I return said gaze with a very similar one. I give him a gentle wave and my horn glow brightens further!. "See ya'round!" Right then I poof away right before Void's eyes and magical yellow particles rain down gracefully upon the spot where I stood last.

I reappear in one of the many grand halls of The Empire. As I finally return to the empire I decide to check up on my mom. I proceed through the halls in search for her. Having a good idea on where she might be I go to check the one place she's most likely at. Cadance's very on personal lounge. I reach the double doors of the lounge and I slowly open them to peak inside. There lies Cadance upon a light-gray comfy couch as she reads a magazine on pianos.

"Hey Mom!" I say to her.

"Oh! Welcome back, Flurry," Cadance says, delighted to see my return. She puts a bookmark on a page within the magazine, closes it, then sets it down on the table sitting in front of the couch. "How did your time go with your new friend?" I step into the room and approach to stand in front of her.

"It was great! I had a lot of fun getting to know him"

"That's wonderful to hear sweetie! What did you learn about him?"

"Well, I learned a lot about how his magic works. It's really quite unique. Unlike any sort of magic we've learned of and encountered over the years"

"Really now? Well maybe you should invite him over here so he can demonstrate it for us in the stadium"

"You know? That's not a bad idea," I put a hoof to my chin and ponder at that thought.

"Yes, perhaps if it's quite fascinating enough, which I'm sure it is considering he owns a mysterious object that grants him wings, then maybe Twilight would love to hear all about it. Oh, who am I kidding, she would most definitely love to hear all about it"

"Oh yeah, no question! Though it'd have to be up to Void if he wants to share all that stuff. He still seems pretty closed about... revealing his capabilities to other folks.. you know, other than us"

"Of course, dear. Anything else interesting happen?"

"Yeah, I met his mom! Got know her a little bit. Her name's Lexi Dawn and guess what? She's a scientist!" I explain with glee.

"Oooh! Just like Twilight was back in the day!" Cadance says with a wide eyed, surprised expression.

"Yup! She even has her own lab, a bunch of crazy, cool looking inventions, and she even has this fancy doorbell called a 'Retinal Scanner'!"

"A retina-wha?" Cadance says with a confused expression. I give a brief chuckle before explaining what I'm talking about.

"It's basically some device that magically scans your eye and it unlocks the front door of their place, so long as you're 'registered in the system' I believe"

"That sounds like something out of a movie"

"I know, right?" I gleefully say. "It's really incredible! And at first I didn't quite believe in something like that but it's true! This mare is very talented! Very kind and polite too!"

"Well, I simply must meet her sometime!"

"In that case, how's about one of these days we invite them both over to The Crystal Empire once I get to know them more?"

"Sounds wonderful, Flurry. I'll allow it"

"Awesome!"

"Hmhm. You know, you act pretty fast when you need to get something done, sweetie. 'Course I often tell you things such as this so you already know," Cadance picks up the magazine again and opens it back up to the bookmarked page and takes a look at it.

"Yeah, that's right!"

"You fulfilled your promise right away when I asked you to make a new friend"

"Well you know me! I-"

"However.." Cadance interrupts and her smile fades to a more serious expression as she gazes at her magazine. "I had hoped for things to happen at a much more easing pace. I asked you to go out and make a friend because I figured it would give you decently balanced time off of training yourself," I gaze at Cadance with a worried look, fearing I've upset her in a way. "But instead... that didn't turn out to be the case," She then gives me a side ways look which causes my ears to perk downward.

"Uh-.. I-.. u-.." I start to stammer my words, unsure how to respond.

"Now, sweetie, I know how much you love training, and I love seeing you improve yourself. Hay, I would never even dream of asking you to stop improving yourself, but I wish for you to do so much more than just honing your skills," She turns her eyes back to her magazine. "Now, I'm not telling you this to make you feel bad for you fulfilling your promise so quickly, no no no, I would never. In fact, I meant what I said when I stated that I'm proud of you for succeeding, and that will never change. It's just..." She lowers her magazine a bit and appears to make a worried expression. "...I wish for you to do more than what you're already doing. I know you're more than capable of a lot of things, Flurry. Which is why I believe you can do far greater things while still having time for training. That are so many things out there in Equestria and you know this..-" I look into her eyes and my ears perk back up, having a pretty good understanding on where this is going. She turns her head to me and gazes at me with a comforting expression of care. "So many things out there that are just waiting for you to explore them and just waiting for you to seize the opportunity to discover new things. If you spend all your time on just training alone well... Think of it this way... You spend countless hours honing your skills, but what good is it when you don't go out and find the opportunity to put yourself to the test?" I look at her with a confident smile on my face after she finishes her claim.

"I get what you're sayin', mom, and I understand. Don't worry, I believe I'm already on the right path to that by having met these folk.

"That so?"

"Yup! So trust me, mom. I got this!"

"Well, okay then. I trust you completely, sweetie," Cadance reaches over and puts a hoof onto my shoulder and looks deeply into my eyes with her loving smile. "You're a smart girl, Flurry, and I want the world to see that. And hay, maybe doing such things could be a form of training if you think about it. Equestria and its inhabitants is just full of surprises and surely they'll put you to the test, giving you pretty adventurous little challenges for you to tackle.

"Thanks, mom. And uh.. sorry that it seemed like I rushed into fulfilling the promise I made to you," I say as I awkwardly rub the back of my neck. "It just sorta... happened and I guess I just got lucky"

"Oh sweetie, you know I'm not blaming you for anything. I understand that things just sort of happen. I was just surprised is all, but I'm also very happy that you succeeded so quickly!" Cadance leans in to whisper to me. "I just wish I could get your father to succeed in doing his share of the chores quickly," We both share a brief chuckle while Cadance leans back to gaze back into my eyes. "Heheheh, anyways, Flurry, I know you're capable of a lot and I know you're most definitely capable of doing much more than that. I want you to be able to do everything, Training, making friends, discovering new things, and even adventure out there into the wide world of Equestria. I know you can do it all," I happily smile in return and put my hoof onto hers. My eyes even glisten as I look into her eyes.

"Thanks, mom. That means a lot. I'll do my best"

"Excellent, dear. That's all I wanted to hear," Cadance lets her hoof off my shoulder.

"So does that mean I can go see them again, tomorrow?"

"Of course, sweetie!"

"Awesome! Thanks!"

"Just do me one little favor. You have been training for quite a looong while. You've earned a break. Please do try to cut back on the training just a little, okay? Only for a short time. Have fun with your new friends for a while!" Cadance states with an innocent smile on her face.

"Okay fine, I'll lay off the-..." I suddenly have a moment of realization. "...-TRAINING!" I suddenly teleport out of the room. Cadance blinks a few times in surprise of my sudden disappearance, but then casually looks back to her magazine. Her eyes catches a beautifully glistening, pristine piano that's also quite expensive.

"Hmph, that one looks pretty nice!" She says to herself.

I reappear on the balcony and snatch my stopwatch off the railing. "Gotcha!" I hold it close to my eyes to see the time on it. I look on the display screen on it and it shows that it's still counting up. I swiftly press the 'stop' button on it and the timer displays over an hour's worth of time that has elapsed.

"Daaaawww! An hour?! Darn it!" Suddenly the display flickers a bit before powering off. "Gaaah!!! And the batteries are drained! URGH!" I hit the timer with my hoof a few times, futilely, to try to get it to turn back on but, of course, to no avail. I then grip the stopwatch with both my hooves and angrily hit it against my forehead and hold it there in frustration. I continue about my day 'til nightfall then soon after that, I head to bed. The next morning I wake up, get out of bed, and approach my dresser. I pull out a brush and proceed to do my mane. I carefully brush to get rid of my bed head mane to refine it to my natural mane style. After I fix my mane from being messy I proceed to do my little swirls upon the ends of my mane. Fully completing my mane, I set the brush down, and stand in front of a mirror up on my hind legs. I stand tall and perform a pose in the mirror like a superhero from a comic book would stand upon a precipice, over looking the land. My hooves at my hips and my head held high as I gaze upon my reflection with a smile.

"Heheh! Lookin' good!" I then notice a cow lick spot on my mane that isn't properly brushed. "Oh-" I magically take the brush once more and brush that part of my mane to perfection. "There we go!" I say with a smile and set the brush down. I proceed to the door and exit and go about my day. I go eat breakfast, spent time with my mom, and even do a bit of studying for up coming assignments. After all that I then proceed to the balcony once again to over look the land. I pan my head from left to right to view everything in sight. Once I conclude my gaze I turn my attention to the ground where I see my stopwatch where I usually leave it. I reach down and pick it up and instinctively try to get it running for a little teleportation training. I quickly realize that it's still drained of its battery life from yesterday.

"Oh . . . Right . . . The battery's still drained," I say as I lower my ears in disappointment. "Hmmm... I suppose I could skip it. Mom did say I should try to lay off the training for a bit. Which means I should focus my attention of hanging out with my new friends and seeing where that goes," I turn my attention towards southeast of here where I can see the buildings of Manehatten from here. "I guess it's about that time I go visit them," I look back at my stopwatch and set it down onto the ground safely and gently. "You say here, little buddy. I gotta go visit my new friends! Aaaand maybe pick you up some batteries while I'm out"

After setting down my stopwatch I glow up my horn to teleport on over to Manehatten. After a quick poof, I appear on the terrace of their penthouse and I begin to approach the door. I pass their pool and stop in my place to give a quick look at it. I think to myself while putting a hoof to my chin.

"Hmmm," I utter before setting my hoof down and continuing to make my way to the door. I bring my hoof up to knock on the door. Right as I put my hoof on the door, sirens begin to blare out and a panel opens up from above the door. A long device extends out from the open slot and points its end right down to me. It looks to be like some sort of metallic cannon. My eyes widen and I grow stiff at the sight. The device begins to make a winding up charging sound as it takes aim upon me with a little red laser. Upon the screen of the fancy eye scanning device, it chances to show a view of Lexi who gives quite the stern look.

"WHO IS IT?!" She shouts in a stern tone, her voice sounding compressed like she's speaking out of the box.

"Uh! It's me, Miss Dawn! Flurry Heart! You said I could come over! Remember?!" I say in a panicked tone while my eyes shift back and forth between the cannon. Lexi's eye pupils turn small and her ears perk down as she realizes it's me.

"Oh Sorry Princess! Didn't mean to scare you! Here let me just..." In that moment, the cannon retracts back into the open panel, closing once it's inside. I gaze in awe at the sight of it as it completes its retraction.

"Woah..." I say as my body no longer is stiff from shock.

"There we go! Again! Sorry Princess! Just uhh.. can't be too careful!" She says in a singsong voice as she claps her hooves together. "Here! I'll unlock the door for you and you can come on over into my lab! The door to my lab will also be open!" She retains a gleefully excited smile the whole time right until the view of her on the screen cuts off. The device next to the door makes a few beeping sounds and not a second after such, the door itself makes an unlocking sound and slowly opens by itself. Awestruck by what I am witnessing, I can only manage to say two words to describe it all.

"So cool!" I eagerly step inside and begin making my way towards Lexi's lab. I approach the door and it automatically slides open for me. I freeze for a moment as it does and give a surprised expression. Then I smile and continue my way inside.

"Uh, Miss Dawn? Where are you?" I glance around looking for her but she's no where to be seen.

"Over here!" Her voice sounding off from deep within the lab. I look over towards where her voice was heard. Out pops Lexi from behind a workbench along with several science-y tools as she raises her head up. She pulls herself over the workbench and lands on the other side, brushing herself off.

"Good to see you again, Princess! I'm so glad you decided to come back!" She says as she approaches me.

"As we agreed on!" I reply with a smile.

"So? Is it true?" She asks while leaning in with an eager look.

"Uhhh, is what true?" I tilt my head at her with a questioning gaze.

"You! Not having a Cutie Mark!"

"Oh, that, Well..." I turn to the side to show the spot where a cutie mark would be, showing nothing but a blank flank. Lexi lets out a gasp at the sight.

"It iiiis!" She says while putting two hooves to her cheeks and her eye pupils dilate.

"Shocker, huh?"

"Indeed it is! I'm surprised I didn't notice sooner! I have very observant eyes! I should have most definitely seen that there was nothing there!"

"Believe me, I was just as surprised as you are right now," I glance off to the left and speak a little quieter. "Well maybe not exactly like you are right now but-"

"How could something like this be?" Lexi speaks out between my sentence. "You seem like a wonderfully talented individual! How could you not have a cutie mark?!"

"Don't worry about it, Miss Dawn. I'm sure it will come to me one of these days," I say as I playfully swipe my hoof at her.

"Well I certainly hope so! I don't know how I'd feel if I didn't get my cutie mark to this date!"

"Well? What about yours?"

"Huh?"

"What's your cutie mark?" I ask. She then smiles and stands up on her hind legs and turns her body a bit to her left. She then takes a hoof to the lower part of her lab coat and shifts it out of the way for me to view her cutie mark. Her cutie mark is a White Sun with a Glass Beaker right in the middle. Upon the beaker there is a Blue Ribbon. Leaning against the beaker there is a Blue Screwdriver, similar to the one she had used to open her filing cabinet yesterday.

"Wow! That's cool! I like it!"

"Pretty neat, huh?" She gleefully smiles.

"I'll say! Suits you well!"

"Why thank you, Princess!" She then steps back down on all four hooves.

"Say, where's Void?"

"Oh he went out to pick up a few things for me about an hour ago. I sent him off to Fillydelphia, he should be back any minute!" Lexi states as she turns the other way and begins to walk, swaying her hoof to signal me to follow. She magically pulls up two chairs for us to sit on. She sits on the one that's next to her workbench. She looks at me, darts her eyes at the second chair, and smiles. Getting the message, I gently sit down in front of her.

"Fillydelphia, huh? That's quite far-ish. Compared to The Everfree and The Empire though, not really but, you know"

"Indeed"

"So, I'm guessing you trust your son to travel far from home?"

"Most certainly! I trust him dearly and he most certainly knows how to be very discrete!"

"Interesting. My mom trusts me to travel away from home too, considering I can teleport to basically any place in the world in an instant, buuut uh yeah! That's pretty cool trusting your son like that!"

"Indeed it is! You wouldn't believe how much of a tremendous help he has been throughout my life. Still is to this day"

"Hmm, well I hope I get to know more about him. And maybe you can tell me some of the stories on how he's helped you," I say with a sincere smile.

"Oh most certainly Princess!"

"So if you don't mind me askin', why the sternness back at the door? Somethin' got you paranoid?"

"Oh! That! Again, I'm truly sorry! It's just... I uhhh often get quite a lot of... uhm... how do I say this? Uhhh.. Snooping individuals who sometimes don't respect privacy," Lexi gives an awkward smile at me while giving a nervous shrug.

"I see... and uh... about that thing that looked like it was about to blast me.... why?" I raise an eye brow at her.

"Safety reasons!" She continues to smile awkwardly at me and the sound of a squee sounds off.

"Right..." There is an awkward silence between us. Only ambient sounds of her lab are heard. "Soooo..." I start glancing about the lab for a moment before looking back at her. "How long you been a scientist?"

"Pretty much my whole life! Ever since I was a little filly, I was so very interested in science. I was inspired by Princess Twilight after finding out that in her early days she was a pony of science herself"

"That she was! She's quite the inspiration towards many. Although, that's a bit of an understatement"

"Quite. She's a true symbol of The Land Of Equestria! She inspired me so much back then when I caught glimpses of her amazing power in magic. Coupling that with the fact that she was a mare of science, I felt obligated to become something similar; a mare who uses the power of magic and science together!" She exclaims confidently.

"By the looks of things it seems like that's going pretty well for you! Plus, that whole 'Magic & Science Together' thing has a nice ring to it! I can most definitely see you being a mare of that title," I say with a genuinely pleasing smile.

"Yes, well, I always do try to improve a little each day at a time with what I've got," Lexi makes a noticeably forced smile. I recall the truth of what Void told me on Lexi's current dilemma. I wish to ask her about it but I'm unsure if this is a good time. Instead I decide to deviate away from that and hopefully get her mind onto something more positive.

"So, are we checkin' out that testing grounds place we were talkin' about yesterday?" I ask.

"Shortly. I'm just waiting for Void to get back before the BIG unveiling!"

"Neat!"

"In fact I believe-" Lexi pulls out a little watch from within her coat and checks it. "-he should be arrive... right... about... now!" Lexi points at the lab door as slides open. In steps Void, magically levitating a few bags.

"Welcome back, hun!"

"Thank you, mother," Void smiles.

"Void, look who's here! The Princess is here!" She says and I give a subtle wave to Void.

"Greetings," Void politely says to me while giving a gentle nod.

"Heya!"

"Wonderful! Now that Void's here, we'll soon head on down to the testing room. Just need to wait for a few things to be ready and we'll be set to head on down!" Lexi puts her hooves together in an eager fashion while smiling at me.

"Can't wait to see what this place is all about!"

"For now, let's take this time to talk a little more, shall we?"

"Sure!" I turn my head to Void as he begins to approach after setting his bags down on a desk. "So, Void, tell me more about you. What do you like to do for fun?" Void stops just a few feet away from me and he begins to think for a moment.

"Hmm, well mostly I just simply go out and explore the land of Equestria, often visiting woodland areas to admire the animals. I run into quite a lot of bunny rabbits and I often take the time to play with them. If you couldn't already tell, bunny rabbits are my favorite animal"

"Gee, I wonder what gave it away," I jokingly say with a smirk.

"Hmhm, other times I just stay home here with my mother and help her with her projects and experiments in anyway I can"

"Like I said, he's a BIG help," Lexi chimes in. "Oh! This one time, I was out in the field studying some plants for some botany research I was conducting and there was this giant living plant with a mouth the size of a carriage!" She exclaims whilst throwing her hooves up in the air to signify the size of the plant's mouth she is describing. "It must of thought I was food because it tried to eat me. Next thing I new I was inside the creature's mouth! I was so captivated by the size of this creature that I had no time to get out of the way," I look at Lexi with a surprised look, finding her story quite shocking.

"Thankfully Void came in and got the creature to spit me out! I was completely covered in slime!"

"My goodness! Were you okay?!" I say as I lean in with concern on my face.

"Oh yeah! Perfectly fine! It didn't hurt at all! The slime was a bit of a hassle to get off but, no harm nor foul!" Lexi playfully sways her hoof casually, not seeming bothered at all by her experience.

"Sounds like your work can be dangerous at times just from that alone,"

"I did tell you to be careful, mother," Void says to Lexi in a bothered tone.

"And I told YOU-" Lexi magically grabs Void and pulls him closely to her, allowing her to take hold of him and with one of her hooves, she ruffles his mane. As she does, hazy particles fly up off his head and slowly float down, shimmering as they do, then eventually fading away. "-sweet heart, 'What's science without a little fun and excitement?' Ahahahahahah!," Lexi stops ruffling his mane and hugs him tightly. Void gives a little embarrassed blush as he looks my way. I simply give a subtle chuckle as I watch, picturing how my mother can be the same way.

"M-Mother..." Void says in a soft embarrassed tone.

"Now then," Lexi lets go of Void and he steps back a bit. "I think it's about that time we head on down to the testing room," Lexi reaches into her coat and pulls out that same little device she had in her coat from yesterday. She takes a gander at it and shortly after she puts it back into her coat. "By the time we head on down, everything should be all set!!"

"Alright! I gotta say, I'm getting real excited! This place must be somethin' special huh?"

"That it is indeed, Princess!" Lexi declares with a wide smile.

"I must say I am also getting quite excited as well. It's been a while since we've had another guest come and see this particular room. I'm interested to know how much you'll enjoy it," Void states with a smile.

"What are we waitin' for then? Let's go!" I bounce up off the chair I sat on, full of energy to see what this room is all about.

"Then let's not waste any more ti-" Suddenly amidst our chatter we hear a beeping sound coming from one of Lexi's computer devices. Lexi's ears perk up and her smile fades as she turns her head to acknowledge the beeping.

"Uh oh. That's not good," She says while leaning over to examine the computer.

"What is it?" I ask.

"An... unwanted motion trigger out on the terrace. Greeeaaat..." Lexi presses a few buttons on the keyboard and the screen pulls up a view what looks to be outside on the terrace near the edge of the penthouse limits. I watch this screen in awe as I've never really seen a device display a view of another location like this. I've always seen it done with magic but never technology.

"Woah... this is cool!" I gleefully say.

"Yeah well I have a feeling what we're about to see might not be so cool" Lexi replies.

Soon after she speaks her words we see something zoom pass the camera. I couldn't quite make out what it was, it was too fast and so sudden.

"Did you see that?" Void asks.

"Yeah. . . I did" Lexi's appears to be very peeved by what this strange presence may be.

"You don't think it's. . ." Void says to Lexi.

"Yeah. . . I do"

"Wh-What? Who or.. what is it, Miss Dawn?" I ask with eager intent.

"Somepony I am not too keen on having here. . . Welp, I suppose we shouldn't keep him waiting any longer. Come on, Void, let's go see what he wants this time," Lexi stands up from her chair and begins to walk towards the exit of the lab and Void follows along. She stops at the door and looks back at me. "Oh and if it's all right with you, Princess, could you please stay here? I wouldn't want you getting involved with what's about to happen," I watch her for a moment as she speaks her words before she heads out the door with Void soon following her out. I sit here confused and curious about this sudden turn of events. I turn my attention back to the screen and continue to watch in order to figure out what might be out there. I lean in closer as I see some movement around the edges of the screen. I squint my eyes to focus in on it and before I knew it, suddenly an eye shifts in front of the camera and glares into it. This causes me to let out a startled gasp as it takes me by surprise. The eye glows red as I watch it and it glares back in a manor almost like it's watching right back at me. The strange figure to which the eye belongs to suddenly lets out a strange distorted, malicious sounding laugh and it suddenly reaches a hoof out at the camera to which then the camera feed turns all static-y. Soon after that, the camera shuts off completely. I sit here watching the black screen, feeling nervous and even quite shaken by this sudden scare whilst disturbing thoughts flow through my mind on who, or what this being might be.

[Chapter 3 End]

Chapter 4: Metallic Adversary

View Online

Lexi steps outside of the penthouse and walks out onto the terrace with Void along side her. Her head pans slowly across the terrace from right to left whilst she walks on her hindlegs. She has a serious and annoyed expression on her face while she kept her eyes focused for any sign of who or whatever she was looking for. I peak my head out of the cracked open front door in order to watch what might be happening from afar. Lexi stops in her tracks as she reaches the middle of the terrace with Void stopping a few steps behind her.

"You can come on out now, I know you're there," she calls out, sounding rather unsurprised and unamused.

There's nothing but a calm quite ambience of the city sounding out. She continues to gaze about, looking for this particular individual, if it even is an individual. It could just be some strange creature lurking about. My mind continues to wonder what it could be as I spectate. There is suddenly a slight rumbling sensation coming from the ground. I glance at the floor as I feel the vibrations through my hooves, then look back forward towards the two. Void shifts his head about to gaze in different directions in an anxious manor while Lexi remains calm and serious. Her focus locks directly in front of her towards the edge of the terrace where the source of the rumbling is coming from. There is a roaring sound of wind that seems to be coming from over the edge. It gets louder and louder, signaling that something is coming closer and closer. My gaze focuses on the edge and I await for this strange anomaly to reveal itself. Right then, a blurry figure swoops up into the air from the edge at high speeds. My eyes quickly follow the blurry figure as it seemingly had hurled itself into the air for us all to see. As the figure shoots up into the air, Void takes a combat ready like stance while Lexi remains completely unphased still.

I try to focus my eyes onto the figure as it slows down mid-air, but it suddenly plummets back down towards the ground of the terrace. Soon after, it lands upon the ground of the terrace a mere couple of yards away from Lexi's front. As it lands it creates a strong gust of wind that blows back towards the penthouse. Lexi's lab coat, mane, and tail blow back in the direction where the forceful gust of wind flows towards. The wind reaches the front door and I hold the door back to prevent it from swinging wide open. My eyes widen in surprise at the sudden force pushing on the door I hide behind. As the winds die down I quickly focus my attention back towards the figure. Before Lexi stands a rather tall individual giving off the appearance of a very large stallion that's hunched over from the landing. The large stallion begins to slowly stand up straight to stand at full height. I stare in awe at their height as they appear quite larger than Lexi even as she stands on her hindlegs. If I had to guess I'd say their size is somewhere between Celestia's and Luna's height. Their eyes shoot open and glow a bright red and seemingly glares down at Lexi. The large stallion lets out a similar distorted laugh much like the one I heard earlier. Lexi stands fearless to this towering stallion standing before her. Void remains behind his mom for the time being, remaining in a ready stance, though still looking anxious.

"Well, well, well. Look who, uninvitingly, decided to show up . . . again" Lexi says.

The large stallion lets out a voice to speak. "Lexington B. Dawn, we meet again," The voice coming from the stallion is distorted as well. I tilt my head at the off putting sound of his voice. I gaze at him more observantly to take note of his features. I even squint my eyes to focus more. He has a creamy white color coat along with a pure black mane and tail but something about his physique feels wrong. His voice too, it seems unnatural and I can't quite put my hoof on why.

"Brisk B. Bunsen, good to see you," Lexi replies in a sarcastic tone. "Short time no see . . . Now get out!"

"Oh, but why would I wish to leave here so soon? We have matters to discuss"

"Do we now?" Lexi raises an eyebrow at the large individual.

There appears to be some figure sitting on the large stallion's back. They pear their head around from the back of the large stallion's head to gaze front towards Lexi and Void.

"H-Hello, Lexi" a small, blue stallion sporting a black fiddler cap speaks out to Lexi in a very timid tone.

"Hello, Pip" Lexi replies in a neutral tone to him. The cap wearing pony dismounts off of the larger stallion and stands off to the right of them. I notice that they're a unicorn when I spot their horn sticking out from their cap. Along side his attire, I spot him wearing brown saddle bags on his back. Their mane and tail bare the same black color as his cap and his eyes are a very pretty shade of emerald.

"My dear Lexington, I came to check up on how progress has been with your, so called ... 'ingenious' ... inventions"

"Progress is doing just fine. You can leave now.." She says in a snarky tone.

"Oh, but I hear quite the opposite, Miss Dawn..." The large stallion leans their head down closely to Lexi and bares a wide grin. The stallion holds his head down closely to level with Lexi's eyes for a second or two. "You see..." He leans himself back up, standing with his chest puffed out and he closes his eyes whilst turning his head aside, all while retaining his smug grin. "I know for a fact you have yet to submit any inventions to the science committee in quite the large passage of time," The large stallion opens his eyes to give a sideways look down towards Lexi, still maintaining his smug look upon his face. "Which leads me to believe that progress is most certainly not doing 'just fine' as you may claim," The large stallion continues to speak with his strangely, distorted voice. The more I listen to it, the more I find it to sound oddly metallic. As they continue to speak to each other, I begin to slowly open the door and carefully step out, stealthily making my way over.

"Tch.." Lexi makes a further annoyed expression at him. "Look, for your information, I happen to be very busy right now and I don't need you prowling about my property like a deranged Ursa," I continue to step closer whilst observing this large stallion.

"Oh? You're quite busy you say? Then perhaps you do have something rather enticing you've come up with!"

"Yeah. In fact, I feel I've been making some interesting little breakthroughs with my work. Safe to say I've been getting back on my hooves," Lexi firmly states while crossing her forelegs at the large stallion.

"Really, now?" The large stallion says in a doubtful tone. The more I watch the large stallion speak, I come to realize something very strange. His mouth isn't moving as he speaks, but he makes certain expressions during the appropriate time of his words. My eyes widen at finding this out. This large stallion certainly isn't normal. If I didn't know any better I'd say that they're some form of ventriloquist, but that isn't the cast, not for this individual. This stallion is something different. I step closer while remaining unnoticed to get a better look at his strange physique.

"Indeed. So, as I stated firmly before... We're doing just fine"

"If that's the case then shall I be expecting you at the science competition next week? If so, I'd be de-lllighted to know what you shall bring to the table," The large stallion makes a malicious grin. "You would certainly liven up the event if you were to participate..." He sarcastically claims whilst standing tall and triumphantly looking. "That is... if they'll even allow you to enter, Nhhhnhnhnhnh," the stallion lets out a sinister sounding laugh.

"Grrr.." Lexi visibly grits her teeth and her expression becomes more annoyed, almost to the point of full on anger.

"However, if you DO not have an invention for the upcoming science event, well... then I suppose I ... shall be the one to rightfully claim the prize for succeeding," The large stallion's malicious grin grows wider. "You see, Lexington ... The city of Manehatten is just full of brilliant scientists. Many of which shall be there in hopes of making their, so called, 'masterpieces' known in this glorious region, and maybe, juuust maybe, throughout Equestria. However ... none of which could even dream of matching to my level of brilliance. And if you're not going to compete then... this shall be lllovely trot in the park..."

I reach a point where I'm mere feet away from Lexi and Void, carefully peaking around them from behind to view the large stallion. Examining his physique I notice some very odd features, one that no normal pony would ever have. Strange small gaps between joints, very peculiar lines running along his body, and even his coat is abnormally shiny. Almost like his coat is made of metal. In fact, I believe it is made of metal. The light of the shine reflects of him so well I can almost see my reflection in it. I quietly gasp at what I'm discovering about this stallion. I look back up at his face to as he continues speaking. Even the stallion's movements seem abnormal as he shifts his head about, almost stiff like, and not smooth at all. As he moves his body I also notice his mane and tail don't move nor flow at all. They appear static and even have the same metallic look as his body does. Lastly, as I listen closely, I can hear the sound of winding metal as he moves. My jaw partially drops as I come to a conclusion. There's no doubt in my mind on who, or should I say, what this stallion truly is. My eyes can't help but broaden at the sight of this stallion. My excitement rising in my body as a ginormous smile starts to sweep across my face.

"... and with no worthy competition to rival my brilliance, everypony within this city will come to acknowledge my excellence and they will soon learn that I am--"

"A Robot?! That's. So. COOL!" I excitedly let out with my ginormous smile and broadened eyes. My uncontainable excitement interrupts The Metal Stallion's monologue. Everypony else's eyes widen in the sudden hollering of my excitement. Lexi and Void turn to face me and the other two turn their gaze towards me as well.

"Didn't I ask you to stay inside?" Lexi asks in a stern, yet polite tone.

"Oh, sorry about that-" I snap out of my excited state and my ears perk down as I look to Lexi. "-I-I just wanted to make sure everything was okay and to see what all the fuss was about from a bit closer"

The metal stallion turns their attention towards me. "What is the meaning of this? Who's this... mare?!" He aggressively inquires.

"A guest... of which you're rudely interrupting their visit here, so if you would be so kind as to lea-" Lexi says as she turns her attention back to the metal stallion.

"A guest? Hah! Why would anypony want to visit your home?" He scoffs at Lexi.

"As if your place is any better than ours.." Void chimes in. The metal stallion glares at Void for his statement and even growls.

"Easy, Void," Says Lexi as she glances back to him. "Not saying you're wrong, hun. I just don't wanna bare too much fang...-" Lexi turns back to the metal stallion and returns a serious gaze. "-...Yet..."

"This.. Is.. Incredible! An actual robot! Right here! How is that even possible? You are a robot right?" I ask while swiftly returning to my excited state. The metal stallion looks down at me in confusion.

"U-Uh.. Yes.. ehem.. That is right," He answers.

"Wooow! Who is he, Miss Dawn?" I ask whilst gazing up at the metal stallion.

"Oh, just some sore loser who's still flankhurt over me getting my cutie mark by winning a science fair many years ago," Lexi crosses her forelegs in front of her and gives a smug smile up at the metal stallion.

The metal stallion makes a furious expression at Lexi. "THAT FIRST PLACE RIBBON WAS MINE AND YOU KNOW IT!" He practically screams in his metallic voice.

"Oh, put it on mute, Tin Tail!" Lexi retorts aggressively.

"Hey, woah! Calm down you two!" I politely step in. "Wh-Why all the hostility? What's this all about?"

"It's nothing... this robot just stopped by to hassle us like he usually does"

"Hassle you? Wh-Why?" I say looking up at the metal stallion.

The cap wearing, Blue Stallion from before looks over to me and takes note of my features. He quickly realizes who I am and his eyes widen.

"This is just nonsense, I merely was dropping by to see how your progress has been. Wh-Who even is this anyhow?!" He says while looking down at me with a questioning expression.

"U-Uhh.. S-Sir?" The Blue Stallion says in a timid tone to get the metal stallion's attention.

"Hrrmm?" The metal stallion turns to the blue stallion to which he points towards me.

"Th-That's The Daughter Of The Crystal Princess, P-Princess Flurry Heart!" He informs. The metal stallion's suddenly gives a stunned expression as he turns his head to look back to me. He swiftly notices my horn and wings.

"A P-P-P-Princess?! How can this be?! Is this true?!" He inquires with a shocked tone about his metallic voice.

"Uhhh...-" I dart my eyes about for a second then look back at him and flutter my wings. "-..Yeah!"

"Well I don't believe it! This is simply wonderful! I'm in the presence of greatness!"

"Why, thank you!" I say up at him with a smile.

"This is absolutely spectacular! I'm absolutely thrilled! And... also quite very confused.

"Why's that?" I ask, raising an eye brow and even tilting my head.

"A Princess? Here?! How can that be?" He questions while giving a puzzled look.

"I-It's like a dream come true!" The timid stallion says.

"Quite literally indeed! But... I don't understand... What is a Princess doing in your home?! I demand to know!" He angrily demands whilst baring his metallic teeth at Lexi.

"Well if you must know, Bunsen... She just so happens to be taking a look at all my neat little inventions and being amazed by each and everyone of them so far"

"Pfff! What?! That's preposterous! Your inventions are not worth the time of a beloved Princess! How laughable!"

"On the contrary! She thinks otherwise! Isn't that right, Princess?" Lexi looks to me, awaiting my confirmation.

I gaze with glistening eyes in awe at the robot. I tune into what Lexi said and I shake my head a bit and look to her. "Huh?" I ask her. Lexi's face suddenly looks very worried.

"Hmmm, does not seem like the case, now does it, Lexington?"

"It's the truth, believe it or not..." They both stare at each other with mean looks. I notice the tension between them and find it rather strange.

"But anyways..." I say to try to divert the tension away. "Robot!" I look back up at this brilliant creation. My eyes even sparkle and a wide smile sweeps my face.

"Yes, yes, gaze upon my shiny visage and be amazed!" He says as he stands proudly with the sun shining down on him. His body glistens in the light and I continue to admire. Lexi's worried expression grows further and she even grits her teeth.

"Wow! So awesome!" I say in admiration of everything about this robot.

"Yes, indeed! Though, if I may say, Princess, it should be I that gazes upon you in admiration! Such royalty deserves to be treated as such!" He smiles down at me. "Oh! Where are my manors?" The metal stallion proceeds to bow before me. The other stallion notices the metal stallion performing a bow and hastily performs one of his own. "I am honored to be in a presence such as yours, Princess! You have my upmost of gratitude"

"Uh yeah, Thanks! It's always a pleasure to-"

"WAIT!" The metal stallion interrupts and suddenly shoots back up and raises his hoof a bit. He makes a tensely distraught expression up towards the sky. "If I'm going to do this, I must do it right!" He claims as he looks back down to me, lightly stomping his hoof back down onto the ground. "First impressions are everything! Especially for a Princess!" He looks to me with a proud smile and stands in a tall, proud stance.

"Huh?" I utter. He suddenly levels his head straight forward, stiffly, and appears now to stare blankly off into the distance. His face also now appears to be emotionless.

"Oh great..." Lexi says subtly.

There are some strange sci-fi like sounds coming from him now as he just stands there, stiff and staring straight out into nothingness. I then notice a square panel on his chest begin to pop out. Shortly after that, a burst of air blows out onto my face from his chest. I bring a hoof up to shield my face. After moving my hoof away and setting it down, I look back to his chest to see this panel slowly open up, kinda like a mailbox. There's now an opening within the robot's chest and there appears to be lights and fog coming from inside the opening. From within the light there's a silhouette of something inside. It then begins to step forward out from within the opening of the robot, stepping onto the opened panel, using it as a platform. As the fog and lights finally clears up, the being that stands before me is a snow white bunny, standing on its hindlegs. The bunny holds their forepaws behind their back and around their neck appears to be some sort of metallic collar with a little screen attached to it. Looking upon the bunny's face, their eyes are red and they bare a proud smile. I stare at the bunny in utter confusion while they stare back with their proud smile. The bunny then performs a respectful bow towards me.

"Dr. Brisk B. Bunsen! At your service!" The bunny says, but not from his mouth, but rather through a voice from his collar. A voice that bares the same metallic similarities to the robot stallion's voice, except this voice is very high pitched. It, in no way, matches the menacing and intimidating tone from before. I stare at the bunny, finding it what I am witnessing before me extremely hard to believe. Then suddenly I close my mouth and smile uncontrollably as my cheeks begin to fill up with air. I begin to snicker for a moment before suddenly bursting out into uncontrollable laughter. The bunny, who apparently is Brisk, and the one behind the operation of this robot, looks up to me with a shocked expression. Lexi looks to me as I laugh and she can't help but to slowly bare a wide grin at Brisk.

"So much for that first impression, huh, Bunsen?" Lexi states wittingly. Brisk bares his bunny teeth angrily at Lexi.

I almost fall back from my laughter but I catch manage to catch myself.

"H-Hey!" He says as he looks back to me with an embarrassed face. "S.. Stop laughing!"

"Hahahah! Ahhhh, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, heheh! I just! Heh, I didn't expect ... a bunny to be controlling such a cool robot" I say, trying to catch my breath.

"Mmm, yes... not many do.." He raises from his bow, putting his forepaws behind his back and standing, regally.

"Quite comical, ain't it, Princess?" Lexi says smugly to which Brisk momentarily glares at her.

"Heheh, okay, okay, I think I got it all out of my system," I take a moment to clear my throat and get out any last minute giggles. "So, you're apparently some sort of scientist?" I ask

"Yes, indeed. I am aware that my... current appearance says otherwise, but nonetheless, I am a brilliant inventor and a passionate scientist!" He heightens his stance on the tips of his hind paws for a brief moment to gesture himself during the annunciation of his words. It's clear he thinks highly of himself.

"Alright Well, what does the 'B' in your middle name stand for?" I ask with a head tilt.

"It stands for 'Bunny'," Void answers with a smug smile. Lexi and I give a subtle snicker.

"NO, IT DOESN'T!!!" Losing his composure, Brisk angrily barks towards Void. Void, Lexi, and I snicker for a moment. "Ehem ... It stands for 'Burner'," Brisk answers as he stands back up straight and adjusts his collar like it was a tie.

"Heheh, I see. Interesting," I say to Brisk. I then look over to the other pony who's still bowing to me. "And.. who's that?"

Brisk swings around his right forepaw and points a thumb towards the cap wearing pony. "That, my dear Princess, is my assistant. Mm, pay him no mind, the one who bares true greatness is right here! Eh, aside from yourself of course, your majesty," He puts his paw back behind him again and smiles proudly at me. I notice the immediate dismissal of his so called assistant as I glance at him for a moment to give him an odd look.

"Yeah but.. what's his name?" I ask.

"This guy.." Lexi starts. "..Is named Astral Pipette, a brilliant astronomer scientist and.." Lexi covers her muzzle with a single hoof for a moment. "...Unfortunately..." She muffled. Lexi sets her hoof down and continues speaking. "...Is Dr. Bunsen's assistant. I call him Ash for short"

"As... tronomer?" I question with a head tilt.

"Y-Yeah.." The blue stallion, known as 'Astral', begins. "I study things about space, like Luna's moon and Celestia's sun. I-It's an honor to meet you, Princess!" He says with a smile while retaining his bow.

"Thanks, it's nice to meet you too! You can get up from bowin' now, your legs must be sore"

"O-Oh, not at all, Princess! I'm perfectly fine! Thank you!" He smiles while standing from his bow.

"So.. the study of space? What's that like?" I ask politely.

"As a noun it's called astronomy. And it's quite fascinating!" A bright smile appears his face as he begins to talk about his profession. "You see, I study all celestial things and learn about them, seeing if there are more interesting things out there than just the sun and moon! As you can see by my cutie mark, I'm quite skilled at such!" He turns to show his cutie mark. His cutie mark is a pipette dropper angled horizontally and there's a little planet swirling around it like a comet.

"That's awesome!" I gleefully say.

"Th-Thank you! I would love to talk more about my work with yo-"

"Ehem!" Brisk interrupts.

"Uh-.. Oh.." Astral halts himself from speaking once Brisk clears his throat.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to get back to talking about my creation,' I turn my head at Brisk and raise an eyebrow at him. I take note of him forcibly shutting down his assistant, Astral, from talking about his own work.

"Okay..?" I turn my attention back to Brisk. "Well.. Can you tell me about how you operate this thing?

"Mmm! Well just take a look inside!" He turns his body aside and sways his left forepaw towards the opened space within the chest of the robot. I step a bit closer to take a peak inside. "You see, I sit comfortably inside and use those right there to control the general movement. Those little screens you see inside let me see through the eyes of the machine and those buttons over on the little console to the right allow me to control other aspects of this suit. And believe me there are many features to control," He ends with a smile and does a slight, momentary bow to me.

"Woooow! Sick!"

"I know! Quite fascinating, isn't it?" He says with a big smile on his face. Lexi becomes quite worried by me taking great interests in Brisk's invention. She let's out a subtle sigh.

"Why did this have to happen today of all days?" She quietly says. Void can't help but to worry for his mother's current state as he glances back and forth between me and her. I step back now, returning to my spot between Lexi, Void, and Brisk.

"So, you built all this?" I ask.

"Yes indeed! Everything you see was designed by yours truly!" He confidently says.

"I mean.. I-I helped-" Astral quietly says.

"Furthermore, I've also created a vast amounts of intricately neat inventions. If you would like, I'd gladly guide you to my place of work and show you them!"

"Not gonna happen, Bunsen," Lexi cuts in.

"Mmm, what's the matter, Lexington, afraid that the Princess will find my creations much more enticing than yours?"

"As much I know you would love to try to steal the Princess away from here to show her your collection of scrap metal, she came to me first. So, I believe you should just be on your way so I can get back to showing her MY brilliant inventions," She firmly claims.

"Tssheh hah hah! Ridiculous..." He bows and shakes his head with a malicious grin on his fuzzy little face. "Clearly she's more awestricken by the sight of my glorious creation than anything you've already shown her," He looks back up at her with this purely villainous grin. "Come, Princess! If you wish to see creations that are muuuch more worth your time, then simply allow me to guide you back to my own laboratory. I can assure you, you will most certainly not regret it," He smiles at me while performing a respectful momentary bow with his forepaws behind his back. I look at him for a moment and then back at Lexi. She looks to be quite angry at Brisk, but as she looks to me, her expression turns sorrowful, as if she's actually worried about me choosing to go with Brisk.

"Well.. I'm not so sure. Lexi's right, though. I was here first and she was about to show me something really cool"

"T'Hoh, I find that quite hard to believe"

"Wh-What do you mean?" I ask with a puzzled gaze.

"Well you see, Princess, dear Lexington's creations are very untrustworthy. Many individuals within this city would agree on such. She often has trouble keeping up with advancements in technology, unlike myself, you see. Her creations are nowhere on par with that of my own and hers are likely to fall short, even fail," Brisk glances at Lexi with a downright evil smile for some reason after saying what he just said. He then looks back at me and continues speaking. "And if you ask me... she's not good enough to be a brilliant scientist such as myself. So it's safe to say, Princess, her creations are most certainly... well how you say... 'not cool'," He states with a smug smile towards Lexi.

"Okay, that is totally not true!" Lexi firmly states.

"Yes it is"

"It's. NOT!"

"Indeed it isss!" His smug smile grows wider.

"Gah.. you're so adeptly annoying!" Lexi brings a hoof to her face, sliding it downwards in annoyance at Brisk. "Look, you even cracked my floor! I hope you expect to pay for this!" Lexi points down with her other hoof at the ground beneath the robot. Brisk looks down at the hooves of the robot and beneath it are large cracks in the ground from his landing.

"Like... I was saying," Brisk ignores Lexi's words and looks back up. "Lexington's creations aren't what one would call 'the best' here in this city. And in comparison to many of the gr-r-r-eat scientists here, myself included, Mmm I'm afraid she falls into the shallow end of the inventors pool," He states, ending it with a serious gaze to Lexi. Lexi just continues to annoyedly glare at Brisk. "And besides... Even IF she were not in the shallow end and her creations posed some level of brilliance, I doubt such... lack luster creations could ever match up to the likes of my own,"

"Listen here, I'm not gonna stand here and have you berate my work. What you are going to do is pay for the damages to my floor, turn your big hunk of metal flank around, fly off, and stop BOTHERING US!" Lexi shouts, each word she says gets progressively louder.

"I'll stop bothering you once your SON turns me back into a pony!" Brisk shouts back, furiously.

My eyes widen at Brisk's words. "Void turned you into a bunny?" I turn to look back at Void. "That was something that was left out of the notes..," He looks to me with a sorry look in his eyes. "Well, that's because it's sort of... brand new," Void worriedly says.

"Mmm, yes, the truth comes out, Princess. I wasn't always this sweet little fluff ball you see before you. No, no, I was once a tr-r-r-ruly handsome fellow of a stallion trotting amongst other ponies in this wonderful city. But ever since that b-r-r-rat trapped me here in this body of fur and fluff, I've been forced to live about my days like this!"

"Woah... Really? Is this true?" I turn to look back to Void with a questioning look and he averts his eyes away from me.

"Hmm, yes, indeed. Since I've been stuck like this, I've been through quite the hassling journey to say the least. One such as yourself can only imagine the torture I was put through during my earlier days as a mere rabbit... Who couldn't even speak!"

"So... that collar.." I turn back to face Brisk. "... You use that to communicate"

"Yes, quite so, Princess. This here collar is something I've put together to help me with my predicament. It lets me say the words I am thinking of and projects them through a speaker built within said collar. Without it, I would be pointlessly squeaking at ponies and other beings in hopes to be understood"

"Yeah... I can definitely see how being stuck as a bunny would be pretty tough..."

"Yes, of course, your majesty. It was pretty tough and unpleasant! However, the more difficult the times had become, the more I grew determined to overcome such an obstacle. And that's all this was! A mere obstacle in my pursuit of brilliance! I knew that I had to find some way to carry on my work, no matter the cost. Hence why I've built this!" He puts a forepaw behind his back and the other says up to show off his creation behind him. "This here vessel was designed for the sole purpose of continuing my work. I knew that overcoming this little mishap of losing my previous body would be challenging, but nevertheless I persevered. And now, Princess, what you see before you-.." Brisk hops backwards inside the open space within the chest of the robot, seating himself in a little chair inside. He grabs hold of what looks like two joysticks, one for each paw, then the chest panel begins to close. Once it does, the robot begins to move again, shifting to a tall, proud stance, making robotic, powering up noises. "...-Is a monument of sheer scientific power and determination!" His voice shifting back to the robot's deep intimidating tone. "This vessel is my most prized creation! The absol-lute pinnacle of robotic engineering!" He turns to Astral. "ASSISTANT! Presentation protocol! Like we practiced!" He stands up tall and in a statue like, heroic pose. Astral takes off his hat and reaches inside. I Look up at him as he poses and widely smile in awe at the amazing sight of this brilliantly made creation. To think that such a thing was made here in Equestria without my knowledge. I find every little detail I see and every little detail he explains very fascinating.

"What you see before you is truly a masterpiece! A vessel designed to transport me near and far at such high speeds! To massive heights with little resistance from the forces of nature! Built to last through harsh conditions, this suit can truly take a beating! The strength of this vessel is phenomenal, able to lift tons without so much as breaking a sweat! Or in this case... leak oil! Gaze upon my creation... and be amazed!" He swiftly shifts to a different triumphant pose. Astral is sitting on the ground beside Brisk, waving a little blue flag in each hoof. He also blows into a party blower, looking very, very bored. Lexi and Void just look like they've had enough of all this as they stare entirely unamused at Brisk. I, however, am quite fascinated by this robot as it is something I've yet to see in all of Equestria. I've seen stuff like this in comics, shows, and even movies, but never in actuality.

"Wo-hoh-how!"

"If you're fascinated by just this alone, Princess, then you'll surely be even more so fascinated by my other creations. There are many more just like what you see now. So, whadoyasay, Princess? Come with me and I'll take you to my lab and you'll see far better inventions than anything Miss Lexington could ever even dream to create," He says while standing tall and proud still, awaiting my response. I look to him with a pondering gaze, thinking on what to say.

"Now hold on just a min-" Lexi tries to step in before Brisk cuts her off.

"Ah, ah, ah! Let the Princess speak," He looks to me with a grin.

I look to Lexi and Void, both looking at me in a sorrowful way. Lexi's ears even perk down as she turns her head away from me, as if she feels ashamed to be looked at. Void notices this and brushes up against her side to console her. Throughout the time he has been here, I've been taking note of how he's treating Lexi and Void, as well as how he conducts himself. I've also taken notice of how he apparently treats his assistant, Astral. On the other hoof, I've very interested in learning more about his robot, among other things. It's not everyday when you get the chance to see an actual robot as well as the supposed genius behind it. Or, I guess I should say 'the genius within it'. Things like this always peak my interests and appeal to me very easily. It makes it hard for me to resist wanting to learn more. Thinking for a moment longer, a sad look grows upon my face. I turn back to Brisk who raises his metallic hoof for me to take it. I give an exhale before speaking.

"I admit, this whole robot thing is actually pretty impressive. I've never seen anything like it before," I look up at him and give him a half smile. He returns the smile and even closes his eyes to relish in the compliment. Lexi and Void just stand there, now looking even more saddened by this moment. I tilt my head down, allowing for my mane to cover my eyes from him. "... But for a supposed brilliant scientist...," He still has his eyes closed as he awaits for my answer. My smile fades and I raise my head up at him, giving him a serious, mean stare as I speak my next words. "You're kind of a jerk"

In that moment, his eyes shoot open and his pupils turn small. His triumphant smirk disappears in an instant and I swear I could hear the sound of glass shattering from within him. Metaphorically of course. It was as if his world was just crushed and his dreams was snuffed out with just a mere few word. In fact that's exactly what happened. He looks to me with this appalled look. Lexi and Void's eyes turn up back towards me and it was like a spark of hope within them was reignited.

"Wh-What? W-W-What are you saying?" He asks, nervously.

"I'm sayin'.... The answer is no. I believe I'll be stickin' with these lovely folks for a ... long while. They seem far more interesting than what you have to offer," I finish with a smug grin towards Brisk. Lexi smiles tremendously and even gives a little gleeful giggle. Void closes his eyes for a brief moment to sigh in relief. Brisk, growingly outraged by this, he grits hits robot teeth and even has a funny lookin' robotic twitch on one of his eyes. He brings his hooves up in front of himself as if he's trying to grasp at something. Something that was so close but just suddenly ripped away from him. I can see the tension in those hooves as they begin to shake angrily.

"How... How... DARE YOU?!" He shouts. "HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME WHEN I OFFER YOU THE DEAL OF A LIFE TIME! THE LIKES OF WHICH YOU REFUSE?!" He furiously states. "You're a Princess! A PRINCESS IS NOT SUPPOSE TO SHOW SUCH RUDENESS TO HER SUBJECTS LIKE THIS?!"

"Princess or not, I believe any normal pony could see what a big jerk you are and would gladly refuse to go with you over somepony who's kind, caring, and truly passionate about their work. And on top of that, Lexi here, is not the type of pony who would so poorly treat her assistant. I can see it in her eyes," I turn back for a moment to look into Lexi's eyes and smile happily. "She's far too cool for that!" I finish my statement and Lexi seems so happy, she's about ready to cry.

"T.. Th.. This is.. Utterly PREPOSTEROUS!" As Brisk starts speaking, I turn back to face him. "How could you REFUSE such an offer?! How could you possibly take.. HER... over ME? Lexington?! She... She... SHE DOESN'T DESERVE--"

"You don't get to decide that, now do you? Last I checked, I'm the royalty here, so what I say goes. If you don't like it, get lost!" I sternly state. He scoffs at me, baffled by my words. I simply continue giving him a mean glare.

"Ta.. ah! bu-wha.. I .. Grgh!" He stutters, desperately trying to get his words out. "This is just utter foolishness! I shall tolerate it no longer!"

"You heard the Princess, if you don't like it, get lost!" Lexi reinstates my words.

"Tch! Very well! If you wish to stay an witness her pathetic excuse for creations then so be it! But you are making a big mistake, Princess," He leans down to my level, glares at me, and points to me, angrily. I simply retort with a serious gaze. He then turns around and begins to walk the other way towards the edge of the terrace. "ASSISTANT!" He calls. "We are departing, effective immediately!"

Astral looks to Brisk for a moment. "Y-Yes sir... R-Right away, sir.." He says quietly.

"He has a name, ya know!" Lexi shouts over to Brisk to which he ignores. He then steps a hoof up onto the ledge, standing a tad over the edge as he waits. Suddenly, two panels on the left and right side of his back begin to open up. Mechanical parts begin to extend out from the opened panels and quickly take the form of a pair of robotic wings. On the tips of most of the 'feathers' of the wings, there appear to be little thrusters that take form and begin to charge up, preparing for flight. I just watch as this happens, taking note of those features. Of course, I meant what I said about the robot being a pretty awesome creation. However, it's unfortunate that it was created by a rather unkind individual. It begs the question of why he acts the way he does. I would have honestly liked to have learned more about it, but there's no way I'm going to dignify that fluffball with anymore care for his creation than I already have. Especially with how he treats Lexi and Void.

Astral approaches Lexi. "I'm.. sorry for all that.. again. H-Here.. allow me to pay for the damages," Astral reaches into one of his saddle bags and pulls out a lot of bits and begins to count them.

"I still don't know why you work with that guy," Lexi says while shaking her head at the situation.

"Oh, working for Dr. Bunsen isn't all that bad. It.. heh.. has its ups every now... and.. sometimes then.. At least working with him gives me a place to stay, heh.." He nervously says.

"Ash..." Lexi worryingly lets out.

"Bu-But don't worry about me. I'm still doing... just fine.. ehehe.. Eh.. H-Here, this should be enough to cover the damages to the floor..-" He gives Lexi a large amount of bits. "..-With interests," He then sets down another stack of bits into Lexi's hoof. Lexi looks at Astral, questioning 'why'. "He.. broke one of your cameras"

"He wha-.. Gh.." Lexi looks appalled at hearing this. She glances a side to try to see which one of her cameras had been broken by Brisk.

"Again... I'm sorry, Lexi," He sorrowfully looks down to the ground.

Lexi looks back to Astral. "Oh, Ash, you got nothin' to be sorry for and you know that... Also..-" Lexi closes her hoof over the bits and raises it up a bit. "I hope.. to Twilight that this isn't from your own paycheck," Lexi states while giving a serious look at Astral. He simply says nothing and turns his head away. "You're kidding... You know I can't take this.."

"N-No.. it's fine.. really.. take it"

"I can't-"

Suddenly we hear the sound of whooshing as Brisk suddenly jumps off the edge and takes off, soaring across the sky like a rocket. Astral turns around and widens his eyes in shock by the sight of this. His shocked expression quickly turns to sorrowful and unsurprised right after.

"Oh... looks like he forgot me . . . Again," He then turns and walks towards the edge.

"My Goodness.." Lexi says as he watches Astral walks. "Would you like to come in then?"

"No, no, it's fine.." He stops to turn back towards us to speak. "I'll just wait here for him to come back and pick me up. If he ever comes back," He looks down to the ground for a moment. I, along with Void and Lexi, gaze at Astral with worry in our eyes. "Oh, and... Princess?" He says to me. I stand up more straight and my ears perk up more to listen to what this poor stallion has to say.

"Uh, yeah?"

"I'm terribly sorry about all this. To you especially. I'm thrilled I got the chance to meet you and.. be in your presence... I only wish it was on better terms.." At first he seems a bit happy in his expression but as he finishes his statement, his eyes sorrowfully shift down.

"Yeah..." I nod. "I wish so too.."

He then turns back around and approaches the edge and looks over towards where Brisk flew off. He glances back to us.

"I-If he doesn't come back in a few then.. I'll just.. take the stairs. It's no big deal," He ends with a clearly fake smile.

"Hmm," Lexi just watches, upset by all this. She looks at the bits she was given and just simply sets them down in front of her. "I'm just gonna leave this here for you. You need it more than I do," She says to Ash from across the terrace floor. She stands back up and turns to face Void and I. "C'mon, let's head back inside," I nod at Lexi. I look towards Astral for a moment as he sits near the edge, waiting. Void and Lexi begin to make their way back towards the door. Shortly after, I turn to follow them.

"Geez... that guy's such a dolt," I state.

"I'm very sorry about all that, Princess," Lexi says to me as she stops a few yards away from the door to turn towards me.

"Ah, don't sweat it"

"Thank you... for staying with us here. I was.. worried you'd actually go with that fluffball"

"Him? Heh! Not a chance!" I smirk at Lexi. "You'd be crazy if you think I'd ever go with some jerk like that. Sure, his invention was cool and all, but what good is that when the maker behind it is a complete and total dunce?

"Yeah. You're absolutely right there. Still, I'm... glad you stayed," She says with a smile.

"Also, I can see why you were so feisty earlier at the door and what you meant by 'safety reasons'," I smirk at Lexi. "It's because of Brisk, right?"

"Heh, hit the nail on the head there, Princess. He's been quite the pain over the course of the year so I've added as many security measures as I could spare to try n' keep him away"

"What was his deal anyway? It's clear you two have history so, mind telling me?"

"Oh, I don't think it's anything to worry about too much. As I mentioned, he's somepony who became a sore loser after I beat him fair and square during a science fair many years ago"

"Seems like his behavior is a bit much over a silly little science fair"

"Ts'heh, you're tellin' me. Anyways the main reason why he's been bothering us nowadays is because of... well... you already know"

"The fact that he's a bunny rabbit?"

"Yeah, safe to say he's still pret-ty upset about it"

"So... Void..." I turn to face him. "Mind telling me why you... supposedly turned that guy into a bunny?"

He averts his eyes away from me again which sends a signal to me that it's probably something difficult for him to talk about. I watch him for a moment in silence, hoping he'll say something but it doesn't seem like he will. "Does this... also have something to do with the stuff you don't wanna talk about yet?" I ask calmly. There is a brief moment of quiet before he speaks.

"... Yeah ..." He says deeply.

"We were both going through a difficult time-" Lexi begins in a soft, quiet voice to me as she leans in. "-when it happened. He doesn't like talking about it... He even tries to bury it. Give him some more time to collect his memories and he'll eventually tell you all about what happened," Lexi finishes and leans back away.

"Hmm," I look to him in wonder. What could have happened that lead to Void supposedly turning somepony into an animal?

"Well,... like I said before, whenever you're ready to talk about it... I'm all ears. About the ring, the staff, the armor, Brisk. Everything," Void looks into my eyes sincerely as I say this. "And as for the whole 'you turning Brisk into a bunny' thing... I'm sure you had your reasons... Other than the fact that he's a total jerk," I give a subtle chuckle after that being said.

Void gives a chuckle in return and even smiles slightly. "Indeed," he quietly says.

"Heheh," I turn back to Lexi. "So, what's this 'science competition' he was goin' on about?"

"Oh that? There's this event that will be hosted in downtown Manehatten a week from now. It's a competition to see whose invention will be great enough to win," Lexi explains.

"Ooo! That sounds fun! Are you gonna compete?" I ask with an eager smile.

"Ehh... I'm not entirely sure," She rubs the back of her head.

"Why not?"

"Well... I uh.. have a lot on my plate right now so I'm not sure If I'll have time to work on something special for the event," Lexi looks off to the side, seeming off.

"I see..," I give a look of skepticism for a brief moment. "Well, what does the winner get when they win?"

"Well, since this is one the biggest science event that's ever graced Manehatten, the price is something truly spectacular. A chance to have a seat at the high table, pretty much. Meaning... the winner of this competition will become the newest, most highest ranking member in the Manehatten Science Committee," Lexi states.

"Woah... That's ... really somethin'.."

"Eyup, it's a pretty hefty prize, I'd say"

"Hmmm," I think for a moment about how fulfilling it would be for somepony to win such a prize. They could really hit it big if they were to win. They could even make themselves known throughout Equestria. I then recall what Brisk was babbling about earlier and quickly realize it was no mere babble. He was going on about how many great scientist will be there in hopes of getting their inventions into the spotlight. It seems he plans on attending this event and winning with ease. I get a really off feeling from the thought of Brisk winning the event. This could spell out something bad to come about Manehatten.

Lexi pulls out her little device that she keeps in her coat and looks at it for a moment. "Alright, well now that, that's out of the way. Time to show you what you came here for, Princess!" She says gleefully as she puts her device back in her coat.

"Awesome! And uhh.. hey, Miss Dawn? What does the 'B' in your middle name stand for?" I ask. Lexi stops at the door to look back at me.

"Hmm? Oh, it's 'Beaker'," She says with a smile.

I give a nod as well as the expression that says 'Oooooooh!'. "Makes sense!" I say.

Lexi pushes the door open and holds it for us to pass through after her. We all get inside and she shuts the door. "Right this way!" She says as she points off into a direction. She then begins to guide us towards a very large square pillar in the center of the room.

"So, you gonna tell me what this super cool place is?"

"In a moment!" She pulls out her device again and presses a button on it. "Everything you wish to see is right beyond here!" She puts her device back in her coat and stands on her hindlegs. She then taps the pillar with one of her hooves.

"Wh-What do you mean? All there is, is just a pillar here"

"That may be so, Princess! But looks can be quite deceiving! This here pillar is actually-" Sounds of mechanical do-dads come from the pillar as a large, well camouflaged metallic door slides up from the surface of the pillar, revealing a spacious metal interior. "-a passage to the testing grounds!"

"Wooooah! It's like a door inside a temple or ancient ruins! Except more modern!" I gleefully state.

"Hmh!" She utters as she casually steps inside the box with her forehooves behind her back.

"Like I said;" Void begins. "Very good at hiding things," He says with a smirk as he follows Lexi inside the box.

"C'mon! Step inside! Don't be shy, it's perfectly safe!"

I step inside the box now. Lexi presses a button on the side of the wall and the door in front slides down to a close. Suddenly the metal box we stand inside of jerks down for a moment. I stabilize my stance as I feel the sudden motion and shortly after it feels as if we begin to descend like an elevator would. Lexi stands confidently on her hindlegs with her hooves behind her back. A wide ear to ear smile is imprinted onto her face as we descend.

"So, where is this thing taking us?"

"To the very place where I've conducted countless tests, experiments, and purposeful researches to advance my career in science!" Suddenly the motion of the elevator comes to a stop. Metallic unlocking sound begin to emit from the door in front of us.

"Welcome... to The White Room!" The elevator doors slide open and what is laid before my eyes can only be described as 'incredible!'.

"Wooooooooaaaaaaaah!" I step out from the elevator and my head slowly pans from left to right to gander at every in sight. We stand in a large, spacious room that is completely white from top to bottom. lain upon the walls and floor is a pattern of panels, making of a square design for the décor. To the left there seems to be a dedicated corner of many various objects that look to be more of Lexi's inventions. There's even some sort of disk like, device that moves about slowly on the ground, kind of like a toy car. There is a sound of air being sucked up coming from the moving, disk shaped device.

To the right is a giant wall facing straight with a large glass pane on it, seemingly to allow one to look through it. On the side closest to the elevator, there seems to be some sort of control panel littered with buttons and dials. I gaze all around this magnificent place in total awe. My draw practically dropped to the street level of this building with how cool this whole room is.

"This is all.... amazing! I can't even begin to describe how amazing it is!"

"Glad to hear such, Princess! This is where all the testing for Void's powers took place!" Lexi raises both her forelegs up into the air to display the room.

"Really?"

"Eeeyup! That among other things, of course"

"Like what?"

"Things such as testing out my inventions to see how they'll work and if they'll work. All sorts of Experiments with magic and chemistry. And lastly, combat training!"

"Get out! You serious?" I ask gleefully. My eyes even widen quite a bit when I hear the 'combat training' being one of the things that took place here.

"Mmmmhmmm!" Lexi nods with a proud smile.

"That's really amazin'!"

"Indeed it is! You see,-" Lexi walks out in front to stand further into the room. "-everything you see was hoof crafted with the finest of material that I made, found, and bought. This room's walls, ceiling, and floor are made to withstand quite the impactful forces. I designed them so that if any magical or physical force that just so happens to impact them, the panels will absorb the shock from the impact and nullify it! Aaand they are also sound proof! Just so the residents below our home don't give me any more noise complaints!"

"That is... REALLY awesome! This place was practically MADE for a mare like myself!"

"Oh?" Lexi asks curiously with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah! I practice fighting all the time with my mom at our stadium at The Crystal Empire!"

"Really now? That's sweet!"

"I know, right?"

The strange disk shaped device rolls over to me and bumps into one of my forehooves. I look down at it and pick it up. "What is this?" I ask as I examine the strange device.

"That is my hyper vacuum! It's a little invention I made that automatically vacuums up a room when I activate it! It uses sensors to detect where its going or if there's an obstacle in the way so it can thoroughly clean up every last bit of the floor! It's a nice, simple little 'set it and forget it' thing I came up with myself," Lexi explains.

"Wow! This thing's kinda cute!" I tilt and turn the invention to examine it thoroughly. I turn it over to its underside where supposedly it vacuums. I somehow get the bright idea to stick my hoof where the vacuum is sucking up air. The device then sucks at my hoof and it immediately gets stuck. I tug at my hoof to get it free and after a few good tugs I pull my hoof away.

"Oh! Careful! It's quite powerful," Lexi says with a smile.

I shake my hoof for a moment. "Noted," I then put the device back down. "So, I'm assuming that pile of stuff over there is more of your inventions?" I ask while looking over at the pile of stuff.

"Yup! I started running out of room for stuff upstairs so I put some things in here for storage. Though some of these things are used for testing in this very room"

"That so?"

"Yup"

"Well, what's the big thing over there?" I point to the giant, long metallic object in the middle of all the stuff. The object appears to have a handle and a trigger. There is a glowing blue glass container fitted inside the metallic machine and from what I can assume, the glowing essence inside the glass container is magic.

"That is a giant magical laser cannon," Lexi nonchalantly says.

My eyes widen a ton as I hear her say that she has a literal magical cannon. "A CANNON?! WHY DO YOU NEED A CANNON?!" I ask in total surprise. "Actually, don't answer that, I can think of a ton of reasons why you'd build a cannon. One of which is because that's totally cool! But, really? a cannon?!"

"Yeah, I figured 'why not?' ya know?"

"Okay, full disclosure! What other inventions do you have that you haven't shown me?"

"Well, let's see, I've already shown you the water extractor, the x-ray goggles.... I have this thing that allows me to manipulate the weather around the area of this penthouse. Oh, I also have this crazy engine that I designed to be put into a carriage! That way you don't need somepony to pull the carriage for ya!" With every word Lexi speaks, I get more and more fascinated. If this is the kind of stuff she already has, I can only imagine what other cool and neat little inventions she'll come up with in the future.

"That sounds awesome!" I say.

"Yup! It's still in the works buuuut I'm THIS close to finishing that up! Anyways, you've already seen the cannon so that's, that out of the way"

"Do you have a jetpack?!" I ask with eager intent and a wide, hopeful smile on my face.

"Uh, yeah I think I have one of those lying around here somewhere," She says as she starts to look around for it, but then looks back to me. "But.. why would you need something like that when you can already fly?"

"Oh, I just... wanted to be able to fly without... using my wings," My ears perk down a bit as I sit on the ground and shyly tap my hooves together whilst gazing down at the floor.

Lexi lets out a gentle sigh and smiles at me whilst she puts a hoof at her side. "Heh, alright, I'll let you use it sometime," She says with a smile.

"Yes!" I jump back up to my hooves, excitedly.

"You know, you could just use your magic to fly"

"Yeah, but that doesn't count!"

"Ehh, I suppose you're right"

"So," Void begins. "Shall we get to showing off this room's features?"

"Let's do it!" I excitedly say to him.

"Perfect!" Lexi says. "Let's step on over here and we can begin!" She begins to lead us towards the control panels behind the wall with a window view.

"What's with the giant wall with the window on it? What is it?" I ask, confused.

"It's a blast shield!" She casually answers.

"Oh!" My eyes just widen at that. "I... guess that makes sense for a room like this. Especially if you have a giant cannon" I nervously say while rubbing the back of my neck.

"Indeed! Now then!" Lexi sits down in an office chair and starts typing on a keyboard on the control panel. I look to the surface of the console and find a rectangular shaped device laying on it.

"What's this?" I ask while pointing to it.

"Oh? That is a smartphone!" She says while picking it up. "I was wondering where I left it"

"Oh, a smartphone? I heard about those! You can use it to talk to ponies from different areas much like a regular telephone, right? Though these ones are much more high tech"

"That's correct! It's a nifty little thing that quite a few inventors in Mane came up with. Though, they're quite expensive... So, I made my own!" She puts the phone in her lab coat and continues typing on the keyboard.

"I see. That's pretty nice!"

"Yeah well if you ask me, I still like sending letters then using a phone. Can't get too lazy, ya know? Buuut convenience is convenience. And boy is it convenient," Lexi finishes typing and leans back from the console. "Alright! This thing's ready to go!"

"So, what can this room do?" I ask.

"Well it can do all sorts of things! It can measure the readings of magic emission, telling me on a scale of how powerful your magic is. I can measure the force of magic simply by blasting the wall. The panels can open up all over and can create nifty little environmental effects. Things like heavy winds, heat, humidity, coldness, you know, the works! Aaaand... I can make this place smell like lavender at the push of a button," She turns to me in her chair and smiles, resting her right foreleg on the console.

"Awesome! Say, you mentioned you used this place for combat training"

"Yes indeed! Though not for me, it was for Void. To test out his strange yet unique powers. All the notes you read before were formulated and written in this very room, because of this very room!"

"So how'd you do it?"

"Like so!" She turns back to the console and hits a button. Suddenly, four panels in different spots on the ceiling open up across the room. From the openings, four identical, spherical devices float downwards and begin to hover in mid air. Each one of them seems to have some sort of dark purple glass like outer shell and there appears to be some metallic internals that can be seen within then through the glass. The floating spherical devices seem to have red glowing camera lenses.

"Woah! What are those?" I ask as I watch them in awe.

"Those are little drones I created with the express purpose of testing ones skill in combat! They float in the air and act as targets for one to shoot at. They have this protective glass shell around them that protects them from blasts and reads the amount of force and power said blasts have and sends that info back to the computer here"

"Sick! So how are they able to float like that?"

"Little magic levitation devices I installed into each of them. They can be controlled by this computer or they can be set on autopilot. Where they'll freely levitate about the room as you try to hit them! Or they could hold still if you need a still target, like they're doing right now! Think of them as little mini-robots!"

"Hahahah! That's... That's! I'm running out of words to describe how incredible your creations are!" I excitingly state.

"Brisk is not the only one who can invent robots, as you can see," Void interjects.

"I'll say! I bet your robots are TEN TIMES better!"

"Yeah, well.. heh.. I don't... Ehhh," Lexi awkwardly rubs the back of her head for a brief moment. "A-Anyway! Go on an give it a shot! Blast one of the drones! Just... go easy on the equipment, alright? I understand your magic is pretty powerful, Princess. A blast TOO strong could end up breaking one of the drones"

"I'll try my best not to blast so hard," I step closer towards the center of the room. I stop a bit a ways and ready my stance. I begin to take aim at one of the drones. My horn begins to glow a bright golden yellow, readying my magic. Knowing full well of what Lexi said, I try and suppress my magic greatly before taking a shot at the drone. I fire upon one of the drones and hit it directly, causing it to float back a bit from the force. Lexi's computer at the console makes a few beeps shortly after the impact of the blasts. She looks at her screen and reads the details that popped up.

"Pretty nice! That was quite the force!"

"So those things really can read the force of my magical blasts?" I ask, looking back at Lexi.

"Sure can! Go on and give it another go! This time, with a little bit more power. Trust me, these babies can take it!"

I turn back to face the drones and I fire another shot at it. This time with a little bit more power into my magic. The blast impacts the drone and it hovers back further from the force. The drone seems to be holding up well.

"That's it!" Lexi grabs a joy stick on the console and pulls it towards her, causing the drone that has been knocked back to reposition to its original spot.

"This is so sweet! It's like the perfect target practice room!"

"You think so? Well you're gonna love what else this room has in store. Go on! Shoot a little more!"

I turn to face them again and fire off a few more blasts, each one having a bit more power than the last. The drones keep remain in their spot this time as I fire quite powerful beams at them. I keep going for quite a few moments, having quite the fun doing so.

"Hahah! Gotcha!" I stop and look back. "What else ya got?"

"Well I can add a multitude of different settings! For instance, I can make them into moving targets!" Lexi types in a command on her console and executes it. Shortly after, the drones start to move about in a seemingly random pattern of levitation. "Now try to hit them!"

"Okay!" I look towards the drones and study their movements. My horn readies to fire and then I blast at one, hitting it directly. "Hahah!" I continue to fire accurately at the drones, not missing a single shot.

"Hey! You're pretty good!"

"Thanks! This is very similar to the target practice I do with my mom!"

"Then I suppose you're in your element here," Void states.

"Seem it that way!" I look over to Lexi. "Anything else I should know?"

"Indeed! Now then. You see, Princess, these drones are not just your passive looking means of target practice. These drones can also..." She types in another command. "...Fight back!" Suddenly one of the drones shoots a tiny red beam through its glass shell towards me. It hits me right on my chest.

"Ouch! That stings!" I look down at my chest where the beam hit. There's no mark, but it stings so I rub the spot to ease it.

"Heh, sorry about that!"

"Ya coulda warned me!" I look back at Lexi with a scrunched up face while I rub my chest.

"Ehehe!" She awkwardly laughs and rubs her neck. "Anywho! Fun little fact about this room; You see, this computer keeps a record of all the things that happen during the combat training faze. Meaning, it keeps a score... Kinda like a video game!" Lexi explains.

"No kidding? I love video games!"

"Mhmm! It keeps score on your performance. The score depends on what setting I have it set to," Lexi looks back at the screen. "Ooo, looks like you lost a bit of points for gettin' hit!"

"Awww, how much?"

"Not much! But don't worry, you're just testing this room out"

"So far I'm REALLY enjoy this! You've built a great thing here!"

"You think so?"

"Not many ponies can say they've built a really cool hidden training grounds under there home! So I believe anypony would see how incredibly amazing this is!" I state with a smile. "I can honestly see myself having countless hours of fun here!"

"Then why not give it another whirl and try to get a high score?" Lexi asks with an eager smile.

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

"Alrighty! We'll see if you can try to beat Void's score!"

"Oh? What's his score?"

"123,000," Void says with a proud smile.

"Woah! That must be a lot, huh?"

"Indeed! Each successful shot is worth shot on a still drone is worth 1000 points, moving targets are 2000, and targets that shoot back at you are 3000! And you'd have to try to do it all within a time limit of a minute n' thirty seconds!

"This is exactly like a video game and I love it!"

"Lets try something simple for now. For instance, target practice! You'll have tons of fun with this. Here! I set it up for you to try!" The drones spread out, some float near and some float far and each of them at different altitudes. "You don't gotta move or dodge or anything like that. Just a simple point and shoot, got it?" Lexi asks.

"Got it!" I nod and my horn charges up.

"Alright, begin!" As she says 'begin' I start firing magical beams away at the drones, nailing them head on. I occasionally swap between drones with each shot I take. I progressively get faster and faster between targets. I get more into 'the zone' as I continue to blast away, shooting further targets with pinpoint precision. My smile getting wider by the second as I have a lot of fun with this.

"Haha!" I get too into the moment, however, and blast one of the drones a bit too hard. The force of my magical blast causes the drone's protective glass the shatter and the drone itself plummets to the ground. A look of shock completely wipes the excitedly happy smile off my face as I realized my the accident I just caused. The drone smashes into the ground and is completely destroyed. Lexi's eyes widen and she stands up to look over. Void puts a hoof over his mouth and gazes in surprise at the happenings.

"Uh oh! I-I'm so sorry, Miss Dawn! I got a bit carried away," I say as I look back to her in worry.

She approaches me and stands near my side. "Ah, It's no biggy! These things happen. Sometimes it's hard to keep your excitement in! I can fix this, no problem!" Lexi's horn then magically glows a pretty light blue and she magically collects all the broken pieces of the drone and brings it back to her. She takes hold of the destroyed drone. "Just, try not to break too many, alright?"

"Right! Again sorry! Sometimes I forget how strong I can be!" I practically plead for forgiveness.

"Ah, don't sweat it, Princess! It's perfectly fine! I've got quite a few more drones. I can afford losing one!" She says with a genuine smile to me.

"You sure?" I ask.

"I'm sure! Here, watch!" She reaches to the console and presses a few buttons. Some panels open up from the ceiling and three more drones float down from them. "See? No worries! Now go on! Keep going and have fun!"

"Alright," I nod to her and turn back towards the center to continue with target practice. Some time passes as I'm having fun blasting away at Lexi's drones. Void calmly watches as he sits a side a bit a ways behind me. Lexi, however, is sitting at the console area, resting her cheek on her hoof, seeming to be in deep thought.

"Heheh! This is a lot of fun!"

"I often spend quite a lot of time in this room when I get bored. It's quite great exercise!" Void says to me.

"I'll say! I may just have to come down here often! This place is a real blast, heheh!"

"Glad to hear such! As I said before, I'd enjoy the company"

"You also mentioned that it's been a while since you had another guest come down and see this room, right?" I stop for a moment and look back at Void.

"Yes, I did say that"

"Who was the other guest? Friend of yours?"

"Ye-.. Well.. sort of... We haven't really seen each other in over a year, however," Void looks down and off to the side.

"Really? Why's that?" I ask as I turn to face him.

"Well... he was quite the being who was very... 'to himself'... He spent some time here at our home as a guest, but... after a while he decided to leave. And so I guided him back to the general area of where he lived and.. well I have yet to see him ever since"

"And... he didn't come visit?"

"I told him he could visit us any time he wishes.. but... his home is quite far from here so.. I understood that perhaps he didn't wish to deal with the hassle of traveling quite far"

"Have you tried visiting him?" I ask with a brow raised.

"I've tried... but I could never find where he lives"

"But, you're still friends with this guy, right?"

"I believe we're still friends. At least, I hope so, but... beyond him, you're the only other friend I've got,"

"Wow, well I-" I glance over towards Lexi to find her seeming mopey. I raise a brow at her, then face towards her. Void follows my gaze to also notice Lexi's seemingly upset expression.

"Uh.. Hey.. Uhm, Miss Dawn? Are you alright?"

"Hmm?" She lifts her head up to look over at us. "Oh.. uh.. yeah I'm fine, just... in deep thought," She quickly puts her head back down after responding.

"You sure? You look kinda.. down," I ask while giving a head tilt.

"N-No really, I'm fine! Just uh..." She seems to smile for a moment but mid way through her words she ceases it. Void and I look at her, worried. "I.. uhm.. need to check on something back in the lab," She then stands up and proceeds to the elevator door. She pushes a button on the side of it and the door opens. You two just stay here and have fun!" She steps inside and pushes the button on the inside and the door starts to close. "But not too much fun! Other wise-" She lowers her head to speak under the closing door. "-I'll run out of drones and I'll have to make mo-" The door fully closes, cutting off her sentence. We stare at the closed door with questioning expressions.

"Well that was... strange," It's obvious something is up with Lexi. Something's bothering her.

"Yeah..." Void says. "Well.. I guess I'll be taking over," He approaches the console. "Don't worry, she taught me how to use it," Void sits down upon the chair and begins typing on the keyboard. "Living with her for many years and training in this very room, I was bound to pick up some skills in being technology savvy"

"Good to know then! If I even need help with tech, I'll let you know! Especially since-" I bring a hoof up to rub the back of my head for a moment. "-I'm not really all that great with technology stuff," I give a nervous chuckle and awkwardly smile.

"It's perfectly fine, Flurry Heart. I could teach you sometime... If.. that's something you'd be interested in, of course"

"Definitely! I mean, what are friends for, right?" I say with a smile to Void.

"Heh, right" He smiles and gets a slight blush on his face for a moment, then continues typing. "Now then, you wanna try to beat my score, in target practice?" He says with a challenging smirk on his face as he looks to me.

"Oh, you're on!" I accept his little challenge and turn back towards the center of the room.

He begins typing on the console and suddenly some more panels open up from the walls and ceiling, facing towards us. The drones then move to hide behind the opened panels, using them as cover.

"Alright, when they pop out, blast them quickly before they hide again. Some of them will be moving and some of them will be shooting back at you. You ready?"

"123,000 points right?" I ask.

"That's the mark," He nods.

"Alright, I'm ready!" I steady my stance and aim my horn. And so the fun begins as I start blasting away at the drones as they appear. Quite a bit of time passes as I'm having a both literal and figurative blast. As lasers fly my way, I easily avoid them and fire back, much like my training with my mom. But in a place like this, it feels like a new experience. I complete another attempt out of the three others I've tried. Making this one my forth attempt.

"Close," Void begins. "117,000 points. You're pretty good at this for a first time user in The White Room," Void smiles up at me.

"Thanks! I know I coulda easily done it the first time, but it's kind of tricky having to be quick about it while surprising my magic. I feel if I get more into it I might break another drone,"

"That confident in yourself?" He asks with a smirk.

"You bet!" I stand on my hindlegs and begin to stretch. "I do this kinda stuff with my mom very often! Which... reminds me, I should probably stop here. I did promise my mom that I'd lay off trainin' for a while," I stop stretching to awkwardly rub the back of my neck.

"Is that a fancy way of saying 'You're chickening out'?" He asks while forming a wide smug grin.

"Oho!" I scoff and grin back. "So you have jokes I see!"

We stare at each other for a brief moment with cocky grins on our faces. We then start sharing a laugh together.

"Heheheh, I'm only kidding, Flurry. One with such skills as yours could most definitely surpass skills like my own. Very easily I might add"

"Thanks, but don't go thinkin' you can't be as great as me," I wink at him. "You got potential in ya' and I'm interested to see where that takes you!"

Void gives a heartfelt smile. "That... That means a lot. I'll bare that in mind," He ends with a nod.

"Say, where's your mom? Didn't she says he'd be back in a jiffy?" I ask.

"You're right... I wonder why she's not back yet. She was acting a little strange before she left. I'm going to go check on her," Void stands up from his chair and walks towards the exit.

"I'll come with you," I say and begin following behind. We enter the elevator and head back up to the Penthouse level. Once we exit we proceed to head towards Lexi's lab. Void and I enter Lexi's lab to look around for her. We spot her sitting on a stool and she appears to be using a blowtorch on one of her inventions. As we begin to approach her, the invention she's working on suddenly falls into pieces. Lexi gasps as this happens and she shuts off the blowtorch. She lifts up her goggles to look at the invention now in shambles.

"Grrrgh!" She lets out a frustrated grunt and she tosses the blowtorch across the room. Void and I tense up from the sudden toss of the blowtorch and from the sound of its impact when it lands. Void especially seems tensed up from this, almost as if he's seen this happen before. Lexi then rests her head on her hoof as she gazes sorrowfully at the broken invention. She lays resting against her desk, seeming very hopeless. Her ears are perked down and everything.

"Uh.. Miss Dawn? Everything alright?" I ask softly.

Her ears perk back up and she sharply turns to look back at us while letting out a quiet gasp. She seems very surprised to see us both standing there, like she didn't expect us to be here at this time. I can see the look on her face telling me that she didn't want me to see what had just happened.

"Pr-Princess!" She says as she stands up, tapping her hooves together. "How-How much of that did you see?"

I ponder for a moment whether to say I didn't see a thing, but I feel it would be best to be truthful with her as I see that she's very troubled about something. Something she's not willing to openly admit without me asking.

"All of it," I say with a worried look on my face.

"Oh.. I'm sorry you had to see that," Lexi puts a hoof behind her head and starts to rub.

"Wh-What's going on?"

"Nothing! Nothing, It's just... I'm a little frustrated. I just need to step out of the lab for a moment..." She begins to walk past us and heads to the exit.

"W-Wait!" I say in my efforts to try to halt her, but she just continues walking 'til she's out the door. I look to at Void now. "What's up with your mom?"

"I ... am not so sure," Void says and begins to walk out of the lab and I follow behind. Lexi is leaning against the kitchen counter with her hooves to her head, seeming very stressed out. We approach her side shortly after we exit her lab.

"Ugh, I don't know what I'm'anna do," She says to herself.

"Mother, what's the matter?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

Lexi looks back at us in surprise again. "Oh, I'm sorry you two, I don't mean to worry you..."

"Well, you can tell us, mother"

"That's right, you can. I don't mind lendin' an ear," I assure.

She looks forward again as she slumps up against the counter. "It's just... I can't seem to get this stupid piece of junk invention working. It keeps fallin' apart"

"Well... just.. keep trying, mother. I'm sure you'll get it working. Wh-What are you working on anyhow?" Void asks.

"I'm... I was working on an invention I could submit for the upcoming science competition... The one Brisk mentioned. I figured... I'd at least try and make something. Just so I'd have a shot at winning and maybe... turning things around," Lexi grips her mane for a moment with both her hooves, tightly. "But I don't think that'll be the case..." I look to her with a very worried gaze.

"There has to be... something you can do! I don't feel you should just give up. Plus, don'tchu have like.. a whole week? To work on something?" I say in an effort to persuade her to continue trying.

"I... appreciate the kind words, Princess.. but..."

"But what? You're inventions are really cool! Don't tell me you're feeling this way because of what Brisk said. Is that it?" There a brief moment of quiet. "That stuff he said can't be true"

"As the days goes on... I honestly start to question whether it is or not" Lexi circles her hoof on the countertop.

"Miss Dawn..."

"I'm ashamed to admit it but... what he said today really got to me... On any other day, I wouldn't have cared. But the fact that a Princess had to witness such a moment... such a... scene.. It... ran deeper than anything else spoken before"

"You really think I care what HE has to say about you? It's clear to me that he's just so full of himself. The real scientific genius is sitting right before me. The sad thing is that she's moping when she doesn't need to be"

"Whether or not that's true... I can't simply get some crazy invention working in time to topple anything he has in store. I'm sure he's going to show off that big hunk of Stallion Metal to the ponies at the contest and they'll all be swept away in awe with ease... Just like you were"

For a split moment I feel a sudden weight upon my heart. I actually start to feel bad for expressing such joy in Brisk's creation. Sure, it indeed is a pretty cool invention, but I know it in my heart that Lexi's Inventions are way cooler.

"I... N-No offense, Princess... I'm not saying you're wrong for liking his invention"

"I know... I understand... But I still feel you're far better than him!"

"You really think a... washed up mare like me can be better than a smart bunny in a metal stallion suit? Heh... it's almost laughable..," Lexi stops circling her hoof on the counter top and gazes out into the city through the large window pane ahead of her.

"But mother-" Void tries to reason with her but Lexi cuts him off.

"No, Void... It's hopeless. I can't do it... Maybe Brisk is right... Maybe I'm just not good enough. I'm not cut out to be a brilliant scientists," Lexi then lies her head down onto the counter. I bring a hoof up to reach for her, wanting to console her in some way. I try to come up with something more to say to ease her sorrow. There is a moment of silence between us all.

Void suddenly grits his teeth and lets out an upset grunt. "That's enough, mother!" Void firmly exclaims, raising his voice. Lexi and I turn our heads to Void. "I'm tired of you putting yourself down all the time all because of Brisk! That fur-ball is nothing but a nuisance and he has NO IDEA what he is talking about. But I do when I say this; you're a brilliantly talented inventor with a heart of gold! You have a burning passion for creating such wonderfully amazing things! And everything you DO create is wonderfully amazing! So amazing that a PRINCESS herself has taken great notice! You even express your own greatness and your sureness of the excellence of your work! Yet, when receiving praise for being truly amazing, you knock yourself down because of doubt. Doubt of your own capabilities to truly call yourself Brilliant! All because of a mistake that happened years ago that wasn't even your fault! Please, mother, stop doubting yourself over mistakes that was never your fault. Stop acting like you're a burden. And please... be truly happy..." Void finalizes his speech and it seems he's even holding back tears. Lexi's eyes become watery and a single tear even slides down her cheek.

"You're an amazing scientist and above all... an amazing mother!"

I watch Void for a moment longer, a smile growing on my face after hearing his words. "I second that," I chime in and turn my head to Lexi. "Meeting you has been a really awesome thing to happen to me. I feel I've really connected with you both in the short time we've known each other. I guess that's just how glorious friendship is, eh?" Void looks to me and smiles happily. "You've raised a wonderful son and that alone is perfect proof that you're a great mother. I even see quite a bit of my own mother in you, which makes me enjoy having a friend like you. And yes, I'm calling you 'my friend'," I allow those words to sink in for a brief moment, cause another tear to run down her other cheek. "Void's a pretty great stallion so far and that's why I've taken great interest into seeing and learning more about 'im. That being said, he's also proof of how brilliant you are. It's not just your inventions that make you a brilliant scientist. It's the fact that you're such a kind, caring, eccentric even, and overall amazing mare! It's why I chose you over that jerk, Brisk. I know I didn't seem like I did at first, but I noticed that he was a jerk right from the gecko"

"Eh, It's get-go," Void corrects.

"Oh! Is it? R-Right.. sorry. Ehem, from the get-go. I can read ponies very well and I knew the moment I laid eyes on the both of you that you two were somethin' special," I finish with a smile.

"You.. You mean that, Princess?" Lexi's eyes light up and she even stands up more straight as she awaits my answer.

"If I could plaster that on a book somewhere, I most certainly would!" I nod while retaining my smile. Lexi smiles now as more tear runs down her face.

"I Just want you to understand that you and your inventions are brilliant, no matter what Brisk or anypony in this city says," Void states while stepping closer to Lexi, looking her right in the eyes.

"Yeah! And with that fancy doorbell of yours being one of the first things somepony sees when they visit your home, that should be enough to show that you've got some major science skills!" I happily and confidently state.

"Heheh," Lexi lets out a chuckle. She turns her head to bring and hoof up to wipe away her tears. "Thank you... so much, you two. That... really means a lot" Lexi sniffles as she continues to wipe her tears.

"So, are you gonna try your luck at that contest?" I ask. She then takes a moment to gaze at the hoof she wiped her tears with. Shortly after gazing upon it, she tightens her hoof firmly, seeming determined.

"Absolutely!" Lexi smiles for moment, but then her smile fades as it seems she realizes something just now. "But... I'm not sure if they'll even allow me in after what happened"

"Why's that?" I ask. Lexi just sits in silence. All is quite for a brief moment as Lexi glances off to the side, filled with hesitation to speak. "Hmm... it's very clear to me that... what caused all this.. it's because of Brisk right? That's the impression I've been getting from all this," Lexi looks to me and simply nods.

I then think for a moment before stepping closer to her. My expression turns into a serious one as I say what I'm about to say. "Tell me... What did Brisk do back then that so badly messed up your career?" I ask with great interest to hear about the cause of Lexi's dilemma. Lexi frowns as she looks off to the side for a moment. She then lets out a gentle sigh before looking back towards me.

"Fine... I'll tell you," She says. I patiently await for her to begin.

"It was about two years ago from today," Lexi begins, gazing up while she speaks as if she's flashing back to a certain day in her mind. "Void and I were attending this science event similar to the one that's coming up next week. I was all excited to show off my greatest creation that would have surely won me the contest," During the event, Lexi approached her stand and set down a metal briefcase on the table. "I called it..." She reached up and opened the briefcase, revealing a scientific looking black box. "...'The Holo-World Generator',"

"Woah! That sounds cool! What was it?" I ask in an awestruck tone.

"It was a little scientifically made magical black box that, in mere moments, could magically generate a world around you of your choosing. The Holo-World Generator would conjure up a magical field around you and incapsulate you in what feels like a world that's completely separate from reality!" Lexi took out the invention from its case and set it down upon her table stand. "Just imagine! A world beyond your wildest dreams at the push of a button! You could live out your fantasies for as long as you desire! You could create a world just for you!"

"That is... truly amazing! With an invention like that, surely you would won!"

"Yes, well.. unfortunately, that wasn't the case," Lexi says in a saddened tone.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well... the judges were taking a very big liking to my invention. They couldn't believe it!" The invention was set down upon the floor and emitted a bright blue light that shined magnificently. The judges watched as the area around them turned into a beautiful landscape of glorious sights to behold. "They thought it was the greatest thing to ever surface in Manehatten. I was so happy! I was sure to win!"

Lexi was smiling happily as the judges had praised her for her invention. But over in the distance stood a Stallion in a black suit with white stripes and a red tie. Their appearance bared a very close resemblance to Brisk's robot suit. Only difference is, their eye color is a light amber. Of course, this was none other than Brisk back when he was still a stallion.

"But Brisk... had other plans," Brisk looked over towards Lexi and watched as the judges reviewed her creation with great interests. Brisk's expression had turned sour towards Lexi and the Judges. His had then focused his eyes towards Lexi's invention which had been actively generating the magical world. When no pony was looking he had approached the box. He opened a side panel on the box and tampered with the inside. While the judges were admiring the world around them created by the box, suddenly the world around began to distort. They all appeared confused as the world around them shifted into a dark and scary hall within the deepest depths of the old Castle Of The Two Sisters. Shortly after, sinister ambiance began to sound off, sending a chill down the judges' spines. Lexi shifted herself about to look for where the box was and as her sights brushed across it, she just barely caught a glimpse of Brisk backing away into a dark hall of the magically created castle. He smiled and chuckled towards Lexi with a malicious grin before disappearing into the darkness.

"He sabotaged my invention and caused it to go haywire," Lexi states.

Lexi looked back at the judges as they all became weary and frightened by the environment around them. Shortly after, within the darkness of the corridors, stepped out dark shadowy figures that took the shape of timberwolves. Each one off them had glowing red eyes and razor sharp teeth as they approached the judges. Lexi panicked as she spotted the shadow timberwolves approached the judges. Lexi quickly sprinted toward the box and jumped over towards it, landing on her belly with her forehooves reached out to grab hold of the box. The judges had become fully enveloped with fear as the shadow timberwolves drew near. Lexi tried pressing buttons in an attempt to turn the device off, but of course that did not work. Lexi then had scrambled to get her trusty blue screwdriver out from her coat and she opened the panel to take a peak inside. She had immediately spotted the tampered area and she began to fix it. One of the shadow timberwolves pounced on the judges and had toppled them over. They screamed and caused the other judges to panic. They began to scatter all around and all the other shadow timberwolves trailed after them. Lexi glanced back to witness the commotion and in doing so made her hasten her attempt to fix the invention. Some of the judges even got cornered by the shadow timberwolves and began to tremble in fear. One of the judges even climbed up on the torn tapestry to get out of reach from the danger. Lexi continued struggling to shutdown the device, even sweating while doing so. The shadow timberwolves that had cornered some of the judges inched closer and closer until one of them got close enough to pounce. And so, one did. The one that had toppled over a judge and had been towering over them suddenly had swooped their head down, going in for the bite. Lastly, a single shadow timberwolf clawed their way up the torn tapestry to reach the judge that had been clinging to it. The creature reeled their claw baring paw back and went in for the strike. All of these actions, from the pounce to the claw swipe, happened simultaneously. Right before any of these actions could follow through, Lexi had finally managed to shutdown her invention.

The shadow timberwolves all disappeared at once in a puff of black smoke and the magically generated world had slowly disappeared along with them. The judges that had been pressing themselves back against the corner they were all, all suddenly fall back as the wall behind them disappeared. The judge on the floor had found himself laying on the marble floor where the science event was taking place, apposed to the rough stone floor that they were laying on not moments ago. Even the judge that was clinging to the tapestry suddenly had plummeted to the ground, harshly, as the tapestry faded away from their grip. Lexi rushed over to help up the fallen judged. The judge had aggressively nudged her away, refusing her help. Lexi even tried to help the other judges as well, of course, they also heavily refused. After some time of the judges gathering themselves to make sure they were okay, they then turned their heads towards Lexi with severely stern expressions.

"I desperately tried to fix it before things got too out of hoof... but... unfortunately it was too late. All the judges were severely traumatized by what had happened. I managed to fix it enough to shut it off... but of course that wasn't enough to undo the damage that was done. The judges... they were all very upset at me for letting such a thing happen as well as putting many ponies in danger. I tried explaining to them that it was Brisk that sabotaged my invention but... they didn't believe me...." Lexi recalls looking over at Brisk, standing innocently far away from Lexi and the judges. She looked back at the judges to be greeted with severely stern looks and disapproving shaking heads. "And so they kicked me out..." Brisk just watched as Lexi was escorted out of the building. All with a wide, triumphantly malicious smile on his face. "And not long after... the whole city found out about the mishap and... well... ever since that day... everything went down hill for me. Nopony ever trusted me since," Lexi lowers her head, looking very sorrowful after finishing her story.

"That's... awful.." I say in a deeply saddened tone.

"He ruined me... and he rubs it in my face any chance he gets.." Lexi's eyes become a tad watery once more as she proceeds to speak. "It's the main reason why I never asked Void to turn him back into a stallion. It's what he deserved for what he did. It was some form of payback that I truly enjoyed,"

"I can see why.. guy's more than just a jerk... he's an absolute monster!" I state firmly.

"And now I'm here.. stuck trying to get back up on my hooves all because of a stupid little mistake that was NEVER MY FAULT!" Lexi suddenly turns and kicks a stool across the room, making a loud impactful sound upon landing. My eyes widen as I witness that. I'm both impressed by what I saw and also worried. I look back to Lexi who's breathing a tad heavily as she stands with her back to us. Void is looking at Lexi with a very troubled look, worried heavily for the way his mom is feeling right now. I step forward and reach up to put a hoof on her shoulder.

"It'll be okay, Miss Dawn. I'm sure of it," I say in a genuinely sincere tone.

"How can you be so sure?" She says as she looks over her shoulder at me. Tears streaming down her face as she makes eye contact with me. Her voice even breaking a bit when she speaks.

"You're gonna enter that contest and win. And beat Brisk to prove you're way better than him! By a long shot!" I confidently say.

"But.. how?" She asks.

"You're a smart mare! One of the smartest mare's I've seen in a long while! I believe you can do it!"

"You... you do?" Lexi turns to me, ears perked up.

"Yeah, like we said earlier; you're amazing scientist and you shouldn't put yourself down over something that wasn't your fault. So like I said, you're gonna enter and you're gonna win!"

"Yeah, but would I begin to go about it? The only truly competitive worthy invention I've ever created was The Holo-World Generator," Lexi lays her head, face down, onto the kitchen counter as she sits on another stool.

There is a moment of silence between us all. I take a moment to think of a solution for Lexi's dilemma and swiftly thinking of one. A very simple solution that I feel would be perfect. The best solutions are usually the ones that are the simplest.

"Well?" I simply ask.

Lexi raises her head up to speak. "Well what?"

"Make it again!" I say with cheerful tone.

Void looks to me with a surprised look and Lexi looks back over her shoulder to give me the same look. "Whaaat?" She says. "What do you mean?" She ask with a wide eyed expression.

"I mean just re-invent it!"

"Re-invent it?" She asks.

"Yeah! If you built it once you can most definitely do it again, I believe!"

"Wh-I... can't don't that"

"Well why not? It's surely to win you the competition! With how smart you are, I bet you still remember how make it. It'll be a shoe-in if you enter it in the contest! Plus, I'm sure you can even make it better than before, somehow!"

"Well yes, but even if I did start on making it now, I wouldn't be able to finish it in time for the event!"

"Hmm... well... I'll help you!" I claim with a smile.

"What?"

"Yeah! I may not be all that good with science as much as you, but I can certainly lend a hoof!"

"You... would?" She says as her eyes widen.

"Yeah! Why not? If it'll help speed things up in time for the competition then I'll do everything in my power to make sure of that! Plus, I wanna see the look on that fluffy dolt's face when you show up and beat him!" My expression turns into a smug one.

"Well... thank you, Princess. But, even with help... I'm not so sure I can even make it better than before. Let alone, even make it at all"

"Well what's stoppin' you?" I inquire.

"I believe I could scrounge up all the parts needed to make it..." Lexi rubs the back of her head for a moment. "But it takes A LOT of magic to even power it up. And My magic isn't all that powerful. It took a lot out of me the first time when I made it. I'm not so sure I could generate enough magic to make it work. Especially within a week," Lexi and Void then bow their heads, seeming hopeless. I bow my head and think for a moment about an easy solution to that and the first thing that comes to my mind is, of course, this.

"I'll give you my magic," I raise my head back up at Lexi and look her right in the eyes.

Both Void and Lexi look to me in utter shock. They could not believe the words that left my mouth. "My Alicorn Magic, to be specific," After finishing my statement, Lexi's jaw practically drops to the floor.

"You... would give me... your... Alicorn Magic.... Just to help me?" Lexi inquires, seeming in disbelief.

"It's the least I can do," I say in a nod.

"But.. But this feels like... the greatest thing you could do for us! I-I don't deserve this... I can't accept that," Lexi shakes her head turns away.

"You don't get to decide that now, do ya?" I start uttering familiar words. Spoken similarly to how they were said to Brisk, except in a much more nicer and caring tone. Lexi notices this and turns back to face me to listen to what I have to my words. "Last I checked, I'm the royalty here, so what I say goes," I smile. "And what I'm saying..." I step closer and look into her eyes with a genuinely meaningful gaze. "... is that you, most definitely deserve my help. And as Princess, heir to the th-r-r-r-one of The Crystal Empire, I decree that to be true!" I end with a smiling nod.

"I.. I don't know what to say I... I cannot even begin to express how grateful I am.. I..." Lexi looks up to me as a hopeful smile sweeps across her face. "Thank you, Princess,"

I smile happily in return to her. "Anytime, Miss Dawn. Oh! And, by the way! You can call me Flurry Heart, now. No more formalities!" I gesture my hoof from one side to the other as well as shake my head a moment to fully instate my words.

"Heheh, in that case, you can call me Lexi," She says while crossing her forelegs in front of her.

"Will do," I say as I give a confirming nod. A ray of hope shines upon them in this moment as they smile at me. "So, we ready to get this started?" I ask as I bring up my right hoof for a hoofshake. Lexi's smile gets wider and more confident, as if she was given a clean bill of rejuvenating health in this very instance. She then brings her right hoof out and firmly takes hold of mine.

"Yeah! What are friends for?" She says in a confident tone. I then give her a determined smirk as we both firmly shake each other's hooves.

"Right!" I then give one last statement before we get to work. "Now let's show the city of Manehatten what Lexington B. Dawn can do!"

[Chapter 4 End]

Chapter 5: Mettle Of Mare

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"Right then! So, what's the first step in recreating this Holo-World thingy?" I ask as we conclude our firm hoofshake. I put my hooves at my hips as I stand up on my hindlegs with an eager smile.

"Well," Lexi begins. "We would first have to get a good reading of your magic. You know, to find out exactly how powerful it really is"

"And how do we do that?"

"Simple! I've got a neat little invention back down in The White Room that'll do the trick!"

"Great! Then let's not waste any time! Here, grab on!" I extend my hoof out to Lexi. She gazes at my hoof for a moment with a questioning look, though shortly after, she takes hold of it. "You too, Void!" I hold my other hoof out to him and he takes it. In a mere instant, I teleport us right back down to The White Room. Lexi's eyes blink a few times from the sudden flash. She gazes about in awe after having realized how instant we arrived.

"Wow! That was so instant! I can hardly believe it!" She states gleefully.

"Told you she was talented at teleporting," Void states.

"Alrighty! So where is this little doohickey?" I turn my attention towards the area where all the inventions are placed.

"Give me just a moment! I'll bring it out! She trots over towards the area and rounds the corner of some of her inventions. She's completely out of sight for a few short moments while we begin to hear the sound of metallic scraping against the floor. Shortly after, Lexi comes around the corner, pushing a large metal machine that's twice her size. She appears to be struggling to push it over to us.

"That thing ain't little at all!" I claim with a flabbergasted look.

Lexi stops pushing the machine. "Oh, silly me! I guess you're right! Sorry for mis-" She tries to push it again. "-leading you!" Her voice strains as she pushes.

"Uhhh, do you need some help?" I ask with a brow raised.

"No no! It's fine, urgh, I.. got... It!" She pushes it closer and closer until it reaches near Void and I. "Ahhh, there! Phew!" Lexi takes a moment to pant. She brings a hoof up to wipe her forehead as it seems pushing that thing made her break a sweat. "Now then, here it is!" Lexi lightly pats the side of the machine.

"Wow . . . so this is the thing, right?" I inquire.

"Indeed it is! This here device is what we're going to use to read your magic! I call it--! Eh.. well.. I don't exactly have a name for it, buuut all you need to know is that I can use this machine to tell how potent your magic is!"

"Can this thing really do that?"

"Certainly! I don't see how it could possibly fail!"

"Great! So... how exactly does it work?" I look back at the machine to take a gander at its design. The machine seems to resemble a rectangular shape standing up on its side. On the left side of it, where Lexi is standing, appears to be a panel with a few buttons on the side of it. Upon the back of the machine, there appears to be some sort of seating pit attached to it where somepony could sit inside. "Well, you see, Flurry Heart, in order for this thing to read your magic, you first need to put your magic into the machine!" Lexi presses a button on the side panel to turn on the machine. After it powers up she presses a different button to open up the panel, revealing an oddly peculiar internal design. Some of the intricate wiring can be seen within the opening and there appears to be some sort of metallic indentation where something can be slotted inside.

"And in order to do that, we first need to put your magic inside of this little glass co-" Lexi stops mid sentence once she realizes that there is nothing inside the slot indentation. "Wh-Where's the container?" She closely inspects the inside as if she might find it in there. "It's not in here? Where did I put it?" Lexi looks back at the pile of inventions. She then hastily trots back over to the pile and begins to search.

"What are you looking for?" I tilt my head at her as I ask.

"I'm looking for this special glass container that I made specifically for holding magic! It's designed so that any sort of magic can be contained in it without the glass breaking and without risk of any magical calamities. I also made them so I can easily transfer magic into machines, kind of like the one on the giant cannon over there," Lexi takes a moment to point at the canon before continuing her search. "I'm sure I have some spares lying around here somewhere!"

"Well, why don't you just use that container?"

"Well, firstly because it's too big to fit into the magic reader. Secondly because it's already filled up with my own magic. And right now, I can't exactly take back my magic from it. That's kind of a process to do so"

"Can you describe the thing you're looking for? Maybe I can help you look"

"It's about yea long, looks like a cylinder made of glass, and it has two metal casings on both ends to allow it to clip nicely into the slot of the machine," She describes whilst gesturing her hooves to match the description as best she can.

"Alright," I take a step forward to go help her look but I immediately stop and turn my head left to gaze at the opened panel. I give a pondering look at the opening, then I step closer to examine it more thoroughly.

"Hmmmmm," I put a hoof to my chin, thinking. Then afterwards I reach my hooves into the machine and use them to measure the distance between the top of the slot to the bottom.

"What are you doing?" Void questions.

"Measuring! Aaand speeding this up!" I say as I measure the general length and width of the indentation.

"Measuring?"

I then take a step back and put my hooves together and begin to rub them softly. My hooves then begin to give off a softly bright cyan glow and little sparkles begin to shimmer around the glow. I clasp my hooves firmly together now as the glow emits a rising yet soothing hum.

"What are you-" Void watches in awe, unable to finish his sentence from the sight of the beautiful glow.

"I know I have some spares lying around here somewhe-" Lexi stops her search as the glow catches her attention, causing her to look back at the beautiful sight.

After a moment of magic gathering, I slowly begin to part my hooves away from each other. Between my parting hooves, a crystallized object begins to formulate its length between the distance of my hooves. The object begins to take a rough shape of a crystal cylinder with slightly jagged edges on the surface. The ends of the crystal are slightly pointed while inside the crystal appears to be hollow and even see through. Once I finalize the formation of the crystal I take hold of it from underneath with my right hoof.

"Woah . . . Was that... Crystal Magic?" Void asks while pointing at the crystal.

"Yessiree!" I look to him with a smile.

"Wow!" Lexi says while walking over. "What are you gonna use that for?"

"Simple! Since you can't find your little glass thingy and since I'm eager to get started right away, I figured I'd just make a crystal that will work instead!"

"Really? Your crystals can do that?"

"From the way you described your little glass containers, they seem to work similarly to how my crystals do! My crystals can be used to hold magic and can even conduct magic through them!"

"Does that mean, with that crystal-" Lexi points to it. "You're going to-"

"Eyup! You guessed it! Now bare with me for just a moment," I look down at the crystal with a smile and grasp it a bit more firmly. I then lower my head a tad, angling my horn closer to the crystal. I also close my eyes and my expression turns into a more serious look as I begin to focus. My horn begins to emit a golden light at first. Following up with the golden glow, a vibrant pink and cyan also emerge from my horn and begin to merge with the golden light, creating a trio of combined colors. The warm glow illuminates the full white room with the mixing hues of the three colors. For a brief moment, all of the colors shift to white simultaneously before shifting back to their original state. Void and Lexi can't help but to watch in awe. Their jaws dropped slightly and their eyes can't look away from the vibrant glow. The magical essence of the glow begins to leave my horn and flow into the crystal. The crystal begins to fill up with the essence of My Alicorn Magic. The glow from my horn soon stops emitting once the crystal becomes full. I open my eyes again and lift my head up with a smile. The crystal itself, now filled with light pink magic with traces of cyan and gold particles flowing around inside.

"Woooooow... that felt so... incredible!" Lexi claims.

"Indeed... I feel this strange sensation in me from being near such magic from it having been emitted," Void adds on while looking at his hooves. It seems both Void and Lexi have this strange sensation running through them from having such exposure to such raw Alicorn Magic. They both inspect their bodies as the sensation lingers.

"Yeah, Alicorn Magic is pretty potent! Believe it or not, this is just a small portion of it!" I hold up the crystal and even shake it slightly.

"D-Don't.. drop it now," Void nervously says.

"Oh relax," I say as I begin tossing the crystal up in the air and catching it in the same hoof. "I'm absolutely not going to drop-WOAH!" I purposely let it slip from my hooves and catch it with my magic before it hits the ground. Lexi and Void tense up and even try shielding themselves. I look to them with a smug grin.

"Hehehe! Gotcha!" I laugh. Lexi and Void let out an exhale of relief and untense themselves.

"If I may say, Please, don't do that again. I beg you," Void worriedly asks.

"Heh, relax. You don't gotta worry about a thing! Even if I did drop it, it wouldn't explode. The magic would just flow back into me. Unless of course I turned this crystal into some sort of bomb with my magic, which I can do," I claim with an innocent smile as I grasp the crystal with both my hooves.

"Right, eheheh," Void nervously chuckles.

"J-Jokes aside, you're planning on putting that into the machine, right? Does it even fit?" Lexi asks.

"Dunno! Only one way to find out! I do feel like I measured correctly, so-" I approach the machine and try to slot the Alicorn Magic filled crystal inside the machine. Surprisingly enough, it fits perfectly. "-Hyah! There we go! See? Fittin' like a mitten!" I then stand proudly.

"Excellent!" Lexi exclaims. "This means we're all set to read your magic!" Lexi then climbs up to the top of the machine and sits herself down in the seating chair of the machine. She pulls out her little blue screwdriver and inserts it into a slot, then turns it, activating the machine fully. The machine makes a powering up sound and Lexi begins typing away on the control panel.

"Right then... Let's begin the magic reading!" She states eagerly whilst waving a hoof into the air, then bringing it back down to press a button. As she presses it, the machine begins to make a rising humming sound and the crystal inside begins to glow brighter.

"Hoohooo! I can't wait! You know, I always wanted to figure out exactly how powerful my magic really is," I say while eagerly awaiting the results.

"And with this hefty machine, that's entirely possible!" Lexi types away on the control panel. The humming sound grows louder and even begins to raise in pitch.

"I'm a might curious myself. Are you sure it can even be read, mother?" Void asks Lexi.

"I don't see why not!" The machine makes a few beeping sounds and Lexi looks back down at the screen. The machine gets louder and the crystal glows even brighter. "Wow! The scales are already off the charts! I've never seen anything like it!" The machine continues to rise in its pitch as we speak.

"The anticipation is exciting!" I say. The machine gives a few more sounds coming from the control panel.

"Alright! In just a few more moments, we'll have a read on exactly how powerful your magic really-" Suddenly, the controls before Lexi start sparking and almost immediately after, the machine explodes. Black smoke and ash puff up from the explosion and the machine itself emits rising clouds of more black smoke. Void and I shield ourselves with our hooves from the initial explosion the moment it happens, tightly shutting our eyes as to not get any ash in them. I start coughing as I breathe in a bit of smoke and begin waving my hoof in front of me to clear it.

"Ack! What in the-Krgh!-hay just happened?" I say, coughing through my words.

"Urgh!" Void coughs and tries to wave away the smoke as well. His eyes shoot open widely as he looks over to the machine. "MOTHER!" He shouts as he rushes over to the machine near where Lexi was sitting. The smoke clears and Lexi is sitting in the seat still with her eyes closed, completely covered in black ash. Her perfectly white lab coat, now stained in a dirty black mess. Her face seems to be wincing from the blast. Lexi then opens her eyes and blinks a few times, taking a moment to process this. Her eyes look like two lights lighting up in darkness with how much ash she's covered in.

"Oh my gosh! Lexi! Are you okay?!" I step closer to the machine to check up on Lexi. "I-I'm sorry! This has to be my fault! I didn't know my magic would make the machine explode! I swear I-" Lexi makes a momentary chuckle which cuts me off.

"Uhm . . . Lexi?"

"M-Mother?"

"Ooohhhohohohohooooh!" Lexi then breaks out into giddy laughter as she begins clapping her hooves together and even gleefully kicking her hind hooves on the ground of the seating pit. Void and I look flabbergasted at Lexi's child like giddiness.

"This is WONDERFUL!" Lexi exclaims excitingly.

"It-... It is?!" I question.

"Wooo! I knew your magic would be pretty powerful, BUT I DIDN'T EXPECT IT TO BE THIS POWERFUL! It completely DESTROYED my machine!"

"Eh-Sorry about that.."

"Don't be sorry, Flurry Heart! This is GREAT news!"

"It is?" I raise an eyebrow at her.

"H-How so?" Void asks.

"Because! If her magic is enough to completely break my machine, then it should be MORE than enough to create the Holo-World Generator!"

"You really believe so, mother?"

"Most certainly!"

I continue my flabbergasted expression towards Lexi. "This mare was just caught in an explosion from her machine and she's happy about it? She just gets more and more strange by the moment. Honestly though, I kinda like that," I state to myself in my own thoughts.

"A-Are you sure you didn't injure yourself or something, mother? I've haven't seen you this excited in a long time"

"Oh I'm fine! That didn't even hurt at all! Though I'm going to need a shower and run a wash on my coat! But all in all, I'm perfectly fine!"

I sigh in relief. "Hoh, good"

"Right then!" Lexi swiftly hops out of the seating pit and approaches the panel where the crystal is being held. There inside, the crystal is perfectly fine as well as the Alicorn Magic within. "Seems like everything is in order still! Nothing TOO major!"

"So, what happens now?" I ask.

"Well, now I have a bit of a task to do! I'm going to rebuild this machine-" Lexi pats the machine. "-so that it will be able to read Alicorn Magic without it exploding!"

"Can you really do that with the time we have?"

"Sure! Not a problem! This machine is easy to rebuild! As for the modifications I'll have to make, I'll need to increase its internal capacity for magic conductivity. It's going to need A LOT if it's going to handle your magic! Plus, a new reinforced frame that can maybe suppress any unstable expansion of magic as it flows through the machine. Oh! And definitely some enhanced magic stabilizers to make sure it doesn't go haywire! MUCH more enhanced than what was already installed! I am working with Alicorn Magic now, after all! All can be done in the span of a few hours to, at most, a day"

"A day, huh?"

"Yes, but if it comes to that, it hopefully shouldn't be a hinderance towards our time of making the Holo-World Generator as a whole. It's actually making the invention that worries me. Plus, I'll need to get this mess here cleaned up before I can begin. And since the crystal is intact, you can leave the rest to me!"

"What should I do in the mean time?"

"Well since I now need to get some new parts for this machine, I suppose you could just go and do whatever you like! The repair process will take some time as I stated and I wouldn't want that to bore ya"

"So, I suppose I should come back tomorrow?"

"Sounds like a plan! I'll definitely have this ready by then! Plus, I'm sure you have other things to take care of"

My eyes widen a tad as I recall some stuff I indeed do need to get to at some point. "You're right," I say with a nod. "I have school work," I tilt my head downwards and put a hoof to my chin. "Though, technically it's... homework," I say in a quieter tone.

"Who am I to hold up a Princess from her duties, right? Heheh!" She gleefully states with a shrug.

"Hehe, alright well if that's all there is to it then I'll leave you to your repairs! I'll drop by the same time tomorrow and we can fully get this project underway!"

"Lookin' forward to it!"

My horn begins to emit a golden glow, readying to teleport on out of here. I look to Void and give him a send off salute.

"Catcha later!"

"Take care, Flurry," Void smiles.

"Oh, and before I go," I turn my head to Lexi. "Lex, you got a little some'mmm right-" I gesture my hoof all round my own body and give Lexi a smirk. "-here," She merely smirks back and I teleport away from sight.

I reappear out on the terrace of their penthouse, looking back at it with a smile. I then face forward and step closer to the area where we all had our little 'discussion' with Brisk. I look down at the large cracks on the ground that he made from his landing. I then look nearby where I see the pile of bits still sitting there on the ground, the one left by Astral. I look towards the edge and see that he's no where to be found.

"Hmm," I step closer to the bits and bend down to pick them up. I inspect them for a moment as I begin to hatch an idea. I firmly grasp my hoof over the bits and bring them under my right wing, using it to hold onto the bits for later. My horn glows and I poof my way back to The Crystal Empire.

After returning to the main hall of The Empire once again, I decide to go look for my mom and tell her about all the things I've experienced today so far while visiting Void's home. I, of course, go check her lounge again to see if she's there. I reach the door and knock gently.

"Come in!" Cadance's voice from inside calls out.

I open the door and peak inside. "Hope I'm not interruptin' anything important!"

"Oh! hello, sweetie!" She says happily at the sight of me.

"Yeah, good to see ya', Flurry!" Shining Armor, who's sitting beside Cadance, holding her closely, says to me with a smile. Cadance is closely nestled up to Shining Armor as they sit comfortably on a couch.

"Don't worry, you're not interrupting! We're just watching a movie is all!" Cadance says. There's a movie projector above them, displaying a film upon a screen that's in front of them both. The movie is currently paused as they focus their attention on me. "Is there something you need?" She asks.

"I just have to tell you something you're NOT goin' to believe!" I state as I approach them eagerly.

"Oh? Is that so?"

"Well, pour it on, Flurry! It can't be that hard to believe," Shining says with a smirk.

"Alright, prepare yourselves!" I take a deep inhale before beginning my story. "So, I went on over to Void's home in Manehatten! The stallion that you met yesterday, dad," I state, focusing on Shining for a moment.

"I recall," He says.

"And we were going to check out this cool room that Void's mom, Lexi Dawn, had created all on her own. Uh-She's a scientist by the way, dad. Anyways, we then got interrupted by a trespasser on her property! They went to go investigate the intruder's whereabouts and I sneakily followed behind. Then this LARGE stallion swooped up into the air and landed right in front of them! He was almost as tall as Celestia and a little bit taller than Luna. And get this; this large stallion was no ordinary stallion! He... was a robot!"

Cadance and Shining Armor now visibly appear to be having trouble keeping up with my story as their smiles slowly turned into confused looks.

"It was so cool! His body was all shiny and metallic! He had thin gap lines in his joints, he spoke in a menacing robotic tone, and he can construct wings and fly like uhhh... a jet! Yeah, that's it! And that's not all, this whole robot was actually being controlled... by a bunny rabbit!" Mom and Dad both raise an eyebrow and look even more confused. "Isn't that awesome?!" I excitedly ask as I lean in. There's a moment of brief silence before Cadance speaks up.

"You're right!" She smiles gleefully. "... I don't believe you," Her smile turns into a look of high doubt. I look to them in confusion now.

"That all sounds pretty cool, but you have to admit, it does seem pretty farfetched," Shining states with a look of doubt as well. "I mean, c'mon, a robot piloted by a bunny? Seems like something out of a comic or a sci-fi movie"

"That's what I said! I couldn't believe it all myself at first! I know I said you guys wouldn't believe me, but believe it or not, it's all true! I'm telling you!"

"A robot is simply something that hasn't really been heard of in the current days," Cadance claims.

"I'm telling the truth! What reason would I have to lie to you both?" I say in a slightly saddened tone and I start to puppy eye them. They both now look to me in slight sorrow from having upset me. Cadance sighs before speaking again.

"Okay... I take back what I said. I do believe you," Cadance says with a sincere smile. "Lets hear more of this, okay?" She politely asks.

"Thanks, mom. Anywho, so this bunny controlling the robot. This bunny's name is Dr. Brisk B. Bunsen"

"Oh, this bunny's a doctor now?" Shining says.

"Shining!" Cadance sternly says to Shining whilst delivering a sudden elbow nudge to his chest. He tenses at both her stern reaction and her sudden elbow nudge.

"Believe it or not, this bunny rabbit use to be a stallion once. But due to a spell, he got turned into a bunny and became trapped that way"

"That sounds... horrible!" Cadance exclaims.

"Yeah well don't feel sorry for this fella. He's actually a REAL jerk. You see, he's actually a scientist, just like Lexi. Annnd it's clear to me that they have history. Pretty bad history to be perfectly honest"

"Hmmm, I see. Please continue"

"Right. So, he invented this robot as sort of a 'vessel' he can control so he can still do things a stallion can where as a bunny can't"

"He must be pretty brilliant if he created such an invention"

"Admittedly he is. Jerk or not, he's pretty talented. Though, I feel Lexi is more talented than he is"

"That so?" Cadance raises a brow.

"Yeah. Dr. Bunsen mentioned something about a science competition coming up next week. And I convinced Lexi to participate in hopes of beating that fluff ball to the prize!"

"A science competition?" Shining asks.

"Yup! And I've also decided that I'm gonna help Lexi and Void in winning this contest"

"And how do you plan on doing that, Flurry?" Cadance inquires.

"If it's alright with you, I'm going to spend the next week helping Lexi with her invention. That means I'll be visiting her everyday in the morning to help her. I've already given her some of my Alicorn magic to help her get started on her creation"

"Your Alicorn Magic?" Cadance's eyes broaden at my statement.

"Yeah, is... something wrong?"

"No no, not at all. I'm just surprised. You must really want to help this mare if you're willing to give her some of your own magic"

"Believe me, it goes deeper than just lending a helping hoof. It's really important to me that I help her. She's a nice mare and deserves to win this contest. To put simply, she's had it pretty rough over the years from what I've heard because of Bunsen. And I wanna do my part to make sure things turn around for her," I give both Mom and Dad a seriously sincere look, letting them know I mean business.

"Wow, that all sounds pretty deep to me. I don't see anything wrong with what you're doing so I approve one hundred and ten percent all the way," Shining states humbly.

"I second that. You're really taking the initiative I had hoped you would. I'm sure you'll do absolutely wonderful. Considering you're pretty smart yourself, I'd say you have this all figured out, don't you?"

"You bet! I gave Lexi some of my magic since she needs it for her invention. It sounds like it's gonna take quite some time using magic and science together to make this invention work. Since you already know I'm pretty good at magic, helping her out with the magic portion should be no problem"

"Indeed. Just... be careful when it comes to your Alicorn Magic, okay?" Cadance nervously asks. "We wouldn't want that magic ending up in the wrong hooves"

"I got it, mom! You can count on me!" I give her a friendly salute.

"Wonderful! I wish you the best of luck on that. Take all the time you need from home to help your new friends"

"Thanks, mom!"

"That said, anything else interesting happen while you were over there?"

"Ah, right! So after that whole thing with Dr. Bunsen, Lexi lead me to the room she was gonna show me. And let me tell you, mom and dad, Miss Dawn is REALLY something else! She's got this entire room she built herself dedicated to testing out her inventions and even training a pony's talents! Things like magic and combat!"

"That so?" Shining asks.

"Yeah! She calls it 'The White Room'. It's a room that's entirely white and it's got a whole bunch of fancy tech for testing out magic and stuff. There's so many things about it from what I learned that I'd probably be here for hours trying to explain all I know so far"

"So is it anything like training here at home?" Cadance asks.

"You bet! It all surprised me tremendously! She even has her own lab and everything!"

"Who woulda thought that such a talented mare would be living right under our noses? And to think none of us have heard of such ponies long before," Cadance says with a hoof rubbing her chin.

"I know, right? It makes me wonder what other cool and talented ponies are out there"

"Hmhm," Cadance chuckles and gives a proud smile. It seems she's taking pride in the fact that what she had said to me yesterday was undoubtedly correct.

"I hope to meet more folks like that. Anyways! She's incredibly awesome and I've gotta help her out as best I can!"

"All the more reason to meet this mare. How's about this; once the science competition is over, we'll bring them over to The Crystal Empire for a visit!" Cadance declares.

"Perfect!" I smile widely.

"So, is that all, Flurry?" Shining asks.

"Hmmmm. Oh! Uhm hey mom? What do you know about... As.. tronomy?" I ask curiously and of course perform my little head tilt.

"Astronomy?" Cadance begins while putting a hoof to her chin. "That's... the study of space and things in space, right?" She answers and I nod to her. "Hmm other than the fact that Celestia can move The Sun and Luna can move The Moon, I don't believe I know much else beyond that. Why do you ask? Is this something you're interested in learning about?"

"Maybe"

"Noted then"

"Oh, can I also ask you a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

I reach under my right wing and pull out the bits I was holding onto. I then set it down on the table in front of them.

"Do you think you can make me a crystal that's worth this amount of bits?"

"Wh-... Why do you need that?" She asks showing a puzzled and concerned look.

"I just need it in order to.. help out Lexi . . . and then some"

"So you just want me to make you an expensive crystal, just like that?"

"Please?"

"You know, I'm not made of money"

"No, but you're made up of love and crystals!" I smile innocently. "And right now I just need one of those things! So please? Will you do it?"

"Hmmm... alright, I'll do it. However, you realize that you can do this too, right?" Cadance begins to sit up from her position and shift closer to the bits for inspection.

"Yeah but my 'money' crystals aren't as good as yours. You're much better at making fancy, expensive crystals than I am"

"Well if you'd let me teach you-"

"Ladies," Shining interjects.

"Right," Cadance nods.

"Sorry," I say.

Cadance gathers the bits and begins counting them. "100... 200... 300..," She mutters to herself as she continues to count the amount of bits higher and higher. "Alright, should be simple enough," She leans back and closes her eyes. Her horn glows a pretty bright cyan as she puts her hooves together. Her hooves begin to emit a warm cyan glow with crystalline particles sparkling and shimmering around them. She then starts to separate her hooves slowly and sways them in a peculiar pattern. Between her hooves is a glowing ball of magic that looks like a night star. Inside is a bright white shine and surrounding the shine is a warm cyan glow. Soon, a crystal begins to manifest between Cadance's hooves. It begins to take a strange shape, one that looks like some form of emblem belonging to something of royal significance. It consists of six curved like spikes upon it, three on each side. The bottom two curved spikes point downward while the other four point upward. The bottom of the crystal itself rounds off while the top has a pointed tip and resting upon the tip of the point is a little miniature Crystal Heart. Upon the very surface of the crystal appears to be the shape of a shield with the relief of an Alicorn head emitting magic beautifully displayed in plain sight, front and center upon the shield. The Crystal Manifestation is complete and the beautiful crystal is lain with all sorts of different shades of cyan. It sparkles in the light and Cadance now holds it in her right hoof. She holds it out to me and I gaze at it in awe.

"Woah! This is... Awesome!" My eyes sparkle as I admire it.

"Thank you. This should be more than enough to suit her needs. I even went ahead and made it a little more refined so it'll be worth a little extra"

"I can't thank you enough, mom!" I gently take hold of the crystal and firmly clutch it. I then magically take the bits off the table and hold it under my right wing again.

"Anytime, sweetie," Cadance nods.

"Alrighty, I'll catch you both later!" I turn to make my way to exit the room.

"See you later, Flurry!" Shining and Cadance say in unison.

"Oh! One more thing before I go-" I turn back to face them. "-How do you feel about an indoor pool?" I smile at them. They look to me, puzzled by my statement.

"Huh?" They both say.

Shortly after putting that idea into their heads, I exit the lounge and make my way back to my room. On the way back I gaze down at the crystal, admiring it a bit more. I reach the doors to my room and I open them magically to step inside. Shutting the door behind me, I approach my dresser and set down the crystal. I take a look around my room, glancing over my bed, my wardrobe, then my eyes stop at my bookshelf. I walk over to my bookshelf and bring my hoof up to a section of books. My hoof follows the row of books from 'H' through 'P'. I spot a certain book and pick it out from the bookshelf. My left hoof holds it underneath while my right rubs along the cover. I smirk at the cover of the book.

"Hmph, this'll do," I make my way back over to the dresser and set the book beside the crystal. I open my right wing, take the bits, and set it on the book. "There, all set. And now..," I turn to face the door and begin to head towards it. "Time to get a snack! I'm hungry!" I spring open the doors magically and gleefully trot out of my room. The doors shut behind me as I make my way to the catering hall. All is quiet in my room as the crystal rests nicely upon my dresser. My room is dimly lit, but even in the dim light, the crystal makes a single sparkle at the tip of the horn where the relief of the Alicorn head is lain.

The day passes and I begin to prepare for my departure for Lexi's home once more. I fill my white colored saddlebags with the various things that I feel I'll be using during my time over at Lexi's. Things such as notebooks, inks, quills, pencils, the book I had picked out from my bookshelf, the bits that belong to Astral, and of course, The Crystal that I asked mom to make. After carefully putting everything neatly into my saddlebags, I throw them on my back and begin to head out the doors to my room. I begin to trek my way down the lovely crystal halls towards the balcony. I pass by a few guards to which they happily greet me. Some grace me with a bow, others give simple waves and vocal greetings. During my walk, a shy little pegasus filly and her parent approach me nervously and kindly ask for an autograph. I smile and happily pull out one of my quills to sign my name. The little filly pulls out a miniature action figure of me and holds it out for me to sign my name on it. I neatly and happily sign my name along the back of the action figure before giving it back to the little filly. She eagerly takes it and hugs the action figure tightly to herself.

"Thank you so much, P-Pwincess Flurry Heart!" The filly speaks in an adorable voice.

"Heheh, you're welcome, kid!"

The filly and her parent wave goodbye to me and I return the wave. They trot off happily as if what had just happened made their whole day. I give a brief chuckle at the wholesomeness of the moment. A thought then comes to mind of which I say out loud.

"... Since when did they make action figures of me?" After pondering the question for a moment, I proceed to make my way to the balcony. Upon reaching the balcony and stepping out onto it, I take a deep breath to feel the freshness of the air.

"Good morning, Equestria!" I say subtly to the land. My eyes pan across the land for a moment before stopping at Manehatten in the distance. My horn begins to emit its warm golden glow and I take a step forward. I feel something on my hoof as I take a step. I cease my horn's emission of magic and glance down to see what I stepped on. It's my stopwatch that I left here from yesterday.

"Oh, dang it! I forgot to pick up some batteries for you!" I pick up the stopwatch and stuff it into my saddlebag. "You're coming with me! That way I won't forget!" My horn glows once more before suddenly I disappear from the balcony. Once more I am back at the terrace of Lexi's penthouse. I begin to make my way to the door, stepping over the cracks in the floor made by Brisk the prior day. As I reach for the fancy door bell, I hesitate, recalling the moment where Lexi's door bell almost blasted me in the face. I consider just teleporting in but instead I muster up the courage to ring the bell and see what happens. I press the button and tense up slightly. I hear a muffled voice from the other side of the door shouting over.

"Come in!" It's Lexi's voice.

The doorbell device lights up green and the door unlocks and slightly parts open. I untense and give a exhale of relief before pushing the door open and entering.

"It's me! Don't you worry!" I project so my voice can be heard from where ever Lexi may be.

"Over here, Flurry!" Lexi calls over, standing near the elevator pillar. She also appears to be standing next to a pile of boxes and other various items. She sets another box down on top of the others. Furthermore, she's wearing a Gray Hoodie instead of her Lab Coat.

"What's all this?" I ask as I make my way over to her.

"Like I mentioned, I needed to clear up some space in The White Room for when we begin working on The Holo-World Generator. Sooo, I'm moving up all my inventions to here in the meantime!" Lexi turns away from me for a moment to open up one of her boxes and she reaches inside to search for something.

"Alrighty, so how ya holdin' up?"

"I'm doing just fine. I'm actually getting very eager to start this thing! Those words you said to me yesterday really resonated with me! So now I aim to make this invention 'The Best Invention Manehatten Has Ever Seen!'. Just like I did before. And I ain't gonna let Brisk stand in the way of that"

"Awesome! Glad to hear all that! I'm ready and willing to help out in every way I can!" I smirk.

"Once again, I thank you, Flurry Heart. This means... more than I can express"

"You can thank me once this is all over and we win this thing!" I glance back at my saddlebag. "First thing's first, however...," My expression turns serious as I reach into my bag. "I understand you've been having... money troubles"

Lexi pauses her search through the box and she turns her body half way to look at me.

"Y-... You knew?" She asks.

"Yeah.. I did. Void told me out on the terrace the day we met, right before I left. Said you were struggling to even live here...," Lexi turns her head away, seeming sorrowful and embarrassed.

"I-... had a feeling you knew. From the way you were talking yesterday, it felt like you knew more than you were letting on. For my sake. That Void...," Lexi shakes her head for a moment.

"Don't be upset at Void for telling me the truth. All he wants is for you to be happy again. To live freely about your life to invent all your brilliant creations and for ponies to recognize how special you really are. He felt that something like this shouldn't be kept a secret. He loves you. That's clear as day"

Lexi smiles a tad. "Hmhm, Yeah... I'm not upset at him at all. I'm glad he told you, actually. I don't believe I would have had the courage to tell you myself"

"I felt so bad, I-... here," I take out the pristine Crystal that mom had created and I hold it out to Lexi. It glistens in the light between us and causes Lexi to lock her eyes onto it. Her eyes broaden and her jaw slightly drops at the sight of its magnificence.

"I wanted to help you with this little issue too, so... I asked my mom to make this crystal for me to give to you so you can maybe sell it and use the bits to repair that large crack out on the terrace floor. It should be more than enough to fix it as well as keep you going for a while by letting you buy anything else you may need with what's left over. It's worth a lot, courtesy of my mom"

"Flurry Heart... you... wanna give me this?" She says while lost in awe at the Crystal.

"Yeah. I wouldn't want you to lose your home because of what Brisk did. Seeing this place and how awesome it looks, the awesome inventions it holds, and it being home to two awesome ponies? It would leave a bad taste in my mouth if all that were to just... go away, ya know?"

"You... have a kind heart, Flurry," Lexi begins to reach for it but seems hesitant. "But... I can't accept this... This is far too generous for me to-"

"Take it. It's yours," I say with a smile as I inch the Crystal closer to her hoof. "It's the least I can do. Please?"

Lexi takes a moment to gaze into my happy, sparkling eyes as I await for her to take the Crystal. Her eyes filled with wonderment as she can hardly belief the kindness she is receiving. It's like nopony has shown her such kindness like this in a long time. She's speechless. This moment of quiet continues for a bit longer before Lexi finally speaks up.

"Okay," she nods. "I'll take it," Reluctantly, she takes hold of the Crystal. "Thank you, Flurry Heart," Lexi holds the Crystal closely to her chest.

"You're very much welcome, Lexi," I brighten my smile at her as she takes hold of the Crystal. Lexi gazes upon the crystal for a moment longer before going to set it down carefully over by the kitchen countertop.

"So, did you get the magic reader doohickey all fixed up?"

"Yup! It's ready and waiting downstairs! I think it'll work this time for sure!" she says as she makes her way back over to me.

"This time?" I tilt my head.

"Yeah! Turns out, it took a lot more upgrades to get it up and running to be able to support the reading of Alicorn Magic without it going kablewy!" Lexi briefly throws her hooves into the air to mimic an explosion. "During our previous attempts yesterday after you left, the machine kept exploding every time I tried getting it to work. But luckily with each explosion came more precise understanding and more refinement to the upgrades. I hadn't felt so challenged in a while simply trying to get the magic reader to analyze your magic. It was a matter of trial and error to get it to work and now? I'm almost certain I will be able to read Alicorn Magic! Nhnhnh! Just saying that gets me all giddy!" Lexi puts her hooves to her cheeks in excitement.

"That's great! Hopefully it won't explode again, yeah?" I nervously state.

"I have a good feeling about it! Ooo! I can't wait!" Lexi's giddiness increases.

"Then let's not waste anymore time! Let's head on down! I leap over and land inside the elevator, awaiting Lexi.

"Right you are! Let's go!" Lexi follows behind and swiftly hits the button for us to head down.

"By the way, I like your hoodie!"

"Thank you!"

The door shuts and we begin our descend. We arrive down at The White Room and the door slides up. We step out onto the floor where we find Void wearing a metal mask and using a blowtorch on the magic reader. He pauses and lifts up his mask to look at us.

"Ah, greetings, Flurry!" He happily greets.

"Hello, Void!" I return the greeting.

"Mother? We're about ready to try again"

"Excellent!" Lexi claps once. "Now, Flurry Heart, follow me real quick while Void puts the finishing touches on the machine," Lexi ushers me towards the command center where we see all sorts of equipment, books, schematics, and diagrams for what I assume would be the necessary assets for The Holo-World Generator. Resting upon the console is Lexi's Lab Coat. All neatly folded and freshly clean.

"Right here is where I have everything we need to work on the invention! It's going to take some time like I said to get this thing ready for next week," I carefully examine everything in front of me while she speaks. "That may seem like plenty of time, but it's not much for what we're making. The first time I created The Holo-World Generator, it took me about a month and everything I had at my disposal at the time to make it. Magic included"

"A Whole Month?!" I exclaim.

"Yeah, I was pretty exhausted. I worked day in and day out on it. Using every bit of magic I could spare, using all of my crafting materials, spending every little bit I could. It was worth it... til', ya know... bunny boy Brisk"

"Tch, right.."

"But all we have is a little less than a week to work on it. I do have a plan, however!" Lexi raises a hoof between us like she's pointing up at a lightbulb above her head. "I'll tell you it in a little bit," Lexi raises her head past mine and calls over to Void. "Void, is it ready?" she asks.

"Indeed it is!" he responds.

"Perfect timing! C'mon let's go!" Lexi pats the back of her hoof onto my chest gently to usher me to follow. We make our way over to Void. He stands from his kneel and takes off his metal mask. He then levitates both the blowtorch and the metal mask away into a safe place. I inspect the machine and it's clear that there has been some heavy modifications done to it. The frame around the machine itself looks more beefy than before. Inside the machine appears to have much more tech implemented into it. There's a lot more wiring added and even, what I assume to be, a ton of cooling fans installed to make sure it doesn't over heat. There are some funky looking antennae on top of the machine that emit magic, creating sparks that arch back and forth between one another. Furthermore, the machine has been painted different shades of blue, similar to Lexi's mane. And to top it all off, a large sticker of her cutie mark has been plastered on the side.

"Alright! We're ready to try the magic reading once more!" Lexi rubs her hooves together eagerly.

"And you're sure it'll work this time?" I raise a brow at her.

"Almost sure!" Lexi adjusts the crystal containing my magic inside of the machine before shutting the panel. "I put a lot of work into the upgrades for the machine! So I feel it should work! Besides, if it doesn't work then I'll try my hoof at fixing it again!" She leans onto the machine and rests her elbow on top of it whilst smiling widely at me.

"Well, you don't want to spend too much time on fixing this thing," I tap the machine.

Lexi sighs. "You have a point... I'm just... trying to stay positive! I really hope this'll work!" Lexi starts to climb into the seating pit of the machine.

"It has to!" I turn to Void. "How many times did you try before?" I ask him.

"We've tried a total of four times"

"Four ti-?! Pfff...," I briefly shake my head. "Well... let's hope five is the winner!" I say in a cheerful tone in hopes to raise some spirits.

"Alright!" Lexi says whilst firing up the machine. The machine begins to wind up as she types away at the panel. "Let's get this thing going!"

"Oh! Before you do!" I step closer and aim my horn at her. It begins to give off a golden light and a bubble like yellow shield encapsulates Lexi. "Juuust incase it explodes again!" I smile.

"Thanks!" Lexi says in a very slightly muffled tone.

"What? I don't get a shield?" Void questions.

"You'll be fine," I say whilst performing a playful disregarding gesture at him. He pouts briefly. I glance at him for a moment and chuckle. "Okay, you'll get one too," Void chuckles as I cast a second bubble shield for him.

"Okay! We're ready to begin! At the press of this button, we'll get to see the reading of Flurry Heart's magic! Hopefully!" Lexi waves her hoof over the button on the screen. "And aWaaaaAAAY we go!"

She presses the button and immediately reals her hoof back, curling to herself and shutting her eyes as the machine starts to emit a rising hum. The new fans built into the machine speed up, growing louder and louder. The beeping from the console hastens and the machine itself begins to shake ever so slightly. I slowly begin to raise my right foreleg to shield my eyes and tense my body, preparing for an explosion. The ground itself beneath us begins to shake a tad as well. The machine's sounds have gotten quite loud and we feel like this might not work. The machine reaches its peak of its actions, giving the impression that it's going to explode once more. Suddenly, the machine dings like an oven and the noises begin to simmer down. Lexi opens one eye to look at the the screen which now displays the results.

"Oh, it worked ... IT WORKED! Hahah!" Lexi throws her hooves into the air in excitement. I let down the shields and give an exhale of relief.

"Never doubted it for a second, hehe," I nervously and jokingly state.

"Right then! Let's take a look! Come, come! Quick!" Lexi beckons us over. We stand at both her sides to take a look at the screen to see the results. "Wooow! I've never seen anything like it!" On screen there appears to be a charted bar graph with a pink bar far exceeding the graph.

"Woah, is that my magic on the graph there?" I point to the pink bar.

"Yes! Indeed it is! And it is absolutely PHENOMINAL!"

"Really?"

"Here, take a look!" Lexi brushes her hooves along the screen to move the chart around. She brings in a blue bar that now sits next the pink bar. "This bar graph right here represents the level of power and potency my magic has. And then... "Lexi shifts her hoof to basically climb the pink bar graph tower that represents my magic scaling. "... Here's yours! It goes WAY off the charts! Hitting heights I didn't even program into this machine. Your magic is simply INCREDIBLE!"

"Wooow," I gaze awestricken at the graph, finding it a tad hard to believe. "I knew my magic was strong but I didn't expect this!"

"Ooo! I knew from the start that your magic would be more than enough!" Lexi swiftly hops out from her seating pit and lands in front of the panel where the crystal container is stored inside. "Such unprecedented levels of magic will undoubtedly suffice for the making of the invention!"

I examine the chart a bit longer, getting a better understanding of it all. I go back and forth, comparing the two. It would seem that Lexi's magic would be what you'd expect an average unicorn mare to possess, except it seems Lexi is slightly more capable of wielding magic. This intrigues me as I rub under my chin. I look back to my own magic on the scale and begin to feel very proud, not just of myself, knowing my magic training has come quite the distance. But, more so the fact that this mare was able to create an invention to read it. I smirk while admiring the greatness of it all.

"I'm so thrilled that it worked!" Lexi opens the panel and messes around with the internals of the machine. "I mean! It's incredible that I created a machine that can read the power of ALICORN magic! Ahahahaaah! It's brilliant! Who woulda thought?" She takes out the crystal containing my magic. Lexi then turns to me with a smile while holding the container closely to her chest. "I don't mean to brag, but it's quite amazing, don't you think, Flurry Heart?"

"It's something to be very proud of, Lexi," I say as I shift away from the seating pit and step closer to her. "Now we can finally begin making The Holo-World Generator, right?"

"Yes, yes! Of course! Right this way!" Lexi turns and happily trots over to the command center. Void and I follow behind her. Once we arrive at the command center, she puts down the crystal container and faces us.

"Alright, so I'm sure you've been wondering how exactly The Holo-World Generator works. That's what I'm gonna explain to you, using all of this stuff-," Lexi gestures to all the items upon the command center's counter top. "-and of course, explaining it off the top of my head. Mkay?"

"Got it," I nod.

"Good," Lexi turns to make her way to the other side of the command center where she begins to magically move a heavy table. She appears to be straining herself a bit trying to move it. "Nrgh! Now, I know you.. Nrh.. already understand the-," Lexi continues to drag the table out towards the front and almost the center of the room. "-basic premise of the device! Hrgh!" She halts her magical grasp around the table for a moment to take a breath. "Hahhh... but I'm going to run it by you again to really get it firmly planted in your mind!" She tries to move the table again but instead I help her out by grabbing hold of the table with my own levitation spell and move it the rest of the way for her.

"Heh, thank you Flurry Heart! Uh, Void?" She says whilst turning her attention to Void. "Could you bring all those diagrams, schematics, and equipment over here, please?"

"On it," Void begins to collect all of the requested items and magically levitates them over to the table. He sets them down all around the table and some along the top of it. Spreading the papers and tools evenly about the tabletop.

"Now then," Lexi stands at the right side of the front of the table. "It's basically a little machine that can generate a magical world around you to make your wildest dreams come true," Lexi scours the papers and diagrams as she talks. "But how it works... is very intricate. It's a combination of a series of different magical spells and different kinds of tech and machinery, all put together into one nifty little box. Furthermore, the machine can be controlled by both a remote and/or ones thoughts and emotions. All of which is connected to The Holo-World Generator in order to fluidly control the world of your dreams!" she pulls out a blueprint of the invention and shows it to me. "Here, take a good look. It's a little hard to understand at first but I can teach you what this all means," I take a moment to inspect the blueprint, taking note of all the details of it. Some things I recognize like the usage of magic needed to be implemented into the machine, while others, like the technology portion, is unbeknownst to me. Observing more into the magic portion, there's a section that appears to explain how it call comes together.

"...'In order for the generation of a confined magical world-," I begin reading the description upon the blueprint. "-a series of magical spells must be casted and combined whilst being implemented into the conduit devices. Conduit Devices allow for the activation of magic to perform its intended purpose. Spells Needed; Illusionary magic... Manifestation spells... Shield generation... and terrain manipulation!'..., Wait," I look to Lexi. "You're talking about combining at least four different types of powerful spells into one... and putting all into tiny little gadgets?"

"Indeed I am," Lexi nods with a proud grin.

"I see," I say after giving a thorough examination of the blueprint. "So... we're basically going to be making this thing from scratch?"

Lexi grins at me and points her hoof upward again, hinting something hatching in her mind. "This is where my idea comes in!" Lexi steps away and heads back over to the command center. She rounds the corner on the opposite side, leaving only her tail to be visible as she collects something. "I hatched an idea that would make this process go by INCREDIBLY faster!" She starts to come back to us, caring a metal briefcase. She arrives at the table once more and steps between Void and I. Lexi clears some space in the middle of the table and sets down the metal briefcase, front and center. She brushes off the top of the case to clear any excess dust off the top. The briefcase has a bit of dirt along it, several scratches along the metal, and even a few dents across the top. Lexi brings her hooves to unlatch the locks upon it, to which then she opens the metal briefcase. Inside lies a black box, made up of high tech looking components. On top the black box appears to be a little glass dome with more techy components underneath said glass. From the way it looks and from what was described to me prior, there can be no doubt that this is The Holo-World Generator that Lexi had invented for that fateful day that Brisk had ruined. Judging by the state of the briefcase, it was once in perfect condition, but due to the years of neglect, the case has become damaged. Same goes for this device. It appears slightly damaged and at the moment, gives off no clear indication that it would work if it were to powered on. Which begs many questions in my mind.

"That's... The Holo-World Generator... The one you built before! Right?" I ask, turning my head up to Lexi whilst pointing at the device.

"Indeed, it is, Flurry Heart," Lexi answers while maintaining her gaze upon the damaged device. "This is how we're going to speed up the process"

"Mother, you don't mean..."

"Yes, I do," Lexi grins widely. "We're gonna work off of this!"

"Woah! I get it! We'll just fix this one up and improve it rather than starting from scratch! It's genius!"

"Thank you, Flurry Heart!" Lexi smiles proudly. "If we're going to improve upon the older model, we'll first need to make sure it will support Alicorn Magic, much like the magic reader"

"So, how you you plan on keeping it all together inside the invention?" I question.

"That is where this comes in!" Lexi's horn glows and a hidden schematic comes out from her folded up lab coat. She levitates the schematic and lays it upon the table for us to view. It shows a strange design of a device that goes inside the invention. "I call it, 'The Stable Field Emitter'. It's what keeps the Holo-World from going haywire. As the name implies; it stabilizes the field within the dome once the Holo-World Generator is activated. Keeps everything stable and to not allow the magic within the device to go crazy and... cause an incident like what happened that... ruined me," I look to Lexi as her tone becomes more serious. "This is the thing-," She taps the schematic with her right hoof three times. "-that Brisk sabotaged within my invention that caused it to wild. Costed me my career and nearly hurt a lot of other ponies... But you already know that part," She says with a soft, slightly livid tone that's almost a whisper. "But!," She says as she points up into the air. "I can rebuild it! Better! Stronger than before!"

"I see. Well having the old one here will certainly make things go by a lot quicker"

"Where did you even find it?" Void questions as he examines the old model.

"I dug it up out of my ol' storage unit. Ever since Brisk sabotaged it and costed me the contest two years back, I decided to just chuck it away and tried to forget about it. So, this thing was simply just collecting dust in storage... Until now!"

"Think it still works?" I ask.

"Dunno, but if it doesn't, we can work to make it work. Now then, on to the more in depth way of explaining how it functions," Lexi magically levitates a bunch of the blueprints into the air in front of us.

"You see, The Holo-World Generator creates a powerful magical field all around itself, conjuring its own little space, compacted within a magical dome. Within that dome is a magical world that is entirely separate from the world of Equestria and is completely created by both magic and the wonders of imagination! Within said world, you have the capability to generate anything you desire. At first, with the press of a few buttons, the box would create a terrain to bring forth what you wish to be made into reality. However, as I stated before, the machine itself is capable of being connected with a pony's thoughts and feelings, and is able to take what the pony is thinking and magically conjure it into the reality within the magical dome. Everything you see, touch, and smell, would seem real because, in a way, it would be! The magic from within the box would create physical manifestations of your wildest dreams and desires. You could take a lovely vacation from the comfort of your own home! Or you can embark on an epic journey as you trek through the lands of Equestria entirely created by your imagination! Furthermore into explaining the possibilities of all this; the magical field that it creates would feel like an almost endless playground for you to wander freely! When you're standing within the magical dome, you're completely enveloped in your own little space. This world that you're in will feel EXTREMELY massive! Much like The Land Of Equestria itself! How is that possible, you ask? You see, Flurry, the device would constantly generate the world as you travel through it! So you could trot over a hundred miles within the magical field. But outside the dome, you wouldn't have moved an inch! And that's all because the magical properties around you keeps you in that general position within the field. Making it so you don't accidentally stray outside of the field. To leave The Holo-World, you simply just have to approach the device and turn it off! The device is always somewhere nearby and can always be found simply by taking a good look around!"

"Woooaaah! You mean to tell me it can really do all that? AND that you once succeeded in building it?"

"Kinda hard to believe such a creation can be done, right? Heheh! I was a very ambitious pony back then"

"Here's hoping that winning this contest will re-spark your ambitions," Void smirks at Lexi.

"Ya know, I believe it's already starting to come back. Seeing this ol' thing right before me.. and with you two here to help me out? I have good hopes right now!"

"How does it look like when standing outside of the dome?"

"Like this!" Lexi pulls out her little device she keeps in her coat and presses a button on it. One of the ceiling panels open up and a little drone floats down from the opening. She presses the button on the device again and the lights dim. The drone shoots out a bunch of lights, projecting an image for us in the center of the room. "You see, It would simply just look like a magical energy dome, except you can't see what's going on from the outside," The drone projects exactly what Lexi is describing, a magical looking energy barrier that shimmers a bright blue light. Nothing can be seen from within the dome. "And if a pony were to approach the dome and actually step inside..," She presses the button again and we see a projected image of Lexi approach the dome. The projected image of Lexi extends her hoof towards dome and begins to press her hoof inside. Her hoof phasing through the dome and shortly after that, she walks fully through the magical field and is gone from sight.

"... They are now part of the Holo-Generated World!" Lexi disables the projecting images and the drone goes back into the ceiling opening. The ceiling closes up and the lights brighten back up.

"Fantastic!" My excitement for the recreation of this invention builds up even more.

"Now that you understand The Holo-World Generator more, I believe it's time to get started," Lexi turns around and heads towards where her lab coat is lain. "I still remember how to cast some of the spells needed for this project. However, the challenge lies in getting all the spells to sorta of... 'fit' inside the machine. The machine itself has these little conduits that allow spells to be seal inside them. From there-," Lexi picks up her lab coat and faces towards Void and I. "-the magic can be controlled to generate the world!"

"Alrighty! I'll definitely help out with the spells! I'm good at casting shields and stuff so that should be an easy step"

"Excellent! Anymore questions before we get started?" She asks with a smile.

"What about... linking the machine to a pony's thoughts and emotions?" I ask.

"You just leave that to me! I've got a nifty little device just for that purpose! I mainly just need your help with the magic related stuff!"

Okay then! Let's go!"

"Indeed!" Lexi grips the chest of her hoodie. In one swift motion, she yanks off the hoodie upwards and throws it into the air. Following up, she gracefully adorns her perfectly clean lab coat. "We're gonna show that carrot munching, fur ball that he messed with the wrong scientist!" Lexi proudly proclaims.

"Awesome!" I glance up at the ceiling. "Oh, uh, Lexi? Your hoodie never came back down," I point up towards the ceiling.

"Wha-?" Lexi looks to me in confusion, then looks towards the ceiling to find that her hoodie got snagged onto one of the ceiling panels. "-Oh! Darn it! C-Could you help me get it down?" She asks me. I give a brief chuckle before flying up there to unsnag her hoodie.

Now that the explanation of the invention out of the way, it's time to officially begin. First, we started off by attempting to see if the old Holo-World Generator would work. Lexi takes it out of the briefcase and sets it down front and center of the room. We inspect the device for a brief moment, examining its design. On one side there is a set of buttons, small dials, and even a little screen, likely to control the device manually. Lexi presses the power button on it and waits a few seconds. Nothing seems to be happening as of yet. Lexi presses the button a few more times and even holds it, hoping that may help. After that she takes out her screw driver and begins unscrewing two screws on both bottom corners of the front side. Lexi then lifts open the front side like a panel which exposes the internals of the device. Void and I watch on as she messes around with the inside of the device. She fidgets with some wires inside of it which create a small spark. Soon after the spark, the screen upon the device light's up as it begins to seemingly activate. A light appears within the small glass dome atop the invention. It begins to emit laser like lights that shoot up towards the ceiling. For a moment, we all believe that it is going to work. We even gaze in awe at the pretty lights. Sadly, the lights begin to flicker and the invention begins to spark. I gently yank Lexi's hooves away from the invention as it starts to spark violently now. The lights shut off and the invention begins emitting smoke. We look on in disappointment for a moment as our hope of this being a tad easier was swiftly lost.

Some time after, we're back at the table as Lexi begins scanning over the schematics, brushing her hoof over key sections of the intricacies of the device. She explains that in order for the device to work properly we'll need to successfully repair any broken internal mechanisms as well as fit it with new parts. Lexi rolls out a cart of parts and tools that we're gonna use to fix up the invention. We look to each other and nod. Lexi goes over to the command center and carefully picks up the Crystal Container that holds my Alicorn Magic, then sets it on a nearby table. She then instructs Void to work on one specific part for starters while she sets me up with some tools and a task of my own. We approach the invention and Lexi carefully begins to dig into the internals of the invention with her screw driver. She takes out the old parts so that we may replace them later. Void hauls over a box of components and sets them down near Lexi. She turns to the box and rummages around inside to try and find what she needs. She pulls out many components for the invention and we get to work.

Lexi is sat down with me and is carefully instructing me step by step on how to craft certain parts. Currently we're working on a magic container that acts like a battery to the invention. Lexi holds up the old magic container and says that this is what holds magic inside the invention to be able to power it. Upon closer examination, there is a glass window to look inside and it appears empty. She points to some kind of small funnel that's at the side of the container and she explains that this is how we feed magic into it. I nod to her, informing her my understanding of this and we begin to disassemble the container to tweak it to be better. The entire part has quite the intricate amount of technology build inside of it. More than I expected. Lexi brings out the required components to work on the container and we get started on it. I'm a bit slow at first as I often glance back and forth between the blueprints, schematics, and at the actual component itself. Thankfully, Lexi's careful guidance makes this a ton easier. Lexi occasionally looks into the box to pull out spare parts that we can use. Together, we put together the magical storage container with fresh new parts so that it may hopefully hold Alicorn grade magic. For the finishing touch, Lexi casts a spell on the container to be able to take in magic through the funnel. She goes to get the Crystal and when she brings it back, she takes one end of the crystal and connects it to the funnel. The magical container begins to take in some of the Alicorn Magic. It begins to fill up the inside of the container, almost like liquid filling up a glass. Once filled, she sets aside the Crystal and picks up the container, now filled with the magic needed to power it all. We gaze up at it in admiration as it seems as though it may work, judging by how nicely crafted it looks.

Meanwhile, Void is working on what appears to be some kind of high tech, small spherical object. He's inspecting it to make sure that it is in good condition. He looks at one of the blueprints and it shows that sphere is called 'The Magic Emitter'. It is what holds the spells together inside the machine. After finding the right sphere, he takes them over to the invention. He reaches down and unscrews the glass dome on top, revealing an tattered looking sphere similar to the new one Void is holding. He carefully takes out the old one and fits the new on inside.

At one point later on, Lexi fully takes out a large tray-like object called a 'circuit board' from within the old Holo-World Generator. On top of the circuit board are most of the remaining internal parts connected to it. In the center appears to be some form of rectangular box with a strange antenna on top that appears to be able to rotate. The design of this strange device is like what is shown on the blueprint of The Stable Field Emitter. Lexi carefully removes it from the circuit board then brings the old Stable Field Emitter to a nearby table. She explains that the device emits waves that suppress magic to a point of stabilization. She brings out the schematics on it and we get to work all together. She has us standing by her sides while she basically operates on the device. Ever so often she would ask one of us to pass her a certain tool to which then we would provide said tool. Occasionally I levitate a rag to wipe the sweat off Lexi's forehead. I watch Lexi work in amazement as she works hard, keeping a steady pace, thanks to both Void and I. She takes the Crystal and uses the magic from within it to power the Stable Field Emitter. She holds it up proudly once it's finished.

Later on, Void carefully removes a cubic metal frame from the invention. He begins the process of making new frame for the invention by taking a bunch of scrap metal to craft a new one. Void can be seen using a blowtorch again to carefully weld parts together to make the new frame. Lexi goes to check on him to make sure he's doing things properly, which he is. I approach to see if I can help. We sit together and work on making the frame. There's a piece of metal he points to that would work well for a section of the frame but it's not quite the right angle. He describes that it needs to be bent at a ninety degree angle. I pick up the metal on both ends and I begin to try and bend it forcefully with my hooves. I grit my teeth and slightly grunt as I push both ends to bend metal, putting in quite the fair amount of effort in doing so. It starts to bend slowly and Void watches in shock. So shocked that his jaw drops. I bend it roughly to about ninety degrees and I take a moment to breathe. I present him the part and he takes it, examining it. Thankfully, it is now the perfect angle. He looks to me with a wowed expression to which I smile at him and even flex my right foreleg proudly.

After a long day of work, we find ourselves quite tired. All together, we've successful fitted the invention with a new magical storage container fueled with Alicorn Magic, a new magic emitter, a new frame, and an improved Stable Field Emitter also fueled with Alicorn Magic. I ask Lexi about the time. She tells me the time and I figure that I should get going back on home. We've got quite a bit done for the first day and things look promising thus far. Before I take my leave, I ask Lexi if she has any double-neigh batteries for my stopwatch that I pull out and present to her. She looks towards the cart of supplies and approaches it. She finds a pack of batteries and tosses them at me, telling me that I can have it. I catch the pack and there's a total of ten batteries inside. I smile gleefully and thank her greatly. I tell them that I'll be back around the same time tomorrow for us to continue. Lastly, I say my goodbyes for the day and teleport myself back to The Crystal Empire. I stand at the balcony once again and open the pack of batteries. I take two, pull out the old batteries from the stopwatch, replaces them with the new ones, and poof away the old batteries somewhere else. I turn on my stopwatch after fitting it with new batteries and I smile at the sight of it working again. I instinctively get it ready to use it to train my teleportation, but I recall my moms words. I shake my head and turn off the stop watch, telling myself mentally that I can't train right now. Not until my work with Lexi and Void is finished. Staying true to my mother's words.

Moving onto the second day of our efforts to build this thing, we begin the spells portion of the inventing process. Lexi has some books opened for us on a nearby table, the books displaying instructions on the spells we're going to cast. She carefully explains that during the making of the first version of The Holo-World Generator, she came to the idea that spells which have effects to the environment and generation of objects could be used together as one. During her long time of research back then, she eventually came about a brilliant step by step plan on how to combine said spells and implement it into a machine. First step, we set the Holo-World Generator in the center of the room. The Magic Emitter sphere is currently exposed. We stand in a triangle formation around the invention. Lexi, holding a book and reading through it, states that the next step is to cast the series of spells in order above the invention. I, happily volunteering to be the one to cast them so that Lexi can save her strength, ignite my horn with a bright golden glow. I carefully read through the instructions of the spell books I have levitating around me. I begin to cast the required spells into the air space above the invention. For each spell that I cast, I'm suppose to maintain casting it. More specifically, prolonging the casting process. During the prolonging phase, I'm suppose to cast the next spell on top of the previous. At first it's a little tough, but I manage to steadily succeed. Each magical spell that leaves my horn has slightly different appearances than the others. Some appearing jagged in their flowing shapes while others appear more smooth. Lexi instructs me to carefully maintain the magic in that space and slowly but carefully 'press' them together. I glance at her for a moment and wonder what she means. But then I just take what she said literally and begin to condense the magic tightly together. She tells me that I'm doing great. I smile and ask for the next step. Lexi states that the next step is to cast a shield around all the spells. An easy task for one such as myself. My horn's hue briefly changes to cyan as I begin to cast a shield around the spells that are suspended mid air. The shield's color is cyan for a brief moment as well. However, my horn turns back to golden and so does the shield. Once contained, Lexi instructs me to fuse the spells with the magic of the shield. I begin to simply mix the magic around inside and press them all against the inside of the shield. The magical strands begin to blend into the walls of the shield's insides. A bright yellow flash slowly emits and once the light dims, the shield is revealed to have changed into an marvelous cerulean blue. Within the shield is glowing white star within its center. The star is surrounded by a wavy field of magical particles of all different colors. I gaze up at the beautiful creation in amazement. Lexi smiles from ear to ear, awestricken by the sight of this. She explains that she experienced this exact same feeling before when she first had succeeded in creating this magical anomaly. With no time to waste however, she quickly snaps out of her joyful state and tells us that the next step is to put the magic into the invention. She pulls out her little device from her coat and points it at the Holo-World Generator. A button is pressed on it and the spherical device on top begins to emit a magical cone of light blue light that shoots up towards the shield. All we have to do is push it down and the machine will absorb it. I begin to pull it downwards with my magic but it's actually quite heavier than I thought. Lexi sets down the book and her horn glows to grip the shield too. It pulls down much easier but we still strain to pull it. Void steps in and magically grips the shield and begins to help pull it downward. Our combined magical glows of light blue, magenta, and gold, all push down upon the cerulean blue anomaly. The machine below begins to pull down the shield with us once in range and it begins to absorb it, funneling the magic down into the sphere. Once the magic is fully absorbed into the machine we all take a moment to pant as our horns stop glowing. We gaze at the sphere to find it emitting a softly blinking light. Lexi looks to us and smiles, which lets us know that we succeeded. I pump my right hoof in front of me in celebration. I turn to Void and reach out my hoof for a hoof bump. He glances at my hoof then at me in confusion. I gesture a hoof bumping motion a few times at him and hope he gets it. He hesitantly raises his hoof a bit and shifts it closer to mine. I nod at him, letting him know that he almost has it. He then gives me a hoof bump and smiles a tad awkwardly at me. I giggle at that and praise him for the hoof bump.

Moving on to the next part of the invention, Lexi currently has my horn hooked up to a strange device. The device is a ring around my horn and attached to the ring is a cable that runs to The Holo-World Generator. Pink lights are emitting from within the glass dome of the invention in the shape of a cone like before. Above the cone is floating pink magical fire that swirls and dances about. I watch the flames and await Lexi's instructions as the three of us are sat around the invention. She's typing away on some sort of hoof held computer, most likely programing some stuff to the invention remotely. She suddenly smiles widely and looks to Void. Void nods, then holds up a sign with the picture of an apple. I look at it, tilting my head at it in confusion for a moment but as I gaze at the picture of the apple, the image of it pops up in my mind. Shortly after that, the pink flame begins to form into the shape of an apple. We all look on at the flaming pink apple and smile. The invention successfully manifested what I was thinking. Void tosses the sign aside, revealing another behind it. It shows the picture of an autumn tree. My eyes turn to the image and it displays in my mind. The flame reforms from an apple into the same tree with a pink hue. We smile even brighter at the occurrence. Void reveals the third sign behind the second and it shows the image of a Blue Jay. I get the image of the bird in my mind and surely enough, the flames form into the shape of the same bird with a pink hue. Lexi cheers as this step of building the invention was a complete success. I happily watch and admire her excitement of the success of this step. During her moment of celebration, my stomach growls and I gaze down at it. We had been working for quite some time that I've grown hungry. Soon after, the thoughts of eating delicious food pops up into my mind and the flames above the invention start to change once more. The flames change into the image of a juicy looking hayburger and a tall vanilla milkshake cup with whipped cream and a cherry on top. Lexi halts her celebration to take notice of the two images. I give a nervous laugh and rub the back of my head. Both Lexi and Void smirk at me and even chuckle, finding my behavior quite humorous and even adorable. Sometime after that, Lexi was so kind enough to happily go out and buy us food at a local burger joint. The three of us are sitting down, upstairs on the penthouse level, eating our food at the dining counter. Lexi got me the same hayburger and milkshake that was shown in the fire image. We eventually finish our meal and clean up after ourselves. I glance over at the time and realize that I should get going. I tighten the straps on my saddlebags and head out the door of the penthouse. Lexi and Void wave to me as I hastily gallop my way over towards the edge of the terrace. I turn around towards them in one swift motion to give a 'cya later' salute to them as I jump backwards over the terrace edge. My horn swiftly flashes and I disappear before falling. I reappear in my room back at the empire just over my bed. I land back first onto my bed, bouncing back up briefly before landing on the bed fully. I magically levitate a book off of a nearby shelf over to me. I take hold of the book and open it to continue my studies. I take the rest of the day to study so that I don't fall behind on my school related work.

On the third day after successfully fitting the invention with brand new parts as well as conducting the magic portion quite excellently, we begin the first testing phase. Lexi turns on the machine from the command center and it begins to light up. The device makes a rising hum noise and we notice that some parts of the metal begin to heat up. It appears that the device is overheating as we see the metal glow from the heat. Then we hear a loud pop from the invention. Lexi shuts it off swiftly. The Holo-World Generator seems to have exploded from within from the intense overheating issue. The internal explosion created holes on the outside of the device from within. We all slouch over in disappointment as now we have to remake a lot of the parts. We all examine the device after it cools off and Lexi comes to realize that even with the new upgrades, it's still not enough to contain Alicorn Magic fully. The Stable Field Emitter has gone kaput as it wasn't structurally strong enough to suppress the magic. It needs to be made of a stronger material. Not to mention that the machine itself was stressing way too hard to perform its purpose which caused it to overheat. We go back to the drawing board and try to figure out a plan.

The Stable Field Emitter was made up of mostly iron. I think for a moment and suggest maybe making it out of steel instead. To contain such potent magic, one needs a very strong resource to do so. Lexi finds the suggestion to be wonder and so she takes a moment to wonder where to get some spare steel. An idea hatches in her mind. Moments later, we're in Lexi's lab as she's dragging out a large, broken down steel fridge. I ask why she has such a thing lying around and she claims that she found it and thought it may be useful. Turns out, she was right on that front. I put my hoof on the fridge while they put their hooves onto me and I teleport us and the fridge back down to The White Room. Void and Lexi begin the process of breaking down the fridge for parts. I ask Lexi if I could sit down for little bit. To which she humbly allows me to do so. She assures me that both her and Void can handle working with the steel.

I decide to go and sit down with my back against the wall by the entrance to this place. Some time after, I'm scribbling some notes into my notebook. While I do that, I look over towards Void and watch him as he performs his magic to assist Lexi in magically cutting down the steel. I watch him as he stands firmly and tries to focus on his magic emission. I notice he grits his teeth and he's tensed up. I squint my eyes at him and I put a hoof to my lips, pondering. I glance at his stream of magic, it flowing up to the component Lexi is magically holding in the air. I examine the way it looks, its bright magenta hue, and most importantly, I mentally examine how his magic feels as he emits it. The room, for me, goes quiet as I focus my sense upon the feel of the magic. Right as I really get a good feel for it, he stops emitting his magic and exhales deeply. I snap out of my focused state to look back at him. He seems stressed for a moment. He takes a deep breath in and even holds it as he reemits his magic. After a few seconds, he slowly exhales. I bring my hoof that's on my lips, which is also holding my quill, back down to my notebook and continue to jot down notes.

Later that night, I'm laying cooped up in my bed with the same notebook in one hoof and this time a pencil in the other. I rest my head against my pillow, against the backboard of my bed, thinking deeply whilst tapping the eraser end of my pencil on my right cheek. I even bite the end of my pencil, delving into deeper thoughts as I gaze at the notes I've taken on Void. Staring at the hoof drawn pictures I've created, I study the images and think about my course of action on how to really stabilize his use of magic. One of the drawings shows Void emitting magic but seeming to struggle doing so, as indicated by the sweat droplets drawn on him. This drawing tells me that Void is too tense when performing the emission of magic, making this a key factor on what to work on. Another section of the notes is a picture representation of how his magic looks as well as the description of how it feels when his magic is being emitted. It feels dark in nature, giving off a strange sensation of unease. Yet at the same time, gentle and a tad soothing. For example, back when we fought, it emanated a strange force of pressure. However, when performing magic casually, it feels more tame. Perhaps dependent on the scenario, his magic can differ in many ways. More thoroughly, what his emotions feel in the moment of emission. Like back at the cave, he displayed quite the formidable demeanor which seemed to have fueled his magic to be more potent. If controlled properly it could be quite powerful. Especially for a magic type unheard of in this day and age. His magic isn't like any ol' dark magic; This is something very unique but isn't quite honed as it should be. This doesn't dissuade me, however. As I already have a plan to help him. I take the pencil end out of my mouth and I write down my plan.

Time passes and it's a bit later at night as I'm laying on my stomach in bed, studying the book that I picked out. I have my hind hooves kicked up and swinging up and down playfully. The book itself is a book on magic refinement. I review the book to make sure that it is the perfect choice for how I plan for it to be used. After a bit of time, Mom walks in the room to check up on me. She suddenly turns on the lights and causes me to shield my eyes from the light as I've been sitting in the dark for quite some time. She informs me that it's very late and that I should be heading to bed soon. I glance over at a nearby clock and realize how late it is. It's almost midnight and I've been reviewing for longer than I thought. I quickly sit up, put my stuff away, and tell her that I'm sorry I stayed up so late. She tells me not to worry about it as she approaches me and gives me a kiss on the head. She wishes me goodnight and I say the same in return. She heads toward the doors and shuts off the lights before leaving. I lie down in bed and cover myself, shutting my eyes to drift away into a peaceful slumber.

The following fourth day, I teleport my way back to Lexi's place. I appear at the entrance to The White Room holding a tray of freshly baked cookies that my mom made. I make my self known with a smile and state that my mom baked cookies for us to share but right then I realize that the Holo-World Generator is on fire along side multiple sections of the room. I gaze in shock for a moment as I spot Lexi frantically trying to use a fire extinguisher and Void trying to stomp out some of the flames. I quickly set down the tray of cookies on the ground and sprint over to assist. As I sprint off to help extinguish the flames, Void's bunny, Lariat, hops down from the command center and makes his way to the tray of cookies. He leans down to sniff the cookies for a moment, then picks up one of the cookies with his paws. He turns his head to watch on at the chaos whilst casually enjoying the cookie. He even cracks a cheeky little grin as he finds our frantic behavior over this situation quite amusing. So amusing, he even gives an adorably sinister chuckle.

After putting out all the flames, each of us are sat down on chairs, hunched over with defeated looks on our faces. On top of that we each have a bit of ash and burn stains on ourselves from the flames. While we're sitting, we're all enjoying the cookies together as a way of easing us down from that chaotic moment. Thankfully the cookies were all we needed so settle us down. Thanks mom.

Lexi explained that the fire was caused by fault in the invention's wiring which caused the magic flowing through to spew out. This incident also damaged the internal magic container that powers the whole thing. Things were looking a tad rough and we were a bit short on time. We clean ourselves off and continue to work diligently once more. However, more issues soon followed. We take a look inside the machine and quite a few parts are damaged. Lexi checks the boxes of parts and realizes that we're running low the needed wires. The wires that acted as conduits for the flow of magic to go into the magic emitter. Lexi begins to fret, putting hooves to her head to try and think of a solution. She suggested maybe dismantling some of her current inventions. I take a peak inside and think. Wires can be used as conduits for the flow of magic. However, the wires had trouble containing the magic within them as it all flowed through them. So simply, we just need to figure out a better, more durable conduit for the flow of magic through the invention. I gently pick up the invention and carefully examine the inside. My horn begins to glow golden and I begin removing the tattered wires. Then, once removed, my horn glows cyan. Lexi, who's attention is turned away at the moment, is nudged by Void which gets her to look back at me. She notices the light and questions what I'm doing. Carefully, I manifest small, yet very durable tubes of Crystal that connect from the magical container within and to the magic emitter atop the ceiling of the internals. Since my Crystals work perfectly for magic conduits, I figure they'll be perfect as replacement wires. Once finished, I present it to Lexi and ask if this will do. She admires it and tells me that she believes these Crystals will work.

Once more, Lexi hastily rebuilds the magic container, reinforces it once more, takes the large Crystal of Alicorn Magic, and refills the container. Once refilled and reinstalled inside, she tries to get power going into the device again to see if the newly fitted 'Crystal Wires' will work. The invention begins flowing magic through the crystals to the magic emitter and Lexi's eyes light up. No leakage of magic whatsoever. The glass dome atop the invention emits magic fluidly and elegantly. Lexi turns to me and thanks me greatly. She was worried that this would be quite the issue, but thanks to my quick thinking, I saved us a lot of time.

There comes a point where we're having a bit of down time after a long time of working. Lexi is typing away at the command center's console, trying to program the remote control for The Holo-World Generator. Void is sitting in a chair near the entrance of this room with Lariat on his lap. Void is feeding Lariat carrots and even petting him gently. Meanwhile I'm sat at a nearby table, happily drawing lovely pictures in one of my notebooks. Lexi finishes typing and reaches to unplug the remote control that's connected to the computer. Void and I stop what we're doing to look at Lexi as she lifts up the remote and tests to see if it works by turning on The Holo-World Generator. We all turn our attention to the invention to see if it works. However, nothing seems to happen. Lexi looks at the remote, confused. She then plugs it back in to the computer and tries to reprogram it again. Void and I simply go back to what we were doing.

Some time passes and Void has put Lariat to sleep. I'm still drawing in my notebook. Though, my smile has turned into a slightly bored expression. Lexi finishes up again and unplugs the remote. She aims it at the invention and tries to turn it on. She presses the button once, twice, and a third time, all of which do nothing. The three of us groan and Lexi starts over once more. I sit here hoping that the third time will be the charm.

Even more time passes and Void has fallen asleep. I'm still at the table, propping my head up with my left foreleg, and practically falling asleep myself. Lexi finishes programing the remote once again and quickly tries to turn it on once again. She presses it one, twice, a third and forth time. Unfortunately, nothing happens for the third time. Lexi gets frustrated and even smacks the remote a few times. She turns in my direction and reals the hoof holding the remote back. She then throws it angrily with a grunt. I watch as the remote flies past me and I magically catch it before it hits anything. I then magically float it on over to hover it near me. Lexi comes down from her frustrations and quickly realizes her mistake. I look her in the eyes with an eyebrow raised. I gaze on with an expression that says 'really?' and her ears droop down as she covers her mouth in embarrassment. She bring a hoof to her hip and the other to rub behind her head as she now smiles nervously at me. I point my right hoof at her twice then point to my own eyes after, instructing her through my gestures to watch and learn. I then put my hoof to my chest, inhale deeply, hold it briefly, and exhaling slowly while extending my right foreleg out, enacting my mother's signature breathing technique. Lexi mimics my actions and becomes relaxed. I nod at her twice with a smirk in approval, then levitate the remote back to her. She takes it and smiles.

Day turns to night as we reach a point where almost everything is complete. Lexi is trying her hardest to stay awake as she's attaching wires to the invention. She's slowly nodding off, showing that she's extremely tired. Rightfully so as we all stayed up quite a bit late this day. I hastily move to Lexi and catch her before she hits her head on the desk she's sitting at. I examine her to make sure she's okay, only to find that she has completely passed out. Void approaches, stating that because of Lexi passing out from exhaustion, now would be a good time to call it a night. He informs me that he'll carry her up to her room and put her to bed. After informing me of such, he says that I should head home and rest up. I nod and say my goodbyes before teleporting my way back home. I reappear in the bathroom somewhere in the empire, locking the door to the room magically. I'm a bit tired myself as my eyes feel heavy. I unstrap my saddlebags and set them aside. I proceed to take a nice hot shower, pointing my face right at the showerhead, letting the water blissfully run down my body. After the shower I head right to bed to rest up for the next day.

The fifth day arrives and we're furthering progress on the invention as usual. Void is currently using a soldering iron to joint solder wire together on little circuit boards. His hoof slips and she accidently burns himself, causing him to fumble the iron and the part he's working on. Sadly, he wasn't wearing his hoof shoe armor to protect him from the burn. His sharp inhale causes me to notice him in a bit of pain and rush over to check on him. I examine his hoof and thankfully it doesn't look like it will leave a mark. He spawns his staff and begins to wave the gemstone end around his hoof. Shortly after, his hoof is all better. After some time, I find myself carefully using the soldering iron for Void instead, in order to help out more. I've never really used a soldering iron before but Void instructed me how to use one prior to me helping out. Turns out, it's actually quite easy. From then on, I quickly learned how to use it and as time goes on, I start using two soldering irons at the same time. Then three, using my magic to levitate multiple irons. I have quite the accurate hoof-to-eye coordination, which makes it quite easy for me to joint parts together. I stare intensely while soldering, maintaining an unwavering focus which catches Void's attention. He smiles and is very impressed by my efforts. One by one I complete more parts and I give them over to Void who passes them over to Lexi to inspects them. They praise me on my work. Every piece I've worked on was done excellently. Both Void and Lexi are amazed on how much of a fast learner I am to which I smile and thank them in response.

I do my part to help with recreating the parts that were damaged. Void comes to my side to see if he can assist but I tell him that I believe I have it covered. He looks to me in surprise as I say that and happily lets me work. I end up doing more work in the end than I thought I would. After quite some time, glancing back and forth at the blueprints and putting pieces together, I believe I successfully built a replacement part. I go over to Lexi who's filling up the magical container once more with my Alicorn Magic to recharge the invention. I present the part to her and she inspects it thoroughly. She finds that it's crafted very well and she praises me for it. Lexi carefully installs the part into the invention then gives me a high hoof.

While working on the refinement of the invention, I help out by using a small blowtorch on square metal part while Lexi holds the it in place with gloved hooves. We both are wearing metal masks while this is going on. After some time, the blowtorch runs out of gas. We lift up our masks to gaze at it in confusion and wonder how are we going to finish this piece. I then hatch an idea. Moments later, I'm using a thin blast from my horn to magically torch the metal precisely while Lexi holds it carefully in the air using levitation. We finish up this square metal piece and afterwards we carefully install it as one of the final side panel walls for The Holo-World Generator. Time goes on and on as we work together to finalize this invention. We work tiringly from dawn 'til dusk and at the end of the day we felt that everything was about ready.

Later on at home, I'm collapsed on my bed, snoozing soundly. However, I didn't bother covering myself since when I got home, I just flopped on my bed and passed out. My mom peaks in and notices me sleeping in an awkward position. She giggles and enters the room. She brings her hooves to gently reposition me more comfortably in my bed and then tucks me in nicely. Once tucked in I wriggle around a bit in my sleep and form a smile. My mom smiles back and she leans down to give me a kiss on the head before heading out the room.

On the final day of working on the invention we stand around Lexi as she types away at the control panel of the command center. It's late at night and wait as Lexi is putting the finishing touches on the device. Specifically she's programing the remote control for the invention. Void is gently rocking Lariat in his embrace. Lariat is fast asleep, snoozing soundly and quite adorably I might add. After pretty much a week of hard work, we are finally ready to see if it officially works.

"Alright," Lexi begins. "We're about ready to activate this bad boy! Void, do me a favor and turn it on for me will ya?"

"Certainly mother," Void nods and turns to me. "Flurry Heart? Could you please hold onto Lariat for me?"

"Sure! I'll hold the little guy," I reach out my hooves to the bunny and Void carefully gives him to me. I gentle cradle him in my embrace and I gaze down at the little fella with a smile. "Heh, ya know, as menacing as he can be, he's actually very adorable," I bring a hoof to boop his nose to which he smiles and cutely wriggles in my hold.

"That he is. It's one of the reasons why I love him so," Void walks past me and heads to the center of the room where the New and Improved Holo-World Generator is placed. Its design is vastly enhanced since we started. Most noticeably, its black metallic surfaces on all sides shine brightly. The back end of it is fitted with a vent and within the vent is a cooling fan to regulate the temperature to prevent the invention from overheating. The trim edges of the invention are beautifully polished. So well polished that you could reflections on them. The front end has had most its buttons replaced with a full on touch screen. Lastly the glass dome atop the invention was replaced with a very clean, red stained glass. The whole thing looks like a work of scientific art. Void presses the power button on it and the screen lights up.

"Alright, I've turned it on," Void calls out back towards us.

"Excellent! Now in just a few moments I'll have the remote ready," Lexi continues to type away at the console.

"Hey Lexi, before we finish this thing... I've been wondering..."

"Hmm?" Lexi stops typing and turns her head to look at me.

"Why did you want to make the Holo-World Generator? Like what made you want to create something so ambitiously amazing?"

Lexi turns her head away to think for a moment, softly sliding her hooves off the touch screen and rests them on the edge of the counter. She appears to be in quite the deep thought from this question. Not long after, she begins to answer.

"Well... you see.. it was because there was a time where I always dreamt about going to such phenomenal places in Equestria and always a wanted to take lovely vacations. But I could never really leave my home much at all, let alone leave manehatten because I was always so busy at times. What with all the science-y stuff that I had going on, I had very little time to go anywhere special. What really got me dreaming about it more was because of Void. When Void was younger, I didn't really take him out to many places. Void use to always talk about going on vacations and I felt bad that I could never really take him anywhere for such. So it was because of all that, that really got me thinking of a solution. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized how amazing such a thing would be if it were to be created. A device that can allow you to create your own vacation right from your home. I thought it would be very extraordinary for not just Void and I, but for ponies all over Equestria. Ponies who were in a very similar situation such as mine where they couldn't leave their homes much. Or, alternatively, ponies who... ended up sick, bedridden," Lexi pauses for a moment. "Ponies who... maybe couldn't walk or travel. You get it...," Lexi appears more serious now. "With such a creation... I thought it would really bring life to many ponies around this great land. Just imagine... Let's say a family member who... isn't able to travel as much anymore as they use to. And their other family members are sad that they aren't able to spend as much time with them anymore. With this invention, they can spend time with each other once again and go on absolutely spectacular vacations right from home. An invention for the whole family to enjoy. I wanted to be the one who brings that creation to life. To be known in Equestria for such a wonderful work of innovative genius"

There is a moment of silence that follows once she finishes her response.

"You can still be that mare, Lexi," I set my right hoof on her left shoulder. "You can be . . . No . . .You WILL be that mare who will bring such a thing to life and all of Equestria will know of it. I mean, you're already half way there. All we need to do now is win this contest and then they'll all see the true genius that is Lexington B. Dawn. And Furthermore? Your reasoning behind why you wanted to create such a thing, why you're such an ambitious mare, is absolutely phenomenal," I say with a proud smile. "You're a brilliant mare with a very kind heart. Like Twilight!"

Lexi turns her head with a watery eyed smile of sheer and utter happiness. "Heh, you really mean that?"

"As if you even need to ask. Of course I mean it!" I shift my hoof to pat her on the back.

"Hahah, yeah you're right. Flurry Heart? You're awesome, you know that?"

We smile happily at each other for a brief moment. Void, currently kneeling in front of the invention, brings his left hoof up to wipe his left cheek. He then stands up and moves to the side while awaiting for the test of the invention to begin.

"Right then," Lexi turns back to the console and continues to type for a moment longer. "Without further ado, let's see if it's officially ready!" The computer beeps a few times and Lexi reaches for the remote control device that's connected to it by a cable. She disconnects the cable from the computer and picks up the remote control.

"The remote is all set and programed so now we can control it with ease!" Lexi steps around to head closer to the device. I follow behind her and Void stands next to his mother's right side.

"Okay, before we begin. Lights!" Lexi reaches in her coat and shortly after, the lights in the room begin to dim, leaving the room softly lit.

"Excellent!" She takes her hoof out of her coat and back onto the remote for the invention. "Gotta set the mood properly for this ya know?"

"Mhmm!" I nod.

"Are you ready?" She asks us.

"Fire it up, Miss Dawn!"

Lexi presses a button on the remote and shortly after we begin to hear the Holo-World Generator power up fully. Light's appear from within the dome top and shoot out towards the ceiling. It shoots out red lasers that appear to scan the entire room from top to bottom. It even scans us as the lights move downwards, crossing our bodies with thin red lasers. After the scanning process, the light within the dome turns to a cyan hue and The Holo-World Generator makes a gentle hum.

"Okay... it's working! Ge-Give me a place-" Lexi turns to me and requests. "-Uh-A setting! Like uhh a place we can go to! Something simple for starters"

"Uhm, open field under the night sky!" I quickly say in response.

"Open field. Night Sky. Got it!" Lexi faces forward again and uses the remote control to put in said command. The dome atop The Holo-World Generator begins to release magic through the glass and the light from within projects images above. As the magic reaches the walls, the entire room begins to reshape and alter. Slowly, the walls fade away and reveal a beautifully elegant night sky and the floor beneath us begins to shift from a solid metal to a soft, grassy surface. The invention's light increases its brightness for a moment then settles back down, signifying that it completed the generation of a new world. All around us is a scene that is nothing close to where we were just standing in. We stand in the middle of a wide, seemingly endless open field, sitting under Luna's beautiful night sky. Shortly after, we begin to hear crickets sounding off in the distance as well as gusts of wind. Not only can we hear the wind, we can feel it. A gentle breeze of air flowing by us which causes our manes to flow gracefully. I stand awestricken that the sensation of all this feeling so real. It's like we've been transported to an open field rather than it being generated with the power of magic and science.

"Woaaaaah!" I say whilst gazing around the environment. "It's... Incredible!" I take a moment to breathe in the fresh air from the flowing wind. My eyes gaze downward towards my hind hooves as I shift them about the soft grass below me. I turn around and even gaze up at the moon, shining high in the sky. "Whaaat?! Even the moon! That's amazing!"

"It worked! It really worked!" Lexi exclaims.

"That it did! Once again, it worked!" Void follows up.

"It all feels so real! It's hard to believe but... it's true!" I turn to Lexi. "Never once was there a doubt in my mind that you could do it!"

"Haaah," She gazes up at the beautiful stars above in amazement, at a loss for words for the moment. "But let's test it further, just to be sure! What's another place we should create?"

"Oh! How about downtown Manehatten?" Void suggests.

"Excellent!" Lexi looks down at the remote and begins pressing buttons on it. The environment starts to change all around us. The field we stand in begins to fade away and reform into city streets. Tall skyscrapers begin to form from the magic all around and city billboards spawn upon several of the nearby buildings. Familiar stores and restaurants manifest close by us and Lamp posts sprout from the ground along the sidewalks. Soon, we stand in the center of an intersection somewhere in downtown Manehatten.

"Amazing!" I shout. "Though," I take a look around an notice that the area is void of life. "It's lacking in population. Bring out some ponies a-and put some carriages riding about! Make this place REALLY lively!"

"That I can do!" She types away and soon ponies of all different sizes, colors, and appearances manifest all around and they begin to wander about as if they were going through their daily commute. A lot of them even begin talking with one another in a realistic fashion. Taxi carriages spawn around and start riding down the road, some going slow while others speeding fast. Soon, the air is filled with the sounds of many different voices as well as the sound of carriages rolling about.

"Hahahaaa! Awesome! This is so cool! It's like we're downtown!" I even step in front of a passing pony to gaze at them in awe. "These ponies are so real! It's insane!" I reach out a hoof and poke at the pony's chest and face. The pony, having a gray body coat, brown eyes, mane, and tail, actually reacts to my physical contact and even looks at me with a confused expression.

"Uh, s-sorry!" I step out of the pony's way and he adjusts his Red Bow Tie. Then he continues about his trot through the city.

"So cool!" Suddenly a taxi carriage comes speeding at me and I shift back to avoid it. "Woah!" The sound of the carriage rushing by was so sudden that it woke up Lariat in my hold. Lariat tenses up and clings to my chest tightly, afraid for a brief moment and even shaking. He also frantically looks around, wondering how we got here.

"Hey, get outa the way!" Shouts the pony riding the carriage that passed by. Lariat stops shaking and looks towards the carriage. He then blows a raspberry angrily at the driver in response.

I give a chuckle at Lariat's retort. I gaze all around once more, finding the realistic reactions of the magically manifested ponies to be very amusing. Same goes for the realism of the city itself.

"How fascinating!" Void says.

"What other place should we create?" Lexi asks.

"Oh, I know!" Void reaches for the remote and Lexi gives it to him. "How about...-," He starts pressing buttons. "-Waterfall within the Everfree Forest?"

"Sounds great!" I say excitedly.

Like before, the area begins to reshape into a different scene all together. A nearby sidewalk turns from stone into a large flowing river that leads to the front of a building. The metal parts of the lamp posts around us start to change into tree bark. The glass containing the light bulbs shatter and the glass fragments magically reform themselves into summer leaves. The light bulbs that were within the glass split into many little lights. The many lights flow upwards and turn into fireflies that now flow freely about the sky. Many of the buildings around demanifests while one large building remains in front of the newly formed river. Shortly after, the building changes into a large cliffside. A billboard atop the building changes into flowing water that falls down to the bottom and into the river below. Lastly, the moon overhead begins to set slowly set in the west and above the east horizon rises the sun. In this newly created world, we are now in the Everfree as the morning sun illuminates the magnificently beautiful waterfall. We all take a moment to bask in its beauty. Void continues to use the remote and shortly after doing so, wildlife begin to come out of the wood work. Birds fly over head, squirrels and chipmunks start scurrying about. There's even a few deer prancing about across the river. Most importantly, a white bunny rabbit pops out from shrubbery close by. Then another and another. They all hop their way over to Void and begin to nuzzle up to his legs.

"Heheheh. Alright!" Void Kneels down and begins petting many of the bunnies.

"Welp, if it wasn't before, It's clear now to see what's your favorite animal" I say to Void.

They cutely twitch their noses and even make occasional squeaks. Void, Lexi, and I smile at this and even share a brief moment of laughter at the adorable nature in these little bunnies. However, Lariat does not like this one bit. He looks to the bunnies that Void is petting and becomes jealous. I get the idea to set Lariat down so he can maybe play with the other bunnies. As I kneel to set him down, he hops out of my hooves and over towards another bunny. The bunny looks to Lariat with a happy, friendly smile. Lariat looks at the bunny with distain and lets out a scary snarl. The bunny's ears droop down and they become frightened. They turn around and hastily hop away from Lariat. All of the other bunnies also turn tail at Lariat's frightening snarl.

"Ugh, Lariat!" Void exclaims.

I stand on my hindlegs for a moment and gaze down at Lariat while I cross my forelegs. "Looks like somebunny is jeeealouuussss!" I smile smugly down at Lariat.

Lariat snaps towards me and grows, balling his paws.

"Easy there, Lariat," Void magically levitates Lariat up so that they are at eye level. "You know how special you are to me. No fake bunnies will ever take your place," Void brings a hoof to rub his head. Lariat crosses his forelegs and pouts. "Come on, don't be like that," Void scritches behind one of his ears to which Lariat leans into it and smiles. "There's that smile"

"Alright alright. We've tested it quite well so far. But there's one thing we need to figure out," Lexi interjects

"What's that?" I ask.

"If The Holo-World Generator can change the environment based on a pony's mind," Lexi brings a hoof to tap her own head.

"Alright well how do we do that?"

"Simple," She approaches the Holo-World Generator and kneels down to it. "All we have to do is activate that feature and it should be quite easy from there," Lexi types something on the screen of the invention. "We built this function properly so I know it works"

Right then, the invention's light from within the glass dome begins to brighten for a brief moment. A stream of magic flows from the device and touches my horn. I feel a gentle tingle as this happens before the magic fades away.

"There. The function is active," She stands up and faces towards me. "It's all on you Flurry. You'll be the the one to test it first. Since it's using your magic, it should be easier for you to change the world around us"

"Okay? So... how do I do it?"

"All you gotta do is think. Think of the exact environment you wish to be at and/or create right now and the Holo-World Generator will do its thing!"

I gaze down at the invention and stare at it with the wonder of where to go or what to create in my mind.

"Anywhere in Equestria or a place that's made up. The Holo-World Generator adapts the environment to fit the pony's mood and desires"

"Alright, here goes nothin' then," I slowly close my eyes and think of just the place to replicate. Not long after, the world around begins to magically shift. The entire environment turns into an endless colorful void of magic. Slowly the world manifests what images are coming to my mind. I slowly open my eyes and before I know it, we find ourselves standing right upon the balcony of The Crystal Empire. I glance around in awe to see that the empire has indeed been finely manifested. I look to Lexi who's gaze up at the tower from where we are. She's jaw dropped at the sight and even speechless.

"Wow, you did it!" Void claims. "However, there's a whole lot of empty space down below and all around"

From where we are on the balcony it appears only the tower of the empire itself has been manifested. Everything else appears to be just a white void of nothingness.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's fixed that," I begin to think of the land of Equestria itself from the perspective of the balcony. It's a sight that I often see pretty much everyday so the image is pretty much imprinted onto my mind. Magical strands flow out from the Holo-World Generator which sits on the ground between us. The strands shoot out into the white void and begin to manifest my thoughts into this confined reality. The entire terrain of and building structures of Equestria slowly manifests before us. The magical strands generating the world sweeps across the from both sides and meeting in the middle. Soon, we are met with the full view of the Equestria from the empire's balcony.

"Oh my! This is fantastic!" Void exclaims. "Does it really look like this from the empire?" He asks.

"To a tee!" I reply, admiring the magnificent view that the invention replicated.

Lexi, still speechless, approaches the railing and looks out at the land, taking in all the beauty that lies before us. I smile and I think of more things to add to the world. I create some ambience by having the invention conjure up some passing birds, having it simulate a gentle breeze from the wind, and I even have it formulate a rainbow that stretches across the whole sky.

"Wha...," Lexi tries to formulate words but is far too amazed by all this to properly speak. From how she's reacting, it seems that the invention is working far better than anticipated.

"Ooh! I have an idea! How's about we add a little time lapse," The rainbow in the sky disappears and shortly after, the sun swiftly moves across the sky and begins to set in the west and the moon rises in its place from the east.

"Hah! That was cool! Keep it going!" Void states joyfully.

"Alright!" The moon swiftly begins to set and the sun rises in its place. However, it doesn't stop there. The process repeats over and over very swiftly. Its as though time itself is accelerating at an extremely fast rate, much like a time lapse you see in movies.

"And now... let's change the weather!" Void says while focusing his gaze in the air. He begins to think of a change to happen in the world around now. The time lapse stops and the sun is back to its position high in the sky. Soon, thunder storm clouds form and emit lightning.

"Oo-Oo! Do rain!" I exclaim.

Void thinks of rain and it rains all around us beyond the balcony railings.

"Now snow!" The rain stops almost instantaneously and it begins snowing peacefully.

"Hahaha! Amazing!" I shout. "Alright, let's put it back to normal"

"Agreed," Says Void as he has the invention restores the weather to before. The rainbow has returned and the gentle wind blows by.

"This invention is absolutely brilliant!" I joyfully claim. My eyes turn to Lexi to find that she's still gazing out to the land with her hooves to the railing. She's completely awestruck by all of this, speechless by the fact that her invention works outstandingly well. I smirk and approach Lexi to ask her a very important question.

"So, how ya feelin', Miss Lexington B. Dawn?" I stand beside Lexi as she gazes out at the generated world of Equestria.

"Think we're ready to beat Brisk?"

Lexi Dawn forms this confident smirk across her face. Her mane flows in the artificial wind as she stares outward with stance that tells us that she's ready to take on the world.

"Oh yeah... We're Ready To Win This!"

[Chapter 5 End]

The Spirit Crusaders

by SnivyGAbsol

Prelude

Chapter 1: Training Day

Chapter 2: Hazy Demeanor

Chapter 3: An Eager Hostess

Chapter 4: Metallic Adversary

Chapter 5: Mettle Of Mare