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Starlight in a Broken Vessel

by the-pieman

Chapter 183

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Chapter 183

I continue on my way to... wherever I’m going. There’s really not much more to say to anyone. Everyone will probably hate my guts for blowing up at Twilight like that, but she sure wasn’t going to learn any lessons by herself. I don’t regret what I said, but I wish I didn’t have to say them.

After some time, I see Clark half asleep under a tree in the park. “Hey. I hear you got a new trick. I got one too. Bad news though, our ‘big brothers’ as far as our star cores are concerned are the stereotypical super mystical, allergic to straightforward detail type of guys. Took a while to actually get anything out of them.”

“Really? Huh. Bet if you spent twenty years saying ‘ohm’ at them you’d get something. Probably kicked out, but... still. So, how’s your sabbatical been?” Clark sits up, rubbing his eyes, the eye on his demon hand watching around instead as he does.

“Sort of boring, sort of educational. They aren’t all the same, but they all have their own weird... thing, which makes them not the best company. Apparently, Lyra was guessing and no, we won’t risk blowing everything to kingdom come when we use our powers. That said, they made me give her Lyre back anyway. Got this one in return. Apparently letting you have the real one for a couple minutes was a big no-no.”

“Well, you did say you signed a contract. Wish you’d told me before you’d lent it to me. Contracts are serious business, Anthony.”

“Still, they are certainly the kind to talk of themselves as being super important, but don’t actually do anything. Told the others that when I asked them for help with the demons, they laughed it off, saying they couldn’t and stuff. So when the almighty granters of wishes can’t do jack, what do we do?” I hope that, as usual, Clark had a crazy, but useful, plan. He always has plans. Always!

“Idunno, but my super-hero team idea is looking better and better. At least, I think so. Oh, hey, you said you have a new power? I can show you mine, if you’d like, so we can compare the effectiveness.”

I enter my Spark Form, as I need it readily available so I can focus on what I need to do. “Alright, you can do yours, I’m still figuring out how to do this quickly.” I return my focus to the star core in my chest. I try to do something, I don’t really get it myself, but it’s like I’m kind of letting it have... more control or something. I feel it expand and it fills me with much more power than my other forms. I feel a bit of resistance when the Core hits the ‘edges’ of my insides, and with a short yell of not-quite-pain, the glow bursts forth into the familiar nimbus of energy. “Alright.” I turn to Clark. “Let’s see what you got.”

“Alright,” Clark says, “But I’ll need a little room. This tends to scorch things a lot.” He steps away from the tree he’d been leaning on, and activates his own Spark, the oily look to his sheen setting me on edge as usual. After a moment, his eyes seem to come alight with white flames, an unhealthy-looking smoke pouring off their tops, and his demon arm’s vents pour out four long ‘ribbons’ of what looks like pure light. The ribbons spiral around him like a Magical Girl transformation sequence, until they take root in the wrist of his left hand. From there, a series of little white hexagons, somewhat translucent and pouring out light of their own, form into a sort of circular shape, and a broadsword of pure ionized plasma cascades into being, crackling in his right hand giving off enough light to make it almost painfully bright. A moment of looking later, I realize that the ‘ribbons’ of plasma are still coming from the vents on the demon arm, but two have split in half and are feeding into the sword.

“Wow.” I pause, trying to think of what to say. “That’s something... you sure that’s safe, though? I mean, I get the feeling I could vaporize stone with this ring if I gave it enough thought... I’m not so sure if it was a long object it would be much safer to have on you.”

“What?”

“Well, can you drop it or something? I mean, if it can come unattached, who knows what would happen?”

“Oh, no no no. Here, watch this.” He cocks his arm back and makes a throwing motion, a helix of white energy ribbons trailing after the suddenly airborne blade. After a moment, he brings his arm back sharply and the blade flies back with an incredible amount of speed, before it simply slams into his chest and vanishes. A new blade, with ribbons, forms in his hand. “Can’t lose it, can’t drop it, and I can throw it faster and more accurately than anything made of metal I’ve ever tried throwing.” he thinks for a moment. “I named it Morning Star.”

I fold my arms. “It looks nothing like a mace or flail. Get your eyes check, the name’s taken already.”

“Fine then, Morgenstern. Means the same thing, but I was specifically thinking of Venus. It’s so bright and it’s visible right before dawn is visible, back on Earth, and was long thought to be the star that brought the dawn. The name of the weapon, a morningstar, was taken from the design of the head. Oh, and I can do this;” he flicks his hand, and the end of the ‘sword’ becomes a sphere, now resembling a mace. After a moment, he flicks again and transmutes it back to its original shape. “I can burn through rock, dirt, wood, steel, and even this material the ponies call Mithrium, which I think might be a predecessor to making true Mithril. Like, Tolkien-style Mithril.”

“Damn... speaking of Tolkien, according to their version of Dungeons and Dragons, they have deer, rather than elves. You know, skinny, tall woodfolk.”

“Yeah, there’s some in the far north, apparently, assuming the stories I read in the library are true. And half the talks of political treaties being brokered by the far north’s denizens between warring nations. Anyways, what’s your new trick?”

I quirk my head and gesture to my brighter-glowing form and the nimbus surrounding me. “Uh, this?”

“Oh... that’s, uhm... neat?” He shifts awkwardly in place.

“Hey, I’m still in the learning phase. No idea what I can do with this, I just know that it looks frikken awesome.”

“Well, you’ve got that, at least. Anyways, on a more general note, do you wanna just go wander into the Everfree with me at some point? I’ve been getting kinda restless lately, and I’ve found there’s some really delicious things in that forest. Big, dangerous things, but delicious none the less. Did you know there’s giant scorpions and spiders in there? Like, seven, eight feet tall giant? Not counting stingers, that is.”

“You must take a different path than I do, because I haven’t seen jack in there aside from the Changelings and a nutso zebra with a rhyming fetish.”

“Oh, well don’t take baths at all. They’re all either warded if they’re pony-made, or the trails big, unhuntable things use to get around easier. You won’t find anything of interest on those unless you’re super-unlucky. There’s these giant lizards that have armored bodies, kinda like an ankylosaur, but with six legs and they spit acid everywhere. And I really do mean everywhere, they apparently wash themselves with it, and they can’t exactly reach their own backs.”

I get an idea. “Hey, why not we look around and try to add some of that stuff to their Creature books? Ogres and Oubliettes -Dungeons and Dragons- doesn’t have much in the way of non food-based monsters. Apparently ponies aren’t creative enough to say ‘I’ll eat the monster’ or whatever.”

“Weird. Explains why what I thought was a D&D manual turned out to be a real bestiary, though. I guess ponies just want an escape from all the things trying to eat them all the time. That’s... apparently still a problem in some towns that don’t have super-human protectors and the Elements of Harmony, and both Princesses’ favor and constant visits, nor a strangely protective Chaos Spirit to watch over them... Man, this town may be a bit of a weirdness magnet, but just think how safe they are! So much strong magic looking after this place.”

“Yeah, a little too much if you ask me. Maybe some of that should be spread out to other places. Not that anyone should leave or anything but, y’know, Ponyville does still rely on a few imports, we don’t want it to be the only protected place around. Your super-hero team idea is feasible, but not easy. It’ll take a bit to set up and all. Keep in mind that they are still people. They’d need a place to stay, and I doubt many of them are able to live without food, and a place for them to safely develop their new powers. Once we have an actual plan and place set up for all of this, I say we should recruit as many as we can... it’s just going to take a lot more work than just finding volunteers.”

“Yeah. I’ve made a few requests of the Changeling queen nearby, and I think it’ll turn out alright. A simple exchange of goods, and they’re now making a nearby place for a local team to coordinate from.”

“Right, so we’re at least getting close to a plan... but what kind of goods could Ren use? Not much you could trade her that I can think of.”

“Oh... never you mind.” Clark says, a small, nebulous part of his cheeks turning into swirling fields of red under the harsh glow of his plasma sword.

“Hey, if you get her laid I ain’t complaining, but I’m not gonna be around to find out what kind of freaky mutant-baby she pops out.”

“Well, actually, she produces eggs, that metamorphose into nymphs, which-”

“I know, I’m just messing with you. Besides, given the physiology, I don’t see how a mammal and an insectoid could have a baby. Still, any kid that might get your face... Bound to be a mutant for sure.”

He shoots me a grin. “Blue eyes are a mutation in humans, after all. And trust me, at the very minimum, the external physiology is compatible, and at least parts of the internal, too.”

“Whatever. Hey, you wanna get a taste of what these ponies do for D&D?” I suddenly get an idea. “Or how about you play GM and we give them a taste of real fictional monsters?”

“Instead of D&D, I’ll do a home-brew thing. Gimme a day or two, and I’ll get the details scratched out, we can plan from there.” he says, smiling. “I love telling stories.”

“Pinkie has the tomes and the dice and stuff, if you need to know the local terms, I’d ask her. Supposedly she’s the best GM around. I think it’s time she played a game you make up.”

“Alright. First one, don’t expect anyone to survive. I’ll make it a little more brutal than normal on purpose.”

“Aw, living is for wimps. Bring on the falling rocks, you mad genius!”

“Oh, I have far worse than rocks for you.” He cackles maniacally and, still Sparked Up, disappears in a streak of incandescent light and heat. The strong smell of ozone pervades the air in his trail, and I can see the streak slowly fading from the air itself, like something from a cartoon.

Oh well. It’s been a while since I played a ‘hardcore’ game of D&D. This will be awesome.

Next Chapter: Captain Anthony: The Game Master Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 55 Minutes

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