“Relv,” Fluttershy states gently, “The first rule that we should set is that you don’t pull out your swords in front of anypony.”

“…” The red stallion remains silent as the two walk across the vast grassy plains.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Second rule, no using excessive force. You could’ve just talked to Harry and not scare the living daylights out of him.”

“…”

“Third and hopefully final ground rule, no injuring other ponies, animals, plants, or anything of the like.”

“But that would create a significant chance of you getting injured or killed.” Fluttershy stops in place from the unexpected response.

“Wait, did you actually respond to me?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Wait, remember what Celestia said if Relv said or did something out of place. Relv, don’t question me. Ponyville isn’t dangerous and you don’t need to hurt anypony to protect me.”

“…”

“I’m sorry if I sounded mean.”

“…”

Fluttershy lets out a disappointed groan before resuming her walk. “Back to this it seems.” Now a little behind her new companion, Fluttershy begins to focus on the long stands of silver hair on Relv’s mane as it swishes back and forth in a mesmerizing manner. With the sharp contrast of the silky hair to the rest of his black tangles, it becomes nearly impossible to ignore. “I like your mane. Is the silver part an extension?”

“No.”

“It isn’t? Then what is it?”

“A collection of mutated hair caused by irregular aging.”

“What do you mean by ‘irregular aging’?”

“I have a unique chemical that runs through my veins that gives me agelessness.”

“Please tell me more.”

“One of the side effects caused by the chemical’s small leakages in my blood causes a long white hair to grow from my head once every ten years.”

“Wait, then judging by how many hairs you have, you must be at least a thousand years old! Where did you get this chemical that made you live this long?”

“The Royal Laboratories of Scientific and Magic Studies.”

“Were you a scientist as well as a soldier?”

“No.”

“Then what were you doing there?”

“I was a member of the royal guard in service to Tia, so I had to accompany her for her studies.”

“Who is this Tia?”

“Princess Tia of Equestria.”

“You mean Princess Celestia?”

“That is her alias.”

“Did you know Luna?”

“Yes.”

“Even before she became Nightmare Moon?”

“Yes.”

“Wow. I certainly know that Twilight will love to talk with you. Do you have any other special abilities other than your, kinesis-thing and agelessness?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me one of them?”

“I have the ability of quadrangulation.”

“What’s that?”

“Quadrangulation is the ability to sense everything in a four dimensional plane.”

“I think I’ve heard Twilight talk about something similar involving three dimensions. What’s the fourth?”

“Time.”

“Wait, are you saying you can see into the past?”

“Yes, and the future as well.”

“You can see into the future?!”

“Yes.”

“What’s going to happen to me in the near future then?”

“You are going to stop five metres ahead and pluck a rose from a nearby bush.”

“I am?” Fluttershy looks to her right to see a rose bush now a metre ahead. She darts towards it and gasps. “These are lovely. Of course I would stop to pick one of these.” The yellow pegasus reaches her head into the bush to grab the stem of one of the red flowers with her mouth, only to get a thorn stabbed into her tongue. “Ow!” She pulls her head from the bush and opens her mouth, revealing the now stuck thorn to Relv. “It hurts! Can you help me remove it?” Fluttershy asks in a slobbery lisp.

“I can.” Relv then continues to stand stiff for a while.

“Agh! Command! Relv, remove this thorn!” Relv quickly takes hoofstep closer towards the squealing pony. Out of nowhere, the Earth pony then delivers a strong, yet painless, uppercut into Fluttershy’s lower jaw, followed by a quick painless pound into her chest. Fluttershy, now in discombobulation and shock, spits out the thorn upon her chest being punched and wobbles back a few steps. She quickly regains her standing however and she quickly becomes enraged for the stallion’s actions. “What was that for?!”

“It was a non-harmful and quick method of removing the thorn from your tongue.”

“But did you have to punch me twice to do it?”

“Yes. The first upon your lower jaw was to temporarily shut down your nervous system and loosen the thorn. The second was to cause your lungs to contract and for you to spit out the thorn.”

“Couldn’t you have just pulled it out with your hoof, or even your mouth. As awkward as it would’ve been, I’d prefer that over being punched.”

“No. It would have broken the third rule you have given to me. You do not feel any pain, do you?”

“No, I’m just a bit diz- Wait, did you just ask me a question?”

“Yes.”

“So, do you know how to talk properly, as in like what I’m doing?”

“Yes.”

“Then why haven’t you done it before? And why did you just now?”

“Limitations of Tia’s mind control prohibit me from speaking in the common tongue unless by command. The reason I am now is because it is not an absolutely effective mind control spell.”

“Celestia warned me about Relv speaking out of command, but for now, it doesn’t seem to be that bad. Well… Relv, speak properly.”

“Yes Fluttershy.”

“Let me see if it really worked… You look good.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank goodness, I was started to get sick of asking you questions just to get a three word response from you.”

“Thank you as well for relieving my speech.”

“Although, I do wonder… Why did Celestia’s mind control stop you from talking normal. Must be an unseen side effect of the spell I guess.”

“No. Celestia made sure that the spell included speech limitation for me.”

“Why?”

“She fears the risk of me corrupting you with the ideals I had before being put under the spell.”

“Oh. She did say you were dangerous in the past. But don’t worry, I will make sure that you’re reformed and understand the true magic of friendship.”

“As you wish.”

“Now that we have taken care of your speech and the thorn, please get me a rose.”

“Yes Fluttershy.” Relv walks around Fluttershy and in front of the rose that she was trying to pick. The middle sword from Relv’s saddle hovers out and quickly slices into the bush, launching the rose into the air. He then grabs the flower with his hoof as the sword swiftly returns to its hold. Relv turns to Fluttershy and presents to her the red blossom, prompting the mare carefully grabs it with her hoof and tucks it into her long pink mane.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome Fluttershy.” The two soon restart their trek as they begin to walk towards Ponyville.

“Relv,”

“Yes?”

“That whole thing about you punching me to remove the thorn… Where did you learn that?”

“In prison, my chamber sported a vast library of books that I learned from and practiced techniques on the guards during my escape attempts.”

“I never heard of a prison with a library.”

“The prison was a specially made pocket dimension that Tia created to hold me alone and keep me in secret, whist also being able to visit me.”

“How did she do that?”

“Chaos magic most likely.”

“Maybe, however, I don’t get something…”

“What is it?”

“Why did Celestia create such a prison for you alone? Why did she have it include a large library? Weren’t you a dangerous criminal?”

“I was. At this moment, I still don’t understand why either.”

“Maybe we can ask her some time later. Hurry along, we’re almost at Ponyville.” As the two make their way over a rolling hill, the town of Ponyville comes into view ahead of them. “We should start at Rarity’s.”

“He was outstanding in the royal guard when he became seventeen. By far the best performing pony I have ever seen. His speed, reflexes, power, brain power, all were impossible to be matched by any other pony.”

“Impressive.”

“It was only a matter of time for my parents to assign him as Luna’s and my personal close-range bodyguard.”

“You were like, a teenager at that time?”

“I was sixteen and Luna was fourteen.”

“Okay.”

“And, well, being at that age, there was plenty of reason for… some, feelings to come around…”

“Passive aggression?”

“Wha- No!”

“Oh! You mean you had a thing for Relv?!”

“It’s well justified. He was charming, wise, loyal, liked similar things that I liked,”

“Like what?”

“Reading, writing, science, magic, dancing, excitement, he would sometimes join me and Luna when we were playing around the castle.”

“Did Relv have feelings towards you?”

“I don’t know. I was too scared to ask him if he liked me or not. Would he say yes, no, think I was weird or something, it was all too scary. Luna didn’t seem to have any particular feelings towards him, more like a half-brother. He was a great, young pony. Although now, when I look at Relv, I can never see the old him inside.”

“He sounded like a nice stallion, what made him turn to evil?”

“During my studies in science, Relv would always join me at the laboratories. He’d help me with my work when the teachers, tutors, and professors weren’t looking and even sometimes did entire projects by himself for me out of his own sheer interest. He didn’t really receive that much of an education in the barracks, so to him, this was a college opportunity, albeit a secret one. We were two peas in a pod when it came to science, and it was the closest I could ever find myself with Relv. After our studies and late at night, I would have Relv join me in the labs in secret to do our own experiments and actually connect. One of those nights however, we discovered something, something that would by the beginning of Relv’s spiral into darkness.”

“What was it?”

“A mutagenic chemical that… Oh no…”

“Oh no what?”

“I forgot to tell Fluttershy to command Relv to not unleash his powers!”

“That doesn’t sound good…”

“Well, let’s just hope and pray that Relv doesn’t begin unleashing them without Fluttershy’s command. My mind control spell might not have been that strong on him as I initially thought and he could be slowly breaking from it if he starts using them.”

“How much time do you think it will take for him to break free after using these powers?”

“He shouldn’t be able to fully escape Fluttershy’s command. I made that very clear when preparing the spell. As long as Fluttershy has a strong hold of him, he shouldn’t be able to unleash any of his stronger powers.”

“Okay, okay, so we don’t need to panic. Much at least… How about we continue to talk about Relv’s downfall.”

“Yeah, maybe that will ease my mind.”

“Okay, so you were talking about this chemical…”

“Fluttershy, I have faith in you, don’t let him loose…”