AΣ ∆ Alpha Sigma Blade

by KukriRyuTsukino

First published 4th of October, 2018

A young man ends up Displaced in a way he never foresaw coming.

A young man ends up Displaced in Equestria soon after making a purchase. Now, with a latent talent for absorbing magical and kinetic force, he will have to discover how to get used to his new life, as well as the unexpected and awkward talents he accidentally discovered that he has gained.

Can I Figure Out What Is Going On?

Author's Notes:

I will only release the next chapter after this has gotten a minimum of ten reviews. Troll or flaming comments, however, will not count!!

Atlanta, Georgia, United States - Earth

Johnny Carmichael grimaced, his deep auburn hair streaked with gold and copper as it fell into his wild, untamed dark aquamarine eyes. He glanced down at the dark red and white helmet, its back able to close to form the well-known ponytail of the Maverick Hunter known as Zero. His skin was naturally a pale bronze rather than Zero’s usual paler skin tone, which he much preferred over Zero’s natural tone. He exhaled, the white gloves rasping over the dense plastic he’d used 3D printing to create the helm of the costume. The bracers on his forearm were molded plastic, though the attachments that could slide out to form the Z-Buster were layered metal, specifically 10-65 carbon steel commonly used for swords, though he’d worked it so it could slide into place from slits within the bracer, forming the end and barrel of the energy cannon for the Buster.

He exhaled as he tugged on the leather thong he’d looped into a half hitch knot with part over and underneath his hair as he looped it through the molded gorget, or throat guard, as he lifted the helmet before sliding it over his head, the back sliding down in segments before clicking into place. He had managed to find a very skilled technician that could work metal and plastic into an armor that acted almost like Batman’s Arkham suit in that it fits smoothly into one connected piece. He exhaled as the suit wasn’t all that light, though he was only a few days away from his seventeenth birthday and knew what he could handle. The bronzed accents on the armor contrasted well against the white and darker tone of candy red which had been layered over the deep Show Stopper red he’d chosen from Sherwin-Williams.

He stepped out of the changing room, his weighted boots clicking softly, almost like the metallic footfalls most connected a Reploid with. His gaze slid around the roughly four thousand various people, most in varied costumes for this Comic-con, though he, personally, was more interested in some of the fan gear or potentially a few games. Johnny, beneath the costume, wore a deep auburn, almost crimson, tee shirt underneath a dark copper vest and black pants with red sandals and pale gray tabi socks. He smirked ever so slightly, twisting the trigger on the right hand so the Z-Buster protracted into position, the coiled LED lights glowing a pale golden color as it clicked into place before he retracted it into its concealed position. He knew some might claim he possessed a ‘concealed weapon’, though all it was was a hardened plastic tube with dark gray spray paint on the end while a string of coiled LEDs provided the glow; the hardest part, at least for him,was making sure it didn’t get stuck.

He moved, walking with softly clanking footfalls, the bronzed lead weights in the heels and outside of his feet clicking in their sheaths. The hardest part about making them had been heating the lead enough to bronze it with a flywheel yet not melt it to the point of being molten. His gaze slid along various stands before pausing momentarily at the sight of a Resident Evil 4 shop cosplayer. He had heard vague rumors of people vanishing after buying things from a similar cosplayer, but he saw little that interested him at that particular stand.

“Unfortunate that there aren’t any Mavericks to fight, eh, Zero?” he commented in a raspy yet smooth voice.

“Hn… I’m not interested in banter. If you have anything remotely interesting, show it. From what I see… your things aren’t interesting in the least,” Johnny said in a disinterested tone, sounding eerily like the actual Maverick Hunter.

“From what I see, you are missing your Saber, amongst a few other small trinkets that I may have,” the cosplayer wheedled.

Johnny’s eyebrow rose slightly, absently noticing the guy's cloak was a deep navy and he never let down his hood. “Doubtful that you would have anything resembling it. And I have no desire to carry around a cheap lightsaber knockoff,” he said with a dry tone as he crossed his arms.

“How can you be so sure? Perhaps a closer look might peak your interest?”the man said with amusement, smirking.

Johnny snorted, rolling his eyes as he took a couple of steps closer before his eyebrow rose a bit, noticing models of the Biometal Models Z, X, H, F, L, P, and A all hovering over what he suspected were electromagnets. He hummed slightly, though he didn’t pause beyond a cursory glance. “What about this Z-Saber you claim to have?” he said dryly, glancing at the man, who smirked, his eyes twinkling slightly.

The cosplayer pulled out a case roughly two feet and three inches in length. Johnny’s eyebrow twitched as the man opened it, revealing… a pale gray hilt with a dark copper ring around the base of the hilt and rounded off butt; it appeared the salesman had the hilt right, though he saw no blade. The salesman lifted the hilt before twisting it as a segmented yellow topaz blade slid out, igniting a warm golden color. He tilted his head, his gaze scanning the blade, which he gauged to be slightly under eighteen inches. The man spun it skillfully before offering the hilt.

“It’s up to you if you want it,” the man said with a faint smirk.

“Hmmm,” Johnny hummed, taking the hilt; it was surprisingly balanced, he noted, as he held it loosely before holding it with two fingers slightly under where the blade extended from, finding it would balance very easily. “Layered a yellow topaz and clear quartz crystal?” he said thoughtfully.

“True, with a three-millimeter-thick layer of mineral oil between so it would not slide and crack against itself,” the salesman said with a small smirk. “Not many would notice the subtle clarity beneath the slight cloudiness of the topaz,” he complimented.

“The clarity of the LED in the hilt gives away the layering effect, though it’s well hidden, admittedly,” Johnny said wryly, amused.

“$320?” the salesman offered.

“$225,” Johnny replied with a straight face.

“$300,” the salesman deadpanned.

$240,” Johnny said dryly.

“$270,” the salesman countered.

“$245,” Johnny deadpanned.

“$265, and I’ll throw in the Biometals, plus the Durga Glaive, Vega Hanger, Bashou Fan, and Kaiser Knuckle,” the salesman deadpanned.

“Hmmm, fine. Leaves me enough for lunch, anyway,” Johnny said dryly, rolling his shoulders as he took the proffered case with the Biometals in it.

“What lunch?” the salesman quipped as he smirked a bit as he saw the young man’s eyes glaze over as swirling light flickered, then consumed him in a matter of seconds, the reddish gold dust glittering as it scattered over the ground, quickly scattered by the various people walking around.

In The Far Flung Future...

Author's Notes:

In response to >>9213560, when I say 'trolling or flaming comments' I mean specifically comments that are unhelpful or outright insulting.

Comments such as yours, my friend, are precisely the kind of comments I would prefer to see. Even if it's as simple as great potential or good story, that is enough.

54XX North-Central Unicorn Range
A male unicorn pony with dark persian blue eyes and a pale golden gamboge coat with two treasure keys behind a treasure chest exhaled, his gaze scanning the rocky terrain before a minor tremor kicked up from the unicorn and earth pony mining ponies that were assisting with his official search; it was suspected that there were other laboratories than what had been found, though few of those laboratories had been searched by other than search drones. He glanced at the worker ponies, whose right forelegs were covered by gauntlets that doubled as either drills or low powered jackhammers as they did not wish to damage anything discovered.

Gallant True grimaced as a rocky surface slid free, dropping to the rocky ground and splintering; he knew several of the dozen or so drones he had with their group were also guard-sentry drones. However, there were also a trio of Equestrian Guard ponies for Princess Celestia herself; he knew that most ponies were unaware that Celestia sought out technological advances not only for ponykind’s gain, but also to keep it from those who might modify said technology found on Equestrian land for potential war efforts.

His eyes widened slightly as a dull reflection flared from the sunlight as the clouds shifted. He noticed a dark red and brighter crimson streak beneath something a deep coppery gold, though he couldn’t tell precisely what it was. Most anthropologists did know that technology, and by extension, those who may have created it, such as the mythological human, existed, as it wasn’t that odd to find said technology around though most ponies preferred to stick to crystal charged magitech that, for the most part, converted solar energy into magical energy which was then used to power various things such as refrigerators, lights, heating water, cooking meals, and for some of the more… common small vehicles such as gliding hoverboards or drift scooters.

What caught his attention, however, was a small dark gray attached case to the top of the capsule, though what was within it, he had no idea. He exhaled as the guardsponies arrived, very aware that they would start working to extract whatever had been discovered. He exhaled softly, thinking how his niece, who was a fledgling archaeologist and treasure seeker like himself, would be very interested in this.

He noticed a flicker of light as the unicorns employed magic to slide the dust and debris free, revealing the broad, almost seven and a half foot tall capsule around three feet wide; he wasn’t sure what metal it was made of, but he did notice that the magic seemed to both slide off and absorb into the metal somehow, which didn’t make much sense at all to him, anyway, as most of the time either metal tended to absorb magic and, by extension, channel it, or deflect and block magical energies.

A gust of steam caught his attention as one of the horizontal lines forming the top of the combined Z and mingled, smaller X flared a bright golden color over the dully reflective cover that looked like a rounded oval at the top and somewhat of a rounded rectangle near the bottom. The rounded elliptical lens over the opening of the capsule slid open, the X splitting on one side before it slid apart, steam and smoke pouring forth. He blinked as he saw a bright bluish-green glow in the form of two eyes flare to life along with a triangular blue gemstone shimmering above it.

His eyes widened fractionally, cocking his head as an armored humanoid form stumbled out, its golden edged white boots clattering on the rocks before the armored black shorts showed through the steam and smoke. The bluish-green glow faded to show dark aquamarine-teal eyes that were obviously dazed and extremely confused.

He focused his magic through his horn as the armored young woman staggered before falling, almost sprawling amongst the rocks, some being quite sharp, he had noticed, as they had slid free. She groaned, gagging as she seemed disoriented, though he noticed the case falling free as a rock hit the top of the capsule.

<<<<<<<< Reboot in Progress >>>>>>>>

2%.... 14%... 36%... 55%.... 74%... 88%... Error….

Memory Cells damaged --- Must Find Onyx Armor to restore

Armor Uplink Detected -- can seal Armored Reploid Form into NanoCore to blend into populace

Kenshō Armor Detected -- Wind Manipulation and Air Thrusters

Tōshō Armor Detected -- Fire Manipulation and Enhanced Close Combat capabilities

Yōshō Armor Detected -- Water Manipulation, Ice Manipulation, and Enhanced Water Combat capabilities

Inshō Armor Detected -- Shadow Manipulation, Purification, and Enhanced Stealth Capabilities

Astral Armor Detected -- Copy Technique, Enhanced Ranged Combat capabilities and Dual Plasma Pistols active

Johnny’s eyes flickered open, his gaze flickering along the semi-transparent screens that flickered in front of his eyes for several seconds before he felt the odd paralysis that had overcome him fading as he felt tingling rush over his body before a blinding glare flared in his face, unaware yet that he was no longer male… but female.

He grimaced, staggering out of the capsule, which to him, as he glanced momentarily around, reminded him oddly of a cross between the Capsule only vaguely shown in Megaman X4 and the Kryptonian Capsule shown in CW’s Supergirl, but on a larger, if at the same time tighter scale. He heard the metallic footfalls as he felt his weight shift, noticing his armor felt… unbalanced… as if it wasn’t quite on right. He felt something catch him before he spotted the odd small horse with its horn glowing. When did equines have horns? he wondered uncertainly.

She blinked for a moment, the HUD displaying instinctively.

Johnny winced as he felt something slap hard into the back of his head with a metallic clunk before he blinked a few times, managing to get his feet beneath him before he turned a bit, spotting the case with the Biometals. He opened the case, noticing the Biometal Z model flaring almost immediately with crimson light before it shot up and hit her full in the chest before he felt an odd heated tingling surging through his body before he was launched backwards several yards as her Reploid Form was replaced by her new human form… sprawled flat on her face with her messy wild auburn-gold hair.

Gallant Truth, alongside one of the guard ponies, noticed the case clicking shut as the girl slammed hard into the ground after a nasty, uncontrolled somersault; she obviously didn’t expect such a thing, he noted. He grimaced as the odd form twitched a few times before going still, though he didn’t miss the guard pony casting a diagnostic spell to check the health of the young woman.

“We will transport the capsule, case, and the unsub to Canterlot for processing. No doubt they will be useful,” one of the guards ponies muttered gruffly. Unlike the others, he had a distinct militaristic bearing.

Unforeseen Discoveries

Author's Notes:

Unfortunately at the time of this being published, we lack electricity due to Tropical Storm Matthew. Pray for those whom have been battered by the storm in Florida and Georgia.

In Transit to Canterlot City - Airship Eternal Skies

Johnny Alexis groaned, her dark amethyst eyes fluttering as she sat up, disoriented in the bunk. She found herself wearing a pale cyan blouse over baggy dark tan pants; she was barefoot. She swung her legs over the side of the bunk, dizzy as she coughed before clearing her throat. Her gaze slid around the rather plain bunk room, seeing only a small writing desk and the bunk which hung from dark olive green and copper ropes. Her eyes widened slightly at the polished silver of a mirror reflecting her form.

“What in the fuck?!?!” she barked, startled. She cocked her head in confusion before sighing, looking away out of the window. “It would be just my luck to end up as a genderbent Zero…. though they never really specified in the series whether Zero was originally male or female. It is just generally assumed he was male,” she muttered, grimacing.

She groaned as she tilted her head, soft pops of tense tendons the only sign of anything really bothering her. She ran her hands through messy dark golden auburn hair. She suspected that the case holding the Biometals was somewhere else, though that would require her exploring this place. From the hum, she assumed it was a plane, which would be simple to explore if it was a cargo plane. Unless it wasn’t, in which case it might be a bit harder. She shot a look outside, trying to see what sort of transport it was. The rolling land and trees were pleasant and appeared quite free, though her eyes spotted something interesting…. an airship much like that of the Hindenburg. She exhaled softly, as that gave her a hint of what sort of transport she was in, though she had never ridden in an airship, therefore she had little knowledge of how the interior was designed. She did know one very critical fact: never light a match within the balloon of one nor puncture it as from what she recalled, hydrogen was highly explosive.

However, there was one thing she wasn’t certain of in this particular case: was it actually hydrogen within the balloon for this particular airship? It could have been helium, which fortunately was an inert gas when it came to explosions. She giggled at that thought if a leak happened in here whilst the balloon was filled with helium.

“That would be funny… hearing everyone speaking with squeaky voices,” she snickered. She paused at a thought. “Wait a second… unicorns… airships… I can’t shake the feeling there’s something I’m missing,” she muttered, tapping her chin in thought. There was something nagging at the former male’s thoughts, but he couldn’t quite remember what it was.

“Apparently, at least part of my mind has some cyber enhancements, which if corrupted, would explain why my memories are fragmented. The question is, what sorts of enhancements do I have?” she murmured, unaware of the ability she could already access.

She exhaled softly, her eyes half closed as she concentrated, not noticing silvery scales much like those of a snake or dragon forming over her skin as the nanites reacted within her body, forming a shell of armor over her hands, forearms, and wrists. She could feel her skin tingling as she opened her eyes, blinking as she saw the change. A smirk crossed her face at the change.

“Could be useful in hand to hand combat, I suppose, though…. huh,” she said softly, noticing what appeared to be a small rounded trigger underneath her wrist. She tilted her wrist in a snapping motion, a streamer of pale golden slime hardening into thin tendrils not unlike arachnid webbing that clung to the wall.

“I have a feeling this will be fun,” she murmured with a smirk. She tilted her head as the silvery scales smoothed out into a bodysuit before it spread over her arms and upper torso, failing to notice that it effectively shredded the likely used outfit in the process. She felt the mild tingling sensation over her back and sides before it enclosed her upper body before sliding down her hips and down over her legs. A smirk crossed her face as she knew this would be useful. “Hmmm, what to call me like this… maybe Therapho? I mean, these nanites seem to allow me to manipulate them freely, so a secondary form could be quite useful,” she murmured. She looked closely, noticing that there were miniscule barbs, likely no more than a few millimeters, upon the tips and pads of her fingers. She tilted her head, her gaze scanning down the bodysuit, noticing the light hood over her shoulders before she rolled her shoulders.

(For reference, it looks similar to the Black Sacrament Armor, Female - Winter. For the individual parts of the armor... Look Here.)

A small smirk crossed her face as she noticed the amber-gold tone to her sight, unaware her gaze was shielded by a dull nonreflective amber-silver covering her face and temples with pale golden amber eyes. The mask melded with the mask covering her face forming slightly curving upper fangs while most of the suit was a dull gray with amber undertones.

She tilted her head, noticing that the mask seemed to have scanning capabilities, noting that the window slid down before she did just that, sliding the window down, a gust of air almost pushing her back for a few seconds before she grinned, rolling her shoulders before she pushed off, vaulting through the window in a fluid motion, tilting her head slightly so she could see before she flicked her wrists, the webbing firing out before clinging to the edges of the window as she tugged herself to the side of the airship, clinging to the wood and metal easily. “This is fun!!! I can see why a certain Spider enjoys moving around with it!!” she giggled as she tilted her head, hearing a barely audible click before a gasp followed. She guessed someone had come to check on her, so she crawled military style upward before she slid into a vent, fortunately cutting off the worst of the winds.

She smirked as she crawled stealthily, noticing that few in the hallways of the airship thought to look upward; she suspected her suit had dampening properties to make it more difficult for unicorns to sense her. She did notice one that was armored lightly with a light gray coat and a moderate sapphire blue mane streaked with dark pthalo blue and moderate cerulean. He looked nervous and unsure.

She hummed softly, thinking about what the readout had said. “Curious that the scanners cannot identify them, though it does make sense… they aren’t Human nor are they Reploids. That isn’t to say that some, potentially dangerous…. Mavericks… don’t exist, however,” she thought. She blinked, noticing a city that seemed unstable to her, clinging to the side of a mountain, however, there were many other airships that seemed to fly and land there.

That data had her cautious as she wasn’t sure how to react. She quickly made her way along the ceiling, noticing a wheel she recognized as a ship’s wheel, guessing it signaled the bridge, which was the most likely location of the case holding the Biometals. She slipped quietly and carefully along the ceiling before noticing the case in question on a desk near the ship’s wheel, which made her grin. “Just what we’re looking for,” she thought as she crawled close to the case before snagging it with a web before reeling it in and touching it to the small of her back where it attached itself as if glued.

“Where’s the case at? Who took it?” a gruff militaristic pony snapped.

“Hmmm, I don’t know where it could be… maybe with the only one who can most likely use it?” she quipped nonchalantly, amused as everyone abruptly panicked, obviously startled by the unexpected voice. She did notice that several of the unicorns aimed barely visible tendrils of light she deduced were almost like laser pointers at her, however, obviously wary. “Thought you could take what doesn’t belong to you? I mean, really. If they don’t react to you, you ain’t gonna be able to use them,” she deadpanned, crouching nonchalantly on the ceiling as if it were the floor. Almost the same moment, the pony she’d caught a glimpse of skidded in, panting hard before staring at her with confusion.

“Wh-what is that?” he stuttered.

“What’s what? I mean, I wake up here… nobody asks me how I feel, nobody checks on me… though I’m kinda starving, frankly,” came her dry, amused reply. The mask retracted, revealing the deep emerald-aquamarine irises and lightly tanned skin as well as the messy dark auburn hair falling in wild, untamed waves.

“Ugh… still getting used to that. It was why I always held my hair back…. though I can’t quite remember why,” she sighed, blowing a lock of hair out of her eyes. She shifted her weight, somersaulting to land in a crouch as her hair fell down to the middle of her back. She didn’t miss that they had slowed and was slowly drifting lower. She noticed, out of the corner of her eye as ropes were cast downward.

She glanced at the unicorn pony with the light gray coat and moderate sapphire blue mane streaked with dark pthalo blue and moderate cerulean. She cocked her head with a small smile, amused as he blushed. She tilted her head, noticing the dark sapphire blue shield with a magenta starburst topped by a trio of small cerulean stars on his flank beneath what seemed to be copper or bronze armor. She hummed in thought, thinking. “If that’s either bronze or copper, the former would be better defensively, but I see many gaps that would leave him incapacitated, underneath his legs, just beneath the rib cage and what would pass for his lower back, I suppose. Not to mention his abdomen which is completely exposed,” she mused. “Could layer it with fabric and a layer of ceramic to increase defense, maybe fine mesh,” she thought. Her father had been military while her mother had been a seamstress. It meant more than a little of what knowledge she had been passed from them to her.

Greetings and Annoyances

Author's Notes:

Canterlot City, Equestria #2651914

Johnny Alexis Carmichael sighed softly as they landed, though she was cautious at the military pony’s glare; he likely assumed that the case was his by right of discovery, despite the fact she’d found it first. She mingled amongst the crowd, feeling a dull tingling along her skin, unaware that the body armor she was wearing was pulsing with a dull red aura before it flared brightly, blinding her as well as more than a few nearby ponies.

“Shit,” he muttered before blinking. “Hmmm, that bears curiosity. Apparently, I can shift between male and female forms, though I’m still somewhat creeped out by miniature ponies. Meh… I… eh?” he muttered, pausing as he could ‘see’ a tendril of bright golden light radiating skyward and, surprisingly, growing closer. The lens over his right eye retracted, telling him that it was only visible through the lenses he was seeing through. “Hmm,” he murmured.

“How did you do that? Change forms like that?” he heard the pony he’d observed before murmur softly.

“No idea, honestly. Memories are fragmented. I remember waking up, apparently in the side of a mountain… before that… other than my name… it’s blanker than a field after a heavy snowfall before any footprints,” he said dryly.

“Hoofprints, you mean,” the pony corrected.

“Hoofprints, footprints… what does it matter what you walk on?” he deadpanned, shrugging nonchalantly.

“Name’s Lieutenant Shining Armor,” the pony said, introducing himself as he chuckled, supposing the odd creature had a point.

“Johnathan Alexis Carmichael, as far as I know, civilian,” he said dryly, shrugging.

Johnny let his gaze scan around before his eyes landed on the source of the golden beam of light. The mask retracted to merely glasses around his eyes, the dark amethyst edging around the golden amber lenses. “I believe that belongs to me,” he said quietly.

The pony with the spring greenish gray coat and dark gray mane snorted, glaring at them. “Nonsense. Upper Crust and I purchased this…. trinket…. fairly. There is nothing special about it,” the unicorn pony scoffed, the white sweater rustling slightly in the breeze over his green and white jersey.

“Truly, Jet Set, what are these ruffians accosting us for?” the female of the pair snorted, her cream-colored shirt and pale pink sweater almost identical to her husband’s.

“That pair of weapons is known as the Bashou Fan,” Johnny said dryly, cocking an eyebrow.

“Prove it, you hairless…. midget minotaur,” Upper Crust scoffed. Her eyes widened when he picked up the dagger “trinkets” before pressing a small trigger on the hilt and flicking it, the blade extending into a razor-sharp fan as energy flared over the blades of the fan in a glowing golden orange aura almost like flames.

She was mildly startled when she saw his irises flare a pale green as he vaulted back sharply a good twenty-five hoofpaces, landing in a low crouch. Her eyes narrowed slightly as he shifted with almost predatory fluidity, the movements hypnotic.

She frowned slightly as she cocked her head, noticing tints of a beautiful deep amethyst light flickering over the fans before her husband fired a stunning spell at the creature. To her surprise the creature twisted the fans, the aura catching and bouncing it between both fans several times before launching it back at her husband, hitting the ground a few hoofbeats in front of him in a blast of dust as he folded the fans in smoothly in a fluid, practiced motion. Jet Set gagged at the dust, his hoof swiping at the dust before he blinked, confused at the creature’s empty hands.

Upper Crust blinked as she hadn’t taken her eyes off the creature, yet the dagger-fans had apparently vanished; he wore a feminine blouse whose sleeves were far too short to hide anything up, barely brushing his biceps. “As to what I am…. It isn’t a midget minotaur. I’m human,” his tone was dry and sarcastic, mildly irritated.

“Everyone knows humans are myths,” Jet Set sneered.

“Where I came from, pegasi and unicorns were myths. For example, one myth is that a woman cursed by a god whom could petrify with her gaze and killed by a hero birthed a winged horse from her blood… called Pegasus,” Alexander said dryly. “Supposedly, unicorns are meant to be pure creatures…. Though in your case… I’d say a pure arsehole,” he muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes. He did notice Shining Armor snickering, obviously catching his muttered comment through the unicorns clearly didn’t pay attention.

He turned away, unaware that the fans had merged with the nanites composing his bodysuit of ‘clothing’. He allowed the group of military pegasi to lead the way towards the somewhat imposing palace, though he didn’t miss the opportunity to let his gaze scan around with mild interest, though he didn’t fail to notice that most of the other ponies stared at him with confusion and mild disgust.

He exhaled softly as he walked fairly quickly, moving fluidly with loping strides, not surprised that the ponies, despite being smaller and having shorter legs, were fairly easily able to keep up with him. He glanced at Shining Armor who smirked slightly, obviously liking the challenge. “Nobles?” he deadpanned.

Shining shrugged. “We’re kinda stuck with them,” he sighed.

“They’re idiots,” Alexander quipped, drawing a snort of laughter from several of the ponies, including Shining Armor.

“There are some decent ones, though, granted, not that many, unfortunately,” Shining amended. “Though I do agree that most of them are idiots. I just don’t say so…. to their faces,” he said with amusement.

Alexander snickered before sliding to a stop, his eyes widening slightly. He saw, at the top of a sweeping, if shallowly angled staircase, at least four palaces, or so he guessed. One had at least six towers that he could see, another had two, and a third had a single. “Damn. Never saw a palace before… well… not this style of the palace. It looks somewhat vaguely Arabian to me, though the only other palace I saw was…. a decidedly different style to this,” he commented wryly. He did notice the hedge maze as well as a very strange statue near the opening to it. It seemed to be a mishmash of body parts sloppily thrown together. However, what did catch his eye, strangely, was what was beneath it: a thick capsule with three slowly rotating spheres; he recognized it as a ‘full health’ capsule, though he couldn’t remember why it seemed familiar.

He did notice that it was well hidden beneath a layer of smoky quartz and marble, however. He didn’t comment on it, though, rather, focusing more on the broad palace before he cocked his head, thinking. “Who would need this place?” he said thoughtfully.

“The Princess, Her Majesty Celestia, you trash,” one guard snapped.

“If I’m such ‘trash’ as you put it, why was I escorted here rather than left wherever I was? Hmmm? Seems your ego is about as big as your balls… and if you keep pushing me, I’ll be more than happy to shrink them quite painfully,” came Alexis’ sharp reply, a shimmering luminous golden red aura flickering around him as he shifted to his female form, a sadistic grin growing on her face.

Shining snickered, seeing the guard shrink back with a nervous look. “Though…. what you should wonder is what I would use to do it… maybe a salad fork? Or a sewing needle? Or… maybe something chilled to the point where it burns on contact? Or better…. something that might explode on contact? Hmmm, I wonder what sort of reaction sodium metal would have with blood. I know it explodes quite violently with water… of course, going by human knowledge, the blood is roughly eighty percent water… for ponies… with large balls and small brains… I’d worry that I wouldn’t just take their balls…. but more… vital things with them,” the young woman continued, her tone thoughtful before turning innocent as she tilted her head with a shy look as Shining cringed slightly as the look in her eyes held a hint of the dangerous sadist for those whom she really disliked or outright hated.

She cocked her head, a small smirk crossing her face as she let out a giggle. “Maybe you should consider that before opening your big mouth,” she said with amusement. She stepped closer to the palace, the doors opening unbidden as it was clear they were expected. She wasn’t sure if the stiffness in her back and shoulders was from nervousness from this ‘Princess Celestia’ or something else but dismissed it as nerves.

Rising Dawn

Author's Notes:

Canterlot City, Equestria #2651914

Johnny Alex Carmichael cocked his head as he took two quick strides as he noticed the railing before he smirked slightly. “Ever seen someone defy gravity?” he quipped.

“Huh?” Shining Armor said in confusion. “Nobody can defy gravity,” he said with confusion.

“Really? Then I shouldn’t be able to get up that railing…. without using the steps,” he said with amusement as he rolled his shoulders before he pushed off, unaware that his body was passively absorbing Equestrian Magic, hence, he could strengthen his body and manipulate his aura in a stronger state than that of even Master Shaolin monks. The bodysuit he wore enhanced these talents. Barely visible nickel sized gaps in his palms appeared to be repulsor sensors.

They widened into small sapphire openings before a deep silvery blue aura flared, reacting almost like jets and shoving him at high speed up the railing though he shot almost twenty yards further on before he tumbled with the landing, feeling dizzy from the abrupt acceleration.

“How’d you do that?” Shining Armor said with confusion as he galloped up to him.

“Do what?” Johnny said with confusion, not understanding. He didn’t realize that his armor had thickened in response to his impact before thinning again.

“Fly without wings!! I mean, it’s obvious you don’t have wings,” Shining commented.

“Actually, if you think about it scientifically, if you have the right shape of something and enough thrust behind it, it’s entirely possible anything could fly… though I wouldn’t advise flying into space without any sort of protection… it would make the fluids like blood and such in the body react rather… violently,” he said wryly, shrugging.

Shining laughed at that. “You sound like Twily, talking like that,” he said fondly, his gaze flicking towards the castle for a moment.

“Personally, I know about science… a fair bit, but I was always more interested in the terrestrial sciences than the astronomical kind… admittedly, I love admiring a good night sky. It’s rather relaxing. Although admittedly… there are always chemicals that react violently with water. Hell, even something as simple as table salt can if given the proper… preparation. My personal favorite… is dry ice… frozen carbon dioxide,” Johnny said with a grin.

“What’s so fun about it?” he said in confusion as the other ponies caught up.

“It can be summed up in four words: sealed bottle, water, boom,” Johnny said with a chuckle, smirking.

“Eh?” Shining muttered, confused further.

“Dry ice, or frozen carbon dioxide…. essentially the primary gas you exhale, is one of the few elements that sublimate straight from a solid to a gas. Water accelerates said process. Stick it in a sealed bottle… it will eventually blow the bottle apart,” he clarified.

Shining shrugged. “I never paid that much attention in science,” he admitted.

“It takes a particular kind to enjoy Chemistry. Personally, I preferred a more…. explosive approach. For example, chlorine by itself is a lethal gas, while sodium alone is a metal that reacts highly explosively with water. Take a guess on what the are combined as sodium chloride,” Johnny said with a snicker. He grunted slightly as one of the military ponies shoved him from behind. “Baka,” he said dryly, cocking an eyebrow as he snorted as he walked towards the palace, cautious as he didn’t know what to expect.

“I have no clue,” Shining said wryly. Alexis smirked, almost seeing question marks floating above the stallion's head.

“Table salt, the very kind you put on eggs, fries, and in a variety of other things, like cakes,” Alexis said nonchalantly. He snickered at the multiple thuds he heard, glancing over his shoulder as quite a few of the military ponies, as well as the self-proclaimed 'nobles', were rising to their hooves.

He hummed softly, looking around as he exhaled softly, simply enjoying the breeze for a few minutes. He glanced up at the towers, tempted to see what kind of view was visible from the top.

He glanced at his hands before he noticed the rounded circles before they irised open, exposing what made him vaguely think of a single word, though he couldn't remember why it seemed familiar or where he'd heard the term.

"Extremis," he muttered under his breath.

Meeting Royalty

Author's Notes:

Canterlot City, The Celestial Palace - Equestria #2651915

Johnny’s jaw dropped, startled as he spotted the palace before he saw the broad, golden and bronzed doors open to reveal a tall, slightly under seven-foot tall winged unicorn with a mane that made him offhandedly think of the aurora borealis. He felt the slight tingling as the repulsor apertures closed, absently noticing the sensation in the back of his mind.

He felt a tingling warmth push his jaw shut as he saw the winged unicorn smile warmly, noticing a swirling golden yellow aura around her horn before he glanced down, noticing a slight golden sheen as the aura of magical energy she’d manipulated to close his mouth faded away. He cocked an eyebrow, not noticing the ruby aura growing around his right forearm and wrist before it became Zero’s armored form. Almost immediately, a holographic screen shimmered to life.

was what came up upon the screen. “Well, that doesn’t help much, does it?” he muttered dryly, shaking his head as he noticed the screen dismiss before the armored gauntlet also dismissed, reverting to the silvery white of the bodysuit which he noticed receded into a shorter bodysuit much like that of a surfer’s wetsuit in summer, shorts that stopped at his knees, and a short vest; it was only then that he noticed that he had a black bodysuit on beneath it.

“So, what precisely are you? You are not a pony, clearly,” the winged unicorn said.

“Human, though where I came from, equines aren’t able to speak, nor are they half as attractive as you are,” Johnny said wryly, smirking slightly. One of the guards swatted him hard across the back, which hurt, but more annoyed him. As he turned his head, he noticed the spear shaft dropping lower towards his knees before he lifted and stomped suddenly, not only catching, but breaking the shaft.

“Flattering, though I do not like that my guards seem to feel you are being disrespectful. It is quite refreshing for somepony to act as I am merely another pony rather than royalty,” the winged unicorn remarked.

“I wouldn’t know about being royalty, but I could see how that would be exhausting… and annoying… asshole nobles with their heads up their arses,” Johnny said bluntly, rolling his eyes.

The winged unicorn, or more precisely, an Alicorn, laughed warmly. “I have thought the same more than once, but there are things that they can do that I cannot without it demanding too much of my attention and time,” she said wryly.

Johnny sighed softly. He looked skyward, covering his gaze with one hand to keep the excessive sun from his eyes.
“I have a Celebration to plan, though it is not for another month,” the Alicorn said wryly.

“You’re this… Princess Celestia... the dumbass referred to?” Johnny said dryly, blocking the swipe of the dark golden yellow spear blade at his face with one hand before shooting a glare at the guard, keenly aware of the guard’s dislike, nay… borderline hatred... of him.

“Guilty as charged. Who are you, may I ask?” Celestia said with a small smirk, chuckling.

“Johnny Alexis Carmichael,” Johnny said wryly.

“Johnny, I assume, is short for Jonathan,” she commented.

Johnny nodded. “Though… ever since waking up… wherever here is… not only are my memories fragmented… something really strange happened to me earlier,” he commented wryly.

“Such as?” Celestia said with curiosity.

“Namely the fact that I awoke on that airship as a woman…. which obviously I’m not at the moment,” he said wryly. He sighed softly, shaking his head in mild confusion.

“We will find that out in due time, I suspect, Jonathan. Until then, follow me with Lieutenant Shining Armor,” Celestia commanded in a gentle, warm tone.

Johnny exhaled as he shivered, more keenly aware, with the fact that his bodysuit had retracted into shorts and a vest, that he had quite a lot of dirt and mud on his body.

“You might want a bath, to get rid of that,” Shining Armor muttered wryly, smirking.

“I will have one prepared for both of you, as you both need one, though I could use one as well,” Celestia remarked with amusement, looking back at them. She found it rather amusing that the ‘human’ blushed deeply at that. ‘Hmmm, he’s intelligent. Seems willing to learn, though…. he seems to be in discomfort, for some reason. I can feel magic gathering around him,’ she noted.

Johnny winced, feeling the aching pain in his back and shoulders increasing before he heard a dull ripping sound as pain erupted through his body, unaware a hot bluish white aura flared around him before fading as two broad six foot wings of prismatic copper upon the lower outer feathers whilst the feathers on the undersides of the wings were a beautiful opalescent cream color. The tops of his wings were a rich reddish golden tone like a strawberry dipped in honey. Unfortunately, the wings also dripped in a all too familiar crimson liquid critical to life.
Celestia frowned slightly, spotting the blood. She cast a cleansing spell upon the floor as well as a barrier spell to catch any additional blood; perhaps her scientists would be able to look over the blood to see if there were any magical aspects to it. Fortunately, it was only a very slight drain upon her very formidable magical reserves.

She sighed softly, calling upon a maid to escort Lieutenant Shining Armor to one of the many bathrooms and to wait upon him; they would be escorted to the throne room afterwards. She personally escorted the human to a bathroom, not quite as extravagant as her own personal bath chamber, but likely far more extravagant than he was likely familiar with, from how his eyes went wide and he stared, looking around the room.

“From your reaction, you are not used to such… extravagance,” Celestia remarked in amusement as she slid her hoofcaps off to leave her pale golden hooves only a shade or two darker than her alabaster fur bared.

“Nope. Seen pictures of similar. Never thought I’d actively see such things, but then… winged unicorns…” he sighed.

“Alicorn, actually. That is the term for me,” Celestia corrected gently, noticing him swaying slightly. “Your wings are throwing off your balance, yes? I do not mind helping you get used to them,” she said gently, a small smile crossing her muzzle.

“You’re royalty. Why would you help an utter stranger?” Johnny said with a grimace as he felt her hoof, soft, yet firm, against the lower middle part of his back. The wings connected from his shoulder blades to the upper middle part of his back.

“Why wouldn’t I? You need the help and you deserve to be treated with hospitality,” Celestia countered with a playful smile. She saw him jump slightly as she ignited her horn, using a telekinesis spell to start the water flowing into the broad tub before adding lemon and citrus scented bubble bath to it as well as a lavender bath bomb to make the water more relaxing for him.

Johnny watched the golden yellow aura manipulating things before he glanced at the Alicorn Princess from the corner of his eye. He could feel the air far more keenly at the moment, though he didn’t notice the ever so slight glow coming from the case at the small of his back.

The Princess, however, noticed a small tingling itch on her foreleg and hoof where she was supporting the human which made her tilt her head, noticing a slightly green glow coming from the case before his hand covered it and removed it, the case rattling softly at his touch.

“Eh? Strange… Why is it vibrating?” he muttered before flicking it open before a greenish comet shot out, hitting him hard in the chest before his eyes flared a deep emerald green. Almost the moment he felt the impact with his chest, he slid back several feet, almost into the vanity behind them though his hands instinctively flashed out, a gust of emerald tinted air stopping him cold.

“Kenshō Armor designated ‘Harpuia’ active, merging with Blade Armor designated ‘Zero’,” he murmured, his voice a low, monotonous tone.

The glow faded from his eyes as he stumbled forward, looking disoriented, Celestia noted as she shed her hoofcaps, chestplate and crown.

He felt gentle hooves catch him before he felt the tingling heat of her magical energy touching him before, unintentionally, the armor retracted leaving him rather…. bared to her gaze.

He heard her giggle before he felt heat wash over him as his eyes fluttered open to see her watching him with an amused look. “Would you prefer my assistance, or not?” she queried with a small smirk.

“I… don’t know… if I can move… so…. Yes… I would prefer assistance,” he admitted shyly whilst breathing heavily.

“All right, Jonathan,” Celestia said with a small motherly smile. “Although, you may wish to… hide that,” she remarked with a teasing tone.

He looked down before his blush turned everything from his collarbones up a rich shade of red. “Ah…. I… can’t. It just… kinda hangs there,” he said shyly, blushing deeply.

Her eyebrow rose before she shrugged, levitating him over the tub before lowering him down into it. She giggled as he inhaled sharply, his eyes widening before he sighed softly. “You’ve never preened yourself, have you?” she remarked with amusement.

“Eh? You… do that? I thought only birds do that,” Johnny replied in confusion.

“Oh, no, I do it, as do many, many pegasi… and so will you,” she giggled.

“I know nothing about that at all,” he said shyly.

“That can wait until after we get good and clean, yes?” she teased.

“We?” he echoed in confusion.

“You don’t expect me to pass up a nice, hot bubbly bath, do you? Besides, think of it as a way for us to bond, my little human,” Celestia quipped with a giggle. She had heard of a unicorn filly who had great magical potential, Shining Armor’s younger sister, if she recalled correctly. It would be roughly a year before she was old enough to attempt joining her School for Gifted Unicorns.

She smirked as he looked nervous as she stepped into the tub before lowering herself into the warm, almost hot water. She noticed with interest that he seemed to enjoy the heat and warmth.

“So, you recall nothing before…. awakening?” she said gently.

“Not much. I remember my name… that I apparently have… multiple armor forms I can use… and, I’m assuming this… but I think with every armor I gain… I may potentially recall fragments of my past before. As it is… I remember very little, so I’m, pardon the pun, a ‘clean slate’,” he said shyly.

He saw the Alicorn Princess giggle. “Not yet, but you will be soon, and you’ll enjoy me cleaning you, I’m certain,” she said playfully, making him blush deeply.

He saw the soft fluffy washcloth levitate in a warm golden aura as he noticed a bottle of something a pale golden white pour onto it before the cloth dunked beneath the water before resurfacing and rubbing itself together as a white lather formed within seconds. He was struck by the scents of spices and a scent that made him think of sunflowers for some reason. He blinked as he heard the water shift as he saw the Princess approaching with a playful look on her face. He jumped slightly as the washcloth massaged gently over his shoulder as he felt a gentle pressure on it before he glanced down, seeing the Princess’ foreleg supporting the washcloth. He shivered as she manipulated it, massaging it against his skin as he felt the muscles that had been tense with nervousness and caution relaxing as he felt her washing his chest and shoulders before he felt it slide down his arms which he had his biceps and elbows resting against the side of the tub before he shivered as he noticed how close she was to him as she ran the washcloth over the other arm before he felt it slide over his throat and behind his ears.

“Have to be thorough and wash behind the little foal’s ears,” he heard her murmur in amusement. He inhaled sharply as he felt her brush her cheek against his, noticing how soft her fur was, almost like silk. He felt her hooves brush through his hair before she wrapped her fetlock and cannon around his shoulders in what he realized was a hug. He hugged her tentatively back, shivering slightly as he felt her lightly tugging him away from the side of the tub before he let her turn him so his back was to her, his wings folded awkwardly against his shoulders as he felt them open as her hoof brushed down his spine, sending chills rushing through his body at high speed.

Most embarrassingly, a very particular part of his body ‘below the belt’ grew very visibly stiff and hard. He felt her nuzzling his wings, kinda surprised how he could feel the water brushing along each and every feather as he felt the feathers shifting gently before she retreated, hearing a soft hum of thoughtfulness. “What is it?” he said with uncertainty.

“You have interesting color tones with your wings. They are a rich golden red, which is unique and rare. Though I have to admit that the undersides are an interesting color as well. Do you know if they will shift color with these… armors?” Celestia said, nuzzling one of his wings which made him inhale sharply as he shivered.

“No idea. For all I know, it could just be the ‘default’ color, as Zero’s armor is red,” he said softly.

“Hmmm. I suppose. I have not seen these… armors, so I do not know. For now, however, I’m going to wash your hair and back. I think you’ll like me washing your wings, as I’m quite gentle with those,” she said with a small playful smile.

He shivered as he heard the soft pop of a shampoo bottle, turning his head to blink in surprise at what appeared to be a surprisingly modern shampoo bottle. He cocked his head, but paused, his eyes drifting half shut as he felt the cool liquid of the shampoo before he felt Celestia’s hooves lightly running through his hair and massaging his scalp.

He inhaled softly as he smelled the fragrances of fresh peaches, the slightly acrid scent of lemons, and the fresh scent of apples along with the scent of lavender and cream. Admittedly, he had no memories of things similar to this, but it was immensely relaxing.

“You do not find this awkward, do you?” he heard her murmur.

“Not really. It is…. unique, I will admit as I don’t have any memories of anything like this, as I doubt anyone could say they’ve bathed with an Alicorn Princess,” he replied shyly as he shivered slightly, feeling the lather running down his back as he heard the soft trickle of water as Celestia rinsed his hair before he took a slow breath. He knew the areas where the wings had come from his back was sore and itchy, like the skin had thickened.

“Hmmmm, it seems like your wings, when they came out, tore through the muscle, though I notice they regenerated quickly and thicker and stronger, likely to make flight easier. They are sore, however, yes?” he heard her voice murmur gently.

“Aye. Feels like a dull toothache all over my upper back and shoulders,” he said softly.

She giggled a bit before he felt her hooves brush his wings closer to his back before he inhaled sharply in surprise as the dull aching faded as she lightly pressed a few points on his shoulders and back. “Pressure points?” he said softly.

“You know about them? I wasn’t sure humans knew about them,” Celestia said with interest.

“Humans know about pressure points and nerve clusters that can either be used to dull pain or create it. Some nerve clusters, if struck in certain ways, can render somepony unconscious immediately,” he said softly, turning his head as he saw her picking up the washcloth again before adding more soap to it, rubbing it between her hooves. He noticed that her tail and hair was drooping slightly, most likely from the heat and steam from the bath, but their color was only a few shades darker from their pale pastel tones.

He jolted slightly as he felt the cloth brush over his shoulders before gliding between his wings before he inhaled sharply, shivering as he felt his cock harden almost immediately as her hoof brushed the cloth in small circles over his skin before he felt the cloth glide back up on the skin just beneath his wings before he exhaled slowly. His eyes slid almost closed before he inhaled sharply as he felt a very strange, relaxing sensation.

He turned his head to see bubbles trickling between the feathers before he felt the intense tingling sensations as she used what he was almost sure was a sprayer to rinse away the lather from the soap. “Damn, that feels so strange…. like pins and needles but stronger,” he murmured wryly, hearing her giggle in response.

“Think of what it’ll be like when you fly,” she teased, amused. She nudged him to stand a bit, noticing with mild interest that he was around six to seven inches shorter than herself as she saw his lower body exposed to mid thigh.

She let the cloth glide down over his hips and thighs before feeling him shiver as she stepped closer to him before she let the cloth slide around his thighs to the back before he took a deep breath as she washed the back of his thighs and ass, giggling as he jumped slightly. She smirked slightly, the corners of her mouth curling upward.

He shivered as he felt the cloth brush between his thighs as he felt Celestia push her head beneath his arm as she grinned before he saw her glance downward, seeing him aroused.

She giggled a bit as she manipulated the washcloth to wash his manhood as well, noticing with amusement as it twitched. “Have you ever been with a mare?” she quipped. She laughed at the fact as his face went red, almost as red as the feathers of his wings.

“N-no, and it won’t be simply for…. pleasure. I’d prefer to fall in love with somepony…. Ugh…. still feels weird saying ‘somepony’ instead of ‘someone’,” he said with embarrassment.

Celestia hummed as she nuzzled his chest and side before the cloth slid into the water with a splash as she helped him turn to face her. “I won’t make you sleep with anypony, even myself. Admittedly, it will take time to get used to these, though I can help you get used to them over time,” she said warmly.

“I’m sure it would take time to adjust for obvious reasons. For example, where I came from, there were Princesses… but none with…. well… magic like you have,” Alexis remarked, frowning slightly; he knew this fact, yet…. He couldn’t remember where he’d heard it.

“Hmmm, so it seems you do remember some fragments of your world, am I getting that right? Oh well, with time, I’m sure, you’ll remember more. If not, you are more than welcome to make a new life here, with us,” Celestia said warmly as he sat down in the water, rinsing himself off.

“I guess so. I can’t shake the feeling I’m here for a reason. That something from the past… this past…. is still around. What it is, I couldn’t say… even if I tried… but the Biometals…. are imparting this… sense to me,” he said slowly, meeting her gaze, though he noticed she was washing herself, humming softly.

He hummed softly, thinking as he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, Celestia watching him. “Bit for your thoughts?” she commented.

He blinked, distracted. “Just thinking. I always had a memory for music… and martial arts. Though I couldn’t read sheet music worth a damn. It was more…. a blend of muscle memory and instinct, though the eidetic memory helped with that,” he said wryly, his tone soft as he saw her crouching down in the water so the water washed over her back and sides.

“If I had to say my personal top three musicians would have been Tom Petty, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and George Thorogood. Bands, though…. I can think of quite a few. Top, though…. would likely be Lynyrd Skynyrd, Metallica, Journey, and Foreigner,” he said wryly. He noticed Celestia’s eyebrow rising as he got the sense he didn’t know whom he was referring to. “Stevie Ray and George Thorogood have somewhat similar sounds as both of them have heavy blues-based riffs, but some of the others are more… fun,” he said with a slight smirk.

“Maybe we’ll be able to visit a recording studio, as there is one here in Canterlot as well as Manehattan,” she commented with interest.

“If you have an acoustic guitar, I can do one after we get out,” Alexis replied with a smirk. That made the Solar Diarch’s eyebrow rise with interest.

“And it will not be by one of these… bands you have mentioned?” she said with a thoughtful tone.

“Admittedly, there are some songs by similar bands that use acoustics, known as ‘unplugged’ songs or more often as ‘ballads’. The one I’m thinking of, though…. is neither. It’s a country song with a slower feel to it, but does tell a story behind it,” he said wryly.

She hummed thoughtfully. “You have piqued my interest, Alexis… though why do you not go by Jonathan?” she said thoughtfully.

Alexis blinked, shrugging after a moment. “Alexis…. could be used either as a male name or female name. So… if I’m able to shift between forms, why not use the same name for both?” he said thoughtfully as he sighed softly.

Shortly afterward, they got out of the bath, Celestia draining it, though he did notice she levitated a sphere of it and dropped it out of one of the windows with a small playful smirk. An outraged yell soon followed as she snickered. “I get the feeling you like a practical joke every now and then, right?” he commented.

Celestia shrugged as she watched him dry himself off before wrapping the towel around his hips. “You never know when a good prank livens things up,” she quipped. He snickered in return.

“True,” he acknowledged.

Spirit of The Music

Streets of Canterlot City, Equestria #2651915

Alexis cocked an eyebrow, glancing down at himself as Celestia had gotten him a pale goldenrod vest with scarlet edging with a dark goldenrod interior over a dark gray plain v-neck shirt. “I assume you had tailors make this, hai?” he said thoughtfully as he glanced at the golden bronze baggy Arabian style pants and darker copper sandals.

Celestia only smirked, her eyebrow rising slightly though she was quiet, not giving any sign either way.

He rolled his eyes, sighing softly. “Of course, you’d be a lovable troll, eh?” he sighed. He felt the vest tighten slightly before he blinked, seeing his wings flaring out behind him a few times in a nearby mirror, lifting him a few inches off the floor before settling his feet on the floor as they settled snugly against his shoulders.

He was mildly surprised to see her guiding him towards a nearby balcony before he noticed how low the Sun was. “I can never decide which I like more, a good sunrise and sunset…. or the night sky. Both have their own unique beauty,” he said softly.

He noticed Celestia looking away for a few moments before she took a deep breath, her horn igniting in a warm golden glow before the Sun slowly set before he blinked as the Moon slowly rose, assuming that it was like on Earth. He wasn’t sure why that came to mind, though clearly, it was different here.

“Are… you able to use magic? Are humans able to?” her voice was soft, almost hesitant.

“To my knowledge, humans are able to influence energy… but like what you did, projecting actual energy that can manipulate their surroundings? Not to my knowledge. Though since arriving here… It appears I can, to some extent, though I know next to nothing of it in its use if that’s what you’re asking,” Alexis replied.

She hummed thoughtfully. “I think you and I should spend a night on the town,” she commented with a small smile. “And you can show me some of this music you know,” she said with a small smirk.

Alexis shrugged. He heard a squeal of surprise before something a light shade of purple, specifically mulberry, shot past him before skidding to a stop. It was a much smaller Unicorn pony, with a dark blue and magenta streaked mane and tail and deep amethyst eyes as she stared up at Celestia. “I’m going to be a strong unicorn one day, don’t you think?” she said in a slightly squeaky, excited voice.

“I’m sure you will, little one. I must admit, I was rather surprised to see she got away from you, Cadence,” Celestia commented.

The younger mare, whom he noted with mild surprise was also an Alicorn, had streaks of pale goldenrod, moderate rose and violet in her mane with light purple eyes as she was breathing hard. “Sorry. She got away from me,” she said wryly, grimacing as she sighed softly. He was amused by her surprised look before she tilted her head, staring at him.

He inhaled softly, feeling an odd tingling itch over his wings, unaware that the tingling was because a very thin layer of metal was sheathing his wings and feathers, though he did notice Celestia looking up with a mildly surprised look on her face. He glanced over his shoulders, noticing the feathers seemed much more reflective suddenly.

He blinked, seeing the filly staring up at him when he turned his head back, her gaze inquisitive and surprisingly cunning. “How did you do that? Can anypony like you do that?” she started asking before he crouched, touching her lips before she paused, looking down at his fingers.

“It’s a trick I can do, though I don’t think anyone else can do it. And to my knowledge, there aren’t any others like me,” he said softly. “Though I do know of another trick I can do you might like, though we can’t do it here,” he murmured, seeing her eyes light up with interest and excitement.

“Cady, can we see his trick? I really, really want to see it,” the filly said with excitement.

Cadence giggled, cocking her head with a small smile. “If he doesn’t mind us tagging along, I don’t see why not, though we do have to get back to the house, remember, Twilight?” she said with a small smile.

Alexis got the feeling that Twilight kept Cadence’s life very interesting and exciting. “I don’t see why not. We can get a meal on the way, check out this recording studio Princess Celestia mentioned, then escort you two home. I suspect you’ll be quite surprised,” he said with a small indulgent smile.

“Do humans get Cutie Marks? What're those funny marks on your arms? They look like dragons,” Twilight said rapidly, almost running her words together from excitement.

“To my knowledge? No, and these are birthmarks I’ve had for as long as I can remember, and they are Dragons… specifically Chinese dragons that denote, traditionally, good luck, benevolence, much like Celestia, and strength,” he remarked with mild amusement. He usually kept his birthmarks hidden, as the dragons glittered in the moonlight, the silvery purple one on his right arm coiled around his forearm with its amber eyes and the reddish gold one with its bright emerald eyes coiled around his left forearm.

He exhaled softly, looking out over the balcony. “I’ll be honest, I have no idea if I’d even be able to fly. I do know that, for humans, it’s impossible for unaided flight especially with wings like these,” he said wryly, his wings flexing with the slightest musical ringing tone like a windchime. “But clearly, here…. it is not like on Earth. Therefore, it is entirely possible that what I know of flight could be entirely different,” he said quietly.

“You don’t have flight?” Cadence said curiously.

“We do. Let me put it this way, we went from hang glider style planes to supersonic planes in the space of forty-two years… the fastest plane known can go nine times the speed of sound,” Alexis said in a deadpan tone.

He saw the eyes of the trio of ponies widen in surprise and, he thought, awe, though he couldn’t be certain. He shrugged nonchalantly before he turned away, looking out at the night sky, his eyes drifting half closed as he stepped onto the balcony a few feet from Celestia.

Celestia drew in a sharp breath as he bent his legs, her eyes narrowing. Her eyes and magical senses noticed the air swirling around his feet, the air seemingly eagerly responding to his desires. She was mildly startled when he shoved off suddenly, shooting high into the sky before his wings flared out, shoving him higher before he hovered in the air, his wings beating steadily. She smirked as Cadence gasped, surprised before Twilight whooped in joy and sounding quite impressed.

Alexis felt his wings flapping steadily, though he had the strong sense the very wind itself was speaking to him, almost guiding him. His eyes widened slightly as both Celestia and Cadence took flight as well, the small mulberry filly on Cadence’s back. He half turned, feeling himself drifting in the breeze before he blinked, looking over the city below.

Celestia laughed as she saw his awestruck face. “Enjoying the view?” she teased.

“Damn. It almost makes me wonder what the view from the top of the mountain is. Though…. I do notice the village to the southeast, if the moon rises in the east, aye?” Alexis sighed, cocking his head at the distant village.

“It does, which I assume it does for your… home… as well?” Celestia said carefully.

“Aye. Only two known planets in our star system move retrograde, that is, west to east. One is the closest planet, the other is much more distant,” Alexis said quietly. Ever since ‘Harpuia’ had merged with him, he could not only feel her presence, but also remember a bit more of his previous life to waking here in ‘Equestria’, as he’d recalled some of the guards calling it.

He shrugged at her unsure look, though she smiled faintly as she tilted her head towards a tall five-story building that was rounded on the top couple of stories. “Starlight Hoof Records is right there,” she said warmly.

Alexis nodded slightly before he dove towards the ground before touching down roughly half a block from the record building. He half turned as he saw Cadence and Twilight, accompanied by Princess Celestia, touched down several yards away. He did notice that there were few wandering ponies around that didn’t really seem to notice them, which was just as well, in his own opinion.

He noticed more than a few restaurants, most small shops, though several that he noticed looked like both meal and dessert shops. Those, he mused, would be decent. He didn’t miss how Celestia glanced at a particular doughnut shop with what he almost thought was a longing look.

“So, you are a musician? Were you any good?” Twilight said excitedly.

Alexis shrugged in reply. “If you mean a paid musician? No, though I would like to think I’m decent. Never tried writing a song, though,” he said wryly, half turning to face them.

“Though here…. the songs I know would be utterly new to everyone, I’m sure,” he thought aloud. A small smirk crossed his face at the thought, as he was fairly certain that was a talent he could put to good use.

“What sort of songs were you thinking of doing? Huh, huh, huh?” the little filly said, bouncing with every ‘huh’ she said excitedly on her hooves.

“That would spoil the surprise, Twily,” Alexis teased, tapping her nose.

Twilight pouted, puffing her cheeks out. “I’m fourteen, you know, and that’s the nickname my brother uses,” she mumbled.

“Oh? Hmmm, never had any siblings myself, that I can remember, anyway,” Alexis teased as he turned away. “I do have at least four in mind. All have very… very… different sounds to them, I can say that much,” he said wryly, tilting his head as he looked over his shoulder at the young filly.

“I’m sure I can speak for all three of us that you have very much piqued our interest, yes?” Celestia said with amusement. Cadence and Twilight both nodded, the latter bouncing on her hooves a bit as if she couldn’t resist the urge to move and do something.

Celestia led the way into the recording building, not that surprised that very few ponies were awake although one, in particular, was a particular older filly, he guessed probably three or four years older than Twilight; she had the Cutie Mark of a bridged pair of eighth notes. Her mane was deep shades of cerulean and sapphire blue with some ultramarine tones. Her tail was roughly half again as long as Twilight’s.

He didn’t recognize the young mare, though he suspected Twilight did as she bounded up to the mare and hugged her suddenly. His eyebrow rose slightly, a small smirk crossing his face. Cadence chuckled, while Celestia hummed softly, sounding amused.

“So, whazzup? Never thought you'd be interested in mingling with common musicians, Princess, even if my DJ career is kinda floundering,” the young mare said bluntly.

“What style of music you go for?” Alexis said with mild interest.

“Dubstep. Gotta have music somepony can dance to,” the mare replied matter of factly.

Alexis hummed. “Never really listened to dubstep myself, frankly. But I do recall music that'll probably blow your mind,” he said wryly with a challenging note near the end, making the mare snort.

“I'll believe that when I hear it. Name's Vinyl, by the way,” she said with a smirk.

He smirked slightly as the young mare whom he guessed to be around two or three years, five at most, older than Twilight, led them towards a series of recording rooms.

“Which one were you going to start with?” Twilight gushed excitedly.

“Hmmm, I think I know a good one,” Alexis said with a smirk.

He cocked an eyebrow as the door swung open on a pale cyan aura before he glanced at the young mare who still hadn't removed her deep amethyst glasses.

He blinked as in swirls of emerald and ruby lights, a slightly tanned if shaggy blond haired guy with dark green eyes smirked as the pale deep emerald haired young woman with dark rose eyes simply stood at military attention.

Alexis noticed that the blond guy wore deep red clothing with pale golden accents, whilst the young woman wore deep green, almost a forest green, with dark gray accents.

“Zero… Harpuia?” he said cautiously, to which the guy smirked wider, shrugging nonchalantly, as the woman nodded slightly. “Well, that does confirm if you’re a guy, Zero,” he deadpanned, smirking as Zero rolled his eyes.

“Idiot. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were X,” Zero muttered.

“Nope, though I can assure you, I hope to gain your respect… you and the others… just as he did,” Alexis said dryly.

Harpuia tilted her head. “We will see,” she murmured in a soft, lyrical monotone.

“What song were you thinking of starting with?” Vinyl’s voice said with a smirk, noticing the light flickered red as she spoke.

Alexis smirked slightly. “Something a bit slower before I go for the heavier sounds,” he commented with an amused edge to his voice.

He inhaled deeply, noticing out of the corner of his eye Zero going for a bass guitar, while Harpuia settled herself behind the drums. He took a soft exhalation as he picked up a nearby acoustic guitar before letting his fingers glide over the strings.

He grinned slightly at Celestia’s jaw-dropping in surprise as Twilight’s eyes widened at the same time Vinyl grinned while Cadence glanced at Celestia, appearing highly amused. “How about something with a bit more…. bite to it?” he quipped, smirking.

“When you think it’s time to give up… watch for The Light,” Alexis quipped, smirking. He could tell Cadence and Twilight were having fun, while Celestia was interested, and Vinyl was fairly bouncing on her hooves with a huge grin.

He saw Celestia grin at that one, bobbing her head steadily as she seemed to like that song. Vinyl was grinning broadly, as if they were recording the music. “I really don’t care if you’re recording this, Vinyl,” he deadpanned, shrugging nonchalantly.

He shrugged as he cleared his throat. “You gotta have more than that, dude!! Come on!!” Vinyl cheered.

“Oh, I have plenty more. But certain little fillies do need sleep,” Alexis chuckled, cocking his head as Twilight was bouncing on her hooves and humming softly, though he could tell she was tired from how she was fighting to keep her eyes open.

“Let’s get something in our guts, then get them home, eh, Princess?” he quipped, noticing out of the corner of his eye Zero vanishing in a gust of crimson-tinted air as Harpuia did the same in an emerald-tinted gust of air, though he felt a tingle between his shoulder blades when she vanished.

“Get something in our guts?” Cadence giggled. Alexis shrugged nonchalantly.

“You know, feed our faces, fill our bellies, stuff our maws, or whatever other expressions you prefer,” Alexis quipped.

Twilight let out a sleepy giggle before Alexis lifted her in his arms, amusing both of the older mares before he tickled her, making her laugh far louder, making Vinyl snicker.

“I got a feeling if you do get a Cutie Mark, it’ll be music related. I haven’t seen talent like that in… ever,” Vinyl remarked. “Maybe we can come up with something together,” she said with a chuckle.

“Only one way to find out, ya ken?” Alexis snickered.

“Ya ken? What does that mean?” Twilight’s curious, somewhat sleepy voice said.

“It’s an Irish quip that means ‘ya know’, essentially, though I can’t remember if it’s a verbal tic or something. Could be, for all I know,” he said wryly.

“It’s kinda cute, though if you think that makes me attracted to you,” Cadence remarked.

“I won’t say you aren’t attractive, but I prefer to know someone before I think of being attracted to them… physically or otherwise. Admittedly, I could see you as a close friend,” Alexis remarked as they walked through Canterlot’s streets after exiting the recording studio.

He let his gaze slide along the buildings, though he was still carrying Twilight, who wasn’t all that heavy, he noticed, though he didn’t really care to think how heavy she was. She was, however, more than light enough he could carry her for an extended period with ease.

He hummed softly, lost in thought as he let Celestia lead the way, though he cocked an eyebrow as she turned towards a small restaurant across from the doughnut parlor he’d noticed earlier.

“You seem distracted. Need me to take Twilight if she’s getting too heavy?” Cadence remarked with amusement.

“Just lost in thought as there’s one song in particular I was thinking of, but the opening of it is remarkably challenging. Never could quite master the opening of it, though the rest of it is fairly easy compared to it,” Alexis replied with a soft sigh.

“Is it one we’ve heard?” Celestia said softly, pausing.

“No. I doubt it, though I wouldn’t be too shocked if there were similar versions of music I’m familiar with here,” he quipped.

“Oh? Why?” Celestia said with amusement.

“Because if there’s one thing that’s true… it’s that music can portray emotions that are otherwise difficult to show sometimes. If one is truly talented, music can show a side of themselves that can even surprise them. Me… to my knowledge, I’m not that talented… at least that I can remember,” Alexis sighed, glancing up at the moon, noticing the odd discoloration, but assuming it was merely how the craters shaped themselves into an equine head.

"Who is this sibling Celestia mentioned? Somehow, I get the sense something she regrets is connected to the answer," he thought.

Author's Notes:

Hungers and Passions

Author's Notes:

This is as far as I've rewritten. Open to crossover possibilities.

Canterlot City, Equestria #2651915

Alexis sighed softly as Celestia turned into the small shop, noticing she glanced longingly at the doughnut shop before he smirked. “Have a sweet tooth, Tia?” he teased, amused as the Princess jumped in surprise before she blushed.

“Few know of that particular nickname… specifically… a sibling,” she said softly, her tone reminiscent. “But yes,” she finished.

He noticed that she didn’t say who that sibling was, nor did the press for that information. He shrugged. “I don’t think I had any siblings that I can recall, though I could certainly see you three as siblings,” he murmured. He felt Cadence press against him almost as if she were hugging him as he felt Celestia’s wing brush his back, his wings shifting in response.

“I’m pretty sure we’d like that,” Cadence’s voice was soft, amused.

“You know, you’re going to have to learn how to use those wings. Since they’re pegasus wings, they have their own unique magic, though that being…. Harpuia, I think you called her…. may help with that, I think,” Celestia said softly. She sounded like she was thinking aloud, though he got the feeling that she knew of ponies that could help him in that as well.

“You say that like wings can do something with the wind,” Alexis said quietly as he slid into a booth, letting Twilight settle next to him. She seemed rather sleepy before he smirked slightly, catching Cadence’s eye who smirked in return as he tilted his head before he blew an obnoxious raspberry on Twilight’s barrel, making her eyes snap open as she squealed in surprise as Cadence laughed. Celestia, however, laughed more softly and demurely.

"How do you know they can't?" Celestia quipped with a small, playful smirk.

“What was that for?” Twilight said sleepily.

“You do want to eat dinner, don’t you? After all, the last thing we need is a hungry filly,” Alexis quipped, amused as he tickled Twilight, making Cadence smirk as Twilight squirmed and laughed. She suspected he would get along well with Shining Armor, unaware they’d already met.

Twilight squirmed before she pushed against the human’s chest, slipping out of his arms into the seat near him. “Meanie,” she mumbled.

“I’m more playful than mean. At least to those I like. Those I don’t like…. well, if they’re smart, they won’t antagonize those I like or myself. Otherwise… well, let’s just say I can be inventive,” Alexis quipped with a nonchalant shrug.

“Oh, ho, so you’re a prankster?” Celestia said with amusement.

“I can be, though, on a body, there are places that can be either pleasurable… or painful. Someone antagonizes me, I can make it painful. If they’re a close friend, pleasurable. At least I’m not a masochist or sadist, getting off on pain or causing pain to others. It just… doesn’t interest me,” he said wryly, shrugging as if it mattered little.

Celestia hummed softly, thinking, though what she could have been thinking about, he wasn’t sure. He noticed a waiter approaching out of the corner of his eye.

“What would be your order? Oh, Princess…. It will be an…” the waiter sputtered, looking surprised at Celestia’s presence.

“I am merely another pony seeking a good meal at the moment, if you will. I do not care much for my position unless I am in the palace,” Celestia said with a slight smile.

“I believe I would want a hayburger with fries, as would my charge,” Cadence said smoothly and kindly.

“I would prefer a double hayburger, with fries,” Celestia said gently.

“I’ll have the same,” Alexis said mildly, amused as the waiter gave a start, apparently surprised. “Hey, it’s better to be noticed than not. Lord knows I dealt with that enough in the past,” he said wryly, blinking as that comment escaped almost reflexively, yet he could feel absolute certainty it was true.

Admittedly, he was curious as to what a ‘hayburger’ was, though. Hopefully, it didn’t have any actual hay within it, as a human couldn’t digest that particular grain directly to his knowledge. He was unaware that the nanites that had merged with his body did allow him to digest such grains, absorbing the nutrients fairly easily.

He cocked his head as his gaze drifted lazily around, his eyes narrowing fractionally as he noticed a mare in the corner near a piano, her hooves very lightly touching the keys as very low, soft music played.

From the fact that few ponies reacted to it, they didn’t recognize the tune, though he immediately did. He frowned fractionally, as he knew the original song was about the hardships of a childhood where the singer wasn’t very appreciated. He had the sense this pony was feeling something similar, though he got the sense she was extremely lonely.

Celestia’s eyes were on the human, though her ears swiveled upon catching the soft music, her gaze following to the mare, whom she didn’t immediately recognize. Her eyes narrowed for an instant before she heard the hoofbeats of the Earth Pony waiter, noticing with mild surprise that the human looked troubled.

“Originally, that particular song was about being unappreciated, though it could refer to during one’s childhood or during a relationship, through which it would be in that mare’s case, I don’t know,” he said softly, noticing that even as her ears swiveled, his ears twitched slightly. She noticed the subtle crystalline tones of the ‘birthmarks’ he had, as he’d called them. She had to wonder if there were something similar to Crystal Ponies where he had come from, though she doubted he would recall clearly that detail.

She also noticed what appeared to be a slight silvery sheen to his skin, it was barely noticeable, but as close as she was to him, it was pretty noticeable, though she had to admit that he looked quite attractive in the clothes she’d commissioned for him.

She giggled at his look of surprise as the food slid in front of him before she used her magic to set the food in front of their companions. “I must admit that I have never heard of the type of music you were playing. Where did you learn it?” she remarked with amusement.

“Honestly? I can’t remember. Must have heard it somewhere, I guess,” her human companion commented distractedly, sounding lost in thought.

Alexis exhaled softly, rolling his shoulders as his wings shifted agitatedly. The ‘hayburger’ looked almost like a turkey burger, to him. He tried it and found it a bit grainy, but the flavor was almost like turkey with a hint of pepper, at least to his palate.

He didn’t mind the flavor so much, as he preferred the spiciness of it, though he was almost certain there wasn’t any meat in it, which didn’t make much difference to him. He glanced at the other ponies around, noticing more than a few of them were staring at him, though they tried to be discreet about it. He frankly didn’t care if anyone stared at him.

He ate slowly and carefully, his gaze flickering between Cadence and Twilight before flickering momentarily to Princess Celestia. He felt an odd tingling sensation between his shoulder blades as he got the sensation time slowed down before his eyes widened fractionally, their dark aquamarine color deepening to a dark emerald before his arm flashed out, the magical bolt of energy hitting his palm as the silvery nanite fluid hardened instinctively, forming a dense gauntlet over his hand and forearm, the energy crackling with a soft whining purr as his eyes narrowed, the dark reddish purple and silver gauntlet pausing just beneath his elbow, the black glove evident as Zero’s usual glove was a deep cream tone. His hand clenched abruptly, the energy being consumed into the dark metal as the faintest, barely visible flickers of pale mauve light seemed to flicker beneath his skin momentarily as he shook his hand a bit.

Celestia blinked as she spotted the flicker of cloak for just an instant in the dim moonlight before she noticed their human companion rubbing his head with his gauntleted hand before she cocked an eyebrow, noticing thin grooves on the back of the gauntlet as the slightly thicker metal shone ever so slightly. His irises had deepened to an almost ruby tone as his tone, barely above a whisper murmured very softly, his tone breathy.

“Inshō Armor designated ‘Phantom’, active. Recharge cycle imminent in sixty-five standard minutes,” he whispered; had she not been listening closely, she might not have heard it.

“What precisely do you mean?” Celestia murmured before she was distracted by a rather loud belch coming from a surprisingly small filly, which made her giggle, amused as Twilight seemed utterly embarrassed and confused.

Alexis blinked, cocking an eyebrow, amused. “Let me guess, you ate your food but didn’t try exhaling between bites, did you? That tends to build up gas inside ya… which does need to come out somehow,” he teased, chuckling as Twilight pouted.

“But how would it come out?” Twilight said innocently.

“Hmmm, one would be a good, strong belch… the other,” Alexis mused idly, before a loud, raucous flatulent fart escaped. He cocked an eyebrow at Cadence, who wasn’t meeting his eyes with a look that seemed far too innocent.

“Would be that,” he deadpanned, Twilight giggling in response. Celestia snickered, amused as most of the ponies seemed confused where the fart had come from, which he didn’t mind at all.

“Shall we pay?” Cadence said with a slightly shy smile.

Celestia smirked slightly. “We already did,” she quipped, glancing at the small pouch of embroidered fabric on the table.

Cadence sighed softly, but smiled as Alexis slid out of the booth, Twilight sliding out after him, followed by Cadence herself as her aunt slid out of the other side.

“I have a feeling you’re going to be looking for whoever fired that blast at you, aren’t you?” the human commented.

“Their magic was a deep, almost liquid, cerulean, moving almost as if the light were more like a liquid rather than energy. Very distinctive. No doubt it’d be easy to trace,” Celestia murmured softly, close to Alexis as her wing brushed his as his fluttered. Her gaze flickered to Twilight, the faintest edge of golden fire entering the Alicorn Princess’ soft deep lavender irises. “But threatening an innocent filly….” she murmured.

“Pisses you off. The idea of threatening a child… or a foal… pisses me off something nasty… like Nightmare,” Alexis finished. He saw her stiffen as if that particular word bothered her.

“Phantom gave me more memories… there was a virus at one point… Zero was immune to it, but it tended to infect and, to some extent…. make the darker desires of others more…. noticeable. It was known as the Nightmare Virus,” Alexis said softly.

“A disease? That is… what infected her?” Celestia whispered, her tone worried.

“Only one was immune in a similar way to Zero… only because he corrupted the Virus itself…. made them subservient to him,” Alexis murmured.

“Who was he?” Celestia whispered softly.

“Sigma,” Alexis muttered. He glanced at Celestia, whose eyes were narrowed slightly; had he not seen her kinder nature, he might not have been able to tell she was troubled and a bit annoyed.

“If Sigma shows himself…. I’m going to stomp a mudhole in his ass and walk it so dry, it’ll make a desert look inviting,” he sighed, hearing Celestia giggle in response.

His eyes drifted half closed before snapping open as ruby and amethyst flames flared over his body as it shifted into the Inshō Armor. He gained black gloves, dark purple gauntlets over the backs of his hands and forearms with a thin trio of blade gaps as well as dark gray armor over his upper arms and thighs, a dark purplish black armored vest and dark grayish black chestplate, armored black greaves and dark purple boots with a thin reddish amethyst ring around the bottoms of the boots. The helm was a compact helmet with a thinner silver mask around the eyes and upper cheeks, his ruby eyes narrowed fractionally as he cocked his head, the dark red scarf rustling in the breeze as his hand drifted slowly before pulling out a trio of thin quartered sapphire discs with silvery rings around the edges, barely noticeable gaps quartering the rings.

“We’re being watched, and not by anyone friendly,” Phantom Alexis murmured, hearing a low, odd rustle that made him think almost of leather jackets in the breeze, but multiplied by around two dozen.

“Strange that the Lunar Guard would be out in such force,” Celestia murmured, her eyes flickering to the rooftops, where glinting slitted golden, emerald, aquamarine, ruby, teal, and amethyst eyes were staring at them.

“Not if there’s a threat, such as from that,” one soft, sibilant voice murmured.

“If you’re referring to me, then I’m as much a threat as a silent fart…. only dangerous in an enclosed room. Here? I could care less about attacking or hurting anyone. If anything, I’d much rather avoid it. Frankly, the most dangerous thing I might do… is tickle someone like… this,” Alexis quipped, his gaze flickering to the third shadow staring at them with dark amethyst eyes as the eyes narrowed as he stepped closer to Twilight before tickling her, the filly screaming momentarily in surprise before the scream dissolved into laughter as she’d been almost asleep.

Celestia noticed the bodies of the Lunar Guard tensing at the scream before they seemed almost confused at the laughter as nobody laughed when hurt, unless somepony was either enjoying the pain or they were far more dangerous than they appeared.

She heard numerous huffs. Her ears also caught a few muttered comments like “Somepony is a damn idiot.” and “That egotistical asshole is going to regret wasting our time,” which made her smirk slightly as she half turned. “I believe you can handle the punishment of whomever took up your time, I’m certain,” she said warmly, almost lazily.

He glanced up, seeing a flash of fanged teeth before the rustling increased in pitch as forms shot off the rooftop before he snickered. “I have a feeling someone may regret annoying them,” Alexis quipped.

Celestia smirked as she half turned, trotting into the doughnut shop. “Oh, I’m very sure they will,” she replied with amusement.

Alexis cocked an eyebrow slightly as he shrugged fractionally, following Celestia and noticing Cadence, carrying Twilight on her back, was as well. He inhaled deeply as he caught the fresh scents of sweet rolls and doughnuts. He exhaled softly. “I can’t remember the last time I had a doughnut,” he murmured.

“That will change, as long as you’re with me,” Celestia quipped, smirking. “Two eclairs, please, Joe,” she said warmly, “and whatever they desire as well,” she finished.

“Eh?” Alexis said with mild surprise. “Hmm. I’m leaning towards… a glazed chocolate doughnut and a s’mores doughnut,” he said thoughtfully. He saw Twilight spring to her hooves, looking extremely interested.

“S’mores doughnut?” she said with widened eyes. “IwantoneIwantoneIwantone,” she chanted rapidly, making Cadence snicker as his eyebrow rose slightly.

“You want three? I’m pretty sure one is enough for you, Twilight,” he teased, smirking as Cadence snorted a laugh as Twilight blinked, then giggled.

“I did say I want one, not three,” she said resolutely, her ears lying back on her head before she blinked, cocking her head a couple of times, apparently realizing what she’d said.

Cadence giggled as Twilight tilted her head almost like a confused puppy. Celestia giggled a bit.

“Then you have to think before you speak. I understand the excitement, but if you let it get away from you and react without thinking, it can leave you open to both good things and bad. It’s always possible for somepony to take advantage of you either for better or worse. From what memories I have…. in my personal case, it was more the latter than the former,” he said, blinking as he noticed the small plates hovering in a warm golden aura from Celestia’s magic as Cadence ordered a strawberry doughnut with vanilla frosting and chocolate sprinkles.

He hummed softly, his hand rising before his eyes widened fractionally, startled as a deep ruby aura flickered before engulfing the doughnuts he’d selected. Celestia inhaled sharply.

“I thought you said you could not manipulate magical energies?” she said with surprise and caution.

“No human can… but here? It appears the magic saturates everything…. and I do mean everything, myself included. It would explain why I gained wings… unless it responds to intent and desire,” Alexis said quietly, thinking aloud. Even as he spoke, he focused, thinking before, to his mild surprise, a tri-bladed glaive materialized, glowing with a dull amethyst aura before it dissolved into mist, fading into the ruby aura before he tilted his head. “Interesting. It does respond to intent,” he said thoughtfully.

“Would… I be able to gain wings… like that?” Twilight said hesitantly as a tentative pale mulberry aura flickered around the plate with a single s’more doughnut upon it.

“Somehow, I have a feeling you’d have enough concentration to manifest wings in such a manner, but even now, I can feel a minor drain, so it likely has a fair drain on whatever magical energy you have depending on how long you use it,” Alexis commented.

“Hmmm, you’re quite intelligent, you know, and correct. Direct mana manifestation is tricky, but possible. It can, however, be draining when held for extended periods, so it is wisest to do so for short periods of time,” Celestia said with amusement.

Alexis saw Celestia tilt her head close to Twilight. “Though I have a feeling both you and he are just as intelligent. Admittedly, I am tempted to see which is more intelligent,” she murmured conspiratorially.

“In what, magical strength, or common sense? Pretty sure one has the edge in the former, while the other has the edge in the latter,” Alexis quipped.
Twilight pouted, thinking they weren’t talking about her.

“I know next to nothing about magic, while I have a feeling this little one…. Could well have potential that rivals say… you,” Alexis said wryly, ruffling Twilight’s mane, making Cadence giggle.

Twilight pouted, but blushed a bit. Celestia smirked slightly. “I’m well aware of the potential she has. I must wonder what sort of potential she has, however, as I have yet to see it,” Celestia quipped, smirking fractionally.

“Give it time, she’ll grow in ways nobody expects, I’m sure,” he commented, making Twilight grin a bit, amused but very shy.

“How can you be sure?” Twilight said shyly before she bit into the doughnut, shuddering in surprise at the flavor, her eyes half closing as she shivered before her eyes fluttered open a bit. “Whoa,” she murmured in surprise.

Cadence was giggling while Celestia was smirking. Alexis chuckled. “Pretty sure she had a foodgasm,” he teased, smirking slightly. “Though admittedly, I have to admit I’m curious how they taste myself,” he deadpanned, tilting his head as he bit into the chocolate glazed doughnut. His eyes widened slightly as he shivered, his wings rustling softly.

“Huh, that’s pretty damn good,” he commented.

“Now you see why I enjoy them, when I can,” Celestia quipped with a soft smile bordering a smirk.

He shrugged, smirking slightly. Cadence noticed with interest that his wings were sheathed in dark amethyst metal that glinted in the moonlight. Each and every feather glinted like sparkling gemstones, catching the moonlight before she cocked her head, hearing a metallic clunk before her ears twitched, her eyes widening fractionally as she noticed a creature not unlike their companion, though she got the sense that this one was nowhere near as friendly.

She focused a stunning spell into her horn, ready to react. It wore dark blue pants, dull olive green leggings, and bluish black boots, while its upper body was sheathed in what was clearly dark gray body armor. What caught her attention, however, was the strange weapon in its grasp.

Her eyes widened fractionally as a faint reddish yellow glow grew in the opening of the weapon before it fired two bursts of light at herself and Celestia. She blinked as she heard a rasping snap before the bursts detonated into sparks as she spotted a blur of amethyst and black before she saw three sets of three gaping slashes over its chest and abdomen forming a ‘V’ over its chest with a horizontal slash across its abdomen. She blinked as Alexis straightened before she heard a whining as it slid into two halves before it detonated in a fireball in the middle of the street. It was then that she noticed the thin and faintly glowing sets of three blades extending from the backs of his hands. The glow over the blades was a pale pastel silver.

“Bitch, please…. if that was supposed to be something, I’d expect more than one assault drone,” Phantom muttered, his voice cool and almost emotionless.

“We’ll eat on the move, now. We have to get Cadence and Twilight back to their home safely,” Alexis said quietly.

They made their ways quietly through the streets, his gaze scanning cautiously around before his ears twitched as his eyes narrowed fractionally, the tips of those claw blades protruding from his gauntlets. He heard a low buzzing sound before he smirked fractionally, noticing Spitfire gliding lower towards them. He cocked an eyebrow slightly as he twisted his wrists palms up so the blades fully retracted to barely visible tips that looked more like ornamental diamonds embedded in the dark metal.

“‘Sup, darling?” he drawled, making Cadence and Celestia snicker as the young Wonderbolt stumbled upon her landing.

“You do know you could show a bit of respect. I worked hard to get to where I am,” Spitfire said dryly.

“I could, though I don’t know what a Wonderbolt does, that and you’re cute when you’re flustered,” Alexis quipped, teasing her. Cadence was trying to hide a grin and barely succeeding as she found this highly amusing as the young Wonderbolt blushed deeply.

“Q-quit embarrassing me!!” Spitfire said suddenly, her wings tucked against her shoulders and barrel.

Alexis chuckled. “You're radiating a kind of You can Look, But Don't Touch aura at the moment, and yeah, that is a song reference,” he quipped with a smirk.

“What song would have that sort of title?” Spitfire muttered, curiosity in her voice.

“A song about someone buying intimacy, though while I liked the song, I didn’t like the message behind the song,” Alexis deadpanned, shrugging.

Spitfire snorted, as did Cadence. He could tell neither liked that concept.

As they walked quietly, he glanced back up at the moon, his ruby eyes narrowing ever so slightly for a few seconds. For just an instant, he sensed the dark malice, though it was more of a focused hatred is not that it was focused on him so much as someone near him. His gaze for just an instant flicked to Celestia, who didn’t seem to notice as she bit into one of the eclairs she’d ordered. ‘Call me crazy, but if it’s directed at her….. It won’t touch her,’ he thought.

He took a deep breath before cocking an eyebrow, thinking. “One thing that’s common with everything sentient… is that we all make mistakes. The real question, however, isn’t whether or not we make mistakes, but whether we learn from our mistakes,” he murmured.

“Very well said,” Celestia commented thoughtfully with mild amusement.

“In my mind, the most dangerous things one can embrace are hatred, gluttony, envy, and pride,” he murmured thoughtfully. “Hatred clouds the mind like a thick fog as well does gluttony with its constant desire for more. Envy… it is like a snake, slithering into one’s mind while pride… is the most dangerous, as it makes it to where one refuses to acknowledge their own shortcomings,” he murmured.

He didn’t notice Celestia’s ears lying back at his murmurs, as the last two could refer to Celestia herself. However, Celestia did not feel pride in her mistakes, especially regarding Luna, her sister. She felt more regret than anything.

“We all feel regrets, even if we don’t recall them consciously,” he murmured softly, lost in thought as he couldn’t remember what bothered him.

It wasn't long afterward that they bid Cadence and Twilight a good night before making their way back towards the palace.

“I have a request of you, Alexis, ” Celestia said quietly.

A New Destiny Pt I of II

Author's Notes:

This is the first chapter of 2019!!

Open to crossover possibilities.

Front Palace Entrance, Canterlot City Equestria #2651915

Alexis cocked an eyebrow at Celestia’s tone. It was almost shy and nervous, unless he was mistaken. He tilted his head, his eyes narrowing fractionally.

“What is it that you desire? I’ll admit that I want to know just what I’m capable of,” he said quietly.

“I want to teach a student, one who has great potential. I see that potential in both you and Twilight, so it is possible that you will be learning together,” Celestia said softly, a small smile crossing her face.

“Hmmm, okay. I’ll admit that I want to learn more about this world, and learning under you would allow me to do that, and discover, potentially, what Sigma wants. I have a gut feeling that they’re intertwined,” Alexis commented. He had a feeling that Sigma had found a way to remain hidden in plain sight.

“Who is Sigma? You claimed he was some sort of sentient virus,” Celestia said softly.

Alexis inhaled slowly as his armor’s aura shifted from a deep amethyst to a warm ruby tone, revealing Zero’s armor before his eyes opened, revealing deep emerald eyes.

“He was an honorable Reploid, once. He was one of the first to encounter the original Zero, unaware that there was a virus contained within Zero’s pod and Zero himself. Zero was the only one that was not only immune to it, but grew stronger from it, though it cost him mentally as the stronger he got from the original ‘Zero Virus’, the weaker his morals and kinder nature became until he was a ruthless assassin. However, Sigma, surprisingly, was semi-immune… until we found out later that he wasn’t just immune to it… he merged with it… altered it to benefit him. It became the ‘Sigma Virus’ which became well known for creating what was known as Mavericks. Reploids that would rampage beyond their given programs, putting innocents in danger,” Zero’s monotone voice spoke in a low voice.

“That is troubling. It sounds almost like Dark Magic Corruption,” Celestia murmured.

“There’s a possibility they are connected, but we can’t be sure,” Alexis said quietly, shaking his head slightly.

“It’s also possible that the force they know as ‘magic’ could be bio-energy manipulation of some sort,” he heard Harpuia murmur in his mind.

“Possible, I suppose, though I won’t guess further without evidence,” he thought back.

He noticed Celestia’s ears twitching as if she could hear his thoughts. “Can you hear me, Celestia?” he thought. He smirked slightly as he noticed her alabaster cheeks darken with a red tint, confirming his suspicion.

“I don’t mind that you have telepathic talents, but there are some thoughts that we do prefer to keep to ourselves. And sometimes, body language can reveal secrets our thoughts do not,” he commented aloud, seeing Celestia wince as he called her out on that ability, which from what he guessed seemed to be a passive rather than conscious gift.

“I thought…. that you would not like the fact that we… have passive telepathy, so I neglected to mention it,” she admitted.

“Meh, as long as you keep it to surface thoughts, I don’t mind it at all,” he said wryly, shrugging.

Celestia sighed softly, walking towards the palace, which he didn’t mind at all. He exhaled as he focused, dismissing Zero’s armor so it reverted to a dull silvery white bodysuit before he rolled his shoulders, his wings rustling against his shoulders, though they were sheathed in a light, impact resistant, layer of metal.

“Let’s get some rest, Princess,” he said quietly. He blinked, his hand dropping to his belt before pulling free a badge no larger than a golf ball in radius.

“Hmmmm. Could be useful… If you need the Gale of Justice or the Fangs of the Shadows by your side, call upon the Blade of Light ‘Aeta Zero’. Those who walk the path of darkness and hatred, I will punish with agony and pain,” he whispered, his hand tilting so the badge fell into a rift of swirling darkness before it was spat back into his hand as the Void Rift sealed itself. He exhaled softly, unsure why he even did that, though he simply hung the badge as a belt buckle, not noticing the belt buckle shimmered as the belt became a warm golden orange.

He sighed softly, rolling his shoulders before he walked quickly towards the Palace, thinking about Celestia’s offer.

He had to admit that he was curious what sorts of advantages he would get, though it didn’t really matter that much to him, if he was honest.

“We will talk about the potential benefits of your new position in the morning, I think,” Celestia said gently as she nudged him gently towards the stairs towards the wing he recalled his own room was.

“It’s interesting that Zero and Harpuia seem to be able to project themselves out of my body… I’m thinking they are able to gather a physical shell of dense magic mimicking their spirit forms,” he thought.

“It is quite a likely theory, My Student,” he heard Celestia’s voice whisper in his mind, though he heard her giggle as he jumped in surprise as she was a few yards behind him.

“Just curious, but do they have football here? It’s a sport that’s rather competitive, but it could be used to make sure your Guards are easily able to move in any direction if the need arose,” he commented.

“I do not believe so, though I have never heard of such a game. What sort of game is it?” Celestia commented with interest.

She blinked as he yawned as he shivered slightly. “Go on, we both need our rest, I think,” she giggled.

As Alexis turned over, he yelped at the sudden sunlight streaming into his eyes, though at the same time, he felt an odd rush of energy flooding his body. ‘Ugh… never was a morning person, but that hasn’t changed. Seems I can bolster my body’s own energy with whatever energy this… bodysuit… absorbs… which seems to be solar radiation,’ he thought tiredly.

He wasn’t sure what time it was, though he absently tried to figure that out. “It is Nine Fifteen Standard Time, Sir,” Harpuia murmured in his mind. He blinked a couple of times, caught off guard. “So, you, Zero, and Phantom are active. That leaves Fenrir, X, Axl, and Leviathan dormant for the time being,” he muttered dryly. “Yes, Sir,” came her monotone reply.

He suspected that each of the Biometals had a particular element linked to them. He knew Harpuia was linked to the element of Wind, though he wasn’t sure about Zero or Phantom. He could guess, though.

He was a bit startled to see a mare with pale sea green fur, a deep glittering sapphire mane that fell in messy waves over her shoulders and a pair of deep amethyst eyes. She dropped down before jumping in surprise, her wings flaring out in surprise as he noticed the steaming bath before he smirked as she yelped more in embarrassment as she landed and slipped into the bath herself. “Fortunate that you don’t have clothes on, otherwise it’d be even more embarrassing, I think,” he commented with amusement.

“And this isn’t embarrassing?!?” the mare said with an annoyed look.

“Cute, maybe, and probably relaxing for you as I get the feeling from how you were shifting a bit on your hooves you seemed tense… like you don’t often get a chance to relax,” Alexis commented, a small smirk crossing his face as he wore a dull gray tank top and black shorts that stopped just above mid-thigh while being barefoot.

The mare blushed. “Ah… I’ll admit I probably don’t get as much chance to relax as I might like,” she said shyly. “I’m… Flètanpèt,” she said shyly, a hint of a Creole accent in her voice.

Alexis tilted his head thoughtfully. “Flètanpèt, that’s a beautiful name,” he commented, amused as the mare blushed again, almost falling into the bathtub again as she looked away as he pronounced her name ‘Flea-tan-pea’ with the ‘T’ at the end silent.

He noticed the unsure look on her face before he slid into the bath near her, though all he did was run his fingers through her mane, amused as she shivered before very noticeably calming around him. “Just relax. You want me to wash your mane for you?” he said softly, his tone gentle.

She blushed deeply. “Ah… ah… I can… I can get it,” she said shyly.

“I don’t mind… whoa there,” Alexis said quietly, catching her hoof as she almost tumbled into the deeper part of the bath as she reached for what he guessed was shampoo or conditioner though he didn’t really pay attention to precisely how she did so.

He found her blush rather cute, though he tried to let her relax despite her clear nervousness. “I won't take advantage of you, if that's what you think,” he said quietly.

“It just feels…” she started.

“Awkward? I'm sure it does. After all, I didn't expect anypony to actually run a bath for me. But then again, I've never been in a royal palace before either,” he admitted, a bit amused to hear the mare giggle.

“You're not from around here, are you?” Flètanpèt quipped as she turned around with a generous dollop of shampoo in her hooves as she noticed him sinking a bit lower in the water so that only his neck was noticeable above the bubbles.

“Is it that obvious?” Alexis muttered, a bit surprised to feel hooves running through his unruly hair.

“Pretty much. I’ll admit that I’ve never seen anypony like you,” she murmured with mild amusement.

He shrugged, sighing softly as he felt his wings rustling before she blinked, giggling as he felt her hoof lightly brush against his upper back just above where his wings were.

“How did you get these?” she murmured shyly.

“No idea. I do have a theory on it, however,” he said shyly as he let his eyes drift closed as he felt her hoof running through his hair as he could feel the heat coursing through his body from the water’s heat.

His eyes snapped open as he felt her hooves brush over his shoulders before massaging into his skin before he groaned softly, his eyes drifting half shut. “You sure you don’t work at a spa or something?” he said softly.

She giggled in an amused tone. “Actually, I do, but it’s not a public spa. It’s primarily for very select members,” she said with amusement.

“There’s one song that has been stuck in my head as it was intended for veterans of wars,” he murmured.

“I’m not very familiar with music, unfortunately,” his companion said softly as he shivered, feeling his wings flex as he felt her hooves massaging his back, the tense muscles relaxing.

“It's okay, as at one point, I was more an admirer of musical talent, never really trying it for myself. Though I can genuinely say it gave me even more respect for musicians, as whilst most people who go to concerts simply see that part of the action… they never see the challenges of practicing or of songwriting,” he said softly.

He shivered as he felt her hooves slide along the upper edge of his wings, heat coiling low in his belly at the feeling. He knew he was kneeling in a ready seiza stance with his wings half unfurled which gave her easier access to them. He knew the pony’s name was translatable to ‘Storm Lily’ in Haitian Creole, though he couldn’t explain how he knew that even to himself. It felt almost instinctive, which implied that he was intelligent even without the assistance of the Biometals or whatever else he’d gained upon arriving here.

His eyes drifted almost closed as he felt her hooves brushing over his wings, seemingly, he assumed, checking over his wings before he felt her hooves slide down his back between his wings, sending chills rushing through his body as he gasped before he felt her hooves massaging the middle and lower part of his back. He half leaned forward as his eyes drifted half closed before he heard her voice murmur something.

“...ur…. ver. Can…. ou… ear me? You can turn over if you like,” he heard her say. He inhaled deeply, shivering as he sighed softly, turning over so he was mostly floating on his back, not realizing that his cock was very much obvious and quite stiff.

She giggled before he yelped slightly, his awareness sharpening as he realized she’d brushed her hoof over his cock. “Now, I can get the rest of your body, then… you can get mine,” she giggled. He cocked an eyebrow at her sultry tone before he smirked slightly.

“Oh? Would you prefer me to wash you slowly or quickly?” he quipped, teasing her.

“Wh-what?” she spluttered.

“Do… you… want… me… to… wash… you… quickly… or… slowly?” he drawled, teasing Flètanpèt.

“S-slowly is fine,” Flètanpèt said shyly, blushing as she looked away as he let his wings fold in tight against his shoulders, letting himself float upright before he smirked a bit as he hugged the mare close.

“You’re so damn adorable, you know? I could definitely see you as a little sister,” he teased.

“How old are you?” she deadpanned. “I’m seventeen and a half,” she said dryly.

“Before I got here… seventeen,” he deadpanned, a bit nervous when she smirked.

“Aaaaaaw… I got a little brother,” Flètanpèt teased, letting her hoof scrub against his skull in an obvious noogie.

“Hmmm, meh. Doesn’t make much difference to me. I was an only child, anyway,” Alexis deadpanned. He blinked, a bit caught off guard, though at the same time, certain it was true.

The mare smirked, amused. “Not anymore, ‘lexie,” she quipped, amused. He rolled his eyes in return. He cocked an eyebrow as she let the smirk widen as he noticed her wing flicking towards a bottle that said ‘Fur conditioner’ before a few feathers wrapped around it almost like fingers.

He blinked in surprise, a bit surprised at what she did. “Huh, didn’t expect that,” he deadpanned.

He let his eyes drop before he ducked beneath the water, feeling the water rinse away most of the lather on his body and wings. He surfaced, brushing the dark auburn and golden copper streaked hair out of his eyes as it was saturated.

He gasped softly, shivering as he felt a hoof press firmly but gently against his chest before massaging over his skin, the sensation sending chills rushing through his body. He took a deep breath, half leaning against the edge of the tub before he saw Flètanpèt smirk before she slid closer, feeling her rear legs straddle over his thigh as she placed the other forehoof and started to massage his chest and shoulders with both forehooves as he felt her lean her head against his shoulder as he felt her mane brush against his shoulder and upper arm as she massaged his skin.

His eyes drifted half closed as he inhaled deeply, sighing as he felt her massaging his shoulders and upper arms. “You have a relaxing presence, you know,” she sighed, shivering as he felt her hooves brush underneath his arms, the sensation highly ticklish.

“Hmmm, I wouldn’t know about that,” he said softly as he shivered, feeling her hooves run down his sides before she smirked.

“Well, I’m telling you now, ti frè,” she quipped.

“Little brother,” he heard Phantom whisper. “I have a feeling that will be a handy trick and thanks for the assistance,” he thought back. He heard Phantom grunt in return.

“Well, tanpèt sè,” he quipped, chuckling a bit, amused as she blushed deeply. “You’re pretty adorable,” he teased.

He shivered slightly as she kept washing his upper body as she snickered. “You’re silly, you know?” she quipped.

He rolled his eyes as he sighed softly, his eyes drifting half closed before he heard a firm knock on the door.

His eyes snapped open, their color becoming a deep amber as the sclera turned a rich onyx tone as he felt something surge up within him as he saw everything shift into shades of pale blue and gold before he noticed the pure golden white aura on the other side of the door, noticing that everything that should have been impossible to see through was more in outlines of themselves. “Interesting, a sensory talent,” he mused.

“That seems to be unique to you,” he heard Zero remark thoughtfully.

“Interesting,” he heard Celestia murmur with amusement. “Though I was curious why one of the maids hadn’t come back,” she commented.

He noted that Flètanpèt didn’t react to Celestia’s psychic voice as she kept washing his arms and abdomen. “She kinda fell into the bath and has unofficially adopted me as a ‘younger brother’ in her words,” he murmured. He noticed a shift in Celestia’s Aura, getting a sense of embarrassment. “I don’t think it’ll be too much longer before we’re out, Princess, unless you want to join us,” he teased. He noticed her Aura shift again before her form abruptly winked out and vanished.

He blinked a few times, his eyes deepening to a soft, crystalline aquamarine-teal as he shivered, gasping as he felt Flètanpèt shuddering against him though he did notice that she was panting and smelled salt. “What’s wrong?”

Flètanpèt looked up at his concerned tone, blushing slightly. “Nothing,” she said hastily, looking embarrassed.

“You’re like me, aren’t you? Alone in the world,” he murmured, seeing her wince almost immediately. “Well, you’re not alone anymore, tanpèt sè,” he said softly, hugging her as he slid deeper into the water, letting it rinse away the lather. “Now, to wash you down so you’re more relaxed,” he said quietly, his tone firm as he let her slide down a bit into a shallow area of the bath.

He started off wetting down her head and mane telling her to close her eyes. She did right away to my pleasure, so my fingers gingerly worked the water into her head and mane. With the sprayer head in one hand I used the other to massage the water into her neck, shoulders and each front leg, and then worked on her back and wings. She sighed at his ministrations and began to relax.

Now soaking down her haunches and rump was going to be interesting. His fingers worked their way into her coat around each of her cutie marks which looked like a ceramic jug within a rounded bowl, both swirled with pale purple and dark goldenrod, which she moaned slightly. She even whined slightly when his fingers left to soak her tail.

The fun part was going to start as the massage part of her wash he was going to do during the soap down phase. After taking the shampoo he put a good measure of it on her head, mane and back to start off with then put it on the shelf next to him. Now using both hands he gently massaged her head working the soap into her mane.

“Relax yourself completely and let all your worries fade away while listening to the soft soothing sound of my voice.” Flètanpèt sighed and relaxed under his hands. Going from her head and mane to her neck, he worked the soap into her coat while using massage techniques. Her back came next and she reacted with a soft low moan when the space between her wings were done. Speaking of that he grabbed the soap after getting her back done and soaped down her wings cautiously as he didn’t really know what he was doing that well. He was careful here and just soaped it down while straightening her feathers.

He used the sprayer to rinse her body off thoroughly, dragging his fingers through her fur as he felt her shivering before she moaned softly, her eyes fluttering open. “By Celestia… you could rival anything I or my coworkers could do with those….” she said, pausing.

“Fingers, ane-chan,” Alexis quipped, teasing the mare.

“Yeah, those,” Flètanpèt sighed, shaking herself.

“Though admittedly, I’ve never had a massage like what you did, so it was a new experience for both of us,” he quipped.

“In more ways than one, since I’ve never bathed with a stallion,” Flètanpèt mumbled.

“Eh? What was that? I couldn’t quite hear you,” Alexis said with mild concern.

“It’s nothing,” Flètanpèt said shyly as she tapped a button with a hoof, the heated water swirling down the drain before she smirked, making the human cautious. She grabbed the sprayer before firing it, the water spraying out icy cold as she giggled.

Alexis yelped in surprise before he shuddered, his eyes snapping open as he groaned. He sighed softly as Flètanpèt smirked as she cut off the flow of water. He saw her eyes widen as her gaze dropped before he glanced down, wincing as she saw his manhood, which fortunately wasn’t stiff and aroused, though it wasn’t exactly small compared to most humans.

“Now, how are we going to dry off?” she said half jokingly. She saw her new sibling smirk before his hand flashed out, two towels shooting from the shelf before one landed in his hand before the other spread out, covering all but her tail as she looked surprised.

“I don’t know, you tell me,” Alexis quipped teasingly. He snickered as the mare shook her head, the towel flipping back over her neck, cocking her head as her amethyst eyes narrowed.

“Here I thought I was the only prankster,” she deadpanned. Alexis snorted at that as he started drying himself off as he settled on the edge of the bathtub.

“Trust me, hun. There are always pranksters… the real question isn’t necessarily if there’s a prankster, but when you’re going to end up pranked,” he deadpanned, smirking.

She smirked before shrugging. He let his gaze drop, focusing on drying himself to give her some semblance of privacy. He exhaled as he pressed both palms to the side of the tub before doing a backwards shoulder roll, landing in a fluid crouch, not realizing that the nanites formed into a pair of dark gray and silver shorts and pale gray tank top as he was instinctively thinking of clothes.

He saw Flètanpèt’s eyes widen as his wings flapped a couple of times before settling on his shoulders.

“How do you use magic? Most with wings are Pegasi and they use their wings primarily for Air or Weather Magick,” she said curiously.

“Pretty sure that’s the thing. My magic seems to flow throughout my body, not just focusing in one area, like my wings. It’s almost like it has a secondary circulatory system within my body, though I can’t be certain of that,” Alexis commented wryly.

“Somehow, that makes an odd sort of sense. You think it’s the same with somepony like me?” she said shyly.

“It’d make sense, really. I mean, it’s most likely that the only reason certain groups of ponies, like you… the Unicorns… the… ‘normal’...” he said wryly, pausing.

“Earth ponies are the ones you’re thinking of. Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth ponies,” she teased.

“Yeah, them. It would make sense that certain parts of your bodies would be developed physically, like wings, or the body… or, and I’m assuming, the mind, as well. If magic can enhance certain parts of the body, then why not focus it to certain parts to do different things? Heck, for all we know, that could be how you can pick up things despite lacking fingers, just like now,” Alexis deadpanned, tilting his head as Flètanpèt’s eyes dipped to where she was holding the towel, where it seemed to cling to her hoof despite no real physical reason to do so.

“It would make sense that it’s almost instinctive for ponies to create a ‘gluing’ tactic with their hooves to pick up or hold items, if I had to put it into words,” he commented.

He saw her blink, cocking her head as she looked thoughtful. “That makes a strange sort of sense, now that I think about it. I wonder why most ponies never even think about it,” she said thoughtfully.

“Because it’s most likely learned early on, most likely as a toddler or newborn, if I’m right. It becomes instinctive to the point where it’s like, say, breathing, or your heart pumping blood through your body. You don’t even realize you’re doing it despite the action itself apparently having no… well… at least from my perspective, possible way of actually happening. I mean, it looks to me like it’s being held with fingers, despite the fact that you have no fingers, technically speaking, so it’s most likely an extension of your natural Aura as an attractive force like magnets, only in this case, your hoof is one end of the magnet, and the object you’re holding is the opposite end of the other magnet,” he said wryly.

She shrugged, though he got the sense she only understood half of what he’d said, which made some sense.

He half turned, hearing her move around, but not really paying attention to it. “Something tells me that it’s going to be interesting the next few months,” he muttered.

Shocks and Surprises of his New Destiny {II of II}

Author's Notes:

I wonder how many will get the reference near the end... lol.

Dawn Palace Hall, Canterlot City Equestria #2651915

Alexis exhaled softly, dressed in a similar outfit from the previous day. It was a deep sapphire pair of baggy pants that had fairly large pockets whilst he wore his belt around his hips with his Token acting as the Belt Buckle. He wore a dark cream, almost pale coffee, undershirt with a cream and pale golden edged vest he had cinched shut over it.

He took a deep breath before he felt his bare and calves covered by deep metallic crimson boots and shin guards. He had left his surrogate adopted sister resting as she’d seemed extremely relaxed after the bath, almost catatonic.

“No doubt that I kinda embarrassed Princess Celestia, either that or she’s busy. If that’s the case, I should try…. training. If Sigma is around, we can’t run the risk of fighting him and not knowing what we’re doing,” he muttered. He knew the spectral forms of the Reploids linked to him likely agreed.

He smirked slightly as he noticed a nearby balcony before he darted quickly towards it, hearing hoofbeats growing louder before he vaulted over the railing, somersaulting as his hand reared back, golden red digital flames flaring up before his hand snapped across, a ring of ruby lights flaring forming a screen of energy before he dropped through it, landing in Zero’s armor with a heavy crunch. He heard a gasp before he glanced to the side, seeing Princess Celestia looking mildly startled.

“You just leaped from a fourth story balcony, roughly forty five feet off the ground,” she murmured in mild shock.

“Meh, where’s the fun in taking the stairs? Too boring, in my opinion,” he quipped back, making her laugh as he straightened.

“You do have a point. The stairs are okay for gathering one’s thoughts, yet…. If you want to just forget… no better way than flight,” Celestia teased.

“That or a good, long, steady run. I can never really decide which I prefer more, the night, a good sunrise, or a good sunset. They all have appeal of different sorts, much like a good long soaking bath, a bubble bath, or a shower in comparison,” Alexis said wryly. He noticed the thoughtful look Celestia gained.

“What is the longest steady run you’ve done?” she said curiously.

“Hmmmm. I’m not sure. Only one way to find out, though. I assume you have some sort of course,” was his reply.

Celestia smirked, chuckling. “Perhaps I do, though I will admit that it is rather… fun,” she quipped.

She half turned, glancing from side to side. “Only those elite amongst the Guard know of this. Young Shining Armor is in training to be the upcoming Captain of the Guard, hence why he is not here. He has as much potential as you do, though I must admit that you seem to be instinctively familiar with the aspects of physically enhancing your body with magical energy,” she commented.

“I’ve been thinking back to a comment Shining made when we were on our way here from where the airship landed… he claimed that I somehow propelled myself up the railing rather than running up it as I’d intended. It seems that I can focus the nanites within my body into different forms and, if I’m right, even store weapons within them, hence why I lack the Z-Saber at the moment,” he said thoughtfully.

“Z-Saber?” Celestia echoed blankly. In reply, his hand flicked out, silvery liquid forming into the hilt of a blade before a golden red energy blade of a little over a foot an inch or two shot out, crackling softly with small, luminous arcs of golden flame.

“This. It is Zero’s standard weapon, though as I seem to have the BioMetals of the others, I can access their weapons as well, if I’m right,” Alexis said thoughtfully.

“I assume that they are ranged, as well?” Celestia commented.

“Harpuia’s weapons are mid to long ranged, as are Phantom’s, though I think the latter is more of a close to mid ranged combatant primarily,” Alexis commented, noticing a hidden doorway opening in the wall where the running path seeming curved into the wall. “Nice disguise. Disguise it as the wall, when in fact, there’s much more behind it when most would assume it is merely an area to turn around,” he commented with interest.

Celestia smiled, then laughed softly. “Quite cunning, aren’t you?” she teased.

Alexis shrugged wryly as he focused, the armor dispelling in tendrils of ruby light and flames, leaving him in the clothes he guessed Celestia had had laid out for him, revealing he was barefoot.

“Do you not need hoofwear?” Celestia said curiously.

“Footwear? Meh, I can use the nanites to form them if need be. What sort of course is in there?” Alexis said with a shrug.

“Rather challenging, although I do not know what you would be used to,” she teased with a playful smirk.
Alexis cocked an eyebrow, amused. “Oh? Let’s see it,” he quipped, chuckling. He let Celestia lead the way before his eyebrow rose, seeing the course as it looked like halfpipes turned at a thirty degree angle as well as ramps, jumps, and dips of varied heights as well as staircases and balancing rails as well as vaulting jumps before he tilted his head, noticing quite a few of what appeared to be sprayers for water and streams that emptied into pools.

“What do you think?” Celestia quipped.

“Quite impressive. Looks like it challenges every part of the body,” he said with interest.

He hummed softly, thoughtful. “It’s going to be a challenge to complete, it appears,” he said wryly, rolling his shoulders as he snorted a soft laugh as Celestia trotted regally down onto the stairs onto the course. He took two steps before vaulting off, somersaulting before landing in a low crouch and rolling through the landing.

“You willing to race? Or are you scared?” Celestia teased.

Alexis smirked, chuckling. “Are you? After all, it’s no fun if you run the course alone, unless you’re doing a ‘time trial’, though I have to admit that I am curious which of the BioMetals I have access to are the fastest… though… I do wonder if I can mimic a particular move from another armored individual,” he said his tone amused before shifting to thoughtful near the end. “I doubt I would use a tactic like the Morph Ball, if I can even mimic it… though it’s more likely I’d be a MBB,” he thought wryly.

“MBB?” he heard Zero mutter in his mind, sounding confused.

“Morph Bowling Ball. My ass ain’t that small,” he quipped, before hearing a facepalm.

“Idiot,” he heard Phantom mutter dryly.

“What fun is life if you can’t laugh at yourself?” he chuckled, amused as he bent his legs. He suspected how he’d employ it would more be along the lines of a more armored shoulder roll than as Samus Aran might employ her Morph Ball. As he focused, lightly armored shoulder pads formed over his shoulders and upper back, enclosing the tops of his shoulders and shoulder blades.

He noticed Celestia smirking out of the corner of his eye. “Let’s roll,” he quipped, smirking as he rolled his shoulders, half crouching before he shoved off as Celestia shot forward before he vaulted up the stairs, skipping every other one before he leaped off, managing to keep his balance on the rolling log, glancing momentarily over to see Celestia managing to keep her balance as well before rolling over on her side before regaining her hooves.

“Whew,” she huffed.

“Nice recovery,” Alexis praised, amused. He paused, half turning before an impish smirk crossed his face. “What would really be a challenge… would be doing that on your hands… or… forehooves, I think the word would be?” he said carefully. He saw Celestia grin as if she found that idea hilarious.

“Seems you have a prankster streak in you as well, don’t you, my dear Student?” Celestia chuckled.

Alexis shrugged, smirking. “It’s fairly easy if you expect it or know the course well, as I’m certain you do, but doing it in an unexpected way puts a challenge on it that nobody sees coming,” he said wryly, turning back to the course before darting ahead, amused as he heard Celestia’s sharp gasp as if she were surprised, though he was almost certain it was feigned.

He smirked as he heard her hooves galloping steadily before he pushed off the trampoline, catching the first rail of the tilting monkey bars. He noticed immediately that some of the rungs were missing, though he also noticed that there were two separate sets of bars. “Hmmm, this looks interesting,” he murmured, swinging from one to the next, a bit surprised to see Celestia pulling slightly ahead, swinging smoothly from one foreleg to the other before swinging for a moment; it was then that he noticed the vest that covered her wings, making it so she couldn’t employ them.

“Probably wants more of a physical challenge,” he thought curiously. He caught the final bar, then swung, catching the next set of bars before swinging himself to the next, then skipping one before he attempted to swing to the pad where Celestia stood, watching. He only realized when he let go he did so too early before he grunted, the impact of his hamstrings and lower back somersaulting him backwards into the pool.

“Felt like cooling off, ‘Lexie?” Celestia quipped, giggling as he surfaced.

Alexis shivered as he managed to pull himself out of the pool onto the pad with a bit of help from Celestia. “Do you always have the water cold in here?” he said with a clearing of his throat.

“No, but you could consider it added motivation,” Celestia said with a smirk that made him get the sense she wasn’t telling quite everything.

“That tends to happen when one gets a little heated competition,” he quipped, to which an amused Celestia stuck her tongue out playfully.

He saw her shift her weight before he started forward quickly, hearing Celestia gasp in surprise as he vaulted across the bouncy platforms which were at most half again the size of Celestia's hooves and slightly smaller than his own feet, spinning on the last one before pausing his leap for just a second as he noticed a slight bluish glow before he shot backward and upward in a Dash Jump as he just managed to spin, sliding along the tilted curve before he noticed his feet were gliding along on a slight cushion of glowing pale bluish green air as he pushed off with the balls of his feet before he cut the flow as he planted both feet and shoved off powerfully in a stalled somersault and caught the hanging bar.

“Damn…” he managed.

He rolled his shoulders, his eyes drifting half closed before his muscles flexed, his muscles and core tightening before releasing with the intense power of a coiled spring before he jerked free the bar, then set it higher, repeating the motion several rapid times.

He heard the clacking repeating before he noticed Celestia smirking next to him as he caught the next rail, which he noticed was set on an incline that would swing him down onto a cargo net.

“Over, or under?” Celestia quipped before he saw her sliding down the incline before launching into the net and quickly scrambling up and over before he smirked, snapping his hips forward which sent the rail sliding down before he slid swiftly underneath the net in a few quick shimmies and grabs as he saw Celestia pause, turning to look back up before he saw her blink, noticing he wasn’t at the top of the sliding rails before his hand swatted her flank, amused as she jerked in surprise, looking down where he sat before he rolled to his feet.

“Under, myself. Faster than rolling over, though I can’t shake the feeling I’ve seen a similar course before somewhere,” he said wryly. He sighed softly as he half closed his eyes as he rolled his shoulders.

He smirked slightly as he rolled his shoulders again before he pushed off, sliding momentarily down the short slope before he shot up the sharply curving wall, his fingertips grazing the edge of the top of the warped wall before he heard Celestia’s hooves pounding quickly as he slid back down before he felt the energy cut off from his feet, providing him with more traction. “Just what I need at the moment. Speed is useful, but in this case, traction is more useful,” he thought before he twisted, pushing off quickly, amused as Celestia yelped in surprise as he all but shoved her up and over the wall, amused as she tumbled down the lightly sloping ramp into the pool below as he pulled himself up and over the wall, crouching as he snickered, seeing the soaked Princess push herself out of the pool.

“Did I cool that competitive streak down any, hime?” he teased, unintentionally using the Japanese suffix for ‘Princess’ to tease Celestia further.

Celestia smirked as she shook herself, deliberately getting him soaked all over again. “What competitive streak?” she quipped as she turned, lightly swatting her student across the chest before he pushed off, catching one set of rings on the set of hooks which they’d have to swing from one to the next using the rings, though the second and third sets went at both downward, then back upward angles, the last sharper than the first, which was a gently rising angle. She jumped onto the opposing set of rails, swinging from one to the next, although it was possible to skip one or two with each swing, though she found it more challenging to do each and every hook. She heard her student grunt as she heard a thud before she glanced his direction, seeing him lying half on, half off the mat before he rolled onto it before she blinked, seeing a deep silvery blue aura flickering around him, levitating him to his feet before he exhaled, blinking as if surprised.

“Hmmm, self levitation tends to be a bit tricky, but you seem to pull it off fairly well,” she remarked as she swung off the rings onto the padded mat. “Some of the guards dubbed this the Spider Crawl,” she remarked thoughtfully. It was two walls which one had to press both forelegs and rear legs and shift weight from one to the other to move forward.

Alexis cocked his head, noticing there were sections that had rotating brushes almost like those in a car wash, though he suspected that was more to distract than anything. He glanced at Celestia, seeing her smirking slightly as if she knew something he didn’t. He cocked his head, his irises glowing a warm emerald-aquamarine. Looking closely, every ‘bristle’ of the brushes were soft microfibre cloths. He cocked an eyebrow slightly, his gaze flicking to Celestia again before he darted forward, pushing off before pressing both his feet and hands to the walls before tucking his legs forward, and snapping them outward a couple of feet further down the wall before tightening his core and leaning forward sharply, catching the walls with his hands a second time.

What caught him off guard, however, was that the ‘brushes’ were soaked with warm water, a very noticeable difference to the colder water of the pools. He shuddered slightly as one ran right down his back, though what caught his attention almost immediately were the suds that slid down his arms, trying to make his grip and balance more difficult. He cocked an eyebrow as he glanced back at Celestia, certain she’d known about this before he gasped, surprised as the one right behind it did the same to his front, making him shudder as the ‘brushes’ felt surprisingly good on his body. He cocked an eyebrow as he managed to push past it before he noticed the last few feet of the Spider Crawl was, in fact, a ramp… with three of those rotating brushes in close proximity to one another. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was pranking me… probably expecting me to slide headfirst…. Though I won’t say it isn’t tempting,” he thought, managing to catch the edge of the ramp before he heard Celestia giggling as if she too enjoyed the brushes as he just saw her sliding beneath the first brush as she tossed her head, her saturated mane glittering subtly in the light of the tunnel. He glanced up, seeing that it was open to the outside air, though he had to wonder how ponies hadn’t yet noticed the course from the outside as he pulled himself onto the ramp… and the suds coating himself and his clothes almost immediately sent him sliding down into the brushes. He shivered, feeling his clothes almost immediately become saturated with the warm water and whatever detergent or soap was on the brushes as he kept his eyes closed as he felt the brushes massaging almost every inch of his body… and he did mean every inch, even places he knew normally didn’t get anything there. He gasped as he was dumped out onto his back, essentially a pile of soap suds before he managed to roll over as he saw a second, somewhat larger pile of suds slide out before he saw Celestia’s head poke out of the suds, which ran down her mane and face before she laughed.

“Refreshing, isn’t it?” she giggled.

He shook his head, managing to shake off most of the foamy suds from his face. “A bit, though I have to admit that that was… interesting… for an ending,” he admitted. He saw Celestia grinning before she yelped in surprise as the platform dumped them abruptly down a long, winding ramp, landing them into another pool… this time of steaming warm water. He was mildly confused before he spotted Cadence demurely letting go of a handle and cord, a small, playful smirk crossing her face.

“Did I do that?” Cadence said with a straight face.

Now, the First Lesson Is...

Author's Notes:

The next Chapter will have a short time skip between this one and the events taking place in the next. It will be getting very close to the start of the Canon Events, now, specifically the Autumn and Winter before Nightmare Moon's Return.

Hot Spring Tub hid beneath Canterlot Castle, Canterlot City Equestria #2651915

Celestia snickered as she rolled about in the pool rather ungracefully as Alexis snorted before diving beneath the water, coming up fortunately free of the suds, though they did spread across the surface of the pool making it look more like a bubble bath.

“Want me to join you two?” Cadence teased.

Alexis’ jaw dropped in both confusion and surprise. “Huh?” he said dumbly.

“If you like, Niece,” Celestia said with amusement.

It was only then that Alexis noticed that Cadence, as she shifted, also had wings. “I seem to be missing obvious details in my distraction,” he thought wryly before he yelped in surprise as Cadence leaped in, bumping him with her shoulder and laughing as he tumbled into the water. He sighed softly beneath the surface, getting a distinct sense of something but it was distant and momentary before he pushed off the bottom of the four-foot deep pool, surfacing in seconds.

Celestia laughed as Cadence reared back, feigning surprise as Alexis burst from the water. She smirked as she tilted her head, seeing him sigh softly, though she did notice the amber contacts that apparently kept the suds out of his eyes as she settled in the pool with a soft hum.

“Do you know how to reach for your magic? I could feel it tingling over my fur as we did the course, though it felt… unrefined, I suppose the word is,” she commented.

“Nope. I do notice how… I suppose it’s like a tingling burn… seems to crawl over my body sometimes. It feels different from the nanites, which is more like a cool rush of air, if I had to put it into words,” he commented.

“That is your magic. Try to find where it originates, where your core is,” she coached gently.

“Okay, I guess. Though I have to admit that I have no idea what I would use magic for,” he sighed, shrugging as he half closed his eyes, though she noticed the water seemed to stir around him, as if trying to get his attention.
“If you would like my assistance, I do know how to help guide you, though it may feel…. Invasive, mentally speaking,” Celestia offered.

Cadence blinked as Alexis opened his eyes, the water still swirling like a living mass around him.

“How can it be invasive if there’s next to nothing there?” was his deadpan response, which made her laugh despite his tone being almost serious.

Celestia smirked a bit, appearing amused. “Well, by the time we’re done, there’ll be plenty there, right?” she teased, chuckling.

She saw him glance down at the water, which calmed almost immediately. That caught her attention, as it intrigued her as Elemental Magic was rare, especially in more than one element, and Alexis had already revealed affinities in Light Magic, Shadow Magic, and now, potential evidence of Water Magic.

Contrary to assumptions, especially untrained assumptions, Shadow Magic was not associated with the more dangerous Dark Magic or its counterpart, Corruptive Dark Magick. Shadow Magic primarily manipulated the ambient shadows around oneself and could, to some extent, be formed as weapons or, to most users, mid to close ranged weapons.

Alexis tilted his head, his eyes drifting half-lidded as he rolled his shoulders. He saw the golden aura fire swirl around Celestia’s horn as she approached, moving slowly and carefully before her horn lightly touched his head.

To Cadence’s perspective, they were engulfed in a golden prismatic aura, which intrigued her as she knew her adoptive aunt’s magic was the deep golden aura through the prismatic aura wasn’t hers.

In Alexis’ mind —

Celestial blinked in mild surprise, finding her new student’s Mindscape was that of a beach with a forest behind and to her left flank and a small ocean to her right shoulder. Ahead, she could see what looked like a Neighponese Dojo. She noticed what appeared to be a crystal and golden pyramid surrounded by blue and silver spires beyond the ocean.

“Interesting,” she murmured thoughtfully. She could hear the clashing of metal in the Dojo and chose to investigate mainly from curiosity.

Her eyes widened slightly upon seeing the same duo she’d seen join her student in the music studio. The auburn-blond male of the duo clashed with the darker bloody auburn haired male’s weapons, the latter being her student, shimmering reddish gold katana against the other’s folded tessen, a faint bluish aura flickering over the weapons.

“You have to focus. With weapons like the Bashou Fan, my Zeta Saber, and the Kaiser Knuckle, fluidity makes their use easier and stronger. Plus whatever ambient magic we seem to be absorbing can potentially unlock techniques none of us know,” the auburn-blond said dryly.

“Obviously, Zero. Unlike you and the others, though, I don’t have those moves instinctive yet, but,” her student retorted as a small orb grew between the contact points of their weapons before detonating with a dull thump that Celestia felt in her chest.

Clearly, Zero didn’t expect it as it tossed him back and away as her student slid back a few feet. She smirked as that was a very particular Deflection Spell intended towards physical attacks. She noticed the aura was growing into a deeper, richer blue until it was a light ultramarine blue streaked with flickers of teal and pale cyan.

“Celestia-himè,” her student said in a formal tone, the unfamiliar suffix catching her attention as it sounded almost Neighponese, yet wasn’t. “Or should I say Celestia-sensei? Due to you being my teacher in Magic?” he quipped as he stepped closer.

“Or maybe you’d prefer something more… intimate and personal? Kaa-chan?” he murmured in her ear. She felt the heat in her muzzle and cheeks immediately as she did know that word.

Alexis’ POV

I noticed Princess Celestia stepping back, blushing deeply and not meeting my gaze at first. A small smirk crossed my face. “Something wrong, Kaa-chan?” I half tease.

She cleared her throat as Harpuia approached, her deep green vest contrasting with her coppery gold shirt and deep bronze pants tucked into dark green boots. Her dark sea green eyes and dark teal hair was a much more noticeable contrast, especially with her slightly tanned skin.

“Celestia-taichō clearly has lessons of her own to teach you,” Harpuia deadpanned. I rolled my eyes, snorting softly as I turned to face Celestia.

“What precisely was that term? Taichō?” Celestia said softly in her gentle, motherly tone.

I cocked my head, thinking. I could vaguely recall it. “I think it means ‘captain’ or ‘superior’, but I’m not certain. ‘Sensei’, I know, means ‘teacher’,” I said slowly, a bit careful with my words as I saw Celestia turning before exiting the mental Dojo.

Yeah, I’m well aware this is my Mindscape, deal with it, idjits.

I cocked an eyebrow as I notice Celestia near a pile of sand, several fist sized spheres of sand slowly rotating around her with a faint pale goldenrod aura flickering around them almost like a flame over the silica particles.

“Do you think you can do this? Just with one sphere of sand? You have to focus, feel the flow of your magic from your core throughout your body,” she said, confusing me a bit.

I inhaled softly, closing my eyes, unaware as I felt that familiar tingling sensation, warmth tingling over my skin before I opened them, a bit surprised to see a faint ultramarine blue aura with swirls and streaks of pale cyan blue flickering over my skin. I could feel the tingling warmth, like hot chocolate on a cold night, if I had to put the sensation into words.

I saw Celestia smile more broadly as I tentatively extended a hand, pushing the flow of energy through my fingertips before a ring of ultramarine light flickered before condensing as the sand gathered itself into a ball and shakily levitated.

“You could say this can work as a control exercise. When you can levitate one with ease, add another and so on. I do have an idea for one that could get you used to manipulating the magick in finer ways, though this will work as a way to get used to using your Magick and practice. I do not mind helping you out in the evenings and early mornings…. If you wish,” she said.

“You seem… tentative in your words. You’re thinking about my comment earlier, aren’t you? If I’m honest, it was only mildly teasing, though… I won’t say I haven’t thought about it. I mean… you’re as caring as any parent, which unfortunately due to whatever happened to land me here… I have no memories of that sort of thing,” I sighed.

I stiffened slightly, surprised as I felt the heat of Celestia’s Magick touch me before I felt her body press against my own before her wing enfolded around me in a obvious hug.

“You will after this. If I have my way, I will adopt you, although I will admit that I’ve never had a foal of my own,” she said softly.

“Well, I can say that I wouldn’t be a bratty ‘foal’... which I assume is a child, hai?” I said softly, getting a nod against my shoulder and back in reply. “And I wouldn’t use being a Royal as any sort of excuse. If I make a mistake, I’ll own up to it and take the consequences of the error. Besides… I… like… being around you. The course, admittedly, was challenging and fun… and… well… Cadence strikes me much like an older sister type,” I said softly, gaining a laugh from Celestia.

I could feel our presence fading from my Mindscape, though I felt the tingle of sleepy awareness along with a chill down my back as I blinked several times, becoming aware of the heat of the pool as I saw Celestia backing away. I glanced down at my soaked clothes before shedding the vest and undershirt, leaving my upper body bare before I exhaled softly.

End 1st Person POV

Cadence giggled as the mingled aura faded away from the human before he shed his soaked clothes, at least on his upper body. Admittedly, he did look as attractive, in his own way, as any stallion. She did, however, notice that both he and Celestia seemed to be content, at the moment, to soak in the hot water. She glanced at her aunt. They had found that they were, in fact, distantly related, much like an annoying brat of a prince. She felt her lips curl as she didn’t like Blueblood as most other ponies seemed to feel the same as her, save for those whom the so-called Prince used as ‘cohorts’ whom she suspected used the Prince in their own ways.

She trotted to a nearby shelf, which held bottles of cleansers for coat, mane, skin, and whatever else they well felt like using when bathing. She noticed their human friend seemed to be simply relaxing.

She did notice the faint ultramarine aura swirling around him well as the slight pale cyan streaks, guessing whatever exercise her aunt had imparted to him in his mind, he was employing in that moment.

She hummed thoughtfully as she hooked a fetlock around one of the bottles of mingled mane wash and conditioner before trotting towards the resident human. She was mildly surprised to see him open one eye and watch her, the aura fading away as she noticed the tiniest glint of silver before it turned to a pale amber as lenses formed in his eyes as the other opened. She noticed that they covered his eyes, yet didn’t seem to impede his sight at all.

”Do you mind if... ?” she said in a gentle tone, gaining a shrug in reply.

”Go ahead, Cadence-onēsan,” Alexis said softly as he sat up so his toned chest was visible above the water amongst the bubbles. She giggled slightly.

”Maybe all three of us can do that course together sometime. I’ve only done it once or twice, and it’s challenging,” she admitted.

”I’m fine with that. I have to admit the rotating brushes made for an interesting ending... though this is just as good,” he said with a slight smirk though she could tell he was a bit playful.

She hummed softly as she poured a generous dollop of the cleanser over his head before using her hooves to scrub it into a rich lather before she noticed Celestia watching with amusement before she scooped up the fur wash before she smirked as the Solar Princess poured some over his shoulders and chest, making him inhale in surprise as he looked up at her with a surprised, and unless she was mistaken, embarrassed look. She laughed a bit as they washed his body, though she did notice that Celestia was very gentle around his throat and face, though she did notice he didn’t react when the lather did drip into his eyes, confirming her suspicion that whatever the lenses were kept soap out of his eyes.

”Interesting talent,” she mused thoughtfully.