Author's Note:
I have three exams and a project presentation left, and I'll be done with college. It took me a while, but I managed to finish this chapter.
XXX
Story Arc: Welcome to the Crystal Empire
Episode 1: The Arrival of the Chosen Hero (VI)
Chapter 6: The Arrival of the Wind
Plot: The Crystal Ponies have gathered in the main square. Then Paimon Squad and Traveler arrive carrying the Crystal Heart. They'll put it in its place their way, using a little Planeswalker magic to summon the winds of Mondstadt.
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POV Narrator
At the base of the Crystal Palace, hundreds of Crystal Ponies gathered of their own accord. Such a gathering had never been seen in anyone's memory; or rather, in their severely impaired memory, as almost none of them could remember their lives before the advent of King Sombra.
The crowd of citizens had formed and swelled for several reasons. The first had become apparent in the last few hours: something had changed in the air of the Crystal Empire, as if a rotten presence had suddenly been eradicated. Up there, the sky had ceased to be dark and cloudy, and was gradually becoming more serene.
The second reason was much more obvious and loud. A large number of Crystal Ponies, dressed in rags, with shackles on their wrists and collars with broken chains, rushed out of the palace. They ran, shouting the exact same news at the top of their lungs: King Sombra had been killed by a strange creature, which had cut off his horn, ripped out his heart, and literally torn his body to pieces.
Soon afterward, King Sombra's guards also left the castle. They walked, discarding their oppressive helmets and ceasing to carry their lances. Many of them openly displayed their happiness at being free again; just as many wandered through the crowd, desperately searching for their families. A good number seemed lost, but visibly happy.
Prisoners with shattered chains speaking of the tyrant's death, guards without helmets finally freed from their curse, and the sky cleared again: this news traveled by word of mouth, reaching every corner of the city within hours.
Many residents remained holed up in their homes, unsure of what to do. Their minds struggled to believe that King Sombra was truly dead. However, the prisoners, with their wild stories, and the former guards begging for forgiveness, sparking tearful reunions with friends and relatives, continued to sow doubt.
The bravest, the most curious, or simply those who had little left to lose, gathered in a compact group beneath the walls of the Crystal Palace. Everyone looked for answers, eager to know what had really happened, but no one had the courage to cross the threshold and enter the building. The very fact that so many had gathered in one place, without any harm happening and without any sign of the king, was deeply encouraging for everyone.
Amidst that sea of Crystal Ponies, Fleur De Verre stood out. She was a rather beautiful young mare, possessing a sinuous anthropomorphic body; her cream-colored coat contrasted softly with her pink mane and tail, both gathered and wrapped with a lavender ribbon, while her eyes shone with a hint of purple. On her shoulders, she bore a cutie mark depicting a fleur-de-lis. She wore a simple lavender dress that fell to her knees, and by Crystal Pony standards, she was as close as one could get to a young lady of good family.
Fleur De Verre was a rather talented architect, as well as the daughter of the Master of the Merchants' Guild. Naturally, she and her family had been trampled upon and treated like all the other Crystal Ponies under King Sombra's tyrannical rule. Despite this, her parents had still managed to hide a few goods from the watchful eye of the Demonic Unicorn—enough supplies to maintain a modicum of dignity and secretly help the poorest families.
Many in the crowd had managed to survive until that point thanks to the contraband rations. In truth, a good third of those present had gathered there solely out of a sense of duty to the Verre Family, determined to prevent Fleur De Verre from getting into trouble or harming herself; the more attractive females, after all, had not been faring so well lately.
"I say we should take what we find and find out what really happened! If that monster is dead or at least injured, now's our chance!" Fleur De Verre exclaimed, standing as a sort of Crystal Pony Joan of Arc, but with the origins of a fallen aristocrat deeply beloved by her people.
Before anyone could take a single step to tell her to calm down and not do anything crazy, a darting blur of black and purple came hurtling down from above, crashing to the ground a stone's throw from the crowd.
Traveler's journey from the top of the tower to the plaza had taken less than a minute. In some ways, that dizzying descent had proved both a blessing and a curse for her passengers.
"I'm starting to understand why you don't like flying, Traveler," Autumn Gem muttered. The mare dropped heavily to the ground, sitting on her rump, completely certain she wouldn't be able to stand right now.
"At least it was short," said Emerald Scroll. The royal advisor was only slightly dizzy, struggling to stay upright, though she seriously doubted she could walk in a straight line.
"You'll get used to it in time," the White Fairy murmured. Paimon was far better off than the two mares, especially since she didn't have to use her legs to move. All she did was float steadily in place, her tiny arms clutching the Crystal Heart tightly.
"Great, the townsfolk have gathered, at least they don't have torches and pitchforks," Traveler commented sarcastically. His good eye coolly scanned the dense herd of Crystal Ponies that occupied the entire plaza below the Crystal Palace.
"Don't you like crowds?" Autumn Gem asked, raising her head to look at him, ready to believe such a possibility. After all, she had discovered less than a quarter of an hour ago that Traveler, despite possessing four bat-like wings and moving through the air with the speed of a sprinting Pegasus, hated flying.
Paimon moved in midair, floating until he was right next to the blue-coated mare.
"Traveler is an Archduke; nobles and mobs have never gotten along," the White Fairy explained, clutching the Crystal Heart to her chest. She'd already seen her share of angry mobs gather and unite, intent on taking down the "great man" of the moment.
If Traveler sided with the crowd, often with ulterior motives or because he himself had unleashed it, things ended well for the people.
But if Traveler wasn't on their side... well, the commoners would no longer have to worry about hunger, poverty, or any other kind of earthly problem.
"One reason why it's illegal in my territory to possess a torch and a pitchfork—at the very least, you'll get a hefty fine, or at worst, your arms will be cut off," Traveler said. His lips tightened into a hard line, revealing his deep aversion to those specific objects.
In the Dark Planeswalker's twisted and brilliant mind, the torches and pitchforks were symbolic of an enraged herd of "sheep" who were beginning to believe themselves more intelligent and wise than their "shepherd."
Such a sight stirred pure disgust and anger in the Arch-Sorcerer's twisted heart. Bruce was many things, but not a supporter of democracy, which he considered ineffective, incompetent, and riddled with corruption.
"Cutting off your arms to hold a torch and a pitchfork, isn't that… pretty harsh?" Autumn Gem asked, tipping her ears back and curling her fingers slightly, trying to show her displeasure without sounding mean.
The blue-coated mare was not a creature for politics or legislation; her true talent lay in gardening, but it seemed a little harsh to her to amputate someone's limb for so little.
On the other hand, Traveler had just defeated King Sombra by literally tearing him to pieces, so as far as she knew, anything was possible.
As Autumn Gem loudly expressed her perplexity, Emerald Scroll remained motionless, keeping her train of thought strictly to herself.
'Why would he make such a law? He killed King Sombra, the most evil and powerful unicorn in history, but he's worried about farm tools being turned into improvised weapons?' Emerald Scroll thought, narrowing her pale green eyes and finding the whole situation strange for multiple reasons.
Traveler didn't seem the least bit angry or even annoyed by the blue-coated mare's comment.
"The judge can choose whether to cut from the elbows down or from the wrists down, but such a punishment hasn't been meted out in over 500 years," Traveler said, shrugging slightly as if he were relaying old bureaucratic news that no one cared about anymore.
The White Fairy raised a small hand to her forehead, instantly realizing that she had to fix the situation before it escalated. Although the Dark Planeswalker was a peerless genius and had brought enormous advances to his domain, he was by no means an expert at deciphering other people's emotions or seeing things from an ordinary person's perspective.
"People have given up torches and pitchforks; personal magic or magical tools for the general public are a valid alternative," Paimon said, in an attempt to contribute to the conversation and clear up some misunderstandings.
'Such a punishment has not been inflicted in his territory for five hundred years... Does this mean that Traveler is a secular being, or that his ancestors devised this strange law?' thought Emerald Scroll, lowering his gaze to the crystalline ground, fervently hoping that his new master was not a thousand-year-old creature or eternally young like the Alicorn Princesses.
But given the Crystal Ponies' chronic bad luck with rulership, it seemed far more likely to her that Traveler would sit on the Crystal Throne for the next hundreds or thousands of years.
During that conversation, the Crystal Ponies began to whisper loudly among themselves; many would have preferred to leave and run away, but apparently the news that a strange creature had appeared to confront and kill King Sombra contained a solid grain of truth. Furthermore, every single Crystal Pony had just recognized the Crystal Heart glowing in the White Fairy's tiny arms.
"My Lord, I'm sure you have many wonderful and interesting things to tell us, but we must put the Crystal Heart back in its place and deal with the... confused citizens of the Crystal Empire," said Emerald Scroll. The councilor moved her head slightly, noticing how all her compatriots were staring at her, open-mouthed, as if she were some rare animal or a character from a fairy tale—be it a bedtime story or a horror story.
Traveler took a single step forward. Reflexively, the entire mass of Crystal Ponies took a step back in unison, save for Fleur De Verre. The young mare remained frozen in place, staring straight into his eyes; her gaze betrayed none of the terror of her peers, a sign that perhaps she had been born with a superior willpower, or that her family had simply managed to protect her all too well from King Sombra's worst horrors.
"Crystal Ponies, lead the way," said Traveler. His androgynous voice sounded civil, yet laced with a subtle, cutting authority, for he had no intention of pushing his way through a crowd of ragged anthropomorphic ponies.
Traveler's words, however, fell on deaf ears. Many Crystal Ponies continued to whisper frantically among themselves, while others hadn't even heard him, their minds completely lost elsewhere.
"Moderation, Traveler, moderation," the White Fairy whispered from above, hoping with all her heart that her traveling companion wasn't in a foul mood from the flight and wouldn't decide to solve the problem using telekinesis.
In response, the Dark Planeswalker lashed out and slammed his long, protruding tail into the ground. He did so with such brutal force that it generated a small seismic wave; the violent vibration of the ground knocked most of those present off balance, causing some to fall heavily onto their backs.
"I hate repeating myself. Lead the way, now!" Traveler exclaimed, his voice suddenly rising to drown out any noise. At the same time, he quickly spread the four bat-like wings on his back, casting a massive shadow that instantly made him appear much larger and more intimidating.
'I certainly took note of that detail,' Emerald Scroll thought, shrugging and feeling decidedly relieved at the prospect of being positioned more or less behind the one-eyed dragon, rather than having to face it face to face.
In an instant, all the Crystal Ponies stirred as if lightning were running through their veins. They frantically moved aside, clearing a clear corridor for Traveler and his group. All except Fleur De Verre, who remained exactly where she was; though she had lost some of her initial confidence and her face clearly showed the effort to maintain a calm and determined expression, her wide eyes and stiff body betrayed her.
"You're good at making yourself heard," Autumn Gem commented, flicking her large equine ears back, surprised at how quickly the Crystal Ponies had disappeared.
"Actions speak louder than words," Traveler commented. He continued walking forward with measured steps, soon coming face to face with Fleur de Verre, who was forced to raise her head to look the stranger straight in the face.
All the other Crystal Ponies simply watched the encounter with bated breath; even Emerald Scroll and Autumn Gem, who were walking behind Traveler, preferred to remain in the background. The only one who stayed close to the Dark Planeswalker and the crystal mare was the White Fairy, who simply hovered in midair beside them, clutching the Crystal Heart.
Fleur De Verre opened her mouth, but the first time no intelligible words came out, strangled by the tension.
"Take a deep breath, choose your words, then say them," Paimon advised from above. The fairy knew all too well how difficult it could be to talk to Traveler, especially when he wasn't in the mood and made no effort to hide his true nature.
Fleur De Verre listened to Paimon's advice: she took a deep breath to calm her beating heart, then asked: "Who are you?"
Traveler smiled softly, as if he were watching an episode of a sitcom he particularly loved.
"The question everyone seeks the answer to, but few ever get," said Traveler, smoothly reaching inside his coat.
'He's about to put on a show,' thought the White Fairy, shaking her head slightly; she knew her best friend's mannerisms all too well; after all, they had been a team for centuries.
"I am the one who killed your former ruler, and this is the proof: his horn!" Traveler proclaimed. With a dramatic flourish, he raised King Sombra's severed horn high in the air, displaying it for the entire plaza to see clearly.
All the Crystal Ponies remained completely silent, their gazes glued to the severed horn held aloft by the stranger's hand; expressions of pure amazement, disbelief, and sudden happiness began to paint themselves across the faces of every single citizen of the Crystal Empire.
"Now, get out of my way. Besides killing a foolish tyrant, I've found your beloved relic and I want to put it back where it belongs," Traveler said. He spoke with the flat tone of a man carrying a vital load, only to find himself temporarily blocked by a little girl playing in the middle of the road.
Fleur De Verre lowered her eyes first to the severed horn and then to the Crystal Heart guarded by the White Fairy; she opened her mouth, but only confused sounds came out. Without resisting, she meekly stepped aside, clearing the way, determined not to hinder a moment her people had awaited for an eternity.
With the coast finally clear, Paimon Squad and Traveler, flanked by the two mares, advanced to the exact center of the square, stopping where a large snowflake decoration stood out on the ground.
"It sure is better than a big X," Paimon commented from above, confirming that he always has a sense of humor ready for any situation.
"Now, my Lord, tell Paimon to place the Crystal Heart on that symbol, and the magic will do the rest," said Emerald Scroll. The advisor dispensed the advice deferentially, though her forehooves were drumming frantically on the ice with excitement.
"There's no race against time, we can do things properly," Traveler replied, refusing to limit himself to such a routine and hasty gesture.
"No surprise, you like to exaggerate after all," commented the White Fairy, not at all surprised by the Dark Planeswalker's attitude.
"I'm not exaggerating: either you do things in a big way, or you go home," Traveler retorted. His nature didn't allow him to leave a job half done—one of the six best qualities, certainly, but one that, if left unchecked, risked turning into a problem.
"You don't do things on a grand scale, you do them on gargantuan proportions! Planet-scale, in fact!" Paimon exclaimed. The fairy remembered all too well how on Ysatnaf, a simple city defense tower had been transformed by Bruce into a mega-structure visible from space, just to cover a quarter of the work needed to shield the entire planet. He had to build three more in different locations across the planet to have a 100% functional planetary defense barrier.
It had taken one hundred and fifty years of effort to complete, but it was certainly not the first time that Traveler, having time on his side, had pushed things far beyond the limits of common sense.
"Good. Then for the rest of the holiday we'll do things small. Let's start with the accommodations: a cardboard box each. And for food, we'll make do with bread and water," suggested Traveler, outlining with absolute detachment a decidedly spartan travel option.
The White Fairy's eyes widened and her little body shook with a shiver of pure terror at the thought of such a regime and such a total lack of comfort.
"You know what? We're Paimon and Traveler! Legendary heroes, saviors of cities, saviors of worlds... a few years ago we even helped Shepard save the Milky Way galaxy! We should definitely go big!" Paimon exclaimed, reversing his version of history in a split second.
If the White Fairy knew exactly what buttons to press to make her partner act, Traveler knew exactly the same with her.
"Perfect, I love it when we get along," said the Dark Planeswalker, his smile barely visible beneath his gas mask.
Traveler clapped his hands decisively. Suddenly, the entire surface of his body was covered and geometrically mapped with symbols resembling neon purple fluorescent circuits. The air around him began to vibrate: he was preparing to weave a magic of the highest order.
"Girls, take a couple of steps back! Traveler is about to show you what an Arch-Sorcerer is capable of," Paimon said in a warning tone; there was no trace of panic or fear in his voice, just a healthy, well-practiced caution.
Autumn Gem and Emerald Scroll nodded in unison and walked quickly away, backing up to join Fleur De Verre, who had been standing there, watching the whole scene with bated breath.
Amulet number one, embedded in Traveler's right arm, began to glow with a bright light green/aqua green light.
Traveler separated his hands in a fluid motion: in the space between his palms, a sphere of pure magical energy condensed, which was immediately infused with the elemental energy of wind.
"Barbatos, Archon of Anemo of Teyvat, come before me!" Traveler exclaimed. He hurled the sphere upward, executing one of the basic abilities of every Planeswalker: summoning creatures and beings from a distant world.
"Make this moment memorable with the song of freedom!" Traveler continued, drawing a perfect semicircle with his arms upside down.
The sphere of magical energy released a powerful wave of ascending wind. As it glowed ever brighter, the luminous mass began to shift shape, expanding and morphing until it assumed a humanoid—or rather, angelic—silhouette.
"Wonderful, the Tone-Deaf Bard is about to make his appearance," commented the White Fairy, not particularly enjoying the presence of the one who bore the title of Archon of Anemo.
The wind grew thicker and more concentrated, pushing back the glare and creating a small, solid barrier of light; a visual process similar to that of a boiled egg shedding its shell, but executed in an infinitely more spectacular and theatrical manner.
In an instant, a being unprecedented in the world of anthropomorphic ponies appeared in the Crystal Empire.
In his Archon form, Barbatos—or Venti, depending on how he chose to present himself—retained an androgynous and extremely youthful appearance, inherited from the body of the young bard whose likeness he had assumed millennia before. He had a very light, slender, and petite build, devoid of pronounced musculature. His face displayed delicate, soft, and neutral features, blurring the lines between masculine and feminine; his skin was extremely pale and smooth, porcelain-like, dominated by large, expressive eyes the same aqua-green hue as the most precious gems. He appeared to be approximately fifteen years old, and stood 161 centimeters tall.
At the moment, the Bard of Mondstadt wore his divine robes of Barbatos, taking on an angelic, ethereal, and undeniably divine appearance. Two large, pure white feathered wings spread across his back, giving him the classic silhouette of an angel or seraph. His braids remained dark at the roots, but the ends faded to a brilliant neon aqua blue, glowing intensely with pure Anemo energy.
Luminous sky-blue markings and tattoos were visible on his body, particularly his chest and limbs. He wore a very light ceremonial robe, similar to a Greek toga or a divine tunic, left partially open at the chest. A long, white, hooded cloak, loosely drawn over his shoulders, billowed behind him, as if moved by a steady breeze. His legs were wrapped in sashes and light sandals embellished with gold details. The entire outfit was further enhanced by polished gold trim, rings, and decorations, creating a striking contrast with the pure white of the fabric.
In his hands he tightly gripped his original sacred lyre, the mythical instrument with which he used to shape the winds and spread his songs.
"Now that's an angel!" Autumn Gem exclaimed. The mare raised her arms in the air as if she were at a concert by a music star, watching in awe as Traveler had summoned this being. To her, it was the most phenomenal thing in the world, and surely it was to the entire Crystal Empire and its inhabitants as well.
"Whatever Traveler is, he can summon an angelic entity, or whatever that creature is, with a simple clap of his hands. He's countless leagues above King Sombra," Emerald Scroll thought, feeling his hind legs suddenly go weak, as if they'd turned to jelly. The green-coated mare wasn't an expert in the magical arts, yet the immense power emanating from the angelic figure at that moment was clear and evident to everyone present.
"Faust..." Fleur De Verre murmured, unable to utter anything else, completely lacking any kind of logical preparation to face a situation of such magnitude.
The rest of the Crystal Pony crowd reacted exactly as one might expect to a miracle. Many lost their balance and fell heavily to the ground, others clasped their four fingers together in a spontaneous, trembling prayer; some wandered around with utter confusion, others remained motionless and silent, simply gawking, while just as many pinched their arms to try to determine whether they were dreaming or not.
The angelic figure of Barbatos spread his great white wings and his gaze rested for a moment on the anthropomorphic ponies; a hint of surprise and confusion passed through his eyes, but a moment later he focused on Traveler and Paimon, a sincere and radiant smile playing on his lips.
Traveler crossed his arms over his chest, lifting his head to look down at him with his glowing right eye.
"Impress me, Bard. Or next time I need a musician, I'll call upon the Heroic Spirit of Mozart," Traveler said, issuing a clear challenge and provocation to spur him to his best.
Barbatos smiled amusedly, willingly accepting the challenge. He firmly grasped his sacred lyre and began to play and sing.
A heavenly, pure melody emerged from every flick of her fingers on the strings; at the same time, each gentle beat of her feathered wings created a gentle breeze that wafted far and wide across the plaza. That divine music began to slowly spread, like an invisible wave, spreading to every corner of the Crystal Empire.
"Paimon, release the Crystal Heart," Traveler ordered, spotting the perfect moment to act.
The White Fairy obeyed instantly without asking questions: she stretched out her little arms and let go.
A gentle gust of wind, guided by the Archon's song, blew the heart-shaped relic precisely into place. At that precise moment, a crystal stalagmite emerged from the snowflake symbol on the floor, ready to welcome it.
Traveler, as an Arch-Sorcerer and equipped with Mystic Eyes to boot, was able to clearly observe the energy flow, seeing how the Crystal Heart synchronized in real time with the underground leylines of the Crystal Empire.
"Something interesting is about to happen," Traveler commented, focusing his gaze on the relic as it attuned itself and began to charge with an immense amount of raw magical energy, glowing brightly.
The White Fairy instinctively covered her purple eyes with her hands, having a strong premonition of what was about to happen. And Paimon, as always in these cases, was absolutely right.
FLASH!
An immense wave of shimmering energy instantly spread across the kingdom, accompanied by the wind and Barbatos' music, which acted as a powerful amplifier and supporting spell.
"Crystal Pony, now your name makes sense," Traveler commented. With his fluorescent eye, he observed the natives' drastic physical transformation: their dull fur had just taken on a spectacular, lustrous shine.
The White Fairy slowly lowered her hands from her face and looked at the Crystal Ponies. Although their clothes were still mere rags and many of them still looked visibly underweight, each of them now looked more colorful, happier, and suddenly rested.
All the Crystal Ponies immediately began to revel, exploding in uncontrollable joy, as if they were Jews who had just witnessed the end of the Nazi regime.
Traveler completely ignored the crowd, which was experiencing its own moment of total exaltation, and turned to Barbatos, who in the meantime had lowered himself in flight, almost touching the ground with his feet.
"Good show. You deserve a reward: go to the throne room and wait for me. When I arrive, I'll tell you a story," said Traveler. It was his habit to recount his recent adventures to all his special summons.
"Did I only earn a little story for my concert?" asked the Archon of Anemo, cocking his head slightly to the side, trying to get something more.
"Just sit on my lap while I talk to you. Maybe, if I feel like it, I could give you a kiss... or a bite," Traveler said, showing off his most charming side.
Barbatos instinctively brought a hand to the side of his neck, right on the exact spot where Traveler used to bite him.
"I'll wait for you," Barbatos said. A moment later he transformed into pure thermal, disappearing completely from the square.
"Tell me you're not planning on keeping Venti with us for the entire vacation. If he stays here, Paimon is seriously in danger of becoming a third wheel," said the White Fairy, folding her small arms. She had been in the awkward position of the clingy younger sister too many times, forced to reluctantly share her older brother with... too many eccentric people with decidedly complicated lives.
Autumn Gem and Emerald Scroll were the only ones who dared approach Traveler; all the others had momentarily forgotten about him, or preferred to keep their distance for fear that the miracle might suddenly shatter.
"My Lord, was that a true angel?" asked Emerald Scroll. The counselor took a step forward, eager to understand who or what had just sung such a heavenly melody and what other wonders it was capable of.
"More along the lines of a fairy who's ascended to the rank of a great wind elemental spirit," Traveler replied. His expression remained distant: he could never see Venti as a savior angel, especially after everything they'd been through together and experienced inside the bedroom.
"Was that Venti? The guy who proposed to you out of the blue in exchange for the magical chalice of infinite wine, and you slapped him away and pushed him into the public fountain?" Autumn Gem asked, tilting her equine ears. She'd recently heard about him from Traveler himself.
"Yes, you have a good memory, Autumn Gem. My idiot musician, when he wants to be, can act serious and behave properly. Unfortunately, he immediately goes back to being his usual carefree wine lover," Traveler commented. Her androgynous tone sounded very much like that of a wife complaining about her husband's bad habits, but without any trace of real hatred or resentment.
"The crazy part is that the Tone-Deaf Bard continues to flirt with Traveler! He deserves better, much better," Paimon declared, folding her small arms in midair. The fairy would have much preferred to see Traveler paired with Mavuika, the Pyro Archon, whom she considered a far more capable and balanced woman.
"I admit that Venti is no genius, that he has many flaws, and that we have countless differences, especially ideological ones. But, Paimon, you mustn't denigrate him like that. He's still a sweet guy... an idiot, yes, but a sweet, kind, and sometimes even funny idiot," Traveler said, speaking at that moment as if he were a completely different, unusually gentle person.
Autumn Gem couldn't help but smile sweetly, finding it incredibly endearing that her ruthless savior held someone so special in his heart.
Paimon, on the other hand, looked up at the clear sky in exasperation, wishing intensely that a dimensional rift would open and that a monster would emerge to take Venti away, or that at least the two of them would be sucked into a quieter world, far away from here.
"The individual who just killed King Sombra in such a brutal manner, and who overcame magical obstacles that very few could have faced, is having a strange romance with a Wind Angel or Fairy?" Emerald Scroll thought, instantly deciding not to meddle in such an interpersonal minefield. However, seeing that the Crystal Heart had returned firmly to its place and that the new ruler displayed genuine affection for his comrades, a significant portion of the advisor's doubts were finally allayed.
Paimon, once he stopped pouting, turned his head to look at Traveler and immediately noticed that the tip of his slashing tail was undergoing very slight, almost imperceptible tremors.
"Traveler, are you okay? Has something happened to you? Has the Crystal Heart's magical energy affected you in any way?" asked the White Fairy, shrugging and floating closer, for she knew every single, hidden warning sign of her companion in detail.
The Dark Planeswalker ran a fluid hand through his long lilac hair; he would much rather the White Fairy hadn't noticed.
"It's nothing serious. I'm just having some unpleasant pain, like my blood's on fire, but it's nothing serious, I'm about to get over it," Traveler said, speaking with absolute stoicism, as if it were a minor fly bite; the only real physical clues were the barely perceptible tremor in his tail and a slight twitch in his bat-like wings.
"Excruciating pain?" asked Autumn Gem with a visibly worried expression on her pretty face, instinctively placing a hand over her heart.
Emerald Scroll remained silent, but her lips pursed in a slight grimace; despite her depressing thoughts and deep-seated suspicion of Traveler, she was certainly not the kind of mare who took pleasure in the suffering of others.
"The Crystal Heart is designed to destroy, or at least attack and weaken, all forms of evil and darkness without distinction. I understand this from watching it in action and from what I'm feeling myself right now," Traveler explained, analyzing the situation with complete clarity and completely ignoring his own physical pain.
"Isn't this a good thing?" Autumn Gem asked, tilting her equine ears forward, very confused about it and firmly convinced until that second that the Crystal Heart was an artifact of pure good.
"There's no such thing as pure good or pure evil, except in very exceptional cases," Paimon interjected. Through centuries of traveling with Traveler, the fairy had gained a decidedly broad and mature perspective on how things worked in the multiverse. The concept of learning by osmosis had been taken to the next level by the White Fairy.
"Many consider evil and darkness to be the same thing. Certainly, they intersect much more than they should, but they remain two distinct things. There are several races considered dark who are actually quite decent people, just possessing innate talents or a particular diet, which makes them easy victims of prejudice, discrimination, and bigotry," Traveler argued, calmly explaining the differences in those moral nuances.
Autumn Gem, having grown up on storybooks rather than philosophy, had a little difficulty fully grasping the complexity of that concept, but she boiled the lesson down to a simpler principle for her: never judge a book by its cover.
"Quinto, are you a dark creature?" Emerald Scroll asked, her clear green eyes fixed on him. For her, having been a royal advisor, such a concept was much easier to accept; she knew well that sometimes in politics, harsh short-term actions were necessary to achieve excellent long-term results.
"My race isn't exactly considered dark, more like gray. I'm not evil, but I am a practitioner of the dark arts, and my blood and flesh are cursed in every single essence," Traveler explained, his fingers curling into tight fists.
"How could one be cursed like that?" Autumn Gem asked, her large blue eyes wide, deeply intrigued by the kind of details that seemed to come straight from a dark legendary tale.
"Paimon, you know it!" exclaimed the White Fairy, waving her hands to confirm that she possessed that information perfectly.
"Good. You can tell the story, Paimon, but keep it short," Traveler conceded. He knew all too well that a detailed and complete explanation could take several hours.
"When Traveler wasn't Traveler yet... when he was young and called himself Arkan Bloodedge, he stepped into a black puddle that contained all the evil in the world," the White Fairy explained, gesturing wildly with her small arms for emphasis.
"Along the lines of a small underground lake located in a forbidden place. That black, mud-like substance contained curses, exactly," Traveler specified, providing just enough numerical detail to make the narrative make sense.
"After he'd immersed himself in that cursed mud, he remained there for who knows how long. Then, Traveler/Bloodedge slowly emerged; his mind and soul were completely intact, but his body and magic had undergone profound changes," Paimon said, casting a sidelong glance at his best friend, having never seen him in person before this drastic experience.
"What kind of changes?" Autumn Gem asked, poking her nose forward, extremely curious to know that detail.
"I was fifteen or sixteen years old then. My skin was as white as alabaster, my eyes were golden, and my hair was silver; I only had scales on my right arm, and my ears weren't that long. I had no horns, no tail, and no wings. But, truth be told, I don't know whether it was the mud or normal puberty that made me what I am now," Traveler confessed, unsure how his body would have matured under normal conditions; perhaps, he would have become more like a classic elf.
"Moving aside the subject of bodily changes, the young Sorcerer who would later become Traveler had become a thousand times stronger! His affinity for the dark arts had strengthened to unbelievable levels, giving him everything he needed to transform into the Dark Arch-Sorcerer we all know today," Paimon proclaimed in a proud and happy voice, proudly planting his hands on his floating hips.
"Here's the secret to becoming strong enough to defeat the most evil and powerful unicorn in history: when you're a foal, you must bathe in the most cursed lake in the world, and then you slowly transform into a demon dragon," Emerald Scroll thought to herself. A shiver of strange, twisted, dark amusement ran through her, as if Paimon's brief account made perfect, logical sense in her mind.
"To put it simply, my flesh and blood have been tainted by that black sludge beyond repair. Your Crystal Heart is an anti-darkness and anti-curse artifact; therefore, it automatically considers me an enemy and attempts to incinerate me. But I am too strong; the only thing that artifact can do to me is cause me pain," Traveler concluded, stating the facts with absolute firmness.
"My Lord, does this mean you will be forced to leave the Crystal Empire for your own safety?" Emerald Scroll asked, struggling to maintain a flawless poker face.
"If I were an inexperienced, arrogant, weak, and stupid novice like that Black Unicorn, I would be forced to leave as quickly as possible, or risk death," Traveler replied, certain that a certain Black Unicorn would be instantly pulverized by the Crystal Heart.
"But Traveler is none of those things! He's a veteran, paranoid and courageous, strong in body, mind, and spirit... a multifaceted genius! He surely has a solution at hand," Paimon interjected, displaying blind and absolute trust in the Dark Planeswalker.
"I've been through similar situations before, I just need a moment," Traveler explained nonchalantly, spreading his four bat-like wings on his back.
Suddenly, the wing membranes began to burn, but without emitting the slightest trail of smoke; the visual effect was reminiscent of a film strip licked by flames and slowly dissolving. Within seconds, nothing remained of those wings but a bare skeleton: but in place of biological bones composed of calcium and marrow, geometric structures made of a shiny, silvery metal appeared. The two mares were left completely speechless by such a surreal scene.
"Wait, the best is yet to come," Traveler added, crossing his arms in an X over his chest and placing his hands firmly on his shoulders.
The metal structure retracted completely into his back, allowing a myriad of tiny filaments to emerge. These began to rapidly intertwine, forming a complex framework similar to the wings of a butterfly or moth. In an instant, these filaments released biochemicals that crystallized into thousands of tiny scales, giving rise to four pliable, immaculately white moth wings.
Autumn Gem and Emerald Scroll opened their mouths to speak, but Paimon promptly cut them off with a nod, indicating that the show was not over yet.
Traveler moved his fingers with surgical precision, as if typing on an invisible keyboard suspended in midair. Suddenly, his white wings began to change color, rapidly darkening to a deep black, punctuated by vibrant purple and neon blue flecks.
"These Necrofriggian-style wings are made of a special material with protective properties," Traveler explained, wrapping the four wings around his body to form what effectively resembled an armored poncho with a hood.
The Dark Planeswalker then made a quick movement of his hand above his sternum: the Locket of Salazar Slytherin instantly disappeared from Autumn Gem's neck only to reappear a millisecond later around hers.
"And with this amulet, I'll be hidden from the Crystal Heart's detection. I can already feel the pain fading," Traveler said, completely ceasing those tiny, almost imperceptible tremors.
"As Paimon said, Traveler is ready for anything," the White Fairy commented, wearing a decidedly victorious expression.
"What in the name of Faust just happened!?" Emerald Scroll demanded aloud, clenching her front hooves and feeling absolutely certain that this wasn't magic at all.
"A mix of Cyberware, Bioware, and gene therapy," Traveler replied, using technical terms that far exceeded the medical knowledge of the Crystal Ponies, and likely the rest of the world.
"Strange words that I don't know what they mean... Paimon, can you help us?" asked Autumn Gem, turning in confusion to the White Fairy, who had now effectively become the official translator for Traveler's advanced vocabulary.
"Traveler is the smartest man in the world, you can't even imagine what he's capable of! He can even build magical artifacts that can replace a damaged organ or an entire body part," the fairy explained with a big smile on her face, thoroughly enjoying this little bit of popularization.
"I've heard stories of crystal eyes restoring sight to the blind, or plain wooden legs for pirates," Autumn Gem said, accepting that basic concept very easily.
"Traveler once suffered a nasty injury that left his wings mutilated, so he chose to cut them off and create these new artificial wings that can change shape, color, and substance at will," Paimon added, obviously omitting all the complex engineering details of the Cyberware.
"Pegasi would go crazy over something like that," Autumn Gem commented, twitching her large equine ears and knowing full well that the loss of wings was one of the worst and most dramatic things that could happen to a Pegasus.
"I'm going to speak with Venti. You'll find me somewhere inside the Palace; if you need me, just shout my name at the top of your lungs," Traveler said. Before leaving, he gave Paimon a quick hug, and immediately afterward, the two simply vanished into thin air, leaving behind only a puddle of black ink and the acrid smell of smoke.
"What do we do now?" Autumn Gem asked, twisting her fingers and addressing Emerald Scroll directly, given her innate nature as a follower rather than a leader.
With the sudden disappearance of Traveler and Paimon, Fleur De Verre darted forward, running briskly towards the two mares that had been flanking the mysterious strangers a moment before.
"Who in the name of Faust and the Alicorn Princesses was the one who defeated King Sombra!?" Fleur De Verre asked, breathless and desperate for a plausible answer.
"His name is Traveler! He is our new savior and our new ruler!" Autumn Gem exclaimed with great joy, proud to be the first declared follower of Traveler among all the Crystal Ponies.
"Who decided this?" asked abruptly an individual in the crowd, who, like many others, had moved closer to eavesdrop on the conversation between the three mares.
"Autumn Gem just proclaimed him our savior. As for his role as the new ruler, well... he sat on the Crystal Throne immediately after killing King Sombra, claiming he'd take it for his personal collection. So Traveler has proclaimed himself our ruler, and I have no intention of contradicting him," Emerald Scroll replied. The councilor still had many doubts about Traveler, but it was undeniable that he had only done good so far.
But above all, Emerald Scroll loved living: now that King Sombra was finally dead, she wanted only to live as long and happy a life as possible; so she wouldn't argue with an Arch-Sorcerer over a crown.
That revelation sent a message all too clear to even the most pessimistic: the new ruler was infinitely more powerful than Sombra, and anyone who sought to oust him would do so at their own peril.
"What exactly is it? It's definitely not a Crystal Pony, nor a Unicorn, a Pegasus, or an Earth Pony," Fleur De Verre pressed, eager to understand the biological nature of their new master.
"I think it's a dragon, or a demon… or a dragon-demon," Emerald Scroll replied, shrugging at the lack of other suitable labels for a being capable of literally tearing the most evil unicorn in history to pieces.
"First a Demon Unicorn, now a Demon Dragon... and then what's next, a Demon Zebra?" muttered one of the more pessimistic Crystal Ponies in the crowd.
"What's a Zebra?" asked a mare in the crowd in a low voice, who evidently hadn't studied much in school.
"Can you tell me anything else about him?" insisted Fleur De Verre, demanding more concrete details about the new ruler.
"His job is Rogue Trader Militant," Autumn Gem replied proudly, who of all her peers was the one who had learned the most from Traveler.
"A merchant? A merchant defeated King Sombra!?" Fleur De Verre asked, her purple eyes widening with a look of pure and utter disbelief.
"I thought so too, but the Rogue Trader Militant is actually a combination of an explorer, a diplomat, a merchant, and a soldier," Autumn Gem explained, wiggling her four fingers to better illustrate the nuances of that complex profession.
"Anything else?" asked Fleur De Verre, hoping for one last detail.
"Traveler claims to be an Archduke and an Arch-Sorcerer. I don't know what else to say; Autumn Gem and I only met him today," Emerald Scroll concluded, unable to offer any further information as she herself knew very little about him.
"We'll resolve this tomorrow. Today, King Sombra died, the Crystal Heart was restored, and we have a new, benevolent ruler... I think. We should celebrate!" Fleur De Verre exclaimed, deciding to set aside her doubts and enjoy this miraculous moment with the rest of the people; there would be plenty of time to study Traveler thoroughly later.
In an instant, the dense crowd of anthropomorphic ponies began to disperse fluidly across the square. Each citizen quickly moved away, eager to rush to tell their family, friends, and all their acquaintances this incredible news.
Continues...