Chapter 3: Nouos amicos
The monastery was an old temple in the middle of the forest, it was big enough to put even the biggest cities on any world to shame. Its beauty was breath taking as it was made of crystal and stone, quartz to be exact. There were plants that seemed to glow and shimmer, birds flew by and even stood on your shoulders if you'd let them and sacred dragons that undulated through the sky in the graceful manner they were respected and renowned for. Some were freely roaming the area and others were being ridden by spiritual warriors and guards, but the thing that caught the eye of the new comers was the immense tree that stood a good hundred miles away, shimmering and glowing as the wind caresses its leaves and the three blue suns that lit the sky.
The inhabitants were pure beings of love, nothing could make them dislike you as they understood why your actions were so. There were beings of many races there, some looked like human others like greys. Some took on the form of humanoid animals like lions, reptiles, even birds. Their attire were a myriad of hues, bright ones that signified their origins, tribes, occupations, status even who they were mated to. Overall it was nothing like what they had seen, it was different but it brought a sense of tranquility even after what they witnessed in their worlds.
"Wow, I didn't think a place like this even existed", Asuna said transfixed on the dragons
"Well there were legends that were told back home", Setsuna began
"Does Shamballa, ring the bell?", the man they had encountered earlier spoke
He guided the dragon towards the main temple. Asuna and Fluttershy rode with him, Asuna wrapped her arms around him, something she did not mind doing. His dragon was big enough to carry any one besides his master, it had crimson scales and golden whiskers and horns, its eyes were a deep crystalline emerald green. Setsuna rode with one of the miko's embracing her from behind in the same manner. AppleJack and Yue rode with another one of the mikos. Yue clung to AJ, who was too busy enjoying the view. Fluttershy was more entertained with the birds that came along her side and landed on her shoulders and hands.
"Yes, heaven on earth", said Yue before burying her face on AppleJack's robes. The man and his helpers had brought with them robes for Fluttershy and AppleJack to wear
"That's right", he said smiling at the fact that she knew the place
"Now Yue-san, what are ya'll so 'fraid of?", she asked knowing full well what it was
"Oh I don't know….we are on a dragon a thousand feet off the ground and it doesn't have wings so I cannot begin to understand how it flies….", she said, "It all doesn't follow the laws of physics."
"The 'Laws of Physics' are boundaries placed upon the mind by silly human separatism young one, you create your own destiny and shape the world around you with your thoughts as it was the great creator's will for us to have free will to do so", the man said with a smile on his face.
"As deep and interesting as that sounds…", Yue looked at him, "I'm kinda not in the best position to ponder upon it"
The man laughed at her statement, recognizing that Yue was smart enough to understand but the height and thin air were obscuring her thoughts.
"By the way, we never caught yer name", AJ said
"Oh where are my manners, I'm Hiro Nagakashi"
"Well it's a pleasure meeting you Nagakashi-san", Setsuna said
"Please call me Hiro, I'm not one for honorifics it creates separation between two people", he said while smiling at her
They approached the main temple, to his relief he saw younger sister awaiting him. His eyes soften at the sight of her. He directed the dragon to land at the temple's dragon landing. The dragon lowered his head and Hiro, Asuna and Fluttershy got off. As Fluttershy walked by his head, the dragon nuzzled her side. This made her jump at the unexpected gesture but she gently caressed his nose. He closed his eyes in delight, wrapping his whiskers wrapping around her body. Fluttershy wasn't afraid, usually she would run and hide but the dragon meant no harm.
"You have quite the gift there, he doesn't usually let anyone touch him", Hiro said gently
"Um thank you, I took care of a lot of animals back home", she said shyly hiding behind her hair, "It's a gift"
"Well since he has become rather friendly with you I'll teach you how ride him", Hiro stated smiling at her
"R..really?", she looked at the dragons in the eyes he was quite happy with the idea, she could tell, "But I am not sure I can…I have never rode a…dragon before, especially not one of his kind"
"Don't be afraid he doesn't bite", he said, "His name is Mitsushou"
"Then it will be a great honor to learn from you, Mr. Hiro", she said blushing a bit
Hiro smiled down at her, he knew the girl would be alright; he sensed she had a light so powerful within her that nothing could break it, which is why Mitsushou had become so friendly so suddenly. A dragon of his kind only let the pure ride upon him and the loyalty of his heart will be placed solemnly upon said rider.
"I can tell you two will get along just fine", Hiro caressed Mitsushou's nose, "Now you behave, Mitsushou"
The dragon gave a small growl of delight at the fact his master was letting the shy beautiful animal tamer ride him.
"Yes yes well, come now, your friends await you"
He gestured Fluttershy to follow him, they walked down a hall way until they reached a chamber. The ceiling was lined with see-through curtains of different colors and was hued a gentle red, gold and sapphire. The ground was made of yellow stones and there was a ring of red and gold meditation pillows on the ground at the center of the room. Although the blue sun outside provided plenty of light, there was a giant crystal that protruded from the center of the ceiling. It lit up the whole room using the very light from outside. The sun would hit the crystal and inside it, the light would bounce back and forth against the crystal's natural imperfections; amplifying it.
"Hiro, I am glad you made it back", Chikaru went up to him hugging him around the waist, "Have you found the others?"
"Yes, I did and one of them has been able to somehow interact with Mtsushou", he looked at Fluttershy who blushed, "You know besides me and your eternal companion"
"Hahaha Hiro, she is only my friend it's nothing like that", she said blushing
"Oh, I said the same about Ika and now she and I are happily married and you are an aunt to three rambunctious children", he said while walking away satisfied at Chikaru's crimson blush.
"The mikos will be here with the rest of them in a bit. Please make them feel comfortable", she said clearly flustered, "I'm going to check on the one other my 'eternal companion' and I found"
With that she left before her brother could, make any other sly jokes of her relationship with her dear childhood friend. He chuckled at his sister's reaction, he knew deep down the two were soul mates, it was written in the stars. He turned to his charge.
"Please, make yourselves comfortable. Your other friends will be here any minute now."
The five girls sat on the pillows and began to chat away to pass the time. As they did so, they saw the mikos come in followed by Rainbow Dash, Kotaro, Konoka, Nodoka, Chisame, Ayaka, who clung to a very flustered Spike, Rarity and Negi, who had Chamo upon his shoulder.
"FLUTTERSHY!", Rainbow Dash flew at her and scooped her up, "Oh my gosh, how I missed you!"
"Really? You missed me? I thought I always got in your way", she said hugging her friend back.
"AppleJack, it's magnificent to see you", Rarity hugged the farmer who hugged her back equally as tight
"Time apart sure makes ya realize how much ya need someone, Rare", AppleJack said
"Yes, especially when you come so close to death", Rarity whispered into her shoulder
"Hey monkey, I see you managed to make some new friends", Ayaka said to Asuna, "Care to introduce us?"
"Well if you must know, Shotakon", she took into account the flustered little boy with spiky green hair and green eyes in her arms
"HEY, WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SHOTAKON!"
"OBVIOUSLY YOU CRADLE ROBBER!", Spike saw his chance to run and hide behind Fluttershy, who smiled at his antics.
"Please, Fluttershy keep me away from her", he whispered pleadingly
"Oh Spikey wikey but you are okay when I treat you that way", Rarity walked over and hugged him
"Yes but you I'm used to. I don't think I can handle another Rarity", AppleJack laughed at what he said the fashionista glared at her.
"As I recall you like being around me, Jackie", she said in a mild loving voice as she fluttered her lashes in Applejack's direction who in turn blushed.
"Jackie?! Oh man, I am not going to let you live that down", Rainbow dash flew in circles around AJ
"Oh don't talk, Dashie", she sneered, placing emphasy on 'Dashie'
"Hey, only Fluttershy and, occasionally Pinkie Pie, calls me that", Rainbow Dash stated
In the other side of the room Kotaro and Negi were talking about their encounters with the new girls. Negi had an encounter with Rarity who had said he reminded her of a dragon named Spike. He assumed it was the boy with green hair cowering behind a pink haired girl at the other side of the room. Kotaro, of course, left out his somewhat rough encounter with the flying Rainbow haired girl with the tail and blue ears.
"So, ojou-sama who did you have the pleasure of meeting?"
"A sweet little boy named Spike he is over there", she pointed in the direction of Fluttershy, "Ayaka kinda went nuts over his cuteness", she giggled, "How about you?"
"Well that pink haired girl with the wings over there and the girl with the blonde ponytail and cowboy hat, she saved Yue's life"
"….and I am very thankful for that", Yue said as she walked in Nodoka's direction
Mana walked into the room with a snoozing Pinkie Pie on her back, Kaede walked close behind.
"Ah'll take her off yer hands", AJ suggested, Mana handed her over, "Ah reckon she tired herself out of taking in all the scenery"
"Yeah, she is a bit energetic, degosaru", Kaede said
"AppleJack, your hair smells nice", Pinkie mumbled in her sleep
"She got Mana to smile somehow, degosaru", Kaede pointed at the tanned girl's retreating form, "She is usually pretty stoic and unfriendly"
"Eeyup, that's Pinkie Pie fer ya", she looked over her shoulder, "What's yer name?"
"Kaede Nagase and yours", Kaede said opening her eyes
"AppleJack but po..people call me AJ", She said
"It is a pleasure to meet you, AJ-san", Kaede bowed
"Same to ya, Nagase-san", she bowed as well
As everyone got to know one another, Spike looked around the room for his sister figure and childhood friend.
"Hey, Fluttershy. Where's Twilight?"
Tangled in the tentacles, life being sucked out. Being held down against your will but the eyes, oh the eyes, the beautiful pools had you hypnotized and you could not look away.
Twilight snapped herself awake, thankful that the nightmarish memories plaguing her mind had finally dissipated. She tried to take in her surroundings but found it a difficult task due to her vision being somewhat blurred. It slowly began to refocus to reveal she was in a dimly lit room. The air was cool and naturally smelled of incense, she began to sit up but her movements were far too sluggish. Once sitting, her head began to merrily pound away. She winced and grabbed her head only to feel a bandage and that she no longer had hooves?
"What the….", she looked at her hand to find slender appendages, "This cannot be good"
She touched her forehead to find her horn missing. In a panic, she lifted the blanket to look at her body which was now a light brown color, no purple fur in sight. She ran fingers along her skin, it was smooth. She looked for her cutie mark and found it was no longer on her flank. Twilight hair was still the same color and reached her mid back.
"This is really interesting", Twilight muttered to herself
"You should really be laying down after what happened"
Twilight jumped at the gentle voice behind her. She looked over her shoulder to find a woman she did not recognize.
'Wait those eyes', Twilight mused
"You were the one who saved me", she said while looking at the woman who kneeled by her side, "Thank you"
"You are welcome but please lay down"
She grabbed the blanket and placed it over Twilight as she laid down again. Chikaru smiled at her.
"May I ask you something?", Chikaru asked
"Yes go ahead…"
"Your dimension…your world….is it gone?"
Twilight thought for a moment before remembering the darkness. The decaying world, Celestia, the Everfree forest and then falling. Then awakening at a tranquil forest, encountering a goat headed creature and then being here.
"Wait, did you say dimension?", Twilight asked confused
"Yes, wait…", Chikaru caught herself before any further explanation.
"She must still be integrated….", Chikaru whispered to herself while holding her chin and looking down at the ground then looked up once again, "My brother and I will explain once you recuperate, trust me you will need your strength for what you will hear"
"Huh?", Twilight shook her head, "Wait, wait what is going on?", she shot up once again.
"Let's just say that what you once knew is part of something far more complex", Chikaru said
Twilight sat there confounded for a moment but decided to push the issue a side for when the time was right and her head wasn't pounding. As if Chikaru were reading her mind, she handed Twilight a cup with a pinkish yellow liquid in it.
"Drink this…"
Twilight looked at the liquid and was reluctant to drink it. It reminded her an awful lot of medicine which she hated but in order to not be impolite.
"Bottoms up, I guess", Twilight thought
Once she took the first sip, she didn't look back. The taste was unlike anything she had ever tasted. Sweet, that natural ambrosial sweet that only belonged to fruits not the type found on cake icing and candy. It was cool and smooth as it flowed along her parched throat. Her energy began to slowly come back to her also her headache began to fade away. Once she finished it, she looked at the cup then at Chikaru.
"That was the best thing I had ever tasted since….ever. Thank you, miss?", Twilight was curious to know her name
"Chikaru Nagakashi", Chikaru answered her while smiling
"Twilight Sparkle"
She said extending her hand, Chikaru took it and shook it firmly. A shock ran up the miko's arm. From the shock, she saw various things some of which were personal like memories but this seemingly electric current yielded many more insights about the girl that she that sat in front of her, her power was the most apparent. She cringed slightly as said power began to push her away, something that did not go unnoticed by Twilight.
"Are you….."
"I see you are one of them…", Chikaru interrupted while looking into her eyes, "….Twilight you have no idea the power you hold within you"
Her tone was of pure amazement and curiosity as she said this. Twilight blushed at the half compliment.
"Oh I know I kind of went berserk on 'magical overload' once", she looked away remembering the time at the school entrance exam, "It took Princess Celestia to snap me out of it"
"I take it she was your guardian?"
"Mentor actually", Twilight corrected
"You have much to learn about the micro and the macro, Twilight I hope this experience teaches you a lot", Chikaru said sincerely
"I hope so too", Twilight thought before looking out the window, "Things sure have taken and unexpected turn"
"How so?", Chikaru crossed her legs to sit more comfortably
"Well to begin…this", she gestured to her body, "I'm not supposed to look like this, Ms. Nagakashi"
"Just Chikaru, Twilight", she smiled, "and please elaborate, I am quite curious"
"Well I am normally a pony…", Twilight began, "A unicorn to be exact and I had purple fur and the mark that usually have on my flank is gone", she said feeling depressed
"You mean the mark on your collar bone?", Chikaru pointed out
"Oh it is there now? Good, but where is the rest of me?", Twilight looked to Chikaru in hope of answers
"When my companion and I found you, you were in the mist of transforming into the state you are in now", Chikaru explained
"So that was the pain that kept running up my legs as I ran from that…thing", she remembered the goat and the eyes and almost losing her life
"Yes, that 'thing' you saw doesn't belong in that forest", Chikaru said while stroking Twilight's back, relaxing her, "No, it's from the other side of this plane"
"What was it?". Twilight looked at her
"It is a terrible creature that steals the souls of the living to prolong its lifespan", Chikaru said while looking away, "They use their eyes to hypnotize you and then when you are willing they cut the silver cord and take your soul"
"Wow sounds….like a terrible way to go", Twilight lowered her gaze only to feel a finger on her chin making her look back up at Chikaru's hazel orbs
"Don't be afraid, a creature like that can't get you here", Chikaru reassured
Twilight felt like a little girl at the moment, afraid and confused but yet intrigued at what was happening. Like a child searching for comfort, Twilight hesitantly laid her head upon Chikaru's breast, relishing the flow of breath and rhythmic harmony of her heart. She felt strong yet tender arms embrace her, it made her feel completely at ease, in fact, much too at ease. She had just leaned into a woman she had just met, who didn't seem to mind the contact. Twilight didn't want to think at the moment she wanted to feel, to enjoy the warmth that emanated from her. She wanted to savor that safety that so rarely came about, to relish the somewhat premature sisterly attachment. Chikaru placed her chin on top of her head and smiled. This was completely normal to Chikaru, what her and her friend did was somewhat similar but at the same time far more rooted and intimate.
Twilight's mind raged battle with her heart. To stay or pull away, her mind won the battle even if she herself did not want to pull away. Twilight pulled back startled that she may have done something wrong.
"I am sorry I shouldn't have done that", she apologized while looking away
"Don't be sorry, such a thing isn't looked down upon by our society", Chikaru explained, "You just need to adjust. The change in ethereal atmosphere can do that to those who are perceptive of it"
"Ethereal atmosphere", Twilight perked at the sign of something new to learn
"It is the natural energy that flows through each world and when it is untainted by negative feelings, it leaves room for more positive thoughts", Chikaru elaborated, "It is another one of those things that my brother and I must speak with you and your friends"
"My friends!", Twilight realized, "I was so caught up in all of this that I forgot about them, oh no, where are they?", Twilight asked frantic of what may have happened to them
"Calm yourself", Chikaru said while smiling down at her, "They are in the main hall awaiting you"
"Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou"
She hugged Chikaru once again before getting up not caring that her body was exposed. Chikaru grinned at the excitement that came from Twilight so suddenly.
"Whoa there, you need to cover up first"
"Cover up?", Twilight seemed confused
"Yes, you can't go running about naked", Chikaru got up and went over to a table at the far side of the room.
"These are a bit tricky to put on at first but you will get the hang of it", Chikaru said while separating the garments, "Turn around so I can show you how to wear them"
She took the main garment, it was a soft lavender color. She placed it against Twilight's lower half and wrapped it around, bringing the corners over her shoulders and crossing them to cover her chest. She brought them around her back and tied them up. She then got the other piece, which was baby blue sash, and wrapped around her waist twice, tied at the back then brought the remaining length sash and tied it at the front.
"There we go, what do you think Twilight?"
Twilight eyed herself, the fabric was light, breathable and extremely soft. It was simple but Twilight liked simplicity as it created less hassle.
"It's perfect Chikaru", she smiled up at the woman and hugged her once more before pulling away blushing
"Sorry I can't help myself", Chikaru giggle and embraced the girl
"It is alright Twilight, no need to apologize", she said
Twilight looked up at her, this was strange. She had and an older brother but this was different. There was a closeness that only two female souls could share. She smiled up at Chikaru and hugged her tight. She may have just met the woman but she already felt like an older sister.
"Well, on our way then", Chikaru said, "I am sure your friends are eager to see you"