The Legend of Friendship - Outcasts

13. Battle in the Forgotten Castle - Part 1

Everyone in the Forgotten Castle was up early once the sun began to rise on the horizon. The castle, however, even seemed to look dark while being covered in the sunlight, giving it an even more secluded and ominous presence than before.

Mystic, who already was on his way to leave, looked over to the castle with a thoughtful expression on his face. Soon, second thoughts of leaving this place came into his mind. He did not care about the others or what would happen to them from now on. He just wanted to take care of his own business and his own life. He couldn't waste a thought of caring about others and their problems. With those thoughts in mind, he kept staring at the castle for a while and carefully thought about what to do next.

A little later, inside of the castle...

"So he left, huh..." Tagma said disappointed, lowering his head in the process.

"Looks like it," Fade replied.

The rest of the group gathered in the throne room. Fade took the opportunity to share what Mystic told him about his past, about what happened to his sister and his previous encounter with the Royal Guards. To some degree, the others began to actually understand Mystic and why he was acting so aggressively towards the Royal Guards. Of course, they couldn't force him to stay along with them. If he wanted to be on his own, then they just had to deal with that. Especially since they know how he can be sometimes. Still, Tagma had problems to deal with this situation and was just sad.

"Tagma...miss...Mystic?" Wildheart asked as he petted the Changeling's back out of concern.

"Yes..." Tagma replied.

"You wanted to leave together with him?" Rosa asked.

Tagma took a moment to think about it. Of course, he didn't want to be separated with any of his newfound "friends" but he knew Mystic for a little while to realize that he probably preferred to be alone. There were actually times where he regretted to travel with Mystic just because he was like a ticking time-bomb at times. Still, he had to at least one thing. "I'm going to look for Mystic and say goodbye!" He said determinedly.

"Good idea!" Rosa agreed.

"Yes, maybe you can even convince him to stay with us," Fade further pointed out.

"I'll try my best!" Tagma said excitedly before he dashed off to the main hall of the castle, trying to catch up with Mystic before he left for good.

Fade could only shake his head with a smile on his face. "I'll never expect to see a Changeling chase after a Pony because he was worried. Things really changed so much recently..." he said a little amused by the irony of it.

"Am I seeing some progress?" Rosa asked smugly.

"What?" Fade responded confused.

Rosa explained. "I think you are finally looking at him as a Pony and not as a member of the Royal Guard. I mean...would you still try to hand him over to Princess Celestia just because he is a Changeling?" She asked, hoping that Fade would give the answer that she was expecting.

Fade had to admit that fighting against Changelings was his bread and butter before all those things happened and if there was a chance to somehow get back to his previous life then he would try to grab it, no matter what.
At least, that's what he thought before...
Meeting all those new ponies and Tagma gave him some more insight about the ponies in Equestria that he would never have discovered while just doing his job in the Royal Guard. Things just happen that cause others to change just like that. Whether it was loneliness or the way they were born, Rosa, Wildheart, Tagma, and Mystic would be considered different or maybe even dangerous by anypony else who didn't know what they went through. But as for now, his opinion on them was set.