So. It's Been A While... · 1:24am Oct 12th, 2012
...since I updated Gan Teidal. I ended up losing a lot of what I had written and got a full time job. There's my excuses. So, just to keep it somewhat alive, have a preview of the next chapter!
“Is that what I think it is?” asked Twilight Sparkle. Kevin nodded eagerly. “You’re making your foci a baseball bat?”
“Yep,” Kevin began, “it’ll work, won’t it?”
“Well, yes but-“
“No buts,” Kevin interjected, “never know when you’ll need a good bat.”
“Yes, well, you never know when the police will decide that a monster carrying around a baseball bat means danger,” Twilight shot back. “Ponyville is a strange place, Kevin. We see things here that other places in Equestria just don’t. Didn’t you notice how quickly the townsponies got used to you? In Manehatten you’d get thrown in jail or worse for walking around with a weapon.”
“Nope,” Kevin replied happily, lifting up a small badge that Luna had given him the previous night. “I outrank ‘em. Apparently my job is considered part of the Royal Guard. My ass is sanctified. They can’t touch me.”
Twilight frowned. “Rely on that too much, and any Other in disguise will know you’re coming.”
Jiminy laughed from his perch atop Kevin’s shoulder. “He’s a hairless bipedal with the teeth of a predator who stands almost eighteen inches taller than your average pony. They’ll know he’s coming. Even if he was equine, they’d know that I was coming. I can sense them, they can sense me. He can’t surprise them any more than they can surprise him.”
Kevin nodded. “Listen to the cricket. He knows his shit.”
Twilight’s frown grew. “I don’t like it. If that’s what you want I’ll make it, but I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have too,” Kevin said, “you aint using it yourself anyway.”
“At least let me explain a few things before we start.” Kevin nodded. “The shape of a baseball bat is going to limit you. It’s not a delicate instrument, and so delicate magic will be difficult.”
Kevin laughed. “I don’t need delicate, I need to stuff to explode. Big fuckin’ boom.”
Twilight’s frown grew somewhat venomous, but her tone was carefully neutral. “What kind of spells do you want to channel through your foci then? Wind, fire, water, ice, force, earth, grass, spirit, mind, darkness, light, sound. Pick two.”
Kevin thought a moment. “Does it really have to be that specialized?”
“If you want your spells to pack the maximum punch.”
Kevin nodded, and sat thinking for almost five minutes. “Earth and force,” he eventually answered.
“Alright,” Twilight began, “with that kind of set up, you’re looking at a huge amount of defensive ability. Earth is hard to use offensively without some serious power to throw around, but it’s the best bar none for shields. Stone stops heat just as well as it does kinetic force, and a magical stone will stop pretty much anything. Force is more offensive, you can throw things at your target or you can throw your target at things. If you need to, you can even use a force spell to make the bat itself hit harder.”
“How much harder?” Kevin asked.
“Two or three tons of force,” the unicorn answered.
“Well,” Kevin began, “one would suppose, then, that the bat would break.”
Twilight shook her head and levitated a scroll full of odd runes beside her face. She jerked a hoof and pointed at several dozen in turn. “All of these are for structural integrity. As long as these are carved correctly, the bat will be the next best thing to unbreakable.” She pointed at a few runes. “These are for specialisation. Earth and force are these ones. I’ll throw a few others on too, fire ice and wind. That’ll give you two big strengths and some extra options. Wind will let you use lightning, fire should be pretty obvious, and ice is very useful for immobilising something. Those spells won’t be a strong, and they’ll be a lot more limited, but they’ll be potent enough to make anything mortal worry.”
She moved on to another scroll, and nodded at the sheet of runes in full. “These are the rest of the runes. These are just for basic magnification of power. Magic still follows the laws of physics, of course, but it does act differently from what you would expect. Each of these runes will focus whatever power you put through them. The end result is the exact same amount of magical energy, but it’s purer. More potent.”
“So it works kinda like a still?” Kevin asked.
“Yes,” Twilight responded in a somewhat surprised tone, “a very apt comparison Kevin. These particular runes are the best. Literally. They’re so powerful that they’re illegal for civilians. You get them because you do dangerous work for the government.”
Kevin raised a single hairless eyebrow. “Do I get to do anything else illegal?”
Twilight sighed. “If at any time, in commission of your duty or otherwise, lethal force is used against you, you may disregard any and all Equestrian law, including the rules of magic. Assuming, of course, you survive said lethal force. If nonlethal force is used against you, any non-lethal countermeasures are open to you without risk of punishment.”
Kevin smiled. “I like this,” he began, “I like this a lot.”
Twilight levelled an impressively forceful glare at the human. “I am also a government employee,” she stated in a matter of fact tone, “and I have the same lee way. This entire town is legally my protectorate; I am the technical leader of the Royal Guard here even if I don’t use that authority very often. On top of that, I am Princess Celestia’s personal student. I get a lot of wiggle room.” Her tone abruptly turned threatening, and her eyes seemed to shine a little brighter. “If you respond to any assault or slight with what I believe to be excessive force, I will stop you.”
Kevin, at that moment, didn’t believe her in the slightest. He laughed.
Twilight narrowed her eyes, and suddenly Kevin did believe. He could feel the power radiating off her, more than a slight tough of anger darkening it. “You started a fight with Rarity last night,” she said in a very quiet voice, “ponies got hurt in that fight Kevin. Two ended up in the hospital. One of them had a broken leg. I’m not sure how much you know about pony physiology, but that’s a serious injury. He’ll have trouble walking for a few years at least. Another poor stallion went through a window. He ended up with extensive lacerations all over his body and relatively major blood loss. If Luna hadn’t been right outside to take him to the hospital, he would have died. If you think I won’t, or can’t, stop you from doing something that again, I’ll gladly disabuse you of the notion here and now. Try me, Kevin. I dare you.”
Jiminy chirped nervously. “Kevin,” the little cricket began, “let’s leave and let Twilight work on your foci. Let’s not come back until later tonight. And for the love of all you hold holy, let’s not get in any trouble, okay?”
