//------------------------------// // A new line of study // Story: Temporary ceasefire // by Ion Clockwork //------------------------------// Ion stirred. A sort of insistent tapping on his horn causing him to stir. After a couple minutes slid by the tapping grew more insistent. And with a grunt Ion opened his eyes just in time to see the room start lighting up. For a second he was intrigued, and decided to test a sudden theory. Closing his eyes again he waited. Soon he saw the light dim through his eyelids. And again the tapping resumed, quite strongly this time. “I get it, getting up now.” Ion grumbled to himself. Before rolling out of bed, landing on his hooves. Ion reached for his magic for the first time that morning, something akin to stretching your wings for a Pegasus. The first time of the day was always the hardest, and the barrier in his mind resisted his first attempt. The mental spike slipping on a surface akin to a strong bubble. With an angry grunt Ion sent another, this time piercing the veil and setting his horn aglow with its customary green luminosity and crackling green sparks. He felt the door in his mind; Sweeping his magic across its surface, an almost tactile interaction. Before a small snake drifted into the locking mechanism and gave it the push the door needed to unlock. He proceeded to push the door out of his way as he walked out of his room. The first thing that struck him was a large pile of sealed containers sitting in the corner of the study. The second was that they were eerily familiar. Stepping closer to look, a small sticker on one side proclaimed FROM: Fillydelphia center for advanced research. TO: Graduate, Ion Clockwork P.S Forwarding your personal belongings to you from your personal storage area. We received a letter from the academy regarding their transport and so here they are. Hope you enjoy a little touch of home. ~Professor Auto Carefully lifting them into a more orderly pile ion spied another pile of objects behind his boxes. A series of smaller wooden containers, with a golden trimmed letter attached to the top that read T. Sparkle From princess Celestia A creaking sound shattered the silence. And Ion Clockwork turned to see Twilight Sparkle coming out of her room, looking roughly as tired as he himself had been. She turned to him with tired eyes. “Did you feel that tapping too?” Ion nodded. “Yes, I believe it is a form of alarm clock, designed to wake all the unicorns in bed after a certain time.” The tired look fading from her eyes quickly, Twilight adopted a serious expression. “What do you base your’ theory on” “A practical experiment where I pretended to sleep after waking, the lights dimmed and the tapping resumed as I closed my eyes.” She nodded gravely. “Very well, I accept this as satisfactory evidence.” Ion and Twilight both stared at each other, before both of them dropped the serious façade to burst into laughter. “Right then, what is the time?” Ion eyed the clock. “Twelve minutes past eight” “We had to be in the hall by nine right?” “Correct” Only then did twilight seem to notice all the boxes. “What are all these metal boxes doing here?” Ion stared her straight in the eye. “Fools are hiding inside them, I should take away their’ metal boxes.” She stared blankly back. Ion snickered. “Just an inside joke, there are some crates for you over there, the wooden ones.” Stepping over to them, twilight cracks one open with her magic while eyeing the letter. And after putting it down, floats a large amount of books out of them. “Wonderful! How thoughtful of her.” Ion raised an eyebrow. “Books?” She nodded. “Books from my library in Ponyville, I am the resident librarian there and now I will not have to leave my favorites behind.” She leaned over to look at the labels on one of the metal boxes. “I guess my jest yesterday about Fillydelphia touched a sore spot didn’t it?” Ion regarded her with a scowl as he responded. “And just when we were getting along for a bit.” “Well excuse me Ion. It’s not my fault you started discussion magical philosophy with me!” Ion closed his eyes, grimacing. “Let us forget of this incident. I must sort my belongings before I head to the opening ceremony.” Focusing, Ion exerted his magical grip on one of the boxes, lifting it in the air in front of him. Taking a tight magical grip on each bolt that held the box together he unscrewed each one at the same time. The box instantly coming apart into 6 metal squares. He stacked these onto each other in midair and set them down, before regarding the assorted objects floating in front of him now. It was his old tools, and for a couple seconds. His usual scowling face mellowed and a small sparkle in his eye spoke of some unseen joy. And then he was to his usual self. He lifted a moderately sized device, similar to a jackhammer of the type road ponies usually used to work the streets of Canterlot. Lining three of the plates from the first box on the wall, he set to work. Pressing the jackhammer device against their corners, a soft pneumatic hiss followed by steam issued from the back of the device each time he did this, a small rounded knob was left in the metal each time and as he finished each plate, his crackling green glow faded from them. Leaving them suspended to the wall. “What are you doing?” Ion smiled to himself, something he only did when he indulged himself in an interesting line of thought or worked with machinery. “It is quite like professor Auto to send me my belongings packed in Skirt plates. And as for what I am doing, I am making a shelf.” Twilight watched with a puzzled look as he put down the jackhammer device and lifted up a series of long steel rods, barely a centimeter in diameter. His glow enveloped the remaining metal plates from the first box and held them to the top of the now wall mounted plates. The plates together forming a 90 degree angle. Maneuvering the rods above the plates, ion let them drop. The rods falling into holes in the plates, sliding deep into the wall mounted ones and leaving a bit poking out the top of the upper plates. To these tips, ion applied a small screw on cap. Stepping back, Ion nodded slowly. Twilight sparkle looked bemused. “So, you get a bunch of tools from your old school and then you make a shelf?” “Correct. I am creating an area to store my possessions.” Twilight shrugged. With the shelf assembled, Ion started unboxing the other boxes, three others in total. And by sliding the skirt plates underneath the top plate on his shelf, they were all quickly packed into a compact rectangle on the wall. Slipping a series of odd ends out of the boxes, Ion placed what looked like half a mechanics workshop on the shelf. “Just like my room in the Fillydelphia center” He turned around as he heard a door close. Then he looked at the clock. “Oh dratted!” Ion Skidded into the entrance hall at forty seconds past nine. And the crowd was already dwindling. A huge board covered most of one wall. Listing every student and every class they had to go to. The list stretched quite high up. For a second Ion wondered how he would find his name when the list seemed to swim before his eyes. And all the text started flying across the paper, only to suddenly halt. Leaving his name right in front of his muzzle. “That is thoughtful of them.” The first class on the list showed “Undecided, please see the headmaster.” Ion raised an eyebrow. This was a surprise, but he decided to go with it. Walking back towards the staircase, he started the ascent into the teacher’s area. He was in fact quite winded by the time he reached the top of the stairs. “I suspect that I am in worse shape than I first thought.” Stopping to catch his breath, Ion took the steps into the only corridor. A long straight hall, lined with doors. All of which had a position marked on them. “Head of agriculture.” “Head of security” “Head of offensive magic.“ “Head of passive magic.” “Head of defensive magic.” “Head of practical studies.” “Headmaste- Ion Clockwork stopped, and turned to face this door. It was lined with gold trims, and the plaque was a magnificent shining metal. However what had made him stop was not the need to meet this pony or because of the door itself. It was the pony’s name that was marked under it. Headmaster Head of advanced studies PHD. Friendship magic. Her royal highness. Princess Celestia. Ion steeled himself and lifted his hoof to knock on the door. Only to have somepony else put a hoof on his shoulder. He turned around, coming face to face with one of the immortal deity’s of the realm. “Hello Ion.” He shook, her very presence carrying such a power now that he was alone with her. The air seemed to bend, as if her power drew even it to her. “It is good you came, step into my office.” The door opened in front of her as she walked past him. Snapping back to his senses, Ion followed. Entering into a surprisingly modest office. Lots of shelves covered in books lined the walls and the room itself was dominated by a plush sack, surrounded by a series of smaller plushes. Upon which three other unicorns sat. As he looked at them he picked out one he had noticed before. The one known as Honeysuckle was there. The others were as of yet unknown to him. Ion sat down on a plush. “Hello my little ponies. And welcome to my study, I am sure you are all wondering why you are here.” A series of reverent nods. “You all share a common thing. You disagree with the established concept of magic in one or another. And so I have come to propose a solution. You all will have a separate lesson with one of my most trusted colleagues. The lesson which she will teach you will hopefully expand your horizons and accept magic into yourselves. I will now demonstrate why this is necessary.” Raising her horn, the entire room flooded with light. And when it faded, Ion could see magic. It flooded in waves off the princess. Like a gas that flowed but always remained tethered to the princess. He turned his head, looking at the other unicorns who looked as amazed as he was. Honeysuckle's magic was dripping, like thick sauce. It fell away from her in large globs. A unicorn with a blue coat with hair that reminded him of toothpaste had magic that hung still, completely unmoving in the shape of a much larger pony. The last had a coat that was deep red, with a mane that reminded him of ash had magic that flowed upwards, like a lit candle. He turned to the princess who softly motioned towards the door. Turning, Ion noticed a mirror. All of the students walked up to it. Their’ eyes lighting up as they saw their own magic. Ion looked at himself. At first he couldn’t see it. But soon he noticed green glow, surrounding his body. And he wondered why it hid like that, and then he realized that he felt why. He was holding it, constraining it and locking it. And as he realized this, he let it go subconsciously. And it coalesced into a sharp green lightning bolt. That sparked off his coat and slammed into the mirror, shattering it. Ion stared in shock, as sparks ran along his coat. Painting him in bright green electric arcs. Then his mind reasserted its usual control over it and the magic snapped like a rubber band. Rebounding back into him, and then retreating back behind the barrier in his mind. The others locked him in stares that could melt concrete. Almost accusingly as if he had deprived them of the oppurtunity to look at their' own magic. “As you can see, having negative relationships with your magic can be dangerous.” Ion turned to the princess. “And so I introduce you to your new mentor, who will work with you to build a relationship with your own magic. Through the magic of friendship.” Twilight sparkle stepped out from behind Celestia. “Hello Ion.”