//------------------------------// // Things Get Interesting // Story: Changes of Magic // by SeraphDarkfire //------------------------------// A few days after the party, Jason was sitting in the center of the library floor, waiting patiently for Twilight to return. She'd said that she wanted to run a few tests on him, mostly to learn how different he was from the other creatures on Equestria. Normally, he would have been wary, but this wasn't some bad horror story and he was sure that Twilight wasn't going to hurt him...at least not intentionally. He wasn't sure what this world's magic would do to him. Now he was worried. He trusted the purple pony, but magic? Not so much. On earth, the idea of magic was just fantasy. He sighed and laid back onto his back "I suppose Friendship is Magic doesn't mean that magic is friendly" he said softly before rolling over and looking towards the door. He wondered briefly if he'd been forgotten before shrugging and standing up, walking over to one of the shelves and picking out a book and flipping through the pages "Wow, detailed" he said chuckling and put the book back, blinking at the hollow sound it made as it hit the back of the shelf. He slowly pulled the books away and set them down on the floor before reaching into the shelf and pressing against the back wall. It popped open with a soft sound. Inside was a small chest "Twlight, you sly girl, hiding something like this in here" he pulled the chest out and set it down on a nearby table. Jason wondered what was in it. It couldn't be something of monetary worth, he'd never seen much put into gaining more money. Everyone had a specific thing they could do and did it better than any other pony. He wondered how much nicer earth would be if everyone had a cutie mark to tell exactly what they could do. Now he was getting distracted by his thoughts again. He shook his head and touched the chest, examining it before touching the clasps on the front. With an easy flip of his thumbs, they popped open. Inside of the chest was something he hadn't expected to see. "The Elements of Harmony" he said softly, staring at the five necklaces that surrounded the single tiara. He gently touched the purple star on the tiara. Then it got a bit painful. The star began to glow and blasted him with magical energy, tossing him back into the air. He froze in mid air, held there by the other five elements as they slowly circled around him. He slowly opened his eyes, wincing a little in pain "Last time I touch super powerful magical artifacts" he said softly before looking around "Well..this isn't turning out to be a good day...not at all" This incident brought back his conversation with Luna the night after the party. He was sitting on the hill again, this time it was night. The beautiful mare was standing next to him "My sister is being secretive about this situation, but she did tell me something interesting. Your being here could have a large effect on magic and magical items" He looked up to her "Why's that?" he asked. It seemed silly that he'd have any effect on anything. "If knew that I would tell you" she said shaking her head "Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you are not a resident of our world?" Jason shrugged "I don't know, but I'll be sure to tell you if anything strange happens to me" He was brought out of his thoughts by a loud shout and turned his head, spotting Twilight and smiling "Oh, hey" he said "I seem to be in a predicament" "I'll say" she said walking forward towards the chest, where the Element of Magic was sitting up in the chest, as if it was watching them. She focused and pointed her horn at it. He saw it began to glow before her horn fired a blast of magic toward the tiara. But before it ever reached the head wear, the magic changed direction, loosing it's straightforward shape and returning to the magic it was made from. The magic flowed towards Jason, seeping into his forehead. It wasn't as painful as it would seem. It was cold, like drinking a glass of ice water after eating a peppermint candy. Fortunately, the second the magic finished passing into him, the elements fell to the floor. Unfortunately, since they were no longer holding him up, he too fell to the floor. He rubbed his lower back, grimacing before looking at Twilight as she walked over to him "Are you alright Jason?" she asked "That was incredible, I've never seen anything happen like that" Jason nodded "Yeah, I am fine, sorry for messing with the Elements, I found the chest and got curious" he slowly stood up. "That's alright, I was actually hiding them from Spike" she said smiling "I don't think he'd eat the gems, but he gets attracted to them if I leave the chest out" she began to focus, her horn glowing. He braced himself for the magic to come at him, but it never did. He wondered why? Maybe it had something to do with the magic the Elements had been creating as they circled around him. When the elements began to float toward the chest, he was a little startled and stumbled a little, his hand landing on Twilight's back. The cold feeling that had been in his head was suddenly in his arm, traveling down through his hand into her. She gasped and her horn began to glow brighter. The Elements vanished, appearing inside of the chest before it closed and vanished, reappearing back in it's place behind the shelf. The shelf's back slid back into place before all of the books he'd moved vanished and appeared in the shelf. Jason let go of her back and stepped away from her "Wow" he said softly. She giggled looking a little dazed "I should be saying that, whatever you did, it felt like I was overflowing with magic" she looked at him and held out her hoof "Do it again, I want to try something" He raised an eyebrow and reached out, touching her hoof with his finger. Then the cold feeling was back, flowing into her, causing her to gasp again. Then she looked at the bookshelves, her horn glowing as all the books in the library lifted from the shelves, spinning around the room before they all returned to their proper places. Running a hand through his black hair, Jason laughed 'It is like I am some sort of..I don't know, magic battery' he thought looking at Twilight. "I don't even feel tired, and that was a large spell" she looked at him "I felt you giving me magic..hmm" she turned and walked in a little circle "I wonder if it is possible for you to remove magic from something as well" she smiled "Lets try it" He watched her warily "Are you sure that it is safe? What if I can drain magic and I take too much from you?" She looked at him, showing off her big eyes "I am sure, I feel amazing after the magic you gave me and I'll tell you to stop if I start feeling tired" He scratched his chin and, against his better judgement, nodded. This time, he reached out to touch her horn, the focal point of her magic. He closed his eyes and focused on pulling the magic into him instead of giving it to her. Slowly, the cold feeling in his arm receded, replaced by a warmth that flowed up his arm and to his head. They stood like this for almost a minute before he opened his eyes and saw her staring back "When are you going to start?" she asked. "I've been doing it from the beginning" he moved away from her and began to walk in a small circle, nearly identical to the way she'd been walking "Maybe it is only a one way thing, from me to you, the way certain magical items only bestow magic, or store it" He walked over to a shelf and pulled out a book on magical artifacts, opening it to a specific page "Magic can be stored for later you and even amplified by the proper artifacts" he snapped the book closed and placed it back onto the shelf "For some reason, I both amplify and store magical energy...maybe the Elements had something to do with it, they could have increased whatever magic that was in me and...and.." he blinked "What was I talking about?" Twilight was watching him, an odd look on her face "You..you seemed to know everything I did on magical artifacts, even acted similar to me" she walked over to him "I think you give magic and borrow knowledge and personality traits?" "Cool, for a moment, I was really smart" he said grinning "It was a strange feeling...something one has to get used to" The purple pony nodded "I wonder if you can copy physical traits as well" there was a knock at the front door before Raibow Dash came in. "Hey you two, what's going on? I saw flashes of light when I was flying by?" the Pegasus asked looking at the two of them. "An experiment...and you are just in time to help us with another" Twilight said smiling at her "We've figured out that Jason has an interesting ability" Rainbow Dash blinked, looking a little nervous "Yeah? What is that?" Twilight chuckled a little "First, let Jason touch you, then we will see if the experiment is a success" against her better judgement Dash nodded and stepped up to Jason. He slowly placed his hand on her head, a little surprised at how...well, feathery her hair felt. He closed his eyes and focused, drawing the warmth through his arm and up his body to his brain. After a minute, he opened his eyes and looked at Dash, grinning "Hey, we should have a race, from here to the Apple farm" "What? Why?" the mare asked him, her wings fluttering at the idea of a challenge. "Well, I think I can beat you, me on foot and you flying...unless you are scared.." he was thinking like her. He knew she couldn't resist. "I'm not scared of anything" she said grinning "Prepare to eat dust" she headed outside with him and Twilight following. Twilight was happy to start them off. Jason didn't know why, but he felt fast. He didn't have wings and couldn't grow them, but all of the energy that Rainbow Dash had, all of her well trained skills were in him. It was a great feeling. He bent down next to Dash in a running position. When the unicorn shouted at them to go, they took off, Dash to the sky and him through Ponyville. He felt fast and it surprised him. He slipped past other ponies on the street, thankful when he was out of Ponyville. A quick glance up showed that Dash was keeping up with him. Of course she was, it was her speed he was using. He could be as fast as her, but never faster. Of course, this little power of his decided to cut out around the time he and Dash reached the farm. He was thankful that he'd slowed down enough and that the ground was soft, especially since the quick stop caused him to start rolling across the ground. He found himself sitting up and feeling a bit dazed as Rainbow Dash landed next to him "Whoa, are you alright?" she asked. Applejack showed up as well "Yeah, that was one heck of a tumble you took" He blinked and slowly stood up, dusting him self off "I feel fine" he chuckled "Guess I am pretty tough" he waved at Twilight as she came running after them. He could already imagine her thoughts. Now that Applejack was here, he guessed that he would have to show off his ability to her as well. And this was how Jason spent the entire day preforming interesting feats for the group. Luckily for him, Pinkie Pie was off doing something else at the time. He didn't want to image what would happen if he borrowed from her. The power of doing what she could do was appealing, but...he was afraid of what was in her head.