//------------------------------// // Tástálacha agus Freagraí // Story: Gan Teideal // by Vedavyasa //------------------------------// Standing at the very edge of Ponyville's town limits, Kevin finally asked the obvious question. “Where the hell are we going?” “Right here,” Twilight answered. “Or, to be more accurate, three feet forwards. I need to cast a very specific spell, and it's illegal in town limits.” Lyra cocked her head. “Please explain.” “A variant of teleportation. If we test Kevin's foci here, ponies could get hurt. And we wouldn't want that, would we, Kevin?” Kevin, in a rare moment of wisdom, silently shook his head and took three steps forward. Lyra and Twilight followed close behind, and after a moments pause to ensure Jiminy was situated firmly on Kevin's shoulder, the powerful Unicorn's horn flashed brightly. For a moment, Kevin was blinded by the light, and when he next opened his eyes he found himself staring at a barren desert. “Next question,” Kevin said quietly, “where are we now?” Twilight smiled a little before answering. “An idea. To be more specific, I once had an idea for a short story. This is it, or what's left of it anyway. It's a perfect place to test new spells, because there's nothing here I care about. There actually used to be a forest here, and you do not want to know where it went. Now, Kevin, we only have a few hours here before things start to get a little weird. We'd better start right away. First, let me see your right hand.” Kevin obediently held out his hand, and faster than he could see a small knife appeared and slashed his palm. “What the fuck?” he screamed as he jerked it back, only for Twilight to stare at him unamused. “Blood, Kevin. You've seen it before I assume, and we need some of yours right now. Put the cut directly against the pommel of the bat, it'll bind the foci to you and activate the runes. The process of binding should heal it, but you'll have a scar. It's not unusual.” Twilight lifted a hoof in demonstration, and Kevin saw several fine lines of a darker lavender running crosswise alongside the back of her leg. He glanced at Lyra, and the minty Unicorn revealed similar scars. Instead of wasting time guessing how their coats could scar, Kevin grabbed the pommel of his foci and held on a firmly as he could. It hurt at first, which he had expected, but almost immediately the pain began to fade and the runes carved in the wood began to glow a dark, angry red. “Well that's unusual,” Twilight said, eyebrow firmly raised. “That colour will be the colour of your aura to any being that knows how to see it, and aura's reflect experiences and personalities. Red is the rarest colour, and to be honest all we know about it is that every pony from recorded history with a red aura either accomplished something great, died trying, or both at once. There's no other pattern we can see.” Kevin shrugged, but made no comment. Very shortly after, the runes ceased glowing and Kevin relaxed his grip on the bat. “And now for our feature presentation, I do what?” Twilight gestured out towards the desert, and a round, wooden target that hadn't existed a moment before simply popped into existence. No light, no sound, no dramatic rise through the sand. It was not, and then it was. “Try to hit that target with a force spell,” Twilight suggested. “Just imagine what you want to do, and the foci will do the rest.” Kevin nodded, pointed the bat directly at the target, and thought a moment. Several runes on the bat reignited red, and sparks danced along the length of the bat. Almost instantly, the bat kicked slightly in Kevin's hand, though he could see nothing that would cause the motion. Nearly instantly, the target exploded violently with a sharp, ringing crack. “Well shit,” Kevin muttered, staring down at the bat wide eyed. “Now you know why you need a foci,” Jiminy said in his ear. Turning to Twilight, Kevin made a vague gesture towards the bat. The Unicorn smiled and nodded. “All foci. You didn't put any more magic into that spell than you would lighting a candle. Now we should test some of the more physical aspects.” Again, targets simply appeared from nowhere, but this time they appeared no more than five feet in front of Kevin. “Swing at those targets,” Twilight said, “and focus on hitting as hard as you can. Some of the runes should activate.” Kevin nodded, took a step forwards, and lined the first target up. He raised his bat, thought as hard as he could, and swung. A rune ignited on the bat and Kevin felt something change, but the target simply ducked beneath the swing. Kevin turned towards a grinning Twilight, and he understood. Facing the targets again, he held the bat in a light one handed grip. He still thought hard, and as he did he brought the bat around in an ornate and high speed pattern, passing it from hand to hand and behind his back with seemingly no effort. The target in front of him moved again, but it was hesitant this time, not knowing where or how Kevin would strike. Kevin grinned, and fast as lighting brought the bat upwards in an uppercut strike. A rune again ignited fiery red, again he felt something change, but this time the target couldn't move quickly enough. The bat landed solidly against the centre of the wooden circle, and with another ringing crack it shattered. Kevin immediately dropped the bat with a curse, expecting the vibration of the wood to shatter his wrist. Twilight, Lyra, and Jiminy all laughed, leaving the lone human glaring angrily at the two Unicorns and flicking Jiminy off his shoulder. “A foci will never hurt it's owner,” Twilight explained. “That's part of the binding process. It wouldn't be very useful if you broke a bone every time you hit something, would it?” Kevin nodded, muttering darkly under his breath as he picked up the bat and faced the remaining four targets. He stepped into the middle of the four, and the targets began to flit about around him, circling him quickly. Twirling his foci again, he gave a moments thought before lashing out towards a target. The target exploded, and before the dust had cleared he had already knocked two more of the targets out the air with loud cracks. The lone remaining target retreated as quickly as it was able, and Kevin let it go, certain it would return. Lyra cleared her throat behind him. Turning his head, he saw a little gleam in her eye and a small grin forming. “Twilight, please give me control of the last target,” she said softly, and the lavender Unicorn nodded, keeping her expression carefully blank. Kevin gave a fierce, toothy grin of his own before turning back to face the lone target. It moved differently now, much faster and more aggressively than it had under Twilight's control. Instead of retreating from or circling him, it blasted directly towards him with surprising speed. Quickly judging the height and trajectory of the target, Kevin simply waited until it was mere feet away before jumping and rolling his shoulder towards it. He had judged correctly, and his shoulder landed squarely on the target. The speed of it's passing rolled him over the target, and he landed easily after a quick mid air turn to remain facing the target. He could practically feel Lyra's surprise as she readjusted her perceptions of Kevin and brought the target around again. This time, he simply raised the bat by his side in a single hand and waited. When he judged the target was too close to break off, he let himself fall backwards and swung the bat in a short, fast overhead arc. The target tilted wildly, Lyra doing what she could to minimize the blow, but the bat still struck true and the target split in half with a crack. Kevin smiled at Lyra while he drew himself to his feet. He was somewhat surprised to see her grinning right back, and even more surprised when his legs were swept out from under him by the two halves of the destroyed target. “Revenge is a fascinating concept, wouldn't you agree?” Lyra asked no one in particular. Twilight silently agreed, wondering if the question had been rhetorical. Lyra smiled a little wider as Kevin cursed colourfully while he drew himself to his feet again, and broke out into a fit of giggles when he directed a sharp glare at her. “Note to self,” he said, just loud enough to be heard. “The green one can be a bitch.” Lyra stopped laughing, and cocked her head in confusion. “A bitch is a dog though, and I'm a Pony.” Kevin shrugged. “Details, details. Not important.” Twilight's face turned an interesting shade of red, but Lyra chuckled and waved a hoof to cut off the inevitable tirade. “I can accept that. Are there more tests?” Twilight stammered briefly, but quickly regained composure as her coat returned to its normal lavender. “Of course. We have to test every rune on the foci before we can be sure it won't react badly to anything Kevin asks it to do.” “React badly?” Kevin asked. “As much as I reinforced it, it's still a baseball bat. It might not be able to take the strain of some of the more powerful spells you can channel through it,” Twilight answered. “And what happens if it can't?” “Very bad things,” Twilight said in a flat tone. “Next test is fire.” Over an hour later, an exhausted, bruised, and singed Kevin slumped to his knees. “Mercy!” he panted, “mercy on a poor damned soul!” Twilight stared helplessly at the begging human. “Kevin, these tests are essential. If your foci fails when you're on an assignment, you could die!” “I'll die if you don't stop this torture!” Kevin weazed back as he prodded at a dark blue hoofprint showing through a large hole in his shirt. “Me lungs'll fall out!” “Then you need the exercise,” Twilight said. “You'll be expected to fight a lot longer than this when you go on duty.” “No he won't” Jiminy piped up from Lyra's shoulder, making the minty Unicorn jump and earning a glare from Twilight. “Well, it's true.” “You aren't helping,” Twilight said. “Kevin needs to keep going, and that's the end of it.” Kevin sighed. “How many more tests?” Twilight's mouth twitched up into a tiny grin. “About thirty. Then we can leave.” “Never in my life have I hated a pony more,” Kevin muttered, but he stood up. “Next is earth magic.” Some time later, a small flash of light announced the return of the four companions. Kevin lay prone on the ground, twitching occasionally as Twilight and Lyra walked away discussing the strong points and weak points of his magic. “Which one?” Jiminy asked as he hopped onto the hoofmark on Kevin's chest. “I wasn't looking.” “Purple,” Kevin muttered darkly as he tried to gain control of his limbs. “Ah,” Jiminy said knowingly, “And it's been less than a day since you made her angry. Just imagine tomorrow.” “No,” Kevin refused, his voice strengthening slightly. “Whatever you want,” Jiminy said with a shrug. “Do you want me to help you up?” Kevin didn't dignify that with a proper response, instead rolling backwards and springing up to his feet in what was meant to be one smooth, practiced motion that sent Jiminy sailing into a bush. Instead, his feet barely reached the ground and he staggered backwards as Jiminy fell to the ground. “No.” The human stalked forward, brow furrowed in concentration as he forced his limbs to stop convulsing. With a small pop, Jiminy appeared on his shoulder and snickered. “You pushed yourself too hard. You've hardly got any magic reserves left, enough for some basic spells but nothing flashy. That's why your body is twitching, it wants that power back.” Kevin grumbled incoherently. “Recovery time for magical withdrawal is normally a few hours, sometimes a day or so. I wouldn't rely on that though, every other creature in the cosmos who can experience it has a regenerative, internal store of magic. You're unique.” “Really?” Kevin grunted. “Yep. Granting magic to an inherently non-magical creature is completely new territory as far as I know. Creatures with inactive magic have been granted the right before, but you don't even have that. That makes you extremely rare, even among your own species.” Kevin nearly tripped on flat ground. “Do try to stay upright,” Jiminy chuckled, “but I'm telling the truth. Most humans have some small reserve of magic in them. Not enough to do much of anything in most cases, but there have been, in my lifetime, three exceptions. You've probably heard of Jesus, Merlin, and David Copperfield?” Kevin stopped in his tracks. “Copperfield.” “He's the real deal.” “I would have thought Houdini,” Kevin said, his voice resigned. “Or Elvis.” “Houdini had more than most, that's why he was so strong and flexible. As for Elvis, he was just a visitor.” “No. Just no.” “Yes. He was a minor Fae noble on vacation. He got called back home early, some nasty business on the far border of their realm.” “Why am I still surprised?” Kevin asked as he started walking again, his gait still forced and awkward. “Magic, gods, talking ponies, Eldritch crickets, and I'm surprised that Elvis really did go home.” “Sanity, Kevin. Sanity.” Kevin grunted skeptically, but continued his determined trudge after the two Unicorns. “Yes, it is quite inconvenient isn't it?” Kevin grunted again, this time with an unmistakable finality about it. He struggled back to the library in silence, and without so much as nodding at Twilight climbed the too small ladder and passed out on the floor beside his borrowed bed. The dark was overwhelming, but Kevin paid it little mind. The concealing darkness was a greater comfort to him than the revealing light. Standing stock still atop a roof, he observed the city beneath him. People in groups walked beneath him, hurrying past the mouths of alleys and lingering in the small pools of light offered by the street lamps. Kevin snorted quietly at them, thinking them fools. Prey, waiting in plain view. Turning on one heel, he prepared to begin his descent, but stopped and raised his head sharply. His instincts screamed that he was not alone. He searched the nearby rooftops are thoroughly as he could, but saw nothing. He frowned. He had trained his senses since he was a small child, needing them to avoid the drunken brute that was his father. He had kept them sharp all through his teenage years, using them daily in his work. In all that time, his instincts had only been wrong once. He sat down, closed his eyes, and listened to the whispers of the world. Far above him, Luna watched in admiration. She had not even entered the world of his dreams, merely opened the eye of her moon, and he had sensed it. Here was a predator, the like of which Equestria had not seen for uncounted moons. If he had been a Pegasus, she would have come to him when he woke and offered him the armour of her Night Guard. As it was, she slowly began to weave the fabric of his dream. Kevin's ear twitched, and fast as lightning he stood, turned, and raised his left arm. A small club thudded painfully against his wrist, almost breaking it. His attacker stepped back in shock, but a boot crashed into his chest mid stride. With a shout, he felt himself flung backward and over the edge of the roof. The scream fading as the unfortunate thug fell, Kevin rubbed his wrist and sat down again. Luna blinked. He had not hesitated to take a life. The Goddess quietly readjusted her opinion of the human as she closed her moons eye, determining not to intrude any further. For the remainder of that long night, Kevin sat still as death upon the rooftop. “Sister,” said Celestia, “you look shaken.” Luna stood and cracked her neck before stepping off of her bed. “We are. We have taken it upon Ourselves to observe the dreams of Equestria's newest servant.” The temperature in the room dropped several degrees. “What did you see?” “Hunger,” Luna said quietly, remembering the small groups of people walking down the streets. “Terrible hunger, pride, and anger. We saw death. He is as alien to the little ones as any Other. He is a wolf with a ponies mind.” Celestia sighed. “Who else to fight our kind?” “We know,” Luna agreed, her expression dark. “We do not have to like it.”