//------------------------------// // Interlude Part 1 // Story: Great power comes in Small packages // by Izalith //------------------------------// It was a warm day, fall has just arrived and with it comes the demand for more tea, a blanket in the living room and a good book to read when I am not being forced into some sort of strange activity with Pinkie Pie, Rarity's fashion designs, Twilight's questions and teachings, Applejack's farm work, Rainbow Dash's weather managing and Fluttershy's animal handling and/or healing. During my time off from helping them I spend it either in the library basement with my plants, out in the park relaxing or when I know that I am alone, trying to find a way back home. I know that Princess Celestia and her recently returned sister Luna, whom I still hold a grudge against for summoning me here against my will, are trying to find me a way back but my hope for that is turning slimmer by the day. My desire to return home is great but even with the assistance of two 'goddesses' I doubt they know how to throw me back into my world let alone do it accurately and have me placed near Ul'Dah or any of the other city-states. It was during one of these days offs did my usual schedule get postponed due to a royal pony arriving by chariot that was being pulled by two royal guards. At times Princess Celestia would visit when she has time to be away from her throne and her sister and she would visit Twilight and Barb, I am usually in the basement studying my plants or experimenting with various chemicals and liquids or asleep upstairs from being exhausted but on this day I was doing neither of the three and I was able to talk with the white monarch. I was sitting in the living room reading a book on the ponies anatomy, apparently, my healing spells only works on cuts, scrapes, sudden baldness from my fire spells, rug burns, hiccups, sprains, bruises and also for some reason brain freeze. That spell also works on curing minor diseases like the sniffles, a cold, stomach cramps, hangovers and lastly and most importantly diarrhea. The reason as to why I am reading this book is that I need to expand on my healing magic in order to help those that need it, broken bones, lacerations, internal bleeding, damaged or ruptured internal organs, damaged muscles, and quite possibly brain damage but then again that is a relatively new field of study back home. When word arrived that Princess Celestia will be coming here today so I did what I think would be required of a royal visit, I put on my Immortal Flames uniform, combed my recently cut hair, cleaned my shoes and hat and lastly had my eye-patch cleaned. It has been a while since I even bothered to take off my eye-patch and for good reason, looking into the mirror all I saw my face with a patch of flesh covering where my left eye used to be. Moving my left hand to touch the patchwork of skin, I let out a sigh of mixed emotions, those outside of the Immortal Flames sees the eye-patch and think that I lost my eye in a battle against the beast-kin, those within the Flames think that it was lost during my training as a Black Mage, but those that are part of the cabal know the true price we all paid for the dark knowledge and terrible secrets that come with the void-stained robes. Rubbing the patch of flesh that is underneath the eye-patch I feel around, at first it is seamless to the touch and in the mirror it even looks like a flawless smooth recovery to cover the missing eye but upon closer examination, it wasn't seamless. Feeling around a little deeper at the edges I felt the smallest bumps of thread and without even needing to tug on it I felt it start to undo itself but I quickly moved my hand away from it, not wanting to undo that yet. 'So many secrets, buried in the darkness.' "Tatalito! Are you done in there yet! The princess is downstairs waiting for you!" I hear Twilight yell through the door, seems like it is now or never and I am positive that it would be later rather than now or never. "Yes! I am done, I am coming down now!" I shouted as I opened the door and started to make my way downstairs. As I made my way down I saw Barb pouring a cup of tea to Princess Celestia and Twilight, Gilda is asleep on the sofa, I guess she either grew bored of the two mares talking or is tired from her...whatever it is that she does at this time. "Ah Mr. Yayalito, it has been a while since we last talked hasn't it." Celestia said as she takes a testing sip of the tea, testing how hot it is to know how long she must wait for it to cool off but she seems satisfied with its temperature and takes another sip. "Yes it has been a while, I do believe since we first met was the last time we have talked face to face instead of via letters through Barb. I do hope your journey here wasn't interrupted by anything foul on the roads or in the air." I said as I sat down beside the sleeping griffon whose response is to let out a loud snort before rolling over, facing away from the rest of us and with her tail in my lap. 'Gilda, you have made it way too easy for me to torture you. Your tail now belongs to me.' "We should do something about that, I heard from my student that you have plenty of stories to tell from your homeland if it wouldn't be a bother I would like to hear a few if you are willing to tell them." "Well, I guess I could regale you your majesty with a story from home, what would you like to hear?" "Hmm, how about how you lost your eye? You look far too young to have lost in an accident or in battle." Celestia says she sits down on a cushion provided by Twilight, the purple mare sits down beside her, almost laying against her like a child would with their parents. "I could tell you that story but...those that are like me would be most displeased that I released anything about us to those that are not part of the congregation. But I could tell you how I began my training in the magical arts." I said, petting Gilda's tail for the time being as Barb sits beside me, munching on a sapphire the size of an apple, I don't know where she keeps getting those gems but I want some, I want to know if the gems here are edible to everyone although I have only seen them eaten by the young dragoness. "Alright then, I guess another time for that story, but do go on." and once she quieted down I began my story on how I became a thaumaturgist and later a black mage. "My training began when I turned seven years old and started to show signs that I had mana flowing in my veins. As soon as it was discovered I was sent to Ul'Dah that was only a half day journey on foot from Horizon and was placed into the training halls of the thaumaturgist academy with the five masters. When they showed me to the masters they had wanted me to try and cast a spell and since I didn't know any they were just testing me and of course I failed but when they sensed just how much mana that I had flowing in my veins they had decided to accept me into the academy." "My first few weeks in the academy were tough, I didn't have my family there with me for comfort, I didn't know any of the students nor the teachers, and at the time I was afraid of the dark. My studies were going poorly for the first three months, I couldn't concentrate as I was always thinking of home and my family but as time went on I thought less of home and more on what was placed before me. On the sixth month of my training I learned how to cast the beginning spells of a thaumaturgist in which was one of the happiest days of my life, the downside of it was that I burned all of the hair off my head and I was bald for a few months for it to all grow back." "After the little incident with the fire spell I started to pay attention to the lessons, I took notes down, studied after hours to get it down, I was focused on passing these classes to make my family proud. I spent at least four years in that academy until I graduated at the top of my class, I was one of the best students other then the other Lalafells, Hyur's, Miqo'te's, Elezen's and Roegadyn's, that were in the same class as myself. When I turned twelve I returned home and greeted by my family and friends, they asked me what I was doing at the academy, did I make any friends, did anything interesting happened, did I meet someone of importance." "I did make some friends with the other students but most kept to themselves, a few things happened but none of it was that interesting and someone of importance did come to the academy, the young sultaness came to the academy to look at the new graduates. And it was on that day that I met the sultaness and she became infatuated with me, a crush on a recently graduated student of thaumaturgy. I don't know what she sees in me but apparently, it was enough for her to flirt with me at every opportunity we meet, to try to kiss me when we were fifteen, even made the one demand to bed her when she was drunk when we were both at the age of twenty. I swear that girl must either see me as the forbidden fruit seeing that she is a high-born and I am a peasant or that she saw the greatness that I would eventually become." "Even though my training in thaumaturgy has ended when I got a letter when I was fifteen I was...chosen to further my studies and that is a story for another time." I said with a grin as I heard Celestia, Twilight, Barb and strangely enough Gilda let out moans, seems like they wanted me to keep going with my story. "Could you please tell us what these advanced studies are?" Celestia says as Twilight nods and agrees with her. "I am afraid I can't, you ponies have your secrets that you would never share with others and I have my secrets that I wouldn't share with others. If you would like me to tell you what those studies are you would have to follow in my steps which I know you won't because your light is far too bright...yours too Twilight." I said as I stared at the two before going back to Barb, leaning a bit against her, feeding off her warmth as the cold weather starts to pick up and seep through the window "I don't get it, what do you mean by our light is too bright? Do you have to learn this all in the dark?" "You could say that Twilight...you could say that," I said as I mumbled the last bit, she is too innocent to know about the rituals and sacrifices that are needed to achieve greatness. Once my story was done then we started to talk about some things that held no real importance to me, some local news, some gossip, a bit of news coming back and forth from Canterlot, a letter for Gilda that came from her home, nothing new on my request for finding any information to find a way home and lastly Princess Luna has asked through her sister if I can come over to Canterlot for a visit of sorts. I declined for numerous reasons, the main one is that I am probably going to kill her for bringing me here. Taking a break from the outside world I started to read my journal that I had kept during my time with the Immortal Flames and the local militia in Horizon, I made sure that no one else tried to look over my shoulder by angling myself away from everyone. It was during my private reading did I get interrupted by no one else but Celestia. Closing my book I look up at her and raised an eyebrow, wondering why she is trying to get my attention. "What book are you reading there?" Princess Celestia said as she scooted close to me, I guess she is trying to be friendly while learning more about me. She is going to earn that not just get it for free. "Just my private journal," I said while looking at her, my finger kept at the page I was currently at. "That journal reminds me of Twilight's private diary, and seeing how she is always writing in it and hides it in the same spot here like the one in Canterlot..." "P-princess! You found my diary!" "Well it wasn't that hard Twilight, you hid it under your pillow and you of all ponies should know that the maids always replace the sheets for your bed whenever you leave the room in the morning." I looked at Twilight and shook my head, I hide my journal in one of the many potted plants that are in the basement. "You need to find a better hiding spot Twilight, if it is under the pillow then you really need to get more creative, ask Pinkie Pie for advice cause she seems to be an expert in hiding in strange places," I said as I thought back to that one time she was hiding in a mailbox...how she managed to fit inside that thing without being crushed to death. After that we went back to talking about local happenings, Barb's crush on me, the both of us refusing to look at each other while Gilda snores a bit and rolls over, Rarity's newest fashion line, Applejack's business gaining some new patrons, Pinkie Pie still being crazy and Rainbow Dash gaining a new sleeping spot, on the back of my chocobo when he isn't wearing his saddle and harness. It would seem that today is going to be just a regular day with nothing bad happening or out of the ordinary. I just wish that future days can be just like this one, sadly that will never be the case.