The Life and Adventures of a Trickster

by Argentum Fabulam

Chapter 1 - The Dark Magic

Chapter 1: The Dark Magic

Twilight awoke to the sound of birds chirping as dawn was just beginning to dethrone the night from its reign. She yawned groggily and looked over to her side table. She stared at the old journal that was resting there for a few minutes before remembering what she had read last night. In an instant, she hurriedly grabbed it with her magic and flipped to the page she left off.
"All types, ranks, black mages... Ah, here we are," Twilight mumbled. "The night the kingdom fell,"

**********************

The night I found out though, was a very fateful night; the night my story actually began.

So let me tell you about that night; the night the kingdom of Havel- my home – fell, and the raging, seemingly endless winter that followed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had been scouring the library for a full week, and still hadn't found any information on type of magic that black mages used. Needless to say, it was driving me nuts. I had even managed to sneak into the restricted section, but I’d found nothing. It was so frustrating, since there were ponies who knew about the magic, but for some unholy reason, they decided not to write it down, speak off it, or acknowledge its blooming existence! I had to figure out what it was, before it drove me crazy.

I was walking about trying to think of who could tell me what it was. Then it hit me. …Well, actually, I kind of walked in to her.

“Damn it, Flare! Watch where you’re going," the grey unicorn I’d just bumped into scolded playfully. Amethyst Shine, a skilled geomancer and my only real friend.

“I-I’m sorry, Amethyst,” As she began to walk away, I remembered back to how she had been the one to take me under her figurative wing and showed me the ropes, and most important of all, taught me about the ranks. Oh, and not to mention she was now a gold mage, so she had a ton of access to information that was "not for common eyes”. I was getting giddy just thinking about what I might have access to with her assistance!

I looked up when she was just about to turn a corner, and raced after her. "Hey, Amethyst, wait up there's-“
She stopped abruptly, and I collided into her again. "Ouch..." I moaned, rubbing my snout.

She rolled her eyes at me and sighed. "What do you need?"

"I would like very much for you to answer some questions I have about a certain kind of magic." I replied politely.

Amethyst chuckled. "You know, two years ago, when you said that you wanted to learn all the types of magic you could, I thought you were kidding. But now, here we are, and you are well on your way to becoming the first true mage in almost a century."

Still laughing lightly, she looked me in the eyes. "Fine, I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability."
I nearly jumped for joy. Of course, she wasn't finished. "I just need a little time to drop off this scroll to the high mage. Meet me in my chambers in five minutes,"

“Why not speak here, in the library?” I inquired.

“Why can’t you take orders like an obedient little colt?” Amethyst teased. Then she turned tail and trotted off to deliver her scroll.

I sighed and headed off down to corridor to Amethyst’s room. It’d taken me less time to walk there than I’d expected, so I began to pace outside her door, trying to organize the hurricane of thoughts rushing through my head. How am I going to ask her this? Should I be blunt? Should I beat around the bush? What is a bush? What is the meaning of-

I spun around to continue pacing in the opposite direction, and all too common painful sensation erupted on my snout, derailing my train of thought.

"Sheesh, is this how we are bound to meet for all of eternity?" Amethyst Shine joked as she steadied herself. Then she opened her chamber door and ushered me in.

"So," she said as she removed her combat robe. "What did you want to ask me?"

I shook off my distraction and re-gathered my thought. Then I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. "Whatexactlyistheuseofablackmage?"

Amethyst Shine’s eyes were blank as she stared at me in confusion. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but I cut in before she had the chance.

"I mean, what I meant to say is… What exactly is the use of a black mage?"

She raised her eyebrow at me and responded coldly, "I heard you. You know it’s rude to interrupt somepony when they’re speaking,”

"I-I-I know," I stuttered. "I'm just nervous, that’s all. Please forgive me,"

She nodded in response. "Well, I really shouldn't tell you about the black mages…" she muttered. "…but as your friend, I think we can manage to keep this little secret between us."

I was ready to leap over hug her, but I somehow managed to restrain myself. "That’s fantastic! Thank you, Amethyst! I can definitely keep it a secret!” Hopefully.

“ … I just have one question,”

The grey unicorn looked at me expectantly, but not saying a word. “Yes?” I prompted.

“… Never mind. It can wait. Go ahead and sit down." She laid down on her bed, in a somewhat seductive manner. I couldn’t help but stare for a moment… or two.

"Flare, my face is here," she said, drawing me out of my hypnotized state. My eyes immediately darted to hers, and I rubbed the back of my head with my hoof in embarrassment.

Thankfully, Amethyst dismissed my actions. "Now then, we’d best get started. For you to understand this specific type of magic, I'm going to have to give you a bit of a history lesson. You know about our creator, right?"

I shook my head. For all the time I had spent in the library, it had never once crossed my mind to open a single history book. I was always too preoccupied studying up on different magic, or pulling a prank on the librarian.

Amethyst began to explain. "Well, all of ponykind was created by Mother Faust. She gave us unicorns our magic, the earth ponies their connection to the land, and pegasi their wings. After years of watching our ancestors struggle to survive, she took a special form so she could live among them and teach them how to use their gifts. She became an alacorn; a pony with a horn on its head and wings on its back that was taller than any regular pony. She brought all of them together, and after they’d learned all she wanted for them to know, she offered to be their queen. Our ancestors graciously accepted, and the newly crowned Mother Faust created herself a king to rule alongside her - another alacorn named Terra. Many peace-filled years passed in the first kingdom, but Terra's mind grew weak due to the circumstances of his creation. He fool-hardily tried to overthrow Mother Faust and take her power for his own. The dark magic he used against Mother Faust was called alacorn magic, and it is that which you seek,"
As my mentor breathed a heavy sigh, I straightened up and started to speak, but she cut me off before I had the chance. "Before you decide you want to learn it, let me finish the story. Mother Faust would have fallen that day, if it weren’t for a courageous earth pony servant who sacrificed himself to protect Mother Faust. He stole her cruel fate from her and fell in her place. As she watched her loyal follower fall victim to her husband’s terrible magic, Mother Faust drew up the last of her strength and banished Terra to the deepest hole she knew of; Tartarus. She then left our fates in our own hooves and disappeared from our world, taking the soul of the brave servant with her,"

I sat there, on the floor of Amethyst’s dimly lit bedchamber, thinking about what I should do with this newfound knowledge. If I were to pursue this dark magic, I could make history, and become the first successful black mage since this King Terra. Of course, I would surely be banished for delving so deeply in such evil arts…

"As for my question Flare…”

I glanced up. Amethyst had her head resting on her hooves, and was staring intensely into my eyes. I’d almost forgotten that she’d had a question for me.

“Yes?”

“I hope you don’t think me too forward, but… Do you have a marefriend?”

I tried to suppress my surprise at her bluntness by answering her without hesitating. "Uh… I, um… No? B-But… that’s not from lack of-“

My eyes widened as a wisp of chestnut-coloured magic swept over me. I felt myself being pulled closer and closer to the edge of Amethyst’s bed. Soon enough, our snouts were just inches apart. I’d never been this close to her to notice before, but she had a nice, calming, earthy smell, almost like a forest. I wondered if all geomancers smelled like this…

Amethyst giggled mischievously, and closed the distance between us as she kissed me softly.

I didn’t struggle to get away, nor did I kiss her back. To be honest, I didn’t know what to do. I just sat there, dumfounded, with my eyes closed, simply enjoying the way her kiss felt.

Just as I was beginning to relax, it was over, and I somehow managed to catch my breath. "… Of trying..."

Amethyst smiled and nuzzled my cheek. “And you wondered why I wanted you to come into my chambers…”

“You mean-“

"Yes...” she purred as she took the drawstring of my robe in between her teeth and tugged it loose, letting the brown cloth fall limply to the floor. “This is the reason I wanted you here, Frost…”

**********************

Twilight sat in her bed with the thick journal between her front hooves. Her wings were flapping eagerly as she read. She was intrigued by the information each page held, but also somewhat worried what she would find out when she read them.

She was just about to turn the page when a loud knock at the door startled her out of her concentration.
"Who is it?" she called, using her magic to slip a crimson ribbon into the book to save her place.

She heard her front door creak open, and Applejack’s southern voice echoed up from downstairs. "Are you ready yet, sugar cube? I thought you wanted us to help you rehearse for the Summer Sun Celebration tomorrow!”

"Oh… T-That's tomorrow?" Twilight called back meekly. She’d completely forgotten the plans she’d made with her five friends. "Hold on, I'll be with you girls in a moment."

She set the journal down on the small table beside her bed, but just as she was about to disappear down the stairs, she looked back at it. It seemed so vulnerable, so out in the open on that table. She hurried over and stuffed it underneath her pillow instead.

As she ran down the steps, Twilight recalled what she’d read. Alacorn magic, Mother Faust, the Dark Mage Terra... Why haven't I heard of these before? She pondered. But she pushed her questions aside for the time being, and went to join her friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight and her five companions trotted over to an open field beside the courtyard of the Canterlot Castle, so that she could practice her flying. Twilight’s wings were still incredibly new to her, and if she wanted to stop careening into trees and other ponies every time she flew, she knew she would have to get used to them.

“Come on, Twilight!” a sky-blue pegasus with a multicoloured mane and matching tail called to the lavender alacorn. “I’ll race you to that cloud up there and back!”

“Maybe later, Rainbow,” Twilight muttered. Her previous questions had crept out of her subconscious again, and she was struggling not to think of them.

The pink pony with hair like a bird’s nest beside Twilight began to bounce up and down uncontrollably. “But if you don’t race, you won’t get any practice! And if you don’t practice, you won’t be able to fly! And if you aren’t able to fly, you could fall right out of the sky during your performance at the Summer Sun Celebration! And if you fall out of the sky during your performance at the Summer Sun Celebration, you could squish some poor, unsuspecting pony, just like that! Splat! Pony pancakes!”

Applejack, an orange earth pony with hair as golden as a perfectly baked pie crust, placed her hoof on the pony’s shoulder, holding her still. “I don’t think anything like that is going to happen, Pinkie Pie. Besides, Twilight knows how to fly just fine, right Twilight?”

“Huh? Oh, yes of course,”

"Twilight, darling, are you feeling alright?" asked a snow-white unicorn with a flawless violet mane.

"I'm fine, Rarity. I was just thinking… I mean… I have a question for you all," Twilight responded.

The pale yellow Pegasus hovering above the ground smiled shyly, ducking her head so that her soft pastel-pink hair hid her face, and whispered, “You can ask us anything, Twilight. We’re your friends,” All five of them grinned and nodded in agreement. Twilight smiled back at them. Fluttershy’s right. They are my best friends, but this is still a difficult question… Let’s see, should I be blunt? Should I beat around the bush? … Oh my gosh, I sound just like…

Before she could overthink her proceedings any further, Twilight blurted out, "Have any of you heard of the story of Mother Faust?"

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity exchanged confused looks, then all together, shook their heads.

“Sorry, sugar cube,” Applejack said apologetically. “Is there anything we can do you help you find out about this ‘Mama Frost’?”

“Actually Applejack, it’s… Oh, never mind. And no, it’s okay. I’ll just go to the library after we’ve finished here and do a little research. Now, who wants a snack? I made sandwiches!”

Twilight levitated six sandwiches out of her saddle bag, giving one to each of her friends. They all sat down in a circle, under the shade of a nearby oak tree, where they talked and laughed together like they always did.

Author's Note:

Thanks to my one friend for becoming my editor. Who knew having a Grammar Nazi friend would have perks. Anywhodle, I'm going to be swamped with work for the next week or two due to exams coming up, but lucky for me I get a week of after it! I'll also be taking a writers craft course during my next semester, so I may get even more writing time. So until next time, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and have a great day!

- Argentum