MLP: The Last Mage

by WorldWalker128

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Well done, Lighthand!" Celestia praised. "This is most certainly an improvement!"

At first I closed one curtain, then two, then three, then I opened them all again, and shut them all again, and reopened them. All without causing them any damage, to my relief. "Only two more tests to go, and then you may go on your quest. Would you like to attempt the next test?"

"Yes, princess Celestia."

"I thought you might. Alright. Follow me outside." Celestia led me out of the throne room, down a long flight of stairs, and outside to a practice yard where a few dozen guards were training or sparring with one another. "Attention, guards!" Celestia called in a loud voice that I did not think she possessed. The guards dropped what they were doing and turned to face their princess. "I would like to test the Human's skill in magic, and I need a few volunteers." As if they were all of one mind, each of them took one step forward. "Excellent! Would all of you please choose a random weapon?" I looked at Celestia, feeling uneasy. Why would they need weapons? Am I going to fight them? When they had, Celestia looked at me. "In a moment I'm going to order them to attack you." She placed a hoof over my mouth when I opened it to object. "I'm going to channel my energy into you. Use it however you will, but remember, your goal is to run from this end of the practice yard to the other. You may disarm them, but you may not kill, and may not injure them. If you injure three of the twenty five that are here, you fail.

"There may be times in the future where you may be backed into a corner politically, yet cannot afford to let yourself be captured. Good luck." she lowered her hoof and flapped her wings backwards. They carried her several feet away from me, and then she set down and raised her voice again. "Guards, your objective is to prevent him from reaching the other side of the practice yard! You may use any means to do so, but try not to kill him! Begin!" Celestia's horn began to glow and I felt the rush of magical energy again.

The guards sprang forward. Some of them were earth ponies, and others Pegasi, but all of them were wearing armor, and all of them were armed. And here I am with only two legs and no armor whatsoever. Brilliant! I ran forward and to the right, attempting to circle around the first few earth ponies. A foolish attempt being that they were much faster than I was even with the additional weight of armor.

"By Luna's mane, you Humans are slow!" the closest earth pony taunted as he reached me. Tied into his tail was an iron ball. He stopped in front of me and swung his tail at one of my legs. I jumped and just barely dodged it. He pranced to one side and changed the direction that it swung so that he would not hit himself, and ended up tying it around his back legs instead. "Crab apples!" he said as he fell to the ground.

"I may be slow physically, but you're slow mentally, and I can improve my body!" I returned while ducking a thrown speak from a flying Pegasus. That same Pegasus then swooped down at me. I tucked my head down and rolled across the ground. He missed me by inches, but I managed to roll over a sharp stone sticking up out of the dirt and I scratched one of my arms. Note to self, pay more attention to my surroundings!

Two more earth ponies came at me from ahead and behind, and I scrambled to my feet. Recalling that I had Celestia's power and not thinking clearly through a panicked mind I focused the power into my leg muscles, crouched down, and then sprang into fifteen feet into the air. The two pones slid to a stop a foot from crashing into each other and stared up at me. Two Pegasi were closing fast and more earth ponies were coming my way. Can't hurt them...what do I do?! I was falling back down again and the two ponies were hurriedly backing up to get out of my path.

Recalling the unpleasant yet still impressive image from the journal of the wall of earth he raised, I tried the same thing. I didn't get a wall, but I at least got a chunk of packed dirt. Just enough for one foot to stand on. I flailed my arms about in an attempt to balance on my little floating islet. I need to learn to focus under pressure! Maybe this is why she had so many attack me. One of the Pegasi kicked me and I fell over backwards and after two seconds hit the ground. The wind was knocked out of me and several weapons were pointed at various parts of my body.

"Enough!" Came Celestia's voice. The guards back away from me and Celestia passed through them. "You've failed. Would you like to try again?" I nodded, still unable to breathe properly. "When you are ready, return to your starting point." Celestia looked around at her guards. "All of you return to your starting points as well. When I say to begin again, do so." Some of them saluted, others nodded or did nothing at all, and all returned to where they had been before or retrieved their weapons, save for the one still trying to untie his legs. Another guard had to help him with it, and he was quick to put it away and replace it with a net instead.

As soon as I was able to breathe again I rose from the ground and tried again. This they set a trap for me. They let me get about halfway (and I say let because they barely tried to stop me) and then ringed me with spears, pikes, and other pole weapons. I surrendered and we restarted.

The third time one of the younger guards thought it would be funny to moon me and I used his rump as a stepping stool to try launching myself over his head. He was pushed to the ground and I fell with him. He was surprised but unhurt and rolled over one of my legs to pin me to the ground.

The fourth time two Pegasi swooped down in tandem from behind and picked me up after I dove between one of the taller guards' legs and slid in the dirt to get by. By this time the guards had stopped taking me seriously and had turned it into a game to see how many different ways they could make me start over.

The fifth time I tried using magic again to create a wall of dirt to stop certain ponies as they came at me, but I failed to take into account once again that Pegasi fly. When I pinned their wings to their sides (I pictured a rope holding them in place) I injured two of them when they hit the ground, and the third hurt himself trying to fight free and I failed.

The sixth time (after the three Pegasi went to the infirmary and several more joined the 'fun') I tried summoning a small tornado to pick me up and carry me across the field. Needless to say, it did not end well and I ended up in a tree half a mile away after the tornado finally dissipated.

The seventh time I tried to make myself invisible. Instead I made everyone else and their weapons invisible and we had to stop simply because they kept crashing into one another when they tried to get me and to continue risked serious harm to all involved. Celestia herself had to undo the spell as I had no idea how I'd done it in the first place.

The eighth time I made a hole in the ground and packed the dirt ahead of me outward to make a path under the ground and ran along that. I nearly made it when I ran into something made of stone. I found out it was a drinking fountain when I tried to go underneath it and water filled the passage. I would have drowned if some of the water had not seeped up around the base of the fountain and the guards dug me out. Some of the guards were trying hard not to laugh at me after I started breathing normally again, while others rolled their eyes. Now sopping wet, I returned to the starting point after thanking them for saving my life. Celestia had me restore the ground to its normal state before I made the tunnel This created a muddy mess along the tunnel's line, but it was filled in again, at least.

The ninth time was cut short for a lunch break and a shirt change. Most of the guards that had been pitted against me left and were replaced with new ones. Only, this time there were thirty instead of twenty five.

The tenth time I thought about putting them to sleep, but really had no idea how to go about doing so as equine anatomy wasn't my strong point. Instead I played with wind and earth again and filled the sparring ground with dust. Some of them figured out what I was doing and held their breath, but were still blinded when dust and dirt got into their eyes. The Pegasi fared no better.

Smiling at a plan that was finally working I squinted my eyes almost shut and covered my mouth with my shirt and raced by them. My shirt didn't stop all of the dust unfortunately, and soon enough I was coughing on it too. But, I made it to the other side and I let the whirlwind of dust settle.

"Well done, Lighthand!" Celestia called form the other side of the field. "Now make it back across to this side using a different tactic and your second test shall be complete." Oh crap! Some of the guards were still coughing, but most of them had stopped and were looking quite annoyed (and dirty).

I looked at Celestia who watched calmly from where she stood watching. Others that had heard about this little contest had started to gather around the sparring area. There were servants, Nobles, and more guards that were currently off duty. Most of them said nothing and only watched to see what would happen next, but others were making bets or pointing at one guard or another and whispering to one another.

A tactic that would allow me to pass through unharmed and not harm any of the guards... I looked at Celestia again. Their job is to protect her. With their lives if need be. Celestia raised an eyebrow at my study of her. An idea was forming, but if the guards took it too seriously they might kill me. I looked at the weapon rack to see a few practice swords and spears, and number of club types, and even a bow (though how they would use it I didn't know since none of the guards were Unicorns). I reached out for a spear. It flew to my hand and with a thought I snapped off the balled end where a sharp top normally would have been placed. Looking once more at Celestia I threw it right at her. It arched up through the air and came to a stop four inches above her left eye.

"Nopony move! Not if you want to keep your ruler breathing!!" The crowd gasped and the guards looked back and forth from me to their ruler, shock and anger filling their faces. "Let me pass, and she lives. Don't and...well, then Luna will be leading you instead." Celestia stared at the jagged pole's end and then looked at me, shock also filling her face. Clearly, this was not a tactic she had expected either. "All of you to the right side and throw down your weapons. You Pegasi! Land and do the same!" Reluctantly, they did. I started walking back across the field, keeping my eyes on the formerly-armed guards while occasionally flicking them to the spectators to ensure none of them got bold either. One minute later I was standing in front of Celestia and I tossed the spear to one side and knelt down before her. "Have I passed your test, you highness?" I half expected her to kick me in the head, but to my surprise she didn't. Instead she ordered the thirty guards that were quickly closing the empty ground separating them from me to stop.

"Princess, this two-leg has threatened you life! How can you simply forgive him?!"

"There is nothing to forgive. I told him to use any means necessary, and not to injure any of you in the process. He has done so." She backed two steps and looked down at me. "Though I must admit I had not expected something so...drastic. They might have killed you for that, Jacob." I looked her in the face.

"I know. But sometimes you're backed in a corner and you can't harm your enemies and you can't allow yourself to be captured either." Celestia rolled her eyes.

"That wasn't quite what I had in mind."

"My apologies, princess Celestia but I'm not yet experienced enough in magic to be able to improvise without running the risk of screwing up a spell and harming someone. I had wanted to try putting them to sleep, but I don't know enough of how your bodies work. Slowing their heart's rate might have killed them rather than knocking them out."

"I understand. I suppose then, we shall need to include education in our physiology as well as in magic for your studies. Rise, I suppose you must be hungry now too?" I nodded. I hadn't eaten much for breakfast. If not for a piece of toast and some strawberry jam I drowned it in, I would have skipped it entirely. Addressing the wary guards and spectators, she informed them that I helped her prove that even the best-trained guard must be ready for the unexpected and she ordered them to devise plans for just in case a real case of royal-hostage taking should occur and report them to her by the end of the day. She then whispered for me to rise, turn, and bow to my opponents. I did so. None of them relaxed any of their tense muscles, but saluted their princess. Then she left and I followed her. I felt the guards staring daggers at my back and I suppressed the urge to shiver. They'll never trust me again. Or at the very least they'll never underestimate me if another of these little competitions is arranged. I hope that the last test doesn't involve me needing to face off against them again! I got the feeling that they wouldn't be so gentle with me for this if there was ever a 'next time'. I never would have actually hurt Celestia, but that did not change the fact that I had threatened her life. I wonder how Luna is going to react when she hears about this...

"Ow!" I exclaimed when Luna whacked me over the head with a hoof.

"Art thee a fool!? If mine sister had not made it seem as if that test were a training exercise thou would likely be in a dungeon being beaten within an inch of thine life right now!"

"I knew that when I decided to try it, Lun- princess Luna. I also knew that I didn't have enough know-how with magic to get through them peacefully."

"So thee chose a method that could have gotten both mine sister and you killed."

"No! I never had any intention of harming Celestia!" I objected fiercely. "If the guards made a move I would have drawn the spear back as if preparing to stab. If they still kept coming I would have dropped it and surrendered."

"And they would have trampled thee to death unless mine sister told them to stop, and even then they might have still done so!"

"Are you going to teach me anything tonight, or just keep berating me an calling me a fool?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Do not tempt me." Luna snorted. "Celestia told me that thee wished to know ways to put our people to sleep in case thou needed to escape and did not wish to inflict harm. Come with me."

Luna led me through the palace, down a long flat spiral that I assumed was a kind of staircase. When we reached a stone arch that had no door an unpleasant smell hit me in the face like Hulk Hogan's fist and I gagged.

"Ugh! What is that stink?!" I asked, still choking.

"Our dungeon. Only the worst of our criminals are put in the palace dungeons because our guards are trained to be the absolute best." The moment Luna passed through the arch whistles, whoops and comments of hate filled the room and the ramp.

"Hey there, Nightmare Moon! Why don't you come over to my cell and I'll show you a real nightmare?!" A big black stallion that looked like he could wrestle a bear said, leering at her flank. Luna tensed for a moment and then spit at him. He laughed. "Have it your way!" Similar jeers and comments echoed off the stone walls for several minutes, then Luna used her magic to create a bubble in the middle of the room and motioned for me to join her. Inside the bubble it was silent except for Luna's breathing. She looked at the miscellaneous prisoners around the room. Some of them were reached through the bars at us, while others made faces or gestures at themselves and then at her which I took to be sexual harassment. "The fastest way to learn influence-magic is to try it on living subjects. Most of these ponies are set for execution within the next several weeks, so if anything goes wrong no one will pity them. I asked Celestia if we could use them as test subjects and she gave permission." I was astounded that Celestia of all ponies would authorize this. She didn't strike me as being ruthless.

I looked around the room. Not all of those in here were adults. Some looked like they were barely out of childhood.

"What are their crimes?"

"Why ask? They are the scum of our society. Do thee not have the death penalty in your culture?"

"We do, but we don't conduct testing on them." Though it might save some money on lethal injection chemicals and provide satisfaction to the families of those murdered if some untested medication had negative reactions on them "What are their crimes?" I asked again.

"The one that called me Nightmare Moon is a murderer. He killed thirteen ponies of various types and ages, but tortured them first. It was a...gruesome case." She pointed at a mint-green female Pegasus behind me whose wings had been clipped. The Pegasus looked at me for a minute and began salivating. "She is a cannibal. She ate her younger sister and her sister's best friend, and several of the ponies of the town she lived in, all of them foals." I stared at Luna, not wanting to believe it. Luna pointed at her neighbor. The earth pony in that cell wasn't looking at us at all, but staring at the back wall. "He tried to assassinate mine sister when I returned from mine banishment and very nearly succeeded." I stared at Luna once again in disbelief.

"You were banished? For what?" Luna looked away from me, looking ashamed.

"I allowed jealousy and an outside corruption force to control me and I rebelled against mine sister for control of Equestria. If not for the Elements of Harmony, I would have succeeded and Equestria would have been plunged into eternal night."

"What are the Elements of Harmony?"

"Strong magic that returns balance to our world when it descends into chaos. When it was first used it was mine sister was the one that used them. After I returned it was six young fillies that used them against me. You've already met them, if I recall correctly. Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash." My eyebrows rose and my eyes went wide. I would not have expected something so dramatic from them, though given that they'd stood up to a Dragon, I suppose that I should have.

"So then why, if you no longer are corrupted is he in prison?"

"He was offered a full pardon, but he refused, saying that 'One day our true queen shall return, and when she does I shall be waiting to serve her!'. He hates mine sister, and when he does look at me, it is with sadness in his eyes. Celestia has left the decision of whether or not to execute him in my hands, and I just can't bring myself to kill him." I pointed at a Zebra with a broken Unicorn horn on his head and had his front hooves shackled together and his mouth covered. He glared out from between the bars of his cell.

"Him?"

"We don't know where he came from, but he uses a form of twisted magic called Voodoo. Originally we only broke his horn, but somehow he was still able to use magic and he forced nightmares into the dreams of three jailers that drove them mad before we figured out it was him. Ever since then we've had his legs shackled together and his mouth gagged. Several of the new jailers still complain about bad dreams, though."

"We have people in our world that use Voodoo." I said. "Usually it involves hair from their victims and dolls and bones and mystical words. I think you should have his cell searched. If Voodoo here is the same as it in on Earth, then he may have some of those things." Luna looked surprised, and nodded.

"We shall do that. Do you have any objections now?" I looked around the prison once more and my eyes landed on a male earth pony foal sitting in a corner wearing a blindfold.

"What about that one?"

"That one..." Luna hesitated. "he's not a criminal. He is in here for his own protection."

"What do you mean?"

"That one can see the future. He once lived with an abusive father. His mother died while giving birth to him, which was bad enough, but when he began predicting bad things that happened one after the other his father thought that the things that happened were caused because his son was saying them. So he began beating him. One day he burned out his eyes. It was his screaming that made a pair of patrolling guards break down the door. They threw the father aside and carried him out and brought him to a hospital, but during his physical rehabilitation he began predicting when and how the patients would die and rather than try to avert the incidents he predicted the owners of the hospital threw him out. Eventually he found his way to our gates screaming that he-" Luna pointed at the assassin. "was going to try to kill mine sister. The guards didn't believe him but decided to check anyway." Luna smiled. "It was because of that young foal that my sister still lives."

"Then why is he locked up?" Luna sighed.

"Because whenever he sees something bad he tries to change it. He almost dove off of a balcony trying to catch a falling mail Pegasus that had sprained a wing in a bit of turbulence. One of the servants saw him running for it and tackled him to the ground. He kept screaming that 'he had to catch her or she would break her neck when she crashed'. A Pegasus guard heard him screaming and then looked out over the balcony for anything and he saw a gray Pegasus with a blond mane and tail and yellow mis-aligned eyes tumbling down towards the ground. He flew to her rescue, but when it became clear that Veedar- that's the foal's name, by the way- would not simply sit idle even with his blindness, Celestia ordered him to be locked down here for his own safety."

"Why not put him in a more comfortable place?" I knew there were better rooms. I was staying in one.

"Most of the bedrooms in the palace have windows. Those that don't have secret ways out. Ways that only myself and mine sister know. If his ability told him how to get out, only myself or Celestia would be able to stop him, and we won't always be available for that.

"Now, what will thee do? Wilt thou learn by using them for test subjects?" I looked around the room. Most of those here were monsters in the form of ponies, and my head was telling me that anything that I might do to them would be small potatoes compared to anything that they'd done. Not to mention that most of them would probably be dead within the year anyway. But still...No justice system is perfect. Everyone here probably is guilty, but if there was even just one that wasn't and I killed him, what would that make me?

"No. I won't do it." Luna gave me a funny look.

"Why not?"

"As a wise man, or maybe woman from my world once said: 'Two wrongs do not make a right'. Whatever these ponies have done, or might have done, I'd be no better than they are if I spent their lives like bits on candy trying to further my own power." More importantly, I'd be just like him. I thought, thinking of the face from the journal that glared hatred at Twilight Sparkle.

Luna looked very pleased.

"Congratulations, Jacob P. Lighthand the ninth. Thee hath just passed mine sister's last test." I stared in surprise. "To quote Celestia, 'Power at the expense others is sweet only to the greedy, and torture to a good soul'. So what art thee going to do now?"

"Now, I think I-" Suddenly Luna dropped the barrier and pointed at Veedar's cell, worry written on her face. The noise from the prisoners crashed back in and made me ears ring. "What?" I turned to see him throwing himself at the bars and heard him calling Luna.

"Luna! Stop him! Stop him!! Don't let him go! They'll eat him alive!!!" He was crying while he screamed. Luna galloped to him and reached her legs through to embrace the foal. He stopped throwing himself against the bars and held onto her, his legs around her neck in a hug.

"Who will?" Luna whispered to him. "And who will be eaten?"

"The Twisted Ones of Everfree! The Twisted Ones! A two-legged being will go into Everfree forest and the Twisted Ones will find him after midnight! He'll fight them, but there's too many! So much- ! So much blood!!" He whimpered. The other prisoners had quieted down except for the torturer. He was cackling.

Luna looked over her shoulder at me, her face afraid. She looked back at Veedar and stroked his mane.

"It hasn't happened yet, Veedar. Don't worry, I'll make sure it never comes to pass." Luna slowly removed herself from Veedar and looked at me. She made a motion that indicated that it was time for us to leave.

Celestia looked at me for a long time after Luna related what had happened in the dungeon to her. Then she walked to one of her new windows and looked out of it. I assumed she was thinking of ordering me not to go, but she surprised me.

"I will not forbid you from going after Thanatos, but I want you to finish your wand first, and take two others with you. I won't force you to do either, but you've heard Veedar's warning, and I must tell you, he's never been wrong before."

"If I'm going to complete my wand I still need another Uni-horn."

"I knew you would, and I assure you that this will no longer be a problem for you." Celestia walked to her throne and stuck her head behind it and ducked down to the floor. When she came out from behind it again she held in her mouth a long green horn. Both Luna and myself stared.

"Sister?"

"Where did you get that?" She walked forward until she stood in front of me and waited. I extended a hand and took hold of it. When I did she let it go. Luna also walked forward and studied the horn. After a minute her eyes widened and she looked at Celestia and addressed her again.

"Isn't that our old nanny's horn?" Celestia looked at her and nodded.

"Nanny? You mean the person- er, pony who helped raise you?! You can't give me this!"

"Sister, I must agree with him on this. This seems disrespectful to have her remains used to make a tool."

"Why?" Celestia asked. "Shila was kind to strangers, helped those in need, and always guided us with a gentle hoof. If I give him her horn, then even in death she can do what she always loved doing." Luna thought about this a few minutes, occasionally smiling with her eyes looking as if she were watching something from afar. She's walking down memory lane. I realized. Still, it didn't feel right to me. Even in the worst of situations I don't think I'd dig up my dead grandmother to use one of her bones as a club.

"But Celestia, I-" Celestia put a hoof over my mouth and smiled.

"If Shila were still around and she heard that you intended to go face certain death because you lacked an ingredient to enhance your magic she just might have offered it to you herself. That's just the kind of generous and caring Unicorn she was. Do not let your conscience be troubled, young one. Accept her remains with gratitude to its original owner, and be an honor to her by using it to help others."

My conscience did still bother me, but both Celestia and Luna were waiting now, and Luna no longer seemed bothered.

"I'll do my best, princesses." I bowed and lowered my arms to my sides and my stomach growled. I blushed as it was quite loud. Luna chuckled, as did Celestia.

"Go to the kitchens, Jacob. They'll make sure you get something." I thanked them and asked if that was permission to leave and they replied that it was, so I bade them good night and left to put the new (or maybe ancient would be the better word) in my room with the first.

Down at the kitchen (it was freaking huge compared to any other kitchen I'd ever been in. It was about the size of an Olympic swimming pool) I asked if I could get something to tide me over until breakfast tomorrow. There were only three cooks on staff at the moment, and all three of them were too busy preparing food for the night shift to be bothered with me. The food inventory manager heard me and answered that at the moment if I wanted anything to eat that I was welcome to prepare it myself as long as I cleaned up after I was done. Hmm. This is sounding familiar. I thought while walking through the door the inventory manager opened for me. When I stepped in I looked around the kitchen with interest. There was alot of various equipment that I could use, but I wasn't really in the mood for the normal egg and veggie blend that I normally made, and I could tell from looking around that there was no way they had pop-tarts. Time for some other food to take the stage then, I guess. I asked the inventory manager where they stored their food and then went to it to grab a few things: Hot peppers (I had to ask which these were since none of the peppers stored inside the pantry looked familiar), cheese that tasted like mozzarella, some butter, and one other thing that I needed to ask for.

"Why would you want stale bread when we have some that was made fresh an hour ago?" the inventory manager asked.

"Because I need bread crumbs for what I'm going to make and stale bread would be perfect for getting some." I explained.

"For the record, I think you're nuts for wanting old bread, but this" he pointed at a white bin. "is usually where we toss the loaves that are a day or older. Every three days they get dumped on the roof of the palace for the birds to pick at. Take what you want." I took three partial loaves and set them on an empty counter and set to work breaking them down. When I had a nice pile of crumbs I asked where bowls were kept and retrieved one. I carried it to the counter and swept the crumbs into it and set it to one side. I then placed the butter I'd taken in another small bowl and set it to the side as well. after that I washed and cut the tops off the peppers and cleaned out the seeds. Then I cut pieces of cheese small enough to fit in the peppers and set to stuffing them inside. When I had placed one piece of cheese in each I smeared butter along the outside of the peppers (and a little inside over the cheese piece) and gently dropped it in the bread crumbs. I rolled it over until it was thoroughly covered, then removed it to a plate and did the same with the other six peppers. I then took a pot and half-filled it with cooking oil and turned on the burner and turned up the heat and waited three minutes. After that I dipped a spoon into a barrel of water and carried it to the pot and dripped a single drop into it. The water hissed and popped and was gone in a single second. perhaps a little too hot. I shrugged. Too late now. I asked where I could find a pair of tongs and then placed three of the soon-to-be poppers into the oil and jumped back. The oil turned into a roiling sputtering cacophony that instantly drew the attention of all three cooks who demanded to know what the heck I thought I was doing.

"I'm cooking!" I answered cheerfully. "Don't worry, I'll clean up the mess afterward." The three cooks did not look like they believed me to be in my right mind, but needed to watch their own food and turned back to it. I looked away from them and four minutes later when the hissing started dying down plucked up the courage to step closer to the pot and examine my food. It looked done so I picked up the tongs, removed them from the pot and then stuck the last four in and once again leaped back. This time the oil erupted like a miniature geyser and splattered all over most of the stove top. I sighed at the mess I would need to clean up later and began gathering what I thought I'd need.

When I came back I found that one of my finished poppers was missing, as was one of the cooks. When I asked the other two about it one shrugged and the other said that she has run out of the kitchen screaming something about needing more water.

"She walked over to examine whatever it is that you're making, and then the next time I turned to look she was gulping down swallow after swallow of water from that barrel next to the cutting table. What did you make?"

"I made something my father once showed me how to make. Unfortunately you didn't have the same hot peppers he used, but-"

"Hot peppers?! the cook exclaimed. "You made something with an entire hot pepper?!" He gaped at me in disbelief.

"Well, that was the way he showed me to do it, so...yeah."

"You are crazy! First you take the princess hostage to win a contest, then you cook and eat entire hot peppers!"

"Hey, to be fair, she did say I could use any means I felt were necessary as long as I didn't harm the guards." I objected in my defense. "As to the peppers, I'm used to eating hot foods."

"What color was the pepper you used?"

"Blue."

"Oh. Never mind, I forgot how much of a wuss she was with spicy foods. You're not crazy. Well, maybe."

I ate one of the finished hot pepper poppers, and felt the wonderful burn of the pepper juices soaking into my tongue and inner cheeks. Yes, some people might call me crazy for loving the not-quite-painful burning sensation, but most of my family loved spicy foods, and I was no exception.

When I thought they'd be finished I removed the other poppers from the oil and disposed of the oil while they cooled. Once that was done I set to cleaning up my mess before heading out to the eating area. Due to ponies not needing to sit I was also forced to stand, but due to my height I stood on my knees instead and began devouring my food.

A drink-server laughed at me for it, but I smiled back and finished my meal. Once finished I disposed of the dirtied dish and returned to my room. Recalling that Celestia had assigned Trixie to my care I knocked first before entering. Trixie was nowhere to be found. Maybe she's out practicing walking. Or maybe she doesn't want to be anywhere near me and is crashing in an empty room elsewhere. I gathered my showering supplies and went into the adjoined bathroom. It had been awhile since I had last bathed and I did not want to smell.

When I finished I stepped back into my room with my towel around my head. I was rubbing my hair with it to dry it out when Trixie apparently walked in.

"I still don't see why you insist on wearing clothing. You don't have anything that none of us haven't seen on our own males, after all. Sure, the proportions are different, but-"

"Aaagh! Why didn't you knock first!?" I quickly pulled the towel from my head and covered my lower regions. Trixie still wore the outfit Twilight made for her earlier. She rolled her eyes at me and then hopped backwards onto the round bed that I'd been using. She laid flat on it but turned her head so she could still see me.

"Why would I knock when this is my room too?"

"To be polite? What if I-" I stopped. I had been naked, and it did not seem to bother her. Probably because clothing here is only used for certain occasions.

"What if you what?"

"Never mind. So anyway, how are you feeling?"

"Well gee, let's see! I've been trapped in what looks like a child-version of your kind's body, I can't use magic, and the only way to change me back to normal is to go into Everfree forest to try finding an old Alicorn that might not even be alive anymore." She stopped for a few seconds, rolled over, and then asked "How would you feel?" I didn't answer and dropped my gaze. "By the way, it looks like Celestia forgot to have a second bed sent here, so either we're sharing this bed, or one of us is sleeping on the floor, and that someone isn't going to be me."

"I don't mind. This carpet is probably softer than my own bed." I walked over to the bed and grabbed a pillow and dropped it on the carpeting in the middle of the room. I then got out my pajamas and a clean pair of underwear from my backpack and slid them on. I did this in the bathroom more for my benefit because Trixie didn't seem to care one way or the other.

Shortly after I laid down on the carpeting I heard soft snoring coming from the plush bed and laughed under my breath. Who'd have thought that the Great and Powerful Trixie snored when she slept?

The following day was the day that I would attempt to make the wand. So, with some help from the doctor of the palace I inserted a needle into one of my veins and began draining a pint of my blood into a jar.

"If I may ask," the doctor said as my blood dripped into the jar. "why are you doing that?"

"I need this blood for something besides my body."

"Obviously, but what?" The doc looked like a pony version of a dalmatian dog. His eyes were gray.

"If it succeeds, you just might find out. If it fails...well, then what's left of my body you can have for study."

With the jar full of still-warm blood and sealed with a metal lid I carried it to what was used as a magic-training classroom. I'd already pushed most of the tables to one side of the room shortly after I woke up and put the rest into the center as a workspace. The two horns were sitting by themselves at one end of the five desks I'd lined up waiting to be placed in the three-inch deep tray next to them. I set the jar down beside the tray and sat on one of the displaced desks to await the arrival of Twilight Sparkle and Melinda. Twilight arrived first followed by Spike, who had journeyed from Ponyville to be present for the wand's forging.

"Spike! What are you doing here?" I asked.

"This is an event that has never been recorded previously in pony-history! Twilight is going to be busy helping you, so someone else needed to be here to record the proceedings!"

"Well if you're going to be chronicling this then you'll need a good place to stand so you can see every detail." I pushed a number of the unwanted desks around the room. Spike climbed up onto them and looked at the views he'd be getting and nodded.

"This will do, thanks." I nodded and turned to Twilight.

"Are you ready?"

"I guess we'll find out soon enough. What are we supposed to do first?"

"The first part is all me. I pour my blood into that tray and set the two horns into it. I then roll them over in it several times until they're thoroughly coated with it. Then we'll wait a minute and I'll roll them in it again. Then you saturate both the horns and the blood with healing magic. The horns should connect to one another and line up the spirals on their own. From there we wait another two minutes for them to settle. Meanwhile Melinda, who should be arriving soon, will liquefy the silver and pour it into the spiral groove. She'll then smooth out the silver and get rid of any extra that may have fallen outside the spiral and smooth both the horns and the silver vein. According to the journal the two colors of the horns should blend together once she finishes by capping the ends with half an inch of more silver. From there you can stop using magic and your role in the making of the Uni-horn wand will end and you can rest."

"And then what?"

"Then we plunge the whole wand into that barrel of water by the podium where the instructor normally would stand and wait twenty four hours. If it was done correctly then after that the wand should be complete and functional."

"And if it isn't?" A touch of worry infiltrated her voice.

"Then..." I licked my lips. "I hope that you, Spike, and Melinda are far enough away from me when it shatters upon hitting the water and the magical backlash tears me to bloodied pieces." Twilight stared first at me, then at the walls, horrified at the probable image of me splattered all over the room.

"So when you said that this could kill you, you were serious?! I can't let you do this!"

"Did you hear about what the seer-colt said about me? If I go to Everfree without this wand, I'm going to die anyway, and it'll be a much more painful death than being ripped apart all at once by twisted healing magic. I have to take the risk." Twilight looked like she wanted to say more, but Melinda walked in carrying her equipment.

"Are you two going to stand there talking all day, or are going to do this?" She said, sounding grumpy.

"I was just explaining the procedure to her. Let's begin." Melinda nodded and began setting up her tools. Meanwhile I opened the jar and poured the blood. Melinda at one point called Spike over to help her set fire to the coals she' brought along to heat and melt the silver. He grumbled about not being able to take notes this way, but acquiesced. I performed the steps with the horns and when they were ready I called Twilight over. She looked at my blood with a sort of off fascination.

"It's red too. We share the same colored blood!"

"Many of the creatures on Earth share that color. Some have blue or no color at all, but that's a rare thing."

Twilight focused on the tray. First her horn began to glow, followed by the two in the tray, and then the blood itself. Before our eyes the horns seemed to soak up my blood and then the two points extended towards one another like a stalagmite and stalactite in a cave. Then they touched and merged. It was amazing to observe. Reading about it was one thing, but seeing it quite another. To my worry the spiral groove vanished for a moment, but then reappeared. When they had first touched the spirals had been running in opposite directions, but now they followed one path and already their colors of white and green began to blend together.

"I am ready, you two. Step aside." Melinda said, and used her own magic to levitate both the combined horns and her smelter. Using the utmost care she began to spin the wand-to-be like a drill and poured a thin rivulet of molten silver into it. Not once did she miss her target. The mark of a professional! I thought when she reached the halfway point without making a single error. Now holding the silver in the groove with her mind she opened the top of the container and dipped the two ivory ends into it.

"Alright, Twilight, you should be able to stop now." I told her.

"No she can't." Melinda objected. "I don't know where you got your information, kid, but she can't stop until this ivory stick touches the bottom of the cooling barrel." I frowned inwardly. I should have known better than to trust that old power-hungry man. Fortunately Melinda knew better. "Now, this is going to burn your skin, but you need to carry it to the barrel yourself. I can make sure the silver doesn't run, but this is your wand. You've added your blood, now it needs to know your flesh as well." I braced myself for pain, and held out my hands. Melinda unceremoniously dropped it and I rushed to catch it.

PAIN!

Pain was what every nerve in my hands screamed at my brain, and my nose told me that I was cooking my own hands. I screamed but managed to keep my mouth shut and contain most of the noise. Steam rose from my burning skin and I now I not only felt, but smelled the ruination of my palms and fingers. "Don't just stand there, ya goof!" Melinda scolded. "Go put it in the barrel!" I hurried to obey her advice and plunged both my hands and the wand into the water. There was a brief hiss, but that was all. The ivory was hot, but not even close to being as hot as a sword or other forged-metal item would have been. I released the horn and loved every second of the cool relief.

Relief written on my face, Melinda looked at Twilight and nodded. Twilight's horn stopped glowing, as did Melinda's.

"Feel better?" Melinda asked.

"Immensely. I replied before pulling my hands out to see the damage. Where the silver spiral had touched my skin there were red or blackened lines on both my palms and my fingers, and even half a line on my thumbs. I flexed my hands and pain flared up in them again. Twilight walked closer and offered to heal me when she saw the marks, but Melinda forbade it.

"This is kind of hard to explain, but to put it simply the horn and he are of one body now. Neither of them may be touched by magic for an entire day or the bond between them will be broken."

"Can I use a balm or ointment on my hands?" Melinda thought about this for a moment.

"As long as it did not involve magic, you should be able to, but if any magic was involved in its making then your bond will still be negated."

"Then I shall wait, use simple aloe gel from an aloe-plant and bandage my hands and wait." Melinda nodded.

"That would probably be for the best. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm off to collect my fee. Whatever you do with that wand, I hope it serves you well." Melinda stayed only long enough to gather up her things, and then left us alone in the room. Silence with the exception of Spike's quill scratching away at the parchment he held reigned.

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked. I looked at my hands again.

"Other than my hands hurting, yeah. But they'll heal, and this little bit of pain is worth the gain."

"Done!" Spike said as he rolled up the scroll and pushed it into a wooden tube. "I'm going to make a copy of this for our own library later, okay Twilight?" Twilight nodded. "I'll see you guys later." He gave a little wave and then left the room.

"So what are you going to do now?" Twilight asked.

"Now...I'm going back to the infirmary to get my hands coated with aloe-plant gel, and get them bandaged."

__ __ __ __ __

Applejack was busy as she almost always was. But today was not a day for apple-bucking because there were not yet even blossoms on the trees. Today she was chasing animals off her land that had seemingly come from nowhere overnight.

"Dern critters! Ya'll get away from mah planted crops!" Big Mackintosh and Applebloom were also trying to shoo them away but were having about the same results as her. "Applebloom! You go an' get Fluttershy! She's good with animals, so she'd prolly be better at gettin' these pests to leave!"

"Eeyup." Big Mac agreed. Applebloom nodded and galloped as quickly as her small legs would allow to the road that led to town and soon disappeared from sight. Applejack looked away from her little sister when she heard a snap and then galloped to chase away three rabbits that were chewing through several cornstalks.

"Geeht!" She yelled. "Ya'll gonna be sorry if ah catch ya!" she said angrily. The rabbits took one look at the charging angry orange equine and took off like- well, like frightened rabbits.

Appljack had once heard from a traveler that small animals could sense when a natural disaster was about to occur and would flee the area. But where could all these critters 'av come from? And what were they running from?

Suddenly a huge shadow passed over Applejack and she looked up to see an pale orange dragon with a few random spots of black soaring overhead. Seconds after it passed by a rush of wind swept through Apple Acres and their trees and crops swayed. Both Applejack and Big Mac had frozen in place, but the small animals had not and had stopped eating their crops and were once more fleeing. One minute there were animals all over the place, and suddenly, it was devoid of them again.

"What in the werld?"

"It seems that we now know what those little critters were runnin' from." Big mac stated as he joined Applejack in waitching the Dragon fly away. Suddenly it changed direction and flew back towards them. "Uh oh." 'Uh oh' was right. They had no hope of outrunning an almost full-grown dragon, and if it decided to burn their holding down to the ground and eat them, there was little they could do to stop it.

To their supprise the Dragon did none of these things when it landed. Instead, it lowered its head down to their level and asked for directions. His voice was very deep. He kinda reminds me of the Flutterguy incident

"Urm, 'scuse me, ponies, but how do I get to Ponyville? I haven't been there in over a hundred years, and my memory is a bit foggy."

"Why would yeeu want to be gettin' to Ponyville? Ye ain't gonna be eatin' nopony, are yeh?" Applejack asked. The Dragon looked offended.

"I am going there for no such thing! One hundred and sixty eight years ago I was raised there! Even though the ponies that raised me are long dead and had no foals I still feel obligated to warn them . Drahngov has nearly gathered all willing and capable Dragons to him and will break the truce very soon! He intends to come here first to make an example of the ponies that defied him a few weeks ago, and then he'll burn the village to the ground. This place was once my home and I have many fond memories of it from when I was still a baby. If I can prevent its destruction, I gladly will do whatever is required."

"I was one of them ponies that defied him, and I welcome your help." She pointed at the dirt road that Applebloom had taken. "Follow that there road and it will lead yeh to Ponyville. Ye might not be welcome there, though. Drahngov attacked us once before already, and destroyed our town hall."

"Maybe you should go with him then, sis." Big Mac suggested. "I can take care of things here 'til you get back." Applejack nodded, seeing the sense in it. If the Dragon went alone, the citizens of Ponyville would only hide from him and not listen. If one of the people they trusted and respected vouched for the Draconic messenger though, they might be more willing to listen.

"Alright. Mr Dragon, follow me!" Applejack ran for the road at a much faster rate than Appleblood had, and the Dragon took wing again in pursuit. After very little time Applejack saw Applebloom again and explained the new situation to her and then told her to go home with Big Mac. Applebloom moaned and tried to convince her big sis to let her come too, but Applejack was adamant and eventually Applebloom headed home again. That part was easy. Applejack thought as they came to the Ponyville town limits. Convincing them to trust a Dragon is going to be the hard part!

__ __ __ __ __

"And in today's news, for some reason carnivorous lizards seem to be gathering together in Florida. And not just lizards or just in Florida, actually. All carnivorous scaled cold-blooded animals seem to be forming groups all over the world. This has never happened before in recorded history. Animal experts speculate-" Jacob's mother turned the set off in the hotel they were staying in. They'd arrived in Britain last night and were staying in a two-star hotel to save funds. Things were alot more expensive in Britain than they had predicted, and they only had so much money to work with. Watching the TV wouldn't cost them anything, but on almost every news channel it was the same thing over and over except for yet another casualty report from a drunk driver.

Something was wrong with the world, and it wasn't just her parental instinct making her edgy. When she and her husband were outside and birds flew by or a squirrel scampered by they did so with absolutely no fear of any Humans that might have been near. In fact, (and this had been in the news as well) the wildlife population in Human towns and cities had tripled in the last few days. It was almost as if the animals were running to Humanity looking for protection from something. Two hours before she had entered the hotel to go to bed she could have sworn that a family of foxes had been following her. But every time she turned to look at them they would dive behind something, but as soon as she would turn away and keep walking they'd creep out again. It made her nervous.

Her husband did not seem to be bothered by it, but she knew him well enough to recognize from the twitches of his eyebrows and set of his jawline that it did. Right now he was out speaking to a taxi company to see if he could find out if anyone had seen their son. There were only two cab companies that were permitted to do business at the airport that he'd landed at, which had narrowed the possibilities down considerably. Unfortunately this still meant hours of record-searching, but it was a start.

Two days later they finally found some new and useful information and her heart soared. Right up until the old man at the cab company building that had driven him said that Jacob had never returned to the car.

"I would have stayed longer to wait, but I could have gotten fired. My shift boss is very strict. You Americans think your economy is bad? Take a look at our gas prices! If I could find another job it probably would not pay for my mortgage."

The Lighthands knew that their son's disappearance was not this man's fault, but it didn't stop them from wanting to blame him. Seeing the mother about to cry he continued.

"Look, he seemed like a nice enough guy, so I hope you find him safe and sound. Here's where he got off." The old man took a map out of his pocket and circled the area with a red pen. "There on that road is where I last saw him. He headed onto the grounds of an old forest that burned down some eight hundred years ago or so. Good luck." The old man shook hands with Mr. Lighthand and then went off to continue his job.

"Hey wait a minute!" The old man stopped and looked back. "Do you think you could drive us out there?"

"Of course, but my boss won't let me drive you for free. You'd have to pay to." Jacob's father nodded.

"Done."

"Okay then. Grab your things and let's go."

"Our things are fine back at our hotel. Let's go now."

__ __ __ __ __

Drahngov snorted and smoke came from his nostrils. Some of his kind had been raced by the Equestrians, and so refused to join him, and some of them had even said that they'd fight him if he attacked the place where they'd been raised. Fools! If they wish to die along with their beloved ponies, they shall. I shall not show traitors any mercy!

They were nearly ready. Just a few more days and they would begin dispersing to their assigned locations. Drahngov would not make the same mistake his grandfather had of sending the majority of his forces to one location. No, he would start from the outside in a loose ring and work his way personally to Celestia's capital in Canterlot while most of his forces decimated the surrounding countryside. This would force the survivors inward closer and closer where they would be easier to capture and later breed like cattle for food.

Nearly time! Just a little longer! Drahngov gloated. He would take Equestria, destroy those few Dragons loyal to them, and in time, take the world.

Comments

[PrinceLexmarkThePrinted]

Very good and with an epic storyline. Keep it up!

[Meta Knight]

♫♥I look forward to reading what happens next in your story♥♪

[Andreno]

it keeps getting better! (Stop killing my grades please! /sarcasm)
Awesome story, Im not finding many problems with it at all!

[WorldWalker128]

34395
That's because I perform spell-check here first. Trust me, my works are far from perfect.

[SteampunkBrony]

watching this one, and i can't wait for more.

You wrote appleblood instead of applebloom once. Just pointing it out.

[WorldWalker128]

66257
Perchance could you paste the paragraph that it's in? that's a lot of text to look through, you know

[butterfield pancake]

Nice Spike is not the only ponyville dragon

[Majk]

I sure hope this will not turn into one of those 'apocalyptic' stories where ponies die by hundreds fleeing for their lives.

[WorldWalker128]

3021353
There will be deaths and there will be refugees, but every war situation has these. This world, sadly, is not the sunshine and rainbows of the cannon universe.