King Aurthur of the Taledine Empire is transported to Equestria due to a wormhole generator malfunction.
King Aurthur of the Taledine Empire is transported to Equestria due to a wormhole generator malfunction. Aurthur has trouble fixing his ship in a world where their technology is millennia behind what he has. And there is a whole new discipline of magic to master. Seriously, who would not want to learn another discipline of magic?
I will be answering any questions anyone may have in the comments, but only if doing so will not be a spoiler. And please look for typos, they need to be destroyed.
Constructive feedback is welcome! (Aka, you can say whatever you like eg. It sucks, as long as you then do 2 things. 1. Tell me why you think it sucks. 2. Say what you think could be done to improve. Thank you.)
Flying my ship through a gap in the enemies defences, I succeed in avoiding yet another battalion of fighters. Those things are getting more persistent every day. Training my sights on a ship, I fire, destroying it in nearly a second. Pride does not become the Emperor of Taledine, but I can't help but feel a bit better after getting rid of yet another Maroxian. "Aurthur, we have enemy reinforcements arriving!" The captain of the Endromateis saying over the fleet-wide comm channel. Great, just great. This battle is already close enough without more of them. I respond, "Pull back all fighters, prepare to retreat." As I am flying towards the Justice, I hear some comm traffic on the opposing side's radio waves. "Train all weapons on the big, fancy fighter." It's nice to know that they can distinguish my fighter from the rest of them, but this is going to take some fancy flying. Weaving to the left, dodging to the right, swerving downwards, and then careening upwards, right into a missiles path. This is going to hurt. With a boom, my shields are taken down, just as several plasma beams converge on my location.
"Computer!"
"Yes, my King?"
"Open the wormhole NOW!"
"At once, my liege." And with that the wormhole opens, I fly through, escape near-certain death, and make it safely home to my ever-loving parents.
Just kidding, the plasma beams hit as I am flying through the wormhole, and seem to interact with the wormhole, changing its intended destination. I can only assume that because of the influx of energy, it is taking me further than I intended to go.
Emerging from the wormhole, the ship scans it's surroundings, as well as itself. It prepares ands recites a damage report.
"My King, the wormhole generator is not responding, may be damaged. Plasma engines one-through-four are also down, currently running on maneuvering thrusters."
"Anything else?" I ask.
"There is life on the planet below us, as well as cities, indicating that there is, or was, intelligent life."
Well, if there is life, there is most likely magic. So I decide to do my own scan of the planet. Projecting my own senses out, i find several points of interest about this world. One is that this world has powerful magic, and on closer inspection, there seem to be nine major points of magic, as well as several minor ones. One of the major magic points is very bright, which at this distance indicate great power has been accumulated. If my mental math is right, it would appear that it has more power than me. Or at least me without my equipment. The rest are mostly just a dim glow from here, indicating lesser power, but still fairly powerful. There are several blobs of power that line up with where my computer says there are cities, which makes sense. I will need to think on this. I may have to land in order to fix the ship, but I do not want to disturb the natives if I don't have to. But, then again, the prospect of learning a new way of using magic is too good to pass up. I also notice the star this planet is orbiting is unusually small, yet it gives off enough light and heat to be felt from here. It also seems to be bound to one of the nine major magic points on the surface. Which would mean that either a) something on the planet is powering it, or b) something on the planet is harnessing its power. Either are entirely possible. A star is a massive source of mana, but based on its small size, I would bet on it being powered by something on the planet. Something smart enough to drain mana from a star would not drain it quickly enough that the star itself dies.
Scanning the planet further, I determine that two of the nine major mana points are intertwined, and are possibly related in purpose, or perhaps just came from the same source. Before I decide whether to land, I should determine if I need to in order to fix my ship. Extricating myself from the prison that is usually called a chair (that thing could contain an elephant), I walk to the rear compartment door.
Opening the door, I peer inside. The room is about two-point-five meters tall, one-point-five meters wide, and four meters long. There is a bench on either side with a walkway down the center. Located under each bench is a small compartment-small being a relative term-with an access panel on the front that is used for storage. In actuality, these compartments are fairly large, but I consider them small, as I cannot fit in them. Being two-point-one meters tall does have its downsides, as well as being one meter wide at the shoulders. The walls are a nice silver color, with rainbow highlights. The ships wormhole generator is a gyroscope looking thing in the doorway between the bridge and the storage compartment. The interior is fine, nothing moved significantly from the force of the plasma beam impact. Checking the storage compartments, my android is fine, I have enough food for about a week, and my portable wormhole generator is still in there. Turning to inspect the ships wormhole generator, noticing a few crystals scattered on the floor, I look and do indeed see a few correspondingly missing from one of the rings. Aside from that, I see no external damage.
"Computer, scan the wormhole generator rings for internal damage. Also check the plasma engines, see what is wrong with them."
"At once, your majesty." A light humming sound starts, the one you hear when a motor is running. This is because a motor is running, the sensor is on a robotic arm, and as such needs to move around a lot. Continuing to scan the outside of the rings, I don't notice much more damage. I check my stash bag of equipment and note that none of it is damaged, that's good, because I might be needing it soon. I have almost decided to go down to the planet anyway just to see what new forms of magic there are.
"My King, the internal of the rings show extensive damage. Wires are loose, two of the electromagnets are cracked, and one of the computers has been melted. As well, the plasma engines are fine, but the exhaust nozzles have been melted and deformed. The magnets are still there, but the nozzles are partially blocked, and it would not be wise to activate them, in case the magnetic containment no longer contains it." This news is troubling, if it was just loose wires and a melted computer, I would still be able to fix it and return home. But with those electromagnets out as well, I need to fix them, and that is not easy. As well, the plasma thrusters being unusable is an obstacle, but I don't need them to get home. I am now almost certain I will need to go down to the surface to get the matierials I need. Searching the pilots compartment, I find the device I need. It will allow me to refine and construct the matierials required. But first, I must ensure there are none of the required matierials somewhere in the ship.
I look through the ship, and ask the computer if there is anything I might find useful. The answer was, of course, no. Apparently, one of the engineers responsible for maintenance of my ship removed all the spare parts, so as to reduce the weight. Very thoughtful of him, allowing my ship to have slightly higher acceleration. Guess I am going down to the planet. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Maneuvering my ship to face the planet, I engage what thrusters I do have, which includes the microwave engines. Yes, my ship can fly using microwaves, laugh all you want, I can use them to go faster than light. Hitting the atmosphere, my ship starts heating up, nothing it cannot handle. The outer hull is made of a thin layer of nuetronium, placed over a skeleton of diamond struts and supports. It ain't breaking anytime soon Coming down through the cloud layer, I see a large, green plain. Probably covered in grass, and is referred to as a meadow because of that. Mountains in the one direction, desert in the other. The mountain range at its closest point to me is northeast, with a preference towards north, according to my compass. It then extends to the east, going into the horizon. Looking closely at the mountains, I see what appears to be a city, but I am not certain if it is inhabited or not. But the... town? below me definitely is. I can see figures moving about, even at this distance. The city on the mountain looks relatively clean, so something is at least maintaining it, if not living there.
Flying lower, in a roughly straight line, I see a beam of energy fly straight at my ship. Huh, maybe disguising the ship as a meteor was not the best idea. Good news is that the beam does next to no damage, courtesy of my magic shields. It seems there is an intelligence down there, with either powerful magic, or some sort of beam weapon. Anyway, adapting the illusion to that, it shows my little meteor breaking into pieces, with the largest piece as my ship.
Sticking to my disguise, I have my ship plummet downwards at an increasingly fast pace. Heating up my engines, I prepare to stop very fast to avoid damage. Slowing down, I experience massive g-force, but nothing I can't handle. Unfortunately for me, I am not decelerating fast enough, crashing into the verdant landscape, I hang on for fun. And dear life, but that's not interesting to hear about. Deceleration is very quick when on land without wheels, and this is no exception. Skidding to a stop within ten meters, my ship gets scraped and the paint gets scratched. I am going to have to fix the paint later, either before I leave, or after I get home. I again extricate myself from the chair, and head to the rear compartment door.
I walk through the storage compartment, making sure nothing is too heavily damaged. Once that is done, I grab my backpack and open the airlock. Stepping out into the open air, grabbing my binoculars from my backpack, I look out into the plain. Just grass and mountains as far as the aided eye can see. But that city on the mountainside... looks inhabited now, I can see... Ponies? walking around. Whatever they are, they have four legs, and the bigger ones have colorful symbols on their flanks. Of all the places I could end up, it had to be where equines rule. The previous equine species I ran into was not very friendly.
I should be sighing, pulling out my bag, heaving it onto my back, and heading for the nearby town. But first, I need to sleep. Spinning a powerful illusion around my ship, I head back inside, pull some blankets out of a box strapped to the left wall, and go to sleep on the bench.
Waking up several hours later, I pul some food out of my pack, and eat a filling meal of custom made sausages. Each one is filled with a mixture of vegetables, meat, and eggs. Sounds disgusting, but it is actually quite good, and has all the nutrients I need aside from that. Cheap rations, basically. Finishing my third sausage, I grab my bag and portable wormhole generator. Prepared to head into town, I first check my illusion, to ensure it was not tampered with. Satisfied that nothing happened while I was asleep, I head towards the town I saw on my way down to the surface.
The trip is fairly uneventful. The only thing worth mentioning is that three of the nine major magic foci on this planet are getting stronger as I get closer. That would mean that they are at least in that direction. So I might end up finding them, or not. I think I may stay here long enough to find all nine of them, plus the few semi-major magic points.
Coming closer to the town, I notice that there is a castle off to one side. It appears to be made of crystal, and is reminiscent of a tree. No doubt someone important lives there. To the southwest is a large apple orchard. Without getting closer, I can't make out much more than that. Big buildings are easy to see.
Using my binoculars, I observe the populace after concealing myself in a forest, with the support of an illusion. The best illusions have a shred of truth in them. Tuning the super sensitive directional microphone on my binoculars, I listen in on the conversations going on in town.
"LYYYYYRRRRRAAAAAAA!!!!"* I don't see anything yet, but that was a powerful shriek. Looking closer, I see the familiar castle perched above the town. Dozens of cottages surround a fairly important-looking building, as well as there being what appears to be a barn in the apple orchard. I extend my magical senses as well, to see if there are any beings capable of telepathy. If there are, it would make it so much easier to learn their language. From what I have heard so far, there are distinguishable sounds, but I have no idea what they mean.
"Calm down Bon Bon!"*
"But you said we could..."*
"Hush, and let's go home."*
That conversation appears to be over, as I see the two ponies in question, or at least, I think it is, head off together. My magic senses something, one of the three major magic points that are nearby appears to be able to use telepathy. That's my first stop, after I construct a pony body. Do not want to alarm the local species by giving them something to worry about. But first, I need DNA samples, two of each of the three main species here, one male, and one female. Opening my portable wormhole generator, I relay a message about needing needles. Time to stab a few ponies. I set up the wormhole generator on it's stand, letting it work it's magic while I observe for a few more moments. Noting nothing of interest, I turn around at the sound of something hitting the ground.
Grabbing the needle box and packing up my wormhole generator stand, I settle down to watch and see. I would prefer a brother-sister pair, as it reduces the differences in the genome, also preferred is same...mane and coat colours, I guess. Twins would be ideal, but what are the chances of me being that lucky?
I decide to stalk regular ponies first. They don't have wings or a horn, but there is DNA that I should probably have. Watching what I believe to be a marketplace, I settle in and wait. Not long after, I spot what seems to be at least family relations getting together to take down their booth for the day. A mare with an orange coat and blonde mane, with a stallion that has a red coat and orange mane. I also notice what appears to be a filly nearby, red mane and yellow-ish coat. Grabbing my needles, I prepare to get some samples. Using my magic, I throw the needles at high speed towards all three.
"Shriek!"
Quickly grabbing my needles, I move away, searching for more targets. That shriek hurt my ears. Who new such a big guy could have such a squeal. But I have blood samples, I may be able to determine the male/female gene, as well as mane and coat colour. Body type and height will require more samples and tests.
"Several hours later"
Got a blood sample of every pony in this town. Time to test. Returning to my ship quickly, I fail to notice that the ponies coming out of the forest are ones that I have not gotten a sample of. I do, however, note their coat and mane colors. One is purple, some artistically inclined people would say lavender, but I am not one such. The mane is purple with a pink streak. The other is white-coated with a deep purple mane. There is also a dragon in the group, but I have seen their kind before and don't bat an eye. Well, I have actually designed and bred dragons, but that's a story for another time.
Meanwhile, in the Ponyville General Hospital
"Doctor! We are getting a few ponies in town reporting being poked by something very sharp and small. And showing us needle marks." Nurse Redheart explains the situation. The doc thinks for a moment, coming to a conclusion.
"Nurse, it is just a needle, this is a job for the police, not us. Someone is stealing blood samples, but the police need to figure out who. And since it is only needle punctures, no medical attention is required, so just tell them to report it to the police."
"Right away sir!" Nurse Redheart trots off in a flurry of white, leaving the doc alone with his thoughts.
Upon returning to my ship, I request a blood spectrometer through my little wormhole generator. Setting it to work, I place my ships A.I. in charge of constructing the DNA sequence I want from the info it gets from that. Searching the storage compartments, I find the device I am looking for, and, ascertaining that it works, I prepare to head back to town, gotta find that telepathy so I can learn their language. Another day, another language. There is that nagging feeling that I know this world from somewhere, but it seems that it was a long time ago, maybe even an earlier life of mine. The sun is lowering in the sky, meaning I only have a few hours, based on the speed of movement from before.
Arriving back in town, I prepare my illusion. Weaving an intricate web of magical tendrils around myself, I gently push them into the form that I want. A sapphire blue unicorn stallion with a fading rainbow mane. Checking and rechecking the spell, I determine that it does indeed show what I want, and will hold up to scrutiny. Satisfied that my illusion will not be broken, I head for the castle, where the telepathy is. Great, the individual possessing telepathy is royalty, or perhaps just a servant in the castle, but who has heard of telepathy not being in the royal bloodline? This is going to be fun.
Sneaking up to the castle, I prepare to open my mind to others. The balcony is abandoned as I climb up onto it, but as I get up, I hear the coconut of hooves. Quickly surveying the scene, I see no easy concealment. So, hanging off the railing, I wait patiently for the sounds to die away. Time passes, the sounds get louder. Someone starts talking.
"Spike, set up the telescope, the desk, and the chairs for my friends."* Someone, or something responds. I can tell there is a difference in vocal manipulation, so they are different species at the least.
"Yes Twilight. You know, you don't need to be worried about this. I am sure your friends will love it, no matter how comfy they may be."*
Peeking up, I see a purple winged unicorn moving about, setting up equipment for a night of stargazing. A reptilian creature is nearby, setting up a refreshment table. Examining the table closer, I see that I could eat any of the things on there. Good, that means that food should not be a problem while stuck here. I see a large telescope, seems to have quite high magnification. I notice the mare turning in my direction and move quickly down again. Upon examination with magical senses, the winged unicorn is the one with telepathy, but the reptile has strong magic too, and will only grow stronger as it ages.
Attempting polite conversation, I "knock" on the mares mind "door". I then wait for a response. I do not, however, receive one.
"Spike? Did you hear that?"* A pause. Probably the reptile thinking. Most reptilian creatures are not known for being bright.
"Nothing to be heard Twilight. It's just us up here."*
"I'm going to investigate."* It would seem that this individual does not know how to use their telepathy, great. On an unrelated side note, I should probably get a blood sample too. The DNA could prove useful.
The coconut of hooves moves around the balcony, looking over the edges. I need to do something, maybe I should just pull my self up. Deciding, I pull up onto the balcony, surprising the mare and reptile.
To say she was speechless would be an understatement. I cannot, unfortunately, do her expression justice. So I just will not try. She finally recovers enough to speak.
"Who... Wha... How?"* I still cannot understand her, but I hope to rectify that soon.
Speaking into her mind, I say. :I do not know your language, we will have to communicate through this. Much easier.: I can see emotions warring over her face. Look, there is the shock army, engaging with the concentration army. Looks like confusion is joining the fray.
"But... Wha?"* :I already said I cannot understand that. I came to you, because you are also capable of telepathy, and are thus able to teach me your language. Please nod if you understand.: She nods, prompting me to continue.
:Okay. So, in order to use telepathy, basically just think what you want to be heard, and focus on projecting it outwards.: She attempts, I can hear something. :........ Hi? Can you hear me?: I nod, prompting her to jump for joy, and squeal in delight. That hurt.
:So, now, I need you to just open your mind to me. There is nothing to worry about, I will not invade your memories, except those for language. But I know where those are, I have done this before.: During this conversation, which took all of two minutes, the reptile had been writing in a scroll. He now breathes fire onto it, sending it away. So, we have a dragon here.
I ask the mare about it, :Who did he just contact?: She looks embarrassed, and perhaps a little guilty. :He sent a message to my mentor, or rather, previous mentor, about you.:
:So this mentor is coming here?:
:Yes.:
With a poof, another winged unicorn appears on the balcony. Taller than the purple one, longer horn, larger wings, as well as a mane that appears to be flowing in an eternal breeze, even though there is no wind. She has a pure white coat, royal ornament, and is one of the major magic focal points on the planet. She also has more power than the purple one.
Feeling mischievous, I change my illusion to have a flowing mane too, and am rewarded with a surprised gasp. Speaking to the purple one, I ask :So this is your mentor?: It is evident that the white one hears too, because of the surprised expression that crosses her face. I smile and wave. The purple one nods, which is seen by the white one. :I should probably ask your names, as well as what you are. I just keep thinking of you as winged unicorns.:
A different mind voice answers my query, it seems that the white one knows how to use telepathy. :I am Celestia, goddess of the sun, and co-ruler of this land. This is Twilight Sparkle, a recent student of mine. We are both alicorns, but I am an alpha alicorn, Twilight is only a beta alicorn.:
:Your world must be young, to have such weak goddesses. I am only a Demi-God in my universe, and my power far outstrips yours.: With that statement, I am rewarded by a look of puzzlement, and then shock when she inspects my magical power. I continue speaking, at it were. :I am capable of crossing the inter-dimensional barrier, destroying entire planets, and taming wild children. So I shall ask again. Can someone please let me learn your language?: Celestia turns to look at Twilight.
"What does he mean?"* Very formal sounding, even if I can't understand it. A voice wise with the years. It would probably be thunderous if raised in anger.
"He wants to explore memories of our language to learn it, he says he has done it before, and it would be faster than trying to teach him."*
"Very well."* Celestia seems nervous. :I will let you delve into my memories to learn our language. But stay out of everything else!: I incline my head into a slight bow, my illusion does the same. Stretching my consciousness out and into her, I find a massively powerful brain, loaded with thousands of years of memories. Searching for the language centre, I come across the metaphysical representation of it. An office building. Which means I will have to sort through bureaucratic nonsense. Still faster than the conventional method.
Ten minutes later...
"Is he still in there?"
"Nope."
"Then what is he doing?"
"I think he is organizing all the new information." Celestia gets a devilish smile.
"It's only a language though."
"That's not all I gave him."
Mind attempting to process everything. Not only did she give me knowledge about their language, extending as far back as she can remember, she also gave me the full history of Equestria, as she remembers it, anyway. While I am in this state, I also move needles into position. Assuming that the alicorns are more resilient to damage, I reinforce them with magic, allowing them to penetrate the skin. Firing them forward, they hit their mark. Celestia looks surprised, but only for a split second. Twilight gives a startled yelp, then looks around for the offending object. Good thing I teleported them. I then place the samples in a nice box, on the ground below the balcony. I can grab them later.
"What hit me? It pinched." Twilight is thinking out loud. "Ohh, was it you?" She looks at me pointedly.
"I can hear you ya know." I am rewarded by a surprised look from Twilight.
"I wasn't actually expecting you to answer. But... wait, that was in my language. YES!!!!! NOW HE CAN TELL ME ALL ABOUT WHERE HE IS FROM!!!!" She runs off to get... something. And then it hit me. Like, literally, she threw a pile of paper and a box of ink and quills down from a window... and it hit me right in the head. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
That hurt, and now Celestia is looking at me funny. Oh. Dammit. The writing matierials hit my head, not my illusion's head. And my illusion follows my movement, which means that when the writing matierials hit my head, the illusion's head jerked back too. I notice Celestia prepping a spell. I fire off a spell of my own. Illusion shield, never failed me yet, and it doesn't here either. Celestia's spell hits the shield, and acts as though it hit a normal person, causing a slight glow around my illusion to indicate there is no illusion. She doesn't look like she believes it, but she also doesn't look like she is going to try anything more.
Twilight returns in a frenzy, pulling a desk out of the castle, grabbing the box and scrolls in a magical aura. She sets herself up, ready to take down anything I have to say. She composes herself, willing her mind to calm down. Now I remember where I know this stuff from: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic. Approximately 500 years ago, that show gained immense popularity among older generations than the one it was intended for. I think it is actually still around, even thought the original writers, and the show's creator, have been dead for around 450 years. And I now remember Twilight's penchant to study intensely anything she doesn't understand, which includes me, at the moment.
"What is it like where you are from?" And while I am distracted, Celestia fires the same illusion dispel that she used before. I had taken down my shield from before, so it hit me and broke the illusion. Twilight bore a mixed expression of shock and wonder, while Celestia showed a poker face. And a pretty good one at that.
Well, this is certainly an interesting development, trapped in a room, with Twilight Sparkle, and information she wants. Not much could get worse than this. And it only took Twilight dragging me into a room. I gave no resistance, I knew it would be futile.
"What are you?"She is showing barely restrained eagerness when she asks.
"I am a human. Or rather, a genetically modified human. Superior in just about every way."
"... just about every way. Where are you from?"
"An alternate universe."
"What's it like where you are from?"
"My home planet is warm, with pleasant summers and cool winters. Extremes are only near the poles and at high, or low, altitudes. I live in the palace in Vale City, the capital of the Taledine Empire. I am, or rather, was, the King. But as soon as it is determined that I will not be returning, the heir becomes the new King."
"Wouldn't the proper title for the ruler of an empire be emperor?"
"Yes, but it is only an empire in technicality, a kingdom in truth."
"Well, enough of that. How did you get here?"
"You sure you want to know? The specifics are very high level, and advanced. I am not sure if you would even understand it all."
"Yes! I am sure."
"You have no idea what you are getting into."
"Don't care. Explain."
"My wormhole generator jumped me further than I wanted, due to the interference of a beam of expressively ionized fluids, the energy contained within this beam induced an extension of the magnitude of the wormhole, allowing me to traverse a greater distance than normally possible." Twilight is shocked at my in depth and detailed explanation. Of course, I could only write a simplified explanation here, but you get the idea.
"Wow. Do you think we could try that? I want my own wormhole generator." It's been a while since this last happened, but I am surprised that anyone actually understood that. But I quickly regained my composure.
"There is currently a galactic civil war going on back home, and while me being there would help, it is not necessary for me to be there. And about the wormhole generator, it is currently damaged due to the concussive force of the plasma beam, and it may take me a while to fix it..." I must keep this away from Twilight! Only God and maybe The Doctor knows what she would do with it.
"That's okay. Maybe I could help you fix it?" She looks at me with adorable, pleading eyes. Even the cruelest of people would not be able to withstand the adorableness of a pony trying to be cute.
"Alright. You can help. But only-" I am cut off by a tackle hug from the Princess.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" See? Adorable. I then remove myself from the vice that is alicorns hugs.
"But you must follow my instructions. The technology is very dangerous, and could explode if not handled properly." She might not be paying attention, but from what I remember of her character, I don't need to tell her to be careful.
I then ask, "Can I leave now?" I have unfortunately forgotten where the neddle box fell, so I am going to get an additional sample just in case.
She manages a small "yes" before she packs up her papers and runs out of the room. She is not fast enough to avoid my needle though, and I triumphantly March out of the castle and back to my ship. I of course take a slight detour, grab a needle-full of Celestia's blood, and run like the devil himself is chasing me. Which of course, she is.
Upon return to my ship, I place the two new DNA samples in the spectrometer. Then ask the computer how it is going.
"Fine, aside from the ship still not being able to fly all that well." That's good news for a change. "DNA sequencing is nearly complete, with several specimens awaiting your inspection."
"I brought two new samples. They are from what are refered to as "alicorns". These alicorns have a horn and wings. Based on my observations, the wings are not merely decorative, as well as the horn allowing the pony to focus and control High Magic. Have not seen evidence of Elemental Magic. They appear to use a loose form of manipulation casting in their spells. It appears that it is largely based on intuition, but may be further strengthened with study."
"Sequencing new DNA now... constructing genetic strand... finalizing results. We are able to reconstruct an alicorn, if you so wish, but since it appears that alicorns are associated with royalty, I suggest one of the alternate species. It does, however, appear that alicorns have a much stronger magical net, allowing them to use more mana at once, as well as increase intake speed of ambient energy."
That does present an interesting development. If I was to construct an alicorn body for myself, instead of a unicorn, I would be able to cast all of my higher level spells. But since I have my runes, I doubt I will need to do any active casting. But alicorns can fly, and are revered as royalty. I think I will need the extra mana intake. So, "Construct the alicorn body. And where is the cloning vat?"
"It is located in the port side compartment. It will need to be set up, as it is in pieces."
Now that the cloning vat is set up, I just need to wait for the new body to be constructed. I should find somewhere I can hide all my equipment, the consciousness transference device doesn't fit in my ship when set up. I saw that thick forest to the east of Ponyville, maybe I should try there. Or maybe a mountainside, there are a few of them around here.
The forest is probably the best place to hide. Tall trees, very thick, covers a wide area. Should be a good spot to hide my equipment.
Doing some quick calculations from my observations, I teleport myself to just above the treetops. Holding myself there, I get a closer look at the forest. It is very thick, would be nigh on impossible to put my ship in there without clearing some of it. But I do see a clearing nearby. I should go check it out. But before I go anywhere, I use magical senses to get the lay of the land, as well as it relative health. I find that one of the major magic points on this planet is close by, and seems to be near, or in, the clearing. There is also powerful magic there, that I know from experience to be caused by the recent or current presence of powerful magical runes. That clearing just got a whole lot more interesting.
Landing on the ground, I orient myself towards the clearing, and start walking, keeping my magical senses open for anything living. Stopping dead, I hear a rustling of the bushes. Listening intently, I also use magical senses to observe. Pile of wood, glowing with mana power. It would appear that there is a source of rampant magic in this forest, maybe I could find it. But the feel of the magic that is animating the wood is not the same as what I felt in the clearing, so I don't think that is causing it.
The wood springs at me, I fire a bolt of energy at it. The bolt completely disintegrates it, and the ash that is left falls to the ground. Hmmm, I don't think I needed to use that much mana. Oh well, continue moving. Nothing else crosses my path as I move silently through the woods. Coming upon the clearing, I see the ruins of a castle. The runic emanations are coming from within, but the major magic point is in the gorge that is between me and the castle. I decide to check the major magic point first. I walk up to the edge of the gorge, and find stairs carved into the rock. Descending, I feel the power growing stronger, as well as the runic aura getting stronger. It would appear that there are magical runes here too.
Reaching the bottom of the gorge, I see a glow coming from a cave off to the right. I enter the cave, and find a glowing tree.
The aura coming off this tree is more powerful than I am, but not the most powerful thing I have seen. That title goes to the runic elements of magic back home. The main aura is coming from the runes embedded in the tree.
Getting closer, I notice the shape of the runes; an apple, a lightning bolt, a butterfly, a gem, and a balloon, with a six-pointed star in the center. These runes all have a direct connection to the plane of magic, just like I do, but each one has a weaker connection than me. However, it seems that they are meant to be used together, as their planar connections are intertwined. They are also tightly bound to the tree. Moving up to the tree, I get a closer look, and determine that removing one of the runes will not hurt anything. As such, I attempt to remove one of the runes for more intense study.
The runes light up, and throw me out of the cave, into the wall on the opposite side of the gorge. Oww, that hurt. Nothing I can't handle, but it hurt, and I'm going to have a nice collection of bruises. If that's how it reacts, then I will leave it alone for now. Climbing the stairs and crossing the bridge, I enter the ruins.
The ruins are old, not as old as me, but old. I can feel the power of the ancient stones, as well as the strength of the nearby runes. I wander around, trying to find the runes that are giving off so much power. Turning a corner, I run into a white unicorn.
"Sorry darling. I wasn't watching where I was going." And you still aren't.
"That's quite alright, it happens when going around corners." Not recognizing the voice, she looks up and gazes in amazement and wonder.
"What are you? Who are you?"
"I am Aurthur Issaria, and a human. I am looking for powerful magical items in these ruins. I can sense them, and they are close."
"Oh! Perhaps you mean the Elements of Harmony? Sorry, forgive me, I should introduce myself. I am Rarity, fashionista extraordinaire!."
"All well and good, but what was that about 'Elements of Harmony'?"
"Oh yes! The Elements may be what you are sensing, I can't not sense them at this proximity either. They are in the Tree of Harmony, down in a cave in the gorge."
"I found that Tree already. I know what it's aura feels like. I am sensing something else. Are there any magical workrooms around here?"
"I don't know. I have not seen anything that looks like a workroom, but I have also not seen the whole castle."
"Okay, thanks anyway. I am going to continue looking." We part ways, I continue in the direction I was heading. Now that I am deep in the ruins, I can feel two distinct auras coming from opposite sides of the castle. That may be why it was so hard for me to find. Since I can distinguish the auras, I am now able to locate them. I move quickly, going from the center of the ruins to one of the edges. I find what looks like used to be a bedroom with a balcony on the one wall. Moving over to it, I find what I am looking for: a circle of runes embedded in the floor, glowing with power. But only glowing to Mage-sight, which could explain why it hasn't been found yet.
Pulling a toolbox out of my bag, I prepare to remove the runes. Using pliers to bend the prongs after weakening them with magic, I carefully pull out the first, and largest, rune. The symbols on it are just for linking to the other runes in the circle, and for allowing whoever is in the circle to draw on their combined mana reserves. Whoever used this was putting out some fairly powerful spells, even with just the power of the runes here. Pulling out a jewellers magnifying glass, I take a closer look at the crystal. Very few imperfections mar the surface, but scratches are to be expected from being on the floor. I cannot see any other flaws in the crystal, meaning these are artificial.
Pulling out the rest of them, there are twenty in total, I find the same thing on all of them. I should take them back, to see what crystal they are made of. I then sense a teleportation spell about to go off. Quickly pushing the ancient runes into a circle around me, I also whip out two of my runes. My shield rune, and some random one. Hmm, just a simple lightning rune. It'll do. The teleport finishes, placing a chimera-type being into the room. Looking through Mage-sight, I see it has as much power as me, but the magical signature is not one I recognize.
"Who, and what, are you?" I am actually surprised by the appearance of this creature. It appears intelligent, as well as being capable of using magic, albeit a type I don't recognize. It's aura is constantly in flux, looking like a mass of snakes that are all trying to crush the others.
"Why, I am Discord! The Spirit of Chaos!" So, chaos magic then? Maybe. Need more information.
"Uh-huh, good for you. Why are you popping out of nowhere?"
"It's what I do. And if I was you, I would put Luna's runes back, she likes them there, despite not having been here in a thousand years."
"And who is this 'Luna'? The only Luna I know is the moon. If Luna is less powerful than you, I would have no trouble dealing with anything that can be thrown my way. And besides, you seem to care more about them than Luna does, so come get them."
"A challenge? You are challenging the God of Chaos? Really?" I can see that it is annoyed, and now puts its powers on display. "I will show you things you never even thought possible!" Right before the chimera teleports us, I use my shield rune. Its teleport fizzes out, and it looks surprised. In its surprise, the chimera raises its eyebrows further than physically possible, as well as making its head transparent so I can literally see the gears moving. The chimera seems to come to a conclusion, nodding its head gravely.
"You can't teleport someone who is you equal or greater without their permission, provided they have a shield or protection against teleports. But that's not the route I took, my shield here absorbed your spell. On an unrelated note, are you male or female? I keep using 'it' in my internal thoughts, and 'chimera' just for variety." It gives me a look of indignation. Literally, it gives me its face that has a look of indignation on it.
"Firstly! I am male. Secondly! I NOT A CHIMERA! Those things are beneath me. I have the good fortune to be a draconequus." Well, it's nice to know the gender and species of that thing.
"Okay, good to know. Now, what are you doing popping up behind me?" He seems to relax at the question, snapping a comfy looking chair into existence. I could do that too, but I am currently busy analyzing all the information I have on him.
"Well, that is because you are not from this universe, so I came to check it out. Plus, I felt a huge magical imbalance when you entered our universe. And, on top of all that, you are fiddling with powerful magical artifacts, which always attracts the attention of powerful beings such as myself." I sense another teleport coming in, but this one is controlled, unlike Discords. Deciding that is don't want to deal with anything else, I teleport to the other side of the ruined castle. I quickly pull up the runes there, then teleport back to my ship, and the safety of its magical distortion field.
Upon returning to my ship, I question Alyr about the progress on my new body.
"Nearly finished, my King. But sensors also indicate there are at least two other alicorns on this planet." More DNA would improve the accuracy of the DNA sequencing, I should go get samples.
"Bring up a map of the planet. Show our location, as well as the location of these two new alicorns, updated in real-time." The A.I. fires up the holographic projectors, displaying a hologram of the planet. Or at least, what it has mapped so far. Our position is now far from where the one is, but the other appears to be a ways away. "What's the scale?"
"The scale is approximately one centimetre to one thousand kilometres. Making this planet about fifteen thousand kilometres in diameter. Making it slightly smaller than Taleda, and slightly bigger than Earth." Plenty of land then.
"Are there any locations I can hide my equipment?" The map starts lighting up in various places, presumably locations that are good for hiding. I notice there is not one in the forest I just came from.
"Quite a few, many of them are nearby. The top of the mountain that city is resting on is ideal. I have not observed any intelligent beings going up there. Though that is only based on the ponies being sapient, but not much else has gone up there. A few birds, presumably eagles, but not much more than that. There is a large desert/badlands region to the southeast that is not populated by ponies. But the ponies do go in there occasionally. There are mountains to the far north of here that are absolutely frigid, and as such, are not inhabited. Except for one city, and that city appears to be maintaining a perpetual summer in the surrounding area. There are other locations, but they are all quite far from here." The mountaintop seems to be the best place, as it appears to also be in the centre of this country.
"I am going to get a closer look at the mountain. It should work, but I want to ensure that it is as abandoned as you say. We have only been here a little over a day so far." But first, sleep. I could go without, but that would mean using magic to do what sleeping does, so I sleep.
Wake up, eat some more sausages, and I'm ready to face the day. Grabbing my pack up again, I head out the outer door and prepare to teleport over to the mountaintop.
Winking into existence above the mountain, I land, and extend my magical senses. I find nothing of note. The two alicorns are in the city below, I will just need a magic distortion field to mask my aura. Preparing to reform the rock around me. I imagine what my tower will look like, as well as reaching into the earth for the energies needed and to feel the interior of the mountain. I find a small cave system within the peak, not big enough, but I can enlarge it. The only entrance into it is also too small to fit my ship through, will need to widen it.
Finding a large ley-line, I tap into it, pulling the energy I need. Forming the rock to my image, I pull rock out of the cave, placing and attaching it to lower on the mountain. After several minutes of intense concentration, I am satisfied with my work. Hmm, actually feeling tired after that, but it's not everyday that I reform a mountaintop into what I want.
Floating down to the entrance, I prepare to teleport my ship here. Pulling out the circle runes, I lay them all in a circle and step into it. Pulling out my wormhole rune, using it because I don't usually teleport something this big, using the rune will make it take less effort on my part, I start feeding mana into the Allotropic Silicon. The portal opens, ship comes through, I close the portal. I then search around and in the ship, ensuring nothing was forgotten. Finding everything is where it was, I set about assembling the consciousness transference device along one of the walls.
"Alyr, is the alicorn body ready?"
"Yes, but I thought you wanted to get samples of the other two alicorns before finalizing it?"
"I did, I shall go do that now. But first, I should construct an artificial node, so I can recharge when I return." And so, I divert a few ley-lines to make a new node right under my cave. I then make sensor triggered Mage lights powered by the node, as well as placing many protections, shield, and a magic distortion field. I also add a heater. Need to keep warm, after all.
Satisfied that everything is in place, I summon my unicorn illusion, just to make sure the populace isn't frightened. I then teleport down the mountain to the closer alicorn. Appearing right outside a castle, I immediately extend my magical senses. Determining that there are no guards nearby, I then do a short range hop to the other side of the wall. Broad daylight, not the best time to be sneaking around, so I don't even try. Using a spell, I 'feel' the entire castle, constructing a mental map of the place. I am sure some ponies were rudely interrupted by a questing wave of magic, but it would seem they are nobles, so I don't mind. I head for the throne room, as if I belong here. I have also located my target, she is sleeping at the moment, but that is a good thing.
Waltzing across the courtyard, I come upon a tower with waaayyyy to many steps. So instead of walking up them for ten minutes, I just teleport to the top, looking around to make sure no one notices. At the top, I pull a needle out of the box in my bag, and prepare to stab an adorable colored pony. Opening the door (good oak, this stuff) I shuffle quietly along the floor to the bed on the far side of the room. I also notice a balcony that is glowing with powerful magic. Balcony later, blood sample first. I arrive at the bed after a long and arduous journey across the bedroom. I carefully apply a pain nullifying spell to the pony's neck, and draw the sample. Also noticing that the pain nullify spell took more mana than usual, I check out the mare with Mage-sight. Oh shit. She is one of the major points, meaning I should not stay here too long. But I still want to check out the balcony. Satisfied that I have not woken her, I creep over to the balcony to get a closer look at the runes there. The runes are nearly identical to the ones I found in the ruins, the only difference being these ones are less worn. These ones might actually be more powerful. I understand the circle for extra power, but why on the balcony? What is so special about here that isn't anywhere else?
Hearing a shuffle, I take a glance at the sleeping alicorn. She has re-positioned herself so that she is facing the balcony. If she had woken up, I would have been spotted for sure. Stepping into her circle of runes, I use its mana reserves to teleport me to the city in the far north with the other alicorn.
I arrive on the edge of the city. Completely made of crystal, it is stunning to behold. The castle at the center is where I believe I am headed. Strutting towards the city center, I see many houses, shops, and other buildings, all made of a crystalline substance. Arriving at the castle, I search for signs of an alicorn in the vicinity. I find two alicorns, but one appears to be smaller than the other. Eh, doesn't matter, I can get samples from both. I also find one of the most powerful runes I have seen. Looking at it is nearly blinding. Getting a closer look, I see that there are symbols on it I don't recognize, while I do recognize others. I will need to study that further, but first, I have some blood to get.
Prepping my needles, I keep moving closer towards the two. Maybe the one is a foal? I should not stab a foal, that's just cruel. Finding the room they are in, I take a peek. One is indeed a foal, the other, based on color similarities, could be the mother. Drawing blood sample from the larger one, I move away quickly. I don't sense any rune circles, so I will have to rely on my own power.
Pulling out my teleportation rune, I charge it up, and poof! I am back at my cave. Inserting the samples in the spectrometer, I decide to make this place more comfy. First, warmth. While the thick rock does offer some protection from the cold outside it is still quite cold in here. Casting a small spell, I place an insulating barrier over the cave entrance. Reaching into the earth again, I transmute the rock around me into a thin layer of plastic covered aerogel. Insulation is taken care of, now I need a better place to sleep than the benches in my ship. Carving the rock, I make separate rooms. I have the hangar, for my ship, a bedroom, to sleep in, a kitchen, for making food that isn't rations. A workroom, secured around the outer edge with runic wards, as well as a rune circle to generate a powerful shield that should be able to absorb anything I can throw at it. And finally, a map room. I move holographic projectors into there to use as I see fit. Speaking of which, after all this work, time for some fun. Firing up my computer, I start Civilzation: Universal. Play for hours.
4 hours later
"Aurthur? Your body is done." Alyr is always good at reminding me when I need to get off a video game.
Placing my completed alicorn body in one chamber of the consciousness transference device, I mentally prepare for what is about to happen. Removing your mind and soul from a body is not easy, but placing them in one is. Fortunately for me, the process has become nearly perfect, so the side effects should be minimal. I will also have to make sure all the tubes are connected, to supply my human body with nutrients to keep it alive.
Stepping into the other chamber, I connect the tubes, put the needle in place and place the crown on my head. Ready for the transfer, I tell Alyr.
Success! The consciousness transference worked. I step out of the chamber on two legs. Fall down to four. I then remember that I am now a quadruped, with wings. Good thing I have flown using wings before. Anyway, I have seen the way horses walk, let's try that. Front right, back left, switch, repeat. Good, I can walk. Let's see a gallop. Push with back hooves, stay up with front. Good, I can gallop too. I then fall flat on my face, might need to work on the timing.
Alright, wings. Flaring them out, I head over to the hangar, ready for flight. I gallop to the edge of my ledge, leap off, and start flapping. I gain altitude, going higher and higher. I find it hard to breathe at this altitude. Not getting enough oxygen forms exertions, I start using mana to power my flight. Good, I can still use mana in this form. Heading home, I attain speeds in excess of fifty meters per second. Prepping for the landing, I slow down, and flare out my wings right before my ledge. Landing gracefully, I commend my self on a job well done. So does my audience.
"Bravo, bravo! Encore, Encore!" Discord and his army have shown up. His army is only clones of himself, but still an army. I charge up a spell on my horn.
"Time to test the limits of my magical abilities!" I fire at Discord, the beam hits, a clone appears in hell. Gave the devil a present. "Which one is the real Discord?!" All the clones and Discord, point at every other one, growing hands to accommodate it. I snark, "Thanks for the directions." I then draw on my connection to the magical plane, and project the spell to hit them all. They are all banished to hell. One more thing to try. Drawing on the ambient mana in the area, I gather and measure the amount of mana I collect. Much more than I was able to collect in my human form. So I will be able to cast much more powerful spells on my personal power alone. Now tired, I need sleep. And food, food is good. But before I do that, I need to fix my DNA so I don't age a few years while sleeping. Charging up my genetic manipulation spell, I target the genes that determine aging speed. Slow them down to normal. Now I can sleep, but first, eat.
Waking up from very restful sleep, I head over to my bag to get some sausages. Eating three of them, I also go over what I need to do. Step one, I need to find the necessary materials to repair the wormhole generator on my ship. While I could use magic to make a large enough portal, I am not certain where this universe is in relation to mine, so it may use a truly enormous amount of power that I might need to draw from the magical plane. I don't want to do that, as drawing on my connection is very physically draining, so I might be able to open the portal, but I may not be able to go through. There is also the minor point of I want to learn the magic discipline here. It is similar to mine, but I want to make sure.
Step two, if I can, I want to learn as much about this world as possible, three sapient species on the same planet is nearly unheard of.
Step three, I will need to leave before they find me, either the sapient species here, or him. I do not want to expose these ponies to that kind of evil.
Satisfied with my list, I ask Alyr if he has found any of the materials I need.
"Yes, but most of them are either in structures that are in use, or in mines that the ponies have made. There are a few deposits scattered over the planet, what I have scanned anyway, but none of them are nearby. Also, under a more intense diagnostic, the plasma thrusters just seem to be warped and melted, nothing is missing, it just needs to be re-welded in to the proper position."
I can do that, plus I could see how this body responds to Elemental Magic, rather than High Magic.
Leaving the confines of the ship, I take a little stroll around the field. Deciding there is no better time than the present, I take a bite of some grass. Bitter, but nourishing. It would take an awful lot of grass to get the amount of stuff I need, but it could be done.
Trotting back to my ship, I take a good look at the plasma thrusters. Located on the rear of the ship, there are only two of them, housed in metal cylinders on either side of the central compartments. I do see that the damage is only superficial, and needs just a little welding and re-forming of the nozzles. Peering deeper, I see that the magnets are fine, seems the nozzles protected them, and their magnetic field.
Calling on my fire power, I push mana into the misshapen nozzles, seeing it melt, I then use solidified mana to form the mold, pushing the molten metal back into place. Once it is in the right shape, I pull the heat out of the metal, causing it to solidify. Once it is solid, I remove my mana mold from it and go do the same process on the other side. When that is finished, I go inside and find the crystals that had fallen out of the wormhole generator earlier. Placing them back in their respective locations on the inside of the rings, and I also remove the damaged energy beam generators.
Pulling all three of them open, I re-attach all the loose wires, remove the melted computer, and place the two that are now repaired back into the ring section. The third, however, is going to take a bit more work. With the melted computer, I can't just reform it, the Allotropic elements in it have come out of Allotropic form, and have mingled with the rest of the material. This could be refined, but I don't have the equipment for it, nor can I get the necessary equipment through my portable generator. I have a device that can make a new one, but it can only refine ores, not this.
Need to find some copper ore, and fluorine and carbon to make Teflon.
Ready to face the adorable mess that are ponies, I summon my unicorn illusion again. I do not need the kind of attention that goes with being an alicorn. As well, I also put up my illusion shield, don't want the illusion broken. Hmm, my backpack no longer fits on my back nicely. Saddlebags? I have seen them, I guess I could make some. Dumping out my backpack, and picking up a translucent black crystal, I concentrate, pulling mana out of the crystal to cast the reformation spell. Looking at the saddlebags in front of me, I see that they are perfect for my purposes. Strapping them on, I then place all the runes I had dumped out into the saddlebags, as well as a bar of gold and a smaller bar of platinum on opposite sides. Good to be prepared to pay for anything, anywhere.
Prepared for the journey, I cast a teleportation spell to place me in Twilight Sparkle's castle. I look around to see the dragon from before staring at me, wide-eyed. And just for the laughs.
"Take me to your leader."
The little dragon runs away screaming.
Popping out of nowhere, Discord comes in. "Oh, good one. Could have done a better job on the voice change, but good one." Sighing, I turn around to face him.
"What do you want? And why do you keep following me?" He obviously knows who I am. He snaps his talons, and my illusion disappears.
"I knew it! You can't hide anything from me!" He does a small victory dance, including summoning a mini orchestra and stage on which to do it. And the cast is all clones of him. He then answers my questions. "I already told you, you are not supposed to be here. Hence, I must convince you to leave."
"I know I'm not supposed to be here, but I can't leave yet, my ship isn't fixed. And besides, there is knowledge here that don't have. I must learn it all." I prepare the same banishment spell I used before.
"Hey! No need for that! I can help!"
I ask, interested, but keeping the banishment spell ready, "And how can you help? I see that you use a method of casting I don't know, so I would love to learn that, but aside from that. What can you teach me?" He sees his chance to avoid being banished, and promptly tackles it with vigor.
"Well! I am the oldest being on this planet. So I know much of its history, as well as being able to go to any point in time or space. So I could find anything you wanted." I have now powered down my horn, releasing the spell in the process. Discord visibly relaxes when I let go of the spell. He brings in a chair to flop down on.
"But no dismissing my illusion. How do you think the ponies would take it if another alicorn just showed up? Not only that, but one that the princesses did not help make. And I still have a conversation to have with Twilight Sparkle. So shoo for now." Discord appears immensely relieved that I am not going to banish him, going so far as to remove a literal weight from his shoulders.
He has one last question for me though. "How did you know they were made alicorns?"
"I know the signs of magical manipulation of the base genetic code, I have done it many times before, mostly to myself." I give him a small smile, more of a smirk, as I see his jaw drop. Shaking my head, I walk into the castles library. Being here before really helped, I was able to construct a partial mental map of the place, and as such, know where the library is located. It seems to be the best place to start, even if I have to translate the horse words first.
Grabbing a book at random, I open it and start attempting to decipher it. No such luck, their alphabet isn't related to any I know. Pulling my computer out of my saddlebags, I contact Alyr.
"Does this bear any resemblance to an alphabet in your database?" I continue looking while waiting, double-checking just in case. Still nothing. Grab another book, look through, find nothing. Why couldn't Celestia have given me knowledge of the alphabet too?
"No matches sir, or even close resemblances. None of the languages I know are even similar, or related." Great, so I can't do any studying without help.
Sighing, I decide that I might need Discord's help with this after all. Or Twilight Sparkle. This is a public library after all... I think, so she shouldn't be too unwilling to help. If I want help, I should probably go look for it. Leaving the knowledge behind, I wander the castle, looking for anyone that could help. I walk for must have been a few minutes before I find an interesting room.
The room is circular, sorta, there are eight pillars of crystal jutting out of the walls that frame the doors and ruin the circle, but circular aside from that. A large table dominates the centre of the room, with seven thrones place around it. Six of them are placed equidistantly around the table, while a smaller one is place next to the one with the starry mark. Each of the six larger thrones have a symbol on them, three apples, a trio of diamonds, three differently coloured balloons, three butterflies, a cloud with rainbow lightning pointing down, and a star overlaying a second star, surrounded by five other stars.
The table is currently showing a map of the country, as well as surrounding areas. It looks like part of the global map back in my cave. Only part. Oh well, I still need help to read their language.
Leaving the room, I continue wandering the halls until I come upon a stairway. Deciding to ascend, I quickly move up the stairs, my hooves clopping on the floor. Nice echoes around here. Coming around the stairs, I find another set of hallways. More walking, yay. Continuing in my wandering, I find what appears to be a dining room, with a kitchen right off it. There is currently nobody in the dining room or kitchen. I take a look around the kitchen to get an idea of the diet of everyone living here. I find fruits and vegetables, milk and eggs, no meat. No fish either, or at least, nothing I can identify as fish. Seems they are vegan. Hmm, I am currently a close species, and I ate meat just fine, must be a cultural thing. I do find something odd though. A box full of gems. Very powerful ones too, seems they have been collecting mana for a while.
Still not what I wanted, but nice to know. I leave the kitchen and dining room to continue my search. As I walk around, I run into Twilight Sparkle coming around a corner.
"Oof!" She falls over, probably due to not paying attention as she came around the corner, and as such, was not prepared to bump into something. She looks up from the papers she is carrying in her aura.
"You're back!" She then proceeds to tackle hug me, followed by dragging me to the nearest room. Which happens to be the dining room. Noticing the room we are in, she asks, "Do you want anything to eat?"
I answer with a nod, and a question of my own. "Can you help me?" Honestly, what she says next surprises me, but based on what I know of her, it was not unexpected.
"Sure, what do you need help with?" She stopped at my question, but continued into the kitchen as she answered. I heard some items being moved around in there, but I didn't see anything as I am currently sitting at the table, which doesn't afford a view into the kitchen.
"Well, I know how to speak your language, but Celestia neglected to give me the knowledge to read it. I tried reading some books in your library, but the alphabet is not similar to anything I have seen before, and as such, I cannot translate it."
"Of course I will help! I would love to get to know you better. Maybe even become friends." She comes out of the kitchen carrying a plate of sandwiches in her aura. It seems she left her papers in the kitchen. We eat in silence, with me inspecting the sandwich for the ingredients. Flowers. Of course ponies eat flowers. Enjoying the two sandwiches she made for me, I see that she has retrieved the papers she was looking at earlier, and is continuing to peruse them while we eat.
I eat slowly, thoroughly enjoying the flavour. Twilight Sparkle eats slowly too, but I think it is because she is focusing on the papers, not lunch. Once I finish, she is only done one of her two sandwiches, so I patiently wait for her to finish. While waiting, I plan out what I want to read first. I would read everything, but this body doesn't have the computer connection my human one does. Maybe I should put it in? Anyway, I probably want to read a tome on linguistics first. Hopefully there is one here. Fluttering my wings, I prepare to study now that Twilight Sparkle is done eating.
"So what do you want to read first?" She gets up and starts walking towards the door, presumably heading for the library.
"Well, I want to read something on the study of your language. You have linguistic texts, right?"
"I should. The only library better stocked than mine is the Canterlot archives. And that's only because it has the only copy of dozens of books. We should be able to find something for you." Arriving at the library, she makes a beeline for a specific set of shelves. I follow just behind her, and prepare to get reading.
"I'm assuming you also have a dictionary?" Having one would really help, especially if it also has the way to pronounce words, assuming that the sound letters are familiar. Even if they aren't, or it doesn't have the pronunciations, I can still learn much from it.
"Of course, it's that book over there." I look to where she is pointing, and see a massive tome, easily half a meter tall, just as wide, but only about half as thick. Good thing I have seen such books before. They hold no fear for me. I trot over and open it. There are lots of words I can't read in here. I'm not sure if it has the pronunciations, but if the layout is the same as other dictionaries I have seen, then it does indeed have what I need. Alright, now I just need to know which characters make which sounds, then I can figure out the rest.
"Found it!" She seems very excited about that. I turn my head to see her walking over to me and the dictionary. "This here is a linguistic study of the major languages that are used in Equestria. But since you can't read, I think you will need me to stick around."
"I need some paper, and a writing utensil. Also, this dictionary has the phonetics for each word, right? If it does, can you write down each sound, and say it? That would really speed things along."
"Of course! Well then, this says..." I don't really need to say all this, it is not very interesting to most people, and I don't feel like writing it all down, so let's skip to the part where I start reading on my own.
About two hours later
"Good! Now that you can read, how do you feel about trying a spell?"
"That would be great. I would love to learn how you cast spells. It looks similar to what I do, but I think there are differences."
"Great! And you can try to teach me your method?" She is very excited at this prospect, she seems to be a scholar type, wanting to learn as much as she can.
"Yes, I can teach you my discipline." She practically jumps for joy at this, but she visibly calms down after a few minutes.
"Then we better get started! I will get a book on the basics." While she is gone, I continue deciphering the books I already have. I make significant progress, including being able to read the entire dictionary, although slower than I normally read. Twilight Sparkle returns with a fairly thick tome, but still smaller than the dictionary.
"Here, this is the first book used to teach unicorns how to use their magic. It has all the basics, and some advanced items." Gratefully taking the book from her, I open it up and start reading.
Charging up another spell, I hold the framework together while pushing mana into it, then release when I feel it fully charged. A beam of bright white mana fires from my horn, hitting my target. Victory! The teddy bear never stood a chance. It is now a bright pink colour instead of the nice brown it was before.
"Good work. Try another." Twilight Sparkle is encouraging me to go on. She has also brought many more books on magic, even bringing me the most advanced spells she has. Guess she has much faith in me.
Looking through the books, I find another spell. A complicated one. I imagine the frame of it, constructing it, adding on, and finishing it. I then pour mana into the matrix that I created, causing my horn to glow brighter. At that moment, I see a very pink pony enter the room, the same shade as the teddy bear I colour changed. She just walks over to Twilight Sparkle and stands there, watching me do the spell. At least she isn't trying to be distracting.
I feel the spell matrix fill up, I promptly start making the containment for the spell. A doorway appears in front of me, inside it starts to swirl and shift. I imagine where I want to connect it to, choosing the city in the far north, which I have learned is called The Crystal Empire. The portal shimmers, then stabilizes, and finally shows a verdant glade just outside the city. Powering down my horn, I look over to Twilight Sparkle and the pink one. I see dropped jaws. I spend a few moments catching my breath from the exertion.
Finally, Twilight Sparkle squeaks. "Wow. I can't believe you just did that. That's not even a spell!" She runs over to the book I got it from, and sure enough, sees the spell I used.
"Yes it is, that spell you use for teleportation can do this, you just have to anchor it to two points instead of yourself, and extend the duration. As it is, it opens this," I gesture to the portal, "just long enough for the caster to go through. I just made it last longer, so that it opens a portal like this." Twilight Sparkle's wings then shoot up, as if she is going to take off. But she blushes and pushes them back down. Don't know why she's blushing though.
"But, that would require immense amounts of mana that only a very powerful unicorn, or alicorn, would be able to access!" I just look at her knowingly. "So I could do it!" And so, she tries to do it. I also dismiss my portal, now that it has served its purpose. While she is doing that, the pink pony that came in earlier bursts out in speech, presumably coherent if it was slowed down enough. But alas, the pink one is talking too fast to be understood. She does, however, startle Twilight Sparkle, causing her to lose the spell. Good thing it wasn't that far along. Probably the worst that happened was a tear in the fabric of space-time somewhere, no biggie.
"Pinkie Pie! What have I told you about surprising me while casting spells?" Here I am, just watching this. Waiting for something to happen.
"Well, there was that one time where you told me to not do it. And that other one, and that other one..." Seems this happens quite a bit around here.
"Exactly! So why are you doing it now?" This, is gonna be good.
"Well there is a new pony in town and I just had to meet him but I saw he was busy so I left him alone until he finished his spell but then you started to do one and I didn't want to wait for that so I just got your attention before the spell could do any harm cause that way nothing bad happens and everyone is happy!"
"That was quite the run on sentence you did there." And I am wondering how the hell she breathes while doing that. Or how big her lungs are.
Either way, Twilight Sparkle sighs before responding to Pinkie Pie. "That's not the point, the point is that you don't startle someone while they are trying to cast a spell. As you saw, I lost control because you startled me. If the spell had been more developed, it could have cause major damage. So please stop startling me!"
"Who is the new pony?" I am genuinely confused at this, as the only one that knows I am here is Twilight Sparkle.
Pinkie Pie answers very quickly, like lightning. "You are, silly! I don't know you yet, but me and the rest of the town will get to know you at your 'Welcome to Ponyville' party later! Be there." She then disappears, but I do see her just walking out of the room.
"Umm, any way I can avoid being revealed to the entire town?"
"If you want to stay hidden and unknown, you are doomed. On the bright side, you will be able to make many new friends." Twilight explains. Meanwhile, Discord comes in, muttering about something or other.
"Leave the portals to me! They are all mine! Oh, hi Twilight." I think she wants the face palm, or is it face hoof? I don't know, but whatever it is, she wants to do it. "I felt you messing about with portals, don't, they tend to get very messy very quickly." Don't need to tell me that. There was the one time 'shudder'. Those things are best not spoken of.
"But, I already know how to control them. After all, I have about 3500 years, my years, that is, of experience. How many do you have?"
"According to my calendar," he pulls out a ridiculously large and thick calendar, perusing through it. "I will be approximately 5121 years old this year."
"What, exactly, are you? You are very clearly a magical creature, what with the mishmash of parts. But I have not seen an aura like yours ever since I visited the planes of magic."
Twilight Sparkle interjects a thought in response to my comment. "You have visited the planes of magic? I have read about them, but never have they been anything more than a theory."
"I am Discord. The embodiment of chaos itself." I can see he is nervous from my question, but is trying to put a brave face and avoid it.
"Are you an Elemental? Or even a minor Titan? Your power would match up with what I saw in some of the weaker minor Titans, or even a powerful Elemental. So I ask again, what are you?" He looks like he is going to answer, but before he does, Pinkie Pie comes in.
"IT'S PARTY TIME!" She grabs all of us, and runs over to the gingerbread house near the centre of town. She deposits us just inside the doorway, and then showers me with questions. Good thing Discord isn't doing the showering. As it is, I feel like my layers are being washed away.
After the shower, Pinkie Pie turns me toward the crowd of ponies held within the building. I notice that they are all having fun, playing games, drinking punch, or just chatting. Pinkie Pie announces that the guest of honour, Mana Spark, has arrived. Huh, I didn't know I had a pony name, nice to know what it is.
I feel my illusion, determining that it and the shield are still intact. I am still not sure how Discord broke my illusion through the shield, I will have to ask him.
Mobbed by ponies, I attempt to just survive the night. Which includes playing pin the tail on the pony, and drinking inordinate amounts of punch. I do manage to stay away from the alcoholic stuff though, but I still have drunken (at least I think they are) mares attempt to hit on me. I finish off the night by executing a tactical retreat, telling Pinkie Pie that I am tired and need to go home to sleep. She relents, and let's me leave. And so, I return to the castle, grab the books on magic I was reading and using earlier, and teleport home. Where I promptly fall into the very comfy bed I made earlier.
Waking up, I remember what happened yesterday. And I didn't ask Twilight Sparkle if she could help me get the necessary materials to repair my shit. Oh well, I can ask later today. First is breakfast. I 'borrowed' the ingredients to make the sandwiches Twilight Sparkle made for lunch, and make some more now. Delicious.
Finishing my food, I trot down to my workroom, planning on practicing the spells that are new to me. That train is derailed by the appearance of Princess Celestia in my workroom. You see, one of the protection spells I placed redirects any teleports into the workroom, as well as disabling any teleportation out of anywhere except the workroom, just in case. And yes, last night I had to walk from my workroom to the bedroom.
"Can I help you?" I inquire, curiosity piqued. I didn't think anyone would notice my little cave. She looks around, taking in all the equipment I have here. Gem cutters, gem fusers, mana testers, and a soldering kit. I am old school. Deal with it. Her gaze finally settles on me.
"Yes you can. What are you doing here?" I detect a slight undertone of annoyance at my presence, but not hostile.
"Why, I am just living here, for now. Do you have a problem with that?" She seems taken aback by the arrogance in my voice, but quickly recovers.
"I will only have a problem if you try to harm my subjects." Oh goodie, one of these types.
"I do so solemnly vow not to attempt to consciously destroy your subjects, or your kingdom. Now that that is out of the way, tea and cake? I have some around here someplace."
"Well, I guess I could stay a few minutes." I head over to the kitchen, and cast a spell to instant make a cake. I do the same for tea. I should go out and get some food. The rations are good and all, but they are only supposed to be used if there are no other options.
I return to my workroom a few minutes later to find Celestia looking at everything, inspecting all the equipment, and trying to figure out how they work.
"It's ready. Is there anything you want to talk about? I doubt you came here just to determine my motivations, you also want to know what all this is." I gesture to the surrounding area, which is a bit harder as a pony than a human.
"Yes I do. I would like to know why you are here, what all this does, and how long you are staying." Right to the point. I like that. I hate those diplomats that use one thousand words to say something that could have been said in ten.
"Well, I am here due to a malfunction in my wormhole generator. All this equipment does different things, I could teach you, but it would take a while. And I plan on staying until I have mastered the magical disciplines I have found here."
"Okay. And how do you plan on learning them? I know of three different ones alone. Twilight probably knows of at least five, and maybe Discord or Luna could,teach you something. You do know it takes decades to master a discipline, right?" Well, she does have a point, but I shall shoot it down with a nuke.
"Of course I know that! I personally know four disciplines already, I know they take a long time to master, but I just want to learn them now. I can master them later. Besides, I've got time. I could stay here for centuries, and my kingdom would be fine."
She flutters her wings slightly, I do the same, they were starting to stick together on both of us it seems. I still have my illusion, so I just look like a unicorn to her. "But I will continue the studies I was doing before I came here as well. Which reminds me, I need some raw materials, can you help me get them? Or at least, point me in the right direction?" I want to learn before I leave, but I also want to make sure I can leave.
"Well, we do have plenty of resources. You could take a look to see if they are what you need, but the ponies that have them will want some sort of payment. Can you handle that?" As if, of course I can. But I would not be rude to the nations ruler. It makes for unhealthy relations with the country in question.
"Of course I can pay. Can you tell me if these are worth anything?" I trot over to my saddlebags, and pull out the platinum and gold ingots. I also pull out a few spare gems that I hated. Showing them to her, she looks intently at the platinum.
"Silver? Less valuable than that gold you have there. Those gems look decently sized, and with some clarity."
"That's not silver. It's platinum." I think her assessment of me just went up a notch.
"Oh! Well, as far as I know, that platinum you have is not only worth a lot, but more than all that other stuff put together." Good to know. Gold and gems are either worth less than in my world, or platinum is worth many times more.
"So... Don't you have a kingdom to run? I mean, if you want to stay while I practice the spells I got from Twilight Sparkle, I won't stop you. But the nobles must be getting restless without their ruler."
"In a minute, this cake is good. You must give me the recipe! Then I shall leave. But I want you to show up at court sometime. I would like to learn more about you. I shall leave now. Bring that cake recipe with you!" She then teleports out, leaving me alone in the room
Now that Celestia is out of my hair, or would it be mane? Whatever. I can get to work. Pulling out the magic books Twilight Sparkle gave me, I also think back to the previous afternoon. It seems weird that she blushed right after her wings popped out, they do that for me too, but only in tense or dangerous situations. As far as I can tell, that point in time was neither. Maybe I should just ask her about it? Next time I see her, I think I will. Oh well, that's for next time I see her. For now, I pour myself into studying this worlds primary magic discipline.
Several hours later, I have determined that the discipline is very powerful, but limited. Powerful, because anyone can cast any spell, but limited, because magic users must focus their magic through a crystal or similar object, as well as only being able to draw on mana stored within themself. This is similar to my primary discipline, but also vastly different. My discipline is not quite as powerful, because we don't usually cast the spell through another object, but it is also less limited. It would appear that casting through an inanimate object removes the stress of the spell from the caster, allowing them to cast spells that would otherwise distintegrate them or the like. I just reinforced my body with magical wards and strengthening spells, allowing much more mana than would normally be allowed to flow through.
However, I could combine them, allowing me to cast any spell without ill effects, while eliminating the drawbacks of their discipline. It seems to me that they just don't know how to draw on external mana. Except for those runes I saw in the ruins, but those are permanent spells, not an ethereal connection. The main difference being that runes are material, while an ethereal connection is not.
Anyway, I will try their method of casting, but later. I need to get more spell books from Twilight Sparkle, as well, as show up to Celestia's court to see about getting the necessary elements to fix my ship.
So, powering up my horn with the teleport spell, I prepare to transport out. Before I do, a shockwave ripples through the magical plane near me, causing me to not only become disoriented, but to also lose the spell I was charging. A fairly powerful blast would have been required to make that, even if it was on the magical plane itself. If it was on the material plane, then that would mean there is a new crater on the planet.
Ugh, that one hurt a bit. Snapping my attention to where it came from, I look out into the magic plane, searching for anything that could have caused it. A shockwave like that could be caused by a node being used as a massive bomb, or maybe as someone using primarily dark magic trying to draw on the planes of magic directly, or even just a plain and simple magic duel. Between two beings of significant power. Not fun. I then power up and teleport to the epicentre of the blast, coming out in the frozen wasteland north of my base location. Great, what the hell is up here that could have caused that?
Looking around with both physical and magical senses, I get the feel of the land around me. I am currently in a mountain range, covered in snow. A blizzard would be hell to get through around here, but right now, the sun is shining, and the sky is clear. Turning my attention to the magical topography of the area, I immediately recoil at the feel of the massive amount of dark magic in the area. The only things I know of that have that much is the devil himself, and the element of Dark magic. But neither of them should be here. I did tell one of my mages back home to place the element in safe keeping, but I didn't think he would throw it through a Gate. I can also feel a fairly weak Gate nearby, damn, that nearly confirms that it is the element.
However, I also feel another presence, something living in the frozen waste. Moving quickly, I attempt to pinpoint the location of the element, hoping that whatever is living hasn't found it yet, that would be bad, even if it wasn't sentient. Finding the centre of the swirling dark magic, I rapidly make my way over to it.
Oh shit. It has not only been found, but it has been found by a pony, a unicorn at that. He looks like a very imposing figure. Wearing battle armour, a blood red horn, purple contrails coming out of his eyes. But right now, it looks as though he is not fully on this plane, like he has been phase-shifted. A shadow of his true self, if you will. But, as I watch, he becomes more and more material, it would seem as if his body is absorbing the Dark Magic from the element. It also looks like he has been corrupted by the Dark Magic, which I am not surprised at. It corrupts everything it touches, unless they have sufficient protections against it. Or enough Light Magic mana to cancel out the Dark Magic mana.
I think it's time for a quick magic introductory course. There are five main types of Magic; High Magic, Blood Magic, Dark Magic, Light Magic, and Elemental Magic. High Magic mana is derived from life. It is the mana used most often, as it is the most plentiful. All living things produce it, and then most expel it into the environment. Blood Magic is the opposite, it is derived from death. And yes, all death. Dying from old age does give off Blood Magic, but so little as to be almost useless. Spilling blood gives much more, as blood itself is a magical ingredient in many potions. Dark Magic is the mana derived from emotions, specifically, negative ones. Dark Magic is by far, the most powerful, but also the least controllable. Finding a well disciplined Dark Magic user is not very easy. I have actually done it, I have one in service to me back home. Light Magic, on the other hand, is very easy to discipline. It derives its power from positive emotions, which are a bit easier to direct and control than negative ones, but they are not as powerful. And finally, we have Elemental Magic. This type actually encompasses many different energies, all of which have an anathema in one of the other ones. There is Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Lightning, Ice, Life, and Metal. I have fairly good control over all of them, but it is very rare to have any Mage with control over more than one Element without using another type of magic to emulate it. So far, I have only observed these ponies using High Magic. Discord also uses it. This is the first instance I have seen an inhabitant of this world use a different type of mana.
Anyway, I don't have the power to face off directly against anyone wielding the element, so I move over to the Gate to study, and perhaps close it. Finding the Gate, I start my very intense study. First, look through it to see where it leads. Yep, there is one of the Gate rooms in Vale city back on Taledine. So I could go home, but I need to at least fix this first. Probing the Gate, I determine that it was only intended to be temporary, but the natural magic here, as well as throwing the element through, caused it to be a bit more permanent. It is still only temporary, but will last a bit longer.
Anyway, I should probably close it, but I can use it to determine the distance from here to Taledine, assuming they are in the same universe, and if they are not in the same universe, there is still a distance factor, the distance between universes. But I am almost certain this is a different universe, as this solar system would not have gone unnoticed in my home universe.
Keeping an eye out for the stallion that has the element, I move closer, and prepare to observe. He stows the element in a saddlebag, and moves away, heading roughly northeast. I follow quietly and slowly, unsure of how to move quietly as a pony. The snow helps though.
I follow him for quite a ways, as well as a time of an hour or more. He finally stops at a cave mouth, and looks around before heading inside. I creep as close as I can without alerting the stallion to my presence, which is actually right outside the cave, off to the side of the opening. And just to make sure, I cast an illusion spell to make my head that is poking around the corner look like the rock of the cave wall.
What I see is not very interesting, at least, not until the stallion opens up the back wall. It just looks like an ordinary cave, nothing really special, well, aside from the fact that there is a perfectly smooth path going through the middle of the floor. But that has nothing on the secret door in the back wall. I sense an expenditure of Dark Magic to open the door, but am unable to pinpoint a specific spell. Well, at least I can use Dark Magic.
He steps through, and the door closes quite quickly behind him.
Alright, so. I know I can't take on anyone wielding the element of Dark Magic unless I have the element of Light Magic, or the other elements, and I have none of them. So, I need help. I decide to go back to the Gate, to hopefully get help from the royal mages of the Taledine Empire. If I had them, it would be so much easier, not to mention I could get the remaining elements.
So, trotting back, retracing my steps, I return to the site of the Gate. While moving! I think back to how the aura of that stallion felt. It could have been the interference from the element, but I think I recognize the aura. If what I suspect is true, then Equestria is in grave danger. I return to where the Gate was, only to find it closed and sealed.
Well, that puts a damper on my plans. But, there is yet hope. Some quick calculations, and what I know of the power level of the alicorns and Discord, all of us together should be able to overpower the element. The magic of the stallion should be negligible, but we still should have a significant amount of power more than the element, so he should not be of consequence.
Charging up my teleport, I feel a spell being cast, but since it is not directed at me, I ignore it for now.
Appearing in the throne room of the Crystal Castle, I rush up to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, I learned her name from my time with Twilight Sparkle, and tell her, while reaching out a hoof towards her, "You need to come with me, and hurry, I still need to retrieve Twilight Sparkle before I get Celestia and Luna." She is very surprised at my appearance, not just the fact that a complete stranger is telling her to come with him, but also the fact that he is an alicorn. I register the surprise on her face, after she gets a good look at me, it only stays, perhaps some confusion working its way in there. I look to my back, and, sure enough, see the wings, and I still have my horn.
"Well, it had to come out eventually. Now come, I need your help." I am not sure if mentioning the other alicorns, appearing as an alicorn, or a combination of the two made her decide to trust me.
"Then what are we waiting for, lets go!" She takes my hoof, and I release the teleport spell I have been holding, 'porting us to Twilight Sparkle's Friendship Castle in Ponyville.
I immediately start searching for Twilight Sparkle, telling Mi Amore Cadenza we need to find her quickly. She corrects me, telling me to call her Cadance. She nevertheless starts searching with me. "Twilight Sparkle! Where are you?"
We only have to yell for a few minutes before Twilight Sparkle gallops down the stairs, she really shouldn't do that, coming to a stop right in front of us.
"Cadance! Mana Spark? What are you two doing here? And why is Mana an alicorn?"
I speak first, nearly interrupting Cadance. "Princess Twilight Sparkle" she finally corrects me on this point, saying I should call her Twilight, as all her friends do. Nice to know I am considered a friend. "Fine, Twilight, you need to come with me, Equestria may be in grave danger. I still need to collect Celestia and Luna, and I will explain my alicorn hood later." I hope that she is agreeable, I really don't want to force anyone into anything.
"Then lets go, we can't let a threat to Equestria stay alive and well." Again, I release the teleportation spell I was holding, placing us right in the main courtyard. There is Luna's tower that I climbed way back when. "Head to the throne room, I am going to wake find Luna. Celestia should be there, I will meet you there." Cadance and Twilight head for the throne room, while I teleport up to the top of Luna's tower. I find Luna, sleeping soundly. This is going to be fun. I creep silently up to her bedside, whisk away the blankets, and conjure a fan, and a bucket of water, just in case. I use the fan to blow cool air over Luna, causing her to wake up.
"Who goes there!?" She is now fully awake, and is staring at me, wide-eyed. "Who are you? And how did you get past the guards?" She also takes a good look at me, noticing the wings and horn. "And how are you an alicorn?"
I opted to answer the last question first. "I made myself into an alicorn. I teleported up into your room, and I am Mana Spark. I need you to come to the throne room, the safety of Equestria is at stake." She sits bolt upright at that, moving out of the bed quickly. She grabs her regalia, me, then 'ports us to the throne room.
"Sister! What is this!?" Celestia looks surprised, but whether at that I actually appeared, or me being an alicorn, I cannot tell. But I think she was expecting me to show up at some point, so probably me being an alicorn. Celestia motions for me to speak, as well as commanding the courtiers to leave, knowing that I have all the information she needs and that it might cause a panic if they were to hear it.
"Princesses, I am here to request your help. In the far north, I have found what I suspect may be a devil." Now how to word this? Eh, say it. "He has what is known as the Element of Dark Magic. It is a very powerful magical artifact from my world, placed here by a careless subordinate of mine. I need to retrieve this element, otherwise, existence as we know it may be erased." I appear calm and collected on the outside, but on the inside, I am very worried. If that is indeed the one devil that had a suspicious demise, the world could end very soon. I then show them an image of the stallion that I saw. "This is the pony I saw, I believe it is a devil that has only taken this form to fit in here better."
Everyone else gives out a collective gasp, "Sombra!" And Cadance adds, "How is he still alive? He should have been disintegrated by the Crystal Heart!"
I am curious about how they know him, so I ask. "What did he do here?
"He enslaved the Crystal Empire, and would have conquered the rest of Equestria if he hadn't been defeated. But he won, even in defeat. He cursed himself and the Empire, causing both to disappear for a thousand years. He and the Empire only returned four years ago."
Well, looks like he has an extensive resume, but "He did worse back home. He hunted people for sport, had an entire country as slaves, and the only reason he is not there now is because I supposedly killed him. I thought I had finished the last of his kind off millennia ago. It appears i haven't, I intend to fix that mistake now." That last part caught them a bit off-guard, as they previously had no idea I had killed. But I think they understood that it was necessary for the preservation of existence. Or, at least Celestia and Luna did. "Anyway, any chance someone could contact Discord? We may need his power as well. I am not actually certain of the power the element contains. And it seems to fluctuate as well."
Twilight just casts a spell, bringing Discord into existence, probably literally, in the room. "Aurthur! How nice to see you!" He does an elaborate bow, including having mini Discords on his shoulders bow, and more discord on their shoulders' and on and on. That is really disorienting.
"My pony name is Mana Spark, please use it unless we are alone. I really don't want all the ponies here thinking I am not a pony."
"Well, my sincerest apologies," he pulls out an apology letter, "Mana Spark." Then burns it. I am having some serious doubts about his sincerity. But, we still need him, so I give him the explanation I just gave the princesses. "So, you want me to help? Fine, but only because it would prevent a horrible death for Fluttershy."
"Now that we are all caught up, I will teleport us to the appropriate location. And everyone, please don't resist, I know what I am doing, but if you resist, it becomes much more energy intensive." Twilight's wings pop up again, much to everyone else's amusement, and although they don't say anything, I think there is something I don't know. I really should ask Twilight about it, since she is the one most likely to know why it's happening. It's her body, after all. And with a pop, we are back at the cave mouth.
So, now that I have help, we should be able to take the element.
Twilight is the first to speak up, "So, we are here. Now what?"
I answer promptly. "We need to open this door. I sensed Sombra using Dark Magic to open it, but I am not certain what spell he used. Assuming, of course, that he used a spell. He could have just fed it some mana to open it. Does anyone here, aside from me, know how to use Dark Magic?" Celestia, Twilight, Luna, and Discord nod. Cadance looks at them all, as if asking 'really guys?'. "Okay, well then. Discord, open the door please." Discord snaps his talons, not sure how that is possible, since the snapping sound comes from the smack of skin on skin, but whatever, and the door disappears. Also included in the package is a pair of trumpets and a herald announcing our arrival. "You could have been a bit more subtle about it."
He shrugs. "You said open it, not open it subtly." Well, it's open. Although, I would have done the same, so no hard feelings.
"Let's go in. And be ready, he could have done any number of things with the element in his possession." They all adopt battle stances, ready for an attack. As we move through the rooms, I take note of the fairly simple decoration. The first room is just a simple room, the ceiling is higher than usual, but there are no distinguishing features. Not really any decoration around here, but, if it is a devil, then he has no use or care for worldly possessions, only keeping what makes his task easier. As we pass through a hallway, we all note the paintings hung on the wall. They are just of Sombra, but that still doesn't explain why they are hung up in the first place. It is possible the devil could have developed an appreciation for art, but it is highly unlikely, as they are very objective-oriented creatures.
We come into what appears to be a trophy room, containing many items of considerable power if you really look at them. But the element is not here, not that I had expected it to be that easy, but hey, I can hope, right?
"So," Twilight begins nervously, perhaps hoping to get some courage later, "how are you an alicorn?" That question. How much do I tell them? All of it, genetics and all? Or maybe just some of it.
"I made myself an alicorn. I will tell you details later, if you wish, but right now," here I pause dramatically for effect, and breath, but I prefer to think it's more for effect, "we are currently trying to sneak around in a hostile area, so please be quiet." Twilight nods, satisfied with my answer and reasoning for now.
We continue on to the next room, finding nothing of particular interest in here. The next room isn't much different, just what appears to be a throne room, no decoration on the carved stone walls. The throne itself isn't remarkable either. It is simply carved from stone, and presumably this cave wasn't here before, as the throne is fully attached. The throne is currently unoccupied, but there is a doorway to the left of the throne.
I motion for everyone to follow me, pointing out the doorway. They all nod, except Discord, he just looks like he's brooding.
We move as one, horns, or talons in Discord's case, charged and ready to fire. Sombra then comes around the corner.
"Hello everypony. Many thanks for coming, I hope your trip was uneventful?"
Sombra knew we were coming? How?! My mind is racing, trying to figure a way out of this, but the only solution I come up with is a head-on battle, well, that, or just play along and see what happens, but I'm not certain we would win a battle, and I have no idea what he is planning. We can't teleport, in the time it would take to charge it up, he could do any number of things, so, I do the only rational thing to do here.
"We came as soon as we got your invitation. The trip was uneventful, thank you for asking. Where's the food?" Meanwhile, I use a spell to block Sombra while sending a telepathic message to everyone else. :Keep calm, follow my lead, do not attack, we do not have the advantage. And Discord, see what you can do about protecting the rest of us. Your magic isn't obvious.: I get a good look at Sombra, seeing that he has the element in a holder in his chest. Yes, actually in his chest. It would appear that his body has formed around it. That it going to make it difficult. However, taking a much closer look into him with my Mage-Sight, I see something that is difficult to make out. If that is what I think it is, that means that there are two souls contained in this body. Of course, it could also just be interference from the element, but the possibility is there. This pony may be possessed.
Sombra smiles, and flicks his head to indicate we should follow him. We do so, and he leads us to a dining room, where there is actually a spread of food ready. I magically scan it, determining that the only thing wrong with it is that it was brought into being by magic, rather than being grown and made.
"Help yourselves, there is plenty enough for everyone. I am expecting other guests, so please don't wait for me." He leaves the room, with a door that wasn't there a moment ago closing behind him. Cadance, being closest, inspects it.
"Locked, and warded too. Seems he doesn't want us wandering."
"Well, we have food, so eat. I have checked it, and there is nothing wrong with it. But now, we also need to figure out a way to capture him. The element is in his chest, meaning we might need to literally pull it from his dead body."
Cadance seems to have much conviction about the situation, saying "I don't think I will have a problem with that."
Twilight, however, seems a bit more reserved. "Do we need to kill him? I mean, if we really have to, then I will, but do we actually need to?"
Celestia and Luna are very quiet about it, only saying "We will do what is necessary for the protection of Equestria."
Cadance's response to Twilight is very straight-forward. "Think of what he has done to my people Twilight, I will not let a monster like that live, willing to do those things to his own kind." Twilight seems very surprised at the coldness in Cadance's voice, unwilling to believe that Cadance would kill.
"There is one other thing though. I looked at Sombra, and I think there are two souls in there, meaning the pony has been possessed, so it may not have been the pony that did it, but rather the thing that has possessed it." I let a moment pass for that to sink in. "You are being quiet Discord, do you have any thoughts?"
"How exactly did that element of Dark Magic get here in the first place? Was it put through a portal? Was it instant teleported?"
"It was put through a portal, I found the portal it was sent through, but it closed when the element left the vicinity. Or rather, that's what I think happened. I could have used that portal to go home, and even to pinpoint the exact location of this world relative to mine, which would allow me to make my own to go home. But it closed before I did any of that, because I decided following Sombra was more important at the time. I can show you where it was, but it was not there when I went back to it after he went into the cave. It may have reappeared, but I doubt it."
There is food here, so I think I shall eat. Following my example, most of the others do so as well. Cadance, however, just paces the room, horn glowing, probably looking for a way out. She seems very on-edge, and impatient to get Sombra. We then hear Sombra, or whatever it is, speak to us through some sort of spell.
"Welcome all! Now that the only beings that can stand in my way are trapped, I can conquer Equestria, just as should have happened all those centuries ago." Idiot! How could I have not seen this coming! It was so obvious. Grrrrr, I need to find a way out of here, and now! Quickly looking at the shielding and wards around the room, I find no weaknesses to exploit. Teleporting out is not viable, as that would trigger one of the wards, causing it to drain the one attempting to port. Gating might be an option, but I am fairly certain I am the only one that could make it work around the wards. We could just use brute force to break everything he placed, but... wait a minute, there is a weak spot. That point right there. All the wards and shielding are tied to each other there, as well as being tied to... a node! Now, while I can't reach the node, we could drain mana from that point, weakening the protections that are in place. Assuming, of course, there isn't one to prevent that.
"Anyone got any ideas? I have a few, but am not certain of their outcome." I decided that honesty was best for the moment. "Twilight? I believe you are the most well-read among us." I can see her thinking, very hard at that.
"Well, there is that point where everything is tied together, we could try to break that. Unravel them, and the whole is much weaker, as they are no longer supporting each other."
"Good eye Twilight! I didn't see that, but did you notice that the spells are also being powered through there? If we were to unravel that, it might stop them altogether. I was thinking of just draining all the mana from there, achieving almost the same effect. Anyone else?"
"I could try to mess up the spells themselves." Discord seems eager to try that. "It would have unpredictable effects that might be fun to watch!"
"Yes Discord, let's just do something that we have no idea what will happen. Great idea." Luna's drawl is very effective, causing Discord to shrink, literally.
"Well, I don't hear you giving any suggestions." A fair point, but a weak response to what she said.
"Since mine and Twilight's ideas are similar, how about we try them? Twilight, can you unravel the spells from each other?" She had been studying it intently since giving the idea, probably trying to figure out how to do so without triggering them.
"Yes, I believe I can. But I think some of the energy should be constantly drained so that the spells are under-powered, thus being less likely to trigger."
"Okay, I will drain the mana, since I probably have the greatest capacity out of all of us, just let me get," here, I start rummaging in my saddlebags, looking for a specific crystal,"here it is!" I pull out an unassuming black block of crystal. The others present recoil a bit as i pull it out. "You can feel the power contained in it, eh? This is the single most powerful magical object I have created to date. Even more powerful, in a limited sort of way, than the Element of Dark Magic. It is able to hold an amount of mana approximately equivalent to four hundred Adept Mages. I have no idea how that translates to your unit of measurement, but that is just over three times the mana that the six of us currently have. Anyway, I am going to drain the mana into this. Whenever you are ready Twilight."
Twilight nods, and her horn starts to glow. My horn begins glowing as well. I construct a mana channel from the point to my personal storage, as well as the crystal, and start pulling mana from it. As I pull faster and faster, I see Twilight start to carefully probe at the spells, and how they interact. Once she has probed it sufficiently, she starts to untie them, placing counter spells on them all, nullifying all the wards and protections, one by one. Once our horns stop glowing, Twilight falls to her knees, while I rush over to her to give her a boost of mana. After I am done transferring the mana, she is still breathing heavily, but is no longer completely exhausted.
"How are you Twilight? Do you need a moment?" She turns to look at me, and smiles before responding.
"I could use a moment. Thank you for the energy, Mana." I nod, and turn towards the door. Scanning it, I see nothing.
Turning towards the group, I address them, "The defences are down, we can leave. But Twilight says she needs a minute to recover from the exertion." The others nod, and head over to the buffet tables, while I address Twilight, "Do you need something to eat? There is plenty of food on the tables." She shakes her head, when a grumble interrupts her. "I think you do. Let's get you over there." I then pull her up to her hooves, and prod in the direction of the buffet. "Eat, you will feel better after. I shall have some too." Even though the world is in danger, we go sit and eat.
After eating, we move quickly, searching the cave system for anything that may help us. We find a few scattered items, mostly consisting of crystals and magical ingredients, including a special ink that allows written spells to be used by anyone. I pocket most of the items, giving the reason that I actually use them, plus I am the only one with saddlebags. Although, I guess the saddlebags reason is not as convincing seeing as every single one of us could just teleport it wherever.
Once we have combed over every inch of the caves, we exit them, and I give the suggestion of just teleporting to the Crystal Empire. This is received with wild enthusiasm on Cadance's part, and reasonable agreement with the others. Before we teleport though, I sense a disturbance. Not in the force, but in the immediate vicinity of the Empire. Seems like Sombra's doings have attracted some attention.
We all teleport into the throne room, due to an agreement that we should all be together. When I materialize, I notice two things. One is that Sombra is sitting in the throne, the other is that a stallion and an alicorn foal in the corner, contained in a cage made of pure Dark Magic. The stallion is holding the foal, comforting it.
Cadance is the first to speak, which she does by hurling a powerful mana blast at the cage. The Dark magic making up the cage dissolves into the attack, removing the one obstacle for stallion and foal. She then turns to Sombra, eyes ablaze with fury. During this, the stallion moves over to Cadance, taking up position behind her, and charging up his horn.
"YOU MONSTER!" The supposed evil overlord to which this is addressed finally comes out of a stupor, and smiles. A devilishly wicked smile too.
He then speaks, calmly and clearly. "How nice of you to arrive! I was about to transfer you all to the dungeons here, much more secure than that room I left you in."
I speak, authority in my voice, willing him to accept his fate. "Sombra! Or should I say Dethon? I have already fought and beaten you. You know you cannot win. Give up now, and I will spare your life, such that it is."
Sombra responds to my verbal prodding in the way I had expected, "You may win one-on-one, but I have the Element now Aurthur, you know how powerful it is, and you know you cannot beat it. Even now, near my weakest, my power is still greater than all of you combined!"
I know that he is right, but I get the feeling that there is help on the way, so I take the plunge. "It may be greater, but we outnumber you. CHARGE!" I hurl a spell at him, made to paralyze. While he does just deflect it, the others fire their own spells.
Sombra, however, charges up his own horn, and sends out a magical shockwave. We are all encased in a form-fitting shield that seems to resist anything we throw at it.
"Tsk tsk, Aurthur. I thought it would be harder than this. Ah well, off to the dungeons you go." At this, he pulls out horn blockers for all us alicorns, and a special set of cuffs for Discord. Placing them on everyone, he hauls us all down into the dungeon. But he takes a detour, pulling us outside onto the balcony to show off to the general populace.
"Behold your mighty rulers! They have fallen, and now nopony can save you!" He gloats for a bit, while I work a bit of magic. You see, because of my experience working with hands to cast, I can use anything to cast spells. So, because he is holding us loosely, I am able to move my wings enough to get a spell ready. The others are simply enraged at how easily they were taken, Cadance especially. But I don't think she is mad about being taken, but rather about how her people are enslaved to the monster.
Sombra finishes gloating to his slaves, and proceeds to place us all in a nice, cozy cell.
The cell is not that bad, I have been in worse. Much worse.
It is a good five meters long, and three meters wide. This allows plenty of space for free movement. The ceiling is quite high, affording quite the clearance between Discord's head and the ceiling. Overall, this is comfortable accommodations. Too bad we didn't come here for the hospitality.
Releasing the spell I had readied on the way down, I fire an orb of Fire energy at Discord's manacles. The others are all surprised at my working of magic, even with a horn-blocker. Discord just seems stunned that I tried to free him first though. Unfortunately, the magic doesn't do enough. The chains started fizzling, but didn't melt as I had hoped they would.
Twilight, surprise surprise, is the first to inquire into my castings. "How are you casting magic without your horn?"
"Dethon. it just had to be Dethon." How is he here? I exiled him to the bottommost layer of hell centuries ago.
Discord puts in his thoughts. "I met a being named Dethon some time ago. It came here through a portal, much like you did Mana. Of course, I didn't pay it much attention, mostly because it really just couldn't oppose me at the time. I watched it grow, and then eventually take over that pony's body."
Celestia seems curious and worried. "Discord, do you, by chance, know the name of the pony?"
"Maybe? It was a long time ago. I think it was some powerful wizard at the time. Star something."
While they continue to talk, I try to think of a way out of this place. I still pay some attention to what they are saying though.
"Star Bright? Starlight? Star Seer? Star Swirl? Star Shine?" Celestia rattles off some names, of which I am sure at least two of them are not actually pony wizards.
"That's the one! I knew I would remember it if I heard it."
Now Celestia seems confused. "Star Shine? There never was a powerful wizard named Star Shine."
A-ha, I was right. Somewhat.
"No, not that one. The one before that."
Celestia appears incredulous. "Star Swirl the bearded was possessed?!"
Discord appears thoughtful, "Now that I think on it, yes, it was the bearded one. Why does that seem odd?"
"He taught me and Luna most of what we know. Although, him being possessed would explain his rather abrupt disappearance."
Twilight seems to be broken. "Star Swirl... Alive?"
And Cadance is not listening, sitting in the corner with, who I presume to be, her husband and foal.
I need more information than this. "So, this Star Swirl, he was a powerful wizard? And he has been possessed by Dethon? Also, who are they?" I gesture towards the stallion and foal in the room. No, I did not point at Discord, I mean the stallion and foal sitting with Cadance.
Twilight is the first to speak. "YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD OF STAR SWIRL THE BEARDED?!" Er, yell, rather. "Oh, right. Just got here a few days ago. Well, lecture time!" She looks a bit too happy with that prospect. "Star Swirl was the pony who invented time travel, and many other spells. He advanced knowledge of magic by many decades, in the span of a few years. Without him, we might still be trying to figure out everything."
Well, that wraps that up. "Oh, so he is one of those, okay. Well, on to my other question, who are they?" Again gesturing at the stallion and foal, not Discord.
Cadance answers this one. "This is Shining armour, my husband, Twilight's sister, and father to my foal, Flurry Heart." She shows me the foal, and I feel overwhelmed at how adorable it is.
"Well, now that that is settled. Has anyone tried overloading their horn-blocker?" I demonstrate. Pushing all my collected power into my horn, and attempt to then push it out. No such luck, it would appear that mine, at least, was made for me. Everyone else in the room looks like they want to facehoof for not thinking of that, and tries it. Discord even tries to overload his cuffs. Nothing, nothing at all. None of them break, meaning we need an alternate solution. "Well, I can still work some magic. The horn-blocker does prevent me from using my horn, but it also severely reduces the strength of any magic I cast."
Twilight is reminded of that. "Could you teach us how to not use our horns? Maybe then Earth ponies and Pegasi could work magic too, more than just their innate magic."
Luna is more interested in hearing about our enemy than learning a new method of magic. "Who is this 'Dethon' you speak of? It sounds like you have met him before."
Ah, well, that is not really a question I want to go into right now, because that will take a long time to explain. Of course, it seems like we have quite a while, so I decide that a simple backstory is enough for now.
"First, Twilight, I can try to teach you, but not now. A dungeon is not the ideal learning place. Second, Luna, Dethon is the being that has possessed Star Swirl. Yes I have met him before, even fought him. I banished him, using a very powerful spell, to the bottommost layer of hell that I could reach, after I failed to kill him. He and his kin served Satan himself, and I have been tasked with weakening and eventually imprisoning Satan. Dethon and his kind got in the way, tried to stop me from becoming powerful enough to actually challenge Satan. I killed the rest of them, there are nine in total. He escaped before I could deal the killing blow. I did the next best thing, I worked a spell, based on his essence that he left behind, and bound him to the ninth layer of hell. It would appear that the binding did not stay as I had hoped it would. I am actually kind of curious as to how he got out of it. I used his own blood to bind him, and combined with the specific spell I used, he should not have been able to escape even with divine intervention. Even receiving help from multiple Gods should not be able to undo a blood binding. Unless... Hmmm."
Looking at the binding, he should not have been able to escape unless one of two things happened. One option is that I had a miscast of the spell, only binding him partially, or even a not fully developed version, making it not completely renew itself when it was supposed to, allowing him to be free after a certain period of time. The other option is he spent enough time traversing the web of the spell itself to figure out how to counter it, and then also found a large enough mana source to make the counter spell. Satan would have enough mana to do it, but I really don't think he would, because he doesn't forgive those who fail him, or at least, he didn't. He might have changed. Looking back on the spell, which is still there, apparently, I find nothing wrong with it, so I don't think I miscast it. I suppose I could have used one of his kind's blood to do the binding, which would work, but it would then only be a partial binding.
"Well, I still don't know how he escaped, but I think I do know a way out. I can call my personal guard to come rescue me. But it may take a while for them to find me. They would also be able to deal with Dethon, and make sure that he doesn't cause any more trouble.
With the distress signal sent off, there really was nothing better to do than wait. This prompted questions, questions I would rather not answer, for the most part. One such question was how I got so much power in so little time. Comparing power between me and Discord gives an almost exact match, despite me being millennia younger than him.
"I used a very long term spell. Among other things." This is all the answer I would give for the moment. I also go back to my previous questioning of Discord. "What, exactly, are you?"
Discord seems uncomfortable with this line of questioning. "I don't want to talk about it." Although I am burning with curiousity, I relent, and instead ask about how the ponies would take this.
Cadance glares nukes at the ceiling, since we are presumably underground. I wasn't paying attention to where Sombra took us, too busy focusing on my spell. Celestia looks slightly worried. Twilight starts freaking out. Discord says a few choice things, mostly about what will happen to Sombra if he goes near Fluttershy.
"That bad, huh?" It seems these ponies are not the violent types. "Well, it's not like we can actually do anything. Unless...." I move over to the bars, touch them with my wings, and start channeling Fire mana through them, heating up the metal. After a few minutes of this, and being stared at, the metal starts to glow. "That is going to leave a mark." Although I can't really be harmed by heat, due to my Fire magic, the protein in my feathers will still melt. Even if that makes flight difficult, if not outright impossible, getting out would be worth it.
The bars are now glowing orange, so I pull my wings back, turn around, and give them a good hard bucking. They move, so I buck them again, and again. After the sixth hit, they finally snap off. Very loudly. We all move out of the cell, and start heading up. We encounter no resistance as we move up, but with my limited sensing of the area around us, we are close. Damn me for not paying attention when we were brought this way.
Wait a minute. This seems too easy. Where are all the guards? Someone should have heard the bars snapping, and come running. Or galloping, whichever. Also, would I be able to just take the horn-blocker off by grabbing it with my wings? I try to do so, and it slips off easily. Really? I could have done that the ENTIRE time, and I didn't think of it before? I must be losing my touch.
At this point, we have reached an intersection, and I stop. I turn around and remove everyone else's magic inhibitors, much to their delight.
"Alright, so. We have escaped, and have our magic back. We know we can't take Sombra on in a straight-up battle. So what do we do?"
Celestia is the first to give a suggestion. "Maybe... You seem very skilled with magic. If you could convince the Tree of Harmony to give up the Elements of Harmony, those could be used. But the Tree is quite a ways from here, and I am not even certain if they are powerful enough."
"Maybe? I do have experience with getting magical artifacts, but do we really have the time to do that? I also have my gems, which can greatly enhance my power, but not to the level that the Element of Dark Magic is on. I could also try to figure out what each of you have as your gemstone, which could then be used. But that would also require having the gemstones on hand."
Twilight, however, presents a very interesting idea. "What if we somehow harnessed the power of the Crystal Heart? The Empire will survive without it for a few hours while we deal with Sombra, and it is very powerful. Much more powerful than anything else at our disposal."
"She's right, but channeling that much mana through any living thing would probably vaporize whoever was trying to do it."
Celestia then raises an interesting point. "Could we channel the mana through an inanimate object? Like we do with our horns. That would pull the stress of channeling it off of whoever, and it would then just need to be directed."
Cadance is aghast at our discussion. "You would take the one thing my city needs to survive? Have you all taken leave of your senses?!"
Twilight reassures the frenzied alicorn. "Only for as long as we need it. Remember when it was shattered by Flurry? The city was fine for a few hours while we figured out how to fix it. It wasn't pretty, but they survived."
Luna also points out that we probably will not need the Crystal Heart for as long as it was broken, so it should be fine to borrow it.
I then decide to voice my opinion. "Does this seem too easy to any of you? We have escaped without incident, we have our magic back, and here we are, in a hallway intersection discussing our plan. It seems like Sombra isn't even worried about us, with the number of guards he put on keeping us in that cell."
The rest of them agree, but say that it will be his undoing. I can only hope they are right.
Having come up with a plan, I decide that it would also be good to know what we got with Shining Armour. So I ask him what he is good at. Twilight answers faster than should be possible, humanly or otherwise.
"BBBFF can make the best shields! They are even stronger than mine." Considering the difference in power between the two, that means he has very fine control over his available power. Shining Armour, of course, decides to go the modest route.
"Mine may be stronger, but you can make much more powerful ones." I need to see an example of his shielding. So I ask for a demonstration. I am also a bit confused by the acronym, but I let it go for now.
"Can you make a shield? I want to try to break it."
"Uh, sure? This doesn't seem like the right time for showing off, could we do it later?"
I shake my head. "I need to see how good you are. You may be the one to make the containment shield if you are good enough. Otherwise it will probably be me, and my powers could be of use elsewhere."
I hear Shining Armour mutter "Yeah, no kidding." He then speaks normally, "okay, I can make one." He proceeds to make a shield. I watch him do it, see how he gently coaxes the mana into strands, then weaves it, making a blanket-like structure. He then coats both sides in a powerful barrier. "Ready when you are sir."
I power up my shield buster spell, specifically designed to shred and crack just about any shield. You see, most shields are not made to effectively block more than three or four hits at a time, and they typically fail when stress is applied to more than a dozen different points at once. My spell takes advantage of that, being lightning based. It fires about forty different shots that, depending on the power put into it, can hit with the force of a sledgehammer, to the force applied by some of the largest railguns I have seen built. Mine is closer to the latter than the former. In order to absorb the sound, I place a shield with conduits connecting it to the base of the castle. All the sound generated from my lightning should be channeled and largely canceled out.
When I release the spell, a massive thunderclap is heard, as well as the Lightning itself being very bright, creating forty or so channels of plasma. When they all hit Shining Armour's shield, another boom is heard. After the slight blindness wears off, I am surprised to find that the shield is still standing. No, not surprised, completely baffled. The power I put into that, it should be gone, completely distintegrator and probably scorch marks lining the floor and wall on the other side. Instead, nothing. It just... absorbed everything I just threw at it. Time for inquiry.
"Mr Armour, could you please explain what, exactly, you did to your shield?"
"Sure. You saw me making it right?" I nod. "So, you saw that I used three layers?" Another nod. "Well, each layer serves a specific purpose. The first layer I made, the woven mana strands, are meant to pull the whole shield away from the hit, cushioning any blows to the shield, allowing it to absorb the hit over time, reducing stress. The second layer, on the outside of the fiber, absorbs and converts some of the mana from the attack and feeds it into the fiber layer, and the third layer. The third is basically an unmovable wall, absorbing the shock that the fiber layer did not. They all support each other, as well as the wall layer being extra reinforced, allowing it to take stress in a multitude of places at once. All this makes a shield that can take just about anything, and survive."
My response is mostly just fishing for more information, trying to find why he could make a much better shield than me. "I use mostly the same formula, but how come your shield is much better than mine?"
"Probably because shields and other defensive spells are my special talent, as showcased by my Cutie Mark." He points to his flank, which shows a shield with three stars above it. As well as one in the middle of the shield.
"Cutie Mark?" I look to my flank, which is blank. "Does that mean I have no talent?"
Celestia has a motherly smile as she says "No my little pony, it merely means you have not found it yet."
"I have more than twice your power. I am not so little, nor am I yours." She looks a bit offended, but says nothing. "Anyway, Shining Armour, since you are so good at shields, you can cast and maintain the containment shield. Next on the list is: we need a casting place, preferably one that is away from any major population centres. Any suggestions? We also need to either have line-of-sight to Sombra, or lure him there."
Cadance speaks up. "The top of the Crystal Castle commands a view of the surrounding countryside, I can see for kilometers from up there. There is also the Castle itself. Being made of crystal, it is a very good conductor of magic."
"That will do. Any other concerns or suggestions?" One-by-one, they all shake their heads, or say no. "Then let's go! We have a universe to save!" I gallop off, in some random direction, really just going up. Caught off-guard by my sudden enthusiasm, they sit there for a few seconds before galloping up to me, except Discord. He just flew.