//------------------------------// // Chapter Three: Do You Believe in Magic... // Story: S-0452-9 // by AvianAlpha1 //------------------------------// S-0452-9 Do you believe in magic… The generals at the conference table bickered back and forth across the conference table, each one having a different opinion over what should and should not be done. Some thought that it best bolster their defenses and wait for the Minotaurs to use more resources then they’re willing to expend. Others want to strengthen their fighting force with new weapons and spells and force them to submit. Celestia at the head of the table nursing the the cup of tea between her hooves as she felt a headache start to grow. The sound of a hoof slamming against the long wooden caused Celestia to jump, her head snapping to the source of the sound. That source being a yellow earth pony stallion with a flaming orange mane, his uniform barring various medals and insignias to help facilitate his status as a general. General Hotshot was, despite his namesake, a very respected pony amongst the royal guard and thus his actions gained the attention of all of the other generals at the table. “Now is not the time to be bickering amongst ourselves.” Hotshot sat back in his seat, glaring at all of the other generals in attendance. “So, if you’re all wanting hasten our defeat by wasting our time at this table, I think it’s time that we get down to business.” Hotshot turned his gaze to Celestia and gave her a simple nod. With a heavy sigh and a smile, Celestia cleared her throat and looked out over the table. “This war has been very taxing on our people for years now, and though we have made great strides on magical fronts, the Minotaurs have us at a disadvantage when it comes to their resourcefulness.” Celestia’s horn glows as a odd device was placed on to the table, looking like some sort of bow turned sideways with a plank of wood attached to it. “One of our spies was able to procure this device from a Minotaur camp near one of our boarders. These “crossbows” as they call them, are being sent to other camps across the main front as well.” “Princess, I feel I speak for most of us when I ask how this device would help the Minotaurs. It doesn’t appear that it would be of any use against or shield spells”, spoke a white unicorn with a blue mane, the cloak covering his body decorated to signify his ranking of a high mage. The princesses expression became stern as she asked, “Is that cloak enchanted with a similar protection spell as out knights armor?” “Yes it is”, the unicorn asked in confusion before yelping as Celestia quickly grabbed the crossbow in her magic and fired it at him. The bolts tore through the cloak he was wearing before digging in to the tiled floor. The unicorn took a minute to examine himself finding that if the princesses aim was just a bit higher, he would be unable to bear children or please a mare for as long as he lived. “As you can see, High Mage Blueblood, these weapons are not to be taken lightly”. Celestia set the crossbow on the table with a soft clank, taking quick sip of her tea before continuing. “Not only are these crossbows able to shoot more accurately than our best bowponies and have enough force to take some ponies head clean off, but their arrows, or bolts as the Minotaurs call them, are able to punch straight through our shield spells as if they weren’t even there. And from what our spy told us, this is just the tip of their arsenal.” The generals all began to murmur amongst themselves, the tinge of fear was palpable in their words as they tried to come up with solutions on their own. Celestia cleared her throat as the murmuring ceased. “The solution to this problem, I know, is easier said than done, but we must begin further strides in out technological developments and out play the Minotaurs at their own game”. Celestia turned her head to one of the generals present, a male pegasus with white fur and a red mane. “General Firemane, how goes our development with the air ship fleet.” Firemane stood at attention as he cleared his throat. “Development is progressing but slowly ma’am. Repurposing our ships to be able to fly has been a challenge in of itself, not to mention the refits needed to make one ship air worthy.” “What would you need to make greater progress in this endeavor?” Celestia asked. “More able bodies would be a start,” Firemane responded. “Then recruit anypony you see fit to work on the airships,” Celestia levitated the crossbow over to Firemane. “And see if you can reverse engineer this in to something our knights can use.” “Yes princess,” Firemane said with gusto. ——- About a month had passed after Cortana started her studies with Star Swirl and she had already made great strides in to integrating in to this worlds society. She had managed to strike up a deal with him that allowed for her to stay with him for the time being as well as learn some basic magic and history. The catch was that she’d have to either disclose where she actually came from or be his assistant in his magical research. Feeling that her past best be concealed for now, she opted for the latter choice. Most of the experiments were rather harmless as they mainly consisted of testing out various chemical compounds or mechanical devices. The magical undertakings often had more explosive results. The two of them wandered through the market, having decided earlier that it’d be best to take a break while Star Swirls abode airs out. The market held numerous shops, each one trying to sell Knick knacks and various food items to passing ponies. It seemed to be decorated for some special event, but she couldn’t determine what it was. Cortana made a mental note to ask him a bout it at a later date. Star swirl coughed as he swatted the last of the soot out of his cloak and fur. “Well, test twenty of the multi-spectral shield spell did not go as expected.” “About as well as the other times nineteen times”, Cortana commented dryly, earning her a chuckle from the stallion. “Where is it we’re heading, because we’re not near any of the typical food stalls, and the potion master shops are on the other side of town.” “You seem to have a very analytical mind Miss Cortana,” Star swirl smirked as he took a side glance at her, “But you are correct, we are going to a very special part of the town that not many frequent.” Cortana’s curiosity grew with that statement as they walked, the crowds growing thinner as they go. She wondered if it was some sort of area where ponies traded dark and dangerous items, like some sort of dark trader of some form. Cortana would have laughed at the idea of such a thing existing, but after getting transported to a world full of mystical pony creatures and being one herself she has since thrown the book of reason out the window and in to a fire. Perhaps having taking a look in to the mystical data base while she was still an A.I. would have made this transition a lot smother. A nudge on her shoulder shook her out of her thoughts as she looked to Star Swirl who was looking back to her with a knowing smirk and said, “Welcome to my little slice of heaven.” Cortana looked out ahead and her mouth hung open. Science, technology, and various contraptions built from scratch where on display, all of them performing tasks that most would need magic to perform. For once after coming to this world, she felt a sense of familiarity being amongst the inventors, showing the capabilities of their devices to anypony that was willing to watch and listen. One of them she recognized as a crude engine design, the pony proposing that carriages will one day move on their own without being pulled by a pony. Another showing how ponies might one day fly in the air without being born a Pegasus, showing off a contraption with a helical air screw design that seemed to work when not bumping in to other objects. “Wonderful isn’t?” Star Swirl spoke, shaking Cortana out of her stupor. “Pony ingenuity at its finest. It’s almost peaceful to watch and observe what those of us born without magic or wings can do.” Cortana, upon hearing his words, confirmed that most of the ponies showing off their devices were Earth ponies. She laughed softly as a thought passed through her head. “Perhaps one day they’ll put you out of business.” “I’d welcome that day,” Star Swirl said as she looked at Cortana, meeting her confused glance with a soft smile. “Ponies rely on magic too much and it has become our crutch. One day, we’ll have that crutch kicked out from beneath us with no cushion to land on. These ponies-“ Star Swirl gestured outward to the various stalls with a hoof “-know that that day will come and give us all a rude awakening. The world cannot be fixed with magic alone.” “So why continue to study it?” Cortana asked in curiosity. Star Swirl chuckled as he sat and watched one contraption in particular. “Because I believe that perhaps mixing magic and technology together, we might usher in an age of invention that will bring the world together. Then maybe one day, we will explore the heavens above and play amongst the stars.” Cortana smiled softly at the idea, knowing that she’d probably not live long enough to see the day that ponies develop space travel. The prospect did bring a smile to her face however and she found herself enraptured in the ponies presentations along with Star Swirl. Eventually the sun began to set and the pair headed back to the castle. As Cortana slept in her bed, she dreamt of the inventions and contraptions she saw today as ideas of her own mixed together with them. ——- Tap… tap… tap… A black talon rapped gently against an obsidian desk in time with the calm music that filled the room. The sound echoed against the the stone walls, the stone floor, the stone ceiling, and into the ears of the listener as he sits at his cold, black desk. He gazed upon his many trophies that decorated the room, the skinned hides of his enemies and artifacts of those that he subjugated. Tap… tap… tap… He looked to the fireplace carved in to the wall, how comforting the heat was. How the dance of the flames almost seemed to be in time with the music that filled the air. Next to it sat a leather chair made out of a basilisk’s hide. He reflected upon that battle, and how it had ultimately came to fear him before meeting its end. His gaze turned to his accolades and medals that sat upon his desk, how he had made quite the military career for himself. Tap… tap… tap… His gaze turned to a picture of the king upon his desk, with him in it faking a smile. He glared daggers in to the picture, hoping that some voodoo like magic would take hold and he’d get a message that the king had died. “General.” Tap……. Silence filled the room as the phonograph seemed to have suddenly muted itself, and the flames of the fire seemed to die down a little. A pair of slitted yellow eyes gaze from the shadows upon the lone griffin that had entered the office, as if committing each feature of the being that stands before him to memory. How his gray feathers ruffled in fear, his beak clicking in anticipation, and how his blue eyes couldn’t maintain eye contact. The general gestured simply with a single talon to the new body in his presence. “You have something to report?” “Yes, uh, the troops have located the artifact you tasked us to look for”, the griffin reportedly dutifully, yet with a hint of fear. “And have they retrieved it?” The griffin froze as his words caught in his throat for a moment. “N-n-no sir, you did not instruct us to do so”. “Then you have done your duty to the letter, followed your instructions dutifully, and did not try to assume my needs?” The words hung like daggers in the air, all pointed at the griffin in the center of the room. “No sir”, the griffin said, awaiting for swift end. “Then you have done well”, the general said as music slowly returned to the room. “Return to your platoon and tell them to prepare for combat, or what little there will be.” “Yes sir”, the griffin replied before making a hasty retreat. Tap… tap… tap… “General… just doesn’t have the same ring to it.” Days after awakening: 36