Griffin the Griffin

by BlackWing


Class Dismissed (80)

Class Dismissed

After confining Aoi to his room for the night, and making sure someone would check on him and bring him meals, I relaxed a bit, prepared some lecture notes, and headed to the training room to teach the class. There were desks lined up around the edges of the room, a pony sitting in each, 20 in all. I had a blackboard set up there as well, and made sure there were pencils and paper for note taking. In the the next room over were several training dummies, as well as some clear spaces, and we'd go there after we were done in here. There were two bags of gemstones up at the front. One of which contained my teaching aids, and the other was Shimmer's personal stash, which she munched on happily while sitting in the desk at the front of the room. The little lumps on her back had turned into buds which, from reading the book on dragon anatomy, meant that her wing bones were beginning to grow through the surface of the skin.

In the room were also: Some candles, buckets of water, some stones, a training dummy, and a 'mark one' laser rifle. These would serve as test items.




"Alright class, welcome to magic kindergarten.... first we'll take attendance." Calling each name, the ponies each said 'here' in turn, although the look on their faces of the unicorns showed absolute dread. 'Just what the heck do they DO to ponies in magic kindergarten? Torture?'


"Please take out your notebooks. The lecture portion of the classes will usually be a short, half hour, followed by an hour and a half of practical application, which is why I have training dummies in the next room for you to practice on, as well as each other for the non dangerous spells." I pulled a diamond from the bag. "Now, can anyone tell me what this is?"


"It's a diamond....." One of the ponies deadpanned.

"Exactly right, do you know why it's important in our lessons?"

"No?"

"And that's why you're here. Now, I have two of them, same size and cut. I'm going to pass them around and let you all take a look at them, then give them back to me." I gave the pair to the first pony in the three sided box of desks, who then looked at them both, and passed them down all the way to the end, where I took both and brought them back up to the front.



"Now, can anyone tell me what the difference was between the two of them?"


"Pfft, that's easy. One of them is a gemlamp. It's charged with magic to give off light. It's how almost all the lighting in fancy homes is done, instead of candles." Starlight Wisp answered in a know-it-all tone.

"Yes....and no...... If this were a gem lamp, it would be glowing a lot brighter than it is right now. Can anyone tell me why it isn't?"


"Umm...... because it's running low?" Another unicorn stated questioningly.


"Not quite. The light given off is not the effect of a spell, but the magic contained within. This gem is actually fully charged. That faint light is the stored magic not doing anything, it's just sitting in there. Now, I'm going to pass a gem to each of you. It's a small one, and they'll all be different types. I'll send the bag down, just take one and pass the bag."


The followed my instructions, and soon, each pony was staring intently at the small gem sitting on their desk, not sure what to do with it. I walked up to the chalkboard and drew three stick ponies, one normal, one with stick wings, and one with a stick horn. I then drew circles around them, the largest around the unicorn, and the smallest around the earth pony, following a diagram I had seen in a book on basic magic I had 'borrowed' from Twilight. Well, I guess it really is borrow because I gave it back.

"Can anyone tell me what this is?"

"That's Starswirl's triune of magic competency. It shows, in a rather basic method, the level of ability of magic control the different types of ponies have. Earth ponies can't manipulate it much, and their power deals with nature and healing, pegasi can do a bit more, when they touch a cloud they can decide whether to punch a hole, pop it, make it rain, or make it thunder, or change it's shape. Unicorns can do the most, weaving spells." A pale yellow unicorn stallion with nerd glasses explained.


"Very good. Now, what if I told you that this theory is complete and utter garbage?"



"I'd say you were lying, or deluded. This theory is widely accepted throughout all of Equestria, and we've seen no proof to declare it otherwise."


"Again, you're partially correct. The theory is only accurate if we take into account the natural order of things. By nature, unicorns ARE able to wield magic more easily than pegasi, who in turn are better at it than earth ponies... BUT...." I erased the small circle around the earth pony, and replaced it with one larger than the one around the unicorn. "What about this?"


"That's..... not right....."


"And there you see the point. The point of EVERYTHING. This entire world! It runs on a set of values and ideas which have been accepted by the majority and determined to be as fact and set as the rules of the universe, however, I have found away to break these rules. I happen to know of an earth pony who is naturally more magical than most unicorns. She can sense events in the immediate future with astounding predictability, move almost as fast as the speed of sound without getting tired, fit in impossibly small containers, literally be in two places at once, create matter, although the method in which she does this confuses me, as she can somehow pull a cannon twice her size out from behind her back when it wasn't there before, and she can walk through mirrors as a method of instant transportation. She can walk on the air itself, and contort her own body impossibly. She can do things that can make the most learned unicorn's head spin, things that defy all logic, reasoning, and throw the current model of magic out the window. The best part? She doesn't even know how she does it. She just does it. Could you imagine the possibility if she learned to control this power?"


The class sat there in thought, then in awe. They really didn't have much to say about that.


"The fact is that magic isn't just for unicorns anymore. ANYONE can do it, if they know how. I've been training for almost a year, and I'm now, naturally, about as powerful as a young unicorn in terms of raw magic. If I had started when I was born, I'd be at the level of the royal guard unicorns. And that's without my..... enhancers."


"What enhancers?"

"Well..... that's one of those secrets that I just can't tell you. The fact is, there is a certain substance which I consumed on accident that increases someone's magic a hundred fold, at the cost of their health and sanity. It's also physically addictive. Having even a single drop and then not having it again for a month will give you massive headaches, two months and you'll have nightmares, and at three months I'm pretty sure you'd die. I'm not going to tell you what it is, because I don't want any of you taking it. It's something I'd rather do without, but I don't have that choice anymore. Any more questions?"


"This means we can do magic? Weeeeeee! It sounds like a lot of fun! Oh! And then I can do magic tricks at birthday parties, with balloons and streamers and........"


"Umbra. Yes Surprise. You can use magic. It has a lot of practical applications outside of combat, and is limited only to your understanding and.... aqua..... imaginaaaaaaaation." Casting the water spell, I drew some droplets from the bucket to my claws, then made a rainbow appear when I moved them like Spongebob. The class ooh'd and ahh'd. I'd been wanting to pull that off for a while now.


"The first thing you need to learn is how to charge a gem. It's rather simple. Just focus on it. There's magic all around us, it's a part of us, and if we focus on something, we can direct the magic to it. Now, this is going to be REALLY easy for you unicorns, because you already have practiced with magic. It'll be okay for the pegasi, but it'll be hard for you Dusty, because you're not used to using magic consciously. It also helps if you're in contact with the gem. Now, I want you all to be quiet while you concentrate.



The unicorns filled their gems almost immediately, the pegasi took about three minutes, and the earth pony took five. At the end, the non unicorns had a bit of sweat coming off their brows... except for Surprise who was still bouncing around, happy as ever.





"Very good class. Very good. You've all learned how to fill gemstones with magic. For the unicorns, this is easy, so I don't think you'll need much practice and in fact, you don't even need the gemstones. The jewels act as storage for magic as well as a focus, but unicorns already have a focus. Can anyone tell me what it is?"


"Our horns?"

"That's right, your horns. What I want you to do now is to store as much magic in your horns as possible, and keep it there, while the rest of you keep practicing with the gems."


This took another couple minutes, until the unicorns were now sweating as well, and each had a three layer glow to their horns. They looked tuckered out already, which, given that they'd need to be a lot stronger than that, wasn't good at all.






"Alright, let it go. Allow the magic to flow back into your bodies." They did so, and all of them looked noticeably better off for it. "Now, it's time to learn the release. The magic we use is a combination of intent and spoken word, or incantation. Some words have multiple meanings, and so the spell effect is differentiated by what you want to occur. For example. Surprise, come forwards."

The yellow maned mare came forward, looking confused but not at all nervous.


"Alright, now, I want to you talk, and don't stop till I tell you, alright?"

"What should I talk about?"

"Parties."

"Parties? Ooh! I love parties! Cake and balloons and streamers and pinatas and punch and..."

"Umbra."

"....................................... hey! What happened?"

"The word 'Umbra' is Latin. It has multiple meanings, although they all have to do with muffling the senses. When I cast the spell, my intent was I wanted you to be silent. Now, watch what happens next. Umbra." Using another gem, I cast the spell again, but this time the shadows crept from the walls and onto my body, wrapping me in darkness. I looked like a living shadow.

"Lumen." Then a shining light banished the shadows back to the walls and under the desks.

"Umbra can also mean darkness. With experimentation, I've learned that the same word can be used for blind, deaf, mute, and shadow manipulation. Ignis means ignite, which can be both fire or lightning. Tremor means quake, or shake, vibrate, terra means the world itself, stones and such. Aqua is water, ventus is wind, tempesta is storm. I hope you're taking notes." At my mention, suddenly nineteen pencils, Surprise being the only exception, began writing furiously.

"Those are most of the elemental spells, used for magical attacks. Their strength depends on how much magic is available, as well as how much of the elements is there to manipulate. Bending an existing fire to your will is far easier, and you can do far more with it, than creating a fire from scratch. Fire and lightning are high energy spells, earth and water take more energy the more you're trying to move. Wind is always easy, because you're always surrounded by air, and it's even easier at high altitude on in strong winds. It, along with water and lightning spells, are far easier and more powerful when used by pegasi and griffins. Earth based magic tends to be stronger with earth ponies and diamond dogs, while fire and lighting again, since they need so much energy and are difficult to control, work best with unicorns, who also master light and shadow spells."


"That seems.... kind of dangerous...... Is this safe?"


"Thank you for bringing up that point..... Second Sight was it?" Now It's time for me to take a page from Skyrim... again.... Tolfdir to be specific. "The first thing you need to know about magic is that it is, by it's very nature, unstable. If you cannot control it, it will destroy you, which is why we must use the utmost caution when entering unfamiliar territory. We're almost done with theory for today, but before we move on to practical and I have you throwing fireballs around, I'm going to teach you absolutely THE most useful spell that you, being in a defensive role, will ever learn. I also expect you to use this spell whenever you try anything new, because if it goes wrong, it'll minimize the damage. That spell is protect. The power to shield yourself, your friends, and your loved ones, from any kind of attack, be it physical, magical, natural, or mental."

Suddenly, the ponies all snapped to rapt attention. The idea that they could learn magic, not just to lash out at others, but to protect those near and dear to them in these dangerous and changing times, was like a godsend. After the changeling invasion, I'm sure that many ponies were wishing that they knew how to defend themselves, so they could protect their families from being kidnapped and fed on, and could fight back to defend their homes. Ponies are by nature, non violent, and their first instinct when they encounter danger is to run around screaming for help hysterically. The problem is, with the exception of the guard, there isn't anyone to help, and the guard can't be everywhere at once. That's what this is about. These ponies do their tour of duty with me, learn how to defend themselves, see the outside world for the dark, scary place it really is, and when they're done, the go home and teach everyone else how to defend themselves as well. The only reason I needed unicorns was for magic to power gems, medical staff, and communication. I won't make them fight if they don't want to, all I'm doing is giving them the option.



"I know for a fact there are mind readers out there, and there are also those who can put thoughts in your head that are not your own, like illusionists, such as our very own Trixie. To protect yourself from this kind of assault is paramount. The spell can also shield your emotions, defending you from hurtful words, and from actual assault as well. It's uses go as far as your understanding of the word 'protect' is. The spell is 'protego'. Remember it, because you're going to be using it a LOT. Now, take a fifteen minute break to put your notes away, eat a snack, and use the bathroom, then meet me in the next room. After our practice session, tonight for homework, I want you all to think about what 'protect' really means."









After the hour and a half training session, where I had the recruits use the protect spell on themselves, then toss streams of fire, electric bolts, pebbles at each other, of course with Nadene and I present to heal any minor injuries they got if their protection spell dropped partway through, we were finished, and the exhausted ponies ate their dinners with no rush. I had made sure Maria, and the ever energetic Surprise, had made some meals for them as they wouldn't be eating with the rest of the crew, and once they were done, they dragged themselves to their beds and dropped dead in them. They would definitely sleep well tonight.



As for me, I woke up once from another nightmare I couldn't remember, but after getting some comfort from Gilda, I slept soundly the rest of the night. When morning came, I 'slept in' a little, so both Gilda and I had to run to beat the breakfast rush of the others. Aoi wasn't at breakfast either. After I ate, I went to locate the troubled wolf.





"Hey, I thought I'd find you here." I said as I entered the training hall, looked around, and saw several of the targets and dummies had been absolutely shredded.



"I guess I'm getting too predictable..." He replied sorrowfully.


"I take it you didn't sleep well?"

"Nightmares..." He stated simply as he put a wooden longsword on the rack.


"Right...... feel like talking?"


"About what?" He seemed suspicious of my intentions.


"Anything. Just to take your mind off stuff." He stared at me blankly. "Oh, that's right.... you're not very good with 'idle chatter'....." He began drinking from a canteen. "I guess I'll start. What kind of music do you like?"


"I don't listen to music much, pretty much the only stuff I've heard was the songs Keith blared over his sound system... That being said, I've never taken a liking to His choice of music: Metallica, Beatles, all the 'classical' rockbands. Kept me awake at night sometimes while he was working on god knows what..."


"Personally, I like soft rock, orchestra, and techno. Kind of an odd combination, but then what does that say about me?" I ask rhetorically. "Alright. Your go. Ask away." I got the feeling Aoi never got a chance to socialize, so this is probably awkward for him.


"So what did you do back when you were still human?..."

"Besides get beaten up and watch a show originally intended for little girls?"

"Yeah"

"I...... danced........And...... I sang....."


"What's wrong with that?" He asked, sensing my hesitation to talk about it.


"I......" I hung my head. "I was the only one.......... I loved it, everyone else hated me for it. Called me a 'Glee fag' and used it as just another excuse to hurt me. If you have any knowledge of basic psychology, the negative reinforcement really killed it for me. I guess that's when I stopped. Started being ashamed of what I did. It made me happy and they took it away.


"They being the bullies that toyed with you? Or was it someone else?"





"Well, my tormentors were a part of it but........ my parents."

"... I see..." I could almost see the gears in his head turning.

"They're the ones who originally put me in 'dance classes' So I'd stop being such a 'failure' and have a little dignity and poise. And I liked it. A lot. And as soon as I told them that, all of a sudden, we couldn't afford it anymore, dancing was for queers, and I was worthless for liking it. Maybe we could have afforded it if my dad didn't spend his ENTIRE FUCKING PAYCHECK ON BOOZE!" I nearly screamed, pounding my fist against the floor. I took a deep breath when I noticed Aoi looking at me strangely, calmed down, and continued the conversation.


"I started learning different kinds of dancing.... Aboriginal ceremonial, African tribal, Salsa, River, Shuffling. Of course, there was the music too, which I loved, and eventually lead to me singing as well. There wasn't much for dancing, but for singing, I joined the school musical. Of course, that just got me labeled as one of 'those' kids and made the bullying worse. I just put up with it." I let out a deep sigh.


"No matter what I did, it was never good enough, for anyone. I started not caring. My grades slipped, and while I got no appreciation for having low 90's, as soon as they dropped, there was hell to pay for that too. I stopped eating, just barely enough to get rid of my stomach pains. You saw me. Six foot three and a string bean." I looked up.

"Then I found My Little Pony and had a reason to be happy again. I started doing what I wanted, and I didn't care, but in a different way. Rather than not caring about myself, I started not caring about what others thought of me, other than not letting them know I was a brony and having them ruin it for me. I started eating again, going out, trying to make something of myself. My grades picked back up, I got a job, and paid to go to college. My parents got off my case for a while. And my dad..... in the rare moments that he wasn't sauced, didn't look at me with the disdain he used to have. There was a sadness in his eyes, like he regretted what he was doing, but in the end, he always went back to the bottle and became that monster again. My mother...... I don't even know how she feels. She never let it be known. She's always making me miserable, and we can't stand each other, but she must have cared for me a little, right? I mean, there was always food in the house, and she worked herself to the bone just to fuel my dad's alcoholism.......... Don't get me wrong, I still hate them, and they were terrible, but I guess after not seeing them for a while I'm starting to see what they were really like, instead of through red glasses. "

(In case you didn't know, that's a reference to rose coloured glasses that make seem everything wonderful, except with the opposite effect)



"Which is why you were so glad when you managed to end up here..." He said, walking over to a bench and sitting down next to me.


"Can you imagine? Best day of my life! I wound up in my dream world! A new start, somewhere it's actually possible to GET a start..... and then......." My face contorted into a look of pure rage. "I found out it's not so perfect after all. It might be selfish, it might be egotistical, but I DON'T CARE. This was MY fresh slate, MY second chance, and how DARE the world try and ruin THAT too! I WON'T LET IT TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME!"


"The world is cruel, and so is life, you can't expect anything different than that..." He said firmly, trying to take back control of the conversation. I ignored him.


"That's why I decided. The world can go FUCK itself. New body, no rules, unlimited opportunity, time to take it and make it my own. I watched ponies get captured in some nets, right in front of me. Back on Earth? I would have just walked by. Nothing I can do. Here? I can make a difference, and if the world isn't going to be the utopia it's supposed to be, I'm gonna kick the shit out of it till it is! I've got nothing left to lose, a lifetime of anger, and an entire country of proper outlets for aggression." I took a couple deep breaths, then turned to look out the window at the sun, already risen. "And then........ I changed again......" He looked at me oddly as my voice became calm, and even a little meek.

"Changed?" He asked.

"I found others I care about, who mean something to me. Gilda, Trixie, Nadene, Etch, Growl, Maria, Tiras, and everyone else. They're the family and friends I never had, and I don't want to lose them. When Celestia said that I'll die all alone......... I got scared. I'm not afraid of dying, I've been prepared for that for a long time. It's the alone part that terrifies me. Being all on my own again. I........ I don't...... want.... I don't......... alone...... Don't... please don't..... alone.... leave.... please... PLEASE... no alone....."


I clutched the side of my head, a sudden pounding and weakness making itself known, just like outside NeckTie's. I heard a voice, faded and distant. Overall, the effect was like when you get up too quickly and all the blood rushes out of your head. You're conscious, but your vision is black, your hearing is hazy, and you have no balance. "Gri....in?" I felt myself starting to fall and spread my legs out for a wider base of support. "You... ay?" I shook my head to clear my muddied thoughts, then grabbed the wolf's shoulder.

"Infirmary...... Now....." The seriousness in my voice, despite my speech being slurred, came across quite clear.








He helped me walk to the medical bay, Gilda meeting us partway and letting me lean on her as well. Once we got there they had me lay down so the cat could give me a shot of adrenaline, which she somehow was able to extract from plants? I don't even question this crap anymore, since Signal has pineapple trees. Pineapples don't grow on trees. Anyways, after I was feeling a little more awake, Nadene pumped me full of icing sugar from a piping bag.



"What happened?" Aoi asked, interrupting my monologue.

"Fucking magic......"

"... magic?"

"In this world, magic and emotion are synonymous. That's how changelings feed on love after all. Ever hear of people in hospitals making miraculous recoveries because they had a positive mood?"


"I can't say I have..."

"Lance Armstrong? That name ring a bell?"

"No..." How does he not know Lance Armstrong? I mean, he was some billionaire living national treasure in Japan, and he doesn't know about that? Right, he was an assassin. He didn't pay any attention to what was going on in the world besides his next job and where his target went.


"Heres the short version. He had like six different types of cancer, heart, lung, brain, testicular, and I forget the rest. The doctors gave him a couple months to live. He told them 'Screw you, I'm going to recover and win the Tour Du France.' And then, at the end, when he was supposed to be dead, he was fully recovered, impossibly so. Then, he did exactly what he said he was going to do. He had determination and a positive attitude, and he somehow recovered. Well... as you might have guessed, I'm emotionally...... unstable. No diagnosis, but I may quite possibly be bipolar. What happened just now.......... was the opposite of that. Amplified." I paused for a little while to let it sink in as to what was happening to me.


"I'm carrying a sadness in my heart, and every time I let go of a bit of it, the magical backlash from the emotional release causes some kind of....... negative physical effect, except for me, it seems to be amplified compared to what it should be, and what it is in normal people and ponies. They just feel sad, or their manes, feathers, tails, or whatever else they have droop. Me? My blood pressure and sugar drops. It may have something to do with the dragon blood, but I can't be sure."

Aoi muttered something to himself, although I'm not sure what.

"I'll survive......" I continued. "As long as I have people around me who care for me, I don't have to bear the burden alone, and when I try to let go of it, a little bit at a time, there'll be someone to haul my stupid ass to the medics and stabilize me, speaking of which...."

"Yeah, you can go, just no more being a drama queen tonight, alright?" Nadene said playfully.

"Yeah, I don't think I'd survive another one of your melodramatic outbursts." Trix laughed in the bed across the bay. "Ow."

"Trixie, try not to move or you'll tear open the hole again. We were barely able to patch your lung the first time, so unless you want to have surgery again, sit tight."

"Fine....." The unicorn muttered.




I slowly climbed out of the bed to give both Gilda and Nadene a big hug, the latter purring in my feathers and the former telling me to make sure she's there next time. "By the way..... Gilda, can you go to our room and grab the scroll on the desk real quick? It's from Celestia, but I haven't read it yet."


"Another letter from the Princess?" Aoi asked.

"Yeah, we send them back and forth fairly often, since we have a pretty good way of doing it." She left and quickly returned with the heavy looking package, more of a newspaper than a scroll, yet still a message paper within. How I didn't wake up when I burped this massive thing up, I don't know.




Dear Griffin,

In regards to my previous message, I realized you may not GET the newspaper on board your ship, so I sent you one.

I unfolded the newspaper. The front page had me, giving the sun princess a hug, and the headline, 'Sir Griffin North declares Princess Celestia as 'Best Pony' after knighting ceremony faux pas. See page 3 for more details.'

"PFFFT!...." My entire crew began snickering, Aoi joining right in.


"That..... that's not me......... Knightmare, you FAHKING TRAITOR!" I took a deep breath to calm myself. This day has had way more excitement than it should have. "Okay...... I'll admit...... she got me......"

"I take it back, NOW I feel sorry for you." Damn wolf.........



"Yeah yeah, let's see what's the rest of the message says......


As for your nightmares, I apologize. During my.... outburst, on board your ship, it seems you absorbed some negative experiences from my own past. You live them out in your dreams, but as they are my memories, not yours, you do not recall them when you wake. This effect should pass in a couple days. If it does not, return to Canterlot immediately. As for why you were affected in the first place, it seems as though you are more susceptible to absorbing ambient magic than most, although the cause of this is still unknown, and given your hurry to leave, I doubt you'd stay so we can examine you properly.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia.






"It seems I'm not the only one with nightmares..." The lunar legend finally spoke.

"You don't say?" I give him the classic memeface. "Hey, there's another note here."




Considering the number of catastrophic events that have occurred recently, I will be putting the 'Mark 1 Laser Rifle' plans you provided into mass production in order to properly arm Equestrian defense forces so they can properly deal with further outbreaks. It will be of great use in the times to come. You have my thanks.



"That's odd, it wasn't signed or anything....... No designation, just the message itself...."


"Something's wrong..." Aoi states. He's on high alert, but there isn't any need for that, which I then explained why.


"This note isn't from the princesses.... else it would have been in the letter itself, yet it came with the letter so........it's from someone working with them who's trying to keep their identity secret...... I guess the princesses have their own secret organization, and whoever is at the head of it saw fit to thank me personally." I sighed. Once again I'm making things too complicated.




"And now I'm just reading too much into things. Either way, it doesn't matter. If the princess trusts them, I have no reason not to. The only thing I don't trust Celestia and Luna with are when they try pranking me..... Anyways, I think it's your turn to ask a question Aoi." He seemed hesitant. Of course, after what his last question did to me, if I were in his shoes, I would be too. "Don't worry about me collapsing again. I'm in the medical ward, and I don't think it can happen twice in one day."


"I've asked all the questions I needed, unless you have a question?"


"Hmm.... yeah.... what's the REAL reason you wanted out of the knighting ceremony?"


"If you really want to know... I've had too many titles given to me already, each one bringing unwanted attention, hollow praise.... and sickening hypocrisy..." Exactly what he said before..... "And what about you? You started up the ship like you were running from the devil itself. Don't tell me that you didn't want another title, one you could have used to gain some leverage with some of the nobility."


"And there you go. Keyword. Nobility. If I was knighted, I'd have to swear fealty to the princesses and come running to fix their problems all the time. I have my own stuff to do. If I don't answer a summons, or I do something unfitting of 'nobility' then I bring shame to Celestia, Luna, and all the nobles...... and I'm missing the downside aren't I? That actually sounds like a pretty good deal now that I think about it......" I tilted my head to the side slightly. "Downsides, downsides...... Well, for one, I don't want that kind of responsibility. I've got my own country to carry on my back, I don't need hers. For two, conflict of interest. If I'm sworn to do what's best for Equestria, and the princess orders me, as her knight, to do something that is good for them, yet, not in the best interest of my own nation, I'd be in a bit of a sticky situation. Three, possibly the most important of all, I'd actually have to PUT UP WITH nobility! From what I've seen of Prince Blueblood, he's probably one of the milder nobles."



"I get the picture... "So why did you ask me if you already knew why I dropped out?"


"I like ask important questions twice. If you ask someone something once, they'll give you a quick answer to satisfy you, but it's not a real answer. If you ask twice, they'll really think about it. I was hoping to figure you out a bit more. That failed. You're either an open book or a fantastic liar."

"A little from column A, a little from column B." He shrugs.






"So, once we reach the border of Gem Fido, what are you going to do? Jump ship or stay a while till you figure out where to go?" I asked.


"There's a place I'd like to head to... a warren called the Oblong Tomb..."

"I'm not sure where that is. If it's on the way to Masonry, we'll drop you off, and if it's past it, we'll drop you off there once we're done. Etch and Growl might know specifically. If not, ask your own hounds."

"Hmm, I'll ask them when I get the chance."

Magic Class, Later That Day

"Alright, so you all know about magic charging, as well as some words and intent. The way intent also works is by deciding not only what the spell affects, but how it affects it. For example. 'Umbra' as you saw yesterday, Was able to mute Surprise by shrouding the senses, but was also able to cloak me in shadows. Now, a shadow cloak is just one way to use the darkness. Here's another. Umbra."

I began making shadow puppets on the wall, without actually using my hands. A dove, a bear, a tiger....... and then a pony being brutally murdered by a griffin. The class didn't very much like the last one.

"Distractions. Common knowledge, people are afraid of the unknown. Darkness is, by definition, unknown. You cannot see what is inside it. So, people fear the dark, because they don't know whether or not some monster is hiding in it, waiting for them to turn their backs. By making frightening shadows, you can scare, bewilder, and confuse opponents, making them believe there is something there isn't... such as......." I then made a shadow that was covered in spikes, had piercing eyes, and wicked sharp teeth. "If you were walking down the street, and you saw this, you'd probably run screaming. Well, in diamond dog warrens, there isn't much light, so shadow manipulation is easy, and it will actually last without having to pour any more magic into is so long as there isn't any light to send it away. You can blend into the darkness, then send these 'specters' out to scare others away, letting you pass unseen. And if you ARE seen...... umbra." I brought the shadows forth again, covering me. But this time, I had them cover my body in a nice black suit, and form tendrils of darkness out my back. That's right. I just became SlenderGrif.


"Fear is one of the easiest ways to control someone. Scare your opponent, and they won't think straight. If they don't think straight, they'll make mistakes. Mistakes you can use to your advantage. That's just one more way to use shadow manipulation. Now, for the other side of umbra. Binding the senses. We've already used mute, making one unable to talk. What about blind? I hadn't realized it before, when I was asked by one of my diamond dog crew members, but that can be used for it as well. Or, if you're in pain, use it on yourself to bind your sense of touch, making it act as an anesthetic. This is why we need to focus on understanding the words, more than just their basic meaning. If we do that, we might come up with an entirely new meaning, and thus, new uses, for an existing spell. Just as protect will shield you, umbra will hide you, or debilitate your enemies. Imagine fighting an army that can't see. Or, maybe they can't communicate orders? They'd stumble around, confused, and lost. They'd lose all sense of organization and just fall apart."


"That's a bit of a dirty way to fight....."


"Aha! And there we are! You see, there's something you need to get in your head. When you're fighting, unless it's a duel, you're fighting for your life. If you lose, you die, and everything that ever mattered to you gets taken away. Tell me, if a kidnapper broke into your home, intending to steal your daughter away from you, would you be above, kicking, scratching, biting, hitting below the belt, spitting in their eyes, or throwing burning coals on them to beat them?"


"No..... I suppose I'd fight with everything I had available to me."

"That's what's called being a 'cornered rat'. It's called that because when the rat is trapped by the cat, it knows that if it loses, it's all over, so it fights with everything it has. It becomes crafty, cruel, and wicked, lashing out in any way possible to defend against it's attacker. That's what we're doing. Who cares if we fight dirty, so long as we win? History is written by the winners. If we win a battle that saves lives, overthrows tyranny, and rescues the innocent, who cares if we use dirty underhanded tactics to do it? It get's the job done, doesn't it? That is why we call ourselves pirates. We stoop to the lowest level possible. If we can capture a city more easily and with less loss of life by sneaking in through the sewers than by laying siege to it in a battle of glory, then we will. That's the reason that, for all the fights we've been in, we've only lost a single crew member, which was due to lack of organization, and is the very reason you're all here now."


"I see...... I think I understand a bit better now...."


"Good. Now, I know for a fact that ponies are rather skittish. You freeze up or freak out when you see something that scares you. So, we're going to play a little game to fix that. I'm going to have my crew members, when they're not busy doing something else, do their best to scare the living daylights out of you. The game won't simply end if you succeed in not being frightened, we'll continue trying to scare you, coming up with new ways, probably for as long as you're on the ship. You won't know when it's coming, or what it will be. I also happen to be a very scary person, and will be playing as well. I expect many of you will wet yourselves, and there is no shame in that. Welcome to the haunted house of horrors. Until you can learn to get over your instinct to run around screaming when something bad happens, you won't be of any use to me, so we're gonna scare you so much that you won't be afraid of anything anymore." Suddenly, my face became shrouded with the still active shadow spell, making me seem a lot darker than I really am.


"Of course, you're all invited to try and scare us as well, it wouldn't be fair to have it only go one way. Have fun........"


With that, SlenderGrif faded away into the shadows, leaving twenty ponies wondering just what in the name of Celestia they had gotten themselves into.