//------------------------------// // Chapter 24 - Roommate, Part 2 // Story: Stranger in the Forest // by TrixterCat //------------------------------// It was with great relief that the group finally left Ponyville General Hospital. Both Rainbow and Strawberry Dazzle had checked up mostly fine after their little crash, although they both had a minor concussion. Of course, a strict order from nurse Redheart to stay on the ground for the rest of the day had Rainbow groaning and grinding her teeth the moment those cursed words were uttered, but there was not much she could do when Applejack threatened to tie her up and carry her for the rest of the day if she so much as thought about flying. “Hmph,” Rainbow snorted angrily as they marched out. “Now now, Rainbow. It’s not so bad to take a day off from daring tricks every once in a while,” Rarity offered in an attempt to calm her fuming friend. “Yeah! Especially since you already daringly defeated that giant meanypants wolf! No wait, the pants were Scruffy’s…AND they were on fire… Does that mean he’s the meanypants? Hmm…” Pinkie silently pondered to herself as the others gave her odd looks. “How about we all celebrate our little victory with some ice cream?” Rarity suggested. “My treat.” “Oh oh oh yes!” Pinkie immediately waved her hoof in the air. “With cream, and chocolate, and sprinkles!” she listed with a dreamy smile. “And maybe some gems for me?” Spike hoped. “All that fighting done left me mighty parched,” Applejack agreed. “How about you two, Strawberry, Scruffy?” Twilight asked, turning towards the two. Scruffy seemed to snap back to reality with a jolt from the purple pony’s question, earning a wince from her. The encounter with the timberwolf seemed to have rattled Scruffy, despite his assurances of the contrary. This was the third time he had been staring off in to space, and Twilight had noticed him rubbing his hands absentmindedly while they were in the hospital. Twilight had wanted to ask a nurse to give him a once over, but he had declined, saying that he only needed some time to calm down. “Certainly we’ll have ice cream. The whole reason we are here is because Scruffy wanted to see you, and what better way to hang out?” Strawberry Dazzle quickly replied, extending her wing to give a friendly pat to Scruffy. However, realizing that the height difference put her on the level with Scruffy’s waist, she had to stop herself and awkwardly reach with her wing to give him a pat on the back instead of his rump. Scruffy looked down to the pony, who was now also giving him an encouraging smile, then back to Twilight. A small smile curled his lips and he nodded. “Then it’s settled! Onwards to Sugarcube Corner!” Pinkie declared, grabbing Rarity and sprinting towards Ponyville as fast as the two tangled ponies could go. ******************** A short trot later, the group found themselves around a table in a nook of the busy Sugarcube Corner. Most tables were occupied with ponies, and it had been lucky that they found one empty and sizeable enough to serve their group. Rarity and Pinkie sat down, having finally managed to get all of their orders in. “So, miss Dazzle,” Rarity began while they waited for their ice creams to arrive. “May I ask, how is it that you find yourself in Ponyville today?” Dazzle suddenly found several eager sets of eyes looking right at her along with one grumpy magenta pair. “Oh, sure. As I said earlier, I’m part of the Royal Guard, and I’m here on a mission to serve as an escort for our visitor here while he travels on Equestrian lands,” she explained matter-of-factly, motioning to Scruffy with her wing. “What, really?” Rainbow exclaimed in surprise. “Jes,” Scruffy confirmed. “But… It’s only been a day since I sent that letter,” Twilight commented curiously. “What letter?” Applejack asked. “I sent a letter to the Princesses after we visited Scruffy the other day.” “Indeed, and after reading it, it was Princess Luna’s wish to assign a Royal Guard to offer protection for Scruffy post haste,” Dazzle continued. Scruffy seemed to grumble to himself at that remark. “So, what, you are just gonna follow him around?” Rainbow snorted. “That is what escorting means,” Strawberry flatly replied. “I’m sure that everypony’s minds will be a little more at ease if there’s somepony with Scruffy whenever he has to travel here from his home.” There was a chorus of silent agreements and nods, even from Rainbow. “I…yeah,” Scruffy mumbled to himself. “…So, uh, how are you gonna do that then?” Applejack asked, and the guardsmare raised one eyebrow. “What I mean is, how’ll you know when ‘n’ if Scruffy needs to go somewhere?” “Simple, I’ll stay somewhere close by so that I’ll be available whenever my services are required,” Dazzle shrugged. “But Scruffy lives a nearly one and a half hour walk away from Ponyville… Isn’t that a rather long distance to travel to him each day?” Rarity questioned. “It is, but certainly nothing I haven’t done before. However, I took the opportunity to ask my charge if he wouldn’t mind providing my lodging so that it’s easier for me to be available whenever he needs my services,” Dazzle absentmindedly shrugged. “He didn’t seem to mind.” Dazzle turned to Scruffy with a smile and gently bumped him with a hoof. Scruffy let out a soft grunt. “You’ll be living with him?” Rarity asked in surprise. “What!?” Twilight jumped in her seat, having to brace herself with her hooves so that she didn’t fall off. The other members of their group also eyed the guardsmare with eyebrows raised. “I suppose so?” Dazzle shrugged again. “But…that’s…” Twilight began, but stopped and blushed slightly. “What? If Scruffy doesn’t mind this arrangement, then there should be no problems with it.” “No, it’s just…you get to be surrounded by all of his amazing contraptions and discover what applications they have and who knows what else,” Twilight quietly mumbled to herself in embarrassment. A few of the ponies and Spike smirked, and the draconic assistant gave a sympathetic pat on Twilight’s withers. “But hold on a minute,” Twilight continued after collecting herself. “The Princesses wouldn’t have relied on Scruffy lending you a room to stay in. My brother was the Captain of the Royal Guard, so I know enough about how they operate. The proper procedure would have been to give you a field kit and-” “Yes yes, I left all that stuff at the Ponyville guard post,” Dazzle interjected. “Look, the Everfree forest isn’t exactly prime real estate for prolonged camping trips. I’m not keen on spending any more time in that forest than necessary. Nopony is,” the sergeant argued. “And if you were worried that I would impose myself upon his pantry, I have rations provided to me, which I can refill whenever we are in Ponyville. However, if Scruffy just so happens to sometimes accidentally cook too much food for himself, and takes pity on me and my poor field rations, that would just be a happy bonus,” Dazzle finished with a smile. “Is it really okay?” Fluttershy asked, looking between Scruffy and Dazzle. “It fine,” Scruffy nodded with a tiny amused smirk at Dazzle’s roundabout request and the trembling lip Dazzle was giving him. “Have ekstra bed, not use anyway.” “Attaboy!” Strawberry cheered. “Are you sure you are up to this?” Rainbow questioned. “Aren’t Royal Guards supposed to be tough as nails and super professional? You sound like you just want to make your job as cushy as possible.” Dazzle gave an unimpressed snort and leveled a stare at Rainbow. “If I didn’t have the necessary expertise for this job, Lady Luna wouldn’t have chosen me. Out of all the candidates that were gathered, I had the most training in wilderness survival. I have more than most, in fact, even amongst the veteran officers, especially when the Everfree is a concern. So do not take my reluctance to be there as a sign of incompetence,” Strawberry finished with a huff. “So, how did a lovely mare such as yourself end up joining the Royal Guard then?” Rarity swiftly cut in, diffusing the tension before Rainbow could shoot out another remark. “Huh? Oh, um,” Dazzle bashfully muttered at the compliment. “I-I was never for the quiet farm life in my hometown. Even if my cutie mark is related to it,” the mare chuckled, getting up and turning sideways. Adorning the croupiere of her barding was a bright red, sparkling strawberry. “I still like to practice horticulture as a way to calm down and relax. I have my own garden that I take care of. But, I have always been a mare of action, and joining the Equestrian National Guard seemed like an obvious choice when I was old enough.” “Hmm…” Scruffy hummed, staring at the symbol. “What is it, Scruffy?” Twilight prompted. “Oh. Ah, you tell, um, mark poni have is what they guut at, tell, um, de-estini?” “And you are wondering why Strawberry Dazzle is a guard and not a farmer?” When Scruffy nodded, Twilight continued. “What a cutie mark represents is a pony’s innate talent for a specific task, such as Applejack’s talent for apple farming, my aptitude with magic, and Pinkie Pie’s excellent sense for parties and making ponies smile. All ponies have magic, no matter which tribe they belong to, and each pony’s magic is unique. What follows is that different ponies have natural aptitudes for certain tasks based on their particular magic. The reason why ‘destiny’ is often used in conjunction with cutie marks, even though there hasn’t been any observable outside force that affects cutie marks in such a way as to warrant the use of that word, is because performing actions that one’s magic is suited for helps one’s thaumic energies attune with the rest of their body. When one’s magic is in harmony with the rest of themselves, a pony feels a sense of accomplishment and fulfilment, like having completed a task that was meant just for them, thus, the feeling of fulfilling your ‘destiny’, which is of course simply your body reacting by releasing endorphins and other hormones,” Twilight explained, seemingly unaware of the glazed over eyes of her friends. Spike coughed in to his claw a few times to draw Twilight out of her lecture mode. “B-but uh, ehehe, to answer your question, a cutie mark doesn’t mean that a pony can only be good at that one thing, nor does it mean that they never want to do anything else.” “Uh…huh,” the rest of the group unanimously murmured. “So…yeeeah,” Dazzle awkwardly continued, shaking her head. “Adventure seeking was my reason for joining the guard. Not that every moment of guard life is filled with excitement,” she snorted. “Plenty of standing around with a frown on your face, trying to look important when you are guarding a bush.” There were a few giggles when Dazzle made a very grumpy and stoic face. “Luckily all the eyecandy makes it worthwhile.” “Uh, the what now?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Oh come now, as if you hadn’t ever noticed that the Royal Guard just happens to be full of big, strong, hunky stallions?” Dazzle asked with what could only be described as a lecherous smile. “Or pretty mares, if that’s your preference,” she added with a shrug. “Imagine doing training outside, their sweaty pelts glistening in the morning sun, their strong, muscular bodies swaying in the cool breeze as you do rep after rep, helping each other stretch, pressing yourselves together...” Dazzle’s expression turned more dreamy as she looked off in to the distance, lost in her daydream. “Uhhuh,” Applejack deadpanned, while Rainbow, Rarity, and Fluttershy tried their best not to blush, eagerly hiding behind their bowls of ice cream when Mrs. Cake finally brought them their order. Ponies really seem to like ice cream, Scruffy thought as he glanced between the three oddly excited ponies and the still daydreaming guard, pondering what big and strong stallions had to do with it. ******************** “Is something wrong, darling?” Rarity asked, aiming the question at their two legged friend. After the ice creams were finished, the group had split up. Pinkie had stayed to help with the busy cafe, while Applejack had returned to the farm with Rainbow in tow, the rainbow maned mare probably hoping to catch some sleep and perhaps a free dinner. The rest were on their way towards Twilight’s library, where she and Scruffy where hoping to do some tests on the latter’s magic. “Uhm…” Scruffy mumbled, somewhat awkwardly shuffling forward. He looked down at his bare legs, an uncomfortable expression on his face. “It feel odd, um, valk here with not pants,” he admitted. “But you do have pants, although these are clearly less appealing than your other pair,” Rarity noted. Incredibly enough, Scruffy had worn another pair of smaller, muted gray pants under the ones that had to have been sacrificed to chase away the timberwolf. When they were at the hospital Twilight asked Rarity why he would need two pairs, but the fashionista could only shrug. “You aren’t cold are you?” Fluttershy asked, placing her wing against his exposed thigh, Dazzle moving to do the same on the other side. “Tickles,” Scruffy snorted, moving Fluttershy’s wing aside. “Ah, my kind like we-ear clothes, it uh, embarrass to not wear. More with pants.” “Oh,” Twilight muttered, before the implications of what he had just said clicked in to place in her head. “You mean that...your species doesn’t wear clothes just for warmth, but for social reasons too?” Scruffy only grunted in response, since he was focused on shooing Strawberry away so that she would stop tickling his leg, much to the merriment of the guard pony. Twilight glanced at Rarity and Fluttershy, and it was apparent that they had also remembered the first time Scruffy had come to Ponyville, as each of them had a tinge of blush on their muzzles. “Oh my. Dear, I’m so sorry if we have ever done something to offend you regarding your clothes. We didn’t realize clothing was so integral to your culture,” Rarity apologized, her ears drooping. Scruffy only offered them a reassuring smile, since some of what Rarity said went over his head. Twilight could only chide herself for not asking about his clothes sooner. It was one of the many questions on her list she had made during the weeks Scruffy had spent studying their language. She had pushed it aside in favor of other things, however, since it was also apparent that Scruffy would need clothes to keep warm during the winter months, something she and Fluttershy had concluded together. “Couldn’t we get him some new pants then? You’re a tailor, right?” Dazzle offered to Rarity. “Oh, but certainly. I will need some measurements and time, but I’ll make sure to replace the pair you lost,” she said to Scruffy, excitement at being able to create something completely new bubbling inside her. “And Strawberry, darling, I’m a fashionista, not a mere ‘tailor’,” Rarity harrumphed good naturedly. “I don’t get it, what’s wrong with not wearing pants?” Spike asked. “Not wrang, ah, but make unkomfartable with others and not wear,” Scruffy tried his best to explain. “Does it make you uncomfortable that we don’t have any clothes?” Twilight asked, suddenly feeling a bit self conscious. Scruffy scoffed. “Twilight, I old. Have seen other not with pants. I not bother.” The finality in Scruffy’s voice made it clear that the ponies did not need to be worried about it. The rest of the way to Twilight’s library was spent with Rarity inquiring what kind of pants Scruffy would like. Once they were inside, the dressmaker borrowed Twilight’s measuring tape to take all the measurements she needed, and then left for her boutique so that she might deliver the much needed pair of pants to Scruffy as soon as possible. “I hate to have to ask this, but my head is feeling a bit fuzzy,” Dazzle lamented, rubbing her ears and temples. “Could I go have a lie down somewhere?” Her gaze was directed as much to Scruffy as it was to Twilight. “Of course you can. I have a spare bedroom which you can use.” Twilight looked to Scruffy to see that he did not mind, and once he nodded, she lead Strawberry to the guest room. “So… What do?” Scruffy asked as he, Twilight, and Fluttershy sat down around a table. Spike stayed nearby, but he was immersed in a comic book and only half paid attention. “Well, first, I would like to ask a little bit more about what your kind knows of magic. As you have said before, your kind doesn’t believe in magic, although it seems that you simply didn’t have any idea it existed, but the way you talk about it makes it sound like you have some expectations as to what you think it should be. Could you elaborate?” Twilight asked with a big grin, summoning a dozen rolls of parchment, ink, and a quill with her magic from the tables around the library. Then she had to repeat her question slowly enough that Scruffy had time to parse what she had said. “Yes, um, my kind have meny tale of magic. Wiiizarts use magic for make rain and, uh, fire and many o-other thing. Things.” Scruffy worked his jaw, trying to get the words right. “Hmm…” Twilight pondered, scribing everything down. “Is the way we ponies use magic, mm, expected? Or are the spells you have seen completely foreign conce-, uh, ideas to you?” “No. How you lift thing up, that oftten, uh, often...a zpell in story with magik.” “Okay, levitation. Any others?” “Um...this!” Scruffy triumphantly exclaimed after a moment of thought, pointing at the amulet around his neck. “Magic put in thing. Vitzards have magic staff or ball glass to see far.” “Enchanted items. Not very common, but certainly something any magic capable civilization would think about at some point.” “Not alwayz magic, but hear of people who, who sit and sleep but not sleep, and can see other b-place and move but body not move. Some story it magic, but some not, teep think...ing.” “Like Princess Luna’s dream walking?” Twilight thought as she twirled the quill against her chin. “It is interesting that despite your lack of magic, your kind’s ideas for magic thus far have clear parallels with pony magic.” “Hmm. It accident?” Scruffy pondered. “Seems a bit unlikely if you guys haven’t ever had any magic,” Spike voiced his opinion from behind them. “I agree, but it’s not something we can definitively conclude,” Twilight said, furiously writing on her first parchment until it was completely full, then switching to a fresh one. “How about the method for casting spells? How would one of your kind perform a spell in a story?” “Mm, magic vord. Word. Zpell come from finger.” Scruffy wiggled his fingers for emphasis. “Sometime need also move hand, but magic word very common.” “Like Zebrican chanting. Zebrican spellcasting often involves the use of a verbal and a somatic component, but in some cases only one is needed,” Twilight explained. “What’s somatic mean?” Spike asked, but went unheeded. “Do you mean, like Zecora’s rhymes?” Fluttershy asked. “Yes, although I don’t think Zecora can use that kind of magic. Her skills are in potion making, and while I believe some of the rhymes she uses may be spells, I assume they are at most simple incantations to, for example, heat water.” Twilight told them, but finished with a unsure shrug. “Magic b-b-potion is too in story,” Scruffy added, which Twilight acknowledged with a nod. “Hmm, I wonder if the fingers are a magical focus point for your species, like horns are for unicorns,” Twilight mused. “It would be a rather odd evolutionary path to have your focus point be in a limb that you use for everything else as well.” Twilight leaned closer, taking Scruffy’s left hand in her hooves and experimentally prodded it. “I mean, if you held something in your hand, wouldn’t that make it impossible or at least severely hinder your ability to cast spells? Not to mention that if you were to hurt your arm, you would both lose the ability to hold objects and cast spells. And furthermore…” Twilight continued to mutter to herself, examining and moving Scruffy’s fingers, her quill ceaselessly continuing to write the words that were too soft for the other two to hear. Scruffy and Fluttershy looked at each other and each took a deep breath. They let their eyes wander around the library, trying to find something to amuse themselves with while Twilight did her thing. It did not take long for the second scroll to be filled with words, and as the last word was finished, Twilight froze. She slowly lifted her head to look at Fluttershy and Scruffy with an apologetic grin. “Ehehe, I might have gotten a bit excited there. Sorry,” she murmured and placed the scroll with the first one. Fluttershy giggled behind her hoof. “How pony use magic?” Scruffy asked as Twilight retrieved her third scroll. The unicorn in question opened her mouth to start off on another tirade of articulate discourse, but Spike intervened. “What you mean is how unicorns use magic, right?” Spike clarified as he lowered his comic book. Twilight clicked her mouth shut, much to Spike’s satisfaction. Heh, nipped that one in the bud, he thought as he returned to his comic. “Yes. J-junicorn,” Scruffy nodded. “Oh. Ehem… This is going to be a technical explanation, but I’ll do my best to go for the easy version,” Twilight said, powered her horn, and a blackboard levitated in to the room soon after from the basement of the library. She straightened her back and took hold of a piece of chalk. “The process for a unicorn to cast a spell is comprised of three stages. The first part for spell casting is to gather the power necessary. All living creatures that have magic, including you, have something we call a thaumic pool.” Twilight drew a large and simple stick pony on to the blackboard. She tapped the pony’s middle section and drew a horizontal line across the pony and a half circle under it. “This is the natural reservoir of thaumic energy, magic energy, that a living body generates. Or absorbs from its surroundings, I suppose. See there are some creatures that don’t have the ability to create their own thaumic energy, but instead they-... Erm, nevermind. What you need to know is that a living body generates this magic energy, and that energy gathers in one place.” Twilight colored the half circle to indicate that it was full, and then drew arrows from it to the horn. “Unicorns have a natural focus point,” Twilight tapped her horn, “which allows us to very easily gather magical energy to one point and hold it there. The other pony races lack a natural focus point, making it harder to gather large amounts of tha- magical energy to any specific point. That is why pegasus and earth pony magic manifests mostly in physical qualities, as the magic radiates throughout their bodies when they call upon it. It is easy for them to use magic to boost their resilience and speed, for example.” Twilight drew two more stick ponies, one pegasus and one earth pony, with arrows going to their wings and hooves respectively. “The next part of a spell is visualization.” When Scruffy shrugged, Twilight let out a small, slightly annoyed sigh. “Imagination? Having an image of something in your mind?” She tried with a hopeful smile. It took a moment, but Scruffy finally got what Twilight was saying, and the unicorn continued. “In this part you visualize what you want your spell to do. For example…” Twilight looked around the library until she spotted a candle holder with a candle and levitated it over. She placed it and the chalk in her magic on the table. “If I’d want to light this candle, I must visualize the candle lit, or a fire that’s lighting the candle.” Twilight closed her eyes. The usual magenta aura enveloped her horn, and soon a single spark appeared next to the wick of the candle, lighting it. “The more complicated the spell you are attempting, the more steps there are that you need to consider. Being able to visualize what you want your spell to accomplish will help keep your mind on track and focus all of the magic energy in to the spell. If you fail to do it properly, the spell might fizzle out due to loss of concentration, or some of the magic may leak in to your surroundings, leading to an underpowered spell.” Twilight drew a thought bubble above her stick pony with a lighting bolt inside it and the same lighting bolt shooting out of her horn. She then drew another stick pony with just random lines in her thought bubble, and a much more feeble looking lighting bolt coming out of her horn. “Spells that heal injuries are amongst the hardest spells in terms of visualization, simply because of the many aspects to consider, even with a moderately deep cut. You could end up healing the wound only superficially and leave it unhealed inside, or some parts might mend the wrong way and cause pain and discomfort. Or much, much worse things.” Twilight shuddered, remembering the times she had practiced healing magic on fish. Some of the results had been...less than ideal. She stopped studying such spells soon after, not having the stomach for it. “The last part of spellcasting is codification and release, or spellweaving if you use the old Unicornian term.” Twilight smiled gleefully. “This is by far the most important part of casting a spell, as it determines what your spell will do. To put it as simply as I can, what you are doing is giving ‘instructions’ to your magical energy that you have collected on what it needs to do, and what it must not do. This is called a spell matrix.” Twilight pointed at the candle again as she snuffed out the flame. “If I do it properly, the spell will only produce a single spark of flame to light the candle.” Twilight then lit the candle again as she had done earlier, only to extinguish the flame again after a moment. “However, if my ‘instructions’ are lacking, or too broad and imprecise, this can happen instead.” This time Twilight had a more stern look as she focused on the candle. A veritable shower of sparks was produced, shooting every which way and eventually lighting the entire candle stick with a loud ‘fwoosh’ of flame. Twilight quickly encompassed it in to a shield bubble, making sure that the flaming wax did not melt onto the table. Scruffy and Fluttershy both watched the burning candle with astonishment, but also with a healthy dose of trepidation. “I exaggerated the effect here. A simple, low powered spell is unlikely to go wrong in any dangerous way,” Twilight continued, the flames dying out as they were starved of oxygen and the bubble started to fill with wispy smoke. Twilight released the shield with an added flash, and neither smoke nor candle remained. “The more complex the spell, however, the more potential it has to go wrong in a disastrous way. That is why the last step is the most important step as it makes sure that a spell doesn’t get out of control… Like what happened with my smarty pants doll incident.” Twilight sulked with remorse, her ears and head hanging low. Fluttershy grimaced slightly at the memory, but quickly pushed it aside and shuffled closer to comfort her friend with a compassionate hug. “Wow. Magik komb-kompliicate,” Scruffy muttered, his head swimming with the overabundance of information, half of which had been too complicated for him. He had to ask Twilight to go over what she had said one more time with plenty of illustrations to confidently say that he still had no idea what he was getting in to. “I should mention that it’s not entirely accurate to say that the last step is giving ‘instructions’ to the spell, per se. It’s...hard to explain to someone who can’t use magic in the same way as a unicorn, but it is much more instinctual than making a list of do’s and don'ts,” Twilight added as they finished going over the steps a second time. “I never realised how hard unicorn magic could be. You and Rarity make it seem so easy,” Fluttershy admitted. “Practice makes perfect, as the saying goes,” Twilight replied with a smile. “When you have cast the same spell a hundred times, it comes like second nature.” Fluttershy nodded in acknowledgement and the both of them turned to look at Scruffy, who was eyeing the blackboard in thought and stroking his beard. “You think I kould do ma-agic?” he asked, unsure. This whole thing was becoming much more complicated than he had anticipated. “Well, that’s what we are here to find out, right?” Twilight answered with a wide grin.