The midnight blue Unicorn glared at the pile of materials in front of him. In the back of his mind, Kahl was chuckling at his latest string of profanity-laced yelling at the pile. The dragon finally quieted and Nix could feel his spirit shifting within his mind as the Unicorn scanned the pile.
“So did yelling at it help?” Kahl asked him.
“It helped me not throw it all into a wall.” Nix reasoned to him.
“Well, that is a good thing then.”
“Are you going to help now versus critiquing?”
“If you insist.” Kahl replied.
Nix reached out with his magic and picked up a set of tomes and looked to the bookshelf behind him and walked the items over to it in his aura. “Okay keep it steady.” He said to himself and the dragon hummed in reply. The Unicorn sat down next to the bookshelf and picked the tomes out of the air and began to set them in order on the shelf. A loud knock above him startled him and the books still in his aura thudded against the ceiling. He snarled as they fell to the floor.
“You’re focusing too much on the act of holding them in place. Allow the magic to flow from you evenly and you will have an easier time of it.” Kahl advised gently.
“Right.”
The Unicorn replied as he went to the steps and got to the top of the stairs as the knocking resumed. “Hold on!” He yelled and the knocking stopped. He was aware that he was snapping at an unknown pony at his door but his aggravation with his lack of progress was getting to him. His hooves carried him across the front room and he tossed open the door to find Twilight standing at the door. He blinked at her uncertain expression as he closed his eyes and sighed.
“Sorry. Been a rough morning.” He explained. “So what’s up?”
She smiled at his explanation. “Was seeing if you wanted to have lunch with us. It’s been a few days since you got here and we figured that you probably haven’t left the house.”
Phoenix cringed as she struck home on his lack of outdoor activity. “That’s true. Was working on a personal project and then got caught up organizing the basement so I was…distracted.”
“Exactly. We are going to go to Sugarcube Corner for a snack. Care to join us?”
“Which one is that?” He asked her. She had shown him several businesses on the main road when she was helping him get groceries.
“It the one that Pinkie lives in.” She replied.
“Oh, the one that looked like a gingerbread house.”
“Exactly.”
“Sure. Will get me out of the house for a bit.” He said back to her and his horn lit.
He locked the windows and doors as he closed the front door. He watched to make sure that he didn’t blow out another window in the attempt. He had done that the day before and Kahl had needed to walk him through repairing it.
“Well done.” Kahl said to him and the stallion nodded at his work and walked with the mare. “No windows were harmed in the attempt.”
Nix managed not to scowl at the dragons jab and instead tried to ignore him as the dragon chuckled. He looked over to her and she smiled back to him as she broke into a trot and he trailed a step behind her. He knew that she was trying to get him out of the main street quickly to help to keep his discomfort low and he appreciated her efforts and stayed close. She opened the door to the business and he trotted inside.
“Welcome to Ponyville!”
He yelped as the girls and Spike all shouted at him as he came into the room. It was modestly decorated with a small welcome banner with his name on it. He shook himself to get rid of the initial shock and smiled at them.
“Well, I didn’t run this time.” He quipped.
“That’s a good start, darling.” Rarity said to him as he walked up to them.
Pinkie bounced up to him and placed a green party hat around his head and he shrugged at her. Normally hats weren’t his thing but he allowed it. Rainbow pushed a small cake up to him and he looked down at it. His name was written across the top and he smiled at the sight. He was glad to see no candles since he would have needed to explain his aversion to fire. “Yay, no flame.”
“It’s not your birthday so I do not see a reason for lit candles to be there.” Kahl replied.
Nix watched as the pink mare cut the cake into sections as Spike patted his leg and he allowed the baby dragon to climb to his back. They walked to a small table and he sat down with them as the others joined them at the booth.
“Much better?” Twilight asked.
“Much.” He agreed and nodded to her.
“Twilight said ya got pretty nervous in crowds.” Applejack said to him and he rubbed the back of his neck and nodded to her. “She told us ya were okay with us so a small party was better fer ya.”
“I appreciate it. She was right about my dislike of crowds. I appreciate the effort.” He said to her and the orange mare smiled in reply.
“So what brought ya ta Ponyville?” She asked.
“Celestia asked me to do some research and development for her. She recommended that I come here.” He explained as he bit into the offered chocolate cake. Spike slid from his back and sat between the stallion and Fluttershy as they ate.
“And the house?” Fluttershy asked him.
“Yeah, she told me that she had gotten a place for me to stay and it ended up being the house. I was going to ask her about how she got it so fast but I figured she has her ways and let it go.” Nix explained.
“Well, that was dandy of ‘er.”
“Was nice to find it was so updated I have to admit.” Nix replied with a smile.
“Yeah. It’s huge inside.” Spike said to them as he stood on the seat. “The bedroom was huge.”
“It’s good sized.” Nix replied. “No complaints from me.”
“Aside from the fridge being empty.” Twilight jabbed gently at him.
“Yeah. That was unfortunate.” He admitted.
“Ya okay on food?” Applejack asked him.
“Oh yeah, no worries. Twilight helped me find the bank and the store so I was able to stock it.” He replied with a dismissive wave of one hoof. “All taken care of. But thanks for asking.”
Applejack nodded as they all went quiet as they ate the cake Pinkie had made for him. The midnight stallion looked up at the room around him and he could see that it was a functioning bakery. His eyes landed on the back kitchen where he could see a pair of ponies in the back. A tap to his hoof brought his attention back to the front.
“So what research are you doing?” Rainbow asked him. “Is it something cool? Or really boring?”
“I didn’t take any projects that were boring. If it wasn’t interesting to me I left it behind.” Nix replied.
“You got to choose?” Twilight asked.
“Yep. Walked into a room with a bunch of tables that held the projects on them and I went through and put an X on the paper if I wanted them. If they sounded boring or outside my skill range I ignored them.” He explained.
“Like what?” Rarity asked him.
“Umm.” He put a hoof to his chin as he thought over the ones he had with him.
“I would leave the blood ritual out of your replies.” Kahl advised quietly.
“Yeah. Probably a good idea.” He replied with an agreeing noise. “I brought transformation magic, storage of magical essence, and magical application of healing, to name a couple.”
“Oh. Yeah boring.” Rainbow replied and swallowed the last of her cake. “Well, the transformation one could be cool.”
“So glad you approve.” Nix replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Applejack snickered at the mare’s sour look. “Transformation into what?”
“Not sure. I haven’t had time to read the initial notes from the one who started it. So I’m going into it blind at the moment.” He replied. “I have a few ideas of my own but I want to look through the notes to see what the aim of the project was when it was made. Until then I’ll hold off on adding my own spin to it.”
“Sounds rewarding.” Rarity said to him.
“I think it will be. Will keep me interested and as long as I have something to do I’m pretty happy.”
“That’s what’s most important.” Fluttershy agreed.
Nix nodded in agreement and swallowed the last of his cake. “That was good, thank you Pinkie.” He said to the pink mare across from him.
She bounced in place and smiled widely at him. “Oh! Are you gonna join us for the Nightmare Night celebration?”
“Oh shit.” He replied as the mare's words struck him. “I forgot all about it. It’s that time of year already?”
“Eeyup.” Applejack said to him as he thought it over. “What ya gonna go as?”
“I have no idea.” He replied. “Haven’t done anything for it since I left Canterlot.”
Pinkie stopped and stared at him, her eyes wide. “Which was how long?”
“About five years ago.” He explained to her. “Was in a small town for the past two years so it wasn’t a big thing there.”
Her eyes widened further and Nix leaned back in his seat and glanced to the others who were finishing up their cake, ignoring the mares odd behavior. He looked away from her and then back to find that she had leaned forward and was only a foot away from him. He tried to push farther back in his seat.
“What in the world?” Kahl spoke up. “Perhaps she has a problem with whatever that was called?”
“Pinkie?” Nix finally breathed out. “You okay?”
“How can you not celebrate Nightmare Night? You get free candy!” She finally called out.
He chuckled. “Am a bit too old for that I think.”
“You’re never too old for free candy.” She retorted.
“You can have my share then.” He replied and reached out to push her away from him. “I’ll probably just work through it.”
“Ya can help me with the bobbing apples or the other activities if ya want.” Applejack said to him as she pulled Pinkie back to the chair and the rest of the way away from him.
“Maybe. I’m not one for dressing up though so you might have to deal with me in the normal fashion.”
“Unheard of darling.” Rarity spoke up.
“Huh?” He replied as Kahl began to chuckle in the back of his mind. “What?”
“I have plenty of costumes that you can choose from, my dear. Several of them can be used. You can borrow one for the evening.” She explained to him.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He replied.
At his side, he saw understanding come over the purple Unicorn and she sat forward. “Girls, that’s a big crowd.” She pointed out.
“Oh.” Rarity put a hoof over her mouth in surprise. “I am sorry, Phoenix. I had forgotten about your aversion to crowds.”
“It’s okay. It happens and I’m not mad about it. I don’t expect you to recall something that you just learned about me, a pony who just got here. That would be unfair to you to expect such a thing.” He replied to her sheepish look.
She smiled in reply to his words. “Thank you. I had forgotten. If you wish to have a costume I do have plenty to share. Let me know and I will help.”
“I’ll keep it in mind if I decide to venture out. At the moment I have no intention of joining in. But, if I get a wild hair I will.” He said to her, allowing her to bow out gracefully without insulting him.
Phoenix was quiet as they spoke more about the holiday and time dragged past him as he got to know the other mares and Spike. The ponies in the back came out and came over to them with other treats on their backs. “So that is what they were doing.” Kahl mused to him. “They were baking for the next day, not avoiding you.”
“Shh.” Nix said back to the dragon and smiled as they approached the table.
“How was everything girls?”
The mare approached them, a warm smile on her muzzle. Her coat was a soft blue and her mane a swirled pink and cream. The lanky stallion with her was a strong yellow in color with an orange mane.
“It was great Mr. and Mrs. Cake. This is Phoenix.” Twilight greeted them and motioned to the stallion beside her.
“Oh, it’s nice to meet you, dear.” The mare said to him and set the trays she had down to greet him. “You’re new to Ponyville?”
“Yeah.” He replied and took the offered hooves in turn. “Been here a few days.”
“Well then welcome to our home and your welcome here anytime.” Her husband said to him.
“Thanks. I appreciate the gesture.” Nix smiled in reply.
“Pinkie told us she needed to borrow the store for a couple of hours to greet a new friend and we were happy to help out.” Mrs. Cake told him.
“Yeah. Poor Phoenix is not a fan of crowds, so a small party was needed.” Rarity easily explained to them.
Both looked to him and his smile faltered for a moment. They broke into wide smiles as they looked at him. “Your welcome here anytime. I know the town will be celebrating Nightmare Night in a couple of days so if you need to hide out somewhere then our doors are open to you.” Mr. Cake said to him.
“Thank you. I may just work through it.” He replied.
“Might be for the best.” Kahl replied. “We can use that gorge Twilight mentioned to work on our own project.”
Nix nodded at the dragon’s words as the others began to clean up from the small party. Nix pitched in to help, even as they told him he didn’t need to since it was his party. He waved them off and helped anyway. As they finished Spike jumped to his back and the stallion said nothing as the baby dragon took pieces of trash from his hooves and pitched them to the trash from the Unicorns back. When they finished the dragon jumped from his back and high hoofed the stallion for their teamwork, a chuckle breaking from the stallion at Spike’s antics. He left the shop with Twilight, who insisted on walking him home. He was quiet as they walked and looked to the houses around him.
“So where did that sword come from?” Spike asked him.
“Huh?” Nix looked to him, startled.
“That sword on your mantle.” Spike clarified. “It looks really cool but way too high for me to look at up close.”
“Oh. That was a gift.” He replied and hoped they would drop the subject.
“From who?” The dragon pressed.
Nix nearly told him to drop it but he knew that the baby dragon was curious and not trying to drag him through memory lane. “From the ponies that helped me in the last town I lived in.”
“Oh, that’s cool. They gave you that?”
“Yeah. Was a big surprise.” He admitted.
“Cool. Can I see it?”
“Nah. I leave it in place at the moment.” He replied, praying that he would drop it.
“Oh okay. Maybe another time?”
“Sure.” Nix replied and smiled for the dragon at his side.
“So what are your plans now, Nix?” Twilight asked him.
“Probably do some work, then hit the hay.” Nix replied.
“If you decide you need some help feel free to let me know and I’ll add my organizing skills.” Twilight said to him.
“If you ask her to, be ready for her to redo everything you’ve already done. Just warning you.” Spike said to him.
Twilight flushed and huffed for a moment as the stallion chuckled. “She probably has a better method of it than me. I just put things in the way that looks easiest.”
“That can work. Is it alphabetical?” She asked.
“No.” He replied. “Easiest, not exact.”
She looked to the sky for a moment before glancing to him. “I’ll help a little tonight.” She said with finality.
Nix opened his mouth to argue when a bark of laughter from Kahl stopped him. “I stepped in that one, didn’t I?”
“With all four hooves.” The dragon confirmed.
“Not too long though.” He replied to Twilight as he opened the front door with his magic and the door swung wide and nearly banged into the wall.
“What did I say earlier?” Kahl reminded him.
“Focusing too much?” Nix replied as he tried to ignore the look from Twilight.
“Among other things yes.” Kahl replied.
“Nix?”
“Sorry. Was a bit distracted.” He explained and shrugged as he led them inside.
“Really?” Twilight said to him, doubt in her tone.
Spike walked in behind her and said nothing as the stallion pushed the door closed gently behind them. He led them toward the basement and opened the door manually, allowing them to walk down the steps ahead of him. Twilight looked around the basement and he could see her eyes widen at the space and the equipment.
“Wow.” Spike voiced as he looked around. “You may end up with Twilight here all the time to use your stuff.”
Nix chuckled and shook his head. “I doubt that.”
“I don’t.” Spike replied.
Nix looked too the purple mare and he watched as her horn lit with her magenta aura and the items in the room began to spin around them. “Uh oh.” Nix said as he grabbed Spike and pushed him to the ground as items went over them. Above him, books spun around them and were put into their place in the shelves and he looked up as she cast a glance to him.
“Nix. This is really bad.” She gave him a slight scolding. “You and I both know you’re more organized than this.”
He managed not to cringe at her light scolding tone. He glanced to Spike who looked knowingly back at him. In the back of his mind, he could hear Kahl laughing at him. “You’re supposed to on my side.” He complained to the dragon.
“I am. I’m just greatly amused by this young mare scolding you like a colt.” Kahl replied, laughter in his tone.
“Like I said Twilight, easiest to find.” He replied.
“I know but come on.” She teased. “None of these in the right place to make it easy to find. If you wanted to use a set of chemicals, your books on them are on the other side of the room.”
“True. But I’ll need the exercise if I’m sitting all the time.” He mentioned.
Twilight looked over her shoulder at him as items slid into place. She gave him a look that screamed ‘are you serious’? The midnight stallion looked around him as things were put in place and she finished after several more minutes and then looked to him.
“It looked like you were trying to make things difficult.” She said to him. “It should have taken you even less time than me to do that with your magic. But it looks like you weren’t even using it.” She said and loomed to the filled shelves around her.
He cringed at her and she stared at him. She opened her mouth to speak but Spike gasped, earning their attention.
“Twilight, it’s by Starswirl.” He said aloud.
Nix’s eyes went wide as he realized that he had left it out of the lock box. “Oh shit.” He yelped and leaped to the baby dragon and grabbed the materials in his hooves. He looked up as the mare stared at him. “No.” He snapped at her as she began to come toward him. He got up and opened the lockbox and stuffed the tomes and notes into the box and locked it. At the look from the mare he stuck his horn into place and it locked in place.
“Nix!” She yelled at him and looked at the lockbox. “That was one of Starswirls lessons?”
“No. It actually wasn’t.” He replied and glared at the baby dragon.
“That could have been done better.” Kahl said to him.
“Nix.” She said to him.
“Sorry. That was supposed to be in the box but I forgot it earlier. I was moving things around and it got left out.”
“It’s not a lesson?” She asked him, trying to look over his shoulder at the locked box. “What was it?”
“A failed experiment of his.” He lied. “I’m using it to add perspective to a project.”
“Failed?” She asked, her tone was incredulous at his claim.
“Every pony fails at some things, Twilight.” He replied hotly to her. “It’s just for perspective. If you recall we had a class about how Starswirl and other ponies would do experiments that were not looked well on among their peers?” She nodded. “So it’s one of those. It was never finished and I’m using it to help with a project.”
“What project is it?”
“Nosy little thing isn’t she?” Kahl added.
“You have no idea.” He replied to the dragon as he spoke to the mare. “It’s for the storage of Magical Essence.”
“Oh.” She sat back and looked at him. “Magical essence storage is not easy. So I see why you might need a great Unicorns perspective.”
“And you aren’t?” Kahl replied hotly.
“Exactly.” He replied.
The purple Unicorn backed up and was quiet as she looked around her. “But why were you not using your magic to finish this?”
“I was making sure I was looking through the materials first.” He explained. “I wanted to make sure that I knew what I had.”
“Oh.” She looked guiltily around the basement and cringed. “I think I undid your work then.”
“It’s fine. I can poke through it still. It’s fine. Might be easier to look through this way.” He tried to assuage her concerns and smiled at her.
“Okay. If you need help with anything let me know. I’m sorry I teased you about it.” She said to him.
“It’s fine. I’ve been teased worse. I’ve got pretty thick skin so it's fine.” He replied as he led them up to the stairs and to the door. “You guys need me to walk ya home?”
“No. Thank you anyway, Nix. I’m glad you’re doing better. If you decide to come out for Nightmare Night come to the Library. Spike and I will walk around with you. Might be easier that way.” She said to him and gave him a hug as she spoke.
“Sure. If I choose to go out I’ll let you know. Thanks for the help.” He said to her.
He waved to them as they left him behind and he closed the door and locked it behind him. He backed up to the door and leaned his flank against it, then his back and he slid to the floor, sitting in front of the door. His mind went over what had happened and he kicked himself for leaving Starswirls project out in the open. He didn’t like lying to Twilight but he knew that telling her it was about a blood ritual would have guaranteed more questions.
“I had forgotten about it as well.” Kahl said to him, his voice soothing. “You did well in deflecting her questions.”
“I know but still. That was stupid.” Nix replied.
“Not really. You were distracted by other things, that’s no fault of your own.”
“Maybe. Still, she did clean up my mess.” Nix joked back to the dragon.
“That is true.” Kahl chuckled in reply. [i “What will you do with this Nightmare Night?”
“I will probably go to the gorge or hide down in the basement. I didn’t really like it even as a kid.” Nix admitted.
His eyes went from the ground in front of him to the blade above the mantle. He could see the glittering hilt even in the dark. He knew that he could see as well in the dark as he could in the light due to the dragon he shared his body with.
“You still have not named it.” Kahl said o him.
“I know. Nothing seems to fit.”
“It will come to you in time.” Kahl replied, his voice quiet. “You have access to other languages now, so perhaps that can help.”
“Huh?”
“I speak several languages and through me so do you.”
“Oh. Cool.” He said as he got his hooves and stretched. “What’s remember in dragon?”
“Hmm? What version?” Kahl asked. “Dragons have several tongues.”
“What's the oldest?”
“That would be Ancient Dracoran.” Kahl replied to him. “A version of remembrance would be Veltoraa.”
“Veltoraa?”
“Yes. It translates down to Remember Life.”
Nix was quiet as he walked to the mantle and gently pulled the blade down and sat down on the couch with it across his lap. He pulled the weapon free and looked at the bright sapphire gem embedded within it. His hoof went over the gem and he looked up from the weapon.
“What is the significance of the Sapphire?” Kahl asked him. “Strong said that you would understand it.”
Nix chuckled and looked back to the weapon. “Melody was the mare that first rescued me that night I showed up in the village. When I came to I was in their house in front of the fire. They were using it to make sure I stayed warm. I panicked at it and she held onto me, telling me to think of the sea. The deep blue sea. She covered my eyes and sang to me. It was an old seaside lullaby that her mother had sung to her. I don’t know all the words but it was about finding comfort in the unending waves of blue water and loving what they find under the surface.” Nix explained. “She is…was…an amazing mare.”
“I agree. Makes me think you would be best suited to the Elemental dragon of water.” Kahl joked quietly to him.
“Maybe. But I don’t think he would have stopped to help a village of ponies.” Nix replied as his hoof went over the gem once more.
“Probably not.” Kahl admitted. “If they had been close to the water maybe.”
“This gem was hers.”
“Then why is it here?” Kahl asked.
“She put it around my neck when I was hurt and she told me to look to it when the fire got to be too much to bear. She made sure the chain was really long so it could lay in front of me and I could see it easier. She told me that it would wash away any nightmares.”
“I see. A special mare indeed.” Kahl agreed quietly.
Nix sniffled and slid the weapon back into the scabbard.
“Wait.” Kahl voiced. “Pull it once more. I have an idea.”
Nix pulled the sword back out of the scabbard and waited as the dragon began to speak to him once more.
“Would you wish to engrave the name you have chosen on the blade?”
“You can do that?”
“We can.” Kahl replied.
“Yeah. Will it damage it?”
“Of course not. I would not have offered it I thought it would harm the weapon.” Kahl chided him.
“Sorry. So what do I do?”
“Lay it down on the hearth. The last thing we need is to accidentally slip and engrave the couch.”
“Funny, but bad.” Nix agreed and set the weapon gently on the hearth.
“Now focus on the weapon and I will handle the engraving. Dracoran takes on new meaning if it’s misspelled or used wrong.”
“Uh oh. Yeah, you take the engraving.”
Nix focused his mind on the weapon and his magic gently gripped the weapon in its merged aura of blue and flame. He held it still and let Kahl work through him. Allowing the dragon to have control of their combined magic and waiting until he was told what to do. His eyes closed as the light from the sword brightened. He could hear Kahl speaking, but he couldn’t hear what he was saying over the magic rushing through them. He could feel a gentle wind going over him as the magic flowed over the weapon and his fur.
“Done. Lay it down gently and tell me if you like it.” Kahl finally said to him.
“Okay.” He opened his eyes and gently released the blade.
He looked at the weapon and he could see a shimmer going over the weapon and he watched as the writing close to the gemstone faded from fiery writing into bold dark lettering on the blade. He looked closely and he could see that the writing flowed and was beautiful to behold. The letters flowed together and looked like they had been there all along. They were written directly under the gemstone and he sat down in front of the weapon and stared at it.
“Nix?”
“Yeah…” He quietly replied. “It’s perfect. I think they would have loved this as well. It looks like this was there all along. It’s…just…Perfect.”
“I’m glad. Dracoran can be a bit tricky to use but when it is done right then it is quite the sight to see.”
“It looks like the weapon is…what did you do to it?”
“I added magic to it. It will not chip, nor break. It will endure as long as we do.” Kahl replied to him. “It is not my Element but I tried to give it an essence of water.”
“How did you? You’re of flame?”
“Perhaps. But that does not mean I cannot ask the others for a little bit of them, same as they can from me.” Kahl replied.
“I can’t believe you…Thank you, Kahl.”
“My pleasure, Phoenix.” Kahl replied to him.
Nix picked up the weapon and sat it across his lap once more. He ran a hoof over the writing and he smiled at the memories of the couple that was like a second family to him. His hoof went over the gem and he slid the weapon back to its scabbard and stood to reset it in place. The Unicorn was quiet as he watched the scabbard glinting in the fading light. He backed up and went into the kitchen and looked over his shoulder to the weapon. It seemed to glow in place and he smiled at the sight of it. The midnight blue stallion looked back to the kitchen and cleaned up the few small things off the counter and went toward the basement door. He closed it quietly and walked toward his room.