//------------------------------//
// Chapter Six: Village Venture 
// Story: Heart of Magic 
// by TheCrimsonDM 
//------------------------------//




Heart of Magic Chapter Six



Heart of Magic

Chapter Six: Village Venture


Twilight felt like she was being forced to do this, but Applejack had made a very convincing argument. For some reason Luna was tagging along as well. The two of them followed Applejack through the town and a few stray stares from ponies made Twilight remember just how odd a sight she and Luna must still be, even after all this time. Her the wingless alicorn, and Luna the Princess of Night. Luna leaned over and whispered into Twilight's ear, "Why are we following the small orange one again?"

Twilight shook her head. "Because we're going to see Rarity."

Applejack hollered back at them. "Honestly, Twi. You do know you done went and hurt Rarity's feelings when you ditched her yesterday."

Twilight wanted to scream about having something much more important to do at the moment, but not only could she not let anypony know about the Alicorn Empire, but Luna had convinced her that she had plenty of time for the small things in life. Maybe Luna knew as well as Twilight that pretty soon things such as going to visit a friend for a small conversation, or apology, would soon be a luxury she couldn’t afford.

The walk through town wasn't that long and she arrived at Rarity's boutique and home faster than she expected she would. For a long moment she simply stared at the front door feeling a knot twisting in her gut. She couldn't tell if it was the alcohol or fear, but whatever it was she hated it. Maybe some more whiskey would wash the feeling away?

Applejack pushed open the door, Luna followed her, and Twilight then after. Once inside the room was somehow bright and inviting despite all the windows being covered by large red drapes. There were a few mannequins with dresses on them, and a full body mirror. A particularly outstanding mannequin was about Twilight's size, and had a dress that took away Twilight's breathe. The dress was black, with dark purple stripes along the side going from the flank to the chest where they connected into a heart shape. The dress curled up at the neck into a series of black spikes. The legs were covered in a material that looked like it was black lace, but something about it seemed tougher than that, metallic perhaps. There was also a nice tangy electrical feeling coming off of the dress. It was positively drenched in magical energy. 

Luna raised her eyebrow. "What is this?"

Rarity's voice came from the stairs. "Well you don't have to sound so shocked, darling."

Twilight watched as Rarity descended the staircase. She looked just as young as she had when Twilight first met her, with no obvious changes save for one; her draconic eyes which had a soft glow to them. A friendly smiled was aimed at Twilight. "Twilight, dear, how have you been?"

Twilight shrugged. "About as good as I can be."

Rarity's eyes hardened for a moment as she examined Twilight, and then looked over to Luna. They relaxed just as fast and she reached the bottom step with a small hop. With a glance back to the dress Rarity beamed. "This is my greatest project yet, the Dress of Nightly Love."

Luna gave a small chuckle. "I presume it's a gift for Twilight then."

Rarity nodded. "Of course it is. She needs to be protected if she's going to be able to live a nice long life with you, dear."

Luna smiled. "Well I approve of both the design and the name."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Great, so you're new project is meant to tease me."

Rarity frowned. "Of course not. It's a celebration of the love you two share not an attack on it... oh my, did I... I'm sorry if I offended you."

Luna butted in. "Ignore Twilight, she's just grumpy from the hangover."

Twilight complained, "It wouldn't be a hangover if somepony would have let me finish my morning drink."

Rarity's eyes faltered, and her smile along with it. It took a moment for her to recover and force a smile that didn't quite touch her eyes. "Well I expect you two are curious what prompted me to design this work of beauty?"

Twilight sat down. "You got bored with making dresses that are worth a small mansion and decided to branch out into making dresses that are worth a large mansion instead?"

Rarity shook her head. "Of course not, and who cares what its worth, it's a gift, Twilight."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Right, stop looking the mouth in the gift horse."

Rarity explained, "As you should all know I made a suit of magical, and stylish battle armor for Rainbow Dash last year. It was designed with speed, flexibility, protection, and most of all fashion in mind. She was so taken with it that I have received continuous thank yous from her after every time she's worn it. At first I was afraid she might have been a bit too taken with me, if you catch my drift, thankfully she proved she was still straight as an arrow with her last boyfriend. Anyway, it got me thinking, if I could keep one of my friends safe from harm; why not keep all of them safe?"

For the first time today, Twilight heard some good news. "Oh? That sounds like a great idea."

Rarity nodded. "Of course it was, and I'm so glad you agree. After that first one I really took the time to sit down and consider all aspects of what could go into my next one, what was needed, who needed it, and what it should represent. As for you Twilight, since you’ve really taken to the night and I see how happy Luna has made you, I thought something representing your love would suit you the most. Please keep in mind it's not entirely finished."

Twilight looked at the dress with new found appreciation. Sure it would make her look like some of the villains from her distant past, but that didn't exactly have to be a bad thing. Why shouldn't her enemies fear her wraith, after all she could probably crush an entire kingdom by herself if she really wanted to... well not one filled with alicorns. 

Rarity continued. "Some of the features of this piece include, protection from elements, excessive damage resistance, an environmental shield to protect you from any situations including, loss of oxygen, acid rain, toxic fumes, and poison breath."

Twilight blinked. "Poison breath?"

Rarity gave her a serious look. "Have you ever smelled Rainbow Dash's breath?"


***


Amber stood there in front of Fluttershy's cottage pawing at the soil and making a small pit out of boredom. Sitting on the windowsill across from her was a white bunny rabbit who couldn't help but to stare at her maliciously. The thing seemed to hate anypony that was too close to Fluttershy, even family, even family after seventeen years of knowing them. Luckily it was well enough trained it would refrain from pulling any more pranks unless provoked. 

The only exception to this rule included Pinkie PIe, Sophie, and Hush Puppy. Though with the last one it was likely more because Hush Puppy was a bit allergic to rabbits and the darn thing was likely sick of being sneezed on. Actually Hush's allergies must have been a hard thing for Fluttershy to deal with as rabbits and animals of all kinds were her entire life.

Hush Puppy spoke quietly. "You know Angle Bunny doesn't really hate you right."

"Yeah right, just look at those eyes."

"He's guarding the house, and maybe me, from you and your bad influence."

Amber looked at him. "Okay, who told him I was a bad influence now?"

He shrugged. "I don't know if anyone said that directly, but he isn't dumb."

Fluttershy's voice came out from the front door just a moment before she did. "Angel Bunny is very intelligent. He even got his GED a couple years ago."

Amber stared at her, ignoring the brown saddle bags she wore and had to ask, "How does a freaking rabbit get a GED?"

Fluttershy giggled. "Through hard work and determination."

Amber groaned. "What are you, a freaking PSA?"

Fluttershy refrained from answering that and instead walked up to them and tossed an extra set of saddlebags onto Amber's back. "You'll need these."

Amber looked at her. "What are these for?"

Fluttershy blinked. "Didn't your mom tell you? I could have sworn I asked her to explain it to you."

"Explain what?"

Hush Puppy took a step back. "I'll keep a close eye on Blackout while you're gone."

"Like Tartarus you will, you're dumb crush is gonna get your teeth kicked in." 

Fluttershy sighed. "Hushy, don't tease Amber like that. Also, please take her advice, Rainbow's eldest can be a bit... excitable."

Amber shook herself to let go of the distraction. "Okay, what's going on? Where are we going?"

Fluttershy smiled as if that would fix anything. "We're going out into the Everfree Forest, and we'll be gone a few days as we work on helping the monsters there."

Amber blinked. "You're nuts, I'm not staying a few days in there."

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. "Oh, would you like me to get Twilight to come so you can feel safer. I know how scary the forest can be for a young filly."

Amber narrowed her eyes. "Oh so you don't think I can take it huh? Well screw you then, I'll go, and I'll be better than anyone else ever was." Seriously how dare she treat Amber like she was a mere foal. 

Fluttershy smiled once again and walked to the door. She came back with a large box on her back and laid it down in front of Amber. "You're going to need this then."

The box was rather modest. A brown wooden box, a bit withered from age, and held shut by two slightly rusted latches. Amber pushed the box with a hoof and found it was surprisingly heavy. It was also long, almost as long as her entire body. Placing a hoof on either latches she snapped the latches open and lifted the box lid with modest effort as it creaked from age. 

Inside she saw something she'd not seen in quite some time. It was a blacksmith hammer. The head was flat on both sides and black with chips taken out of it from use. The handle was wood, smoothed and polished so there would never be any splinters. Amber took it in her telekinetic grasp and felt its weight. The thing came with a belt meant to hold it on her side through the loops when not in use. The last time she had seen the Blacksmith Hammer was the day she went to save the town from the shadow thing. Twilight had confiscated it afterwards and told Amber once her martial arts training was finished she could have it back. But... her training wasn't over yet.

Fluttershy's laugh snapped Amber out of her trance, and when she looked down to make eye contact with her aunt she got her answer. "Amber, sweetie, I know Twilight wanted to have a big party and everything but she wanted me to let you know, you've passed your martial arts training. At least, the training part of it. Now you can use your weapon to practice the hard part."

Amber snapped the belt around herself and sheathed the hammer at her side. "What's that?"

"The practical part."


***


Twilight was still not positive today was going to be any better than it had been in the past, but she was still trying her best to make it work for her. One thing in particular involved heading toward the big thing she was going to do today, other than the work she was going to be putting towards fixing this mess at the border. She was meeting one of her old students, and best friends. Who knows, maybe this meeting will help with her original mission too?

Speaking of which, Celestia had made a point that Twilight only caught a glimpse of in her drunken state. They knew where several of the Changeling camps were, and with the fact they hadn't attacked in quite some time, they needed to send some scouts on recon to see what those monsters were doing. Some part of her realized she should be less vindictive towards Chrysalis's changelings, they were after all capable of good, but there was too much going on already to allow herself such sentiments. 

If Twilight was going to start sending out recon squads though she'd have to be careful. If the Alicorn Empire could destroy an entire town of soldiers, kill an alicorn, and do so without so much as a scratch, then she'd have to take caution with her choices of who should explore the south. After all whoever went there would be facing more dangers than just Changelings. 

She'd be meeting Starlight just outside of town at a little ruin that had stood for a long time now, one that Twilight only really discovered a few years back. The old ruin she was fast approaching was the skeleton of a two story house. Half the house was simply missing as though some terrible bomb went off besides it, and the walls were void of large chunks revealing the frame. Black scorch marks over the wood told the story of a fire from long ago. Twilight approached carefully as with any old building like this one could never be quite sure if it was about to collapse or not.

She didn't see Starlight out here so she chose to lie in the grass and pull out her journal. She was keeping a collection of notes, thoughts, and potential plans in here and working on them every chance she had. There was even a mouth drawn map of southern Equestria and the Changeling locations. She already decided that she was going to send Rainbow Dash to one of these locations soon, the mare was fast, had excellent eyesight, and could get a good recon from less than a second of watching any potential site, but more importantly, she could be trusted to take care of herself, even against an alicorn.

Starlight's voice came out from behind Twilight giving the mare a heart attack. "What are you reading?"

Twilight slammed the book shut more on impulse than decision. "Starlight! You scared me!"

Starlight smiled down at her. The pink mare held a few books in her telekinetic aura and was stretching out one of her wings as she read the book titles. "I don't remember which one of these you wanted, so I brought all of them."

Twilight rose to her full height, an imposing site against most, but with an alicorn as old as Starlight they were almost the same height. "Actually I might need all of the history of Southern Equestria volumes so that's good."

Starlight's eyebrow rose. "Seriously? I mean the place is interesting and all, but these books are like, the most boring things on the planet. You know I like a good text book, but the typos, flat writing, and lack of pictures really make them a hard read."

Twilight shook her head. "Even I have a hard time with these books, but they are also some of the few accurate texts referencing Southern Equestria. Right now I need to learn all that I can." 

When exactly did Starlight become an Alicorn? For some reason Twilight couldn't remember. Was it after Twilight lost her wing to balefire? Did it matter? Starlight could be trusted to do most anything, and in this case she might really help out. Maybe Twilight found her second scout, assuming the mare was up for the task of going to Southern Equestria. All Twilight could really do was ask, right? 

"Hey, Starlight, I have a favor to ask."