It was a new day in Equestria, and the Sun had just recently left its nightly chambers, slowly climbing up the sky.
Some ponies in Ponyville were out and about, doing their morning chores and preparing the hamlet for the daylight life to begin.
The residents of the towering tree-like castle were no exception. Twilight woke up early today. Upon having some of her quality sleep, the mare was walking down the halls leading to the kitchen. When Twilight turned a corner, she noticed the next corridor was filled with a strange but tempting aroma. Pushing the kitchen doors apart, she saw her number one assistant, Spike, gobbling up a pair of hot pancakes flavored with maple syrup. “Good morning, Spike,” she greeted with joy in her voice when noticed the two other plates hoarded with pancake goodness.
“Morning, Twilight, slept well?”
“Yep!” she exclaimed happily. “Nothing helps you rest more than a book before sleep.” Twilight went and took a seat at the table, mentally preparing for the great breakfast to come.
“Can’t argue with that,” he stated with a chuckle.
“What d’ you mean?” she said before poking a cut off of a pancake into her mouth.
“Well, you see, oftentimes you read a book, everypony suddenly gets that urging feeling to sleep. Some of your books are total sleepers.”
“They ar—” Twilight began to speak, only having to cough as a piece of the food suddenly blocked the air. When she got the life-giving oxygen resupplied, she shot Spike a glare. “My books are not boring. They are well written, informative and funny.”
“Yeah, yea,” he said while waving for her to continue with her breakfast. “Anyway, where’s Nyx? The food won’t stay warm all the morning.”
“She’s probably still in her bed, we were reading last night,” she told him, but then saw the dragon snickering at her again. “What?”
“You wanted to lull her to sleep, huh?”
Twilight studied the dragonet for a second, and then gave him her answer.
“No, and yes.” This gained her only a confused stare from Spike. “For your information, I did want her to sleep, but she did enjoy the book as well.”
“Heh, eggheads,” he uttered quietly so the mare wouldn’t hear him. “But shouldn’t she be up by now? She’s got school today, or not?
After that Twilight froze for a second, then as abruptly as her mind halted, she snapped in going overdrive. “Oh no! What time is it!?” she said shooting the clock a gaze so intense that it made Spike worry the device would break apart under the gaze’s pressure.
“We can still make it in time,” the mare announced and teleported away.
~~~
It felt like time had come to halt during the class. The lesson had just about reached its climax, Cheerilee having lectured the students on physics. However, it appeared the young ponies had hardly paid any attention and their eyes were fixated on the far wall where they impatiently watched the clock.
“Now, does anypony have any questions before we go to recess?”
Every foal in the class had either shifted expectantly or prepared to shoot their annoyed stares towards a particular black alicorn filly, although, no questions arose.
The only filly, curious and daring enough to delay the recess for her classmates, had been contently lying in her desk with her head laid on a stack of literature while she slept.
The class’ attention shifted towards Nyx. It surprised almost everyone in the room, that not even Cheerilee’s most classical question was able to wake the filly up.
“Miss Cheerilee! Ah got a question!” Apple Bloom suddenly called out, furiously waving her hooves in the air to draw Cheerilee’s attention.
Everyone in the class, save for the mare before the board who smiled broadly, gazed towards the farm filly with annoyed stares and it’d looked like Nyx was no longer in danger of being spied upon.
“Yes, Apple Bloom? What is it?”
“Ah was hopin’ you mighta know where...” Apple Bloom went on with her distraction, but that all was beyond Scootaloo, who had gone incognito among the desks, and was focused on getting Nyx to wake up.
She tried tapping her upon the shoulder, calling her name and tapping harder, but it seemed Nyx was in the middle of a deep sleep.
I didn’t think the class was that boring, Scootaloo thought, but then a wide grin enriched her muzzle as an idea had come to life. “Drastic times call for drastic measures,” Scootaloo whispered to herself and leaned for one of Nyx’s wings.
At first, she had just preened out a few feathers of her friend’s black wing, but then, she pulled.
The reaction was immediate. Nyx, flapping her wings wild, burst out from her lay-down spot on the desk and collided against the chair. Straightening herself up instantly, the filly pretended as if nothing had happened. The rumble didn’t go unnoticed though, and the teacher shortly after looked away from the yellow earth filly to the black alicorn.
“Everything alright, Nyx?”
“Y-yes, miss Cherrylee,” Nyx responded. Although she might had just imagined it, it seemed like behind her Scootaloo had a good laugh.
Looking behind, she saw the pegasus was trying to hold back her snickers. And she had one of her feathers!
Groaning under her breath, Nyx turned to the teacher and mentally began preparing to give the pegasus piece of her mind, although, before she could have had a chance, the bell rung the time for the recess and soon every filly and colt in the room were rushing for the door.
~~~
During the recess, the schoolfoals retreated for the safety of the schoolyard, enjoying the fresh air and the distance from the educational environment.
Along with them were Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Twist, and Nyx.
The latest filly was still upset with her pegasus friend, although, most of her anger had already boiled out.
The spring sun was doing quite wonders with her black furry coat, making her feel relaxed and warm, but the question in her head still remained. “Hey, Scoots? Why did you pull on my wing?”
“Yea,” the filly let out a nervous chuckle. “Sorry about that Nyx, but you had fallen asleep during the class, and I had to do something before Cherrylee saw you.”
“It’s true, Nyx,” Apple Bloom approved. “Ah had to distract miss Cherrylee, otherwise she’d go and see ya. Is somethin’ wrong? It’s not like you to fall asleep durin’ Miss Cherrylee’s classes,” Apple Bloom told the young alicorn while Sweetie Belle watched them with concern in her eyes.
“I am just a little tired,” Nyx explained. Suddenly, an idea she couldn’t resist became apparent.
“Hey, Scoot?” She drew the pegasus’ attention.
With just a spark of magic, Nyx grew up two sharply looking fangs and replaced her feathery wings with brand new leathery ones. “One day, I’ll get your feathers back for what you’ve done,” she said, and while spreading her wings in a way predator would do, Nyx shot the pegasus her most evilish grin she could muster, however, it was briefly ruined by a yawn that escaped her.
“He-heh, you wouldn’t do that, right?” Scootaloo asked, impressed by the sight, but then Nyx tried to mend her evil impression and slowly began to approach Scootaloo, who then froze, and from fear for her feathers, she tucked her wings tightly to her sides.
At the sight of the shaking pegasus, Nyx couldn’t help but smile victoriously. “Gotcha!” she said with a hoof pointed at the orange filly and called off her spell.
“Phew.” Scootaloo visibly relaxed. “Don’t do that ever again, Nyx! You’ve got me worried for a second.”
“Yeah, that look was certainly something,” Apple Bloom commented. “You could do it again when’s Nightmare Night. But what were ya doin’ last night since you’re so tired?”
“Reading,” the black alicorn said bluntly. “I was searching for a book for the assignment in our library until Twilight found me.”
“Uh-huh,” Scootaloo acknowledged, “so you were eggheading with Twilight.”
“What? No! We were just reading a story.”
“Awww,” Sweetie Belle whined. “I miss the days when my mom would read to me. It’s been a while since the last time Rarity, or them, read me a story.”
“Well,” Nyx said, thinking over what she was about to suggest. “If you want, I don’t think Twilight would mind if you guys joined us after school.”
“I’ll go!” the white filly chirped happily.
“Twist?” Nyx turned to the quiet crusader.
“I’ll have to ask my parents, but yes, I’d like to go,” Twistaloo answered. “I wonder what the story is about, though.”
“I am not sure yet, but somepony in it called Sombra seems to have taken over the Crystal Empire.” Nyx shot Apple Bloom and Scootaloo a questioning look.
“Sorry, Nyx, Ah promised Big Mac to help out at the farm today. Ah think he’s got somethin’ planned tonight.”
“And what about you, Scootaloo? Will you tag along?”
“Nah, being in a reading club is more for eggheads like you than me, but you gals have fun. Besides, I’ve already got planned to go and watch Rainbow Dash practice.”
“Hey,” Nyx suddenly called, “you could be her number one assistant, like Spike is to Twilight!”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, you know, helping and stuff like that...” Nyx paused and thought briefly. “You could help her prepare the grounds for her course! Offer her a bit of fresh water when she tires out. You see? If you were her assistant, you would get to spend with her so much more time and wouldn’t that be awesome?”
Scootaloo’s eyes shimmered like two little stars at the thought of being with her personal heroine more often and her wings began bashing by her sides. “That. Would. Be. Awesome!”
Suddenly, the four other fillies burst into a joyful laughter.
When Scootaloo realized what had happened, her cheeks turned crimson and she immediately went urging her friends to stop laughing.
However, before the group could calm down properly, the bell in the tower at the top of the school rang, signalling for the foals to return to their seats in the class.
~~~
The Sun was slowly going on its circuit, upon her tour in the sky and in a few hours would set beyond the horizon.
Twilight had just recently finished her meeting with Canterlot dignitaries and was heading to the living quarters in the castle where Spike along with Nyx were supposed to wait for her arrival.
When Twilight arrived and stepped through the doors, Nyx and Spike were both resting on the couch, enjoying chocolate cookies.
But when the filly saw the mare, prepared she stepped up towards her adoptive mother to address her. “Twilight? Would you mind if I’ve invited two friends over to join us? I really hope you won’t, because I’ve invited Sweetie Belle and Twist over to join us for the story, and they should be here anytime soon.”
For a second, Twilight just silently stared ahead before the information caught to her. “Nyx! You should have told me we are going to have guests! We should have had prepared something for them! Are the cookies going to be enough? What if—” Twilight abruptly inhaled, while her mind went on in its race. “What if they don’t like my reading? A-and then because of me won’t like the book? That would ruin the whole evening! Or... They might end up with aversion toward books and then they won’t read. Ever. AGAIN!?”
“Twilight, that’s too many “what if”s and that’s just ridiculous,” Spike told her while holding a cookie in his claw. “Who would’ve stopped reading after only one bad book?”
“Yeah! And the cookies are great, Twilight,” Nyx said and offered her mother one of the sweets, who accepted the gesture and took a seat in her favourite chair, “I think Sweetie Belle and Twist will like them,” the black filly added.
“And if we run out, we can always have Nyx fetch some more from Sugarcube Corner,” the dragon proclaimed lazily from his spot on the couch, but then noticed the questioning look Nyx was giving him. “What? It was you who invited them. They’re your responsibility.”
“It has to be enough,” Twilight announced, her sight drifting over the full plate while she was enjoying the taste. Then Spike took another of the chocolate treats and shoved it behind his teeth. “That’s it unless a certain dragon keeps eating them like it would be his dinner.”
While was Spike leaning over for another of the sweet goods, suddenly, his claw was enveloped in a violet light that pushed him back, and from behind the table, Twilight was giving him her sternmost look, upon which he slowly began to withdraw back.
“Twilight?” Nyx asked, being back on the couch. “I think your reading is great. I like the way you change your voice when different ponies are speaking.”
“Thank you, Nyx, it’s nice of you to say so, but—” sudden noise rocketed through the halls as somepony outside knocked at the front doors. The knocking easily reached its addressee in the living room of the castle.”But it seems I have to go open the door. BRB!” Twilight told them and in a jiffy lit up her horn and disappeared into the castle’s depths.
After a few minutes, the doors into the living room reopened once more, and Twilight walked into the room, followed closely by two fillies behind her.
The two new foals rushed in from behind the other mare and while swiftly uttering their greetings to Spike and Nyx, Sweetie Belle and then Twist as well took seats on the furniture. The group then stayed still, everyfilly and dragon watching the now princess of books expectantly.
Upon seeing those eager faces, Twilight went and got comfortable as well in her chair, then she shortly recapitulated the events of the previous chapter and began reading the new, second one.
~~ Chapter 2. ~~
~~ The decisions we make ~~
“My queen!” a hissing call went through the calmness of the night. The call was followed by fervent beating of a pair of wings as their master kept fighting the air.
“My queen!” The voice called once more through the darkness, now from within a cave.
After a while, the source of the hissing emerged from the dark into dimly lit tunnels. It had been a small equine-like creature. As the creature went on, the walls became to be decorated with lumps of dense ooze which emitted green light onto the path to see.
“My queen! Sssh!” the creature hissed, sticking it’s long tongue out. It had arrived into a bigger dome-like cave. “We’ve found them!”
“Finally!!!” A figure within shadows rose to her hooves, and with hungry eyes was looking towards the future that was yet to come. “Tell everyone to prepare, with the first sunrays we leave this forsaken wasteland. It is time for us to get some love!”
~~~
Back in the Blazing Suns, the stars were lazily moving across the night sky and in a few hours, along with the Moon, would set into the chambers beyond the mountains. Everypony was still either asleep in their beds or were dru— or were enjoying the sights of the night sky after the farewell celebration, outside.
Only two ponies were awake and about at this yearly hour. Hidden within the shadows of the trees on the town’s edge, two stallions stood. They were avoiding all the light as if it would reveal them like some outlaws for everypony to see, and were trying to stay as quiet as possible in their hideout, bringing a certain level of secrecy to their conversation.
“Please, Fruity! I need to be sure she’s alright while I’m gone!” one of them said.
“Arth you sure about t’is, Black? Ah don’t think she needs some olde’ stallion to keep watchin’ over her. She ain’t a filly anymore!”
“Please, I beg you! Do this for me, she’s all I have left after her!”
“Alright, alright! No needth to get all sobby and emotional. Ah’ll make surth yer daughter’s safe while you’re gone.”
“Y-you will!? Thank you a million times, my friend!”
“Yeah, yeah... Justh don’th ya let others kill ya, alright?”
“I’ll do my best! But as of right now, I have to return home and get ready. Thanks again!”
~~~
It was about sunrise and the grey stallion, Black Phoenix, had all his necessities ready and packed.
He was about to open the front door and leave, but then behind him echoed hoofsteps as somepony else walked closer. “Dad? What are these things for? Are we going somewhere?”
The sentence pierced his heart and caused him pain greater than being stabbed with a million of daggers. “No, Nyx, not us. I am.”
“What? Where?” she asked, dumbfounded.
Suddenly the possible truth got to her. It cannot be a coincidence you are leaving just after the guards’ arrival, can be? He can’t leave me, I have no one else... “You aren’t going with the guards, are you?” she questioned and waited a few seconds for any signs of denial, however, only silence followed.
“Are you?” the mare resounded, only to be rewarded with silence again.
“Answer me!” Nyx demanded, anger burning in her eyes. “Tell me that you aren’t leaving me forever behind! That you aren’t going with the guards to the Crystal Empire to—” her voice halted along with her thoughts at the moment’s notice. While the mare thought, her whole body shook uncomfortably and with every passing second Nyx felt weaker and weaker. Suddenly her sight became blurred and tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. All that caused by only one thought. “T-tell me you aren’t going to die there.”
“Nyx!” the stallion called and in an instant his hooves were around his daughter, pulling her into a bearful hug. “Nyx! I have to go! I have to aid other ponies to protect our home! I have to protect them from this mage. I have to protect you, please understand this. The best way to do so, is to leave now so I can stop them!” he said, and pulled away from the hug. Then, lifting her ground gaze with his hoof, he added: “And I will return to you.”
“You promise?”
He gave Nyx his confident look, and then, with a nod he told her: “I promise.”
“Alright,” the mare mumbled, “I’ll be waiting for you, dad.”
Then Black Phoenix opened the door and took a first, uncertain step outside, but within a second, he turned back to look behind, his expression significantly saddened.
“You are all grown up now. You can take care of yourself and our home… but if you wanted, I won’t mind if you wished to stay at your friend’s place,” Black said and was about to turn around again to get going, however, before doing so, he had one more thing to say. “I’ll see you soon, Nyx.” Afterwards, Black closed the door and left.
The room suddenly felt silent and empty. Nyx was now alone. Alone in this big, big harsh world.
~~~
That day, instead of going outside and meeting with her longtime friend Sunlight Days, like had been agreed upon earlier, Nyx stayed at her home.
The unicorn flipped a page as she went on exploring through her new edition of Starswirl’s Collection of spells and other magical means her father bought her.
While reading, Nyx was always eager to learn about magic.
This is something father would wanted for me, right? the unicorn wondered in her thoughts. To keep studying so one day I become a great magician, like I always wanted. Right?
“Processus repetita. Cast a desired spell once you have casted repetita spell and as long as you supply repetita with a stable energy flow, it will be repeatedly compelling the intended spell, or a combination of spells.
Note: processus repetita is recommended to use only for simple automation. We do not recommend using it for numerous of advanced or demanding spells.”
“Hmm,” Nyx held a hoof to her chin in thought for a moment. Then she called upon her magic and beside her bed, she formed a tower of books from her shelf. She lifted up the uppermost one and put it on the ground.
In a second, book after book began to lift and organise at their new place, forming an inverted version of the original tower.
Might be good for doing the dishes, she thought. “Now, what’s next?”
“Speed growth. Tunnels the caster’s energy into the desired object or objects, decreasing the time for the object needed to grow.
Warning: avoid using raw, wild or any other unstable magical means as the ramifications could be disastrous.”
“Fastly grown food, I’m sure Sunny would like that. Maybe, if I got the spell right, her father would forgive me that mistake with his tree.”
“F ‘n’ F. Fast and fix spell repairs some of the most essential damage done on an object.”
”El sort. Separates objects based on their differences.”
“Shields, shielding, deflectors. Good only when it rains since—”
“Seriously? Good when it rains?” She rolled her eyes. “That’s quite a description for self-defensive magic,” she said to no one in particular, but then went on reading nonetheless.
There were described many kinds of shielding spells.
From the very basic ones, creating a magical wall or a dome, to those that could summon an actual magical shield for a pony to hold.
Or a one with which the caster could create a huge dome around their house.
Or a spell that automatically searches lifesigns and encloses them in protective bubbles.
There were some additional attributes a caster could add to their spell as well.
Bored of what all can be done with a shield spell, Nyx skipped a few parts and pages until she’d got to another kind of spell in the book.
“Essentia de tenebrarum.
Warning! Only for highly advanced mages and archmages!”
I did master quite a number of spells, so I very well might be a mage as well, right? Nyx wondered in her thoughts, but then the unicorn refocused on the open book before her.
“Allows the caster to control the flow of the dark magic around them.”
Dark magic? Where did you find this book father? She thought and took a detailed look at the spell runes and instructions. At first, it looked overly complicated and the spell seemed to be really complex.
“Hmmm,” Nyx hummed to herself while she looked over the instructions, searching for patterns to memorize. After a while of reading through the texts, the mare huffed from annoyance and looked over to the next spell.
“Caligare vitae.
Warning! Only for very highly advanced archmages!
Do not cast, possibly unsecured spell,”
“Unsecured spell? Why would they put into a public spellbook unsafe spells?! Ugh!” the mare groaned in annoyance. “Alright, Nyx, calm down, it’s just a book... With unknown spells... Unknown, unsecured, spells... Ugh! Alright, nevermind,” she said and using her magic she put the book on her table, leaving it for later examination.
With the spellbook off her mind, Nyx just stayed in her bed, lazily staring off at the ceiling above.
“Am I bored?” she wondered aloud suddenly as the unexpected thought arose.
“What do other ponies do when they’re bored?” she questioned herself for some kind of help, but surprisingly enough, an answer in the form of an idea came to light for her. “Yes! I still could go ‘n’ see Sunlight,” the mare said, and then left her comfy bed and run out of the house, looking for a friend she didn’t know she missed.
~~~
During Nyx’s search through the town for her friend, the mare realised how much emptier the place felt.
Almost every window Nyx went by was closed or even sealed with woody planks. Market stalls stood abandoned. Nopony was out and about to enjoy that nice early autumn day.
The black unicorn was about to reach their supposed meeting’s destination next to the library, but her hopes she might find Sunlight there were dimmed upon seeing the town.
Once Nyx stood before the library, it looked like it was abandoned for ages despite the fact the sign “OPEN” was hung behind the door.
Nyx briefly considered going in and borrowing something there, but then she remembered the one book she had left at home and that she might probably find Sunlight at her place.
Decided, Nyx headed for the outskirts.
~~~
Once Nyx arrived to the fence marking the farm’s border, she was again greeted by the strange stillness and silence.
Oftentimes when Nyx came to visit, there was always some brotherly song resounding around the orchards. The brother quartet loved to sing during their work, made the job done faster, they said.
But not today. She couldn’t hear a single tone for however hard she tried and listened. It was almost as if the place became abandoned.
Maybe they are just out at some other part of the orchard, Nyx thought while walking down the grassy path among the trees.
A shadow flicked from above her, catching her by surprise and having her momentarily startled. Looking up the way the shade went, Nyx saw the pegasus she was searching for, flying off high in the sky.
“Sunny!” Nyx called the loudest she could, though the pegasus seemed not to notice.
It’s now or... Later, Nyx thought shortly and decided on using her newly mastered spell and called upon her magic.
In a blink of an eye, she was standing strong on the ground, and then, she was suddenly not. The face of the shocked pegasus told Nyx everything.
“Hi, Sunny—” was all she managed to say before the after effects of the teleportation wore off, and the unicorn, along with a panicked cry, began her fall off the sky.
As the wind was swishing all around her, Nyx was preparing another teleportation, but somehow, somehow she just couldn’t bring her spell to work.
Keeping on with her efforts she tried again and again, but while the world all around her was spinning madly, she was left just unable to focus and get the spell destination right.
Ugh! Good thinking, Nyx! Teleporting yourself high into the sky only to paint the ground below, just great!
Suddenly, she felt an abrupt tug and a pair of hooves locked around her. Within a few seconds, she could tell she wasn’t falling anymore and dared to open her shut-tight eyes.
“Hi, Nyx,” the pegasus said among giggles. “Please, tell me. Since when are you unicorns learning to fly?”
“I was trying to get your attention, but then you were getting away, out of my sight!” Nyx said, flaring her hooves around. “I thought I could teleport to you and back to the ground.”
“Oh? Well, you certainly got my attention. Is there something you wanted?”
“Right now, I just want to be back on the solid ground, but I thought maybe we could hang out today?”
Although Nyx couldn’t see her, she could clearly say the pegasus could not join her that day by her suddenly stiff body and heaved sigh she forced out. “Sorry, Nyx. I know we planned to visit the library and have some fun today, but I can’t. When my older brothers left with the guards, their part of the orchard fell upon our shoulders, it’s now our job. Actually, I don’t think I’ll have a second to spare for quite a while.”
Nyx fell quiet for a moment, thinking hard however she could help. The last time I tried bucking those apples it didn’t go so well... Maybe if I showed them how much I improved with magic then maybe Mr. Harvest would allow me using a spark. “Maybe I can help?” Nyx suggested.
“Nyx. I know you want to help, but we both know you just ain’t a farm pony,” Sunlight said as they neared the ground before the homestead barn. “And as I remember, the last time you tried using magic here, it didn’t end quite well.”
“But I’ve got better since then!” Nyx said, and as to prove her word, she teleported once more, this time from Sunlight’s tight hug in the air to the frontier of the barn. “See?” she called to her friend hovering just above the ground.
“Well, that teleportation of yours is sure impressive,” Sunny said and stepped into the barn.
There was a while of silence following as Nyx waited in the open. However, once the pegasus reemerged from the barn’s depths, she was carrying a long object on her back. It was mostly covered in rough fabric, left only for the ends, where the metallic blade connected to the wood, to the day’s light. “Alright, Nyx. We’ve got an ill tree. It looks like some bark blight, but none of us really know what is going on, so we’ve decided to cut it down and burn it. We cannot risk an infection outspread in the orchard now. It would be great if you could found out what is going on.”
Nyx briefly hesitated, but then nodded in agreement nonetheless. “I’ll try my best. Where is it?”
“Follow me,” Sunlight responded and with a few powerful wingbeats rose into the air.
Although she was flying just a little above the ground, Nyx had to trot quite fast if only to keep up with the pegasus.
During their uneven race, they crossed many sections of the farm before finally arriving to the desired destination, however, it appeared Sunlight’s family was already there.
Mr. And Mrs. Harvests were attending their orchard while granny Goldenseal was examining the detached tree.
“Sunlight, finally!” Mr. Harvest called upon hearing their hoofsteps. “What took you—” he paused mid-sentence upon seeing the other mare. “Oh... Hello Nyx. Ah’m sorry,” he said, however, his expression clearly spoke otherwise, “but we arth quite busy right now and we needth our daughter... Undistracted preferably,” he said, his tone unfriendly and eyes, those eyes seemed to be burying deep into Nyx’s very soul.
“Dad! Don’t be so hard on her,” Sunlight spoke up, shielding the unicorn with her wings, “Nyx came here trying to help us and I trust in her,” the pegasus announced and began pushing Nyx towards the tree. “C’m on, Nyx, show us some magic!”
“Yeah! Show us something, Nyxie!”
“Pinkie! Don’t interrupt my reading, please... Pinkie Pie!!?”
~~~
“Pinkie Pie!?” Twilight looked in shock at the newcomer. “What are you doing here??? How did you even get inside!?” she questioned.
“Nah, those are too easy, Sparks.” The pink pony waved her hoof dismissively. “I came by hoof, and I came to offer you guys my freshly-made cupcakes!”
“But how did you get in!?” Twilight reverberated. “The front doors are locked and the castle windows are sealed with a powerful spell. If somepony tried breaking in, I’d have known.”
“I know, right?” Pinkie Pie assented. “It looks almost like you wanted to lock everypony out! But, then I thought: Twilight is your friend, Pinkie, there’s no way she would mind if you came by to surprise her! After all, everypony loves a good surprise.” Twilight couldn’t resist and rolled her eyes, to which the fillies laughed a bit.
“Anyway, to answer your question, to get in I used this secret book,” she said, and puffed out of her mane a thick book, she then laid down onto the table for everyone to see. “Multidimensional portals and their possible use,” Nyx read aloud the title, and opened the book, scanning a few of the pages.
“Miss Pinkie Pie? Is this the right book? All the pages seem to be empty,” Nyx wondered, turning another of the blank pages.
“Well, duh! I told ya it’s a secret book! It wouldn’t be much of a secret if anypony could read it!” she said and took her book back, throwing it into the endlessly spacious cargo of her puffy mane.
“Anyway, who wants those cupcakes?!” the mare called out and pulled up a tray stacked full with multicolored cupcakes. The fillies cheered upon the sight of the sweet goodness and immediately surrounded the mare in question, trying to get a hold of the cupcakes.
Suddenly, when all the youngsters were distracted, the pink pony was enveloped in a purple aura and dragged towards the armchair currently occupied by the princess of friendship. “You have to tell me about this book at the first chance!” Twilight told her with a glare. “If it contains some breakthrough data, we may be in for better times.”
“Oki doki loki!” Pinkie reprised in her usual happy tone.
“Oh, and thank you for the cupcakes, Pinkie.”
“No problem! I just wanted to hop in for a sec to hear out a little of this story Nyx mentioned.”
“She told you about it?”
“Yeah! She was like, super duper excited! She must really like the story. That, or the fact, you’re reading it to her.”
“Umm,” Twilight hummed shyly. “Thank you, Pinkie Pie... For telling me,” she said and with magic reached for two cupcakes, grabbing a one for herself and the other offering to her unexpected friend.
Afterwards, when everypony was refreshed and comfortable, Twilight resumed her reading once more.
~~~
Before Nyx stood a tree that must have been grandiose in the past, but now only remnants of its glory were left. The tree had just a few leaves and its bark had strange dots all over it.
Nyx, seeing the patient as it was, hesitated briefly, considering whether she shouldn’t back off. If only she didn’t take those steps forward and lit up her horn, casting a simple spell.
She could definitely tell something wrong was going on. The tree itself, by magical means, seemed to be alright, but something strange was going on, she just can’t pinpoint what.
Abruptly, magical energies erupted all around from deep within the tree. In a second, Nyx felt as those magical fluctuations rapidly gained on power, and before she could even think about it, her spell was taken over by unknown forces.
Despite her best efforts to get back her control over the incantation, the spell was greatly gaining on power.
The tree in mere seconds turned from its usual brown, to a shade brown with a drop of orange, and then, a deep dark ruby.
Then the tree abruptly light up in a tower of blazing flames.
Immediately, something of godly powers pulled her by her tail and she fell backwards, distancing her from the fire and dispelling her magic in the process.
The dancing fires viciously lashed after the unicorn, but as soon as was the probing spell interrupted the fire began to fade away.
“Alright, youngster,” Mr. Harvest announced, now towering before her. “It’s clear as day t’is has been more than enough of magic for today. Please go home and try not to burn any other of mah trees with yer mad magic.
“But, sir! It wasn’t me!”
“Nyx... Go home,” the stallion repeated, his gaze firm and voice stern.
“But it wasn’t me…” Nyx said once more, but the look Mr. Harvest gave her made it clear that she was welcomed here no more.
~~~
On her way through the orchards, Nyx walked while being deep in thoughts, wondering what had gone wrong.
“It wasn’t me…” she murmured and kicked off a rock in her way as she went.
It rocketed a few meters through the air and crashed against some other of the rocks on the path. To Nyx’s surprise, the pebblet broke apart upon the impact and revealed its inner gold for the world to see.
The stone inside was reflecting the day’s light in all shades of red, easily catching Nyx’s attention.
“A gem?” she wondered and lifted the jewel with her telekinesis spell.
Upon the contact with her magic, the gem instantly began to shine.
Caught off her guard, Nyx tried to cancel her spell, but for a reason, her magic just wouldn’t stop.
In no time she felt a tension building up behind her horn and as magical streams ploughed throughout her body.
“C’mon, horn! Stop that stupid spell!”
She kept trying, but all her effort seemed to be to no avail. The gem was still enveloped in her cloud of magic, hovering in the air and radiating red glow. It seemed like it wasn’t even her magic supplying the spell, her aura wasn’t of red, no, it must be the gem that had taken over. And as such, Nyx decided.
Instead of trying of all her might to suppress the spell, she gave it all her power and directed the gemstone to throw it as far away as possible.
To her surprise, when she began to move the gem, it got so out of her control and raced towards the sky with a speed no pegasus could compare.
Huh? Did the thing... Did it fuel my magic? Nyx huffed, exhausted.
Maybe there’s some more? Nyx wondered and cast a spell she used a long time ago, at the times she was helping her father search for the gemstones, although, she was very careful to not give the spell any strength.
There were quite a few of them around. Mostly in a form of small particles in the soil or in... In the trees’ roots. They were high in number, however, none of them was much bigger than the gem she sent to the skies.
Nyx gathered some and using her levitation, she tested her theory, sending a few the gems to the skies.
This must be the reason the tree caught in fire, it burned due to the heat off the gem particles... Maybe the mana flow could be reduced? Nyx tipped a hoof to her chin deep in thoughts, before an idea along with realisation dawned on her, “that would be like the biggest discovery of the millennium! Not even Canterlot hornheads could compare.” Yeah I’m certainly gonna try that. If I’ll get it right, I might be able to cast spells not even alicorns can! I’ll show you, just wait and see how much my magic improved, Nyx thought and began collecting the gems together.
Then, with a few in her saddlebags, she headed home.
~~~
The trip home took Nyx a little longer than usual, but the sight of her home filled her with inner joy.
Nyx opened the doors and stepped inside. “I am home, dad!” As she went through the house, she poked on her way into her parents’ room. Sudden surge of sadness left her stunned for a few endless seconds felt until a single teardrop hit her cheek. Right, no one’s here, she thought to herself.
Come on, Nyx! You aren’t a filly anymore, you can be on your own for a while. Toughen up! she commanded herself, and determined, she shook away the thoughts.
After discarding the gloomy thoughts, Nyx recalled of a certain sack with content akin to that within her bags and promise she gave along with it. “I’ll find out what’s with those rocks and where your friend is, father,” she swore quietly and headed out for the workshed.
However, the first step she took, a growl escaped from deep within her belly, though, Nyx only shook her head at the sound dismissively. “Work first, food comes afterwards,” she said and went on. Although, she then teleported for herself a cereal bar before she actually left the house.
The workshed was just next to the house. At the outside, it was just a simple box made of wood, cooped together with some nails, but inside, for Nyx, it was her kingdom, a place where she could do anything.
Brew some potions? Yes!
Try this new transfu-spell? Sure!
Experiment a little with elemental magic like fire, water or lightning? Not quite certain about that.
But all she needed was just to grab the sack of gems and have a look at them. And there she saw them. Black and red pebbles mixed together. The new tourmalines.
“Hello little one,” she said and pulled out a black tourmaline and looked at it closely, examining the gem in her hooves.
Nyx watched the gemstone for a few seconds, but nothing seemed strange about it or somehow out of place. It was just a casual gem.
“I wonder if it’s gonna react to my magic like those from Harvests’ farm?” she wondered and took the gem outside.
There, like earlier at the farm, she casted her telekinesis around the gem and tried to throw it away. But something was different this time. The previously weightless gem now acted as if it gained tons, she was just barely able to lift it off the ground. Then, when the gemstone was a few inches above the ground, her spell collapsed, and Nyx felt weak like never before.
Feeling nauseous, the mare collapsed onto the grassy floor and after what felt like an eternity, the world around her faded into endless dark.