//------------------------------// // XX - As Tirek Works // Story: Empty Horizons: Sea of Stars // by Insipidious //------------------------------// Sparkler woke up on a couch in Leyline’s new lab. Leyline himself was passed out on top of his desk, snoring loudly into a pile of sparkling emeralds he had brought in from his office the night prior. Tirek was awake, carefully examining one of the many charts on magical theory Leyline had strewn about his office.  “The specifics of the theory have certainly progressed,” Tirek commented, tracing a finger down a diagram of a unicorn’s horn, stopping to rest on the circles made of variable-thickness lines that represented specific spells. “Spells were taught directly or stored within books via enchantment, not written down to be reconstructed from scratch. The spellbooks I acquired in my time relied a lot on instinctual knowledge to fully acquire. I admit, it is impressive that magic has been turned into a proper language that, in theory, requires no finesse to learn.”  “His order had a lot of fear of dying out completely,” Sparkler said. “They tried. And if you listen to him yammer on for a bit, they didn’t succeed. You can’t actually learn spells from the rings unless you’ve got an, ahem, ‘adaptable talent’ and ‘learn to read the rings from somepony who knows them’.” He’s convinced there’s some component that can’t be gathered from reading alone.” “And he truly is the last one that can read these rings?” “I mean… I know how,” Sparkler admitted. “My talent just isn’t adaptable enough to truly interface with it, or something.”  “One of his failed apprentices, were you?” “It was my only shot to get admitted as a student. Failed.” She shrugged. “By the time the Admiral got enough money to pay for my tuition I decided I didn’t care to become a self-righteous brain-pig. It’s much better down there, on the edge of the world, where you’re free to think what you want.” “Hmm…” There was a knock at the door.  Somehow, this woke Leyline up. He stood bolt upright. “Hide, Tirek!” With an exasperated grunt, Tirek stepped behind a large, white curtain in the corner of the room that Sparkler was sure hadn’t been there when she dozed off. It wasn’t the best hiding spot, since it was possible to make out his hooves under the folds of the cloth, but they could easily be mistaken for some kind of device.  “Remember what I told you,” Leyline added.  “What you… Oi!” Sparkler waved a hoof. “Didya talk while I was out?” “Yes, now be quiet.” Leyline approached the door and opened it. “Yes?” A brown pegasus stood on the other side, a bored expression on his face. There was a cutie mark on his flank: a brick-shaped cloud. “You wanted to see me?”  A Gifted pegasus? Sparkler blinked. Oh, is this the guy they hired to build the cloud escape plan?  “Ah, yes, yes! Bricklayer, have a seat, I want to talk to you about your talent.” “I shape clouds into bricks and put stuff on them,” Bricklayer deadpanned, walking into the lab but not taking a seat. “I make bricks out of clouds. You lot hired me for that.” “And, double checking, is your work done?” “Yes.” Leyline smiled wryly. “A good deal, to be sure. Tell me, Bricklayer, do you have any family?” “No.” “Do you do… anything besides sit on that cloud at all?” “I drink.” “Then I have a proposition for you.” “What?” Leyline uncovered a mirror in the back the size of a pony. Despite being immensely dirty and worn around the edges, Sparkler couldn’t stop thinking that its plain, tarnished silver rim was gorgeous, almost as if it weren’t completely there.  “Look into the mirror…” Bricklayer grunted, but did as was asked. From her vantage point, Sparkler saw it—the trail of Tirek’s magic. While Bricklayer was fixated on the mirror, Tirek’s magic grabbed hold of the pegasus from behind. The pegasus’ stoic expression vanished in an instant as his body wracked with pain, crumbling to his knees. His wings drooped and his eyes rolled into the back of his skull, no longer able to look at the precious mirror. Soon, his mark was gone, leaving only a blank flank.  Sparkler stared at him in disbelief, unable to form words. Is that what I looked like? “Good. Hold on…” Leyline took a book out from his desk and flipped it open to a specific spell. His talent was light—’adaptable’ though it may have been, it couldn’t cast any spells not related to light in some way, and this was one of them. Luckily he was the Dean of Magic and had a myriad of artifacts for drawing specific kinds of magic when needed.  Today, it was a five-pointed amethyst stone shimmering with flecks of ruby. He focused his light on it, integrating his magic with it. Carefully, he traced his hoof over the circle in the spellbook, chanting to himself in order to keep the arcane energies focused.  After a solid minute the spell was cast. Bricklayer vanished in a puff of light.  “W-what did you do to him?” Sparkler gasped.  “Teleported him off the edge of Sanctaphrax,” Leyline grunted, leaning wearily back into his chair. “I still can’t imagine how the mages of old could teleport in an instant… even Eclipse took a few seconds.” “I could have teleported him,” Tirek offered.  “Let an old stallion use his knowledge every now and then…” he coughed. “Now… we’ll start sending in the students.” “What are ya’ goin’ t’ do t’ the students...?” Sparkler asked, spending considerable effort to speak in a calm, level manner, but her accent slipped through anyway.  Leyline grinned. “Why, my dear, we’re going to try to create a wizard with that pegasus’ talent!” “...Tirek already had a talent, though, from Hailin’ Fog.” “He did? Oh. Must have slipped my mind. No matter, nopony will miss that pegasus anyway, and now we have more magic to work with.” Sparkler forced a smile. “Ah, right, makes perfect sense!” Tirek placed a hand on her shoulder. “Do stay and watch, I’m sure you’ll be of great help.” Dammit. “S-sure!” ~~~ “Come one, come all, buy the great and powerful metal mythril!” Hailing Fog called, holding up a shard of the green metal. This is totally just steel with a coloring agent, but you have no way to know that! “Unlike anything ever seen before! Feast your eyes upon its beauty, and wonder at its properties!” She cared very little if she actually sold any of it. That wasn’t why she was here, not by a long shot. No, she needed to get a particular stallion’s attention. She scanned the market, finding a lot of ponies sitting at stalls much like her own, trying to sell wares to the students and professors of Sanctaphrax. The glass dome above their heads was barely visible in the daylight, though there were a few stalls that got significantly more sunlight than the others due to the lens-like nature of the dome. There, in the crowd, was the pony she was looking for. Black, older, and with his head in the clouds.  Meteor. “You, sir, look like you could use some mythril in your experiments!” “Huh? What?” She held out an ingot for him to hold. “Behold, the newest in metallurgical technology!”  He examined it. “Really?” “Yes, really. Why, with this, I bet you could make a fancy flying machine like the one we saw last night! I wouldn’t be surprised if it secretly had mythril in it.” Meteor chuckled. “I doubt it, seeing as I have never seen this metal before…” “Oh, you were involved?” “Yes, but I’m afraid I can’t give any details.” “Understandable,” Fog said. It was no issue: she knew a lot about the rockets already, they weren’t exactly a secret and several other shoppers had treated them as a joke. Meteor’s Folly, they’d say, destined to go nowhere. No, she was here to gauge a reaction. “But maybe you’d like some mythril to take home and run some tests on? I’m sure you’d enjoy it! Might make some more rocket fun!”  “Hmm. I don’t suppose you have a sample?” “As a matter of fact I do!” Fog finally had her excuse to dig around through her wares, dumping a small case of “mythril” chunks onto the table. Amidst the chunks was a single gold button that, at first glance, looked almost exactly like a Baltimare Guardian’s button. Closer inspection would reveal that the shield was the wrong shape and the ornate designs were too jagged, but anyone who saw it from a glance would recognize it for what it was imitating. Like a snake trying to appear poisonous, forcing a second, close look.  The effect was instant. For a moment, panic crossed Meteor’s face, followed quickly by relief. Now, why would a nobody from Sanctaphrax who stared at the stars all day be concerned if he thought he saw a Guardian button? He wouldn’t. Heck, he probably shouldn’t have recognized the button, where would he have encountered one before? With a satisfied smirk, Fog held out a coin-sized sliver of “mythril” for him. “Here you are, free of charge!” “Thanks.” He took the shard. “I may be back for more.” “You’ll have to pay for it, y’know.” “I know.” Examining the rock in his hoof, he walked away, miraculously managing not to run into anypony.  Not suspicious, as far as Fog could tell. “Have a nice day!” After he was out of sight, she ducked under her stand and touched a button on her radio. “It’s definitely Meteor. Which is good for us, because if it was Iota we’d be done before we started. If we blow up his precious toys we can end this nonsense and get back at the Admiral. Any luck with Tirek?” “Negative,” Guardian Green reported. “We’ve come up completely dry on that front. Iota’s probably hiding him. If she wasn’t involved in the bribery, she wouldn’t want anypony to know about him.” “Makes it a lot harder… keep looking. I’m going to the rockets.” She turned off the radio and started closing down her fake store.  ~~~ A tall, pearly unicorn stallion walked into Leyline’s office. Tirek could barely see him through the slit in the curtains—but the stallion couldn’t see him, and that’s all that mattered.  Sparkler was standing to the side, trying to look like she wasn’t terrified.  You thought you had power over me, Tirek thought, chuckling inwardly. You thought because you saw what I was, you could stop me whenever you wanted. What are you going to do now, little pony? “Ah, Marble!” Leyline said, inviting the unicorn in. “Come, sit… sit. Uh… ...Why did I ask you here again?” “I don’t know, professor,” he said, mouth twitching nervously. “I was just told you wanted to see me.” “I… hmm, yes, I did…” Senile old fool, Tirek seethed. If you weren’t the one with all the magic artifacts, you would be the first to go.  “Right! You know that I’ve been seeking an apprentice, correct?” “Yes, professor.” Marble glanced at his blank flank. “But I… do not meet the requirements.” “You might…” Leyline said, pointing at the mirror. “We have a new artifact that can bestow power. We wish to see if it works on you.” Marble’s eyes widened. “Who wouldn’t want to be Gifted?” “Then stare into the mirror, and let it flood your being…” Marble didn’t even blink. He stared right at it, as if focusing intently would give him more power.  I like his spirit. Maybe he will make a good servant… Tirek released some of his magic, infused with the talent energy of Bricklayer. The energy shot into Marble, making him shake, though not in pain. A smile came over him as the mark of a marble column appeared on his flank.  “I… wow, I feel so different, like… Like I could make anything!” “What do you want to make?” Leyline asked.  “I… I want to build a house! No, a temple! I need… I need a hammer, where’s a hammer? I—” “No,” Leyline said, sagging. “We need a pony with an adaptable arcane talent, Marble. I’m sorry to say I have to take it back.” “Wait, what? No!” Marble backed away. “I ca—” Tirek sucked the magic out of Marble through the mirror, dropping Marble to his knees. Sparkler ran to him, helping him to his hooves. “It’s okay, you’re going to be fine.” “I… It was who I was… I…” “I know,” Sparkler said. “I’m sorry.” She led him to the door and set him free.  Is she going to try to bolt…? She knows that won’t end well for her.  Sparkler shut the door and trotted back to the curtain. “That’s four that didn’t work. We’ve had a farmer, a swordspony, an actor, and what I think was an architect?” “We cannot give up,” Leyline said. “Maybe it just doesn’t work like this?” Sparkler suggested. “Picking and choosing talents isn’t a thing you can do.” “Or we do not have enough power,” Tirek suggested, stepping out from behind the curtain—at least twice as tall as he had been at the start of the day. “You’ve already eaten like five magic artifacts! I think that’s enough, buddy.” Tirek smirked. “I have had more power than this in the past, Sparkler. I’m not in danger of exploding.”  “Not what I’m worried about…” Of course not. The further the divide between us comes, the more helpless you feel. And yet, not helpless enough, since I still see that hope in your eyes. I look forward to squelching it… “Sparkler is right, in a way,” Leyline admitted. “We could keep trying randomly, or we could see if there were a way to determine who might be a better candidate…” Sparkler shook her head. “How can we tell? It’s basically random.” Trying to convince him it’s pointless? Fool. He’s desperate enough to try anything at any cost. “There are other aspects to the magic of a special talent than magic, though it may seem like a purely arcane phenomenon. There are other aspects to study. The talent is usually something close to the pony’s very soul, so it may be partially psychological, or even biological.” “Vespid,” Leyline realized. “She can…” “She doesn’t have clearance,” Sparkler huffed. “She can if I request it from Iota.” Leyline pulled a piece of paper out of his desk and grabbed a pen. “I’ll write up the request now. While it’s processing we can get back to giving some other unicorns talents…” Sparkler forced a smile. “Great.”  Tirek reveled in her pain. She wanted nothing more than to get out of here and call in favors to bring Tirek down. But she knew all he had to do to stop her was open his mouth.  It was only a mild annoyance that he couldn’t take her out before she tried to bolt. Senile as Leyline was, he likely wouldn’t take kindly to him attacking her for no reason. So he kept Sparkler here, under his watchful eye and torments. The moment she tried something he didn’t like, he’d have to jeopardize his precious position.  The Admiral was too busy with her rockets and space to be of any assistance. Speaking of… How is she? He asked Rook.  She’s still fast asleep, face pressed against my glass, Rook commented.  Those teeth are so ugly.  Ponies aren’t supposed to have canines, of course it’s ugly.  I’m referring to the incomplete transference. The thestral is the closest to the optimum form we have, but they still retain those useless flat teeth. Omnivore or no, you need more than just canines to effectively dig into meat. I miss carrots.  We didn’t exactly have carrots at the bottom of the ocean.  We could have tried farming the kelp, but noooo, that was back when you were in MEAT MEAT MEAT MEAT mode.  Which I have realized was far too focused of a diet and limited our ability to enjoy our pallette. You were the stubborn one after I mentioned this.  Don’t you start… Enough! Tirek burst. I do not need a massive report on the nature of equine teeth! I just need to know she won’t be coming over! ...Why? What are you doing that she could mess up? She’s pretty harmless, Rook added. To you, anyway. I am performing experiments with Leyline on pony cutie marks, and given Sparkler’s reactions, I doubt she would appreciate our methods.  Experiments on pony cutie marks? Fascinating. Can we see? Tirek sent them a mental image of the last test just to appease the two of them. There. Can we please focus, now? I need you to keep her away as long as possible.  Problems? Rook asked. He couldn’t see her face, but he could hear her smirking.  We don’t have anything to show for it yet, Tirek sent. We need time.  Very well. We shall keep her occupied. Honestly should not be hard, given all the things Silver is drawing.  And the fat that she’s y’know, sleeping.  Right, Rook agreed. And Tirek? You are taking us to space one day. Got it? She really wants to go to space. SPACE! She’s infected you with her delusions, Tirek grumbled. Just keep me posted.  And you’ll keep us posted? This is a two-way street, Tirek admitted. Of course.  Secretly, though, he had other thoughts.  You have almost outlived your usefulness...