//------------------------------// // Magik Babble // Story: Out of Your Elements // by Kagemoon //------------------------------// “Did I mention I hate magic theory? I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m okay at it, better than the seamstress at least, but I’ve always been a more try and see if it works rather than talk about it kinda stallion,” Nightshade told the group. Celestia had stepped outside to raise the sun leaving the unicorns to bounce futile ideas off of each other. “Well excuse me for attempting to help us find a way to relocate your friends,” Rarity growled at the red lounging unicorn. “Please stop arguing you two. Nightshade, we can’t just try every hypothesis we come up with. It would just waste time and resources. We’re using this brainstorming session to whittle down to the best ideas.” Nightshade shrugged. “I know, I know. I’m just tired of it all. In the past twenty four hours I’ve joined a god’s army, left said army, been tied up twice, and spent the entire evening arguing hypothetical magic theory with a princess, her student, and a dress maker. This easily takes my strangest day award and that’s a very selective list.” “As much as I hate to agree with an evil Element.” Rarity shot a smirk at the Element of Deceit seeing her barb had struck a chord. “We have been at this all night. The closest we got is the possibility of a close range detection spell. Not really that useful.” “Except that if we had that earlier Rainbow wouldn’t be in the hospital,” Twilight countered. “Or you could have listened to me when I first told you what Masquerade was,” Nightshade called from the kitchen. Before the two mares could argue with him he entered the common room with a trail of cups, condiments and a large pot of coffee trailing behind him in a maroon aura. “Didn’t know what you like in it so I brought everything with me,” he said placing everything on the table in the center of the room. Twilight thanked him while Rarity mumbled her gratitude under her breath, loath to give the Element of Deceit even a hint of appreciation. Princess Celestia trotted down the stairs, having used Twilights balcony as her dais to raise the sun. She smiled at the sight of the coffee. “Thank the Sun, I needed this,” she sighed in pleasure after downing a full cup. “Any new ideas come up?” Twilight shook her head. “We almost had something along the lines of using a combination of Nightshade’s aura and the stuff you plucked off Braeburn and Little Strongheart but figured since they’re different types of power sources would make the spell unstable.” Rarity took another sip off coffee. “Then we thought about simply using the chaos sample as a catalyst for a scrying spell, but the sample might just seek out anything with a chaotic nature, much too vague.” “They of course didn’t entertain any of my ideas though. The one where you muster up an army and just attack Discord while he doesn’t have the other Elements with him,” Nightshade told her. “Wait you were serious about that?” Twilight asked with a worried look. “Maybe we should bring Applejack back. It’s impossible to tell whether you’re kidding or just being foolish,” Rarity joked. Before Nightshade could make his own venomous comeback, he was interrupted by Twilight “eeping”. Everyone in the room stared at the lilac unicorn as see started speaking a mile a minute. “Raritythatsthebestideayou’vehadallnightallweneedtodoisgatherthe—“ “Twilight, dear,”Celestia laid a hoof of her student’s shoulder ceasing the unicorn’s rambling. “Slowly, so we can all understand.” “Okay. Okay. The reason Applejack can sense Nightshade’s lies are because they’re opposing Elements. There must be a magical resonance when one commits an action against the other’s elemental virtue. That’s the feeling she get when he fibs. If we can measure and detect the resonance, then gather all the girls together we can copy their base status and use a retuning spell in conjunction a scrying spell. With that we should be able to find all the other Elements of Chaos. I bet with some tweaking we can even use the spell to track them in real time.” Nightshade leaned over to Rarity. “She lost me at virtue, did you get any of that,” he whispered. “Not much I’m afraid. I only made it to magic resonance. Theory I’m fine with, magik babble not so much.” “Twilight that’s brilliant. The only real difficult part will be measuring the static between the two test subjects. I think I saw a spell somewhere in our research that could be just what we need. Everything after that should be a piece of cake.” Celestia hugged her student, who in turn wrapped her own forelegs around her mentor’s neck. “That’s some congratulatory hug. Can I get one?” Nightshade joke to Rarity. The white unicorn was too stunned at the blatant public display of affection between her ruler and best friend to answer. Nightshade decided against forcing the issue. “We need somepony to go get Applejack while Tia and I work out the details of the spell’s different phases.” Nightshade started for the door. “I know the way, besides I’m sure the cowgirl will be thrilled to see me.” Just as he reached the exit a solid purple wall materialized, block his path. “What part of prisoner don’t you understand?” Twilight said with an annoyed expression. “Rarity can go get AJ, you can make another pot of coffee. We’re going to need it.” “How in Luna’s Moon do I go from being a feared enemy of Equestria to a butler in less than a day?” the red unicorn grumbled as he sulked into the kitchen. “How do you know I’m not crushing up some glass to put in your drinks or something,” he called back into the common room. It was a joke. Sort of. “You’re a liar, not a traitor or cruel, as you told us over and over and over last evening,” Celestia called back with a hint of mirth. “The things I do for a get out of jail free card. Oh well, free food, free drinks, free eye candy, I normally have to work a long scam to get two of the three,” he told himself as he magically heated the water. “Night, are all the other Elements of Chaos about your age and weight?” Twilight asked from the main library. “Aroundabouts. I think I’m a bit older than four of them at least. Weight-wise is hard to guess. Arthus is bucking…” “Language,” Celestia warned. “Arthus is huge compared to the rest of us… them I mean. But there’s two pegasai so average out that and an extra-large earth pony with the normal weight of others. Why all the questions?” Twilight stepped into the kitchen, tired of shouting. “The srying spell needs some basic measurements to quicken the magical scouting. So the more we know the faster it can hone in on them, add in the resonance you and Applejack will provide us, the spell should be almost instantaneous.” “Gotcha, know what they look like spell works better. You could have just said that.” The purple tilted her head quizzically. “I just did, didn’t I?” Nightshade sighed. “Sure why not.” He was just about to float the pot of coffee into the living room when a purple clawed hand snatched it from his magic field. Nightshade looked down at the claw’s owner, Twilight’s assistant dragon Spike, who had fallen asleep early in the evening despite trying valiantly to stay up, for Rarity’s safety he said. “Where’s Rarity?” Spiked asked still groggy. Nightshade was about to make a joke, but Twilight answered. “She went to get AJ, she should be back soon.” “Oh,” the dragon finally noticed Nightshade standing next to him. “Still not tied up? Aren’t you lucky.” “Hey, you aren't mounted on some pony’s wall? Aren’t you lucky,” Nightshade shot back. “Would you two please stop arguing and bring me my coffee,” an aggravated Celestia called from common room. Spike and Nightshade shared a worried look. “Truce until her majesty is pacified with caffeine?” the pony asked the dragon. A scared Spike simply nodded and rushed the coffee pot out to his princess. The small group drank in peace until Rarity entered with a grumbling Applejack. “She’s a bit put off by some of the awkward questions Apple Bloom has been asking her. Apparently she blames our guest on them,” the white unicorn told them. Nightshade for his part simply smiled innocently. “We can reprimand him later Applejack, for now I need you two to stand next to each other and see if you can’t get feel a resonance like before,” Princess Celestia said. The farm pony’s confused look prompted Twilight to simplify things. “We need him to lie to you then we’ll measure the magic feedback, um that weird feeling you get when he lies, and that will help us find his companions.” “Again, they’re not my companions,” the red unicorn corrected. “And why do I have lie to her, why can she I don’t know, tell the truth and see if it doesn’t raise the hackles on the back of my neck.” “Cause I always tell the truth, it’s mah nature. Lying is hard,” Applejack said. “Says you. Trust me love, lying is just as easy if not easier than telling the truth. Besides, no pony goes through life without a fib or a hundred,” he said back to her. “I don’t lie,” Applejack growled, lowering herself into a fighting position as if she was going to spring at Nightshade at any second. The unicorn twitched. “Hey, I felt that. Guess little miss truthful does have a deceitful bone in her body after all.” “Wait you felt her lie?” Twilight asked. “I wonder why that is. Shouldn’t he feel if Applejack tells the truth?” “I always feel weird when she’s around,” Nightshade told them. “Like the tingling after a backfired spell.” “Or like when ya feel lightin’ is bout ta strike real close, cept when he lies its get s stronger an’ weaker when he tells the truth.” Nightshade nodded. “It’s annoying as hell.” Despite herself Applejack agreed. Celestia walked over to the two opposing ponies, her horn glowed a brilliant gold as she scanned them on a magical level. “I thought the Elements would provide a buffer or some resistance, but they’re almost eager to respond to me, and each other. Strange. Nightshade, please tell a lie.” “I’m friends with the other Elements of Chaos,” the unicorn announced to prove a point. Celestia flinched slightly. “My, my Applejack the Element of Honesty really doesn’t like that does it?” “No it doesn’t Princess,” the earth pony smiled weakly, embarrassed at the personal attention. “Hmmm. Why doesn’t the Element of Deceit react just as violently when its opposite nature told?” the princess mused. “Maybe, because the natural state of the world is order and reacting to every bit would be uncomfortable to the wielder,” Twilight ventured a guess. Nightshade laughed. “Please Twilight, order has to be forced. I think it’s because honesty is a subtle thing while lying is a creation. It takes work.” “I thought you said it was easier than telling the truth,” Applejack sneered. “Lying is easy, lying well is an art,” he told her. “Both of Twilight and Nightshade are right. While the world needs to be manipulated into order, it needs to be maintained as well or it will fall back into chaos, both are just as natural with one major difference,” Celestia told them hoping to stop any further argument. “Change,” Twilight announced happily. Celestia smiled at her charge proudly. “Right. Change has a bigger effect on the world than order does. We see change, experience it. I bet that’s why the Elements of Harmony are affected more by the invoking of the Elements of Chaos.” “Um… I’m a might bit confused,” Applejack said rubbing her aching head. “My lies change things and your truths keep the status quo, so your Element gets uppity when things change,” Nightshade told her. “Why didn’t she just say that in the first place?” “Welcome to my night,” he said. The library door suddenly opened admitting Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie supporting a bandaged up Rainbow Dash. “We got Spike’s letter,” Fluttershy whispered. “Um… Rainbow insisted on coming too.” “There’s no way I’m staying in the hospital if there’s a chance I can help find that jerk,” the cyan pegasus said with a hateful glare at the thought of Masquerade. “That’s fine girls. We need Rainbow Dash here to complete the spell. How are you feeling my little pony?” Celestia asked. Dash flexed her legs and wings in a strongpony pose. “He barely nicked me Princess. Doc says I’ll be flying again by tomorrow.” “I’m glad. By the way Rainbow, we know Applejack can sense when Nightshade doesn’t tell the truth, but did you feel anything around Masquerade? A tingling or the like?” the Princess asked. “Well now that you mention it yeah. As soon as we all met up with him I felt… I don’t know static. I thought it was him though,” she said pointing at Nightshade. “I mean AJ, said she felt the same thing when we caught him so I thought we all we’re feeling it. Sorry Princess, if I had known what it was I would have stopped him.” Twilight put a hoof on the pegasus’s undamaged shoulder. “None of us knew Rainbow, I mean how can you not trust a Wonderbolt over a drifter.” “Hey now,” Nightshade complained. “You are a drifter though,” Rarity reminded him. “Yeah, but she made it sound like a negative thing.” He pretended to pout “Enough everypony,” Celestia told them. “I’ve finished my gathering all the magic readings between Applejack and Nightshade. Now I need to scan the rest of you girls to get a baseline. Twilight, please prepare the rest of the ingredients for the scrying spell.” As the Princess waved her horn in front of the other ponies Twilight and Spike laid out a large map of Equestria and a handful of crystals, which Spike fought the urge to eat. When they had finished they waited on the Princess. “I must say you girls have beautiful auras, I’m almost jealous,” Celestia announced when she was finshed. “Now then, I’ll need all the unicorns to help me combine the spells parts together.” The three unicorns nodded. With a scholarly tone, Celestia led the others in a magic ritual that hadn’t been seen in the Equestria since even before she and her sister officially were crowned. She was proud of Twilight, knowing her student would easily be able to keep up the spell, but she was pleasantly surprised Rarity and Nightshade were doing just as well. Rarity’s magic was just as intricate and beautiful as her dress designs, sparkly and smooth. Nightshade’s aura was something different, at first she wanted to shy away from it as it was dark and snakelike, but with more prodding it felt like chocolate not oil. With surprising ease they completed the first part of the ritual, combining the resonances of Applejack and Nightshade with the other Elements. Now the harder part, flipping the resonances and mixing them with the scrying crystals. Celestia used her special ether sight in order to see the spell weaves and manipulate them better. Within the orb of magic she saw avatars of her fellow spellcatsers merging the energies together. Twilight Sparkle was a glorious purple alicorn wearing her Element crown, she was as beautiful as the sun. The princess’s own avatar laughed as she saw Rarity’s literal weaving the magic on a representation of a loom. The white unicorn’s proxy wore a dress of light purple and green trim, to Celestia it looked almost like it was armored and made of scales, she could tell the unicorn felt like she was being protected by something. Nightshade was a glowing representation of his cutie mark, a light red, nearly pink on one side and a darker blood colored on the other. He, like Twilight had wings, but only one was feathered, the other was leathery and ribbed like a bat’s or a dragon’s. His manipulation was like that of a fast handed card dealer showboating his skills in front of a crowd Together the four magic users combined the power of the ether and forced the complex mix of different energies onto the scrying crystals. Once it was done, the crystals glowed and pulsated with the same colors as the Elements of Chaos. “Good job everyone,” Celestia congratulated the group. She frowned upon seeing Nightshade and Rarity breathing heavily, collapsed on the floor. “I feel like I outran the Cloudsdale mob again,” Nightshade groaned. “I was going to say it feels like I tried making an entire fall line in a night,” Rarity agreed. She allowed Spike to help her wearily to her feet. Twilight looked tired, but not nearly was worn out as the others. “Well the hard part’s over. Give me a minute and we can start the scrying.” She leaned heavily against Celestia. The other girls stared at the unicorns and the alicorn. Without the ability to see magic they had only seen the storm of colors that made up the auras swirling and mixing. Even without magical sight it was one of the most spectacular things any had ever witnessed. “My Sonic Rainboom was cooler,” Rainbow mumbled under her breath. “Just barely.” “So now we can find the baddies, right?” Pinkie asked. Twilight nodded. She hadn’t taken her eyes off her fellow magic users. “Princess, what we saw, in the ether, what were those?” Celestia’s eyes widened. She hadn’t realized Twilight could see into the magical realm as well. Again she was almost overcome with the need to hug her student. “Those were our auras manifested. While to others we simple let our horns glow and the magic flows, in reality an avatar moves and manipulates the weaves of magic power. It was, in a way, our real selves. With some metaphors made by our experiences thrown in.” Twilight nodded being the only one in the room to truly understanding. “So why didn’t you change?” “She’s a goddess. She’s technically already the physical representation of magic,” Nightshade growled when no one bothered to help him up. He saw the others looking at him. “What? I paid attention in magic school, when I wasn’t in detention or suspended.” “He’s right Twilight. I’m a force of nature, of magic rather. I was created not born. What you see is what you get.” “Which also explains Nightmare Noon,” the red unicorn said. “Since both princess are stable magic constructs emotions, especially strong ones, will affect their outer appearance.” “How do you know all that?” Twilight asked feeling a bit put off for not realizing what he was saying was theoretically correct. “Crowley studied my sister and my nature centuries ago. He was a genius in magic, like Starswirl the Bearded and you Twilight, he was the best of his time.” “So why haven’t I ever read any of his works?” the purple unicorn asked in a near panicked voice. Celestia blushed but it was Nightshade who answered. “He also studied the tantric magics. Sex spells, his works were half theory and half a diary of his nighttime exploits. I’m guessing the princess was protecting that pure little mind of yours from discovering how an orgy of griffons, ponies, and a tamed manticore work.” Twilight’s blushing face matched Nightshade’s coat. They rest of the mane six followed suit. “Anyway,” Celestia shouted, breaking the group from their embarrassed stupor. “I think we’re ready to try the scrying spell.” The other ponies agreed following their ruler to the prepared table, a laughing Nightshade trailing. Celestia allowed Twilight to control the spell. Eyes full of concentration, the unicorn wove the simple scrying energies around the crystals. “Find your targets,” she whispered. The glowing stones vibrated for a moment, then rocketed toward the map. All except the bruise colored one representing the Element of Curses. It continued vibrating and shaking above the picture of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Suddenly the crystal exploded and the resulting shards impaled the map, covering the palace’s symbol. “What does that mean Tia? “Nothing good Twilight.”