//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 Lessons // Story: Twisted history // by LordOfMemory //------------------------------// Chapter 3 Lessons Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic -- the characters and creations are the property rights of Hasbro, Inc. and the MLP: FiM writers, producers, etc. Magic sector Gleaming waved Chrysalis good bye as she left to meet up with her master and while she waited to be called into Solomon’s office. (I wonder why one of the arch-mages would want to meet me. My work honestly wasn’t all that great then again I am comparing myself to Twilight’s capabilities and even princess Celestia praised my knowledge and skill with protection magic.) A small nudge on Gleaming’s shoulder from Solomon’s secretary brought her out of her thoughts as she was directed to enter Solomon’s office. “Good luck miss the arch-mage hasn’t been in the best of moods since he started fighting regularly with the royal council and his fellow magic councilors.” Gleaming felt like a block of ice had been dropped into her stomach at the news the secretary had given her as she stepped into the office. The inside of the arch-mages office was actually quite a mess covered in opened and unopened scrolls and books. It looked as if a pegasus had made a tornado inside the room. “Pardon the mess please, I’ve been looking for this month’s budget report and I know for sure Leonidas sent it over already and if I’m late signing off on it Alister will never let me forget about it.” Looking around Gleaming noticed a rolled up scroll with an unbroken wax seal shaped in the royal emblem. “Excuse me sir but I believe this may be what you’re looking for.” She spoke while levitating the scroll to the old unicorn hoping to make a good first impression. “Ah thank you so much my dear you’ve saved me a great deal of grief from my fellow councilors.” Solomon put the scroll into one of the draws of his desk, before sitting down to address Gleaming. “I must say I’m quite surprised it took my colleagues and me so long to notice you. The Crystal Empire has very few unicorns in it and even fewer that hold the exceptional talent and skill to be brought to our esteemed academy. As you may have noticed things in the Empire are not as stable as the people believe they are and unfortunately with the princess unavailable at the moment things could get worse with the council being unable to agree on anything.” “If things are as bad as you say sir why waste your precious time on me? I’m not sure I could be of any help to you or the Empire.” Gleaming really wished that she could help but she didn’t know how to. “That is actually quite easy to explain. You see some of the spell matrixes you designed during your earlier years of study show great promise in a project my colleagues and I are working on. The other factor is that your magic has actually shown a connection to the crystal heart, meaning that you like the other apprentices will be trained to join the council and advise the next princess.” Gleaming felt like she had been slapped in the face with a fish by Discord, her magic still had a connection to the heart. That shouldn’t have been possible or was the heart able to feel the link of her magic from when she and Cadence had bonded with it when they had officially become the rulers of the Crystal Empire in his own time period. She also felt like smacking herself as she realized that she had been using some of the more advanced spell work she had learned during her time as a royal guard and the captain of the guard. Of course the spell matrixes would look amazing they were spells that had been modified and refined or just hadn’t been crafted yet by a thousand years. (Well done Gleaming you’ve inadvertently brought knowledge of the future to the past. Who knows how much I may have messed up the timeline with this mess and all I was trying to do was get good grades) It was actually quite funny in a sense to Gleaming, defense magic had been a very understudied form of magic compared to combative magic only getting proper research done after the banishment of Nightmare Moon. Not noticing that Gleaming was no longer focused on the conversation Solomon continued speaking. “Now you will be given an allowance and a room here in the magic sector and once you’ve gained the approval of my fellow arch-mages you’ll be brought onto our private project. Oh and before I forget here is a new medallion that will show you’ve officially become my apprentice.” Finally coming out of her thoughts Gleaming managed to catch the last of Solomon’s words and wanted to protest as she had strived to live a regular life hoping to do as little damage to the timeline as possible but stopped as she had no way of actually explaining why she would actually not want work at the castle. (Dammit I can’t refuse and with the gaps in my memory I have no idea how to avoid do anymore damage to the future.) Taking the medallion that had been handed to her Gleaming and gently placed it into her saddle bag. As she got up to leave a small level of curiosity took hold. “Excuse me sir I do hope that you don’t mind me asking but you mentioned their being other apprentices. Who will I be working with in the future sir?” Gleaming hoped that she hadn’t come off as rude but maybe if she had any knowledge about these future councilors then she could avoid doing any unnecessary damage to the timeline if she had any knowledge about their accomplishments to work with. (Oh who am I trying to kid my memory has more holes in it than Germanian cheese) “Oh I don’t mind at all Miss Shield. Apprenticing under my friend Leonidas is Chrysalis and under Alister is Sombra. They both have their quirks but I do hope that you three can get along better than I and my fellow arch-mages have over the years as once were gone you’ll be taking the reins in our place in watching over the magical development of the empire.” Feeling another headache coming on Gleaming politely excused her-self using the excuse that she needed to start packing up her things at her apartment. As she left the office she had the secretary point her in the direction of a bathroom. She barely made it before it felt like a diamond dog was digging for gems in her head. Gleaming collapsed to the floor from the growing pain and pressure in her mind from memories that where trying to force their way to the front of her mind while being blocked by an unknown force. Sombra Sombra Sombra Sombra!!! The name kept repeating in her head as images of black crystals filled her mind. They were like spears rising up and surrounding the empire while a massive shadowy figure grew looking ready to engulf the empire and its people. Yet the memory was incomplete there was no context to it at all. She couldn’t tell if the crystals were the shadows vanguard or if the crystals were being used to defend the empire. (These memory attacks are getting annoying and they aren’t helping. Who is manipulating those crystals and what is that figure in the storm?) Not currently having all the necessary information the best explanation Gleaming could come up with for what she was seeing was that it was the cause of what ever made the empire disappear for a thousand years. (The way that the shadowy figure looks most likely means that the umbra managed to get past the defenses and are attacking the capital so those crystals are most likely being used to defend the outer city.) Gleaming needed answers and the only way to get them was most also her best bet at messing up the timeline and possibly leading to her own non-existence, not to mention her family and friends.