//------------------------------//
// Chapter 18: The Will 
// Story: A Life, for A Life 
// by Zinnia 
//------------------------------//

For what felt like an eternity, I started to come to after my exchange with Peter and that.. weird dream I had. As my senses started to slowly return to my body, I felt a warmness on either side of me, and something encompassing my lower half. Groaning, I tried to sit up to see what it was but I found that to be extremely difficult as I realized there was also something on my face. I couldn't exactly make out what it was at first, but one two-toned snore later told me all that I needed. 

It seems like Chrysalis is one of those sleepers. Struggling to get one of my arms free, I pry off her hind leg off my face... Only for her to put it back. I let out a quiet sigh. I wasn't really in the mood for this. After several attempts, each time praying that she was a heavy sleeper, I managed to finally get her off of me enough to escape.

...Or so I thought. Not only was Chrysalis here, but Spike and Fizzlepop as well. Now Fizzy, it doesn't surprise me that she's here, but Chrysalis and Spike? That's new. Spike seemed to take a liking to my legs by sleeping on top of them with his tail wrapped into himself, much like how a dog sleeps. In all honesty he looked cute as hell, but by god I needed to stretch. Try going through a trauma inducing experience like that, twice. 

Carefully, I slipped both hands underneath him, and lifted him up slightly. He snorted and mumbled something about Rarity, but otherwise he was still fast asleep. I placed him down in an empty space by Fizzlepop as gently as possible, enabling me to get off of the bed without waking anyone, and I placed my feet on the floor.

I fell to the ground with a loud thud, feeling so much weaker than I thought it was. 

"Zale!" Three voiced shouted in alarm. Well, so much for being quiet.

Immediately afterwards, the bedroom door shot open, prompting Twilight entry. "Oh my gosh, are you alright?" Twilight went to my side and helped me stand by using her back as leverage. She helped me back to the bed, and Chrysalis made room so I could sit down.

"Well, my head doesn't feel like It's imploding on itself anymore. But.." I tried to lift my leg up. It didn't go far, and it felt like there were tied to a chain ball on my ankles. "I feel really weak right now, ugh.. I guess it has something to do with that pact signing thing."

Twilight nodded. "Right. A newly formed pact takes a toll on the user, binding souls takes a significant amount of energy from the host." Twilight eyed the grimoire with worry, and looked back at me. "Other than that though.. are you sure you're okay?" 

"Yeah I'm fine, I'll be back in shape in time. How long was I out for?" 

"About 2 hours.. yawn" Spike responded. "I think we all needed that nap honestly. I sure did." I chuckled at his antics, smiling warmly.

"Well, I hope I made a comfortable bed for you two." Spike just gave me a thumbs up while I stole a glance over at Chrysalis, and she turned away and crossed her forehooves. 

"The bed wasn't big enough for all of us, so I simply had to make do. Deal with it." I stuck my tongue out at her, and she did the same.

Fizzlepop came up to me and held out a hoof. "Welcome back, Isaiah." I gave her a fistbump in response. 

"Glad to be back. Did I miss anything?" 

"I have the map from Jack right here," One flash of lavender magic later and the map of the Smokey Mountains appeared before us. It had red and blue ink already scribbled on the surface, showing arrows, highlights, and even some notes. "I've already went over the details with Jack and he's told me very useful routes and information to get to the higher levels of the mountain as fast and as safely as possible." Twilight began pacing, deep in thought.

"Apparently, there's only so few caves the higher you go, with tunnels and caverns connecting to each other near the bottom." Twilight pointed to one of the marked sections with red ink. "There's a path in one of those caves that will go up and take us around to the other side, so we'll take that path and go up from there."

"Why not just go around and up this path?" Fizzelpop asked, pointing to the path in question. "It looks like this takes us up there faster." 

"Too dangerous." Twilight answered. "Not to mention that path is blocked off by boulders the last time my friends and I went up there, I doubt anyone cleaned that up. The safest way is through the caves and around." 

"There's only so many routes half way up there, if Starlight and the others managed to get away somehow, they'd be in one of those caves." Chrysalis added.

Now that some time has passed I tried standing up again, this time only barely able to without falling. "Alright, sounds good." I said as I stretched. It felt sore, but it felt way better than sitting around. "When do we leave? We have this room for three nights." 

Twilight hesitated at first, another look of genuine concern on her features. "I.. I think it would be best if we left tomorrow afternoon. Originally we would've left first thing in the morning to have as much daylight as possible, but I'd like to give Zale some time to recover. Speaking of which.."  Twilight looked up at me with a serious gaze.

"I'm sorry, if I knew what the heck this thing was I wouldn't have touched it!" I said defensively.

"No, not that.. just.. just promise me, that you won't use any dark magic from that grimoire. No matter what." I raised an eyebrow.

"I don't even know how to, but.. I know the risks. I'll be careful with it."

"No. Promise me that you wont use any of it, at all." I frowned at Twilight.

"Twilight.. is there something you want to tell me?" Twilight's eyes widened a bit, but her stance did not falter. She looked away with a guilty expression.

"Look Zale, dark magic.. it changes and hurts ponies. I've dealt with a fair share of it in the past and I don't want the same thing to happen to you. Please.." Twilight pleaded, ears drooping.

Sitting back down, I let out a sigh. ".. I can't lie as to say I'm not still curious about all this magic stuff, but.. Peter didn't seem all that bad. Sketchy, sure but not evil." Everyone cocked their head to the side.

"Peter?" Twilight echoed. "Who's that?"

"Oh, that's the soul that's inside the grimoire. He told me about the pact and what the risks were, and apparently he's only good in conjuration and illusion.. Oh right!" My eyes widened as I remembered a part of our conversation. 

"How about this Twilight, you teach me some basic spells that I can use to at least defend myself with, that way I won't have the rely on dark magic? I can learn things from most schools except solar and life." 

Twilight hummed in thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright.. I can work with that. As long as you don't use any spells from that book." Twilight opened the grimoire, and I now notice that the pages are no longer blank. I guess the pages filled themselves when I made the pact. "I never taught a human magic before but well, first time for everything."

"Yes!" I cheered silently. I paused, noticing how excited I was to learn real life magic! Maybe I was always into it back on earth, that could explain why.

Twilight giggled into her hoof. "We'll start lessons first thing after breakfast. For now everypony, back to bed!" Without another word, we all climbed back into bed. I pulled the covers up around us and relaxed in the sheets. 

Before Twilight walked out of the room, she turned her head towards us. "Goodnight everyone." We said our pleasantries and she closed the door. It was rather snug, but not uncomfortable, the four of us being able to fit on one bed was a miracle in of itself. I felt Spike's tail wrap around my leg again as he drifted off. It was about time I did the same. I laid with a pleased sigh.. before I felt a hoof hit my face.


 ~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~


"I don't even know what I'm looking at."

Twilight, Chrysalis and I were on the couch, with both mares looking over my shoulder while I tried to make out these weird hieroglyphics on the pages. Twilight's currently trying to teach me one of the most basic spells in the Arcane, levitation. She scribbled some notes down to help me out but it only served to confuse me more. Looking over at the empty cup of applesauce, I focused on the object with all intent.

"Come on.." I said as I lifted my hand. I concentrated on the inanimate object as much as I could, but to no avail. The cup would've so much as budge, let alone float. "Ugh, what the hell.." 

Chrysalis hummed in thought. "I'm not sure what your doing wrong. I mean, you say your species is incapable of magic normally, correct?" 

"Yeah, and I'm starting to believe I went through two splitting headaches for no damn reason.." I let out a deep sigh, putting my head in my hands. "Maybe I'm just not, picturing it right. Hm.. actually, one second." 

I got up from my seat and went into the bedroom. With a quick look around, I spot what I went to retrieve, my grimoire. I pick it up and walk back to take my seat.

"What are you doing?" Twilight asked skeptically. "Remember our deal." 

"I know, I just figured that the thing that allows me to use magic in the first place should be close by. So, here goes nothing." Concentrating again, this time with my grimoire in possession, I focus on the empty cup. It still had no affect. 

"Alright.. let me try one more thing." I redirected my focus from the cup to the grimoire itself this time, hoping to get some sort of reaction. It took a moment, but eventually I got results. It glowed, this time a color closer to black than red, and the grimoire hovered in front of me. "Finally! Now then.." With the grimoire powered up, I concentrate on the cup once more, holding out my hand. 

At last, my hand and the cup was encompassed with a blackish aura, with the object floating in place. "Yes!"

"Interesting.." Twilight started taking noted, a quill and paper in her magic. "It seems that you're able to preform any magical feats only when the grimoire is close to you in an activated state." 

"Wouldn't that technically mean it's still dark magic since it's coming from the grimoire?" Chrysalis asked.

Twilight was silent for a moment as she finished her notes, raising a hoof to her chin. "I'm not so sure.. I don't think so, Basic levitation is arcane magic, although there is a type of dark magic that has that property," With a flash of magic, both quill and paper were put away. "But since this Peter character only specializes in illusion and conjuration it's unlikely, for now at least."

"What else can I learn?" I asked excitedly.

Twilight chuckled. "I think you could use a bit of a breather. It hasn't been that long, but you need all the time you can get to recover fully." I pouted.

"I feel fine now! See?" Again, I lifted the cup in my magic and this time I moved it around in the air. "Com' on, just one more spell?" 

"I can teach you one I know, if you wish." Chrysalis offered. Without hesitation, I nodded.

"Chrysalis.." Twilight warned, raising an eyebrow.

"It's nothing dangerous," Chrysalis assured. "Not to him at least. It's a basic attack spell, for self defense. He'll need to be at least somewhat useful if we run into anything in the mountains."

I.. wasn't sure if she was trying to be demeaning or not intentionally, but regardless, she had a point. "Alright, so what's this spell called?" 

"Magic bullet." Looking around for a nearby target, Chrysalis hummed. Her eyes widened as she spotted one, lifting it up in the air. It was the can of the apple cobbler I finished off this morning, with Spikes help. A small ball of concentrated green energy emanated from the tip of her horn, before shooting out. It hit the can with enough force to leave a dent in it.

"Now you try." 

I blinked. "..That's it? No explanation, no weird hieroglyphics or riddles? Just the demonstration."

Chrysalis smirked at me, raising an eyebrow. "Would you rather sit here for another half an hour hearing me ramble on about arcane theory and particle matter?"

"Okay, fair enough." I took the can from Chrysalis's magic with my own, trying to mimic the spell. Within a matter of seconds, a ball of black energy started to form in the base of my hand, growing bigger. And bigger.. and bigger. 

"Uh, Zale?" Twilight asked with a hint of caution. "It doesn't need to be that strong now!"  

"I'm trying to condense it, I swear! Let me concentrate.." I strained. After a mild panic, the ball of energy started to get smaller instead, until it was around the same size as the one Chrysalis produced. Aiming at my target, I released the magic, and it hit the can. However, the spell was much stronger than I meant it to be, as it punched straight through the can, the edges of the hole glowing red from the heat, and the bullet continued to go through the wall, and out of sight.

"Uh.. oops? Hehe.." I chuckled sheepishly.

Twilight faced hoofed. "Next time, release the spell sooner. The more you charge it the more powerful it becomes. That's why it was getting bigger and it was hard to condense it." 

Chrysalis gave me a warm smile. "I'm so proud." Twilight just rolled her eyes.

It was at that moment that FIzzlepop and Spike come through the door. They had left early to see if they could gather more information about the missing ponies.

"Tempest! Spike!" Twilight acknowledged. "Welcome back. Did you find anything?" 

Spike shook his head. "Nope, everypony seems pretty on edge right now, barely any of them would even speak to me. The ones who did talk to me told me they didn't see anything either."

Tempest shook her head as well, sighing dejectedly. "Same here, I'm don't think we'll get anymore info than what we have now. How's the lessons going Isaiah?" 

I smiled, levitating a bottle of apple cider from the bag to my hand. "I'd say they're going pretty well. Uh.." I eyed the cider, shrugging before taking a few gulps. "Also, no offense to Applejack, but can we pleas eat something that Isn't apple? Because I'm starting to get a little tired of it. I was only putting up with it for so long because I don't like the idea of wasting food, especially since it was given to me."

"Celestia, thank you please!" Spike said dramatically.

"Alright gang, let's go into town for one more meal before finally going up. Today is the day."