//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: New Days Bring New Theories // Story: Spero // by Piemaster128 //------------------------------// Moon Dancer yawned, her eyes slowly opening as she groaned. She was still in the Royal Archives, tucked away in a quiet corner where she wouldn’t be disturbed, even in sleep. In retrospect, she probably should have gone home rather than using the book on advanced magic theory and rune diagrams as a pillow, something her neck whole hardily agreed with. I can’t help Twilight and the princesses if I run myself into the ground, Moon Dancer thought as she yawned again and began working the kinks out of her neck and spine. Shortly after Twilight had been taken by the invaders’ ruler, the Royal Sisters had put out a notice that they needed any and all ponies interested in magical research to help them examine a sample of the invaders’ unique magic. The end goal was to hopefully replicate the magic, though right now many ponies were still trying to figure out how it worked at all, Moon Dancer included. Some ponies were studying it in the labs the sisters provided, others were researching in the castle’s various libraries, many of which were normally reserved for more senior magical staff or university magic professors. Though at this time, assuming her sense of time was correct in the first place, everypony else was probably at home or in the quarters the Royal Sisters had provided for any researchers who wanted them. Moon Dancer had chosen to stay at home given how close it was to the castle, but she had barely left the library ever since the princesses had shown her that truly fascinating, if very confusing piece of magic. It had piqued her curiosity like nothing had before. She could still remember the sample she had been given, the strange feeling that permeated her body when she held it and the tingling in her horn when she tried to levitate it. It was like nothing Moon Dancer had ever experienced or even heard about in her many years of research. And despite being granted access to the normally restricted sections Royal Archives, she had still failed to find any sort of book that described or even made a passing mention of this magic. She had even brought all of her meals back to this table so she could keep working while she ate, and yet that extra time hadn’t helped her in the slightest. Her progress was nonexistent at this point. Though the fact that she couldn’t even describe the magic was likely making the search all the harder. Grumble… “Ah, right. Food,” Moon Dancer muttered to herself as empty stomach rumbled loudly. She had managed to ignore her hunger for most of the night, but now that it was morning her stomach was letting her know just how displeased it was. Her eyes were too, given how they kept blurring her vision no matter how many times she rubbed them. Maybe a break was a good idea. She wouldn’t be helping anypony if she couldn’t even read due to hunger. More research could wait. She turned in her chair before dropping to the floor with a solid thump. THUMP! “GAH!” she squealed as one of the books stacked on the table crashed to the floor, shattering the silence of the library. Taking a few deep breaths to calm her pounding heart, Moon Dancer turned to glare at the book, before blinking. She didn’t remember grabbing this book from the shelves. She would have remembered a book with the Element of Magic boldly displayed on the front cover, she was certain of it. Curiously, she levitated the book up and took a look at the cover. A Beginner’s Guide to Anima Mea: Discovering and Learning to use your Elemental Affinity. Moon Dancer blinked again, then opened the front cover. The book had an identification card just like all the others, but the card’s design was…wrong. It still had all the right info from the library, but it was all in the wrong places. And it was big…and OLD. Like, VERY old. She had read plenty of old books from the more public sections of the Archives, but she had never seen a card that looked like this. And that title…what was an Anima Mea? Or Elemental Affinity? Was the latter referring to magic based in natural elements like fire and water? GRUMBLE! Food first, then once I can see straight I can get back to reading, Moon Dancer thought, closing the book she had used as a pillow and replacing it with the new one. It could easily be a dead end once again, but she wouldn’t know until she read it. Three hours later, in a Canterlot alley… “You’re a bit late. Have any trouble?” the stallion asked. “Not particularly,” the mare replied. “It just took her longer to wake up then I thought it would. I’m still surprised she was able to sleep at all on something as hard as a book.” “You’d be surprised. And I take it that means Moon Dancer has the book?” “Yep. Just a little slight of magic, and the book fell as thought it had been on top of one of her towers of books. She started reading it once she had gotten breakfast and hasn’t stopped since.” “Perfect. The sooner we can start passing on our knowledge, the better equipped Equestria will be. How soon do you think it will be until she takes the book to the princesses?” “Hard to say. She’s really engrossed in it, but it might take some time before she realizes that this is actually what she’s looking for. However, once she understands that, I’m sure she’ll deliver the book at once. As a bonus, I also believe she possesses at least a minor affinity for hope, so I imagine she’ll be able to replicate the sample she was given with enough practice.” “Quite the rare talent she has if you’re right. Still, make sure she doesn’t spend too long with the book. The guards need to start training too.” “Don’t worry. If she hasn’t moved on by the end of the week, I’ll do what I can to convince her to visit the princesses.” Meanwhile, on Delubrum… Go away sun, was Twilight’s first coherent thought as a ray of light angled itself perfectly to strike at Twilight’s eyelid. She groaned and tried to shift her face away from the light, but the effort required to move only woke her up that much more. Why can’t Celestia ever just let me sleep? You know that she’s not actually waking you up on purpose, right? That would imply that she knows where you are and is willing to change the angle of the sun to perfectly match the angle of your head— CELESTIA DANG IT BRAIN! Now I’m definitely won’t be getting back to sleep! Sorry! Force of habit! Twilight let out an angry growl directed at her own brain as she reluctantly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw as her vision came into focus was the perfectly painted representation of the night sky and the blue overhang above her bed. Blinking, she sat up. Right, I’m still on Delubrum, she thought, and then looked down. And I’m still wearing the dress from last night. At least I remembered to take the shoes off. She must have been more tired than she realized. She could barely remember getting in bed at all, let alone falling asleep. She rubbed her eyes and looked around the room. Everything looked the same, with the sunlight casting the orange-pink furniture in a soothing glow just like the day before. The books on the bookshelf were in the same places as before, the curtains near the balcony door were still pulled back, and the bed was still covered in more pillows than Twilight would ever need. Given how much had changed over the past few days, it was actually a little bit calming to see that everything in the room was the same as it was the day before. That everything hadn’t suddenly changed again. Though Twilight felt a small pang of sadness as her eyes passed over the bookshelf again. Chances were that none of those books were in Equestrian, something made only more likely as Twilight saw that the titles on the books spines were in Labyrin, at least the ones that were big enough for her to see from her bed. However, she also noticed that Right Word had stacked the library books on the desk, including the encyclopedia and the language books, so maybe the books on the bookshelf wouldn’t be out of reach forever. Wait, is that… Twilight looked where her brain was indicating, and she immediately felt more awake. Sitting on the bedside table was a large tray just like the one Sparrow had used yesterday. It was once again covered in a large plate of pancakes, a small bowl of peaches and a small bowl of oranges, and a glass of orange juice. Balanced against the glass was a small green cloth bag tied with a golden thread and a folded note with her name on it. Ignoring the way her mouth was watering at the sweet smell of the peaches and the unsettling way that it once again looked a bit too much like what a husband would make for his wife, Twilight cautiously picked up the note first. Dear Twilight, I hope that you slept well and I apologize that I was not there to deliver this to you in pony. A small incident came up in town that required my direct attention, so I am afraid I will likely be unavailable until lunch at the earliest. I have left this food here for you so that you may continue to regain your strength. Given your progress yesterday, I believe that it is safe to assume that you will now have access to your magic once again. However, it might be safer to keep casting to a minimum if you can, and I suggest that you avoid any strenuous spells such as teleportation or transfiguration. With your current rate of recovery, you should be back at full strength by tomorrow evening at the latest, so I promise that you will be casting spells again very soon. While I will unfortunately be unavailable to continue answering your questions until lunch today, I do have an idea as to how you can both learn more about our island and continue to meet new ponies. Every Tuesday, the capital city of Oasis hosts a trading market where ponies from all over the island gather to exchange their goods. Each of the main cities across the island differs in what they produce and the ponies that live there, so I guarantee that going there will help you expand your knowledge of the island. And, in truth, there is a good friend of mine that I would like you to meet at some point during the day as well. She is a renowned peach farmer, and I know the two of you will get along swimmingly. Spike was still asleep when I wrote this. If you make a left when leaving your room, his room can be found one floor down the stairs and it will be the first door on the right. Should you feel too weak to go to him yourself, simply call on a guard for assistance using the emerald next to your door. I have left you a small pouch of coins as well should you wish to buy anything. Bronze coins are worth one Del, silver are worth ten, and gold are worth one hundred. For future reference, gems can also be used, though their value is less consistent and would require a more detailed explanation that I can prove you now. I hope that you enjoy your day, and I look forward to seeing you again. Sincerely, Sparrow. Well, at least he didn’t say ‘Love, Sparrow.’ Brain, I am warning you. Sorry, sorry, but I know you were thinking about that. Twilight decided not to dignify that with a response and instead focused back on the tray. If her magic was back to a usable level, then she should try to gauge her strength sooner rather than later, if only to make sure she didn’t overtax herself unintentionally. Reaching for her magic, she focused on one of the peaches in the small bowl. Her horn responded, and slowly the peach began to float into the air. The aura was fainter than normal, but Twilight was happy to see it again. Expanding her focus, she took hold of an orange as well, levitating that into the air next to the peach. The added strain was minimal, so she lifted another peach. For the next few minutes, Twilight slowly levitated different parts of her breakfast into the air. It wasn’t until she lifted everything save for the tray that she began to feel she was reaching her limit. As a final test, she placed everything back on the tray before carefully enveloping it all in her magic. The pressure on her horn became uncomfortable, but not unbearable enough to stop her from levitating the tray over to her. Ok, I think this is my limit, Twilight thought as she let the tray fall gently onto the bed in front of her. She could feel the pressure slowly ease until she was left with only a mild and rapidly fading tingle. I shouldn’t try to levitate anything heavier than this tray. Good to know. In that case, maybe you should look around to see if you could find some saddlebags? That way, if you do want to go to the trade market and buy anything or go check out more books, you can carry it easier. Especially if you take Spike with you, seeing as how he’s in no condition to carry anything at the moment and might want something too. Although, now that I think about it, maybe that won’t be needed? Right Word was accompanying Spike yesterday, so maybe you won’t need to carry anything if we bring a guard with us? I think we should be ok without a saddlebag, Twilight thought, taking her first bite of her breakfast. Especially since I imagine having a guard would be a good idea just in case something happens to aggravate Spike’s injuries. And I think I will go to the trade market. It actually sounds kind of exciting, to be honest! It sounds almost like a cultural exchange, albeit at a smaller scale. And it could offer a good chance for me to learn more about the island and cross-reference it later using the encyclopedia. The breakfast was as delicious as yesterday’s, the blend of peaches and oranges in the pancakes so amazing that Twilight couldn’t help but scarf it all down as quickly as physically possible without getting any of it on her dress. But even that deliciousness couldn’t quite quiet a little voice in the back of her mind that said it was a bit too…married. Twilight frowned as she wiped a stray crumb off her face. She didn’t want to think about THAT right now. But oh well. Breakfast was breakfast, and Sparrow was probably just trying to make a good impression on her. Hopefully. Once she was done, she put the tray back where she found it, put the dress and the shoes Speedy Diamond had made her away in the closet, and headed to the bathroom. One bath later, and she felt as ready as she could be to face the new day. Should we call a guard to escort us? We still don’t know our way around, and we probably wouldn’t even know how to get out from the elevator hub given how distracted we were. Let’s go get Spike first, Twilight thought as she made her way to the door, making sure to grab the bag of coins before she left. Right Word and Sparrow said he was one floor below ours. He’ll likely want to come with us, and I’m sure his room would have a call panel just like ours so he can contact help if he hurts himself. From there, we can see if I feel strong enough to fly, and I’ll call a guard if I don’t. Works for me. The hallway was as beautiful in daylight as it was the night before, but it was also strangely empty. It was at least late morning, yet there wasn’t a single pony in sight. She couldn’t hear any other ponies either; no sounds of conversation, no hooves clopping along the stone or carpets, no sounds of maid carts being pushed though the hallways. She understood she was probably in a private part of the castle, but still. It was…a bit unsettling. Giving herself a little shake, Twilight turned to her left and began to head for the stairs down to Spike. WAIT!!! GAH!!! Twilight stumbled not even three hooves from her room as her brain screamed in her head! It was so loud and startling that she barely managed to avoid dropping the bag of coins floating in her magic. What is it, brain?! I just thought of something! Go look at Sparrow’s bedroom door! What? Why? I have a theory about the mark above our door but I need to see his to prove it! Why can’t you just tell me— Because! NOW GO! Ok, ok! Just calm down, brain. Sheesh, Twilight groaned as she reversed course and made her way down towards Sparrow’s door. What could possibly be so important about his door? Her brain didn’t respond, though Twilight had the faintest impression that her brain was giving her a ‘just wait and see’ look, like a mother directing her child towards a surprise. HOW her brain could give her a look at all though was pretty darn odd. Maybe she was still tired and was imaging things? Before she could think over that question, she arrived at Sparrow’s door and all other thoughts were driven from her head. There, sitting at the top of the frame, was Sparrow’s cutie mark. Two hooves holding one another in front of a spinning image of the world. Ok, so now what? It’s just the image of Sparrow’s cutie…mark… And just like that, the pieces fell into place in Twilight’s mind. She face-hoofed. Then sat down and double face-hoofed because one hoof wasn’t cutting it in the slightest. Then added her wings to the mix. I’m an idiot. A complete—HOW DID I NOT PUT THIS TOGETHER!?!? It’s a CUTIE MARK! The Puer Stella is a CUTIE MARK! THAT’S why it’s hanging in the entranceway on the banners besides Sparrow’s cutie mark! Because he’s a KING, and whoever that mark belonged to must have been his QUEEN! Exactly! The Puer Stella was above your door AND hanging in the entranceway, which means it couldn’t just be a symbol of importance to the island! It must be the cutie mark of the island’s last Queen! And it might even be why Sparrow isn’t sleeping in the clearly larger room in between his room and your room! Because he no longer has a Queen! And so he doesn’t feel comfortable sleeping in the room clearly meant for the royal couple after marriage! Oh, sweet Celestia, HOW DID I NOT NOTICE ANY OF THIS YESTERDAY!?!?! Hey, give yourself SOME slack! When you woke up you couldn’t even stand on your own, and you were tired all day. And even when you got back, you were not only even more exhausted but were still being bombarded with new information about the elevators, about Sparrow, and about the security functions in your room. You had too much going on and kept noting things away for later, which is understandable and perfectly justified if you ask me. No need to beat yourself up over any of it. But still! It seems so obvious now! All the clues were there in plain view. And now I just have even more questions! Who was this other pony? How long ago did she pass and why has no pony mentioned her by name? Did she pass from old age, or was it more sudden like from a disease? Would she be the one who helped Sparrow make that garden of his? YES, exactly! He was so sad last night in the garden, so could that have been because it was his wife that helped him build it? And if so, that means he’s probably still in mourning! And pretty deep mourning too! Then why is he still so insistent on marrying you? If he is clearly still in pain from his loss, then why didn’t he wait until he had moved on before coming after you? Heck, why go through all this effort to marry you at all? Unless… Unless what? Could…could he just see you as a replacement for whoever the Queen was? Twilight felt almost sick as a wave of vertigo wash over her at the mere idea that Sparrow would be using her like that! That she might just be a replacement for someone else! Did she really agree – hay, she was practically forced to agree! – to go with this strange pony just to be a replacement bride?! “Could that really be true?” Twilight muttered to herself, her voice sounding small and distant. Her heart was bounding inside her ribs, beating so hard she was starting to feel pains in her chest and her vision started to blur and— She brought a hoof to her chest, forced herself to take a deep breath, then slowly let it out. Then she did it again. And then a third time, just like Cadence had taught her. Slowly, the vertigo began to disappear, her heart’s furious pounding began to calm to a more reasonable rate… Wait. Cadence. Like a light being turned on, Twilight suddenly remembered what Cadence had told her the night before. About how Sparrow’s actions up to this point indicated that he cared about Twilight’s feelings, and by extension, her! Could she really be just a replacement if he cared so much about her? Would he risk being stabbed by a shadow monster for somepony who was just a replacement? With her breathing now steady, she quickly went back over everything she knew about Sparrow and everything she had told her friends and family the night before. I…don’t think I’m just a replacement. Twilight thought, the vertigo passing completely. I mean, if I was just acting as some sort of replacement for his late wife, then wouldn’t he have wanted the wedding as soon as possible? Instead, he’s holding off on it until I feel comfortable with the island, and didn’t even bring up the wedding yesterday until I asked about it. The only thing so far that might imply that I was a replacement might be the fancy breakfasts that he's made me, but even that’s not really much of a sign. Good point. If you were a replacement, he probably would have already had everything planned out for the wedding and ready for the moment you were back on your hooves. Could it maybe be because of politics? Politics? Yeah, I mean, think about it. He’s an alicorn, sure, but he’s also a king. If he were to be killed by something, somepony would need to take over for him, and there might not be a clear line of succession, at least not like that. Would Right Word be next in line given how he is Sparrow’s right hoof and a descendent of Sparrow’s bloodline, or would there be some debate among the other high-ranking ponies on the island about who should become the next king? If there isn’t a clear line of succession, what if there is a lot of pressure from other high-ranking ponies for him to take another wife as quickly as possible so that there is a new queen, and thus a second pony to help rule the island? Or at least someone who is available should Sparrow somehow die to prevent instability, however unlikely his death may be? That could make some sense, but that still brings us back as to why he hasn’t insisted on marrying me yet. Hmmmmm…We already established that he could still be in mourning, so could he be trying to buy more time before his next marriage? That by taking someone from off the island, he would have a reason to delay the marriage and engage in a longer courting cycle while I took the time to become accustomed to the island and its traditions? Especially since choosing somepony from a foreign country would ensure that no ponies on the island could advance their political agenda by trying to marry into the royal family. That has some merit, I suppose. Though that is assuming, of course, that would even be an issue. We still have no idea how the politics of the island work save for there being a king and a massive army ready to protect the island. Plus, if Speedy Diamond is able to just fall asleep in the middle of town without worry and Sparrow is ok with being tackled by a bunch of school children whenever he goes out, then maybe politics aren’t really much of an issue on this island in the first place compared to Equestria? The nobles back in Canterlot would have a heart attack if Celestia ever let something like that happen. Right, this is all just speculation. We have no way to know if politics play a role or not, at least not yet. And even if they did, it still doesn’t explain why he chose ME! You mean a young, smart, caring, empathetic, highly talented, and beautiful alicorn that he has been protecting from danger for years, has a wonderful thirst for knowledge that appears in adorkable ways, and is the only alicorn not over one thousand years old who is still single? BRAIN! Twilight squealed, feeling her face heat up in embarrassment and shock. I’m just stating the facts! You are, in the eyes of many, quite the catch. And don’t even try denying that you’re attractive. You are, and I see I forgot to add exceedingly humble to that list. Plus, seeing how Sparrow lost his first, or whatever number, wife, wouldn’t it make sense that he would try and court somepony that would be ageless like him? Having somepony who he wouldn’t lose to the passage of time seems like a reasonable idea, especially if his last wife died from old age. I…ok, you have a point. I wish you didn’t and that he would have picked somepony else, ANYPONY else, but I can see your point. But this still leaves us with so many questions about his motives and why he chose the method he did to get me to come along. I mean, if we assume that he was worried about that…THING coming after me, which I think we can safely agree that yes, he was telling the truth on that, then why insist on a marriage at all? Unfortunately, I don’t think we can answer that right now. The best we can do is keep gathering what new information we can and continue improving our theory as time goes on. Though I’m not sure if we should ask about Sparrow’s wife. We definitely shouldn’t ask Sparrow, but I don’t know about other ponies as well. Why not? I definitely agree about Sparrow; regardless of what he’s done, bringing up such memories would just be cruel if he's still in mourning, but why not others? I’m…not sure exactly. But it kinda feels like snooping into something that we shouldn’t. And what if Sparrow wants to tell us himself when he’s ready, and somepony gets in trouble for taking about it too soon? Or they get the facts wrong and leave us with a flawed view of what really happened? Plus, we probably have enough information to work through at the moment. Do we really need to dig for more new info into our already hefty backlog of questions and concerns? Hmmm…Ok, you make good points, but I think we should see what Spike thinks too. He’s spent the most time with Sparrow of anypony we personally know, so maybe he can help us decide what to do. Sounds fair to me. Good thing he’s only one floor below us. Let’s go. Twilight nodded to herself and stood back up, taking a moment to stretch. As she did, a thought occurred to her. She wasn’t exactly a stranger talking to herself, but these last few minutes had been…different. More…cerebral, maybe? Typically when she was trying to solve a problem like this, she preferred to walk around or pace in a circle to help her think. She rarely ever just sat down and just talked to herself without doing much else. Furthermore, a part of her was curious as to why her brain was saying some of the things it did. Most of the conversation appeared to follow the normal flow of thought, but her brain then suddenly complimenting her? She wasn’t even thinking about that beforehoof. Actually, that comment was strikingly similar to something Rarity might say if Twilight was feeling nervous about a new dress, if maybe a bit over the top. Could it be that she was projecting her friends personality into her internal voice? She still missed them so much, and she did just talk to them last night, so could her brain be trying to sound more like them because she was lonely? The six of them had worked together on so many problems over the years, and Twilight always found her thoughts to be clearer when the girls were there to lend support. Then again, she did also have a conversation with a dream version of Sparrow the night before she left Equestria. Maybe she was overthinking things? Twilight shook her head. She was worrying too much. This was no different than her pacing around outside the Canterlot gate the day she met Sparrow. Her exhaustion and the stress all the events of the last few days were just making her paranoid. And with that, she turned and trotted back past her room. She descended the stairs at the end of the hallway, though she was a little surprised that they only went down one story. Maybe it was to give the upper level some privacy, or to help protect it in case of an invasion from lower levers? Before she could answer, she emerged into another hallway. This hallway was less opulent than the one above, but it was still very nice. It contained a soft green rug running the length of the cobblestone hallway, a few sets of armor that looked to be standard, undecorated guard armor, and a few beautiful paintings depicting various biomes. Unlike the floor above, there were light orange-pink doors on both sides of the hallway, and there were far more of them. There also appeared to be a few branching hallways further down, though Twilight couldn’t see where they led from where she stood. What surprised Twilight the most however was just how many ponies there were down here! In this hallway alone she could see three guards, two maids, and five ponies wearing some kind of military dress uniform, and at least two well-dressed ponies that looked almost like nobles all moving about. Were they all important guests staying in the castle? Part of Sparrow’s government? Were they— Focus… We came here for the adorable baby dragon, remember? Right, Spike now, more questions later. Thanks, brain. Thankfully, just as Right Word and Sparrow had said, Spike’s door was the first one on the right of the staircase, labeled with a green nameplate. It was also slightly open, and Twilight realized that she could just faintly hear Spike’s voice. “Do we really need to do this again? I feel just as fine as I did yesterday!” Spike complained. “I’m afraid so, sweetie,” a kind, motherly voice replied. “I need to make sure you didn’t aggravate your injuries when you went walking around yesterday. Sparrow’s orders. Just sit still and we should be done in a few minutes. And just because you can’t feel a new injury doesn’t mean something isn’t being stressed unnecessarily, so it never hurts to check.” “Fine,” Spike grumbled. Twilight couldn’t help but giggle to herself, easily able to imagine the adorable pout on his face. But who was that other voice? Probably a nurse. It makes sense to have somepony around to keep an eye on a recovering patient, especially one tied directly to the island’s newest member of royalty. Yeah, that does makes sense, Twilight thought, taking a step forward and gently knocking on the door. “One moment, please,” a third voice called, and the door opened fully to reveal a guard with a red coat, blue mane, and orange eyes standing before a room that was only a bit smaller than Twilight’s upstairs. Any further observations were put on hold when she realized that the guard looked very familiar. “Ah, Princess Twilight. I assume you are here to see Sir Spike.” Isn’t he the guard who was with Spike and Right Word yesterday? “Just Twilight is fine,” Twilight said shyly on instinct. “You’re…Silent Sky, right? You were with Spike yesterday?” The stallion nodded. “Yes, Princess, I was,” he replied, apparently ignoring her request. “I am one of the ponies that has been assigned to guard Sir Spike should you be unavailable. That way he is always protected by at least one pony at fighting strength.” “I don’t need protection,” Spike called out from behind him. “Hold still, dear,” the motherly voice said. “Squirming will only make it take longer.” As if sensing Twilight’s desire to look into the room for Spike, Silent Sky stepped out of the doorway to allow her access. He was sitting on a large plush bed definitely built for at least two ponies, and was currently covered in a soft white aura of magic. Standing next to the bed was an older unicorn mare with a pink coat, white mane, brown eyes, and a cutie mark of a caduceus in front of a heart. She was wearing a small white nurse’s hat and a white gown with a blue sash across her chest, marked with letters in the island’s natural language, and had a large brown medical bag sitting next to her. Her horn was glowing with a white aura to match the one covering Spike, and she was giving Twilight a warm smile. “What a pleasure to finally meet you, Twilight,” the nurse said happily. “Spike talked quite a bit about you these last few days whenever I came to check on him. Oh, and sorry about Mister Formal over there. He always calls ponies by their titles, no matter how much you tell him not to.” “I simply wish to ensure that a pony’s status is acknowledged and respected, Head Nurse Brave Heart,” Silent Sky said calmly. “To call the Princess or the Savior of the Crystal Empire by anything other than their titles simply won’t do.” “You mean like how you still call Sparrow ‘King’ even though he tells you not to every single time you talk to him? Assuming you aren't just standing there silently like your name implies, of course,” Brave Heart teased, giggling as Silent Sky frowned at her. Before he could respond, however, Brave Heart’s horn gave a small flash of green magic. “Ah, there we go, all done!” The aura around Spike flickered and winked out. “No new injuries and no unnecessary strains, though do remember not to scratch your new scales until they harden.” “But they’re itchy!” Spike whined as Brave Heart gently swatted his unbroken claw away from a lighter patch of scales. “That’s why I put the medicine on before the scan,” the nurse said. “Just like yesterday, it takes some time to start working, but it will help with the itching. Just be patient.” She turned towards her bag and levitated up a large sapphire from inside. “I’m sure this will help get your mind off it,” she added with a knowing look as Spike licked his lips. “Is there anything I should know about his injuries, just in case?” Twilight asked, smiling faintly as Spike began happily eating the sapphire. “Not too much, and all of Spike’s guards have at least basic medic training in the off-chance that something is wrong,” Brave Heart said as she closed up her bag. “Though I will tell you what I told them. Don’t let him scratch his new scales, be sure to move a bit more slowly if you end up carrying him so as not to jostle his injuries, he should have twice his normal minimum gem intake to ensure his body can repair his scales and bones quickly, and, of course, no more waterfall jumping,” she added playfully. “It’s not my fault I fell in the water,” Spike grumbled, pointing adorably as he continued to munch on his gem. “I never said it was,” Brave Heart said, her smile becoming more gentle. “And I can appreciate that you were trying to help your friend. Though next time, maybe leave the dangerous uncontrolled teleportation across half a continent to the professionals.” Does this island have professionals that perform uncontrolled teleportations across half a continent on a regular basis? Because if so, I have so many questions… Brain, focus… “Wait…didn’t all the solders teleport back to the island? I seem to remember overhearing that in the medical bay,” Spike said, his eyes narrowing. “I believe that you misheard then. They didn’t teleport. They used displacement,” Silent Sky said from near the door. “What’s the difference?” Spike asked in confusion. Good question, Spike. I thought Right Word said it was just their form of teleportation. Maybe they use the island’s magic, and that somehow makes it safer than using normal teleportation, especially over long distances? “Teleportation uses the multi-dimensional axis of mmph!” Silent Sky began, only for Brave Heart to cover his mouth with her hoof as she approached the door. “Teleportation uses the magic inside the pony, is limited by their knowledge of the location they are trying to teleport to if it is outside their sight, to the point where they usually need to have visited the location personally before teleporting there, and is limited greatly by the pony’s own power levels. Displacement uses the magic of the world itself, and as such requires less energy from the pony in question, and the pony doesn’t need to have visited the location before-hoof to travel there.” “I could have told him that,” Silent Sky protested, frowning again as the nurse moved her hoof. “And you would have been here for at least an hour explaining all the technical aspects of it rather than the simplified version,” Brave Heart teased. “I could already start to see his eyes cross, and you hadn't even finished the first sentence!” Didn’t Sparrow mention something similar last night? About ponies of the island using the magic of the world around them to cast spells? Do you think this is what he meant? No idea, but we best remember anything else we hear about it for future reference. “Is there anything else different about it?” Spike asked. “There is a time delay,” Brave Heart said, covering Silent Sky’s mouth again, earning an unhappy glare from the pegasus. “Teleportation is always nearly instantaneous, while displacement has a time delay based on how far you travel. When you displaced from Canterlot to Delubrum, there was about a three minute delay from when you left to when you reappeared here on the island.” “It was likely a bit shorter actually,” Silent Sky said, pulling the hoof off his mouth. “While the strength of a normal pony isn’t usually enough to affect the timing, King Sparrow’s magic is strong enough that he typically moves from one place to another more quickly, usually arriving a few seconds before his guards over shorter distances and a minute or two over longer ones, assuming he has any with him at the time.” Like when he appeared in your room! He arrived in front of you, then his guards appeared a few seconds later! That actually matches up with what we’ve seen so far. Agreed, but please focus, brain. We can’t keep going off on tangents like this. Says the pony who started the last tangent we had. Twilight just mentally rolled her eyes at her brain and focused back on the present. “Can all the ponies on the island use displacement? Or is it limited to only a select few and the rest need to use enchanted items to displace? Can you take other objects with you when you displace? Is it the only spell that uses the magic of the world, as you put it?” “Almost anypony can do it with the right teaching,” Brave Heart said before Silent Sky could speak. “And those who can’t can be given special items to help them along. It can be used to transport inanimate objects or other ponies, though that does raise the difficulty level exponentially. And it is only one of the spells that use the magic of the world. I’m sure you’ll encounter quite a few others as you spend more time on the island. “But unfortunately, that’s all the time I have. I am needed back in the medical ward, so I’m afraid I can’t stay, but I do hope we will get a chance to talk more, Twilight. Have a good day, and remember not to let Spike scratch his scales!” “I will. Thank you for looking after Spike, Brave Heart.” “It was my pleasure,” the nurse replied with a smile, her horn flaring and lightly smacking Spike’s claw away from his scales one last time. Spike groaned a little as she walked out the door. “I shall be outside if you need anything, Princess,” Silent Sky said, bowing slightly to Twilight before following Brave Heart out the door and closing it behind him. “She’s worse than Mom,” Spike grumbled, reaching for his scales again only for Twilight’s hoof to stop him. “But Mom also never gave you such big gems when you were sick,” Twilight said with a playful smirk. “True,” Spike agreed, licking his lips again. “So what’s on your mind?” “Huh?” “You spaced out a few times while we were talking,” Spike said, giving Twilight a knowing smile. “And you only do that when you’re really stumped by something. So come on, what’s up?” I didn’t think we spaced out THAT much. He’s lived with us his whole life, remember. He knows all our tells and habits. And he probably knows we’re spacing out right now! True. So Twilight told him everything. The cutie mark above her door, the banners in the castle entranceway, the mark above Sparrow’s door, what she thought it all meant. She explained her theory about how Sparrow was still grieving, the reasons he wasn’t marrying her yet, and everything else she had discussed with her brain that morning and with Sparrow the night before. “Huh, no wonder you were so distracted,” Spike said, scratching his head. “That is a lot to take in.” “I know. And I still can’t believe I didn’t see any of it until just this morning.” “Hey, don’t feel too bad. I’ve been awake since we got here, and I never put it together either!” Spike said, giving Twilight a winning grin. She smiled back. “Thanks, Spike.” She gave him a quick and gentle hug before her expression became more serious. “Do you think we should ask around about Sparrow’s last wife?” she asked, sitting down next to the dragon. “I’ve been pretty divided about if I should or not, but I wanted to hear what you thought about all this. Especially since you’ve had more time to interact with the ponies around here than I have.” “I…really don’t know, actually,” Spike said with a frown. “Yeah, I’ve been awake longer, but most of my time was spent either watching over or worrying about you. Even when I was interacting with Sparrow, the guards he assigned me, or Brave Heart, I didn’t ask about Sparrow very often. Yesterday was actually the first time I left the castle, and that was mostly because I wanted to get you something for when you woke up. “Although,” he added, moving a claw to his chin, “everypony I did ask questions was a little bit evasive when it came to Sparrow or the invasion. Sparrow really didn’t explain anything to me, and the others didn’t really seem to know his motives aside from protecting you. But no pony ever mentioned an old queen, or why you had to marry him.” Spike let out a puff of angry smoke from his nostrils at the mention of the wedding. He’s so adorable when he’s trying to be protective of you. I know, right? Twilight thought, suppressing a small giggle. “That’s ok, Spike. I wouldn’t expect Sparrow to give you many answers, and given how Sparrow is possibly still mourning, it isn’t surprising that no pony brought up the last queen. I just wish I could decide if I should ask about her or not.” “Do you need to know right now?” Spike asked. “I mean, you’ve only been awake for a day, and we still barely even know anything about the island at all.” “But it could be related to why he wants to marry me. If he just wanted to protect me, then why force me to become engaged to him?” “I wish I knew,” Spike said, growling a little more. “But the point still stands: do we need to figure this out now? Couldn’t we just, you know, focus on learning what he’s protecting you from and worry about the whole marriage thing later? You did say that he’s gonna hold off on the wedding for now, so maybe we can focus on just the black smoke thing for now? Well, that and the island?” He makes a good point. We at least have something to go off of when it comes to the THING that attacked you. Everything we know about the queen is just theories right now. And if we’re focusing on both problems, we might be too distracted and skip over some important facts. And even if that…THING can’t get us here, it might still cause problems in Equestria, so the sooner we learn about it, the better. “I think you’re right, Spike,” Twilight said, giving Spike another quick hug. “We can worry about the last queen and the marriage later. Right now we should just focus on that…thing and the island. Though hopefully Sparrow tells me more about why he made me come here soon. I can’t stand not knowing, and all of this speculating is just making me more curious!” “Focus on the island, Twilight,” Spike said with a cheeky grin. “And try not to think about all your other theories for more than ten seconds next time.” Twilight gave him the best ‘I-am-not-amused’ glare she could muster, thought the effect was undercut by her suppressed giggling. “Fine, fine. It’ll be almost impossible, but I’ll do my best not to think about it too much. Though speaking of the island, Sparrow did mention that there is a Trade Festival going on today. Would you like to go see it? It might help tell us more about this place.” “Oh yeah! Brave Heart mentioned that they have a lot of food stands from across the island there! That sounds great, especially since I think she mentioned one of the cities specializes in gems!” Spike exclaimed, licking his lips in anticipation. “Then let’s go see Silent Sky and head out,” Twilight said with a smile, Spike’s enthusiasm helping bury her anxiety for the time being… Meanwhile… “What exactly happened, Lily Pad?” Sparrow asked, his brow furrowed in concern as he and Right Word followed the mare in front of them. It wasn’t every day that the head of one of Oasis’s water treatment centers put in an emergency request for Sparrow’s attention, especially the treatment center that was directly connected to the castle’s water supply. The castle guards were always on standing orders to assist the plant with any needs they might have, so for them to come directly to Sparrow… “We don’t know, sir,” the mare in question said, quickly leading Sparrow and Right Word through the clean metal hallways of the treatment center. All around them, numerous ponies ran by without so much as a second glance. There were no alarms sounding, but something was very clearly wrong. Sparrow could feel it. “Then please start at the beginning,” Right Word said, his tone implying that he too could feel that something was wrong. Lily Pad nodded. “At some point yesterday, the filtration system detected a massive spike in magic contamination in the water. Your magic, to be precise,” she said, looking back at Sparrow with a nod. That normally wouldn't come as too much of a surprise to Sparrow or Right Word. Given how Sparrow’s magic had created the shield covering their island, it wasn’t uncommon that his magic would find its way into anything on the island, even the water. It was why they had purifying crystals and treatment centers like this one, to help remove the excess magic. But normally these magic contamination levels were low, especially in water. “How much of a spike?” Sparrow asked, his brow furrowing. As he spoke, they emerged into the command center overlooking the treatment facility. Just like in the hallways, ponies were currently running to and fro, most of them focusing their attention on a set of screens with red warning symbols flashing on them. Looking out through the windows, Sparrow could see that most of the machines in the facility were working normally, pumping water in a continuous stream. That was reassuring, but only a little, because he could also see a large number of ponies gathered near one of the reinforced walls off to the left of the facility, a wall he recognized as one that separated the main floor of the facility from the isolation rooms use for more contaminated water. A wall that was currently giving off an unusual orange glow as the ponies nearby frantically worked in protective suits. That cannot be a good sign, he thought. “The spike went right off our charts, sir,” Lily Pad said grimly. “Our spells couldn’t even calculate how much magic was in there, though there didn’t appear to be any wild magic at first, luckily. We still had to perform an emergency dump of the water into isolation room 3 to prevent it from overloading all of our purification crystals and contaminating the main water supply. Yet despite the fact that those rooms are designed for purifying high level magical contamination that our normal machinery can’t handle, the magic level was so high it knocked out the control spells for the room, and all attempts to recreate or reactivate them have failed. Even if we could teleport or displace in, which we can’t given the anti-magic properties of the walls, we wouldn’t dare risk it given the level of contamination. We don’t know if our hazmat suits could handle the strain either.” “Has any magic escaped containment?” Sparrow asked, his magic reaching out to examine the area around the room. It appeared as though everything was still normal, thankfully, but he couldn’t be sure. The thick walls combined with the myriad of ponies trying to reestablish the control spells were interfering with his senses too much, and he couldn’t afford to be imprecise, not now. “None has escaped into the main room, sir, the walls have held, but the decontamination room closest to the isolation room has been breached. The magic leak was calm, not wild, at least at first, but our sensors in the level 1 room stopped sending us data readings just an hour ago, so we have no idea if it is STILL calm magic or not. We have ponies trying to restore the sensor spells and others working to probe the magic in the rooms directly through the walls, but the anti-magic properties of the walls are making it difficult for them. We worry that the other two decontamination rooms won’t last under this much pressure either.” “Ma’am, I think you’ve got to see this,” a pony called, interrupting Lily Pad as he waved her over frantically. “Excuse me a moment,” Lily Pad said, bowing slightly before rushing over. Sparrow watched as the two ponies talked quickly and quietly to one another as the stallion showed Lily Pad a few papers, his concern rising when Lily Pad gaped in shock, before quickly issuing a few new orders and running back over. “Sir, the situation just escalated! We’ve just confirmed that more magic is entering the air from the water at an alarming rate, meaning the entire room is at risk of breaching if something isn’t done soon!” “It’s what?!” Sparrow asked, just barely avoiding shouting. Right Word immediately tensed up at the news, his eyes going wide in shock. Buck. If that was true, then this was even more precarious than he realized. Outside, magic entered the air all the time when contaminated water evaporated, but here, NOW, in a controlled environment, it shouldn’t be happening at all… “The magic is entering the air,” Lily Pad repeated. Her voice was steady, but her face shared his concerns. “We aren’t one hundred percent sure why, but our specialist theorizes that the water itself is releasing its stored magic into the air, as if the water itself can’t physically hold all of the magic stored inside it.” “That shouldn’t even be possible!” Right Word said, his voice barely controlled. “Water should only be able to hold a certain amount of magic per milliliter. No pony has ever managed to super-saturate water beyond the known limit.” “Believe me, I’m just as baffled as you are,” Lily Pad said. “This shouldn’t be possible, but it’s the only theory we have right now. And regardless of how it happened, we’ve just confirmed that the magical pressure in the room is constantly increasing, like a balloon filling up with more and more air. This may also be why it’s leaking into the decontamination room as well, because the room can’t hold the magic and its being forced out through the point of least resistance. And though it’s hard to tell with so much magic inside, our specialist has also started to detect power spikes that resemble lightning inside the isolation room itself. Putting it all together, sir, we believe the magic might be becoming wild. We can’t confirm that for sure, but I don’t have any other explanation.” Buck, Sparrow swore in his head. That is the last thing we need right now. Magic in the water was usually fine so long as it stayed calm and remained at low or medium concentrations. And while the magic did become more chaotic once it entered the air, it was usually so dispersed that it didn’t become a problem so long as purification crystals were set up in areas where the magic tended to gathered naturally. But in such a confined space and at such high concentrations, it was at an incredibly high risk of becoming wild. And if it became wild… I need to get in there, Sparrow thought, his magic reaching out for his Founder’s Weapon through their shared link. His sword responded to his call without a moments hesitation, disappearing from its sheath in the castle and reappearing within the storage space he had created for just such an emergency. Close enough to summon with barely a thought should he need it, but hidden enough that ponies nearby wouldn’t worry about what dangerous entity might require such a powerful artifact to combat it. “Lily Pad, do you have a hundred spare purification crystals?” Sparrow asked, turning his attention back to the mare and causing her to blink in surprise. “No, sir, we don’t. We do usually have more than one hundred spares, but the spike yesterday overcharged a number of the crystals in the main purification system, and those that haven’t been used to replace those are currently surrounding the isolation room in case it gets breached. We’ve requested more, but they haven’t arrived yet. Sorry sir.” “No need to apologize,” Sparrow said. “You did what you were trained to do in this situation, and I think you made the right choice.” He turned to his advisor. “Right Word, I believe we have some spares at the castle. Gather one hundred of them if you can, then meet us at the isolation room. Displace back outside the facility, just to be safe.” His advisor nodded, then spun on his hoof and hurried away. Not for the first time, Sparrow felt a rush of gratitude at the unicorn’s promptness. Every moment counted, and the sooner he had those crystals, the better. Even if there was no wild magic, he couldn’t take any chances. He turned back to the mare and could immediately tell she had a question. “Sir,” Lily Pad began, “How are do you plan to get the crystals into the room? Are you able to displace them into the room despite the over-abundance of magic?” She asked, looking at him with some thinly veiled curiosity. Sparrow took a deep breath. Lily Pad probably wouldn’t like what came next. “Unfortunately, Lily Pad, that won’t work. The crystals can’t be opened when I displace them, otherwise they’ll just absorb the casters magic. And we also can’t rely on their automatic opening spells, especially if the purification crystals already in the room aren’t responding. As such, I need to get into that room.” The moment he spoke those words, he felt the familiar tension rise in his chest as the situation just became that much more real. He was going into a highly contaminated area to head off the development of unstable wild magic and prevent a magical disaster. Just like he had so many time before. “You mentioned the decontamination rooms. Are the doors there still operable?” Sparrow asked, pulling himself back to the present. “Y-Yes, sir,” Lily Pad said with a forced nod, her voice wavering uncertainly. “The magic d-decontamination rooms leading to the isolation chamber are still operable, though we d-don’t know how much magic had leaked into those rooms. None has escaped, but t-that’s all we can tell for c-certain.” Definitely not good. Not too surprising, all things consider, but still bad news. "Take me there, and summon every pony on your staff with magic isolation spells that you can spare from other task. We can’t let any of that magic escape the containment room. Given the concentrations of magic inside the isolation chamber, I’ll need to go in myself to get it under control.” “Y-Yes sir! W-Will you need any protection?” Lily Pad asked, her voice still stuttering slightly even as she turned to the left and quickly lead Sparrow towards the exit closest to the isolation rooms. “Even if w-we don’t know how effective they will be against such large concentrations of magic, our hazmat suits should at least offer some protection.” As they left, Sparrow could see another pony in the control room hurry to a large communication crystal, relaying the King’s orders to whoever was on the other side. But Sparrow directed his focus back on Lily Pad. She did a very good job trying to maintain her professionalism, but Sparrow could tell she was panicking a little bit about him going into that room as he currently was. Her question especially sounded a little bit panicked, as though she wanted to offer him something, anything, that might offer him some protection against the magic that no other pony could handle. If only she knew the magical disasters I had to personally prevent before the invention of the purification crystals. Or the wild magic storm that once threatened Star’s hometown, he thought. But it had been so long since the last huge disaster, which had probably happened before Lily had been born if Sparrow remembered correctly, that it was no wonder the younger mare was worried about him going inside alone. So he gave her the softest, most reassuring smile he could. “No,” he said gently. “My own magic can’t hurt me, even at such high concentrations. I’ll feel like I drank thirty pots of coffee when I’m done, and maybe have a headache, but I’ll be perfectly fine, I assure you. If there is wild magic in there, the power boost I’ll get from the excess calm magic will help me counter it – assuming there is any at all, of course,” he added, quickly when he saw Lily Pad freeze in concern. He widened his smile, resting a hoof over her back. “I promise you, you do not need to worry about me. Even if there is wild magic inside that room, I have more than enough practice dealing with it. Trust me.” Lily Pad gave a quick shudder, before she nodded with determination. “Ok, sir. I trust you. Please just be careful, as I don’t know if we will be able to render assistance if something does happen.” “I promise,” Sparrow said with a nod as the two of them began moving once more. “Now, once I’m inside the isolation room, I want your ponies to focus on getting the purification crystals inside the room back online. If I can lower the magic level enough, you should be able to activate them and drain the rest of the magic.” “Yes, sir,” Lily Pad nodded, taking a sharp right turn. “I’ll let our spell maintenance ponies know you’re going in so they can be prepared to reestablish the spells once the magic level drops enough.” Down a set of stairs and one turn later, and they arrived at a heavy set of steel doors. Numerous ponies dressed in protective equipment were already gathering in a semicircle around the entrance. Lily Pad immediately broke off to head for the small control room nearby where two mages were working. Sparrow continued towards the doors, only pausing when he heard a set of armored hooves running up behind them. Perfect timing, as always, Sparrow thought as a slightly breathless Right Word had returned as punctual as ever one hundred purification crystal chambers floating like dust motes behind him. Sparrow grabbed the nearest one, twisting the container lid handle clockwise until it clicked and lifting it up so he could inspect the inside. A clear gem was held in an aluminum frame that pulsed faintly with energy, ready to divert excess island magic into the crystal. The container itself showed no flaws or defects, ensuring that once the gem was fully saturated, it could be contained without risking anypony around it. “Excellent. Thank you, my friend,” Sparrow said with a slight smile. He quickly scooped up the rest of the containers in his magic. “I take it these are from our emergency stock?” “Yes, sir. I think we can all agree this certainly counts as an emergency.” “Agreed. Lily Pad, are your ponies ready?” “Yes, sir! Ready when you are,” Lily Pad called out from the control room. “Good. Right Word, wait for me with Lily Pad. This shouldn’t take very long.” “Yes, sir. Be careful,” Right Word said as he headed towards the control room. “When am I not?” “Do you really want me to answer that?” Right Word called out, and even without looking, Sparrow could tell he was grinning. “Ponies! Shield up!” Lily Pad called out. As one, the ponies around the room lit their horns, and immediately a multi-color shield sprung up around Sparrow and the metal doors ahead. “Ready when you are, sir.” “Good. Let’s go,” Sparrow said, walking up to the door with the containers floating along side him. As he moved, the shield compressed inwards, ensuring that as little of the room was exposed as possible. “Opening level 3!” Lily Pad called. With a loud clank and the spinning of lights, the first doors opened. And Sparrow immediately became glad the ponies behind him were there as he felt the magic in the air suddenly jump a few levels. “Magic spike! Level 3 is showing minor contamination! Nothing our ponies can’t handle, but this means sensors for levels 2 and 3 are malfunctioning! Unknown contamination levels ahead!” “Close the door once I’m through, then open the next set and wait one minute before closing it! Don’t worry about the last door – level 1 with be just as contaminated as isolation once that final door opens!” Sparrow called back, hurrying ahead as fast as he could without crashing the purification crystals into each other. His fur was tingling, but he tried to ignore it. This wasn’t the worst level of magical contamination he had felt, not by a long shot. It wasn’t like before when no pony but him could fix the problems caused by the island’s shield and he had to run himself ragged across the entire continent trying to fix all the problems on his own. But if the magic contamination was already this intense, then he needed to get this under control soon. He didn’t want another Black Bay incident. So many ponies lost, so many scarred for life… “Yes, sir!” Lily Pad called out, pulling him from his memories. He shook his head and kept moving. The shield ponies pushed forward as close as they could get to the level 3 room without actually entering it as the heavy doors started to shut. Sparrow quickly glanced over his shoulder at them before the doors closed. They were sweating even in the cool hall, but still looked steady and strong. Good. That meant the contamination out here was still low, so they’d have enough stamina if more leaks spring up. That made Sparrow feel a little better. Once the locks behind him clicked, the next doors leading to level 2 began to open. Sparrow braced himself, but thank harmony the contamination in the next room wasn’t much worse than in level 3. He couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief, some of the tension draining from his body. If the magic wasn’t too bad in level 2, maybe the magic in the isolation chamber wasn’t as at risk of leaking as he had thought… At least not bad enough that things were at risk of going horribly wrong and tainting the city’s water supply. If that happened, the effects would be unpredictable, and it could take weeks for them to completely neutralize the contamination. He made it through easily, the containers still floating alongside him. When the door behind him closed, the next one opened, and Sparrow felt the magic in the air jump. It wasn’t as intense as he’d been expecting, but the fact that so much magic was leaking through the heavily reinforced doors was not a good sign. What’s more, the slightly orange tint to the color of this room showed that the magic was definitely increasing. But despite all that, there was still no sign of any wild magic. Sparrow took a deep breath. The doors may be leaking a lot, but if they were holding up this well, then he still had some time to sort this mess out. Once the door behind him closed, the final door separating him from the isolation room immediately began to open— Sparrow staggered, gasping. His magic surged, causing the canisters to fly into the ceiling with a clang. The amount of energy coming from the pool of water in the isolation room… No words could do it justice. The pure power emanating from it, the raw energy that filled every inch of that room. Already Sparrow could feel his mane and tail growing, expanding outwards as they began to flow on a nonexistent wind, reacting to the energy that was flooding his every cell. He felt great. He felt spectacular! He felt every fiber of his being surge with impossible levels of strength! He could carry his castle on his back! He could lift a mountain! He could suplex Akumu right into the center of Equis! Then he could throw him through the MOON ITSEL— FOCUS! Sparrow shook his head roughly, then slapped himself. Hard. Hard enough to send a tooth flying. A new tooth regrew to replace the old one in seconds. I need to get this under control before I lose myself! Sparrow gently brought the containers back down from the ceiling, focusing all of his attention on handling them without crushing them into dust with his turbo-charged magical power. Thankfully, their quick trip up to the ceiling didn’t appear to have done any damage. Selecting ten at random, he rotated the lids, then gently lifted up the crystals inside, careful not to let his overcharged magic do any damage. Immediately, the crystals began to fill with orange swirling energy. Slowly but surely, the magic in the air directly around him began to drop. Sparrow could feel the cloud of power hanging over his thoughts begin to dissipate, clarity and logic overtaking his baser instincts. He could feel his mane and tail continue to grow longer as they began to burn off more and more of the excess magic still flooding his cells. Hopefully he wouldn’t need to slap himself in the face again. With his mind now under control, Sparrow quickly began taking stock of his surroundings. He was standing on the edge of the metal walkway near the entrance to the room, having subconsciously walked forward while on his power high. The water that had caused this mess was still sitting in the sunken pool in the middle of the room, bubbling slightly as it continued to release the magic trapped within. At least, that’s what Sparrow thought it was doing given how there should be no reason for the water to be bubbling at all in such a controlled environment. Unfortunately, with so much magic around him and inside him, he found it impossible to sense anything save for the calm magic that was flooding the room. BBBZZZAAAAPPPPPP!!! Out of nowhere, an orange lightning bolt struck one of the crystals. The gem rapidly filled with energy before the emergency shutdown activated, and the container rapidly closed itself with a click. Oh Concordia damn it! Sparrow looked up, and his worst worries were confirmed. There, hovering near the celling of the room, was a pool of wild magic. The calm magic that filled the room was thick and orange, but it seemed downright ordinary next to the wild magic, which seemed to shift and twirl in a myriad of colors that Sparrow could only describe as somepony having put liquid rainbow in a blender. It looked as if reality itself was being bent and twirled, anything beyond the cloud of magic being warped beyond recognition. Small sparks of magic lightning danced within the cyclone of color and space-time, growing larger and larger as they collided with one another and drew energy from the surrounding room. How did I not notice that sooner!? Are my senses really that clouded? It wasn’t too big, all things considered, only about as big as Sparrow himself. Sparrow has seen far larger clusters of wild magic in the past, but even still, he knew not to underestimate how dangerous it could be. Even as he watched, Sparrow could see it slowly expanding, the twirling vortex slowly reaching out with tendrils of bent space as it pulled more magic into itself. With so much concentrated magic around him, if Sparrow didn’t get the rest of this energy under control soon… Focus, Sparrow. You know what to do. This isn’t the first time you’ve had to clear out an area of wild magic, and certainly not the worst case of it you’ve seen. Arbor has had magic storms ten times worse than this. Just keep yourself in check and drain the wild magic first. The first ten containers were reaching their limits, the aluminum and the lid were flashing red in warning as they slowly began to close themselves. At least the automatic closing spells weren’t being affected by the magic levels. Sparrow quickly grabbed ten fresh containers and opened them as one just as the original ten containers finished closing, their lids automatically spinning counterclockwise to lock them. A set of metal clamps folded upwards and the container lid turned green, indicating the sealing process was successful. He grabbed another twenty containers and quickly levitated them into position surrounding the wild magic, ready to cut the vortex off from its supply of calm magic. Once they were in place, he opened all of the containers at once. Energy swirled into the crystals so quickly the containers shuddered in Sparrow’s grasp, but the wild magic trembled and started to shrink, as if it were a beast being driven back by a circle of torches. Sparrow grabbed another twenty containers as the wild magic struck out, two more lightning bolts erupting from the center of the vortex. One hit a purification crystal that was surrounding the wild magic, while another weaved its way through the new gap in the circle of crystals before breaking free. It flew around the room like a winged serpent before moving to circle Sparrow. However, when it got close enough, one of the purification crystals flashed blue. Bolt immediately zeroed in on the container, the spell acting like it was a lightning rod to draw the bolt in and neutralize it. Even after all this time, it still surprises me just how much wild magic appears to have some sort self-preservation mechanism, Sparrow thought, quickly opening two more containers and moving them to the locations of the two that had now shut down. Still, that preservation isn’t perfect. Every bolt of lightning I drain reduces the power of the wild magic by a significant amount. Sparrow shook his head. He couldn’t let his curiosity about wild magic distract him. If the lightning kept striking out, he might not have enough containers to drain the calm magic from the room. I better try and ground some of that lightning before I lose any more containers. He swallowed hard, opening another ten around himself as the ones nearby began to close again and grabbing another twenty. He was so glad he had prepared for a situation like this. With a thought, his sword Custos Fide appeared by his side from within its storage space, hovering in his levitation. With a flash of his horn, the sword flew forwards until it was right at the edge of the wild magic, just as another lightning bolt struck another container. At once, the lightning inside the wild magic began to surge towards the sword, striking out like hissing serpents defending their nest. The moment the first bolt hit the sword, an orange magic circle covered in runes appeared around the crossguard, keeping the electricity trapped inside it. Sparrow smiled as more lightning attacked the sword, the spells he had added to it attracting more lightning from the wild magic pool and preventing it from escaping the blade. Years of trial and error and dozens of times electrocuting myself but the results still speak for themselves, Sparrow thought, smiling and opening the twenty container he had grabbed and watching as the rest of the wild magic began to shrink more quickly now that the lightning was being drawn away. He could still remember the first few times he had tired this spell. The magic circle hadn’t been strong enough, and upon shattering it would let all of the lightning trapped inside the wild magic rush out through the sword and crash into anything nearby, including him. But that was centuries ago. With his current spell, so long as the sword remained in the cloud of wild magic, the lightning wouldn’t be able to escape. Though draining the lightning from the cloud of wild magic was only half the challenge. The next part was certainly the more dangerous step as it would require him to make direct contact with the wild lightning, thought the abundance of magic in the room would certainly help him keep everything under control. In preparation for the next step, he began to direct and shape some of that excess magic into his right hoof, a glowing set of runes appearing along his leg. When the steady flow of lightning attacking the sword started to rapidly slow, Sparrow triggered the second part of the sword’s spell. A second magic circle appeared at the tip of the blade, and a blue light traced a cone-shaped shield between it and the circle on the crossguard, trapping the lightning from before it could escape. Sparrow removed the tip of the sword from the shrinking cloud of wild magic, the lighting thrashing about even more violently as it was disconnected. A crack rapidly appeared in the sword’s shield, but Sparrow quickly forced more magic into the spell, sealing it before any bolts could escape. He knew what would happen if that shield broke, and he needed to end this quickly. As the sword approached him, Sparrow bent his head until the hilt of the sword touched his horn. Then he began to concentrate, raising his right forehoof as the runes rushed down his leg towards his hoof. A third magic circle appeared in front of his hoof, connected to his leg by four bands of magic runes. Wild or not, this magic was still based off of his own internal power. It had once been a part of him, and so it WOULD obey him. Even if he needed to magically wrestle it into submission himself. Thankfully, the churning ocean of power flowing through him would make the process at least a bit easier. The world began to fade away as Sparrow focused all of his might on the wild magic. Unlike calm magic, which would appear as a solid aura or flowing strands like rivers, this magic was a jumbled tangled mess of energy with no direction or focus. Only chaos, like a thousand strands of yarn tangled into an incomprehensible mass that could warp the very fabric of the world around it. But harmony was the balance of chaos and order, and as an alicorn, Sparrow was a being of harmony. And so he let that balance fill him as, piece by piece, he began to feed the magic through himself, pulling one strand at a time and feeding it into his horn. But he didn’t absorb it. Instead, he let it flow through him, like water running through a hose as he purified each strand piece by piece. Once the stands were purified, he directed them down his leg, through the band of runes, and into a third magic circle at the tip of his outstretched hoof. The wild magic tried to fight back, lashing out at the shield with even more ferocious intensity and trying to attack his horn and the nerves that helped channel his magic. But Sparrow’s shield still held, and he redoubled his efforts to keep the wild magic contained. He knew how damaging this magic could be if it got out of control, and just how bad it could be if it stirred the magic he had absorbed into a frenzy. If left unchecked, wild magic could force him to enter an uncontrolled surge, one that could be deadly to anypony close to him. He could not allow that to happen. So Sparrow took it slow, despite the thrashing of the wild magic. The last time he’d absorbed too much too fast, his horn had nearly cracked and it took nearly a year to recover. He couldn’t risk that happening, not now. He pulled apart the tangled web of wild magic thread by thread, guiding each one as it was purified and then placed in the magic circle at the end of his hoof. Time seemed to dilate, everything moving in slow motion as more and more of the threads were taken, purified, and returned to the third circle as calm magic. Thread by thread, piece by piece, the most dangerous part of the wild magic was brought under control. Every time the wild magic surged and his control began to falter, and there were quite a few surges strong enough to do so, he felt the familiar pang of fear briefly run through his chest. But the familiar tingle of his backup spells stored within his sword were always there, quickly reminding him that he was in control. That he was ready and able to face this challenge. He had done this hundreds of times before. He knew how to cut off the flow of magic if it became too unstable. He had created backup spells inside his sword that could teleport him to his magic-proof pocket dimension should he begin to surge, and had practiced all of his spells in that very room to ensure that they were stable and ready to go. He would not falter. Every time the wild magic began to surge, he drew more energy from the sea of calm magic surrounding him and kept going. He would succeed in his task. He knew he would. And then, the final thread was purified. Sparrow released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, relief filling his chest. The last traces of the lightning had disappeared from his sword, leaving nothing but the third magic circle holding the bundle of calm magic. Looking up, he saw that the rest of the cloud of wild magic had nearly vanished as well. With its role complete, the Custos Fide disappeared once again back into its storage space. Sparrow brought the circle on his hoof to his horn and quickly absorbed the magic back into himself, the magic circle and runes disappearing. It wasn’t ideal, adding even more magic to the ocean of power inside himself, but the only other option would be releasing it back into the oversaturated room and risking it erupting again. At least, by internalizing it, that wouldn’t happen, even if his bones were starting to ache with a deep, pulsing buzz. That’s one problem down, Sparrow thought, allowing himself to smile a little as the last of the wild magic disappeared. Now I just need to deal with the abundance of magic in this room before more of it starts going wild. With the wild magic gone, the magic level of the room had dropped significantly, likely to the point where the facilities protective suits would work again, if only barely. But despite that, the room was still tinted orange and Sparrow could still physically feel the abundance of magic surrounding him. And the purification crystals around the room still hadn’t come back online either, so there was likely still too much interference. Just how much magic is in here anyway? Sparrow thought. And what the heck could cause this much magic buildup? The whole reason we keep purification crystals around the island is to stop this kind of buildup. Otherwise… He shook the thought off. This wasn’t Black Bay. Right now he just needed to worry about trying to bring the magic levels down as much as he could. Most of the containers had filled up as he was working on purifying the lightning, so he grabbed all the remaining ones and opening them all at once. The magic in the room began to drop quickly, and Sparrow could only hope that it would be enough to allow Lily Pad’s ponies to reactivate the room’s purification crystals. If the containers filled up and the purification crystals lining the room didn’t come back online, Sparrow would have no choice but to start absorbing the magic on his own. The thought alone made his teeth clench. His internal magic was already well above its normal levels, but there wouldn’t be any other alternative if he wanted to get this room under control here and now. Hopefully if it did come to that, he would be able to keep control of himself without any more punches. I should have brought an empty bottle with me, Sparrow thought, trying to ignore the magical aches that were becoming more noticeable with each passing minute. At least then I’d be able to channel my magic into liquid magic so I didn’t have to worry about losing myself to the magic again. Concordia, please let these last containers be enough, he silently prayed to himself. THUUUUMMMMMMMMM! As if in response, a loud noise suddenly filled the room. Sparrow blinked, shook his head, then looked around as the orange tint of the room finally began to recede. The stacks of hundreds of purification crystals lining the walls and the sunken pool had all opened, humming as the spells began to work at last. “Sir, you did it!” Lily Pad’s voice called out over a communication crystal near the door. “The contamination has dropped to manageable levels and our mages were able to re-establish the control spells and communication spells! We can handle it from here! Right Word also informed me that its safe for you to be around other ponies even with the excess magic you absorbed, so come on out whenever you’re ready!” “On my way,” Sparrow said, silently thanking Right Word for reassuring Lily Pad in his place. He looked back at the one hundred containers floating in his magic and. All but a few of them were now sealed, with the open ones now flashing red to indicate that they would be sealing themselves soon. One thing was for certain – the ponies in the castle lab would be quite happy. Thankfully, the three rooms back were almost magic-free thanks to the purification crystals in each of them, so the trip back was relatively short. Though Sparrow couldn’t help but groan as he caught his reflection in the window of the doors control room. His mane was now HUGE, nearly twice the size of Celestia’s. It was at the point where Twilight and her friend could probably all hide in it and no pony would notice. He always hated it when it got like this, especially since he couldn’t actually turn the magically-flowing-in-the-wind-like-a-story-book-hero thing off until he burned off enough of his excess magic. It wasn’t really a PROBLEM, per say, it’s just that he almost never let his mane magically flow in the wind, so anytime it happened all his subjects would stare at him, transfixed by his new appearance. And he didn’t like them staring so much. It reminded him too much of how they looked at him when he used the full extent of his power, something that never felt right… Sparrow shook off that thought and focused on getting back to the control room as soon as possible. His mane wasn’t nearly as bad as the unpleasant ache that ran through his body as a result of the excess magic. He knew how to deal with it, but the sooner he got rid of all this excess magic, the better. When he arrived, Right Word and Lily Pad were waiting for him, the former giving him a knowing look and the latter staring at him with barely contained curiosity. “Right Word, take the purification containers to the processing lab, then meet me back in my room with some scissors.” Sparrow said, passing over the containers to his friend. “Of course, your magic-maned-kinglyness,” Right Word said with a smirk before grabbing the containers and vanishing before Sparrow could do anything other than blush. Why must he do that every time I look like this? “Does that always happen when you’re exposed to your own magic?” Lily Pad asked, idly batting at Sparrow’s flowing tail with a hoof. “Or is it only at extreme concentrations? Does it also happen if you use too much magic, or—” “It only occurs if I am exposed to my own magic at high or medium concentrations, depending on the length of time, or if I am using the fullest extent of my power when I cast spells. I know you have more questions and I’m happy to see you still maintain a healthy curiosity, but please focus, director. We still need to deal with the aftermath of this after all,” Sparrow said softly, earning an embarked ‘eep’ from the mare as she jumped to attention. “Is there anything else that you need, or can you handle everything from here?” “N-No sir, we have it covered,” Lily Pad stuttered, trying not to look back at Sparrow’s tail in curiosity. “A-And Right Word helped expedite my request for more purification crystals. We should be fully restocked by the end of the day, including our spares,” she continued, her eyes now definitely focusing on his tail every few seconds. Every dang time. “Then please contact me once you have cleared the lingering contamination. Afterwards, I want tests run to determine if there are any magical pollutants in that water that could have cause it to become so saturated with my magic and I want you to try and determine where exactly the water or said pollutants came from. You are to give this your full attention, and I will gladly send a specialist in magic contamination should you need the extra assistance. Understood?” “Yes, sir!” “Good. And thank you again for alerting me to the situation.” And with that, he vanished, reappearing in his room at the castle, and let out a long sigh, hanging his head. This was turning out to be one heck of an interesting day, and he hadn’t even seen Twilight yet. Hopefully today would be calmer on that front. I hope she is enjoying the trade fair, Sparrow thought, summoning Custos Fide once again. Levitating its sheath over from its stand near the window, Sparrow couldn’t help but pause as he caught his reflection in the orange blade. The orange sword brought back so many memories, and once again it had helped protect the ponies of this island from disaster. Just like it had centuries before his birth. And just like it would continue to do so long as he drew breath. Focus Sparrow. Time to drain all this excess magic, he thought, shaking his head before sheathing his sword and gently returning it to its resting place near the window. With that, he turned and walked over towards the table where he had set up all of his lab equipment near the far side of his room, stopping for a few seconds to look at himself in the mirror. Is my mane STILL growing!? I swear it’s even bigger now than it was back at the treatment plant. How is it growing so fast? I know I absorbed the purified wild magic, but come on! It wasn’t even that much! Swallowing his groan, Sparrow sat down, opened the bottom drawer on his lab table, and grabbed one of the specially reinforced bottles inside. He opened it and brought its mouth to the tip of his horn. Then he began to focus. The world around him began to fade once again as he focused all his attention on his magic, on the raging waves of energy disrupting his normally calm ocean of magic. He focused on the extra energy he had absorbed, sitting on top of his normal magical pool, ever so slightly different. He began to capture it, to siphon out the absorbed magic and compact it. He squeezed it with all his might, adding more magic and condensing that as well. The magic began to change, going from something ethereal and untouchable to something physical. Drip… Drip… Psssssss… From his horn, Sparrow could feel the magic begin to solidify. He didn’t need to open his eyes know what was happening. Even now he could feel the storm of magic began to calm as more and more of his magic was converted into a glowing orange-red liquid that slowly dripped from the end of his horn. Drops at first, but then eventually a soft steady stream of liquid, like a small sink just barely turned on. Sparrow couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief as the aches that plagued him rapidly began to fade away as he released the extra magic. He continued like this for several minutes, gathering as much of the extra magic as he could. Once his magic pool was back to normal, he started pulling magic back from his mane and tail, slowly causing them to revert to their normal colors and fall heavily against him and the floor. All the while the bottle continued to fill. After what had to have been at least ten minutes, Sparrow stopped and opened his eyes. He watched as the last few drops of liquid magic dropped into the bottle in front of him, the glowing liquid of pure power continually swirling and dancing in an almost mesmerizing way. “Half a bottle? That’s quite a lot,” Right Word’s voice said gently. Sparrow nodded, not at all surprised that he hadn’t noticed Right Word’s entrance. “Which should tell you just how serious that problem at the treatment plant truly was,” Sparrow said, grabbing an enchanted cork from the lab table and pushing it into the next of the bottle. The cork flashed green to let him know the bottle was now secure. “All that magic, enough that it started to become wild in less than twenty-four hours…What could have possibly caused it?” “I don’t know, sir,” Right Word said. “But hopefully the analysis of the water should tell us something. Even if the magic is mostly gone, there may still be traces of chemicals or contaminants that led to such an outpouring of magic. There’s no use worrying about it right now. The important thing is that we stopped it before it got out of hoof.” “Agreed,” Sparrow said, as he placed the bottle on the lab station in front of him. He would have use for it later. “Though please report to me immediately should any similar issues occur. Once is coincidence. Twice is a sign that something is wrong.” “Or that somepony really needs to pay more attention to the proper disposal regulations,” Right Word said with a small grin. “Yes, or that,” Sparrow chuckled, remembering the time a lab assistant had accidentally mixed up the disposal drains in the castle’s lab, resulting in her sink firing light lasers out of the pipes. It gave them quite the scare at the time, but it was rather funny looking back on it. It didn’t hurt that the lasers, while bright red, ended up being completely harmless. “Now then,” he said, standing up and looking at his now twenty-five hoof-long mane. “I believe it’s time for a trim.” “Yeah, a ‘trim.’ Remind me why you don’t have a permanent barber on staff again?” “Because I would only need them once in a blue moon, and why hire someone else when you are the best one I have ever known?” Sparrow said with a grin. Right Word just rolled his eyes, but smiled. “It’s times like these that make me think that I do everything around here.” “Isn’t that basically your job description?” “Quiet, you.”