3 months have passed since Aura told Mystic and Twilight about his true identity, and things haven't changed between them. Well, except that Twilight asked to learn more about Alchemy from Aura the same way he taught Mystic.
Which wasn't much a problem since she was already a part of his class so she picked it up very easily. No doubt to her natural talent in all things magic.
As for certain events that occured over the last 3 months; well Gallant wasn't a problem anymore. Seems like his old dragon buyers had a few things to say about Mystic escaping and they took it all out on him, nothing was left but a scorched mark, or so they say, but with the evidence provided and the fact that Gallant hasn't returned, it was safe to say that he did bit the dust. So to say that everyone was grateful that he was gone was an understatement, but this did leave the Royal Guard without a captain. Fortunately the Vice Captain Silver Lining, a friend to the Knights and mentor to Gladius, took the responsibility until the Captain's Test a few years from now.
But that's enough catching up. Back to the story!
Currently, Aura was in a middle of a lecture about something new, how to create Elemental Alchemy.
"Now when it comes to Elemental Alchemy there are 3 key things that you must know before casting one: the symbol of said element, a basic understanding of what the element is made of, and the ability to control the output of the spell." Aura lifted his chalk with his magic and wrote down on the chalkboard. "We will start with primary elements."
Aura wrote down four sets of triangles. Two upside down and two right side up, then he added a different shape inside each triangle: an arrow, a diamond, a four pointed star, and a pair of curved lines. "The two upright triangles represent a lighter density with the one with the arrow being 'Wind' and the one with the star being 'Fire'. While the upside down ones represent those with a heavier density, with the diamond being 'Earth' and the waves being 'Water'. Any questions?"
A single hoof appeared in the room. "But we saw you use ice and lightning before. What about those?"
"Ah, that is the result of merging two elements into one." He wrote a hexagon on the board with four electric symbols in the center. "By combining Wind and Fire, you get Lightning; but we won't get to those until way later in the semester as they are quite advanced, best to first get used to the basic four."
He placed the chalk down and opened his book. "We'll first start with Wind, which is normally caused by..."
Without warning Aura started to feel a stinging pain in his head, causing him to wince and nearly lose his balance.
"Are you okay Professor?"
Aura slowed his breathing and felt the migraine fade away. "I'm... fine." He walked back to his chair and sat down. "Just a little dizzy spell is all. Anyways," He quickly changed the subject and turned the pages to a particular chapter. "Your weekly assessment is to practice one of the four elements as well as use it's symbol in a circle; which we will learn how to do now."
As Aura was explaining that, Mystic and Twilight looked at each other, concerned for their teacher.
After class was over and all the students left to go to their next class, Aura leaned into his chair and started to get lost in thought.
'That was the third time this week that I had a dizzy spell. Normally these things are the result of a disturbance in the fabric of space, but if that were the case I've would of gotten an alert; not to mention Luco and the others would of informed me if there was a new distortion in a dimension. What if...' He quickly shook all those thoughts out of his head. 'Get those thoughts out of your head Kaiser! Everything is fine. The Multiverse is safe, and your worring over nothing.'
Yet try and try as he might, he just couldn't get this uneasy feeling that something was extremely off. Heck, it started to frustrate him so much that he groaned and ruffle his mane in a fit. "This is going to make me lose my mind!"
He banged his head on the table and stayed in that same position. "I'm just over thinking it." He sighed and looked out the window and gazed at the sky. "I'll just ask Luco to run a quick sweep when I get back. That should calm my nerves... hopefully."
Once he got up he went over to the lounge to clear his head before his next class starts.
Meanwhile Mystic and Twilight were in their next class, but from their faces they seemed to be thinking about other things.
"You saw the way his eyes flashed for a moment right?" Twilight asked concernly.
"Hard not to." Mystic answered. "I've known him for nearly a quarter of a year and I've never seen him like this."
"So it's safe to say that you don't know what's wrong with him either." Twilight sighed, bringing her hoof to her chin. "Maybe its something to do with him being a God."
Mystic shrugged. "Who knows? But I have noticed one thing."
This immediately caught Twilight's attention and she moved her head closer to Mystic's. "Well, what is it?"
"Well, recently he's been having a harder time sleeping. Something about having the same nightmare over and over and he doesn't know what it means." Mystic explained, recalling the nights he saw Aura all drenched in sweat and a mixture of fear and anger plastered on his face.
Twilight hummed as she tried to come up with an answer with all the information she had received. "Suffering from constant nightmares, sudden dizzy spells, yet he still has energy and shows no signs of sleep deprivation." The gears started to turn in her head as she desperately tried to find something within all this information. But to no avail.
"There you go overthinking again." Mystic chuckled and patted Twilight's back. "Best to find more clues and come up with a more accurate answer later."
As much as it pained her, he had a point. "You're right." She reluctantly sighed. "If we just assume with what little information we have we'll never figure out what's wrong."
"Exactly. Luckily for me that I live with him so in case he does have trouble sleeping, I'll be there to see what other clues I could find then we can deduct the problem." Mystic explained.
Though to be honest, even he wasn't sure if he'll find anything that could help. Not only cause Aura has a tendency to sleep in high places, but also because he always keeps his door locked right as he is about to go to sleep. Normally something like that would be simple, if he were a normal Unicorn.
"Well, try to discover something tonight cause I'm starting to get a bad feeling about it." Twilight admitted.
"You and me both." Mystic said.
The bell rung and it was now the end of class for the day. Mystic and Aura returned to their rooms in the castle while Twilight went over to the library.
Aura morphed back into his human form and threw himself face first onto the couch. It seems like all his lack of energy was now reaching him.
"Sorry Mystic, but we'll have to cancel today's private lesson. I hate to do it but I..."
"Its okay Aura." Mystic poured Aura a cup of tea and placed it next to him. "Take all the time you need to recover."
He sat down next to Aura and figited. "Soooooo if you don't mind me asking; what happened this morning in class? You never faint like that."
Mystic could only hear his mentor's faint sigh as he turned onto his back. "Honestly, I have no idea either. Maybe I just got up too fast and felt a blood rush or something."
All Mystic could do was nod. The room became quiet and awkward for a solid minute.
"How's that new book on Alchemy that you and Princess Celestia are working on?" Mystic asked, trying to break the silence.
That gave Aura the second wind that he needed. "Great actually. In fact, we've actually got so much that we've decided to split them into two volumes." He snapped his fingers and a portal opened up, reaching his hand in and pulled out the notes that he and Celestia written down. "Once we get it finalized, we're going to get them published and handed out to every library in Equestria. Isn't that great?"
Seeing Aura smile made Mystic feel a lot better. "That is great. Your work will be known across Equestria."
Aura chuckled sheepishly and returned the notes through the portal. "Well it was originally Starswirl who came up with this form of Alchemy here. I'm just finishing his research."
He leaned back into the couch and stared at the ceiling. "I've been meaning to ask you: are you adjusted to school life now?"
Mystic nodded and grinned. "A little bit. Things have been easier with somepony like Twilight. I guess it's because we have much in common."
"Oh?" Aura sat back up and gave Mystic a teasing grin. "Is that so? Are you saying that she's your type?"
Upon seeing his grin Mystic's face went red. "Aura! That's not what I mean and you know it!" He responded with a flustered expression.
"I'm just messing with you." Aura laughed. "I do know what you're saying. She's as much as a bookworm as you, and not to mention that you're both sponges when it comes to learning."
Aura reluctantly got off the couch and made his way to the bathroom. "I'm going to go take a quick shower. Once I'm done it's all yours."
"Got it."
Mystic watched as Aura grabbed a spare set of clothes and went into the bathroom. Once the sound of running water reached Mystic's ears he quickly went into Aura's room.
Once he was at the door he began to feel nervous. Should he really be doing this? Invading his mentor's own private chambers. This was very very very wrong.
But... on the other hoof this is to help him. So maybe its okay... probably... sort of...? No, but whatever helps him get through this.
He grabbed the knob and turned it ever so slowly, opening the door and walked in. Aura's room was different then his own, since he was much taller he needed certain things to match his size; as if Mystic didn't feel small before, now he literally feels small now.
But there was things that he hadn't seen before. Such as some weird devices that Aura usually had on him, like that glowing slab or that bizarre brick that he talks into. There were some technological items as well, and while technology isn't too uncommon to be seen, it was a luxury that only certain individuals have since they are hard to understand and therefore, make.
His family, was one of those individuals and even he had trouble trying to understand them.
But now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. He had a mission and he was determined to get it done. He searched the room for a good location to place a new alchemic spell that he had just learned and eventually found a spot right on the dresser which happens to be next to Aura's hammock.
Not wanting to waste anymore time, Mystic drew a small alchemic circle and pressed his hoof on it to activate it. The circle glowed purple and seemingly vanished. Mystic then left the room and created a new circle on a sheet of paper and activated it as well; the circle swirled and the inner parts showed the part if Aura's room right where Mystic left the previous circle. As he turned the paper the view changed as well giving him a 360°degree view of the spot.
And it was right on time as Aura had just exited the shower feeling refreshed and energized again. "By the Creator, I really needed that." He sighed in bliss as he walked out in his lounge where and dried his hair. "Shower's all yours little buddy. I think I'm going to lie down in my chambers for a bit." He stretched and entered his room, locking the door in the process.
Mystic gulped and quickly checked the paper and turned it to see that it was working. Aura was in view as he had just hopped onto his hammock and let it sway from side to side.
Judging from the slight sounds coming from the paper, it was evident that the spell worked. Now all Mystic had to do was wait.
*11:30 PM*
The two had called it a night and went for some nice needed shut eye. Once Mystic entered his room he quickly grabbed the paper and activated it, seeing the inside of Aura's room. "I'm sorry Aura, but I need to know what's happening to you."
He watched the paper for hours, paying close attention for any sign of disturbance but it was starting to get difficult as he felt his own eyes grow heavy with drowsiness threatening to take him.
"This isn't going exactly as I thought it would." He yawned and slowly blinked his eyes.
But just as he felt like he was about to pass out, Aura started to mumble and turn. Mystic caught his second wind and pressed the paper to his face. "Finally."
Aura began to toss and turn in discomfort as he gripped the hammock. "No... It can't be... I shouldn't of..." Sweat started to form on his forehead as he muttered more.
To Mystic, it was clear that Aura was having a nightmare again, just like he told Twilight, but what he really needed to know was what the nightmare was.
His attention returned to Aura as he started to form tears in his eyes and his face showed signs that he was in pain. "I'm sorry... I failed you... I failed you all..."
"Failed? Did something happen to him before we met?" Mystic wondered as he tried to connect the pieces together when he saw a slight glow from the corner of his eye. When he checked he saw Aura begin to glow a light purple as he squirmed in pain.
"Aura!" Mystic bolted out his room and ran towards his mentor's. He tried to open it but remembered that it was locked, but this was an emergency so he had to take drastic measures. "I hate to do this but I got no choice." Mystic concentrated and held out his hoof, a alchemic magic circle appearing and with a thought, a blast of natural magic burst the door down.
With nothing in his way, Mystic ran over to his mentor and shook his side. "Wake up Aura! You're having a nightmare!"
Aura's eyes shot open and he jolted up, breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. He looked down at his hands and slowly turned to the small Unicorn colt that was at the edge of his hammock.
"Mystic?" He suddenly turned to the dresser and hummed. "So you placed the surveillance circle on my dresser."
Mystic gulped and sheepishly scratched his mane. "Well, me and Twilight were worried about you after classes and..." He sighed and looked directly into Aura's eyes. "Aura... what was that nightmare really about?"
Aura sighed and planted his hand on his forehead. "So that was what this was about?" He stood up and turned on the lights. "Fine, I'll tell you. In the morning."
He crouched down to Mystic's level. "Its way past midnight and I'd rather tell you after a night's rest. So off to bed kid, and get some sleep!"
Mystic nodded and exited the door. Aura clapped his hands and placed them on the remains of the door and repaired it. "Though, I do have to thank you for releasing me from that nightmare... whatever it was about." He laid back on his hammock and closed his eyes. "Hope it's not a premonition or something."
The next morning the two stayed quiet as they were having breakfast. Mystic looked like he really wanted to say something, but he just couldn't think of the correct words. Aura on the other hand knew that he could keep it a secret forever. But so soon? Well if Mystic knew about Aura bring a God then he might as well tell him the rest. But first...
"So, you used the surveillance circle to spy on me, then you blasted my door down while you were doing said spying."
Mystic gulped and shrunk down as he expected Aura to scold him, but...
"Not bad kid." Aura gave him a wide smile and patted his mane.
Mystic's jaw dropped as he tried to process this. "Y-You aren't mad?"
"Mad?" Aura chuckled as he took a bite out of his toast. "Why would I? You learned that surveillance circle like, two weeks ago and now you crafted a perfect one last night. Not to mention that you've clearly got the hang of converting natural Magic into your own to use attack alchemy. If anything, I'm proud."
Mystic began to blush. "Gee, that's a... wow." He looked at Aura with gleaming eyes. "You really think I've improved that much?"
"Well, yeah! It took me over a year to get used to attack alchemy properly and you basically mastered it in 4 months. You're a real prodigy you know that?"
This kind of praise was something that Mystic wasn't used to. Normally with his father it was always some kind of scolding for not being better or taking too long. And even when Aura first trained him and started complimenting him, he still wasn't used to it.
"But I think we should get to the chase now." Aura spoke in a serious tone. "You want to know what those nightmares I've been having were about yeah?"
Mystic nodded and leaned in closer to Aura, waiting with baited breath for just what he was about to say.
Aura leaned into his chair and shrugged. "To be honest I don't have a clue myself."
Mystic lost his footing and face planted onto the table at that response.
"Wait, you've been having these nightmares for weeks and you don't even know what they mean!?" He asked in disbelief.
"Yep." Aura took a sip of his coffee as he answered. "But it is linked to one thing; my role as a leader."
Mystic tilted his head. "As a... leader? You mean of a town or something?"
"No not like that, more of a team." He planted his cup down and crossed his arms. "You see, while I am the God of Space the Miltiverse is always expanding, so much so that it is too much for even me to keep track of. And there is the occasion where some big shot wanting power tries something funny that'll disrupt the fabric of reality so a particular team was crafted to keep the balance; The Dimensional Guardians."
"The Dimensional... Guardians?" Mystic was still trying to wrap his head around this. What did this have to do with the nightmares?
"Yep. My lovable team of misfits. They may drive me crazy but I can always count on them. But back to topic, I'm not the original leader, more like the 2nd."
Mystic blinked. "2nd? Then who was the first?
Aura placed his hands on the table and sighed. "That would be my mentor. And he was basically the very definition of what a leader should be."
Now it all started to make sense to Mystic. Those nightmares, the screaming that it was all his fault in his sleep. They were all his insecurities about living up to his mentor's lineage.
"Sometimes I wonder why he made me the leader. I mean, I've messed up more times then I can count, still do. It doesn't even help that the other Gods back in the Sacred Realm just glare at me." Aura chuckled as he recalled the judging stares that they gave him. "Not that I blame them of course. After all I am very much different from them."
This was a side to Aura that Mystic would of never believed. He always thought Aura was so cool and confident, having no problems and no fear. But despite him being a God, he was much more Mortal then he thought.
"Even now I still wonder if I'm doing a good job. More threats seem to be rising by the day and whenever it seems like me and my team take them down, something else just comes to take its place." He downed the rest of his coffee and slammed the cup to the table then fully leaned back to the chair. "And now these dreams of me failing are driving me crazy. Maybe I should just pass the title to someone else and..."
"Don't you dare!"
Mystic screamed as he slammed his hooves to the table. Aura looked at the small colt's eyes to see that he was mad yet concerned. "You aren't a failure! You are brave and kind and just so... amazing!"
Aura tried to say something but Mystic kept cutting him off. "Before you came into my life I was completely miserable. Forced to be a soldier and always called worthless, so much that my own father sold me to be a slave. It was like despair was going to swallow me whole." Mystic stared into Aura's eyes as he continued. "But then you came in and gave me hope. You saved me and defeated my father, taught me that even I had talent, and now I'm in the most pristine school in Equestria! Me, a magicless colt who can't even light his horn! Do you know how much you gave me?! If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here! So let me tell you that you aren't a failure! Those Gods that say otherwise don't know a thing about you! And that is a fact!"
Mystic began to breath heavily once he finished his speech. His voice was all sore from yelling and his eyes felt puffy.
Aura was taken back by his words. To think that someone his age would he the one to give him something like that. Either the little colt he found had just grown up, or he was speaking from his own experience. Regardless, Aura went over to Mystic and patted the colt's back and gave him a smile. "Thanks Mystic. I really needed that."
A ringing hit Aura's ear as he answered it. "Talk to me."
Aura's eyes slowly went wide as he was briefed. "This is some kind of joke, right? Are you absolutely sure?"
Mystic backed up. He never saw Aura this scared before, just what was it that he heard.
"I want you to round up the others and intercept where they are coming from. If anymore enter then it could mean the end. I'll be there soon. And by some chance it does lead to... you know... then evacuate as much as you can. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Aura out." With that Aura hung up and snapped his fingers, creating a portal. But before he left he turned to Mystic and kneeled to him.
"Something came up and I have to go. This might be the most dangerous mission I'll ever have and there might be a chance that I won't come back."
Mystic gasped and felt his legs get weak. "You might... not come back?"
"Don't worry." Aura patted Mystic's head and smiled. "Thanks to you I finally feel unchained from my insecurities. Who would of thought that a child would help me see it. I promise that I'll come back and when I do, I'll tell you all there is to know about my team and even more about Alchemy."
Tears started to form around Mystic's eyes. "You promise?"
Aura nodded and in that moment Mystic lunged at Aura and hugged him tightly, to which he responded by returning the hug and patting the colt's mane.
Once the two separated Aura summoned his sword and walked through the portal, not knowing if this'll be his last fight, but he was damn sure that he would be victorious. And with a single step he fully entered and the portal closed.
"Come home soon Aura." Mystic said softly. He then went to Celestia to tell her Aura's situation, then to Twilight and the rest of his family. They too were his family.
However what Aura didn't know was that this mission would change his life forever.
It had been several days since the incident and Aura had to leave for that 'emergency', and things hadn't been the same since he left.
Many of the students just weren't as engaged with the substitute teacher taking care of Aura's class, as usually Aura makes it like a show, keeping the student's attention and eager to learn. And it was safe to say that they missed that.
The dorm where both he and Mystic stayed in seemed quiet and barren. Mystic kept the place clean for when his mentor does return, but he has been getting some negative thoughts as of late.
He was actually starting to wonder if maybe something went wrong and he's in trouble, or worst: he was done with him and abandoned him.
Feeling down, he took out one of Aura's books and began to browse through the pages. When he found a page that seemed interesting, he would write down some notes to try later.
A knock at the door startled him and brought him back to reality.
When he opened the door he saw Twilight with a half smile. "Hey Mystic. How are you doing?"
Suddenly the two were interrupted by a loud bang outside. "What was that?!" Twilight cried out in surprise.
Both her and Mystic went over to the window to see a trail of smoke lead out of town. Mystic inspected the smoke and noticed something off; it was more saturated then normal. Something didn't feel right.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Mystic bolted out of the dorm as fast as he could.
"Where are you going?! Mystic!" Twilight called out to him then ran after him.
By the time both of them got there the sun started to set, there they saw the damage done by whatever fell from the sky. Many trees were blasted from the ground and there were some scorched marks on the ground. Then they found the impact crater and peaked into it, and what they saw made their hearts drop.
It was Aura, beaten, bruised, and severely bleeding.
"AURA!!!" Both Mystic and Twilight cried as they ran over to him.
"Are you okay?! Its me, Mystic!" He tried to wake his mentor but there wasn't a response. When he stopped shaking him he looked at his hooves to see that they were covered in Aura's blood.
Mystic still couldn't believe his eyes, Aura, one of the most powerful beings that he knew, the very same being that saved his life and gave it meaning, was in a state like this.
He snapped back to reality and tried to get him on his back. "Twi, help me carry him." Mystic grunted as he struggled to pick him up.
Still shaken, Twilight nodded and used her magic to gently lift Aura onto both her and Mystic's back. But due to Aura's weight, the hike back up to Canterlot was easier said then done.
She then grabbed his arm but felt his weight lean in onto her. "Hey Mystic, think you can grab Aura's left arm?" But all she heard was silence. "Mystic?"
When she turned to the colt all she could see was his eyes, which were now as big as saucers and he looked like he was trying to hold back the urge to scream.
"H-H-His arm..." His voice was too shaky from dread and despair, hoping that this is all just a nightmare. But it wasn't. This was real. "It's gone."
He couldn't look away from it. His entire left arm was gone, replaced by a bloodied stump that went up to his shoulder, which was torn and ripped.
"Oh." Twilight regretted asking now. But she was now even more concerned for Mystic now. "What about you, are you okay?"
Despite feeling like his whole world was crashing down around him, he took a deep breath and nodded. "I'll be fine. Really."
Twilight knew that he was lying. Mystic looks up to Aura the same she looks up to Princess Celestia. Heck if it was her in this state... "What could of done this to him?" Twilight asked.
"I don't know." Mystic answered. "But if they were able to do this much damage to Aura, I don't think I want to find out."
Just as the two were about to run out of stamina they heard the sound of flapping. When they looked up they saw a group of pegasus guards lead by Gladius, who's face was a mix between worry and anger.
"Just what are you two doing out here at this time!? You know that you can't be this far without..." He immediately shut up and gasped at Aura's injured body on their backs. "Is that... I think I get it now."
Gladius took Aura's body and prompted him onto his back. "I'll take him to the hospital." He turned to his subordinates. "Please make sure that these two make it home safely."
The Pegasi saluted and Gladius took to the skies as fast as he could, not wanting to lose a dear friend. Below, Mystic and Twilight both couldn't stop worrying for Aura as he left their field of vision.
"Alright little ones, we need to return before it really gets dark." One of the Guards said.
Nodding, Mystic and Twilight got on the backs of the pegasi and returned home, wondering just what happened that could lead to Aura being in the state that he is now.