Aevum's Guide to Magic and Its Uses

by SplitSquid

Forgive, But Do Not Forget

Aevum paced, briskly, lines of concern scribbled all over his face. Back and forth he went, as he thought of a way to escape. He hadn’t woken up soon enough to just leave, and he hadn’t risen from his slumber late enough to formally announce his departure, yet he still had to leave now. What a fine mess he’d gotten himself in, indeed.
Now, this mess would be manageable, given that there weren’t any guards outside his door, and that he wasn’t in the room he was in. His complaints were not about the room itself – the room was quite nice, with a simple silver chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling, and a matching carpet of the same color. Songs of praise could be sung about the bed. It was fit for a princess, with a deep blue quilt and silver pillows of finely woven cumulus. The mattress was simply divine, yet Aevum had no idea what it was made of. 
Aevum snorted, and poked the mattress with a curious hoof. It was too soft to be made from wool and spring, yet not soft enough to be of the clouds. On the side wall of the room was a window, overlooking a desk made from fine cedar, surrounded by dressers and cabinets of the same material. Upon the desk was a finely cut emerald, which Aevum surmised to be a paperweight, and had stashed it in his bag; it would come in handy later, he told himself. 
Anywho, the fact that this room was fit for a princess bothered Aevum, and that was because it was made for a princess, in fact, it was built by Princess Celestia for Princess Luna, as a ‘welcome home’ gift. Celestia’s explanation for this was that she wanted an ‘unbiased’ party to stay at and comment on the room she had built. That was all fine and dandy, but what wasn’t was how the room resided on the top level of the palace, meaning Aevum had to be much more careful to escape than if he was closer to the bottom. 
Now, the guards. Aevum reached out with his mind, noticing that both were asleep. As long as he was quiet, he could escape without alerting them to his presence.
“Stille Deur,” he whispered. A brassy sheen encapsulated his horn, and shot a thin beam of light at the door. On contact, the door glowed slightly, as if agreeing to Aevum and his magic. He opened the door, and took a step.
“Thump!” 
Aevum inhaled sharply, refusing to let any air escape his lips. He had forgotten that his footsteps still made noise. One of the guards stirred, but did not awaken. Stille laarzen! He thought, the same brassy magic that had silenced the door now silenced his feet. 
Now as quiet as a church mouse, Aevum stepped out onto the hallway’s red carpet, closing the door behind him and releasing its silence spell. He made his way through the marble hallway, noting the golden pillars that frequented the sides of the hall, along with several suits of steel armor, each with a unique weapon. If he got into a fight here, Aevum would be very well off.
As he strode through the hallway, Princess Celestia’s reason for putting Aevum in Luna’s room became very clear. A door opened, and Celesia herself strode through it, Closing the door before stretching and yawning, her rainbow mane and tail afloat with the sheen of a brand-new day, much brighter than they were during the audience the night prior. 
Aevum wasted no time rushing to the side of the room, using some armor and a well-placed pillar to block himself from Celestia’s view. Aevum looked down with a sour expression, asking himself if hiding was truly the best option? Hiding from the princess would make his life much more miserable; He needed to fix their relationship now, as to prevent any problems later. But how would he go about this? He lay motionless until the princess threw him a proverbial bone.
“Good morning Equestria!” Celestia declared, a warm smile spreading across her face. Aevum’s ears perked up at this; he rose from the floor and walked towards her, in a way that made it seem as if he had just been walking near the wall, and not actually hiding from the princess.
“Good morning, princess,” Aevum said while passing her, “‘tis’ surely shaping to be a fine day.”
Celestia nodded, then followed Aevum, who both shared a common destination – the balcony where she would lift the sun and lower the moon. Aevum was slightly nervous about the encounter to come, but showed nothing of it, externally. This, of course, changed when he reached the balcony door, Celestia in tow.
“After you, your highness.” Aevum opened the door, allowing Celestia to access the balcony if she so wished.
“Thank you, Aevum,” Celestia said, “your courtesy is most appreciated.” She walked through the door, Aevum followed, shutting the door behind him.
“Princess, may I have a wor- '' Aevum's jaw dropped to the floor, and Celestia – who had turned to address him – raised an eyebrow, before following his gaze towards the city.
“Oh!” Celestia said with a quiet giggle, “yes, the view from up upon the palace is truly a sight to behold. I love to start my day looking upon the work that all of my little ponies have achieved over the years, which is why I built this. And yes, you may have a word.”
Aevum opened his mouth to speak, but quickly changed his mind. The moonlight reflected off the tops of all the buildings and turned the city into a glittering, yet serene sight to behold. “Princess –” Aevum took a deep breath, “ – I wanted to apologize for my actions last night.” Celestia blinked: one, two, no, three times before answering. 
“It’s quite alright, Aevum,” Celestia said, “anyways, how was your room?”
Aevum, puzzled about the sudden shift in conversation, sighed and complied with the Sun Princess. “It was delightful,” Aevum said, “I’m sure Luna will love it!”
Celestia froze. “How-”
“As I said, Celestia, knowledge is power, and I obtained this little tidbit from your apprentice, young Twilight Sparkle.” Aevum took a small step closer, “She told us about Miss Moody’s –” Aevum gestured towards the moon with his hoof, “ – return. If I may, how does thou stand to halt her surely-evil plans?” Although the light levels stayed very much the same, a shadow passed over Celestia’s tall figure.
“Twilight will use the elements to sa…” Celestia cleared her throat, “defeat Nightmare Moon.” Celestia looked to the moon with a sullen gaze, as if she wanted something from it. Aevum stepped towards the edge of the balcony, uncomfortable upon looking into Celestia’s personal life. He wanted to make amends, nothing more. He did not wish to make friends with a princess of all things, not that Celestia was unlikable or anything, Aevum just didn’t want to get roped into Equestria’s business.
“Well, I do believe my time here is over for now,” Aevum stated, “A long journey awaits, and I must travel at a precarious pace to make it to the lush expanses of Everfree. If you need me, I will be near your old castle, I believe.”
“Oh, I see,” Celestia said thoughtfully, “I will call, should you be needed.” However, this fell on deaf ears, as Aevum had already left.

The visit to Canterlot had been great. The day prior, to Spike’s dismay, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Twilight had gone shopping,  and watched a famous opera with the princess, who had been acting strange around Twilight as of late. Now, after a long day of exploring the city with her friends – which made Spike much happier – Twilight was heading home.
 The carriage had not moved, a luxurious white vehicle upon a gravel runway, it contrasted the sunset that Celestia had formed just for her, giving the carriage what seemed like a halo of orange light.
“Hey guys!” Rainbow Dash shouted, “are you guys ready to go?” The rest of the conversation evaded her; Twilight’s attention had been diverted to the arrival of Princess Celestia, who hovered over a red-brick building, gesturing for Twilight to come over before landing behind it. 
“I forgot something,” Twilight said to Applejack, “I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t be long now!” Applejack said as Twilight galloped over to the building which hid Princess Celestia. Sure enough, the princess was there, waiting for her. Much like the carriage, the sunset complimented Celestia’s coat and mane, which made her sparkle. What the sunset did not compliment, however, was the somber expression upon her face. Before Twilight could ask what was wrong, Celestia was already speaking.
“I know you’re leaving, so let’s make this quick.” Celestia lifted the copy of Aevum’s journal in her magic, and returned it to Twilight. “I went through it yesterday, and there’s nothing harmful within it. You may continue learning from its contents.”
Twilight put it in her bag, elated at the return of her journal. Now she could prepare for the conflict between Nightmare Moon and the forces of Equestria. “thank you, princess!”
“You’re so welcome, Twilight,” Celestia purred, “It was the least I could do.” Celestia turned away from Twilight, and in her movement, Twilight noticed the bags under her eyes, and her clenched jaw. 
“Are you alright, Princess? Twilight asked.
“I don’t know, Twilight,” Celestia said, “I am plagued by the mistakes of the past, and I have nobody to confide in.”
“What about me?” Twilight said hopefully.
“You are biased, Twilight.” Celestia looked up into the distance. Or was she looking back? Twilight wondered. “Also, even if I told you what plagues me, you simply would not understand.
Twilight frowned as Celestia flew back towards the castle.
(Break)

After twenty minutes on the carriage, conversation had screeched to a halt, and Twilight pulled out Aevum’s journal to pass the time.

Natural Magic – Page 1.

Not all magic is harnessed by us magicians. ‘Natural Magic,’ as I call it, is what many know as the basic laws of nature. Wind, weather, the day/night cycle, and ocean currents are all powered by Natural Magic. 
Remember from basic magic that magic is simply the caster harnessing pure energy in order to complete a certain task, which is usually determined by the spellcaster. Natural Magic, however, has no caster, and the tasks it carries out are predetermined.
As I said earlier, magic requires energy in its purest form to operate. This includes Natural Magic, but where does it get that energy from? There are multiple ways, but the main source of energy for Natural Magic, (and us, by the way) is the sun.
Natural magic is the most common type of magic, it is everywhere on the planet, and surrounds us all. It is so common, in fact, that whenever a magician casts a spell, it causes a temporal rift to form in the flow of Natural Magic, which can be detected by other magicians. This occurs about a second before the spell takes effect, so being in tune with Natural Magic can improve your battle sense.

Twilight turned the page.

Gemstones are complex mineral formations that form underground. While they may look pretty, they have applicable uses to everyone, especially magicians. There’s a reason that all of the great archmages of the past wore some form of jewelry – it wasn’t for show, I’ll tell you that!
Gemstones act as an energy reservoir, storing any amount of energy for an infinite amount of time. This energy can be built up by direct sunlight or by the manual transfer of energy from an organism to the gem. Any pony with a strong mind can use the energy within gemstones to run faster, lift heavier objects, and increase their endurance with other tasks involving physical action. Mages, on the other hand, can act as a conduit, and cast spells using energy directly from the gem. You lose more energy the further away you are from the gem (while transferring energy.) 
I recommend setting your gem of choice on a sunny windowsill near your bed, so that it gains energy from sunlight, and you can put the remainder of the day’s unneeded energy into the gem before you go to sleep for the night.
Some things to consider when purchasing a gemstone.

• The clearer the gem, the more energy it can hold.
• The bigger the gem, the more energy it can hold (It’s not worth carrying a huge gem around, a one-inch diameter gem should be plenty for any mage.
• Although clear gems can get energy from the sun, gems with darker colors are much more effective at this, and much like plants, dark green gemstones are particularly effective. I have found emeralds to soar above the rest.   

• The way the gem is cut can also provide benefits; the more flat surface area on the gem, the better it will be at gathering sunlight energy.

  • I recommend an Emerald Step-Cut with a 4:3 Length to Width ratio, The flat top is perfect for collecting energy from sunlight.

(break)
Twilight looked out the window and saw a glittering island of light among the sea of darkness that had engulfed the world. She woke Applejack and Rainbow Dash, but left Spike asleep, he was only a baby dragon after all. While still in midair, Rainbow Dash grinned.
“Catch ya later, slowpokes!” She said in a hushed voice, “have fun with the landing!” Rainbow then saluted, before falling backwards into the air, flying down to Ponyville in a rainbow blur.
“Who’s she callin’ slowpoke?” Applejack slurred, “It ain’t me, that’s for sure.”
Twilight rolled her eyes, realizing that she felt normal because she stayed up so late so consistently. She ignored Applejack’s sleep-deprived words and braced for landing, which caused Applejack’s eyes to widen. She straightened her hat and gathered her things – along with Twilight – and made her way off the carriage, which promptly left.
“Hey, it was a lot of fun, Twilight,” Applejack said warmly, “feel free to invite me the next time you go on an adventure like that!”
“Of course!” Twilight watched Applejack walk towards the apple farm before making her way over to her own house, and for the first time in weeks, slept peacefully.