Ignatius gathered up the only possessions that he had in the room. The book Twilight had given them, and, he assumed it was his because his brother didn't like leather very much in his fashion, a long black coat. He put on the coat and went out the door. The guard led him to the doors of the forge and hurried off back to his post. Ignatius opened the doors and was greeted with a huge smile from the hybrid beast that sat on a large chair.
"How are you doing, killer?" Twisted Horns asked with a chuckle.
Ignatius gave a snort and a smirk. "So, you heard what had happened?"
"Six guards being killed by one man is not something that keeps to the shadows for very long." the blacksmith chided. "Especially when those six where the most nefarious guards out there."
Ignatius cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. "Educate me. What do you mean by 'nefarious'?"
Twisted Horns got up from his seat and stirred a mixture in the pot that the forge had sitting over it. The smell of meats and vegetables, with a hint of spice, filled the room. Ignatius' stomach grumbled. He hadn't eaten today, and the sight of the large pot was enough to set him over the edge and dive right in. Twisted Horns beckoned for the two bowls on the table across the room. The dimly lit forge room wasn't the most ornate or the most dazzling place in Canterlot, but it had all the necessities. A bed, a table, a forge, and two doors. One leading to what Ignatius thought to be a bathroom, the other to who-knows-where. The Marine swiped both bowls and silverware, and gave them one at a time to Twisted Horns, who promptly filled them with chili.
Ignatius gave the mino-satyr a look. "You're eating meat?"
"Yes." said the forge master. "Just because I am part bull, and part goat, doesn't mean that I am going to cater to those, and not the part man portion. Besides, I am my own species, so, I can eat minotaurs, and satyrs without consequence because I am neither species. As far as I know, cannibalism isn't possible for me."
Ignatius just took the steaming bowl and sat down on the floor. He let out one more question before he began to eat. "Did you expect me to come for dinner?"
Twisted Horns chuckled. "No. I just always have another bowl waiting for me when I finish the first one."
"Fat ass." Ignatius said with a playful smile.
Twisted Horns flexed his muscles to show off his physique. "(grunt) You were (grunt) saying?" Ignatius shook his head, smiled and ate. He knew that somewhere along the road, this hulking man beast was going to end up being one of the few friends he would have in this strange land.
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Aquinas' dream was that of pure comfort. On the beach, soaking up the sun, he had a Corona with three lime slices in it next to him. He almost didn't want to wake up. However, his body clock told him that it was fully charged, and needed to get up. The Ensign scratched to corners of his eyes to get the sand out of them, and yawned. When he opened his eyes, he found that he wasn't alone in his room. He saw a young purple haired girl standing over him with an ear splitting grin on her face.
"Well, I must say, Miss Sparkle." Aquinas said in a grunting tone as he sat up in his bed. "That's really creepy. You standing over me as I wake up."
"I'm sorry." Twilight beamed. "I just couldn't wait any longer, it's almost nine o'clock and I would really like to get started."
"Started on what?" Aquinas asked.
"Your schooling." said a familiar female voice. Aquinas saw the princess standing in the doorway and gave her a quizzical look. She was wearing a new white silk gown that revealed her smooth shoulders and strap sandals. "From what I was able to find out before the event that brought you here, your world does not have magic, and because you seem to be blessed by the unicorn, I see it necessary to instruct you on how to use it."
"So . . . what you're saying is, I will be how to use magic." Aquinas beamed. He was actually quite excited to learn how to use magic. "And I will be learning alongside Twilight."
"Learning from Twilight." the purple haired girl said as-a-matter-of-factly.
Aquinas' quizzical look came back on his face. The princess offered a nod in affirmation. "Why am I learning from magic from Twilight? No offense."
"None taken." said the young lady with her smile still splitting her face.
"You see, Aquinas." Celestia said as she closed the distance between the doorway and her student. "Twilight won't always be a student, and she must learn to pass on her knowledge of magic to others. So, with you needing the schooling in magic, I thought, why not kill two birds with one stone?"
"Huh." Aquinas pondered."I guess this will be kind of interesting."
"Then it is settled. You shall be Twilight's new pupil. Get dressed and I will have a meal waiting for you down in the dining hall. Do you remember where it is?" Aquinas nodded. "Then I will see you there. Come, Twilight." With that the princess and her student left Aquinas to get his clothes on, but not before Aquinas stopped them.
"Princess, if you could do me a small favor."
"Of course." the princess beamed.
"Will you check on my brother? I worry about him."
The princess' face turned sour, but she quickly regained her grin and said, "I will look into him. No doubt he may need flying lessons." With that, the pair departed. As the royal started away, Twilight hung for a split second to issue a fluttering finger wave to the officer with a sparkling eye. The Ensign just shrugged it off and proceeded.
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Ignatius beat the hot metal he held with a pair of tongs in a rythmatic fashion. Twisted Horns observed him with a sense of pride. Ignatius had some practice at the forge, but blacksmithing seemed to be his true talent, other that killing, of course. The tempo and the speed at which he worked told the minotaur what he needed to know about his skill. He enjoyed watching the man work, even more than Ignatius enjoying actually doing it. The door to the forge creaked in protest as it swung open. The natural light from outside shining brightly inward as a majestic figure stepped through. Princess Celestia closed the door behind her as she approached the hulking man-beast. She floated over to him and tried feebly to put her arms around him. Twisted Horns was able to rap her in his own just fine. He made sure to only apply enough pressure to give her a proper embrace, but not enough to stop her from breathing. Three tears graced her cheeks as she buried her head in the forge master's lower chest. She withdrew once her arms wouldn't take the strain anymore. She smiled and said. "How are you, my old friend?"
"It has been far too long, Tia." The minotaur replied. "I am well, and you seem to have finally put on some healthy weight."
"I have." the royal said humbly. Twisted Horns always did worry about her withering away because she didn't eat enough. Now she was worrying that she be eating too much, but she digressed. She turned to Ignatius with a none threatening smile. Ignatius' scowl and the hate he openly held behind his eyes told the princess it was unwelcome. "Come now, Ignatius." she pleaded. "Can't we let bygones be bygones?" she stepped forward slightly, but was met with a red hot piece of metal being shoved in front of her face.
"I told him about the guards that he dispatched." Twisted Horns interjected. "It seems your little imprisonment and trial didn't go over as well as one would have liked." The princess backed off slightly. Her smile now turned to a look of fright. She was starting to understand why Alvi constantly tells her that she doesn't like being around the man.
"You better learn to stop playing games with me and my brother. Those guards were already on death row as soon as you had solid evidence to convict them of their crimes against the people, and I saved a woman from becoming another victim of their spree of debotury, and instead of thanking me, or just giving me a simple nod in approval, you gave me the back of your hand. So, please excuse me if I would rather shove this hot metal spike into your twat than embrace you with a smile."
The princess backed off a step and cleared her throat. "Well, I came here not on my own interest, but that of your brother's." Her face maintained a smile, but her voice was strict. "He wanted to know that you were alright, and I would also have liked to extend my hand and offer flying lessons to you."
Ignatius digested every word that she spoke. He didn't doubt that his brother worried about him, but he didn't expect the second part. "So, flying lessons, huh?" Ignatius placed the metal back in the fire of the forge to heat back up to a hot enough temperature to work on it. "Who will I be receiving these lesson from?"
"I have yet to find you a suitable teacher, but when I do, you will be the first to know." the princess replied cool enough.
"Fine." Ignatius snorted. "Just make sure that my brother isn't doing anything too dangerous. "
"Don't worry." Celestia reassured. "I told Twilight to not teach him anything above the novice level."
"WAIT! HOLD THE FUCK UP!" Ignatius cried. "Did you just say that Twilight is teaching my brother magic?"
"Yes." the princess said easily. "Why?" her smile growing wider.
Ignatius knew what she was doing, and he didn't like it. She wanted to see how many buttons she could press before something 'fun' happened. She was just doing this because she knew she was in no real danger. Twisted Horns was closer to her than anyone in the castle, and he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. So, he figured that she decided to have all the fun she wanted at Ignatius' expense. He knew he couldn't face the mino-satyr, but he really wanted to smash the princess' skull in with the hammer he held. "Just keep him safe." he sneered and he picked up the metal out of the forge with the tongs and continued to work.
The princess hugged Twisted Horns one more time, but while she did, she said, "Make sure he doesn't cause any trouble."
"Don't worry." he said. "I think that by the time Fall rolls around, you will see a whole new man."
"You really think so?" the princess' voice was more than hopeful.
"I know so."
With that, the princess departed with no intension of coming back unless she absolutely had to.
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Aquinas concentrated as hard as he could. He had to have complete silence at this point, for this was one of the most difficult the most difficult things he has done. When his mind could not take any more, he just quit. "Fuck!" he cursed through his gritted teeth. "Who knew picking up a ball of yarn would be so hard?" He had been at it for six hours, but he just simply couldn't make it do anything more than wobble. He stepped back on shaky legs. His breathing was labored and he was sweating through his sir coat.
Twilight made her way over to the blue coated man, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay, Aquinas? Do you need a break?"
Aquinas blew out a sigh. "No." he starred at the ball of yarn with distain. "I just need to figure out how to use my magic. How do you do it, Twilight?"
The purple haired girl's hand glowed with a magical aura that shared the same color as her hair. The ball also glowed the same color. "You see, Aquinas." the ball spun in mid air. "Magic is not having control over something. It is having an understanding of it. Magic is a force. Life creates it, and makes it grow. Magic surrounds and binds us. We, as Unicorn blessed people, students of magic, are luminous beings," she grabbed the ball of yarn, and grabbed his shoulder. "not this crude matter. You have to feel the magic flow through you. For it flows through all things. Through you, me, Spike, my flowers, the stones that make this castle, everywhere. If you are to master magic, it is imperative that you learn this." She floated the ball of yarn over to its rest. "Now lift the ball, and feel the magic."
Aquinas took a deep breath. He took in Twilight's words. How familiar they sounded. He had learned these words before, but not from a likely source. That's what he concentrated on. The words and the lesson. Not the action. Aquinas felt the magic in the crystals in his hands. He felt the magic around the ball of yarn. As he felt, he didn't think. He just trusted his abilities, and because he did. The ball of yarn, at first was across the library, but now in his hand. The Ensign looked at this in astonishment. He had felt the magic, just like Twilight had said. The young mage beamed with pride for the man, and the man beamed with gratitude for the young woman. "Thanks, Yoda." Aquinas said as he put his hand on Twilight's shoulder.
The girl gave Aquinas a confused look. "Who's Yoda?"
"Never mind." he said in a calming voice.
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Ignatius still worked on the same piece of metal he had been working on for the day. It was finally taking the shape he envisioned. It was a simple long sword. He tried to balance the weight as much as possible to add to the maneuverability of the blade. He cleared the sweat from his brow with his hammer arm, and replaced the steel back in the forge.
Twisted Horns watched from afar in the chair on the other side of the room. Even though the room was dimly lit, he could see that the blade was shaping up to be a work of art. He was rather impressed by Ignatius' handy work. A minotaur would be insulted if his blade was presented to them, but then again, Twisted Horns, like all minotaurs, are practically born with a smithy hammer in hand. Swords like Ignatius' would be good for an adolescent teenager, but seeing as how he himself was not an expert, he was still making a rather fine blade. The forge master looked at the coco clock on the wall over the human's head and saw it was time to make dinner. "Ignatius." he called. The Marine looked towards the monster. "it's time to get dinner started. Go wash up, and get some water, please." Ignatius removed the heated metal and put it on a metal rest to cool down, and replaced the hammer.
"Horns?" the minotaur turned to Ignatius from the carrots he was cutting. "What do you see through your eyes that makes you smile so much?"
The minotaur only smiled wider, and said. "I just smile because it makes me happy. I always look at things positively. Even in the worst situations, I still can find a reason to smile, and when you do, this dimly lit room, becomes brighter and more vibrant than Celestia's throne room. I learned to deal with the negativity that comes into every day life, and turn it over on itself, and because I am able to do that, it make me smile more."
"Huh." Ignatius pondered this, and when he did, he could find no argument. So, he just went into the back and washed up for dinner.
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"BEEEELCH!"
Ignatius just sat there dumbfounded. He never had seen someone move a table by belching at it. Then again, he had never seen a mino-satyr before either. "Good one." was all he could say.
Twisted Horns let out a belly laugh in response. A knock on the door quickly broke the joy. "Come on in, the door's open." the forge master cried.
The door swung open and a figure stepped beyond the portal. "Hey, Ignatius." Aquinas said with a bit of mirth. "What's going o . . ." Aquinas stopped in his tracks as he saw Twisted Horns. His eyes became as wide as dinner plates. "Dude." he said without thinking.
"Hi" Twisted horns said as he waved with a large smile.
Aquinas turned to his brother. "Dude, this guy looks awesome!"
"You haven't seen anything yet." Ignatius warned. "Watch this." He gave Twisted Horns the go ahead. The man beast sucked in some air to his stomach to build pressure, when he had enough, he let out a bigger belch than before. He was not only able to shake the table, but he made the plates bounce.
Aquinas gave an exaggerated, hurt look. "Aw, you guys are having all the fun!" He huffed a bit, but then, the serious button came back on. "Oh. The princess wanted me to tell you that you have a teacher for flying."
"Oh." Ignatius said dryly. "What shmuck did she stick me with?"
"My shmuck of a cousin." came a voice from beyond the portal. In stepped a woman dressed in gilded armor and armed with a spear and short sword. "Hello, Ignatius."
"Private Bright Flower." said the Marine. "How do you fair?"
"I am doing well, sir, and yourself?"
"Can't complain." Ignatius crossed his arms. "So, you said your cousin is going to give me flying lessons."
"That is correct." she said. "Spitfire's bit of a bitch to handle, but I'm sure a man of your standing will fair too easily under her wing."
Ignatius perked an eyebrow. "You said that, Spitfire was my flying instructor?"
"Yes." said the private. "You seem to have heard of her before."
Ignatius looked to his brother, and then back to the guard. "I may have heard her name mentioned once or twice."
Bright Flower gave a huff. "She always wanted to get her name out there. Anyway, she will be start your lessons in the morning in the courtyard. She will fill you in on the rest of the schedule." She gave a pause for a second, her eyes not being drawn away from the man in front of her. "I must take my leave now, but I will see you around, Ignatius." She gave a customary salute, and after the Sergeant gave his, she went off.
Aquinas elbowed his brother and said. "Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap . . . OW!" Ignatius gave his brother a slap on the back of the head.
"No." he said grimly.
Aquinas just chuckled.
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The courtyard in the morning was as one would not expect. At this time, and at the time of night, nothing came in or out of the courtyard, save for a group of scholars on their way to their classes. They made small jokes and laughed merrily with each other. As the trio ascended the staircase that led out of the courtyard and to , they passed up a man in a black trench coat. He had a very disgruntled look on his face and he was sporting a dagger under his garment. The students gave him a respectful pathway down the steps. For none of them wanted to tangle with a man like that.
Ignatius paid no heed to the trio of friends and made his way to the middle of the courtyard. He stood in the middle of a grassy lawn with not a whisper of wind gracing the grass. After about a minute of standing in there, waiting for Spitfire, he turned around with a growl in his throat and was about to leave when the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. This usually meant that there was danger around, and he was right , when he spun a 180 and ceased a fiery-orange haired woman with dirty-gold wings by the throat. She stood, if she was standing, at about five-foot eight. She wore a skin tight flight suit and custom athletic shoes sharing the design of a yellow thunderbolt over a sky-blue hue. Her wings flapped ungracefully as she tried to release herself from the Marine's iron grip. Ignatius just gave a deadpan face. It hid his amusement that the little woman was trying so hard. Her actions were obviously in vain, as he only squeezed tighter as she struggled more. Spitfire's wings nearly lost all of their strength as oxygen was leaving her system without any replenishment.
Before the woman passed out, the black coated male let her drop to the ground. Spitfire gave a cough as she sucked in precious air and massaged her throat. She opened up her tear welling eyes and looked up to find the same dead pan face staring back at her. She was frozen with fright as the dry, pale blue eyes of her offender locked her in place. "If you ever sneak up on me again,' he presented the wicked edge of the blade to the woman. "I will stab you with my dagger. I am not going to kill you, I'm just going to make you suffer the pain of the edge of my blade making a nice slit in your abdomen. Do I make myself clear?" Spitfire just nodded rapidly in fear.
The jumpsuited woman cleared her throat and perked up her wings again. She flapped them a couple times and made it back in the air to be now towering over Ignatius. She gave a weak smile as she extended her hand and said, "Well, my name, as my cousin may have said, is Spitfire." With the mention of her name, she gained a little confidence back. "And I am your teacher in the art of flying. However, I do not know your name. So, why don't you introduce yourself?"
Ignatius gave a long snort and said, "My name is Ignatius."
Spitfire extended her hand, which Ignatius promptly took. He gave a firm grasp as was customary, but he did not expect the young woman to give such an impressive grip herself. They both looked each other straight in the eye, and Spitfire smiled.
"That's too bad." Spitfire cooed. This set Ignatius back a bit.
"What do you mean?"
"That you are going to fail my lessons."
Ignatius made his wings erupt out of his back in a flurry of black feathers. They were just bigger than Spitfire's wings, but looked twice as powerful. "How about now?"
The woman openly chuckled. "It wouldn't matter if you had Princess Celestia's wings. You still would fail."
Ignatius deadly gaze set back on Spitfire. He growled loud enough to set a bear back on its heels. He definitely did not like being made fun of. "Explain to me how you know the future already. You know nothing of my limits, or my strength."
"I know you will fail," Spitfire explained. "because I know that you are too uptight. You are not a free spirit. You seem to like things all in line, planned out. When you are up there in the sky, there isn't a road. There isn't a set path that you can take to get to a destination. You must learn to just go with the flow, and learn to let go. You need to learn to relax. Otherwise, you aren't going to be able to fly a mile without having your wings all tensed up and unusable because you have an inability to just take things as they come. Flight is about becoming like the spirits. Limitless, happy, excited, death defying, and above all, free."
Ignatius thought Spitfire's words over, and tried to analyze every word. She gave him two sharp knocks on the head as he stood there. Ignatius snapped his teeth at her.
"You're doing it all wrong!"
"I haven't fucking done anything!"
"Exactly?! That's your problem. You have to stop trying to put everything under a microscope. Feel, don't think. Trust your instincts." With that Spitfire took off into the air and hovered at about forty feet up. "Get up here!" she called down.
Ignatius was skeptical. How did she expect him to get up there when he hadn't even taken his wings out for a test run. Still, she wasn't up that high. He took a deep breath and tried to get his wings to function. They started out slow, but soon grew to a steady pace. A pace that was enough to lift him up off the ground and up into the air. His breath became labored as he kept his concentration on the woman in the jumpsuit. He tried not to look down, because he knew that if he did, he would end up losing focus. He was visibly sweating, and he was swishing back and forth as his wing beats made him unstable. Nonetheless, he got up the required height, but because of his tension, he needed to go back down almost immediately.
Spitfire rolled her eyes, when she saw him panting. She went over to him, and took his hands, she placed the on her hips. If it wasn't for his labor, Ignatius' embarrassment would have been exposed through the red that his face was already colored by. Spitfire put hers on his shoulders. "Concentrate on me." she said softly. She drew herself in closer, her nose nearly touching his.
"Just what are you doing?" Ignatius asked in a shaky tone.
"Adding a feminine touch." she said coolly. "I know that guys have trouble sometimes with concentrating on their first flight. They need something to take their minds off their wing beats, and this did the trick with my pal Soarin when we were younger." Ignatius looked around to see that he was comfortably flapping his wings. "And it seems to me that it is doing the trick for you." She let him go and the Marine was still floating there with ease. "So, let's get over to the practice field." She slowly drifted backwards. "I'll go slow for ya, and remember, feel, don't think. Trust your instincts."
"Feel, don't think. Trust your instincts." Ignatius repeated. He kept telling himself that over and over again, as he slowly went forward. It wasn't long before he picked up a little speed. He gave himself a congratulatory smile, and went on. He did feel something though. A sense of weightlessness and happiness. He felt like nothing could touch him. He was starting to enjoy himself.
The pair made it to the practice field in the course of an hour, but that was just because they took a couple detours around the castle. The field itself was that of something that someone would expect. Certain obstacles floated high in the air and others were just a few feet off the ground. Ranging from loops and maneuvering rods, to colorful balls and platforms. "Alright." Spitfire said enthusiastically. "Let's get started."
"What would you have me do first?" Ignatius said with about as much enthusiasm as his teacher.
"Hit the track and take three laps, but let's see if you can move faster than three miles an hour, okay?" She took out a whistle out from under her jumpsuit. "Are you ready?"
Ignatius nodded.
"Then let's go!" She blew the whistle and Ignatius started off. He went a lot faster than what he had before, and even went faster as he took his second and third lap. He felt exhilarated and free, powerful and majestic. He felt the kiss of the air on his face, and whistle in his ears. He slowed down to a crawl as he approached Spitfire.
"See, I told you. Feel, don't think." the next words they said together. "Trust your instincts." The duo laughed together. Ignatius' smile, surprisingly, didn't recede. He just felt so good to have the ability to fly, that everything else, just seemed to melt away.
"See? Don't you feel better?"
"Yeah." he said in reply. "I guess I do. Thanks, Qui Gon."
Spitfire cocked her head in confusion. "Who's Qui Gon?"
"Don't worry about it."