The Vacation Day 3:
Training...
On most days Canterlot castle was nigh impossible to breach. It had a massive wall surrounding it. Its built into the side of a mountain. It had dozens of guards stationed throughout every crack and crevice. They have sensor spells used to detect any kind of teleportation magic in an instant. And unlike before the royal wedding of Cadence and Shining Armor, they now knew to look for Changeling spies. Typically, unless a pony was very very stupid, they would never even get close to the castle.
Then again most ponies, aren't Mort.
Said Pale Pony of Death arrived inside of Canterlot Castle in a flash of black feathers. The feathers were his own, from his own rotting wings which never seemed to completely decay. He had studied that decidedly odd phenomena for some time now. He had all but decided that because they were only gained upon becoming an Alicorn, they were not subjected to the same rot the rest of him was. In any case, it meant that wherever he 'Winked', as the spell was originally called, he would leave a burst of feathers in his wake.
"HMMM, NOW WHY WOULD SHE BE IN CANTERLOT?" Mort questioned curiously. He of course expected no answer for his question. It was a simple question true, but even he thought it was pointless as he trotted through the castle. "THEY REALLY SHOULD PUT SOME IRON IN THE WALLS, THAT WAY THEY WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT SOME PONY WINKING INTO THIS PLACE." Mort noted to himself in a bored drone. He was often bored, in fact he had found most things to be quite boring after the thousandth year of his immortal life.
Mort ignored those thoughts, he wandered through the halls of the palace and right up to a guard. The Grim Galloper had placed a "Perception Charm" upon himself in eons passed. The Charm was simple as it made most ponies ignore his appearance. They basically just saw some strange pale pony in a black cloak, then ignored him utterly when he left their presence. Some ponies even forget they ever saw him in the first place, which had turned out to be useful as he started to guide souls to their next life.
Oh, and for the occasional parties too, those were fun.
"PARDON ME SIR, BUT WOULD YOU HAPPEN TO KNOW THE LOCATION OF PRINCESS CADENCE?" Mort questioned of the guard politely.
"The throne room," the guard replied with a nudge in the needed direction.
"AH, THANK YOU KINDLY SIR," Mort stated with a bow before he trotted in the direction pointed out.
"What just happened?" The guard questioned when Mort walked off, having forgotten the entire encounter. The Guard shrugged his shoulders, schooled his features back into a stern frown and continued to guard his post.
Mort trotted to the doors to the throne room and looked them up and down. "A BIT ON THE WEAK SIDE, I'D WAGER THAT THESE DOORS WON'T BE HERE FOR MORE THAN ANOTHER HUNDRED YEARS." Mort mused aloud as he trotted straight through the doors. He silently entered into the throne room where Cadence rested upon the throne, idly she read a report incased in her magical aura. "AHH, SO WE FINALLY MEET, PRINCESS CADENCE." Mort's voice echoed and the mare almost jumped from her seat.
"Who's there?" the sufficiently spooked mare demanded. Mort silently trotted forward which immediately drew her eyes to the pale pony. There was a brief flash of confusion on her face as she stared at Mort. Like other ponies the perception filter briefly hid his true identity. However, alicorns had a certain kind of 'Sight' that made such charms useless. So when she saw who he was, her face twisted into an angry glare. "You." She all but growled at the pale pony, wings flared dangerously.
"HMM, AND TO WHAT DO I OWE ALL THIS... ANIMOSITY?" Mort questioned of the mare curiously. Cadence narrowed her eyes further on the pale pony. She silently brought her wings close to her sides and let out a snort.
"After what you did to Auntie Celestia, how can you even ask that?" Cadence snarled through clenched teeth. Mort twitched for just a moment, a pang of guilt stabbing at where his heart used to reside.
"AH... SO SHE TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT," Mort mumbled quietly. He knew he shouldn't be surprised, even though Celestia wasn't exactly open about such things. Cadence was an Alicorn of Love, if any pony could be spoken with about such things, it was her. "YOU KNOW, I DID SAY I WAS SORRY." Mort admitted while shuffling his hooves. Cadence merely snorted and crossed her forelimbs over her chest.
"That doesn't make it right." She stated resolutely. Mort silently nodded his head, well aware that he'd harmed Celestia far more than any 'villain' had ever managed to. Had he been a much younger alicorn, he would have found it entertaining. He knew that too, which is why he felt even more horrible.
"I-I KNOW THAT," Mort replied and continued to shuffle on his hooves. Cadence sighed, glared a Mort a moment longer before she exhaled a calming breath. She'd learned that trick long ago, she'd found it helped greatly with situations where she had to deal with thing's she'd rather not. Or when she was angry.
Many ponies assumed, incorrectly she might add, that because she was 'Alicorn of Love' she was incapable of hate. Actually, the opposite of love was not hate, but indifference, which meant not only could she hate a pony. When she did hate a pony, she hated them as much as she loved Shining Armor. Thus far, she only hated Queen Chrysalis more than she hated Mort. Mort wasn't too far behind Crysalis either, because the quickest way to earn her ire was to mess with her family...
"What do you want, Mort?" the crystal princess demanded sternly. The pale pony shifted nervously, he wasn't exactly feeling too great about himself right now. But he regained his composure quickly. He looked to Cadence and conjured a window of magic which showed Faust's tower in the distance.
"RECENTLY WHILE I WAS EXPLORING THE SOUTHERN WASTES I NOTICED SOMETHING OFF." Mort began while a dark cloud hovered over the tower in the window. "THE GRAND ARCHIVES, ALSO KNOWN AS FAUST'S TOWER HAS BEEN SATURATED IN DARK MAGIC." Mort explained and waved a wing. The window vanished while the Pale Pony looked to Cadence gravely. "I BELIEVE THAT SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED TO THE TOWER, AND IT REEKS OF DISCORD'S HANDIWORK." The grim galloper finished and Cadence frowned and rubbed her chin.
"You don't say," Cadence murmured quietly. "that's odd considering Auntie Clestia and Luna both vanished yesterday." The crystal princess noted aloud. Mort frowned deeply, rather would have if he still had lips.
"THEN I SUSPECT THAT DISCORD HAS BEEN QUITE THE BUSY DRACONEQUUS." Mort noted gravely. Cadence couldn't help but agree with the grim galloper on that. Much as she hated Mort, there had been quite a bit of chaos recently, which might as well have been Discord's calling card.
"Perhaps," Cadence murmured in agreement, then clicked her tongue. "but what is so special about this Tower?" The crystal princess questioned and Mort glanced to the ground.
"IT IS HOME TO FAUST, THE ALICORN OF CREATIVITY AND INVENTION. SHE IS THE OLDEST OF US ALL AND HAS BEEN RECORDING ALL THINGS SINCE LOCKING HERSELF AWAY NINE THOUSAND AND FIFTY TWO YEARS AGO. HER TOWER IS FILLED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF AGES. SHOULD ANY PONY HAVE ACCESS TO IT, THEY WOULD HAVE ACCESS TO BOTH LOST SPELLS AND FORGOTTEN KNOWLEDGE." Mort explained gravely. Cadence frowned however and looked at the pale pony with a frown.
"Then how has no pony ever heard of this place? Better yet, why hasn't Auntie Celestia ever told me about it?" Cadence questioned seriously. Mort chuckled slightly and shook his head in response.
"FAUST IS EXTREMELY PRIVATE, CELESTIA AND LUNA DON'T KNOW THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE TOWER. THEY HAD ALSO LIKELY FORGOTTEN THAT SHE WAS THE PONY WHO RAISED THEM." Mort replied. Cadence was silently for a moment as she digested what the pale pony told her.
"So... she's there mother, and they haven't visited her because they had no idea where she was?" Cadence questioned. Mort merely nodded his head in response and the princess leaned back with a hoof to her head. "Okay. I'll have to wait for the Canterlot analysts to confirm it was Discord's magic before I do anything else. But I suppose we should send The Elements of Harmony to The Tower." Cadence stated.
"THAT WOULD BE PRUDENT, ALTHOUGH..." Mort began and then shivered at a sudden thought. "MAYBE WE SHOULD KEEP TWILIGHT AWAY FROM THE TOWER." Mort mumbled nervously. Cadence shot him a confused stare and he sighed. "IT'S A PLACE WITH EVERY BOOK EVER WRITTEN." He stated and imagined Twilight's reaction to The Tower. Cadence did as well, both wincing as they imagined the squeal of utter joy she would emit, followed by bouncing around screaming yes over and over.
"Uh, unfortunately we kind of need Twilight since she's the element of magic." Cadence stated with a barely suppressed grin. Much as she loved her sister-in-law, she was well aware of just how she was around books.
"INDEED." Mort agreed with an inward smirk.
"So, what now?" Cadence questioned. Mort hummed for a moment and then tapped his hoof. A few seconds later a rat crawled out of his hood holding a deck of cards out to the mare.
"WANT TO PLAY A FEW ROUNDS OF POKER?" Mort questioned of the crystal princess. Cadence merely stared at the rat on Mort's head for a moment, then slowly nodded her head. She also made a note to ask why Mort had a pet rat of all things. She honestly expected him to have a Raven or Crow or something else related to Death, but a rat?
In all the years that Twilight Sparkle had learned under Princess Celestia, she had never experienced anything quite like this. She sat before three clones of Faust, each different than the last. A unicorn with a broken horn and a hoof infected with thrush. A Winged Unicorn who looked tired but overall normal. And finally, an alicorn who seemed almost too perfect to be real. She admitted inwardly that while this was an unusual instance, it wasn't the strangest thing that had ever happened to her.
Meeting a future version of herself, that was the strangest thing to ever happen to her.
"So what now?" Twilight questioned unsure of what was to come. The Unicorn version of Faust with the broken horn trotted forward and sat at her side.
"Simple," Unicorn Faust began with a smile. "each of us will teach you about the three fundamental rules of Charms." The off-white mare explained and Twilight glanced to the other two.
"Okay... so what are the rules?" Twilight questioned and Winged Unicorn Faust smirked.
"Flow, Focus, and Control." She stated with a nod. Twilight had to suppress a sudden urge to scream, the three rules didn't make any sense to her. Okay that was a gross overstatement on her part. She actually could understand focus and control, but what was flow supposed to be, and why didn't they mention how you actually cast the spells!
"First you will learn about flow, have fun." Alicorn Faust stated. A moment later the winged-unicorn and alicorn vanished into a shimmer of sparks, leaving Twilight with the unicorn.
"Alright then lets begin by having a change of scenery," unicorn Faust stated with a smile. She trotted forward for a moment and with a sudden shimmer the area around them changed. Where they had been in an endless void of space and stars, now they sat in a lush green field. Twilight glanced around the field for a moment, happy her hooves were on solid ground again, then looked to Faust with a frown.
"So what's this first lesson about?" Twilight questioned while the broken unicorn trotted around happily.
"Flow is the movement of magic, understanding and controlling that is what allows a charm to be cast." Faust explained academically. Twilight smiled slightly at the straight explanation, and hoped that this would be easier to understand than Faust's earlier attempts to teach her had been.
"Alright so what do I need to know first?" Twilight asked with a smile. Faust merely glanced at her for a moment before suddenly shaking her head.
"You can't just learn the flow of magic Twilight." She admonished with a frown. The off-white unicorn then turned and looked to an old castle in the distance. "You have to feel the magic flow through you to understand it. Once you feel it, then you can find it in any pony else." Faust explained with a nod. The off-white mare almost smirked when Twilight nearly screamed in frustration.
"Ugh! Are you just trying to confuse me?" Twilight demanded of the mare. Faust shrugged her shoulders and smiled at her pleasantly.
"No, but it is an amusing side effect." She replied honestly. Twilight let out a snort and let out a harrumph as she turned her head from the other mare.
"I'm sorry Miss Faust, but it will be impossible for me to learn anything if you can't take this seriously." Twilight stated with a resolute nod of her head. Faust released a sad sigh and turned around to face the little purple unicorn.
"You just don't get it..." She stated with a shake of her head. Twilight looked to her with confusion as the off-white mare trotted over and sat right in front of her. "Charms are not logical, they are not based around knowledge. They are unique because unlike other spells they are simple for those who are in touch with their imagination." Faust stated then smirked. "I bet that Rarity would probably get this by now and be half way to finishing these lessons." The off-white mare noted honestly. Twilight having to bite back a growl at the veiled insult.
"So what are you trying to say?" Twilight asked with a scowl. Faust hummed and then hopped up, the wind solidifying into a step which she stood on.
"I'm saying we're like two halves of the same coin, you're logic and reason while I'm creativity and imagination." Faust replied mysteriously. "I took the low road, while you took the high road, yet in the end we still somehow met up at the same point at the end." Faust continued to muse aloud a deeply thoughtful expression on her face.
"I fail to see what you're talking about." Twilight admitted.
"Of course you do, like I said, you lack a flare for creativity. You spend all your time studying what other ponies have written, the magics they created, meanwhile I go out and make new ways to do things." Faust explained with a sudden grin. "It's really kind of fascinating." The off-white mare admitted. The purple pony twitched slightly at Faust's accusation, however inwardly admitted she wasn't really the most creative of ponies. If charms really did require a flare for creativity then she also admitted Rarity would be the perfect pony to learn them, while she would be a difficult student at best.
"Alright I'm not creative, I get it, but then what do you plan to do about that?" Twilight questioned irritably. Faust smiled in response and hopped down from her step in the air and landed in front of the other mare.
"So you won't give up?" She questioned with a raised brow. Twilight nodded her head resolutely, a look of determination and fire in her eyes.
"I have to learn this. If I can't learn this then I can't honestly say that my special talent is magic, now can I?" Twilight replied. Faust nodded her head in agreement, and then hummed in thought.
"Alright, since you can't grasp the concept easily I suppose I'll have to lead you through this step by step." Faust decided as she tapped her chin. "So first, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and look for the magic within you like you would when casting a spell, but stop." Faust ordered. Twilight looked at her strangely for only a moment before doing as bade. She took a breath and exhaled, her eyes closed, and she sought to find the magical well within her. The moment she found it, she nearly drowned in it's sheer size. She tried to hold it back, to stop it from out right crushing her beneath it.
But that was the problem, if a normal pony had a 'well' within them, then she was certain that this was an ocean.
"F-Faust... it's t-too much..." Twilight noted as she held and Faust smiled.
"Don't hold it in Twilight." Faust stated. The little purple unicorn whimpered and began to shake, her magic was far more wild than she had ever imagined. She worried what the magic would do when released, last time she had been a filly and Celestia had had to fix the chaos her wild magic had wrought on Canterlot, there was no telling what it could do now!
"B-but there's so much!" She tried to say, yet Faust merely smiled.
"Listen to me Twilight, you're safe so long as you let it flow, you don't have to worry unless you try to hold it in. It builds pressure that will ultimately explode out. My little pony let it go..." Faust started and then grinned cheekily. "just let the magic flow." She whispered in song. Twilight bit back a groan while she continued to hold the magic in, her head hurt and it felt like something was about to give. "Just let it go, don't let the magic grow, just take a breath, and let the magic flow." Faust sang with a smile on her face.
"B-but what if I..." Twilight tried to say. But Faust placed a hoof into her mouth and smirked.
"Twilight please don't worry, it'll all be fine." Faust assured the younger mare comfortingly. "Just feel the flow inside, it'll always be your guide, so please let go, and let the magic flow..." The off-white mare pleaded in song, a slow tune echoing across the field.
"D-do you really have to sing?" Twilight questioned in a whisper.
"Yes." The off-white mare replied pleasantly and heard her groan.
"W-why?" Twilight questioned.
"I like to sing." Faust replied with a nod. Twilight grunted for a moment, sparks shooting off the end of her horn as she continued to hold her magic back. Faust couldn't help but smile as she did, and sat down at her side to help her. "I know that you are worried, and I know that you are scared, but listen to my voice and know that I will be here. I'll sit beside you as you learn this lesson, and teach you all I know, so please listen dear... and let the magic flow." Faust continued to whisper in song. Twilight took several deep breaths, she released some of the magic slowly but surely, afraid of what might happen if she allowed too much out at once.
"My little pony, my little pony, just let the magic flow..." Faust whispered to the purple unicorn soothingly. Twilight took one last breath and finally released the magic she'd been held in and allowed it to flow. And rather than be crushed as she expected, it moved through her in ways she'd never experienced before. Her eyes bolted open and she felt a sudden surge of magical energy at her side, she glanced there and saw only Faust.
"W-whats going on." Twilight questioned as she felt something move through her. "What was that?" She questioned nervously. Faust giggled at the mare's confusion for only a moment before she schooled her features and cleared her throat.
"What you are currently experiencing is literally the flow of magic. A pony has to open up to it to really understand charms but they have dulled themselves to this sensation due to the amount of magic at work around them. Magic can be felt in instances when a Pegasus controls the weather or flies, when an earth pony works with plants, or when another unicorn casts a spell, as well as other minor instances. If the sensations weren't dulled, most unicorns would be overwhelmed the second they walked outside." Faust explained academically while Twilight became utterly fascinated by waving her hoof around to make a batch of sparks float around.
"What about these little sparks I see everywhere?" The little lavender unicorn questioned curiously. Faust grinned widely as she watched the mare try to grab the sparks with her hooves, and looked almost like a filly chasing a butterfly.
"That is the magic of the charms which created this realm and even myself. You can now feel it and probably understand why I couldn't explain to you why I can't just teach you charms like Celestia and other teachers taught you various spells." Faust replied while watching the lavender mare. Twilight silently trotted around, she attempted to catch the sparks a few more times before closing her eyes, taking a breath, and tried to feel them instead. This time she managed it and blinked her eyes open.
"They feel so... old, but they also feel smart I guess, yeah, I think they feel smart... yet also very very sad, and lonely as well." Twilight whispered before her eyes shot wide open. "They almost... they almost feel like you Faust." Twilight realized while looking to the older mare. Faust grinned and clapped her hooves happily and then cleared her throat with a smile.
"That my dear is a charm. Every charm is different because unlike the spells you normally use, we rely on feeling instead. For instance a charm for say, a clone of me, would as such feel like I do." The off-white mare explained with a nod of her head. She then smiled and raised a brow to Twilight. "And yet, no two ponies can ever cast the exact same charm, can you tell me why?" Faust asked curiously of her student. Twilight frowned for a moment as she considered what she had learned or explained to her by the older mare, and then it occurred to her.
"Because no two ponies feel the exact same way about something." Twilight realized and Faust grinned widely once more.
"Exactly! No two ponies can produce charms the same way because no two ponies are perfectly identical!" Faust declared with a bounce to her hooves. "This also means that you can track who created a charm by looking at the magic used in their creation." Faust explained. Twilight idly nodded her head in understanding.
"Because if no two ponies can create the same charm then it stands to reason that no two ponies leave the same magical signature on a charm." Twilight mused aloud. Faust grinned and trotted over to the mare then sat down at her side and smiled brightly.
"Well Twilight, thank you for proving you actually can get charms," Faust praised, only to tap her chin thoughtfully for a moment. "or at least the basics." She amended with a smirk. Twilight shot the older mare a glare then exhaled and looked to the distant castle.
"So what now?" The mare questioned and Faust clicked her tongue. In all honesty the unicorn had grasped the concept of flow faster than she had thought. Not that it was too complicated of course, and she had admittedly gone out of her way by actively showing her the way to feel the flow. Then again, these were only the basics of charms, Twilight would have to discover the more advanced parts of it on her own.
"Well you've learned enough about the flow of magic, so I guess now you get to learn about Focus." Faust replied and trotted to the side. "So have fun and remember," The off-white mare began before she smirked at the younger unicorn. "don't freak out." She ordered while the world was consumed in a field of white. Twilight blinked and looked around before a frown crossed her features.
"Why would I freak out?" She wondered aloud, only for the field of white to bleed away. Her eyes widened as she saw it, a library, but it was a library that was twenty stories tall and had more books than she had ever seen before in her entire life. For only a moment, all was silent and calm, and so Twilight squealed like a happy little filly who had been left unsupervised in the worlds biggest candy shop...
War-Helm was not a very patient pony, not in any way shape or form. He never really had been. Which is why he was in a very bad mood as he tried to pull himself back together. Of course he was always in a bad mood, but that wasn't the point. He had figured out that he could use his flames to shoot up towards his still held body parts. Unfortunately controlling himself in the air was something he had yet to master. He made an internal vow to burn Faust alive for his capture all those many years ago. He didn't remember how she did it, just a feeling of confusion before finding himself trapped in this place.
For what had felt like an eternity.
Which wasn't a surprise given he was a spirit of destruction and violence. He shook such thoughts from his mind, figuratively speaking of course, and returned to his attempts at retrieving his body parts. He shot through the air for what was possibly the tenth time and toward his forelegs braces. He couldn't aim but he mentally grinned as his helmet fell on top of the chains holding them. With that done he quickly superheated his helmet in order to melt the chains which snapped a second later and dropped him back to the ground.
His forelegs twitched and shook for a moment before rolling from their pedestal and approached him. He concentrated on them and had them attach to one another and awkwardly waddle over to him. The managed to get under his helm and lift him up before heading to his hind legs greaves. Together they approached them and War-Helm had his forelimbs toss him up at the chains holding his hind-legs. Unfortunately he missed and cursed his poor aiming abilities. He fell to the hard ground with a clatter and grunted as his forelimbs retrieved his helm.
He attempted to get onto the chains again, a quick toss and a miss. He repeated this process several times before he finally managed to land on the chains. Much like before he superheated them until they snapped and his hind-legs were able to barely roll free of the binding charm on their pedestal. His hind and fore limbs approached and awkwardly lifted him up with far more stability than before. Together they approached his chest plate, he wanted something to be attached too, and it would help with reaching his 'saddle plates'. Leaning up War-Helm superheated his horn this time and used it to cut the chains on his chest plate.
He then moved up with his hind-legs and kicked it off of it's pedestal with his forelegs. His chest-plate hit the ground with a clatter and the omega at it's center burned a bloody crimson red at his approach. His forelimbs attached where needed and nudged his gorget into place to hold his helmet up. He stumbled for a moment as this left him without his flank or back, then slowly approached his saddle-plates. Like before he superheated his horn and cut the chains before knocking it free of the charms binding it, they hit the ground with a clatter like the rest.
War-Helm grinned internally as he lowered down and backed into the saddle-plates, they attached and buckled into his chest plate, while his Greaves attached at his flanks. Finally War-Helm rose up on all four limbs, the majority of his body back in his control. Looking around he approached his 'wings' which were actually just wing guards and like before cut the chains and knocked them down. Unlike a Unicorn he was unable to lift the pieces of armor with magic, but thankfully he wasn't unable to attach them.
He carefully lifted one of them with a hoof and brought it close to his shoulder. Their was a spark of fire as it soon attached and became a part of his shoulder. He repeated this action with the other wing-guard and approached the last piece of armor that made up his body, a tail guard. Unlike the rest this piece was for little more than aesthetics, the hair of the tail wouldn't be completely covered, true, but the actual structure of the tail would. He added it any way, cut it free, knocked it loose, and brought it to his rear where like the rest it attached with a brief flicker of crimson energy.
It was only when his armor was finally completed did he finally feel whole.
To feel whole also meant that the voices in his head started to echo out incessantly. One voice wished to burn everything, to watch and laugh as everything was turned to ash and cinders. Another voice wanted simple destruction, to see everything wiped off the face of Equestria and the world left in an endless silence. Another voice wanted to see blood and death and feel it ooze over his armor. His own voice, it wanted the power that the princesses held, it wanted their power and to prove that he wasn't weak! The smallest, the quietest voice he could barely hear at the back, it wanted to stop... he didn't listen to that one much.
And as the voices returned, so did his power and strength. There was a sudden rise in heat around him, the temperature soared and his eyes blazed to life like twin pools of molten fire. He reared back and whinnied loudly, flames rushed from his tail plate, out of the comb on his head, and even spread out from his wing guards. The flaming mane and tail crackled red, yellow, and blue at the center. His wings were spread outward, every bit as magnificent as the flaming feathers of a phoenix.
War-Helm was whole once more and as he took in a breath and shook his body he looked around and took in his surroundings.
He knew this room well, but it often changed due to the nature of the tower. He finally found a stairway, his eyes hardened and then flaming pony rushed them and galloped up their length. Flames trailed behind him as he all but flew out of the stairway and into the many halls of the tower proper. He whinnied once more and lunged forward, a trail of fire burning behind him as his armored horse-shoes beat into the stone floors of the tower. He passed hall after hall, his heard turned for only a moment to search for a trace of the two princesses.
He would find them, he knew it, but something caused him to stop and halt his mad pursuit. A Golden Door. No, THE Golden Door! If he were able, War-Helm would have grinned as he approached the ancient doorway. He had been listening to the princesses when they mentioned they sought out this doorway. He didn't know why they did, nor did he especially care about their reasons for looking for it. What he did know was that they both desperately wanted the door shut, which was excuse enough for him to open it.
War-Helm approached the ancient Golden-Door and kicked it open with a snort. Within it's depths was naught but an endless void. He didn't really care, he turned from the door and looked for the next path he could take into the tower, and then sprinted forward. His eyes flared and he rushed down the towers many halls and corridors, he would find Celestia and Luna, and show them that he was their better. Then he would find Faust, and he would show her just how much he had hated being trapped in that room for all these years.
Oh yes, he was going to show them all, and make them regret ever having crossed him.
But had War-Helm cared he would have noticed as an inky black substance oozed out of the golden door, a very tall slender figure trotting out soon after.
Faust was having an absolute blast watching Rainbow struggle with the Double Inside-Out Loop. Why? Because she was absolutely horrible at the trick. Sure, she could get passed the aileron roll, but that was when she started living up to her old nickname, Rainbow Crash. Thus far she had crashed a grand total of twelve times, each time worse than the last and far more amusing. Currently she was face down in the dirt with her plot in the air, one of her eyebrows twitched and she slowly sat up with a scowl.
"I really hate you..." she stated as she glared at a snickering Faust.
"I told you it's harder than it sounds." Faust told her teasingly. Rainbow merely snorted through her nose and pushed herself back up to brush off her withers.
"Yeah yeah, only one mare has ever done this trick before and all that rot," Rainbow complained angrily. She hated to admit it, but the trick was disturbingly difficult considering how simple it sounded. She could do loops in her sleep and an aileron roll was even easier. The slowed down aileron roll was a bit more tasking than normal, she admitted that much as it through off her timing. It was those inside-out loops that were killing her! She didn't know why but every time she tried one she lost control and ended up crashing. HARD.
She actually felt sore, her face hurt like buck and she was fairly certain if she kept this up she'd actually break something.
"I also forgot to mention this move is kind of dangerous, if you don't manage it you usually end up hurting yourself real bad. The last mare who did it broke her wing once when she was trying it and she slammed into a tree." Faust admitted sheepishly. Rainbow didn't really care how some other mare got her wing broke. Okay that wasn't true, she felt a bit better knowing the trick was actually that dangerous, but it still annoyed her. Why was a move made up of three simple maneuvers so bucking difficult?
"Yeah yeah, just let me try that again." Rainbow grumbled as she cracked her neck and shot up into the air. Faust smirked and watched the rainbow pegasus closely. Rainbow managed the slowed aileron roll again and twisted into the first inside-out loop. She managed to rise up and seemed fine for a moment, until she lost control when she made it to the descent part of the loop. She swerved away from Faust, she barely managed to avoid hitting a building but instead collided face first with a certain apple-cart, not to mention a familiar apple-mare.
Faust grimaced and raced over to check on the two, only to slow and feel a hint of nostalgia at the scene. Rainbow had knocked right into the cart, Applejack had been bowled over and her hat knocked off, a barrel was now half-covering the cyan pegasus while AJ was covered in bits of crushed apples. Besides that scene several apples had been knocked loose, and several barrels now lay on their sides. Faust managed to keep an eye on the apples to make sure no pony made off with any, though they seemed more interested in the mares who had just been knocked over.
"Ugh... applesauce anyone?" AJ managed to ask while her eyes nearly rolled in her head from the sudden hit she took. There were more than just a few stifled snickers from various ponies on the street, though a certain green mare looked more worried than amused. Faust winced slightly and approached the two, she pulled the barrel from Rainbow, who looked more than a little annoyed, and then glanced at Applejack.
"Are you okay there Applejack?" Faust questioned worriedly. Rainbow quickly looked to her friend and shot to her side shaking her in an attempt to get her back to normal.
"AJ I'm so sorry! I was practicing a trick and I..." Rainbow started to say only for the apple-mare to shake herself off, bits of apple flying everywhere and covering the pegasus. "Ugh... never mind." Rainbow grumbled while brushing herself off. Applejack snorted and grabbed her hat, dumped an amount of crushed apples from it, and placed it back onto her head with a scowl as she glared at Rainbow.
"What in tarnation do you think you're doing Rainbow! Do you know how many apples you just crushed, not to mention you could've been killed or hurt, or hurt some pony else while flying around like that!" Applejack shouted angrily at the cyan pegasus. Rainbow grinned nervously and slowly backed away from the livid mare. Faust winced, one of the major differences between her friend Jackie, and this Applejack was that Jackie had always been more easygoing. Applejack on the other hand was a bit more stern and serious, which admittedly made it easier for Faust to disassociate them.
"Applejack it was all my fault," Faust stated while moving between Rainbow and the Apple-mare. "I told Rainbow about an old trick a friend of mine used to do and she's been trying to do it ever since. But I kind of forgot how out of control the trick can get, and forgot to warn her about it." Faust explained with a nervous grin. Applejack frowned then glanced at Rainbow, then looked back to Faust.
"Well that may be, and Ah'm right glad Dash is alright, but what am Ah supposed to do about all this?" AJ questioned while nudging in the direction of her turned over apple-cart. Faust visibly winced, and wondered what kind of force the cyan mare had had behind her when she hit to cause something like that. It was clearly a lot more than what Firefly had ever managed, but then again, Firefly was never that fast.
"Don't worry, I can fix it." Faust assured and quickly hopped to work. Her horn flared with crimson magic just a second before every apple was lifted from the ground, the barrels followed and both were set back down where they needed to go. The off-white alicorn in disguise then grabbed the apple-cart and lifted it up and turned it right-side up and set it back down as well. She then concentrated and began cleaning the bits of apple off of them and brought them to the side where she clicked her tongue and looked to a shock Applejack.
"Would you have anywhere I can put this?" Faust questioned and Applejack mouthed something before Rainbow replied.
"There's a trash-can over there." The cyan-pegasus stated while pointing a hoof to the receptacle in question.
"Thanks." Faust offered with a grateful smile. The off-white mare then closed her eyes and moved the mess over to the trash bin, opened it with her magic and put it away with ease. "There, all better." Faust stated with a nod of her head. Rainbow glanced around at where she'd crashed, she couldn't quite help a smirk when she saw that unless some pony had seen it, no one would even know she'd crashed.
"Not bad Faust, you've got some seriously wicked magic don't you?" Rainbow questioned with a smirk. The off-white mare rolled her eyes and waved off the complement.
"Not really, I'm actually more of a Charm-Caster than a straight up Spell-Caster." Faust replied modestly. Rainbow on the other hand scratched her head and looked at Faust funny. Applejack was much the same, although stowed away her being a Charm-Caster to ask Twilight about later.
"There's a difference?" Rainbow asked curiously and Faust nodded.
"A Spell-Caster uses incantations, spells, rituals, and whatnot in their use of magic. For instance Twilight is a high-tier Spell-Caster. While on the flip side, I am a Master Charm-Caster. I use charms, wards, and enchantments rather than straight up spells." Faust explained with a nod of her head. Rainbow looked back at what she'd done not even a few minutes before and then gave her a flat look.
"Then what was all that just now?" The cyan-mare questioned of the in-disguise alicorn.
"A basic Levitation Charm." Faust replied with a roll of her eyes.
"Yer saying that was Basic? But you just lifted up more in one go than I've seen since Twilight lifted an Ursa Minor!" Applejack noted aloud, Rainbow Dash nodded her head in full agreement with the apple-mare.
"Basic is something of a relative term with Charms." Faust replied with a roll of her eyes.
"Okay... so what's the difference between that and what Twilight or Rarity do?" Rainbow questioned curiously. Faust sighed for a moment and clicked her tongue as she thought over what she could say.
"A Charm requires use of feelings and imagination, while the Levitation Spell requires more concentration. With charms the spell is as easy as imagining something picking up the object. For instance if you imagine a dragon lifting that cart you'll understand what my charm was. While the Levitation Spell in more common magic is basically having to concentrate and exert enough power to lift everything yourself." Faust explained and then tapped her chin. "I also think Rarity subconsciously uses Charms rather than the basic spell." The off-white mare admitted while Applejack frowned inwardly.
'So wait, has she met all my friends or something?' The apple-mare inwardly wondered while worriedly watching the mare and Rainbow Dash.
"So is there like a Charm for every spell or something?" Rainbow suddenly questioned and Faust frowned before shaking her head.
"No, unfortunately there are some things Charms can't outright copy. I've encountered quite a few of them and have more trouble with them than I like." Faust admitted with a sigh. Truth was her Transformation spells were like that, her hair spell was similar, but over all she could at least manage basic spell-casting. Before the off-white mare could continue her train of thoughts, she blinked and found Pinkie in her face.
"Hiya Faustie!" The pink party pony declared loudly. Faust yelped and jumped back in surprise, blinked for a moment and then sighed. Dash however fell over laughing, earning her a glare from the off-white alicorn in-disguise for her trouble.
"Hi Pinkie." Faust replied with a flat look. The Pink Party Pony then produced a paper from... somewhere... and presented it to the off-white mare with a bright smile. Taking the offered piece of paper Faust raised a brow and looked it over for a moment. "An invitation to my welcoming Party?" Faust noted aloud and gave the mare a look. Pinkie merely nodded her head with a smile. "Why would you need to invite me to my own welcoming party?" Faust asked the mare as she scratched her head. Pinkie rolled her eyes and leaned forward.
"Well duh, how else would you know to come?" The pink party pony questioned with a grin. Faust stared at her for a moment, poked about a dozen holes into that idea, and then sighed and decided it was just Pinkie being Pinkie.
"I guess that means I'll see you at the party." Faust stated, only to look around when she realized that the pink party pony had vanished into thin air. When the off-white mare looked to the other ponies with her, she noticed that both Rainbow and Applejack were both one invitation richer.
"Okay, I've said it before, I'll say it again... that pony is so random." Rainbow stated resolutely. Faust nodded in agreement while Applejack rubbed at her head.
"Ye'll get no arguments from me, that's for sure." Applejack muttered under her breath then glanced up and sighed tiredly. "Anyways I best be heading back home," the Apple-mare stated while moving the sign on her apple-cart to closed. "So I'll see you both at the party later." Applejack stated with a nod as she trotted off.
"Catch you later AJ!" Rainbow declared loudly. Faust merely nodded and watched her trot off to Sweet Apple Acres. "So Faust, you got anything else we can do before the party?" Rainbow asked the off-white mare curiously. Faust frowned in thought for a moment, considered testing a charm or two on Rainbow, but decided better of it. For one thing Rainbow was a bit too wild and would be too into it, for another the only charm she wanted to test on a pony right now was her friction reducing charm, but that would likely be disastrous in Rainobow's hooves.
"Not really, you know anything we can do?" Faust questioned with a raised brow. Rainbow hummed for a moment, she considered what little there was to do in Ponyville for a moment, before a grin split her face.
"Race you to my place?" She asked with a teasing grin. Faust gave the rainbow pegasus a look, one brow raised and a flat expression across her face.
"We both know you'd win." Faust stated flatly. The rainbow mare chuckled lightly and shrugged.
"Can't blame a mare for trying." She replied and Faust snorted.
"Watch me." She teased playfully.
"Yeah yeah, anyways, I really need to drop off my stuff back home. We can totally head out to do something more interesting afterwards." Rainbow offered as she trotted over to her bags and picked them up. Faust considered going back to the library for a moment, however when she noticed how late it was getting she figured no pony would head there except for perhaps Spike. And even if he did return, from her experiences with Baby Dragons they tired out pretty easily so it was likely if he came to the party he'd be too tired to speak afterwards.
"Sounds good to me." Faust replied and the two mares headed off to Rainbow's home.
Twilight bounced around screaming yes over and over again. She had no clue where the charm had brought her too this time, but it could only be heaven for her. She bounced a few more times before she finally shot off and started looking through the books. She found many she was familiar with before eventually coming to a room with maps and charts, within which Faust was sitting. The Winged Unicorn Faust that was.
"Hi." Faust stated with a wave of her hoof. Twilight stared at the off-white mare for a moment and then blinked, a sigh passed from her lips as she remembered this was to teach her about charms.
"I actually forgot about my lessons for a moment there." Twilight admitted while sitting down with an adorable pout. Faust snickered, then grinned at the little lavender unicorn.
"Oh c'mon now Twilight. You've already gotten passed the hard part, this should be cake compared to leaning the flow of magic." Faust replied with a wave of her hoof. Twilight gave a slight smile but sighed and looked around at the books around her longingly. "You know I brought us here specifically for your next lesson." Faust noted, breaking Twilight from the trance of the many books.
"Huh?" She questioned intelligently. Faust smirked for a moment and rolled her eyes at Twilight's expense.
"Think about it, the next lesson is in Focus, so where better to learn it than the place most likely to leave you unfocused and impatient?" Faust replied with a teasing grin. Twilight pouted then glanced around at the books that had apparently betrayed her simply by existing. Even she had to admit that with a well of knowledge like this around her, thinking of anything else was going to be very difficult. To say the very least.
"Alright, so according to my first lesson I have to feel out the spell rather than simply cast it." Twilight noted aloud. Faust nodded her head, pleased that the little lavender unicorn had remembered that much. "But how exactly do I focus it?" Twilight questioned with a frown. Faust hummed for a moment and leaned forward, her forelimbs crossed under her chin as she thought about it.
"Well first of all you have to know the kind of charm you want to cast." Faust replied as she rose up to her hooves. "So first you need to feel the magic as you learned in the first lesson." Faust ordered of the little lavender unicorn with a smile. Twilight nodded her head and took a breath, closed her eyes and exhaled. She released her inner well and allowed her senses to pick up the magic around her as well as within her. The sudden flood of sensation still nearly took her head off but the more she did it the easier it became.
"Alright, I feel the magic." The lavender unicorn noted while looking to the books around her for a moment. She idly noted that they all had a different magical aura around them, which surprised her greatly.
"Good, now every book here has a different magical resonance and is supposed to represent different charms. Normally if this was real this wouldn't be true, but in a charm it's an easy affect to create." Faust explained to the lavender unicorn. Twilight frowned however and looked at her strangely.
"Wait, I thought you said every pony feels things differently." Twilight noted and Faust nodded her head.
"Indeed they do, which is why the books here draw on your own feelings rather than mine." Faust explained. Twilight nodded her head in understanding, then glanced around and walked over to the books and read their tittles. She found quite a few she was interested in and felt them, but stopped at a book with no tittle. The lavender unicorn closed her eyes and felt the book's aura.
The feeling confused her for a moment, it felt so familiar and yet also so new. "Find one?" Faust asked from behind, with a smirk across her lips. Twilight briefly frowned back at the mare, before looking to the book pensively. She knew that her lesson was supposed to be about Focus, and honestly she was curious about the feeling the book gave off. What could it be, what would it do, it interested her more than she would've admitted.
"I think so." Twilight replied as she backed away from the book and turned around to face Faust. "So now what?" She questioned with her held tilted slightly. Faust hummed in response, tapped her chin and then nodded her head.
"Next you let the magic flow, but focus on that feeling you got from the book." Faust ordered while she looked at the mare. "When you do you have to keep focused, don't let your mind wander for even a moment. I'll be here to help if you do, but try to keep your mind clear." Faust pleaded while watching the little mare carefully. Twilight nodded her head, confident in her ability to do this. She was of course tempted to look to the books that still surrounded her, but that temptation was drowned out by a desire to learn.
Yes she loved books, but she also loved to learn in general, especially about magic in all it's forms.
"Alright, here I go." The little lavender unicorn whispered under her breath. The mare exhaled a breath and tried to focus on the feeling she'd gotten from the book. It wasn't as easy as she had hoped, but it also wasn't as hard as she had imagined it would be. She felt the magic flow through her body. She felt it shift and change as she focused on that feeling she'd gotten from the book. She kept her mind focused and on track, and easy feat since she focused on everything she did on a daily basis.
She focused on her studies, she focused on her friends, this was simple...
"Uh Twilight, you might want to stop thinking and get back to focusing on your magic." The voice of Faust came suddenly. Twilight mentally cursed her mind and then went back to the feeling she'd gotten from the strange book. Again the feeling was so familiar, it made her heart soar and her spirits brightened greatly. It was so familiar, almost as if it was something she felt on an almost daily basis.
"Alright Twilight reel it in, you're starting to mess up again." Faust warned and the lavender mare frowned while focusing back onto the charm / feeling. She hated to admit it but maybe it was how her mind wandered so much that charms were so difficult for her. She thought a lot and so feelings could become fleeting to the point that she was unable to recognize feelings she knew well, like whatever the feeling she was trying to focus on was.
Twilight mentally growled and stopped her mind from wandering yet again. Clearly she needed to focus, and this time she wasn't going to let her mind wander off track! She took a deep breath and exhaled deeply, she focused on that feeling and let it mix with the magic she was shaping. A moment later, she felt it suddenly cease and opened a single eye. In front of her, was a simple, humble little spark.
"A spark?" Twilight questioned with a raised brow. Faust reached out tentatively and took hold of the object, she cradled it in her hooves and smiled softly.
"Ummhmm, a little spark that can become something so much greater." Faust replied while holding the spark between her hooves. "This spark is something you know well, and as a charm it can be a very useful tool. It makes ponies trust you, it makes them rely on you, it is a special little thing that few ponies ever really appreciate." Faust explained while Twilight frowned and raised a brow in question.
"Then what is it?" The little lavender unicorn questioned of the off-white mare curiously.
"The same thing you study for Celestia, the same thing you left Canterlot for. Twilight the feeling, the charm you picked out," Faust started before a bright smile crossed her face. "it's Friendship." She stated while looking down to the spark held between her hooves.
"B-but it's so small." Twilight noted with wide eyes as she took a look at the spark.
"Friendship is in equal parts the strongest and the most fragile thing in the world. It is small, but it can grow into something greater. Friendship Twilight, is perhaps the single most confusing thing in all of ponydom." Faust replied and lifted her hooves and allowed the spark to float upwards. "The charm you picked out, is one that binds ponies together in friendship. It doesn't instill a feeling of friendship, but binds two friends together so that they always know that the other is safe or happy." Faust explained and then closed her eyes with a sigh.
"This charm was created before the time of Discord and was lost for a very long time. It was made by a Master Charm-Caster, who wanted to always know that her friends were safe. The charm worked, and even when they died, the feeling of having them at her side never really went away. But it made it so much more tragic as well, because even though she always felt them near, every time she turned to see them they were never really there." Faust explained while her eyes feel and she sighed tiredly.
"In any case Twilight, I'll have you try a few more charms, but it looks like you might get through Focus faster than either of us thought." Faust ordered as she looked down from the spark. Twilight looked at her for a moment, she wanted to say something, but shook it off and trotted over to the books. She was honestly curious about Faust's sudden change in mood, but it wasn't her business. As such she went back to looking through the books, and wondered what the next part of her lessons would be like.
TBC...