//------------------------------// // Redmage unmasked. // Story: Sirraf, Redmage of Equestria // by sirraf //------------------------------// This was it. It all came down to this moment. Sirraf's eyes narrowed as he looked at the challenge before him. Everyone looked to him as he pushed himself forward. His right hand reached out to grasp its goal. He raised it up to his face, his victim already prepared for its fate. He raised his left hand to his mask and gripped the rim. The ponies' eyes all expanded in anticipation. He pulled down the dark red cloth and took a bite. Teeth carved and tore through as he satiated his hunger with vigor. "Hmm pretty good pancakes Spike!" he said after swallowing his mouthful. He raised his head to see a mix of different reactions to him eating the dragon prepared breakfast. Twilight was writing down notes as usual. A slight blush had formed on Rarity's cheeks. Fluttershy was hiding behind her mane as she looked at him. Rainbow Dash seemed disappointed in what she saw. Pinkie just stared at him with a huge smile on her face and Applejack simply nodded as though a question had finally been answered. "... what?" he said, placing his fork next to the half eaten meal in front of him. "Oh it's nothing" Twilight said. "We just had a discussion before spike finished making breakfast about what your face looked like under that mask." "Huh... so that's what all that whispering was about." he said, picking up the fork and resuming his meal. "So... whats the conclusion?" "Well we all had our own theories on your face or the mask." She said as she looked up from her notes. "Rarity believed it was simply a fashion statement. Fluttershy thought maybe you had great big fangs under there. Applejack figured you were just hiding something... You don't really want to know what Pinkie thought... actually I couldn't even really keep up with what she was saying. Dash thought that maybe your face was horribly disfigured or scarred from past battles." at this he turned to face Rainbow Dash with a raised eyebrow. "What? It's possible!" she yelled defensive. "Well I guess it would be if I was a mere warrior or soldier." he said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I however have access to white magic. The only way I would have a scar is if I had let the wound heal naturally over time. That doesn't mean that my white magic can cure everything however. I can't reform missing parts of a beings anatomy. For example if something were to remove my eye from its socket I would need to retrieve the eye and put it back in its place before using a cure spell in order to get it back. Side note: for some reason I don't really understand I can't remove already formed scars either." "Even so, your healing magic is really something else." Twilight responded after making these new notes on a separate piece of parchment. "Nah. I mean its pretty useful but I'm no white mage." he casually dismissed the complement as he rose a glass of apple juice to his lips. "Those guys are really something. You know there is actually a spell you can put on someone that will bring them back to life at full strength immediately after dying?" Everyone froze once again. "What? What did I do now?" "Your magic can ... bring the dead back to life?" This time Fluttershy was the one to ask a question. Her expression was hopeful but unnerved at the same time, as though this was either unheard of or a kind of taboo. "Yeah... though we can only bring the recently deceased back to life, and we can't heal those that died from natural causes like old age." he explained to the small yellow pegasus. "Also I can't really cast them yet. The weakest version of these spells, known as raise, belongs to the fifth spell level." "Oh..." She said as she let her gaze drop to the floor. "Whats wrong with her?" he asked the others, knowing full well that he was unlikely to get a response from Fluttershy. "Well... Fluttershy lives at the edge of Everfree forest and takes care of all the local animals." Twilight began to explain "That situation being what it is, she has seen more than a few animals die without being able to help them. She was probably hoping for a way to save those that had passed away." "Ah I see. Well I'm not that far away from reaching that level of skill Fluttershy." he said as he placed a hand on her mane and gently ran his fingers through it. "Tell you what. If something gets hurt you just bring it to me. I promise I'll do my best to save them." He said with a gentle smile. "Now then where were we?" "Hm?... oh right!" Twilight pulled her notes back in front of her face once again. "As I was saying. we all had our own theories about the mask and face thing. Seeing as nothing seems all that odd about your face other than the fact that it's much flatter and sharper in shape than a ponies... what is the mask for anyway?" "Well Rarity is partially right. I do like the way the mask looks, but that's not all there is to it." He explained. "It also helps shield my lungs from the cold winter air, keeps my foes from reading my lips when spell casting, and it is traditional to only remove the mask in the presence of those that you either trust or respect. Though that tradition is no longer enforced it is still encouraged." he said as he finished his plate of food, placed the fork onto the plate and folded his hands in front of him, making absolutely no moves to pick up the mask that was placed on the table beside him. The room became quite as the meaning of these actions began to sink into the mares minds. Slowly each and every one of them developed a smile of their own. "You mean?" Pinkie asked, her eyes shining with hope. "Yes. I feel I can trust each and every one of you, and I now consider all of you my friends." he said with a smile. "You have all welcomed me into your town with open arms... er hooves. You have given me a chance to explain my situation without automatically assuming the worst of me. Believe me, that kind of acceptance isn't exactly common where I am from. Some of you might be a little more impulsive, headstrong, or even stubborn but I can tell that each and every one of you have hearts of gold." Once again a pink blur flew across the room in an attempt to tackle the human guest. To everyone's surprise he simply leaned to the side and used his left arm to scoop Pinkie right out of the air. "Nice try there Pinkie, but if you want to keep catching me off guard you need to keep mixing it up." he said with a laugh. "Adaptation is my game remember?" "You mean like this?" Pinkie said as she raised her head to reveal that she had snatched his gil bag from his belt somehow and was now carrying it between her teeth. "I got your bits! I got your bits!" She sang as she hopped out of his grip and proceeded to dance around the room, the small metal coins clinking against each other with each bounce of the pink ball of energy. "Now wait just a... wait did you just say bits? Is that what the currency around here is called?" he asked in confusion. "If that's the case then I don't think that bag is gonna do you any good Pinkie. All it contains is the currency from my world known as gil." he said with a smirk that slowly turned into a frown. "Oh crap! That means I'm broke! Three years of savings down the drain..." At this, Pinkie stopped hopping and looked into the bag. "Huh... I guess they aren't bits. They look kinda similar though. Hey, why do some of them have holes in them?" she asked as she rummaged through the bag. Sirraf sighed as he plucked the bag from the hoof of the pink mare and pulled out one of the odd coins. "There was a time when gil was put onto necklaces around a person's neck in order to keep thieves from taking them. The coins with holes are from that time period." he gently tossed the bag up and down in his hand as he thought about it. "Hmm guess I'm gonna have to start at square one all over again. Wonder what a guy like me could do for money around here... or who would hire me for that matter? It's doubtful that I could make a living as a monster hunter in this world." He stood still for a while. The only movement he made came from his shifting of a gil coin along his knuckles making it seem to dance on its own. "Well what kind of red mage would I be if I couldn't bounce back from this." He tied the bag back onto his belt and turned to the others. "Well first things first. I'm gonna have to meet the town and gauge their reaction to my presence. The sooner the better as they say." Twilight lept into his path in an attempt to stop him. "Wait! Are you sure that's such a good idea? What if they react poorly to you? First impressions are very important! Oh! I have an idea! I can turn you into a pony and introduce you that way first!" Sirraf gave a deadpan stare as she presented this suggestion to him. "No." was all he said before moving to the door once more. "No? What do you mean no? Why not?" She asked as she wrapped her forelegs around his torso in an attempt to slow him down. "Look I appreciate what you're trying to do, but don't you think it might be better to lay all my cards on the table right away. If I hide anything they are likely to react poorly upon finding out. Not to mention this simple fact. I seriously don't think I would be able to cast any spells as a pony." He said as he pulled her hooves from his waist. "But I really can do it! I could turn you into a pony and nopony would suspect anything." she insisted. Trying to get him to change his mind "And I have a spell that could turn you into a frog, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to use it." he said before realizing that this may have been going too far. "Look, I just don't think it would be wise to lie to the community that may very well become my new home, besides, do you really think that with our anatomical differences I would really be able to move around as a pony without raising any kind of suspicion." "I... well... I suppose not." she said finally giving in to the mages sound logic. He looked at her forlorn face and sighed. "Tell you what. After we get through this and if I'm still alive, I'll let you turn me into a pony for a while just to see what it's like. Okay?" Her face began to brighten a bit at this promise. "Well, I suppose so. Still we should be careful, by now most of Ponyville should be awake and about town." "Good. We can take care of all this in one shot then." He said as he placed his mask back onto his face and moved to open the door. He gripped the handle and turned, flooding the room with bright fresh sunshine.