//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: The Mage's Jump // by Marvelous Cheshire //------------------------------// THE MAGE’S JUMP BY GENOSABER CHAPTER 8 I woke up with a groan, thankful that someone had closed the curtains. I reached for my bag hanging on the bedpost nearest to me and took two ethers and a vial of elixir. I felt the irritating pressure fade as I downed the potions. My renewed comfort let a satisfied smile creep on my face, followed by a happy sigh. I looked around to see both Twilight and Spike missing, the only thing I could find was a small note placed on the nightstand. I unfolded it with one hand and looked it over. Trace, Spike and I went to Fluttershy’s to help her out with animals that have gotten sick. Love, Twilight. ‘Huh. The ink at the top of the L seems to have soaked in. Almost as if she hesitated’. I looked over the paper for a few seconds, contemplating burning it, before placing it back on the nightstand. I slowly got up and made my way to the bathroom. After a quick shower, I threw on a pair of pants and a button down shirt, grabbing the note and pocketing it before making my way out of the room. As I made my way down the stairs. I noticed someone waiting for me. “Good morning Matt, how can I help you?” I asked as I finished tightening the strip of cloth I had been using to keep my hair tied back. "I almost sliced BonBon's neck open again this morning, I’ve got to do something about it.” His voice was neutral, dull even. But his eyes, they showed me his pain. I nodded and pulled the bottle back out. “My nanotech is going to fight this. Any suggestions?” he asked as he took the bottle. “Take one pill tonight before you go to sleep, if they doesn’t work, take two, let me know what works best. If it still doesn’t work, I can alter the recipe to accommodate your needs. Don’t take more than two of these per night. An overdose can be dangerous,” I said before heading for the kitchen. “Apparently, Twilight went to Fluttershy’s to help her with something. Figured I might as well go see how they’re doing.” I grabbed an apple and made my way to the door. “Mind if I tag along? Don’t really have anything else to do today... or any day to be honest,” Matt asked. I shrugged and walked out the door. We remained silent for the majority of the walk, neither of us having anything to say. As we neared Fluttershy’s cottage, I could see Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy chasing after something. As we came closer, I could see that they were chasing a small fox with pinkish red fur. Wait, pinkish red fur? I watched for a moment as they continued to chase after the fox, before shaking my head bolting after the furball. I was able to intercept it and rolled as I caught it. Staying crouched as the others gathered around me. I looked back down at the fox. It’s was about the size of a fennec, and seemed intent of getting out of my grip. “Fei!” I barked, making the everyone but Matt jump and the fox go still. She looked up at me and blinked in surprise. “Uh, hi Trace,” she said without moving her mouth, surprising everyone. “Of course it talks, why wouldn’t it,” Matt muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes at her. Fluttershy just seemed intrigued while Twilight seemed to be having trouble keeping her jaw from dropping. “T-that’s Fei?” Twilight asked in shock. I nodded and stood up. “I’ll explain in a bit, can someone here gather everyone? I’d prefer not having to explain it several times.” Twilight and Matt nodded before running off towards town. “Miss Fluttershy, do you mind if we wait in your house?” I asked. “Oh, not at all,” she said quietly. I nodded and calmly followed her inside. “Could somepony please tell me what’s going on?” Rainbow Dash asked as everyone arrived at the cottage. I sighed and brought Fei out to them. “I suppose I should be the one to do that. This is Fei.” I held her up so everyone could clearly see. “A... friend, of mine from Gaia, and as you can see she’s not human. She’s is what’s known as a kitsune.” Emerald perked up at that, staring at Fei. “Do it,” I told her. She attempted a glare, but failed as I matched it with my own. With a sigh she nodded and I set her down. She sat still for a moment as a faint aura formed around her. She breathed slowly for several seconds before a sudden cloud of smoke exploded around her. I coughed a bit as I tried getting rid of the smoke. As it cleared, the fox was nowhere to be seen. What stood in her place was what looked like a little girl, about ten years old, in a simple red kimono. Her hair the same pinkish red as before, and a pair of large fox ears sticking out from her head. “Happy?” Fei asked sarcastically, her mouth now moving with her words. I stared at her for a second before slapping my hand onto my face. Hard. “You’re a child now,” I stated simply. “Yeah, I noticed,” She growled. I sighed and sat down next to her. “And I can probably guess why that is.” Her ears twitched and she stared at me in confusion. “Let me guess, you followed me and Twilight through the portal?” She nodded. “And you had a veil up and were most likely in human form” Another nod. “Do you remember the theory about human and Fox magic?” She stared blankly at me for a moment, before slapping her face and letting out a small yell in frustration. “How could I be so stupid!?” she shouted. The others just looked on in confusion before Rainbow Dash spoke up once more. “Uh, what?” she asked. I rubbed my temples for a second before replying. “Okay. First off, Fei here is technically twenty years old.” I raised a hand to stop anyone from talking. “The theory I’m talking about is an old study that found that human and fox magic don’t react well to one another, the results are often unpredictable and can even be violent.” I turned to Fei. “You should consider yourself lucky, it could have ended up much worse.” She sighed and nodded. “I know.” She looked up at me with a frown. “I-” She was interrupted by a growl escaping from her stomach. She stared up at me with a sheepish smile. “When was the last time you ate?” I asked. “Um, the day we left,” She said. I place my hand back on my face and sighed. “Hmm.” I looked at the ponies before me, remembering what Twilight told me. “Miss Applejack, would it be possible to go to your orchard for lunch?” She blinked and stared at me for a second before nodding. “Sure,” She said before turning around and trotting back towards town. Everyone began to follow but Twilight, Spike, myself, and Fei. “I’ll explain a bit more on the way. And I think we should send a letter to the princesses.” Twilight nodded and trotted beside me. Fei returned to her true form and jumped into her saddlebags. “Let me guess, your natural shyness is back?” She poked her head out and nodded shakingly. We stayed back a bit as I told Twilight about Fei’s species. “Wow.” Was all I could say as I watched Fei scarf down her food. AJ had been rather generous when it came to setting up lunch. With the help of her brother and grandmother, they had prepared a huge buffet of food for everyone. Once Fei had tried the food, she became engrossed, stuffing her face with everything we put in front of her. “Forgot that foxes have huge appetites. Apparently they burn calories pretty fast when they transform, and even a bit when they use any of their magic.” I swear I could hear Emerald’s quill scratching away at a notebook. “I’ve seen full grown accelerated metabolism soldiers eat less than that after a week of deployment, can I keep her?” Matt’s smile left the possibility of his statement being a joke up to interpretation. Thankfully Twilight interrupted any chance at any angry replies. “Trace, the Princess sent a reply,” Twilight said, floating me a scroll. I opened the scroll and began reading it’s contents. Dear Trace, While I can understand your concern, I am unable to return Fei to your world. I am sorry to tell you this, but I’m sure you will be able to handle this. In regards to her age, I will be sending some papers that should help you with that. Signed Princess Celestia. A burst of green fire drew my attention from the letter to the stack of papers that had just arrived from the Princess. “What are they?” I asked Twilight as a sense of dread started to worm it’s way into my thoughts. Twilight looked over them before turning to me wide-eyed. “Adoption papers,” She said quietly. Everyone seemed to hear it as they all stopped and stared. Fei started to choke on her food before Pinkie was kind enough to help her out. The silence lasted for a few seconds until Matt spoke up. “Bastard beat me to it.” He managed to keep a straight face for a whole two seconds before bursting out into laughter. I paid him no mind, resisting the urge to shout in frustration as I calmly stood up and walked away from the table towards the front gate. “Trace?” I turned back to Twilight. “I need to go clear my head in the everfree. I’ll be back in a bit.” With that, I teleported away from them. I reappeared in the Everfree, a few meters off from where we first arrived. I gathered lightning in my hand as I faced a nearby tree. The events of the past few days finally getting to me. “THUNDARA!” I shouted, sending a large bolt of lightning at the tree. I felt a little better as I watched it explode into pieces. I continued this for several minutes before a deep rumbling behind me caught my attention. I turned ready to defend myself until I saw it. Behind me stood a giant bear, at least a foot taller than me even on all fours. Thick bone armor covered it’s back as spikes protruded from it’s shoulder blades. I felt fear and anger overwhelm me as I stared into the beasts beady red eyes. A dire bear. (Twilight) “Twilight! Wait up!” I heard my friends call behind me. I finally slowed as I neared the entrance to the Everfree, my heart racing as stared into the dark forest. ‘Please be okay.’ “Calm down Twi. I’m sure everythings fine,” Rainbow Dash said. “He probably just needed to clear his head. Heck, if it was Alex rushing headlong into the woods, I wouldn't be that worried. Anyway, Trace is like a human unicorn, right? So, he's got magic and human sneakiness, right?" Dash's expression became a little less confident, "Right?"” I looked at her for a moment before sighing. Maybe she’s right. After all, Trace can handle himself if he’s in trouble. “She’s right,” Fei said. “Trace has been in plenty of bad situations, I’m sure he’ll be fine.” A sudden explosion caught our attention, and we all turned towards the forest to see a bolt of lightning shoot up into the sky. “Okay, maybe not fine,” she said before running towards the forest. I glanced between my friends before galloping after her. ‘How is she going so fast?’ I wondered as I followed Fei. Despite trying to keep close to her, she was moving with impressive speed. As we neared the source of the lightning she suddenly stopped, forcing me to slam my hooves down in an attempt to stop. Nearly crashing into her as a result. “What’s wro-” I started before seeing what she was looking at. Trace appeared to be fighting an enraged dire bear. As I stared at Trace though, I couldn’t help but notice something different. Lightning danced around his body in a continuous arc, focusing primarily on his hands, which now bore two glowing marks that looked similar to magic seals. His shirt was in ruins, the tattered remains laying on the ground behind him. As I looked into his eyes, I saw the pupils were gone, leaving two glowing gold spheres. “The Blessing,” Fei gasped. I blinked and turned to her, remembering Trace talking about that. “You mean the Blessing of Ramuh? The one on his back?” I asked, she nodded and turned to me. “Yeah, that’s it.” She looked back at Trace, who had just delivered a kick to the bear’s shoulder before jumping back. “Long ago, black mages sought a way to help make up for their weakness. You see, magic requires a lot of concentration to master, as such, black mage’s often forgo training in physical combat to focus on strengthening their brain. To help make up they pleaded with Bahamut, the Hallowed Father, to grant them power. While he refused to help them with their task, he guided them to his children, Ramuh, Ifrit, and Shiva, the first Espers, and asked them to assist the mortals. To do this, they gave the mages a small fragment of their power, and granted them the ability to use it to focus their magic into physical attacks.” She frowned as she continued to watch Trace, seeing him get knocked back by the Bear’s giant paw. “Trace carries the mark of Ramuh, granting him the strength of the Esper’s Judgement Bolt. It increases his strength and speed, but in doing so he becomes much more vulnerable to damage.” I winced as Trace landed on his left arm after being batted away by the dire bear. A howl of pain escaped him as he struggled to stand. Baring his fangs, Trace rushed forward and delivered a powerful kick to the bear’s head, the lightning condensing around his leg to send the beast back. It rolled several feet before landing on it’s side, unmoving. Trace stared at the bear for a moment before turning to us. I watched as his eyes reverted to their normal appearance. “Twi-” He muttered before falling down. I rushed over and checked to make sure he was okay. Thankfully, he was only unconscious, but his wounds looked pretty bad. A collective gasp caught my attention as everypony entered the clearing. “Rainbow Dash, can you fly ahead to the hospital and tell Emerald to prepare a bed for Trace?” She nodded before taking off. I quickly summoned a stretcher with my magic and levitated Trace onto it. Once I was certain he was secure I levitated him in front of me and galloped out of the forest, everypony else following closely behind. (Trace) I groaned in pain as I slowly regained consciousness. I blinked as my eye’s regained focus. I looked around me to find Twilight and her friends staring at me in concern. “I feel like I’ve been smacked around by a mountain troll,” I said as I sat up, feeling a spark of pain shoot through my left arm. ‘Lovely, it’s broken.’ I glanced down to the offending limb, finding it encased in a cast made of some strange green substance, covering my entire forearm and hand, leaving only my fingers exposed. “A dire bear actually,” Emerald said as he entered the room. “It seems you disturbed it while it was hibernating.” He levitated a medical chart over to me. “You should consider yourself lucky. Only a broken arm and several cracked ribs, other than that and a few bruises here and there you’re fine,” He said as I read over the chart. “Where’s my belt?” I asked. Twilight’s horn lit up as she levitated it in front of me. I pulled a couple red potions from the pouch and pulled the stoppers out with my teeth. I downed the potions and dropped the vials into the trash can by the bed. “Extra strength healing potions, should help speed up the healing process.” “Um...” Fluttershy started before looking away nervously. I gave her a questioning look before I remembered what Twilight told me about her. Crap! “Miss Fluttershy, I’m sorry for attacking the dire bear. I had a bad-” Fluttershy quickly cut me off. “Actually, Twilight already explained it to us,” she said. I stared wide eyed in shock at her before turning slowly to Twilight. “I-I’m sorry” Twilight stammered. “I couldn’t think of any other way to tell them. I just-” I my hand on her cheek, stopping her. “It’s fine Twi, I’m not mad.” In reality, I wanted to be. I wanted to be furious, to scream in rage at her for telling them something so painful for me. But I couldn’t. The look in her eyes as she tried to explain herself killed any anger I might of had. “Was it okay?” I asked. “The dire bear I mean.” “Yeah actually,” Alex said. “I saw it get up after we started carrying you out of the forest. At most it looked like you dazed it.” “Good,” I sighed in relief. I looked around the room once more, seeing Fei sitting on a bench placed up against the wall. I slowly laid myself back down, feeling another spike of pain from my injuries. ‘I really should do something about this.’ I sighed again as I felt my body release the numbing agent, relieving the pain in my arm and chest slightly. “Fei,” I said, gaining the attention of the fox-eared child. “I need to know, why did you follow me?” Her ears drooped as she stared at the floor. It was several moments later before she, in a quiet tone, answered. “I didn’t want to be alone.” I blinked. “I have no family,” she continued, “I’m an only child, my parents are dead, I have no reason to go back to the village.” She began to tear up. “I never really interacted with anyone without you around. And with you gone, I would be replaced as Fangblade.” She tried to continue speaking, but her words were lost as she choked back a sob. For the first time since I’d met him I could see Matt giving someone a truly sympathetic look. It vanished almost instantly but I could see Alex notice it too. Without even thinking, I threw the covers off and practically jumped out of the hospital bed. Alex rushed forward to stop me, but I pushed past him, the strength of desperation and love fueling my actions. Alex stopped, then helped me to my task. I walked over and sat down next to Fei and, without a word, pulled her into a tight hug. I let her cry into my chest for a minute, soaking the bandages, before I spoke. “You’re wrong you know.” She looked up at me, confusion clear on her face. I smiled down at her and turned to Twilight. “Do you still have that paperwork?” She nodded, pulling the papers, a quill, and inkwell out of her saddlebags. I took them and began filling out the paperwork. Everyone watched in silence as I did so, even Fei stopped crying. “You’re wrong,” I said as I reached the last line. “Because you do have a family.” With a flourish, I finished placing my signature and turned the papers to Fei. “Y-you mean it?” she asked, to which I nodded. She looked between me and the paperwork several times, before wrapping her arms around me and burying her face in my chest, crying tears of joy. I ignored the minor pain in my back as I held my newly adopted daughter. After a few minutes Rarity broke the silence. “Darling, what is that mark on your chest?” she asked, Fei looked down to find the red sigil on her sternum exposed slightly. She gave a small yelp and tightened her kimono. “It’s something that doesn’t have the best history Rarity,” I said, my tone a bit more forceful than I would have liked. “I don’t think Fei is comfortable with-” “You can tell them. I-it’d be easier than putting it off,” Fei whispered, still keeping her face hidden. I sighed and made my way back to my bed, Fei proving to be little trouble in moving with her light weight. “Okay then.” I started. “I’m going to tell you now that the story isn’t pretty, it’s actually pretty dark. I’ll try and keep the details to a minimum but anyone that wants to can leave now.” No one moved. “Eight years ago I was assigned to track down and deal with a necromancer and a dark knight that had been causing trouble for a small Fox village.” The ponies in the room looked a bit squeamish. “I was assigned along with a red mage named Louis. Twilight, you remember him, right?” She nodded. “I’ll fast forward to keep details down, we arrived and learned that the necromancer had been kidnapping the villagers and using them in experiments.” Everyone, humans included, stared in horror. The only exception was Alex. He merely looked at the ground sadly and shook his head, as if he was recalling some past event. He murmured something about necromancers being far worst than any wizard. “I was able to help Louis get everyone still alive out save for one. A small kit, about twelve years old.” I looked down at Fei, she was practically curling up into a ball at the memories. “After I dealt with the two by taking out the ruins they were in, I was able to keep the kit, Fei, at a safe distance. She had been fatally wounded by the knight, and I had to tap into darker magic to save her.” I looked at all of them with a dark expression. “I used a powerful form of blood magic to heal her, at the cost of my own blood. The sigil you saw is a side effect of the spell, an eternal reminder of what happened.” Everyone remained silent as they thought over my words. “That was noble of you,” Rarity said suddenly. “To not only risk your life to save innocents, but to directly put your own health in danger to save the life of a child.” The other ponies nodded slowly in agreement. After a few more minutes of chatting, Rarity spoke up once more. “Look at the time, I really should get home.” The others nodded in agreement with her once more, muttering their various duties tomorrow. I asked for Alex and Twilight to wait a moment so I could talk to them. “Hey Twi.” She looked at me. “Would you mind getting a change of clothes for me so I have something to wear when I’m released tomorrow?.” I gave her a small smile as she nodded and trotted to the door. “Fei, can you go with her? I’d like to talk with Alex alone.” She nodded and followed Twilight out. I kept my smile until I was sure Twilight was out of range, before dropping it and turning to Alex, my expression grim. “What’d you want to talk about?” he asked cautiously. I sighed and sat up. “It’s about when I met Fei, I'm not entirely comfortable with Twilight, or anyone really, knowing about what happened, but I've learned that if I keep it pent up it will only get worse.” I sighed as my mind began replaying the memories of that event. “Can you recall what I already told you?” “You said you had to fight a necromancer and a Dark Knight, then used blood magic to heal Fei using a bit of your own life,” He said. “Yes, but I should probably tell you a bit more about the knight. His name was Siegfried, the Fangblade of the Black Circle at the time.” My expression darkened further. “He was wanted for the death of not only the Archmage he served under, but nearly twenty new recruits in the order, all under seventeen, all either killed or severely wounded.” My grip in the bed tightened. “When I confronted them, after Louis managed to get everyone but Fei out safely, I asked him, 'why would you do it', kill those recruits, and kidnap the children of the village. Do you know want he said.” I felt my anger beginning to increase, my voice rising slowly. “He told me, the reason he did it, was because he felt there was no greater experience, than when his blade became coated in their blood.” My anger reached it peak, and I was fighting the urge to shout. “The bastard killed them, and he did it because he wanted to. HE KILLED THEM, AND HE SHOWED NO REMORSE!” My magic rushed as I lost control, causing the light next to me to explode, sending shrapnel flying. I paid it no mind, I was too caught up in the memories, I held myself as I shook with barely suppressed rage. My mind snapped back into reality as I felt a hand on my shoulder. I look over to find Alex, a small cut on his hand from the shrapnel, and concerned look on his face. “Are you okay?” he asked. I stared for a second in shock, both at him and at myself, it had been over a year since I lost control like that. “Y-yeah, I'm fine, thanks,” I said weakly, letting my arms drop as I fell back into the bed. “Thank you, Alex.” He nodded, his face still showing concern. He looked out the window, noting the approaching darkness, and began to leave. “Wait!” I said. He stopped and turned. “Please, don't tell Twilight.” He nodded somberly before walking back over and placing his hand on my shoulder. Hey, Trace. I've always felt it's not the tool, it's the man. I'm glad to know you, a good man,” he said before leaving. After few minutes, Twi and Fei came back. “Why is the light off?” Twilight asked. She went to turn it on, only to find the light missing. “Had a bit of a surge from using the blessing, took out the light,” I said. It wasn’t a complete lie, the sudden burst of energy was most likely from earlier, I just ended up letting it loose after a while. “Are you okay?” Twilight asked as she started looking me over. I placed my hand on her hoof and gave her a reassuring smile. “Good,” she sighed in relief, placed my clothes on the empty table, and gave me a quick hug. “I’ll come by in the evening, okay?.” I gave her a nod. She made her way out the door but paused as she noticed Fei still near the foot of the bed. “C-can I stay here with you, dad?” she asked. I smiled and nodded. She smiled and crawled up next to me. I laid down as Twilight gave me one last glance before trotting out. The last thought go through my head before sleep took over was ‘I know my answer.