//------------------------------// // Preparations // Story: Ace's Spell Shop // by Aceofgods //------------------------------// Chapter Twenty: Preparations Ace and Twilight emerged in a room that was both dark, but warm at the same time. Twilight observed the aged stone of the walls, lit up in a pleasing, soft blue light from the sphere that hung suspended from the ceiling in the center of the room. Ace removed his glasses and set them on a nearby writing desk, which was rather bare. Twilight looked around the room, noticing the large circular bed that was currently occupied by a sleeping pony. In addition to the bed, there was a number of old artworks and other paraphernalia pertaining to the night. The flat ceiling was painted in such a way that Twilight almost thought it was domed, featuring a large number of painted stars. Twilight was admiring the tapestry above the bed that depicted the night that Princess Luna returned as Nightmare Moon, when she saw that Ace was walking to the side of the bed to awaken the sleeping pony. Twilight started to protest, but Ace motioned for her to come over next to him. Unsure of what he was up to, Twilight came up beside him to look upon the sleeping pony. Princess Luna laid in her bed, sound asleep, appearing to be in the middle of a pleasant dream. Twilight smiled softly at the sleeping princess, her mane slightly a mess and without her normal black crown. As she observed her, however, she felt Ace picking her up from below before being thrown onto the bed on top of the princess. Twilight landed with a thud in the princess’s middle as she shot upward with a gasp and started to flail about at the sudden contact, Twilight trying her best to deflect the wild attacks without harming the princess. Meanwhile, Ace was all but rolling in the floor as he laughed loudly. After several moments, Princess Luna looked with shock at the rather angry looking Twilight before the pair fixed Ace in their upset stare. Princess Luna threw back the covers in her magic before rolling out from under Twilight, then lifted herself into the air with a powerful stroke of her wings, then took Ace in her magic and threw him onto Twilight. Once the pair were fumbling around over each other, Luna dropped herself onto the pair with a laugh. Twilight, unfortunate enough to be on the bottom of the pony-pile, heaved a heavy breath as the wind was knocked from her lungs as the others were laughing. “Oh what fun it is to roughhouse again!” Luna said as she laughed. Ace laughed as well as he thrust his back into the air, both relieving the pressure from Twilight and knocking Luna over to the other side of the bed before lightly leaping on top of her. Twilight shook her head as she stepped off of the bed, straightening herself once more. Princess Luna and Ace were playfully pushing against each other’s faces as they laughed. “Twilight, do you not wish to make merry with Ace and I?” Twilight’s cheeks flushed before she realized she had originally misunderstood the question. With a sigh, Twilight turned to face the pair with the look of discontent a mother would give a misbehaving foal. “I had thought we had come to speak about Discord having the Elements of Power, and what we were going to do to stop him,” she said, as Ace and Luna turned to look at each other, Ace still pinning the princess to the bed. “We need to make plans, prepare ourselves for the fight; be ready when he comes. Not playing around in bed like a couple of foals.” Princess Luna caught him on the cheek with one last playful attack before Ace smiled shyly and climbed off of her, helping her to her hooves before laying on the edge of the bed closest to Twilight. “Well if you have any ideas, we’re open to them. For right now, we are unable to do much until Discord makes the first move.” Princess Luna moved to the same side of the bed as well, the blankets laying somewhere in the floor. “Twilight does have a point though, dear brother. ‘Twould be best that we be ready with at least a general plan,” Luna shook her head as she spoke. “If it were as easy as just casting spells upon him, then we would have bested him long ago.” Ace nodded that he could agree with being prepared. “Very well, then. What did you have in mind, my student?” Luna and Ace both leaned closer to Twilight, a small smile on each of their faces. “Lead us, Twilight. Lead us, Twilight.” The pair laughed as Twilight attempted to ignore the startlingly creepy pairing of their voices in stereo. “Well, I really don’t feel like I know enough about the situation to make an effective plan…” She held a hoof to her chin as she thought. “How was Discord able to use magic after your overload at the castle? You said he stole the elements from the vault when it had ended.” Ace thought for a moment and shrugged. “Well, I’m already starting to not like the course this plan is taking, but I’d say that Discord just waited somewhere outside the castle, or from his tear between dimensions, and then teleported in and took the elements to safety when it had ended.” Twilight nodded as she was thinking about the information. “So Discord is safe from your overloads when he’s in the chaos dimension?” Ace nodded, but held his front hooves in the form of an ‘X’. “While that would also be true, Discord has been severed from the chaos dimension,” Ace punctuated the phrase with a slitting motion over his throat. “He cannot return, though he can still exist in the plane between dimensions, while a pony cannot.” Princess Luna and Twilight both looked at him with disbelief. Ace’s gaze darted between the pair. “What? Not all Draconequus from the chaos dimension are malicious.” Ignoring the unnecessary comments, Twilight continued explaining her plan. “Okay… Well, the fact of the matter is that we have to wait for Discord to come to us.” Twilight turned her gaze to look at Ace, “How often can you overload?” Ace’s entire body shuddered at the thought of overloading again. “This. This is the part of the plan I don’t like… Um, once a day, I guess? If I overload too often, my body would be destroyed in the process…” Princess Luna glared at Ace, again angry at his dire situation. Ace matched the glare, and the princess shrunk away with a sigh and a nod. “Why do you ask, Twilight?” Twilight looked sheepish for a moment as she spoke. “How easily can you bring about an overload? Would you be able to perform an overload the moment Discord comes out of the tear?” Twilight asked, flinching when Ace’s body shuddered from the thought. Ace thought for a moment. “Well, I suppose by myself, it’d take an hour or two…” Ace nodded his head with a look to Princess Luna. “However, if somepony were to give me their magical power and push me to an overload, it could only take a few seconds,” Ace said as he had another shiver. “Did I mention I really don’t like my part in this plan?” Twilight nodded, a sheepish smile on her face as she took note of the response. “So then, we could have Luna and I with you, and we’ll give you all of our magic so that you overload, and –“ Ace held his front hooves in the formation and shook his head violently as Luna looked concerned, as well. “What is it?” Ace looked to Luna, but she just shook her head and pointed at him. Ace sighed and nodded. “Well, this is going to be tricky, Twilight. If I’m given too much magic, then the overload will kill me.” Twilight gasped, a solemn look on her face as Ace let the information sink in. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s still probably the best idea we have, but we can’t just dump all of our magic on me and hope for the best.” Ace looked to Luna as though she were speaking to him. Ace nodded. Princess Luna was the next to speak, a cold acceptance for the delicate task in her voice. “I will be the one to siphon my magic into Ace, as I know the signs of the overload, and am familiar with Ace’s magic,” Princess Luna shook her head slowly. “However, we cannot be so hopeful as to expect that Discord will simply stay in one place whilst we do this.” Twilight put a hoof to her chin as she thought for a moment, sitting on the floor while Ace and Luna looked into each other’s eyes as though they were talking. After a short time of the trio thinking, Luna nodded as they both looked at Twilight, bringing her out of her own thoughts. “Ace says that he has a large quantity of anti-magic stone. Perhaps you could help to devise a way to make use of it?” Ace nodded as he looked between the two. “For the most part, I use it for my experiments, but I certainly have plenty to spare. However, it’s all in my workshop, and we can’t teleport it in its raw form, or use magic on it in any way, really.” Princess Luna looked into his eyes for a moment. “No, I don’t have a forge, but if we could take them to one, we could melt them down, and mould them into a more usable form.” Twilight thought for a moment, unable to think of any forges in Canterlot or Ponyville, since both mostly used magic to craft their metalwork. And then, an idea struck; “What if we were to crush the stones into a powder, and use the powder to weave some rope, and then use the rope to make a net?” The two looked at each other again, nodding to each other with a smile. “Rarity would be able to make the rope if we ask.” Ace and Princess Luna both nodded to her, favoring the idea. “Once we know where Discord will come first, we’ll toss the anti-magic net onto him. Then, to begin the overload, Princess Luna will be with me and siphon her magic into mine.” Ace looked to Twilight to be sure she heard and understood the next part. “Twilight will sit back, away from the initial confrontation, and watch in waiting for the overload to pass. Twilight nodded at the instructions. “Then, once the overload has passed, I come in, fresh and full of magic, to do… what, exactly?” Twilight’s gaze passed between the two. Ace pointed to his head, neck and hooves as he spoke, “We’ll need somepony who can retrieve the elements from Discord without getting too close. Once you have the elements, you’ll need to teleport them somewhere safe…” Ace looked into Luna’s eyes before he continued. “Though, we’re not quite sure of where such a place would be.” Ace shrugged as he returned his gaze to Twilight. Twilight thought for a moment, but could only think of what she assumed Ace and Luna had already discussed. “Well, what about the Canterlot Vault, or your workshop? Surely you’ve kept the workshop a secret, for the most part, and protected it with various spells. Ace and Luna shook their head synchronously, though it was Ace that spoke. “Discord would have surveyed my workshop while he was spying on us, and I cannot cast any spells strong enough to stop a Draconequus from just opening a tear inside; that’s really more Celestia’s thing.” Ace and Luna shared a look before they turned back to her. “Also, it would seem that Celestia blames me for the event that occurred in the dungeons, and is in no condition to see or listen to reason.” Ace shook his head with a sigh. “She has not even heeded Princess Luna’s summons to reestablish the protective spells over the vault, though Luna has placed the lesser equivalents for the time being.” An idea sprung into Twilight’s head at the mention of the vault, “What if we took some of the artifacts from the vault? Surely there must be something we can use against Discord in there.” Ace and Luna both shook their heads one more. “Mine sister, should she find that we had taken the relics from the vault, would have the evidence she needs to send her armies against Ace.” Luna shook her head before turning a reprimanding gaze towards her brother, “While he may view such as little concern, he must not make an enemy of Celestia.” Ace retreated back slightly with a sheepish smile to the stern look. “Besides, the artifacts would have been drained of their magic,” Ace said, turning his gaze away from his sister. “At best, some of the artifacts may be usable in a week’s time, though most of them may takes years to recover their magic.” Twilight nodded as she took the needed writing supplies from the writing desk across the room. “Okay, so the plan thus far is to wait for Discord to appear out of the dimensional tear,” she said as she wrote down the same words. “Once he appears, we’ll use an anti-magic net to trap him. Then, Princess Luna helps Ace reach an overload, after which I will teleport in and take the elements… elsewhere.” Ace and Luna nodded, until Luna questioned the group with another problem. “What are we going to do to ensure Discord does not pursue the elements again? Draconequus are not exactly given to surrender.” Ace held up a hoof to interject politely. “Not all Draconequus share such a trait, Discord simply expresses it himself,” he said as Twilight and Luna fixed him with a glare that made him sink back. “Right, well, as for what we could do with him, we could always kill him.” Twilight was taken aback as her jaw dropped in shock, while Princess Luna simply nodded at the idea. “While that is an option, it perhaps would not be the best one. As I hear it told, a Draconequus must exist in each dimension. Something about ‘Without Chaos, no entity may exhibit Order.’” Twilight nodded as she voiced her opinion on the matter. “Couldn’t we just use magic to make him do as we please? Well, not like taking away his freedom or anything, just make it so that he can’t hurt anypony.” Luna sighed as Ace suffered a small laugh as Twilight looked between the two, unsure of what was wrong with what she had said. “Did you hear that, sister? Twilight agrees that we should just do away with the chaos spirit.” Luna fixed Ace with another stern glare while he continued to laugh, Luna speaking in a softer voice as she spoke to Twilight. “Dearest Twilight, such a spell would be in the affinity of Order magic, and for a Chaos spirit to be afflicted with such magic would bring about their end.” Twilight was shocked to hear that she had even almost accidentally brought about Discord’s death. “But… What about the Elements of Harmony? When we used the Elements of Discord before, he only turned to stone, and they are the strongest embodiment of Order that I know of. Are you saying they could have killed him?” Luna nodded solemnly while Ace explained the situation to her. “You see, Twilight, since Discord had used the elements for so long, they had a certain affinity to him and could not be used to bring about his death. Due to this overlooked fact, the elements only petrified him, rather than killing him. Were the Elements of Harmony to be used on a different Draconequus, or if another Element of Harmony were created and then used on him, then it would bring about their death.” Twilight was relieved that Discord hadn’t died from her and her friends fighting him, but it was something in his explanation that stuck in her mind. “What do you mean if another Element of Harmony were created? I thought there were only six of the elements in existence? How could more be made?” Ace nodded his head at the question as he replied. “Well, anything that exists was created, my student. In the case of the elements, you already know that there were originally just Elements of Power; artifacts that had a capacity for storing magic and using the stored magic to boost the abilities of the pony who bore them.” Twilight nodded that she had remembered. “Well, given enough magical power, a Unicorn could technically turn anything magical into an element of power, though the original six will still be far stronger, as not even Celestia and Luna could make such power relics were their magic to be combined in the effort.” Ace turned to Luna with a sheepish smile as he brought up another sensitive fact. “By the way, the Alicorn Amulet has come into my possession…” Princess Luna gasped and stared Ace down as they had their own conversation again. Eventually she backed away from him enough for him raise back up, but the look on her face was still narrowed in displeasure. Ace looked back to Twilight, the sheepish smile still marring his features. “So, uh, Twilight, I think we should go and talk to Rarity. Like, now.” Ace’s horn lit up, and the two of them were teleported to the middle of Ponyville. Ace gasped after a moment when he caught a weird look from somepony who was walking past. Ace closed his left eye before teleporting his glasses onto his muzzle, having forgotten them in Luna’s bedchambers. The passing pony shook their head as though they had just seen an illusion before Ace waved and smiled. With that crises averted, came another; “Wait, we weren’t done planning yet, why did we leave?” Ace started down the path towards Rarity’s boutique. “Hey, wait for me!” Twilight ran up alongside him, nearly trotting to keep up with Ace’s powerful strides as he walked. “This has something to do with the Alicorn Amulet, doesn’t it?” ”Thou art asking for information thee art not privy to once again, mine student,” Ace’s voice echoed through her mind as a look of surprise crossed her features as she realized that Luna and Ace really were talking to each other. ”Sorry, I was speaking Old Equestrian with Luna, and I suppose it carried over.” Twilight’s horn lit up as she mimicked the telecommunication spell for the first time, assuming Ace had a reason for not discussing the situation publicly. ”So why did we have to leave so suddenly? Was Princess Luna angry?” Ace shook his head. ”Less angry, more like upset. The Alicorn Amulet was crafted by a student who once wished to surpass her. It is a troubling memory for her, but she had a right to know that I had the relic.” Ace looked to his student as he started to slow his pacing so she could more easily keep in step with him. “Besides, making plans is great, but without the means to carry them out, they are useless.” Twilight nodded as she ended the telecommunication spell. “So we’re going to ask Rarity if she can make the net?” Ace nodded. “What if she can’t make the rope? Now that I think about it, it’s not really a part of her skill set.” “Then I will kindly request that she make the strings, and I will simply wind them together into rope, and from there make the rope into a net or two,” he said as they neared the flamboyant shop. Ace held the door open for her as he bowed politely. “After you, my dear.” Twilight nodded to him as she passed, and fortunately, Rarity was in the back, coming to the front as Ace was closing the door behind himself. “Twilight! Oh, and Ace as well! To what do I owe the pleasure?” she said, her red glasses and measuring tape showing the signs that she was working on some project or another. Ace sat for in the middle of the showroom as he spoke, “Well, we were actually hoping to commission your aid in making some anti-magic nets. I’ll pay for any necessary materials, and I’ll provide the anti-magic stone as well. We’d like for-“ Rarity’s eyes went wide as she gasped and zipped closer to Ace, staring intently at his left hoof. Ace raised the hoof to examine it himself. That was when he remembered that Twilight had patched it for him after the battle at the castle. “Oh, yes. I had forgotten about that. It’s really of no consequence, but-“ Rarity’s gaze passed from the damaged cover to Ace’s eyes with a heated flare within them. “No consequence? Darling, if you’re going to showcase my work then you simply must be more passionate about your appearance!” she said as she pulled the patch off while pulling another of the matching tone to Ace’s coat from the back room, along with scissors, thread and a needle. Rarity took his hoof and pulled him forward uncomfortably as she started to work on the afflicted limb. Once the patch had been removed, she started to continue the replacement manually. “Rarity, we really need your help with-“ Rarity made a shushing noise as she set to work on the hoof, as focused as she was. Twilight and Ace both shared a soft sigh as the fashion-conscious Unicorn mended the tear, though both were grateful she had remembered the reason for the cover. Twilight took the opportunity to admire the glyphs that kept the pre-magic in place. After a couple of minutes, Rarity had concluded the repair, taking a few steps back to admire her work. Ace examined the hoof as well, only marginally able to tell where the tear had been. “Another fine job, Rarity, but Twilight and I need your help with something more important than my appearances.” Rarity recoiled, feigning shock and appall. “Well then it had best be quite important indeed, as there is little that is as important as appearances! A good appearance can grant you a great many things, my dear.” Twilight and Ace both nodded as they watched her dramatic show of emotions. “We need you to make us some rope, if you’d be so kind. I can pay for any resources or labor charges, of course.” Rarity’s mouth hung open as her gaze darted between the two, both wearing serious expressions. “Oh, my. Twilight, darling, I had no idea that you and Ace were in such a relationship, nor that you had such… perverse tastes.” Twilight’s face flamed with the blush that filled her cheeks and ears. Ace, unsure of what she was talking about, looked between two in confusion. “I don’t understand, what sort of relationship do we have? How could rope be perverse?” Twilight’s cheeks heated further as she turned away from the pair as she spoke. “Oh my goodness, Rarity, it’s not for anything like that! We need you to make anti-magic rope for a net because Discord has stolen the Elements of Harmony and intends to use them as a weapon against us.” Twilight’s blush had started to fade as she turned back to her assuming friend. “Ace will bring you the anti-magic stone from his workshop, but we need to know if you can weave a rope or even craft a net for us.” Rarity’s cheeks turned a tint of pink as well at the misunderstanding as she smiled sheepishly in apology. “Oh! Well, in that case, I would be happy to help. Is that really all you need? Surely you might need more help, if Discord is really involved.” Twilight looked to Ace, as though questioning if she could help out, which Rarity then mimicked the gaze as well. Ace shook his head as he replied. “As much as I do appreciate the offer, we need the element of surprise, and Discord will be wary if there are multiple previous-wielders of the elements gathering around him. Does this mean you can craft the nets? If you could at least form the rope or the threads, I could take it from there.” Rarity nodded. “It’s not really my talent, per se, but I could certainly make the nets given time.” Rarity started towards the backroom again. “I’ll have the materials delivered immediately, since all of the high thread count fabrics I have here would be useless for making such things. I should have the materials tomorrow afternoon, and I’ll be ready to work on the rope as soon as you bring me the stones.” Ace and Twilight left the shop as Rarity disappeared into the backroom, letting her return to her work.