“So with that, we get to the eight schools of magic,” the teacher droned on. Looking around the classroom, you could see various states of boredom. Some students were asleep at their desks, drool pooling around their heads. Other students were staring out the unlimited windows that all towers in the Canterlot University of Magic seemed to have.
One student, however, was pulling out a second book for her notes, quickly scrawling everything about what the teacher was saying and how she said it. Every inflection was marked, her pacing and hand movements were noted, and even her facial expressions were scribbled down.
The student to her right sighed and shook her head. Both the girls looked similar, both being around their ninth year of life, with near identical hair. She swiftly studying girl had a pink stripe down her neatly kept hair that the messier hair of the other girl lacked.
The teacher continued, “The schools are illusion, conjuration, evocation, divination, transmutation, enchantment, abjuration, and necromancy.” A collective gasp passed around the lecture hall at the last word. “I must take a moment now, legally, and inform you that any attempt to practice necromancy, whether successful or not, will result in your permanent expulsion from this University as well as up to fifty years in prison.”
The messy-haired girl looked to her right to look at the younger girl writing less comprehensive notes. She kept bringing a hand up to brush the elegant small purple and pink curls that adorned her head out of her face as she struggled to keep up with the older girl.
The messy-haired girl sighed quietly, “Belle, don’t try and keep up with her. She’s a monster, I swear.”
The younger girl looked at her with wide eyes whispering fiercely, “But I have to be as good as big sis!”
“Would you two quiet down?” the other girl snapped softly. “I’m trying to take notes, here!”
The teacher kept on talking, oblivious to the conversation taking place in her classroom. “Illusion spells deceive the senses or minds of others. They cause people to see things that are not there, not see things that are there, hear phantom noises, or remember things that never happened.”
“You have plenty already,” the middle girl scoffed. “Do you really have to predict what her next words will be in the margins?”
“Of course I do, I can’t not document any of my thoughts!” the left girl said.
“Each conjuration spell belongs to one of five subschools. The summoning subschool brings manifestations of objects, creatures, or some form of energy to you. The calling subschool actually transports creatures from another plane of existence to your plane, The healing subschool heals. The teleportation subschool transports creatures or objects over great distances. The creation subschool creates objects or effects on the spot. Creatures you conjure usually, but not always, obey your commands.”
“Twilight, Scoot, shut up!” Belle snapped, scribbling down what the teacher had just said. “I can hardly hear her over your arguing!”
Scoot scoffed, leaning back in her chair. Twilight sighed and went back to taking way over-detailed notes.
“Evocation spells manipulate energy or tap an unseen source of power to produce a desired end. In effect, they create something out of nothing. Many of these spells produce spectacular effects, and evocation spells can deal large amounts of damage.”
Scoot held up her thumb, concentrating a moment to make a small lick of flame appear. Her concentration was disrupted by Belle’s elbow being rammed into her side. Scoot shot the other girl a dirty look, only to receive the explanation, “You heard what the professor said, Scoot. No magic except—”
Scoot rolled her eyes, interrupting Belle, “In designated areas. Yeah, I know. I’m so bored though!”
“Divination spells enable you to learn secrets long forgotten, to predict the future, to find hidden things, and to foil deceptive spells. Many divination spells have cone-shaped areas, with the small end attached to your head. These move with you and extend in the direction you look. The cone defines the area that you can sweep. If you study the same area for a longer period of time, you can often gain additional information.”
“How can you be bored? I can barely keep up!” Twilight hissed, scribbling more notes as she talked.
“That’s because you’re an egghead,” Scoot said, rolling her eyes.
“Transmutation spells change the properties of some creature, thing, or condition.”
Scoot leaned back in her chair, only half-listening to the lecture. She started counting students in the room.
The other girls kept on scribbling.
“Enchantment spells affect the minds of others, influencing or controlling their behavior.”
Seven. . . eight. . . nine. . . bored.
Scoots scratched her ear in an attempt to rid her of the sound of the scratching of quills echoing all over the lecture hall.
“Abjurations are protective spells. They create physical or magical barriers, negate magical or physical abilities, harm trespassers, or even banish the subject of the spell to another plane of existence. If one abjuration spell is active within 10 feet of another for 24 hours or more, the magical fields interfere with each other and create barely visible energy fluctuations. If an abjuration creates a barrier that keeps certain types of creatures at bay, that barrier cannot be used to push away those creatures. If you force the barrier against such a creature, you feel a discernible pressure against the barrier. If you continue to apply pressure, you end the spell.”
After having looked around for something interesting to do, Scoot groaned. There was nothing fun to do during these boring lectures.
“Necromancy spells manipulate the power of death, unlife, and life force. These spells are highly illegal and will not be tolerated at this school,” the teacher finally finished. She turned to look at where the three girls were sitting. “Apprentice Scoot, why don’t you come here and tell the class what each of the schools can do?”
Scoot groaned, but stood up and walked to the front of the room. The teacher smirked at her, fully expecting incomprehension. What she got instead was surprising.
“Illusion is mind magic, to put it into layman’s terms. Something like this—” She flourished her hand, causing a small purple dragon to appear on her hand, its long tail wrapping down her arm. “—would be illusion magic.
“Conjuration can be used to summon, call, heal, create, and teleport,” Scoot continued. “My personal favorite is teleportation.” There was a flash, and the dragon on her hand started looking around in confusion.
“Scoot!” Twilight scolded, standing up. “Leave Spike alone!”
The girl in question rolled her eyes, but did as asked. With a flash, the dragon was gone. “Fine, but only for you, sis.
“Continuing. Evocation is dangerous and finicky; manipulating the fundamental forces of nature is in no way easy. I haven’t gotten much past small licks of flame, yet.” To demonstrate her point, she re-summoned the lick of flame, turning her thumb into a candle. She flicked her thumb with her other hand and suddenly the flame jumped, forming a three inch ball of floating fire.
“Divination is hard to demonstrate,” the young girl continued, “but I’ll endeavor to demonstrate what can be done.” She turned to the teacher. “Your hair is actually gray, but you choose to apply a darkening enchantment to it, making it appear black.”
The teacher gasped at her young pupil, but the messy-haired girl continued uninterrupted. “Transmutation would be something like this.” She held her hand under the ball of fire, and it slowly started turning blue. As the flame turned blue, it stopped jumping and flickering. The girl soon held a motionless ball of blue fire in her hands. She walked up to a random student in the front row and held out the fire to him. “Touch it. It’s not hot.”
The student slowly reached a hand out, touching the blue fire. “It’s ice!” he exclaimed after a pause.
Scoot nodded. “Now I’m going to apply a basic heat resisting enchantment on this ball of ice.” There was a flash and the ball acquired a glow for a second, before it slowly faded. She tossed the ball up high, snapping her fingers. It caught on fire.
“Now abjuration.” She placed her hands near the center of her chest, quickly stretching them out to their farthest reaches. As the ball of flaming ice fell back down, the fire seemed to hit a barrier. It floated in the air while the ball of ice fell right back into the brash girl’s hands. She tossed the ball of ice back to the same student from the front row, and asked, “Did it melt any?”
He looked over the ball, before shaking his head. “No,” he announced to the room after a moment, “it looks the same.”
Smiling, Scoot grabbed the ball back from him. She looked at him through half-lidded eyes, before saying, “You’re cute.” She danced away from his seat, leaving him flabbergasted, much to the amusement of the students sitting around him. The quiet teases and chants started immediately.
The girl handed the frozen fire to her slack-jawed teacher before calmly walking back to her seat. Twilight was giving her a death glare, while Belle had her head in her hands. As soon as she sat down, the floodgates opened.
“What were you thinking!” Twilight snapped loudly enough for the whole room to hear.
Scoot shrugged, “I thought that guy was cute. Is that a problem?”
Twilight’s face got red, and she raised a hand, before slowly dragging it back down. Belle spoke up, “I think she was talking about the whole demonstration, Scoots.”
“Of course she was, I knew that. She’s just so much fun to make mad,” the middle girl giggled.
“And we both know you knew,” Belle said diplomatically. “So please answer the question, and seriously.”
“Teach thought she had me,” Scoot said. “Couldn’t let that happen.”
The younger girl sighed, “What did mom say, Scoot?”
The brash girl deflated. “Behave for your sisters.”
“And what was that, just then?” Belle asked.
“Not behaving,” the other girl said, sinking into her seat. “Damn it.”
“Scoot!” Twilight snapped.
“Sorry, sorry. I’ll watch the language,” Scoot said in monotone, waving her hand dismissively at her sister.
“Scoot,” Belle said in a almost groan.
“I’m just going to shut up, now,” the girl in question said, crossing her arms.
“Girls, could you three step into my office for a moment?” the teacher called out. Twilight looked at her sisters. Scoot shrugged and stood up. The other two followed along immediately behind her.
“How did you do all that?” the teacher asked as soon as the door was closed behind the sisters. “This is an introduction to magic course.”
After a few moments of silence, Twilight and Belle sighed. It seemed that Scoot was living up to her promise. Twilight spoke up, “We’re self taught. Belle found some books on basic magic at the library in Baltimare, and one thing led to another.”
“You ignored the warning at the beginning of the book telling you that it is incredibly dangerous to learn magic without a proper teacher?” she asked.
“I believe that Starswirl said that it was ‘moronic to the utmost degree and dangerous to you and those around you,’ “ Belle said. “Twilight and I wanted to leave them alone, but Scoot started using them without us. We figured that if all three of us were there it would be safer for her than if we weren’t”
“I see,” the teacher said softly, nodding her head with a hand on her chin in thought. “Is Scoot the best of you three at magic?”
“Psh,” Scoot scoffed. “These two are much better than I am, but Twilight wanted to do things all official-like and go through all the classes. She took over a book’s worth of notes on today’s lecture alone, and we’ve known this stuff for years.”
“You’re the least of the three?” the teacher was taken aback.
“I wouldn’t say the least,” Twilight spoke up. “I’m the strongest, while Scoot’s the fastest learner. Belle is right on the median line between the two of us.”
“I. . . see,” the teacher said slowly. She looked at Twilight and Scoot. They were the same height, around the same age, and had very similar hair colors, if not similar styles. “You two are twins, aren’t you?” she asked.
“Yep,” Scoot said. “Mom always said that Twi got the power while I got the speed.”
"We're technically identical twins, it's just not very obvious at first glance," Twilight clarified. “We’re about as different looking as identical twins get.”
"This is. . . unusual, to say the least," the teacher sighed. "You three are very young, but from what apprentice Scoot showed me, you're ready for a true Apprenticeship." She paused before asking, "All three of you can do what she showed me, can't you?"
Twilight summoned a two-foot ball of fire, while Belle summoned a similar ball only about eight inches across. The teacher let out a low whistle of appreciation.
Twilight spoke up, “I haven’t quite mastered the ice spell Scoot used, but if you give me a month, I could freeze a bonfire in seconds.”
Belle tacked on, “And in about a week, I’ll have Scoot’s speed on a fire of this size.
Scoot sighed, “And I’m stuck where I am, but I’ll have another three things mastered before Belle catches up with me. Ten before Twi gets there.”
"I'll talk to the Archmage about finding you three masters to study under." The teacher sat down in her chair. "What do you three want to do?"
Twilight spoke up, "I want to be a force mage, like our parents are."
Belle thought for a second when the teacher looked at her, before saying, "I've always been good at having lots of little things going on at the same time."
The teacher turned to Scoot. “And you?”
Scoot was staring at the door. “I wanna go talk to that cute boy.”
“Scoot! Be serious!” Twilight scolded.
“I am! Did you see him? Ten out of ten!” the brash girl defended herself.
Belle sighed, “Scoot.”
The girl rolled her eyes. “Fine. I want to blow things up. If it doesn’t happen fast and doesn’t look pretty, I don’t want anything to do with it.”
The teacher chuckled, “Alright you three, you have the rest of the day off. I’ll talk with the Archmage about getting you a master to teach you the finer points of magic.”
“Can I go talk to the cutie out there, now?” Scoot asked with impatience.
“No, apprentice Scoot. Wait until after class.”
“Damn it.”
—*~*~*—
“Prospectives, the Masters will see you now,” the teacher’s voice rang out into the hallway. Scoot stopped her pacing and marched straight for the door with determined strides. Twilight closed her book, slipping it into a satchel on her side. Belle sighed, picking up the small dragon that had taken her head for a roost. She placed the purple-scaled wyrmling onto her studious sister’s shoulder, getting a thankful nuzzle from the beast before it climbed into its favorite perch in the small bag on Twilight’s back for just this purpose.
When the two girls walked into the room, they saw Scoot pacing in front of the senior mages. She was muttering to herself, “Nope. Nope. Nope. Maybe. Nope. Hello~.” She stopped right in front of one of the mages, a rather attractive young man. “What do you do?”
He chuckled at her reactions, “I’m one of the Masters of Evocation.”
“You make things go boom?” she asked bluntly.
“Fire, ice, lightning, if it works fast and looks pretty to use, it’s in my expertise,” he replied.
Scoot walked back to the other three, the teacher having joined the sisters. Right as the teacher was about to say something, the young girl spoke up, “He’s mine.”
The assembled mages had a chuckle at her reaction, and one of the elderly men she had passed up at first glance spoke up, “This is not your decision, prospective Scoot, it is the Masters’ “ Scoot waved her hand dismissively, scoffing.
The teacher’s face flushed, “I apologise, Archmage. Prospective Scoot is excitable and quick to make judgements and decisions. She’s lucky she learns as fast as she does.”
The Archmage chuckled, “Then she seems like the perfect apprentice for Master Baelfire, but we’ll worry about that later. For now, I think it is high time for the prospectives to be introduced so a Master can pick them up.”
Scoot looked right at Baelfire, “You’re Baelfire, right?”
The teacher took a hissing intake in breath at the disrespect of addressing a Master you don’t know on a personal level without his title, but Baelfire didn’t mind. “Yes, I am. I assume you’re prospective Scoot? I heard about your little demonstration. Impressive.”
She nodded, “Mhm, that’s just me. You should see what the egghead over there can do.” She jabbed a thumb at Twilight, who gave an indignant snort. “Give her a month and she will be able to ice a bonfire.”
“Are you recommending her to be my Apprentice, prospective Scoot?” Baelfire asked.
“Psh,” she scoffed, “no. She doesn’t do the whole ‘fast’ thing. Anyway, she wants to be a force mage like Ma and Pa. I want to make things go boom.”
Belle spoke up at that moment, “Scoot, behave.” The young mage deflated immediately and backed up to the where her sisters were standing. Belle took a moment to step forward and introduce herself. “My name is Belle. As you can tell, I serve as a voice of reason for the twins, especially when Scoot provokes Twilight.”
“And what are your strengths?” one of the Masters asked.
“I don’t quite have Twilight’s power or Scoot’s speed, but I can juggle a lot of small things at one time,” was her reply.
A few of the Masters put their hands to their chins in thought, and the one that had talked replied, “I see. Thank you, prospective Belle.”
Belle gave a small bow before returning to her sisters, who were glaring at each other already. She gave off a small sigh, before nudging Twilight. “Twi, your turn.”
Twilight took a deep breath before stepping forward. Spike chose that moment to peek his head over her shoulder to see what was going on. A collective gasp passed over the Masters as they caught sight of the wyrmling. The ruckus started immediately, causing Twilight to start backing up.
“I’ll take this one!” one Master yelled.
“No, she’s mine!” another said.
A third Master scolded the first two, “You don’t even know what she can do. I’ll take her.”
A voice rose above the din, though surprisingly not from the Archmage. “Quiet,” Baelfire’s voice resonated with power as he talked in a voice that rattled the stones making up the tower.
There was instant silence.
“Thank you, Master Baelfire,” the Archmage spoke up as if nothing had happened. “I must say that I expected more from the Masters at the Light One’s own university.”
Twilight sheepishly stepped forward from her position against the back wall. “I’m. . . sorry?” she said with confusion.
“There is nothing to apologise for, prospective Twilight,” Baelfire spoke up. “If anything, the Masters have an apology for you.” The shamed mages shuffled their feet, mumbling generic apologies. “It is incredibly rare for a mage your age to have a familiar, let alone a pseudodragon.”
Twilight blinked twice slowly, before laughing, taking the Masters by surprise. Scoot soon joined in the laughter, while Belle just shook her head. Twilight reached a hand up to the small dragon’s head and giving it a scratch at the base of its jaw. She cooed, “They don’t know better, Spike. You’re not a pseudodragon.”
Baelfire tilted his head as he looked at her, “What do you mean?”
“Spike is a wyrmling.”
That one sentence floored the whole room, even the Archmage. Spike was a real live dragon. If they weren’t stunned speechless, the Masters would have started fighting over Twilight again. The old man spoke up first, “This is most unusual, prospective Twilight.”
Scoot shrugged, “Ma and Pa knew a few dragons. When some adventurers came in and slew one, her mate trusted our family with their surviving wyrmling before trying to take revenge. It didn’t work, so we had a dragon to raise. He took a liking to Twilight and sticks with her like glue.”
Baelfire nodded slowly, “And what do you want to do, prospective Twilight?”
“I want to be a force mage, like my parents are,” she said, causing more than a few groans from the assembled mages.
The Archmage held up a hand to quiet down the Masters. “I think it is time for the Masters to choose which of the three they want to have as an Apprentice.”
Baelfire immediately walked to Scoot, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll take this one. You guys can fight over Twilight.”
Belle’s face fell nearly imperceptibly at his comment, a fact not lost on one of the Masters. She stepped forwards, holding out a hand to the youngest girl. “Prospective Belle, I’m Master Light. I’m the Master of Spellswords, and currently the only one, at that. If you would have me, I’d love to teach you the ways of sword and sorcery.”
“Spellsword? What’s that?” Belle asked.
“A spellsword is a relatively new class of mage. We get into the thick of things, using a lot of small, quick spells channeled through, you guessed it, a sword.” Light smiled at the girl’s growing smile. “A lot of what we do is small enchantments and barrages of a lot of tiny spells fired off rapidly.”
Belle smiled a huge smile, hugging Light. “I’d love to be your Apprentice.”
Twilight was overwhelmed by the dozens of mages, young and old, male and female, short and tall, all clamoring for her attention. Her sisters and their new Masters sat on the sidelines with the Archmage, chuckling at her predicament. Baelfire turned to the Archmage. “You haven’t had an apprentice for a while.”
The old man nodded. “You’re right. I haven’t.” He stroked the short goatee on his chin. “I also think that I’m not the Master for her. She wants to do force magic, and I’m an enchanter.”
Light chuckled, half at the Archmage’s words and half at Twilight’s attempts to get the mages to back off. “Archmage, you are Master level in all schools of magic.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “I’m not the right person to teach her, trust me.”
The two Masters looked at each other, shrugging, before turning back to the spectacle. Spike had joined in, spouting little bursts of green fire at the masters that tried to get too close to the two of them.
Finally, the Archmage spoke up. “Leave the poor girl alone. Masters of Force, stay here. The rest of you, back off.”
The grumbling mages reluctantly obeyed their superior’s command. Soon, only four Masters stood in front of the young mage-to-be.
“Much better. Now, Master Midnight, would you kindly give a short description of what you do?”
“Well, I focus on making force the best it can be on the offensive. I designed a spell that can never miss, only be deflected by another spellcaster.”
“Thank you,” the Archmage said, nodding. “Now Master Amethyst, would you kindly?”
“Of course, Archmage. My name, as he said, is Amethyst. I focus more on the personal defensive qualities of pure force, rather than the offensive capabilities. I’m the one that made the spell that deflects Midnight’s spell.”
With a nod from the old man, the third Master spoke up, “I am Master Silk. I tend to worry about turning Amethyst’s spells into ones that can be cast on your allies, as well as fine tuning Midnight’s spells..”
The fourth Master spoke up without needing to be told to. “My name is Partition. I use force as a method of what is commonly referred to as ‘crowd control’ by the uninitiated. I throw my enemies around the battlefield and place barriers in their way, keeping them where I want to be.”
When the last master was done talking, the Archmage spoke up, “So, prospective Twilight, who do you choose? Will it be Master Midnight, with his nigh-unstoppable offensive spells, Master Amethyst, with her peerless defensive capabilities, Master Silk, with her talent of improving on anything another mage has made, or Master Partition, with his mastery over the battlefield?”
Twilight was silent for a moment, thinking. All four had their ups and downs. Spike yawned before climbing out of the girl’s backpack. He jumped to the ground like a cat before padding over to Master Partition, giving the mage a nuzzle on his leg.
Twilight chuckled, “What’s up with you, Spike?”
Spike looked at her, before climbing up the black robes of the Master. The mage, for his part, was completely still. One does not simply react normally when a wyrmling is crawling up your chest. When the dragon reached Partition’s shoulder, he sat facing Twilight before letting a sound that was somewhere between the meow of a cat and the roar of a tiny dragon. It was adorable, to say the least.
“I think Spike likes you, Master Partition,” Twilight giggled. Spike swelled his chest up proudly, holding his head high. The girl turned to the other three Masters, giving them a quick bow. “Thank you for the offer, but I think I’ll trust Spike’s judgement on this.”
Partition finally got over the shock of having a dragon perched on your shoulder. He reached up and gave Spike a scratch at the base of his jawline, earning a growly purr from the wyrmling.
The Archmage nodded. “It’s decided then. Master Baelfire has chosen Apprentice Scoot, Master Light has chosen Apprentice Belle, and Master Partition has been chosen by Spike.” All assembled, even the three dejected force mages, chuckled a little at the old man’s joke. “Masters, show the sisters to their new rooms.”
—*~*~*—
The sounds of moaning filled the room, coming from the two forms on the floor. Scoot felt his hands entangling in her hair as he pushed harder into her mouth. She rewarded his unusual forwardness with a moan and redoubling the efforts of her tongue.
She pulled away and gave him a slow lick before going right back at it. She’d done this often enough to know just what he liked.
Eventually, he pulled away, panting. He sat, eyes staring at nothing and a bit of drool running out of the corner of his mouth. Scoot wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, cleaning off everything he’d left there.
“That good?” the young woman giggled.
He could do nothing but nod sillily.
She giggled again, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. “Maybe next time we’ll do more than make out, hmm?”
Again, he just nodded, staring at nothing.
“I knew I picked a good one all those years ago,” she said for the thousandth time. “You’re just as cute as you were back then, Snail.”
That got a smile from the boy. He had recovered enough to give her a quick hug. “You should probably get to your Master,” he said slowly. Most people saw how long it took him to reply and how slow he talked and just assumed he was some kind of idiot savant at magic. Scoot knew better.
“Keep practicing, alright?” she said, returning the hug. “You’ve almost got it.”
He smiled at her. Snail was incredibly intelligent, with a huge talent for magic. His only problem was that he wasn’t good at making quick decisions, which was the reason he talked so slowly and a huge part of magic duels. That’s where he was stuck. Scoot always told him that he wasn’t the fastest, but he always got there eventually. That’s why he picked the nickname the girl had given him for his real name when he grew up, to remind him of her words.
“Alright, Scoot,” he said, releasing the hug. After a small pause he added, “Master Baelfire is probably looking for you by now, you’re five minutes late.”
“So I am,” a voice said from the doorway. Scoot looked over at her Master. He had just hit his thirties, Scoot being as old now as he was when she started her Apprenticeship. His hair had started to grey early, something he playfully blamed on the young woman at every opportunity, and he had started wearing a goatee like the Archmage. “How did I know you would be in Apprentice Snail’s room?”
“Because I’m predictable?” Scoot asked with a smirk.
“You’re anything but, usually,” the Master said. “Come now, we have a lesson to teach you.” He looked over his shoulder after the young woman had left the room. “And Snail?” The young man looked up at him. “Thank you for caring for her, and not hurting her.”
“No problem,” the slow-speaking man said. “I couldn’t hurt her if I wanted, even if things hadn’t gone the way they did with Sunlight.”
The older mage walked up to him and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “You’re a good man, Snail. You’ve stayed with her for seven years with nothing more than some kisses here and there. Other men would have left way before now.”
A dark look flashed across Snail’s face with unusual swiftness, barely caught by Baelfire. “After what I did to Sunlight for what he did?”
The older mage held up a hand, silencing the young man. “Officially, the University doesn’t know what happened. Leave it that way.”
Snail smiled. “Thank you, Master Baelfire.”
Baelfire smirked at him. “We’ve been friends for seven years, Snail. You can just call me Baelfire.”
“I could, yeah,” the young man said. “You should probably catch up with Scoot. She’s bound to get impatient.”
The Master chuckled, ”She never seems to get impatient with you, for some reason.” He gave the younger man a wink as he said that, letting Snail know he knew exactly why.
“Baelfire, hurry up!” Scoot yelled from the hallway. “You can talk with my boyfriend when we’re not on a schedule!”
Baelfire held out a hand to Snail. “You take care, now. She would never forgive you if you got hurt.”
Snail grabbed his hand in a handshake. “Same.”
The Master chuckled, walking into the hallway in time to see Scoot punch another Apprentice in the face. “WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY TO ME?”
The other girl on the floor spit blood at the standing girl. “The truth, whore.”
Scoot’s face, already flushed with rage, became even redder. She swung another fist down at the girl, only to be stopped by a translucent barrier. She started slamming on the barrier, screaming incoherently in rage.
Baelfire looked back at Snail, who shot the Master a guilty smile. “Starting a fight with another Apprentice would get her expelled at this point,” he said slowly. “I couldn’t let that happen.”
The older mage chuckled, “And they say you have problems acting fast during a duel.”
“I do, just not when Scoot is in danger.” There was not an ounce of fallaciousness in the young mage’s voice.
Baelfire nodded, walking up to the enraged Apprentice. “Apprentice Scoot, if you would please go stand with Apprentice Snail while I deal with this.”
Scoot drug herself off of the barrier, slowly walking over to her boyfriend. The Master nodded before looking at the other young woman. She spoke up, “Did you see that? She just attacked me!”
The barrier dissipated with a wave of Snail’s hand, giving Baelfire access to the young Apprentice. He grabbed her by the collar of her robe, pulling her up and slamming her into the nearby wall. He growled right by her face, “You will leave my Apprentice alone, or I swear by the Light One herself, the things I will do to you will make the Dark One cringe in sympathy, do you understand?”
The terrified Apprentice nodded quickly. The Master let her go, causing her to drop to the ground on weak legs. Baelfire looked at the two young mages standing side-by-side. “Thank you for the barrier, Snail. Scoot, we have a lesson to teach.”
Scoot gave Snail a look, and the young man nodded. “Told you you’d get it,” she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before following her retreating Master to the lesson room. When they got there, the older man gave her a look.
“I know, I know. Don’t fight with other Apprentices,” she said in a tone that suggested she had said this many times before. She had.
Baelfire sighed, sitting down and rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Look, Scoot,” he said, “I understand why you do what you do.”
“Do you?” she accused.
“I know about Sunlight, Scoot,” he said softly. She froze at the name, eliciting an involuntary whimper. “I’ve known since he died. The first person Snail came to is me, and he’s lucky. Any other Master would have had him tried for murder.”
“Why are you mentioning this now?” Scoot asked.
“I’m mentioning because there are three people who know. You, Snail, and me.” The man sighed, feeling like he’d gained a decade since the beginning of their talk. “Nobody else understands why you do what you do. They can’t, they don’t know.”
“They won’t know,” Scoot said firmly. “I don’t need their pity.”
“Scoot, if you get in one more fight, you’ll be expelled and charged for assault. Charged for each and every one of your fights.” The young girl sharply sucked in a breath. “Yeah, that would be bad. That’s over a dozen counts of assault, and no Master or University to defend you.”
“Why are you mentioning this to me now, rather than before?” she accused.
“Because I’m sending you on a graduation exercise in a few days,” he said simply. “If you aren’t in the University, you can’t assault any more Apprentices. Once you graduate, you’ll never have to see them again.”
The young woman started shaking. “But–but, what about Snail? He wouldn’t be there.”
“I’ve talked with his Master, and she agrees that some time in the field would do wonders for his casting speed, especially with you around to keep him from dying should he not be fast enough,” Baelfire said. “She’ll be telling him during his lesson today, and if he does well enough he’ll be graduated right next to you..”
“And my sisters?” she asked, sighing with relief. “What about them?”
“I planted the idea into their Masters’ heads,” he said. “The rest is out of my hands.”
“Alright. What’s my exercise?” she asked.
“There are five artifacts connected to one of the items at this University,” he said. “We’ve been looking magically for them, but to no avail. They don’t seem to want to be found. What I need you to do is find one of them, physically, and bring it back to me. If we have two of them, we might be able to find the other four.”
“And if you can’t find it, what makes you think I will be able to?” Scoot asked.
“Because I know what they look like,” Baelfire said with a smile. “They’re necklaces made of gold with large gemstones placed in them. One of them is a red lightning bolt, one is a blue balloon, one is a orange apple with green leaves, one is a purple diamond, and the last one is a pink butterfly. They are very distinct, and shouldn’t be too hard to find.”
Scoot sighed, “Fine. I’ll find you one of these necklaces. They better be worth it, though.”
Baelfire smirked. “Oh, trust me. They will be more than worth it.”
As the young woman was leaving the room, her Master called after her, “Scoot?”
She turned around. “Yeah?”
“Don’t tell anyone what you’re looking for. These are incredibly powerful artifacts, and the fewer people that know of their existence, the better.”
“Even my sisters?” she asked.
“Even them,” he confirmed. “I know it won’t be easy, but I trust you.”
Scoot nodded, walking out to pack. She was leaving in a few days.
—*~*~*—
“Again. Be graceful. There is no point in learning to use that blade as a magical focus if you can’t flow around your enemy’s guard and attacks,” Belle’s Master said, whipping the young woman with the flat of a blade for the third time in as many minutes.
“Sorry, master,” Belle said as she danced around the next attack
“Don’t apologise, improve,” her Master said, swinging again.
After a few minutes of this, Light called for a break. She sat down next to her apprentice, sighing. “You’re good at this, Belle. I don’t know if I told you or not.”
“You haven’t, but I really think of myself as an average caster,” the younger woman said.
“Average casters are the best at being swordmages, and don’t let anyone tell you different,” the Master said, ruffling he Apprentice’s hair. “Who else would spend the time to learn how to use a bunch of average spells to their best effect?”
Belle giggled, batting Light’s hand away from her hair. “You have a point.”
“I know I have a point,” the older mage said. “I always have a point, even if it isn’t obvious at first.” She sighed before asking, “Belle, do you think you’re ready to go outside the University?”
The young woman paused before replying, “I don’t think I’ll ever truly think I’m ready, but I could probably not die within a few weeks.”
Light nodded. “Master Baelfire talked with me yesterday,” she said. “He’s sending Scoot on her graduation exercise in a few days. He managed to convince Snail’s Master to send him out with her, and wants Partition and I to send you girls out with your sister.” Belle screwed her face up at the mention of Baelfire. Her Master noticed this and commented, “I know you don’t like him, though I can’t fathom why, but this is not for him. It’s for her.”
“She’s been different since she became his apprentice. More reserved,” the young mage said. “There’s something she’s not telling us. Something important. I think it has to do with Baelfire and Sunlight.”
“Sunlight disappeared seven years ago,” Light said. “Not even the Archmage could divine his location. He just saw the poor boy’s room every time.”
“Then comes Snail,” Belle said. “Literally days after Sunlight disappeared, she started dating again. Something is off, here, but she deflects all questions I aim at her.”
“Have you tried asking Baelfire or Snail?” the Master asked. “They might know something about it.”
“If it does involve them, I don’t want them to know I’m onto them.” Belle sighed. “I’m just worried for her. I think she’s hurting, but she’s just been pushing Twi and me away.”
Light thought for a second, before asking, “Why haven’t you brought this up before?”
“It’s never been relevant. It feels like family business,” was the reply.
“I can tell you that Baelfire is not the kind of man to hurt a woman,” the older woman said. “Unless I’ve got him pegged all wrong, this is not directly his fault.”
The young woman sighed. After a moment she said, “I want to go out with them when they leave. Once we’re away from the University, I can finally get some answers from them.”
“If that’s what you want to do, I can’t stop you. You should probably pack your stuff now so you’re ready when he calls for you. Your assignment is to help your sisters complete their assignments. Come back when they’re done.”
Belle nodded, standing up to go pack.
—*~*~*—
“Spike, where are you hiding?” Twilight asked, opening the next drawer in her dresser. “Master needs us soon!” She ruffled through the clothes in the drawer, finding no wyrmling. “How do you hide so well? You’re three feet long and purple!”
She opened up another drawer, and was met with a small purple dragon lounging in her undergarments. He gave her a guilty look as she glared at him. “We’re going to be late if we don’t leave. Now.”
The dragon more than got the point, jumping up onto Twilight’s shoulder. She groaned as he climbed into the ever-present backpack, “You’re getting too heavy for this, Spike.” She got a hiss from the dragon in response.
The young woman rolled her eyes before grabbing her spellbook and dashing out the door. There were two girls walking down the hall at that moment. One of them tried to flag her down. “Twilight, we’re holding a party—”
“Sorry!” the woman in question said running past the duo. “Can’t stop! Late!”
“Harumph,” the girls said. “She could at least pretend to be sociable.”
Twilight didn’t hear them, having already dashed around the corner. She ran right into a mountain of black, falling flat on her rump.
“Ah, Twilight,” the mountain said. “Just the woman I was looking for.”
“Master Partition!” Twilight exclaimed. “Sorry I’m late!”
“You aren’t late, Twilight. We weren’t scheduled to start for another five minutes,” the Master mage said. “I was actually hoping to speak with you.”
“What do you need?” she asked.
“What do you know of Apprentice Sunlight?” he asked her bluntly.
“I know as much as anyone elses. He dated Scoot for a year and a half before disappearing seven years ago,” she said. “Why?”
“I have reason to believe he’s dead,” Partition said.
“Dead? But they couldn’t find a body!” the young mage exclaimed.
“You know as well as I do that there is more than one way to utterly destroy someone’s corpse after they’re dead.” He had a somber tone to his voice. “Master Baelfire came to me yesterday. He’s sending out Scoot for a graduation exercise.”
“That’s great news!” Twilight said, clapping her hands together. “She’ll graduate, and she’ll be away from all the other Apprentices that like to aggravate her.”
“He’s gotten Snail’s Master to agree to send him with her,” he said.
Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “How is this an issue? The two of them are nearly inseparable.”
“Let’s step into your room, shall we? This is not a conversation that needs to be overheard.”
Twilight nodded, walking back into her room. When the Master shut the door, he immediately cast a spell. “There, now nobody can hear what we’re saying.” He sighed, sitting down at the chair Twilight used when at her desk. “I have reason to believe that the rumors of a Cult of the Dark One are more than just rumors.”
Twilight gasped, “What?”
The older mage nodded his head. “I also believe that Baelfire is a member.”
Twilight’s mind froze. “What.”
“Listen to my evidence. It’s all circumstantial, but if any of it is true, it would be damning,” the Master pleaded.
Twilight nodded, eyes wide. This was huge.
Partition sighed, “Thank you, Twilight. The Archmage laughed at me when I even suggested that there was a Cult of the Dark One.”
“This is big, I have to at least hear your evidence before dismissing the idea,” Twilight replied.
The Master nodded. “Here’s the problem. I think this Cult is everywhere. The Dark One always seems to know just where we’re vulnerable. It seems to always get around our best defenses.” He sighed. “I caught Baelfire trying to sneak into the Archmage’s room when the old man was out a few years back. I thought nothing of it, every one of us has been in there without the old man’s knowledge at one point. It’s expected of us since it sharpens our skills at detecting and disabling magic without leaving a trace. The thing is, Light also caught him trying to sneak into the Archmage’s room, but she caught him three times over the last few years. I also caught him attempting to do so again a few weeks past.
“That man is after something in the Archmage’s room, and I think I know what.” When he was done, Twilight was sitting on her bed, being unable to stand out of shock. Partition stood up, reaching into his robes. He pulled out a tiara made of gold. Ovoid blue gems studded the band that would rest upon its wearer’s head, while complexly spiraling wires held up another gem, this one a massive light pinkish-purple six-pointed star bordered by a thin layer of gold.
Twilight let out a low whistle of appreciation at the crown, as much from the craftsmanship as from the high levels of magic she could feel radiating from it.
“This is the most powerful magic item in the entire University,” Partition said. “Maybe even in the world. Like all enchanted items, it has a personality. However, it is an artifact, therefore it has a complete personality. It wants to get out of here. It wants to leave with you.”
Twilight held up her hands between herself and the crown. “Woah, woah, woah. What? Slow down, Master.”
Her master sighed. Taking a deep breath he started again, “This is the Crown of Harmony. It is connected to another five artifacts around the world, but we haven’t found them. Not for lack of trying. I want you to find at least one more of these artifacts and keep it and the Crown as far away from Baelfire as you can.”
Twilight nodded, slipping the tiara in her backpack with Spike. “What was that about Sunlight, though?”
“I believe that Baelfire is trying to convert his apprentices,” the Master said. “And I think that Sunlight found him out and tried to warn Scoot.”
“And you think Scoot might be a member, don’t you?” Twilight asked, frowning. As much as it hurt to admit, it made sense.
“It’s a distinct probability. Someone killed that poor boy, and I believe it was either Baelfire or Scoot. I also believe she converted Snail, as well.” The older mage stood up. “Don’t let anyone know what you’re doing, not Scoot, not even Belle. This is something you have to keep utmost secrecy on. If these artifacts became common knowledge, there would be all kinds of hell as everyone tried to grab them.”
“Yes, Master,” Twilight sighed.
“Now go pack, you have a long walk ahead of you.”
—*~*~*—
“Yo, Twi!” Scoot shouted as the her sister approached the front gates of the University.
“Hey, Scoot,” Twilight said, smiling. “You ready to go?”
“Ready? I’m more than ready!” Scoot was bouncing in place.
“Calm yourself, Scoot,” Belle said from behind Twilight. “Are we all ready to go?”
“Nah, we still gotta wait for Snail,” Scoot said. “I swear, if that boy wasn’t as cute as he is I might lose patience with him.”
A slow voice said, “Glad to know I mean so much to you, Scoot.”
The girl squealed and glomped the taller man. He backed up a step, before smiling sheepishly at the other girls. He didn’t miss the glare that Belle was giving him as he returned the enthusiastic hug. He spoke up, “Is everyone ready?”
“Now that you’re here, I’m good,” Scoot said, letting go of the young man.
“I’ve got my stuff,” Belle said measuredly. “I’m ready whenever you girls are.” Snail didn’t miss that he wasn’t included in her blanket statement.
“I’m ready if you all are,” Twilight said. “You got your stuff, Snail?”
The young man in question took a few seconds to reply, “Yep.”
“Awesome!” Scoot exclaimed. “Let’s get moving then!”
As the four started walking, Belle settled in next to Twilight, “I don’t trust Snail. Not one bit.”
“What?” Twilight exclaimed quietly. “Why not? He seems like a nice guy.”
“Think about it, Sunlight disappears and suddenly she’s dating him?” Belle said. “It just smells fishy to me.”
Twilight sighs, “Partition thinks Sunlight was killed, but I don’t know what to think.”
“Does he have any evidence?” Belle asked.
“Just circumstantial,” Twilight said. “Nothing solid.”
Belle nodded, looking at the two walking in front of them, arm in arm. “I think Snail did it.”
“Why?” the older woman asked.
“He just happened to be there to swing in and comfort Scoot after Sunlight vanished into thin air?” Belle said with aggravation. “Something doesn’t add up.”
“It will all make sense soon,” Twilight said.
“I sure hope so,” Belle replied. “Because if it doesn’t, I don’t know what I’ll do.”