//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Beyond the Portal // by Firestar463 //------------------------------// Pain. This was the first thing Matthias felt as he awoke from his slumber. Not the dull, aching pain of sore muscles, but sharp, excruciating, debilitating pain. His right shoulder felt like it was on fire, and his chest like a Tauren had punched a hole through him. He was weak. So weak. He could barely keep his lungs breathing in and out - even such a menial, automatic task required a great effort. Every other task was next to impossible. Around him, voices spoke, but their words were fuzzy and unintelligible. Not that he had the strength to care what they were saying. Finally, he summoned the willpower to open his eyes. He was laying in a building that instantly brought forth a small, weak smile. The Cathedral… he thought to himself as the pain in his chest eased ever so slightly. Looking up and to his right, Matthias saw another Human standing over him. She was draped in snow-white robes, and her hands were surrounded by a golden energy. “Sweet Light! He’s awake!” she called out. Instantly half a dozen others crowded around him. Matthias saw a Night Elf Druid, two other priests - one Draenei, one Human - a Dwarf Shaman, and two Human Monks that he recognized from his brother's training group. Instead of choosing the way of the Windwalker, these two had elected to become Mistweavers. “How’re ye feelin’ lad?” The shaman asked. “What… what happened to me?” he asked. “You were shot. Twice” The Druid replied as the other Priests knelt beside him and murmured their own prayers. “You are lucky to be alive.” What… where is my brother?” he asked, glancing around. The two Monks exchanged worried glances. One stepped forward, not meeting his eyes. “I… when you were shot… he flew into a rage.” He said slowly. “I’ve never seen anybody so angry before. He ran into the portal after them.” “So he led the charge and pushed them back to where they came from.” he grinned weakly. “That’s my bro…” “No… we didn’t. We dared not follow.” The other Monk replied quietly. “The Portal was so unstable… it was firing off to Celestials know where. Kyle went… alone. We don’t know if he made it to the other side, or even where that other side is. I’m sorry. He’s… gone.” Matthias froze. Shock rippled through his battered body. For a moment, nothing moved. Suddenly, a scream was torn from his lips. Despite his body’s agonized protests, he tried to push himself up. The Dwarf tried to hold him down, but Matthias’s right fist quickly made contact with his head, sending the Shaman flying. The Priests quickly backed away, looking around fearfully, while the Monks tried to restrain Matthias, to no avail. One by one, they were both flung away as he thrashed around, intent on taking out his fury and hatred on anything around him. “Sedate him!” The Druid took a step backwards, and his hands glowed with green energy. “I’m sorry. This is for your own good.” He murmured as a burst of green energy flew from his hands towards Matthias. Matthias felt his eyelids instantly grow heavy, and his limbs grew weak once more. “Rest. The hibernation will lift in a week. You must conserve what little energy you have” The Druid said softly. “ I’m so sorry…” Matthias flailed his arms one last time, in a desperate bid to stave off the Hibernate spell the Druid had cast on him. His flailing upset his balance, and he slid to his left, off of the bed he had been laying on. He fell face-first onto the polished stone floor… ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WHAM! Kyle jolted back to his senses as pain shot through his face. Still shaking the slumber from his body, Kyle just lay there. He didn’t seem to mind that he had just rolled out of bed and slammed into the hard wooden floor. Tears flowed freely from his eyes, but they were not tears of pain Kyle’s mind was abuzz with thought and emotion. That dream had been of his brother - there was no doubt about that. But had it truely been a simple dream? It had all seemed so real, so lifelike… But visions didn’t come to Monks. The Light granted visions to Priests and occasionally Paladins, and Shaman were often granted visions by their Ancestors, but there was no record of a Monk ever having a vision like that… The door to Kyle’s room burst open, jolting Kyle from his thoughts. He quickly wiped his eyes as Twilight charged into the room, her horn glowing with a purple aura. “What’s going on?” she demanded. “I heard a crash. Is everything okay?” “Relax Twilight.” Kyle said, his voice only cracking slightly. He opened his mouth again to explain, but hesitated for a split second. Though he was tempted to tell Twilight his suspicions about this dream, something told him not to. Why, he didn’t know, but a voice in the back of his mind kept him from opening up to her. “I had a… a strange dream.” he told a partial truth. “I rolled out of bed and hit the floor. Nothing major.” Twilight raised an eyebrow, and for a moment Kyle was afraid she would enquire further. To his relief, her horn stopped glowing, and her eyes softened. “Alright. I thought it might have been the Sha…” “No.” Kyle shook his head. “I haven’t heard a peep from them since the incident at Filthy Rich’s manor ten days ago.” Indeed, the Sha had been very quiet since the Sha of Greed had been driven away. Not much had occurred during that time at all, which did little to reassure Kyle. He and Twilight both knew that this lull could only mean that the Sha were gathering their strength. “Right. Well, the sun came up just a few minutes ago, so we might as well get this day started.” Twilight said, stifling a yawn. Kyle nodded in response, and Twilight walked out, headed down the stairs towards the main floor of the library. Kyle quickly changed into one of the new outfits Rarity had made for him - a white, short-sleeved shirt and a pair of blue pants made of a material called Denim. He grabbed his belt and headed towards the bathroom. A few minutes later Kyle emerged, freshly-shaven and much relieved, with his belt and elixirs strapped firmly around his waist. Downstairs, he could smell Spike cooking breakfast. He headed down the stairs and into the kitchen, and sure enough, Spike was sliding a pancake off of the pan and onto a plate already stacked high. Spike grabbed the plate and moved it to the table, where Twilight was pouring orange juice. Already at the table were three plates with fried eggs and assorted fruits, with Spike’s also including a few small jewels. The three sat down and began to eat and talk. “I forgot to ask.” Kyle said as he took a sip of orange juice. “How did your trip to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters yesterday go, Twilight?” “It went fine.” Twilight replied. “Everypony else decided it would be a good idea to show up that day as well. They all wound up scaring themselves silly, and Pinkie kept accidentally activating trapdoors and stuff on them by playing an organ in the basement, but otherwise it was pretty uneventful. No tips on creating an inter-planetary portal, or any mention of the box. Though I did find a diary that belonged to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna when they were little fillies.” “And you got so enthralled in it that you didn’t hear the organ music or our friends screeching in fear.” Spike added, which caused Twilight to look away in embarrassment. Spike merely chuckled. “So, what’s on the agenda for us today?” he asked, popping a small garnet into his mouth. “Well, I was going to spend today working on the portal spell again.” Twilight said, glancing over at Kyle. “I’ve found a theoretically possible way to do it, but it would require at least a million Unicorns to open it for any length of time - more to hold it open long enough to send somepony through. And then we’d need even more power to direct where the portal opened to… To make such a spell even reasonably doable, we need to find a way to cut the mana requirements dramatically without sacrificing stability.” “You use mana for your magic?” Kyle asked, his ears perking up. “Many magic users on Azeroth draw upon mana as well. Can you explain how it works here?” “Sure…” Twilight replied, swallowing her bite of egg. “Mana is an energy source that flows through all things, living or otherwise. There are also ‘rivers’ of mana that criss-cross all over Equuis, underneath the surface, called leylines. Unicorns and Alicorns draw mana from the air or our surroundings for our basic spells like telekinesis, and from the leylines for our more advanced magic.” “Huh…” Kyle mused, rubbing his chin. “That sounds identical to mana on Azeroth, and how many of Azeroth’s magic users fuel their magic. Mages, for instance, and some Mistweaver spells also operate in the same fashion. We have to study the leyline layout for years before we can use leylines to fuel our magic, though.” “Fascinating.” Twilight murmured, scribbling on a nearby piece of paper. “Unicorns and Alicorns are born with a natural instinct that tells us the layout of the leylines, which is necessary to draw energy from them. Quite convenient.” For a moment, no one spoke, and the trio ate in silence. Finally, Twilight spoke up again. “So yeah, that’s my day. How about you, Spike?” “Well, I’d say relaxing, but knowing how you get when you’re working on a big project, I’d imagine I’ll be running errands for you all day.” he smirked. “Other than that, the new issue of Power Ponies came out, so I’m gonna go get that and start on it.” Twilight rolled her eyes at the mention of Spike’s comic books, but said nothing about it. “And how about you Kyle?” she asked. “Well… Scootaloo asked me to go see her.” he admitted. He had told Twilight the other day about him teaching Scootaloo meditation, and while her reaction had been mild, Kyle could tell Twilight wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of Kyle training Scootaloo to be a Monk. “And why’s that?” Yep, there it was, the slight frown and the tension in her voice. “I’d think she and the other crusaders would be off getting into trouble.” “Well, Sweetie Belle is visiting her grandparents over in Baltimare, and Applebloom is busy on the farm until this afternoon.” Kyle explained. “I think she wants me to see how well her meditation is coming along.” Twilight sighed. “Alright, but please be careful.” she said. “I know you mean well, but remember that she’s just a little filly. She doesn’t need to learn how to fight.” “I’m just showing her how to keep herself calm.” Kyle countered. An awkward silence hung in the air as the trio finished their breakfast. It was Spike’s turn to do the dishes, so he started cleaning up the table. Twilight wandered off to the bookshelves and began looking for books to help her on her project, and Kyle walked over to the door and headed out into town. The walk from the library to Scootaloo’s house was pleasant. It was a beautiful saturday morning, and everyone was out and about. The Ponies of Ponyville seemed to have adjusted quite well to the alien living among them, especially after word got out that he had saved Filthy Rich from a monster. While details about the incident were not known by the general public, the knowledge that Kyle had saved one of their own seemed to reassure them that he meant them no harm. While he didn’t know many of them very well, he got a few smiles and even a wave or two as he walked through the town. Kyle reached Scootaloo’s house after about fifteen minutes. He was able to make it out much more clearly than that night he had brought Scootaloo home. Though he had to travel through a somewhat run-down part of town to reach it, her house was fairly cozy-looking and well-kept. Kyle walked up to the door and knocked, and a moment later the door swung open, revealing an orange-coated mare. “Oh. Hello… uh… Kyle, was it?” she asked. Kyle nodded. “Yes. Is Scootaloo home? She asked me to pick her up for something.” “Oh… yes, she’s upstairs in the bath.” the mare replied. “I’m Autumn Wave, her mother. She did say something about going out with a friend… Oh! Please, come in. Hoof Brake and I wanted to speak to you anyway. “ Kyle felt his heartbeat quicken slightly, but did not allow his calm visage to falter. He followed Autumn Wave inside and sat down at the kitchen table. While she went to go get her husband, Kyle looked around the house. Like the exterior, the house was quite cozy. It was a bit bigger inside than it looked from the outside, with plenty of room for three ponies to live comfortably. Kyle could faintly hear water running upstairs. Hoofsteps from the hallway drew Kyle’s attention, and he stood again as Hoof Break and Autumn Wave walked back into the room. “Ah, Kyle Slater. I’ve been meaning to have a word with you.” Hoof Break said, his eyes never leaving Kyle’s as the trio sat back down. Kyle remained silent, so hoof Break continued. “Scootaloo has… changed, somewhat.” he said slowly. “It all started that night you brought her back. She… well, you’ve probably seen how emotional she can be. I’m afraid part of that is our fault.” Hoof Break sighed and looked away. “We’re both very busy with our jobs.” Autumn Wave continued. “Hoof Break works at a sports shop repairing scooters and other equipment, and they’re short-staffed. He often has to work late nights and weekends. I’m a researcher for Canterlot University. Both of our jobs keep us very busy, and we don’t get to spend as much time with Scootaloo as we’d like. It’s made her feel very… independent, and she doesn’t like to be reminded that a filly her age still needs adult supervision. She sometimes gets angry when we help her with something.” “She was very emotional.” Hoof Break sighed. “She’s learned to do a lot of things by herself in our absence, but she hadn’t learned how to handle not doing things on her own. But ever since that night you brought her home, something has… changed. She’s much less volatile now, more calm. She doesn’t get angry as easily. Even her grades have gotten better, and Cheerilee has said that her behavior in class has improved dramatically.” “And we can’t help but notice that this all started the night you brought her home.” Autumn Wave murmured. “So, I must ask you, Kyle. Do you know what could have done this? What could have calmed our daughter like this?” Kyle paused for a moment, and then nodded. “Yes. I taught her something on the way home that night. Something that’s helped me many, many times. It’s a technique called meditation. In its most basic form, meditation is the search for inner peace. Practicing it helps to calm yourself and restrain your emotions, especially negative emotions such as anger. I showed Scootaloo how to meditate after she had one of her… outbursts.” “And how does this… meditation… work?” Hoof Brake asked suspiciously. “Is it dangerous?” “Not at all.” Kyle replied. “It involves turning your mind inward and focusing on nothing. To remove all thought and emotion from your mind for a time, and find peace within. It is not dangerous at all, to either the one meditating or to those around him. Quite the opposite, in fact. It allows you to remain calm in a stressful situation, and if done before bed, can help you get to sleep faster and sleep deeper.” “I see…” Hoof Break murmured, his eyes going out of focus as he lost himself in thought. “Well, if it’s not dangerous… then I suppose thanks are in order.” Autumn Wave smiled. “We were beginning to get worried about Scootaloo’s temper. We were actually thinking of taking her to a psychiatrist. But if you’ve taught her a way to control her temper, then I suppose that’s not needed anymore. You’ve done the three of us more good than you can imagine.” Hoof Brake nodded in agreement. Kyle smiled, but his eyes went slightly out of focus as his mind buzzed with thought. If Scootaloo was already showing such a marked improvement in her temperament after not even two weeks… after only one very short supervised training session where she was taught the absolute basics, and then eleven days of unsupervised, unscheduled, self-imposed practice... Hoofsteps from the stairs drew Kyle back to reality. Scootaloo was trotting down the stairs, her mane still damp. “Hey mom, dad… oh, Kyle, you’re here!” she exclaimed, sounding excited. “Come on, let’s go! I wanna show you how I’m doing!” She bolted out the front door. Kyle shook his head and chuckled. “I’ll try to make sure she’s not out as late as last time.” he promised, waving goodbye to Scootaloo’s parents as he followed her out the door. Scootaloo was already halfway down the street as Kyle closed the door. He grinned and ran to the street before diving into a roll after her. He gathered his Chi in his feet as he rolled, and when he landed, he immediately launched into a Flying Serpent Kick. He landed only a few yards behind the still-running Scootaloo, and a second roll put him even with her. “Slow down there, squirt.” he chuckled, jumping in front of her. “But I wanna show you how I’m doing with that meditation stuff!” she pouted. “I know, but there’s a slight problem with that.” Kyle replied. “For me to see really how well you’re doing, we’d need to distance ourselves about a mile from any other intelligent creature.” “Well, why don’t we go into the forest?” Scootaloo asked. “I’ve wanted to see that clearing where you came into Equuis, anyway!” Kyle shook his head. “Bad idea.” he said. “The forest is a dangerous place.” “Come on! You fought off a pack of Timber Wolves! You fought off some big nasty monster attacking Mr. Rich! Anything in there will know not to mess with you! Besides, it’s only a few minutes into the forest, I’ve been told. It’s not like we’re going deep in.” This gave Kyle a pause. Scootaloo had a point. At his current, full strength, he was tough enough to fend off any threat in the forest’s outer edges besides the Sha, and those announced their presence miles in advance. Kyle reached out and found that there were still no Sha nearby that he could detect. “Alright, fine.” he conceded. “But only on one condition. While we’re there, you do as I say.” “No problem!” Scootaloo said happily. “I mean it.” Kyle warned. “If I tell you to stay still, you stay still. If I tell you to hide, you hide. If I tell you to leave me and save yourself, you get out of there. Understood?” This caused Scootaloo to pause. Finally, she nodded her head, more slowly this time. “Alright.” “Alright. Then let’s go.” Kyle sighed, walking towards Fluttershy’s house. The trek to Fluttershy’s house took about ten minutes. From there, Kyle was able to retrace his steps from his first day in Equestria through the forest. About ten minutes later, he and Scootaloo emerged into the clearing. The ground and trees still bore scorch marks, but plant life was growing once more. Kyle saw the tree he had slammed into and winced, the dent his forehead had put into it still clearly showing. “Wow…” Scootaloo gasped, looking at one of the trees. “Looks like something exploded here…” “It did.” Kyle replied. “The portal that brought me here closed in a rather… violent manner. Didn’t leave me unscathed, either. My head did that.” he said, pointing to the dent. Scootaloo groaned in sympathy, flinching away slightly. The pair fell silent for a moment as Kyle reached out through the Chi around him. There were still no Sha anywhere nearby, nor any other sentient creature. “Alright. This is far enough. Now, I’d like you to meditate. I will observe and see what progress you have made.” Scootaloo sat down in a manner very similar to how Kyle had first showed her, her hind legs crossed beneath her and her forelegs on the ground beside her. She leaned her back against a nearby tree to balance herself, and she closed her eyes. Before Kyle’s eyes, she visibly relaxed, the tension flowing from her body. Kyle sat down next to her, assumed a similar position, and began meditating as well, reaching out to the Chi around him. As usual, his vision flashed through the eyes of hundreds of creatures around him. One mind that he kept revisiting, however, stood out from them. Scootaloo’s mind glowed among the others like a beacon, her intelligence making her much more noticeable than the nearby ants, spiders, and other insects. This was why they had needed to isolate themselves - any other sentient creature nearby would have made seeing her progress much more difficult. Through repeated glimpses through her mind, Kyle could see how well she was progressing. What he saw nearly shocked him out of his meditation. Scootaloo’s mind was not riddled with the turbulence and emotion he had seen on her face during her first attempt. Instead, it was calm - like a pond on a windless day. By the Titans… How has she made so much progress so quickly… More shocking, however, was what was in Scootaloo’s mind. As Kyle flickered in and out of her mind repeatedly, he felt… something. As if she was seeing something that she could never see before. Surprise rippled through Kyle as he began to deduce just what that was. Kyle broke himself out of his meditation, and his eyes shot open. He took a moment to allow his stomach to calm after the unsettling sunsations brought on by his mediation. Once he felt better, he nudged Scootaloo, who frowned before opening her eyes. “Well? How am I doing?” she asked, her eyes shining. “I… uh… I’ll be honest with you here Scootaloo, I’m… shocked.” Kyle said quietly. “I have never - NEVER - seen, or even heard about anyone progressing so quickly. The progress you have made…. it takes most Monks at least six months to accomplish what you have done in less than two weeks.” Scootaloo’s eyes shot wide open, and a big grin appeared on her face. “Really?!” she exclaimed. “Yeah. And this also concerns me.” he replied, causing Scootaloo’s grin to vanish. “Progress this fast would leave very little time to train you in other things. It might be hard for you to do this, but… slow down a bit with your progress.” Kyle chuckled slightly. “After all, we can’t have you becoming more adept than me too quickly, now, can we?” Scootaloo grinned once more. Before she could speak, Kyle cut her off. “Most astonishing is something I sensed in your mind as you meditated. It felt as though you were seeing something you were unused to seeing. Can you explain to me just what that might be?” Scootaloo hesitated for a moment. “I… When I’m meditating… If I try really, really hard, I can… see things.” she admitted. “Like.. Other Ponies. Even through walls. And you. I could see you while I was meditating just now, even with my eyes closed. Do you… Can you tell me what that is? Why that’s happening?” Kyle nodded, his suspicions confirmed. “I can indeed. That is what I thought you were seeing, or something similar. You have taken your first steps into seeing and manipulating Chi, a feat that takes most Monks at least a year of hard, dedicated training.” “What’s Chi?” “Chi is the life-energy of the universe. It resides in all living things, from the tiniest ant to the largest Dragon. And not just animals, but plants, and fungi as well. It surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds universe together. “ “So I was sensing… your Chi? Your life energy?” Scootaloo asked, her eyes wide. “I believe so, yes. As I have said before, this is a remarkable feat for one so young and untrained.” “So, I can… sense Chi, if I try really hard.. What does this mean for me?” Scootaloo asked. “A good question.” Kyle replied. “Sensing Chi can be very useful to determine whether someone is injured or sick, though I doubt you’ll have to worry about that too much. It can also be used to detect nearby threats, though again, I doubt you’ll ever use it for that purpose. More commonly, Chi can be manipulated in a way similar to mana to perform feats of magic.” Scootaloo’s shoulders sagged, and a frown formed on her face. “What’s wrong?”Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow. “That won’t be happening with me.” She said sadly. “Pegasi can’t do magic. Everypony knows that. Only Unicorns and Alicorns have the natural apti… abtut… Ability, to manipulate mana.” “But this isn’t mana.” Kyle smirked. “This is Chi. They are similar, and yet very different at the same time. I know that only those with natural ability can tap into mana for magic. However, anyone with the proper training can use Chi, natural aptitude or not. I know at least two Monks back on Azeroth who have no ability to manipulate mana at all. Can’t even sense it. But they can still use Chi, and very effectively.” “Really?” Scootaloo asked, her ears perking up. “So I’ll be able to do magic like a Unicorn can?” “Not entirely.” Kyle replied. “It won’t be the same as a Unicorn. Monks and Unicorns draw from different power sources, so our spells are different. However, yes, if you learn to control Chi, you will be able to do some magic.” “Awesome!” Scootaloo exclaimed. She began bouncing up and down excitedly, but stopped suddenly. “Hey… how long did it take you to first sense Chi?” she asked. “About three months.” Kyle admitted. “All the Monks before me had not been Human, but another race called Pandaren. When our races encountered each other, they began to teach us the ways of the Tushui - A more calm and collected Monk style than the more reckless Huojin. But I digress. I was the first Human to sense Chi, and it took me about three -” Kyle paused, his entire body going tense. Throughout his talk with Scootaloo, he had kept his senses open, searching the surrounding area for anything amiss. Something was now definitely wrong. Something had just appeared at the edge of his conscious, from deep within the forest. Something dark and evil. It only flickered through his senses for a split-second, but it was enough to cause the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end. The Sha were nearby. “Scootaloo, we have to get out of here. Now.” Kyle said, his voice tense and leaving no room for argument. “Something’s out there.” Scootaloo’s eyes went wide, and she turned to leave. The leaves nearby rustled, and she screamed, bolting out of the clearing. Kyle jumped as well, and fled after her. Neither of them were around to see the rabbit hop out of the undergrowth. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “Not a word of what happened today to anyone.” Kyle said quietly, sipping on his peach smoothie. “The last thing we need is for the two of us to get in trouble for going into the forest. Understand?” he asked, peering over the table at the young filly. Scootaloo nodded, swallowing her own mouthful of strawberry-banana smoothie. “Got it.” she replied. Silence descended over the pair as Pinkie Pie arrived, bringing them their lunches. After they had escaped the forest and caught their breath, Kyle and Scootaloo had decided to drop by Sugarcube Corner for lunch. They both needed something to calm their nerves, and the smoothies had definitely done the trick. For the main course, Scootaloo had gotten an apple fritter, while Kyle had gotten a BLT (With non-meat bacon, to his disappointment). “So… what now?” Scootaloo asked. “Like, what do I do now to keep training?” Kyle swallowed a bite of his sandwich. “Just keep meditating.” he replied. “For most Monks, at this point we’d be training you how to fight, but because you’ve progressed so quickly, we’re going to hold off on that.” Kyle neglected to mention that he didn’t particularly want to teach Scootaloo how to fight due to her age - She’d likely get angry again if she knew the real reason for him not teaching her to fight. The Pony sitting at the table behind Kyle sneezed loudly, causing him to jump. Scootaloo snickered as Kyle tried to play it off unsuccessfully. “So the mighty Monk can take on Timber Wolves, but a single sneeze and he’s all afraid?” “Surprised.” Kyle huffed as the Pony sneezed again, her breathing slightly wheezy. “Any idea who that is, by the way?” he asked, reaching out to sense her Chi. “She sounds kinda… sick.” Kyle glanced behind himself to look at the Pony, who had a pale yellow coat, a main and tail with two different shades of pink, and a rose-shaped cutie mark. “That’s Roseluck.” Scootaloo replied. “As for her being sick… I dunno, she seemed fine when I saw her yesterday.” “Hmmm…” Kyle mused. Roseluck’s Chi was fine - she wasn’t sick, but there was definitely something wrong. Her breathing had become even more ragged. Kyle glanced behind him and saw her hunched over, trying to stand back up. She collapsed to the ground and started clutching at her throat. Her face had begun to swell, and she was slowly turning blue. “Oh fu- MEDIC!” Kyle cried out, diving to kneel next to her. She was still not sick in the traditional sense of having an infection, but something was upsetting her body in a massive way. Her immune system was overreacting to the point of killing her. Everyone in the restaurant was now crowded around the pair, and panic was starting to break out. Kyle forced himself to calm down and took a deep breath. There was only one explanation for this that he could think of - Roseluck was allergic to something in the food. Energy flowed through his body, and his hands glowed electric blue before a tendril of blue energy seeped from his hands over Roseluck’s throat. Silence descended upon the crowd as energy swirled from Kyle’s hands, continuing to pour into Roseluck. Her throat and face began to shrink back down as brown particles flew from her body, swirling together to form a ball hovering over her. She gasped for breath as her airways relaxed, allowing her to breath again. This process continued for several minutes before the brown particles stopped flowing out of her. The ball was now about a quarter the size of Kyle’s fist. Kyle cut off the flow of energy, and the blue magic faded. The ball of brown goop landed next to him as he fell backwards, his eyes growing incredibly heavy. Performing a Detox without Mana was an incredibly laborious task for a Monk, and the experience left Kyle drained of energy for a few minutes. Eventually, Kyle opened his eyes again. He was still laying on the ground, but Roseluck was gone. He lifted his head just in time to see her being carried out on a stretcher by a Unicorn’s magic. Kyle pushed himself back into a sitting position and picked up the ball of allergens that had nearly killed Roseluck. It was completely solid, with no moisture to be found. The breeze from the open door brought a smell of peanuts from the ball to Kyle’s nose. Kyle took aim and hurled it at a nearby trash can, where it landed with a loud rattling sound. Another Unicorn approached Kyle from the doorway. He had a light yellow coat with a brown mane and tail, a pair of glasses resting on his nose, and a strange-looking cutie mark that resembled a green box with a jagged yellow line running across it. “Mr. Slater, are you alright?” he asked, walking around Kyle and examining him for any injuries. “Nothing that a nap won’t fix.” Kyle replied, pushing himself to his feet. “A Detox without mana isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do, but I’ll be fine.” “Well, I’d say you should come with me to the hospital anyway, but since you know your own anatomy better than we do…” the unicorn replied, trailing off into a quiet mumble. “My apologies. I am Doctor Cast. Mr. Slater, you saved that poor mare’s life. I must admit, when I saw her fall over, I recognized an allergic attack immediately. We can deal with allergic attacks, but not as quickly as you did. You came in and just… Detox’d her, you said?” “Yes. It’s a spell designed to purge diseases and toxins from the body. In this case, toxins also includes allergens such as peanuts.” “I see.” Doctor Cast murmured. “Well, Mr. Slater, you have our thanks, and the thanks of Ms. Roseluck as well, I’m sure. Without you, it’s likely she would have died before I could have done anything. If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like you to come by the hospital tomorrow. The other doctors and I would love to know how you performed a Detox like that. If we can learn to do that, we could save hundreds of more lives every year!” “I uh… Well…” Kyle stammered, surprised by the request. He was also more than a little nervous, his fear of speaking to crowds resurfacing. More than anything, however, was his feeling of a misunderstanding. He hadn’t used mana to do the Detox, as Unicorns would do for their magic. He couldn’t even use mana on Equuis, not until he had the leyline map memorized as he did on Azeroth. “I suppose I could demonstrate it.” he finally conceded. “But I must warn you, the magic I used was far different from the mana-based magic Unicorns use. It will require an open mind to learn it.” “Excellent!” Doctor Cast exclaimed. “Just come over whenever you’re ready. I’ll let the other doctors know. Thank you, Mr. Slater.” The Unicorn trotted out of the building, leaving a perplexed Kyle behind him. “Uh… Kyle?” A small voice asked. Kyle turned his head to see Scootaloo staring right at him. “Huh… oh, hey.” Kyle shook his head to clear it. “Sorry about that, I just…” “That. Was. AWESOME!” Scootaloo yelled, grinning  up at him. “I guess, though I wish I hadn’t needed to do it in the first place.” Kyle sighed. He grabbed the remains of his sandwich and placed a few bits on the table before walking out the door, Scootaloo right behind him. The two began walking along the road to no place in particular, Scootaloo grinning the entire time. “Scootaloo!” Scootaloo and Kyle both turned their heads towards the voice that had called out. Applebloom was running towards them with  two other foals. One was a faint-purple unicorn filly with a blonde mane and tail, and the other was a grey pegasus colt with a dual-shade grey mane and tail. Neither one had their cutie marks. “Hey Applebloom, Dinky, Rumble.” Scootaloo replied. The four foals quickly huddled together and began speaking excitedly, occasionally poking their heads out of the huddle to look at him. Kyle smiled and shook his head as he turned to walk away. The smile quickly faded as he began to face the task ahead of him. If he was going to show those Unicorn doctors how to perform a Detox, Kyle would need to demonstrate it using mana. Which meant that he needed to learn how to manipulate mana on Equuis. Which meant he needed to study the layout of the leylines crisscrossing the planet. He had a day to do it. Kyle sighed and began walking away from Sugarcube Corner “This is gonna suck…”