//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Words Of Wisdom, Words Of Power // Story: Keys of My Destiny // by RageLokiCat //------------------------------// "Mmm, why is it morning already?" I grumbled to nopony in particular as I opened my eyes. The mid-morning light of Celestia's sun was streaming in my window, denying my attempts to go back to bed comfortably. I let out a long sigh before sitting up, yawning, and stretching. Shaking my head vigorously, I looked out the window in an attempt to gauge the time. "Hmm... By my calculations, it's no earlier than sunrise and certainly not as late as night. I'm so good at this..." I said as I laughed to, and partially at, myself, climbing out of bed. I walked over to the long mirror on my door as straightened myself out, smoothing out the atrocity of my bed-mane and brushing the ruffles out of the rest of my hair. "Humans are so complicated. Look, I'm done!" I said, again to myself before pausing and looking myself in the eyes through the mirror. "I've got to stop talking to myself; Fluttershy is going to get worried." I said as I stared deep into my own eyes. I then blinked a few times, processing what I had said. "Oh ya, Fluttershy... I bet she left a while ago. I wonder what I'm supposed to do all day. And eat! What will I eat without her wonderful cooking?! And I thought we agreed to stop talking to... Me? I should just shut up..." I mused as I opened the door, stepping out into the hall. I headed down the stairs, my stomach leading me on a course straight to the kitchen. It felt odd without Fluttershy cooking something, it was too quiet. The animals had long since finished eating their breakfast and had left the house for the day, so they weren't an issue. I looked around, confused, lost as to my purpose without her. Suddenly, I spied a bit of paper sitting on the counter. Now that's odd, she never leaves messes... I thought as I walked over and grabbed the paper. Seeing it was quite clearly a note from Fluttershy, I began to read it. "Good morning sleepy! I'm sure as you're reading this it's already fairly late in the morning, I may even already be in Cloudsdale by this point. I hope you slept well though. You never said if you could cook, so I went ahead and prepared some food for you, I hope you don't mind. I'm sure you're also pretty bored by this point, since you haven't gotten used to the relaxed lives we live in Ponyville. After you went to bed last night, Princess Twilight stopped by asking about your magic from yesterday. I told her I wasn't really there, I didn't see all that much, and that you had gone to bed. She asked that you stop by the library as soon as you could today, she'd like to speak with you. Other than that, have a nice day, and I'll see you tonight!" I read, finishing her note. Well that was pretty thorough. She left me food? Win. I thought, searching for the food in question. I eventually found a sandwich and a bowl of breakfast looking grains, as well as a selection of fruits, a few of which looked like things I had actually seen before. Deciding to go the safe route, I grabbed an apple and the bowl of grains and sat down at the table. Even a quiet two pony breakfast, I decided, is better than a one pony breakfast. I quickly finished my meal, washed my dishes, and set them out to dry before reviewing Fluttershy's note. Let's see... Library, ASAP. Got it. I thought as I put the note back down, looked around, and then quickly headed upstairs to get my saddlebags. Strapping them quickly on, I headed out the door, and, remembering where Fluttershy hid her key, locked the door behind me. After I returned the key to its highly secret hiding place, I began the fairly long walk to Ponyville. The trip went by quickly, and I soon found myself again at the door to the library. I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the interrogation that was to come, and pushed open the door. Twilight was pacing on the far side of the room, a few books sticking out of her bag, but otherwise having left the room un-touched. The instant I had the door open she looked over at me with worry, her face softening only slightly when she saw me. She walked quickly over to me and stopped in front of me, leaving barely enough room to get the door closed behind me. I swallowed uncomfortably as she appeared to inspect me carefully. "Erm, can I help you? I heard you desperately wanted to talk to me..." I said, avoiding looking at her. She made what I could only describe as a pensive grumbling sound, and then stepped back a little. "Don't worry Blaze; I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just confused and honestly a little bit scared of you right now." She said, before turning away. Her horn lit up, and I almost thought I heard her say something, until suddenly a sphere of translucent light purple magic began to rapidly expand from her horn, passing harmlessly through objects, until it covered most of the room. Her horn then faded slowly, while at the same time the sphere became harder and harder to see, until finally it was completely gone. "Should I ask?" I wondered aloud as she turned back around with a cautious smile. "Sound dampening field mixed with a perception altering spell. The main point is that nopony with powers short of Luna or maybe Discord could hear through it, but it will also keep ponies from wanting to come inside. I needed to be sure our conversation is heard by no living soul." She said grimly. "Which means you can tell me what's up with you then? Why in Equestria would you be scared of me?" I asked, looking at her in confusion. She looked away from me, opening and closing her mouth several times, as thought she wasn't sure how to respond. "I'm sorry Blaze, but there's something wrong with you. You've been in the world now for eight days. Your first magic lesson, your very first spell ever, was four days ago. And now, I happen to come through to visit, and I hear that you've been dueling with magic that literally not a single pony in this town I've asked, of which there have been many, has ever seen before. That's simply not possible. I know what you did and what happened, but there is no way in Celestia's name that any being would have that much power. I need to know what you are, what you really are." She said, her voice growing quieter again. "But, what about the zebra? Trahern, his name was. He was doing it too!" I said, fearfully stepping back. I heard the door lock click behind me. Oh you've got to be kidding... "Blaze; first off, he's a zebra. Their race has the ability to tap into sources of magic I can only dream about. I still barely understand anything about how they work. Next, he's 147 years old. He's had several of your lifetimes to practice. The fact that he can cast such magic in no way surprises me. You, however... I just don't understand. For all I know, you could be a being made purely of magic energy, masquerading as a unicorn. For all I know, you have the power to turn this entire world to ashes with as much energy as it takes to blink. That's why I'm afraid of you. I don't want my friends to die, I don't want my family to die, and I don't want to lose everything I know and hold dear." She said, tears now streaming freely down her face. I stood in shock, trying to figure out what to do. "Can't you just like, scan me to make sure I'm a real pony?" I asked, knowing already what the answer would be. She shook her head. "I already did, but I can't know for sure that you're not just tricking me. There's only one way I can know for sure if you're real. The problem is, it's against nearly every moral law I follow, and a number of legal ones as well. If I'm to go through with it, I need your complete and utter compliance, and you must never, EVER tell another soul." She said, looking at me once again. I swallowed fearfully, and slowly nodded my head. "I will do anything and everything it takes to prove myself to you." I said, doing my best to not sound terrified. She nodded back, wiping the tears off her face. "Ok. Lower any and all mental shields you have." She said, walking over to me again. "Why would I have mental shields? I don't have a clue how." I said. She rolled her eyes and stopped right in front of me. "This is my first time, so it may hurt a little. Quite a lot, actually. I'm sorry if it does." She said, closing her eyes. "Wait, what are you-" I started, before I was cut off by a searing pain that came from every point in my body. My first instinct was that I was for some reason on fire, but when I tried to run, I found my limbs were no longer listening to my mind. What is this?! What's going on?! I screamed in my head, trying to figure out what Twilight was up to. "Not so loud, your voice really echoes in here." I heard her say in my mind. "Wait, if you're just talking to me with your mind, why did it hurt so much? It wasn't at all bad when Zecora did it." I thought, still struggling for control of my unresponsive limbs. "That's because all she did when send her thoughts into your mind. I, on the other hand, have complete control of every part of your body, your mind, and your memories. You are, for all intents are purposes, a puppet." Her voice rang out again from somewhere in my mind. I began to slowly take a step, then another, until I had walked a circle around Twilight. She then went through and tested the majority of my other physical abilities. "This is helping, how, exactly?" I asked her, mildly annoyed. "This is the first step. I'm seeing how your subconscious reacts to various movements. You're right though, at this point everything looks good. You pass this part of the test." Her disembodied voice said again. "Ok, what's next?" I asked. "Magic. I need to see what you think you're capable of." Came the response, before my horn lit up. "Let's see what words of power he knows..." Her voice said. "Uh, Twilight? What's a 'Word of Power'?" I asked. "You weren't supposed to hear that. I'm still getting used to this..." Her reply shocked me a little, but I let it pass. We were both silent for several minutes while the magic around my horn flickered like a candle. "How do you not know any words? How is that possible?" I heard her ask. "You had to have used some to cast that spell, and yet there's... Nothing. That's not..." She trailed off, not finishing her sentence. "Since I'm pretty sure you're talking about the word that I forgot, here's what happened. I was trying to cast a simple spell for a fireball, and-" Her voice cut me off, stopping my explanation. "Yes, Blaze, thank you. Remember, I have access to all your memories. There's never been a case of this happening before that I know of, it's very strange. Well, no matter. You pass the magic test, now for the final and likely most uncomfortable test. A full memory search." I shuddered, hoping it wouldn't be as bad as she said. She then went silent, and spent a long while searching through my memories like they were pages it a book. Finally, after countless minutes of dead silence where the only thing I could do was think, she suddenly released her entire mental hold on me. I promptly collapsed, having receded so much from my body that I wasn't ready to take control again. As I stood shakily to my hooves, she turned away from me and stood quietly for several moments. "Does... Does Fluttershy know what you think of her?" She asked without turning around. I started at her in shock. How did she- Oh, right, mind control. "No, and please don't tell her." I responded. "Blaze, she's my friend. How could I hide that from her?" She said, looking back at me. "Because I'm asking you to. And considering you just searched through every private moment that I remember ever having lived, the least you could do is forget you ever learned information which has NOTHING to do with the problem at hand. The fact that you felt you needed to search through memories like those at all betrays the trust I had." I said angrily. "I... I'm sorry, Blaze, I didn't mean to-" It was my turn to cut her off, after the numerous times in my mind. "I know. I agreed you could do this because it was necessary, but I never said I would enjoy it, or even that I would be nice about it. Now, did I pass?" I asked, walking over to her. "You did. I'm sorry I doubted you, Blaze. I just... I don't understand how power like yours is possible." She said looking sadly over at me. "I think you're over-reacting. I randomly found one word of power, used it to create a moderately powerful fireball, and then immediately forgot it. For all I know, that's the last time I will ever cast magic at that level." I said with a smile. She slowly smiled back, still looking unsure. "Can you teach me what 'Words of Power' really are? And why this advanced spell was so important?" I asked her curiously. She nodded slowly, looking happier at the prospects of teaching somepony about magic. "I can, after all, you've earned it. First, Words of Power. When you cast a spell, you picture whatever you want to happen, right?" She asked, looking intently at me. I nodded. "Well, these words are used to focus and bend the affects of your magic. When you used a word, it draws large amounts more magical energy from your body then a spell normally would. In that way, the more words you use for a spell, the more magic it takes, and the more powerful it has the potential to be." She said. I nodded seriously, waiting for her to continue. "Nopony knows exactly where these words come from, or what language they are. Some unicorns, such as the great Starswirl The Bearded, decided that these words are small pieces of the very fabric of our reality, which we then pull from another plane of existence when we use them. What's really important though, is that these words hold enormous power to any pony who knows them, even non-magic wielders. Words will have different effects depending on the pony that uses them and the spell they are used with. Even something that would normally heal could be used for harm in some way. And that leads into your second question, why these spells that use them are so important." She continued, looking at me. "When you learn magic at a school like 'Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns' the very first bit of advanced magic you learn is how to shield your spells. You can't see it, but many of the spells I cast are ones that use words of power, but the words and the spellcircles are hidden, because I don't want anyone to know what words I have possession of. Often times, ponies panic when they see advanced spells, because most don't understand them. The reason you had no problem in that regard was because of the situation. In the future, things may not turn out so well." She said. I nodded slowly, still taking in everything she had said. "So, can you teach me to hide my words of power then?" I asked curiously. She half nodded, half shook her head in response. "Yes, and no. Yes, because I totally can, no because it's not something you do beforehand; you need to cast it with every spell you want to hide. The problem is, you don't know any words yet, so you have no spells to cover. First, we need to teach you a word of power." She said, looking about. Spying a stack of parchment and a few quills, she got to work writing something down. Each stroke of the quill was slow and deliberate, as though she was making sure every line landed exactly where she wanted it. Finally, she put the quill down and gave me the paper. "This is, as far as anypony can derive, the word used to represent light. It can be used to create and manipulate pure light, without heat, or sound, or any observable side effects. It's a pretty safe word, there isn't a lot of damage you can do with it even if you wanted to. You already know how to pronounce it in your mind, don't you?" She asked, nodding towards the paper. Realizing she was completely correct, I nodded in agreement. "How is that possible? Does that mean that I already knew this word? Is this the one that I used in the fight?" I asked excitedly. She giggled and shook her head in amusement. "One thing at a time. The prevailing theory is that because these words make up the very reality of this dimension, every living being already knows every word, but they cannot use it until they commit its shape to memory. As for whether or not you already knew it, well, I found no trace of it in your mind, so that is unlikely. It's also unlikely that this was the word you used for your spell, due to the difference between recorded effects of this word and accounts of your spell." She said. I nodded. "So, what do I do now?" I asked, looking away from the runes in front of me. "I want you to make a small glowing light, like you would find a candle produces, in the middle of the room. Be careful you don't feed too much magic energy into the spell, or it could be blinding. As for the rest, I'll leave it up to you." She responded, backing away. I closed my eyes, focusing on a candle flame. I opened my eyes, holding the image of the tiny flame in my mind. I began to say the word, and three small spellcircles formed in the air where I was focusing on the three major axes. They began spinning and rotating, and as I finished the word, supplying just a small amount of energy, a tiny light sprang to life. I grinned and looked over at Twilight, who smiled back and nodded. "You'll find that you can even now change the properties of the light by changing what you're imagining. You can move it much like you'd move any other object, make it bigger or smaller by sending more or less magic energy to it, and even change the color if you like." She said. My eyes shot wide open, and I immediately changed the light to pure green. Next, I tried yellow. Next, blue, red, purple, and orange. I also brought it much closer, so close that it was a bit painful to look at. "Blaze, you're going to hurt your eyes." She said with a laugh. I looked over at her and grinned, before returning my focus to the light in front of me. "But it's so pretty! What happens if I make it black?" I asked, looking back at Twilight. Her smile disappeared slowly, and she looked back at me seriously. "That's called a shadow light. Instead of producing light, it will actually absorb light, feeding itself larger and larger until the original caster stops it, or the drain on the caster kills them. It's considered bad luck by most ponies, and it's often assumed that the caster is evil. The townsponies might even go as far as to banish you from the town, if enough of them see it. Do me a favor; don't ever try to cast one unless it will save lives." She said solemnly. I paused for a moment, wondering if that was really true. Finally, I dipped my head in submission. I released the spell, and the light faded. Right as the last of the light disappeared, so did the word from my mind. "Um, I seem to have forgotten the word you showed me. Is that normal?" I asked, looking at Twilight with concern. She smiled warmly. "Yes, that usually happens the first few times you use a word, particularly at your level. The more advanced magic you cast, the better you will get at remembering words the first time. Keep practicing with that word, and you'll remember it soon enough. More importantly, you wanted to learn how to hide the fact that you're using words of power. I'd be happy to teach you more words, but not today, and not until you improve your control of magic more. Here," she said, using her magic to pick up the paper again. She carefully wrote a second word on it, and then gave it back. "The second word is the one you need to hide your sells. It represents something along the lines of 'That which is unseen' and is used to deceive the mind. Whenever you want to hide a spell, you start with that word, and tie it in to the rest of your spell by imagining specifically what you want to happen, except without any evidence of the words you used." She said. I blinked several times, mouth hanging the slightest bit open. "I, uh... Right. Got it. Sorta..." I said, not wanting to admit I barely understood her at all. I read the two words that sat patiently in front of me, and then began my spell. I started with the second word, and shuddered as I felt the drain of the magic energy this spell took. Next, I spoke the word for light, which started out doing the exact same thing as it had the first time. "Come on, Blaze! Believe that it's not there. It can't be seen unless you want it to be." I heard her say, and I closed my eyes, focusing on the floating circles in my mind. I made them fade, not daring to open my eyes. "Yes, just like that! See, you do know how!" She said excitedly. I opened my eyes to see, but as soon as I lost focus, they snapped back into existence around the small light. "Well, at least you get the idea." She said with a laugh. I let go of the spell, feeling the drain of both words on my body, and not wanting to overwork myself this time. I turned to her with a huge smile, delighted that I was at least partially successful on my first try. "Hey, I remember a bit of the first word this time! Like, it's so much closer to being within my grasp now, it's right there." I said, looking absentmindedly down at the floor as I searched my mind for traces of it. "That's great, Blaze! You should definitely take that parchment with you to practice from, and actually practice too. I wouldn't want to waste all of- Ach!" She said, shuddering and falling to her knees. I ran over to her in shock, unsure what was happening. "What's wrong, Twilight? Did I do something?" I asked, panicking. She shook her head, speaking one word and letting out a long sigh. She looked up at me happily. "Sorry about that. I was so distracted; I forgot to be paying attention to my own energy levels. Keeping a shield of that strength up for so long is incredibly hard; I should have been paying attention. I've lowered the shield, so I'm afraid practice is over for today. I need some food, and you could use some as well, I'm sure. I'm glad everything turned out the way it did today." She said, standing up. Right as she was fully upright again, the library door opened, and I turned to see an older pegasus filly standing in the doorway, mouth agape. I turned to Twilight, who simply winked, uttered a few words under her breath, and, in a flash of magic, was gone. "Sorry, she just realized she forgot something in the oven." I said to the crestfallen filly. "Oh, OK then. That's reasonable." She said, before walking past me and going up to a shelf, apparently over her near-encounter with royalty. Why does everypony keep making me do that for them? And how many times will that excuse work before ponies start to wonder? I wondered to myself as I tucked the rolled up parchment into my bag and walked out the door.