//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Battle Magic // by Gaekub //------------------------------// Twilight woke up sore, tired and suddenly. The first two were a result of the previous night’s endeavor, but blame for the third fell to the bellcolt who was standing in her room and stammering at her. “Ma’am, this is your 6 am wake up call. I knocked on the door, but you didn’t answer” he said, obviously nervous. Although Twilight didn't know this, it was his first day. Twilight moved a hoof to push the blanket off her face and groaned as the movement stretched sore ribs. The light from the open window shone in one eye, but the other refused to open. “Gah!” the bellcolt exclaimed, stumbling backwards. “Ma’am, are… do you need medical attention? Or would you like me to find a guard?” The injured pony tried to tell him she was fine, but all she could form was a low moan. After a few false starts, she managed to wrap her lips around a simple “no.” The stammering pony excused himself and hurried out the door, mentioning that breakfast was ready in the lounge should she be hungry. Twilight rolled on to her back and stared at the ceiling, trying to organize her thoughts. Her tongue poked around the inside of her mouth, but the coppery taste of blood was nowhere to be found. That left the black eye as her most pressing injury. She slid herself out of bed and onto her hooves, swaying slightly. She almost fell over, but shoved out a front leg and caught herself. Deciding she was in good enough shape to walk, she stumbled over to the mirror and groaned. She had hoped that the swelling would have gone down by today. Apparently that’s not how black eyes worked. It was no better and had, if anything, swollen even more while she was asleep. The unicorn briefly toyed with the idea of trying a healing spell, but rejected the idea immediately. Celestia had always taught her that healing magic was dangerous even for those ponies who specialized in it, and had refused to teach Twilight any more than the basic theory. Now she wondered just how much the princess hadn’t taught her, but she stopped that thought before it could gather steam. Celestia had been a wonderful teacher, and she didn’t blame her for not mentioning battle magic. She obviously had just been worried about her safety. Judging by the bruise that appeared to be devouring the left half of her face, she had been right to be worried. Twilight nudged her eye and winced from the twinge of pain. An annoyed grunt escaped her throat as she stepped away from the mirror and grabbed her saddle bags. Their weight brought a new kind of pain, not the sharp spike of a poked injury but the dull ache of a bruise under pressure. She stepped out the door and kicked it closed behind her. Her spine cracked when she reached down for the first step, and for a second she thought she was going to topple down the stairs and die. The moment of terror passed, and she breathed deeply before heading towards the ground floor. When she stepped into the dining room, ponies very pointedly did not stare. The careful lack of interest would have weighed heavily on her at any other time, but right now she was famished and the buffet looked delicious. She ended up covering three plates with piles of food and levitating them back to an empty table. She had made it through half of one heap and was just considering that maybe she’d gotten too much for one young mare when the bellcolt walked up to her table. “Ma’am, your ride is here” he said, not looking at her eye even more insistently than all the other patrons. Twilight looked sadly at all the food she had left. The young stallion evidently picked up on that, asking if she wanted a doggy bag. “Or… several doggy bags” he amended. His question was met with enthusiastic approval from the purple mare, and he hustled off with the plates balanced on his head. Twilight shouted after him that he should meet her outside, and trotted out through the lobby. Two light grey pegasi in golden armor that Twilight recognized as twins stood on the street with a carriage strapped behind them. They looked over at her, and expressions of shock appeared on their identical faces. “Twilight, are you alright? What happened to your eye?” asked the closer one. “Hi Stratus. I’m fine. I… I just fell down the stairs” Twilight lied. “And hit your eye?” the other asked skeptically. “…Yes, Cirrus. On a door knob.” “You fell down a flight of stairs…” started Cirrus. “…and landed face first on a door knob?” finished Stratus. Twilight just nodded, daring them to disagree. The brothers exchanged a look. “Is this something the princess should know about?” asked Stratus, the older of the two by seven minutes. “No point worrying her” Twilight replied with a smile. She’d grown up with the twins, and knew she could trust them to be discreet. “Of course not. Ready to go?” said the younger, motioning towards the carriage. Before Twilight could reply, the colt arrived with two stuffed doggy bags. She thanked him and hopped up into the carriage, knocking on the roof when she was comfortable. The pegasi took off with a jolt, and Twilight opened the first bag of food happily. The carriage jerked, and Twilight jolted awake. Apparently she had fallen asleep at some point during the ride. She reached up to rub at her eyes with a hoof, but thankfully stopped herself just in time. “Last stop, everypony off” called one of the brothers from the front. Twilight gathered her bags and prepared to step out. If she could stick to the back roads, she might be able to get home without having to explain- “C’mon out Twilight!” shouted Pinkie Pie’s instantly recognizable voice from right outside the door. “And there’s five ponies waiting out here for you” said either Stratus or Cirrus. It was impossible to tell which. Twilight muttered something unsavory under her breath. She pushed out through the door and smiled at her friends. Five greetings were interrupted by gasps, and five faces sprouted looks of surprise and concern. “Bye guys. I’ll see you next time I'm in Canterlot” Twilight said, knocking on the side of the carriage. The brothers said their goodbyes and took off into the skies. “…Twilight, what happened to your eye?” Applejack asked, the first to put into words the question that was painted on all of her friends faces. “Yeah, you get in a fight?” joked Rainbow Dash with a cocky grin. “I was mugged” Twilight blurted. “Oh, how terrible!” Rarity exclaimed. “Are you alright dear? What did they take?” “Just some bits” Twilight replied vaguely. “Does it hurt much?” Fluttershy breathed, her voice instantly overpowered by the louder pegasi beside her. “And you fought back, so they had to sock you one?” Rainbow Dash asked, excited. “Rainbow!” Applejack admonished the blue pegasus. “What? I’m just asking what happened.” “You know what would cheer you up?” Pinkie asked with a huge grin. “A-“ “No parties, please. I just want to go home and lie down” Twilight interrupted, pressing a front hoof against the pink ponies lips to stop her talking. As she held it there, Pinkie’s cheeks slowly began to puff more and more, stretching to levels that Twilight found both improbable and alarming. A sweat drop formed on Pinkie’s brow, and she looked at Twilight with pleading eyes. The unicorn moved her hoof and winced against what she knew would come next. “PARTY!!!” screamed Pinkie as soon as her mouth was clear. “That’s alright Twilight. I know what it’s like to want to just lie down by yourself. Well, I actually don’t, but I’m told it’s a thing that happens.” After a few well wishes and promises to catch up when she was feeling better, Twilight managed to escape to the back streets. She scurried home without any other encounters and pushed through the front door of the library. After a moment’s consideration, she opened the door just long enough to put out the closed sign and slipped back inside. “Twilight, is that you?” came a familiar voice from upstairs. Spike’s face appeared over the banister of the loft. “Hey, how was WHOA! What’s with the eye?” His face disappeared, and the sound of his claws scampering down the stairs reached Twilight’s ears. “I got mugged” Twilight said, shrugging off her bags and depositing them by the door. “Could you get my bags? I’m going to go take a nap.” Spike reappeared at the bottom of the stairs and trotted towards her bags. “Oh. Are you okay? When was it?” “Yes, I’m fine. It was a few hours ago, just before I got on the carriage” the mare replied, walking heavily towards the stairs. She had just managed to get comfortable under her sheets when the young dragon’s voice drifted up from the lower floor. “Uhh… Twilight? If you just got mugged, why are there fifty bits in your saddlebags?” Twilight rolled over and shoved her face into a pillow to stifle her moan. Spike arrived at the top of the stairs, the damning bag clutched in a claw. Although Twilight couldn’t see him, she could hear the clicking of claws and the jingling of bits as he walked across the room. The bed sagged underneath her as Spike hopped up next to her, and a scaled arm touched her back. “You weren’t mugged, were you” he said, the sentence a statement rather than a question. Twilight rolled over and looked up at him. “...Promise you won’t tell the girls.” “Of course. You kept my secret about – my crush on Rarity” he said, glancing around before whispering the end of the sentence. Twilight felt a twinge of guilt, knowing that wasn’t strictly true. “Pinkie promise” she ordered. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye” Spike recited, making a series of motions to go along with the childish rhyme. “What happened?” Twilight sighed and made herself comfortable, splaying out all her limbs into a star shape. “Spike, have you ever heard of battle magic?” she asked, expecting the same confusion she had felt when Silver had asked her the same question. Instead, Spike sat bolt upright and tensed his muscles. “No, I haven’t. Why? Why would I know about that?” he asked tersely. “What is it?” The splayed mare chuckled despite herself. “You were always a terrible liar Spike. How do you know about it?” The dragon slouched and cradled his head in his hands. “The guards told me about it. I used to sneak out of the castle some nights and go listen to the match retellings. I just didn’t tell you because I knew you’d tell me to stop” he said, ashamed. “Match retellings?” Twilight asked, turning to look at him. “Yeah, ponies write down what happened in the matches, and then they send it all over Equestria. Other ponies read the reports and retell them. It’s almost like being there” he said wistfully. “Not that I’ve ever been to a match” he corrected quickly. Twilight sent a silent thanks to Silver Chimes for giving her a stage name. Celestia wouldn’t listen to the retellings, but apparently some of the guards did. She couldn’t trust them all to be as discreet as the twins she had lied to. “So what does battle magic have to do with… your… eye…” he trailed off. “No way.” Twilight gave a slight nod. “You fought in… for how long? When did you start?” he asked, shocked. “It was just a one time thing. An accident. Somepony tricked me into it” she said quickly. “Oh. So they just hit you and you forfeited?” Spike asked, trying as hard as he could to keep the disappointment out of his voice. “I won actually” Twilight said, trying to keep the pride out of her voice with the same effort of will. Spike stared at her for a second, eyes wide. “Wow. But you’re done with it, right? It was just a one time thing?” “Of course. While I can see how some ponies would find it appealing, it’s not worth this” she deadpanned, pointing at her puffed eye. “Yeah. Hey, I bet Zecora has something for black eyes. Do you want me to swing by there and ask?” “I hadn’t even thought of that Spike! If you don’t mind, that would be great. I just wish I could have gotten rid of it before the girls saw me.” Spike was already heading towards the stairs. “No problem Twi. I’ll be back before you know it.” By the time Spike returned, the sun was going down and Twilight had fallen asleep on top of her blankets. He pattered up the stairs and nudged her with the blunt side of a claw. “Twilight, I got a brew from Zecora” he said softly. The sleeping pony groaned and rolled to face him. “What took you so long?” she asked, looking out the window. Spike held out a bottle of purple liquid to her. “Well, I passed by the café on the way back and just happened to hear the local reteller talking about a mysterious purple pony that fought Blast Wave.” “Oh, did you?” Twilight asked calmly, taking the bottle from him and removing the cork. “Yup. And I have to say, everypony there was very excited to hear about this ‘Dusk Shine’, whoever she is. Although Rainbow’s a little upset.” “Why?” the mare asked, the bottle pausing halfway to her lips. “Eh, she had quite a few bits on Blast Wave.” If Twilight had started drinking the potion, she would have choked on it. “Rainbow gambles?” she gasped. “What? No. I don’t think so” Spike replied, forcing a poker face. “Well, I’m going to bed. Enjoy your freaky healing potion.” He disappeared into the washroom, and Twilight heard pouring water. She squinted at the purple goop in the bottle, shrugged, and downed the entire thing as fast as she could. The bitter taste brought a grimace to her face, but the taste was soon forgotten as she felt her swollen eye begin to recede back into her head. She looked over at the mirror on the other side of the room and saw the bruise shrinking into her skull, giving that side of her face an alarmingly gaunt appearance. Just as she began to think she had lost that eye forever, it snapped back out with a pop that echoed around the room. The bruise had disappeared, evidently left inside her skull. “There has got to be a better way to do that” Twilight muttered to herself. As much as she appreciated Zecora’s skill with herbs, it was alien enough to the magic she’d been taught to make her slightly uncomfortable. The zebra insisted magic wasn’t involved, but Twilight found that hard to believe. “Looking good Twilight. Zecora sure knows how to use her herbs” Spike said, stepping out of the bathroom and heading for his own small bed. “Night.” “Good night Spike” Twilight replied, placing the empty bottle on the nightstand before wiggling under her covers. The soft sounds of sleeping breath filled the shared bedroom. Three months passed without incident. Twilight’s friends never asked her about the mugging again, for which she was very much grateful. Things went entirely back to normal, as if Twilight had never experienced that secret thrill in Fillyelphia. There was only one way in which Twilight acted differently; sometimes, when Spike came home late from a match retelling, she would ask him to describe it. Spike was happy to do so, but he did take comfort in the fact that as time went on she asked less and less. Although he enjoyed the sport, the idea of Twilight participating made him uncomfortable. On this particular day, the sun was shining and Twilight was feeling good. She had left Spike in charge of the library and gone into town to see if she could bump into any of her friends. As it so happened, she was in luck. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were both sitting at a table in front of the café. Unfortunately, but sadly not surprisingly, they were arguing. Twilight walked up to the table, noting an envelope that sat between them. “Hey girls. What’s wrong?” she asked, hoping she could calm them down. “Applejack wants me to deliver some stupid letter to her family in Fillydelphia” Rainbow replied, turning away from the orange cowpony. “It is not ‘some stupid letter’, it’s a Hearth’s Warming Eve card, and it needs to get there as soon as possible” Applejack corrected, not looking away from the pony that sat across from her. “But that was months ago!” the pegasus objected, leaving the ground with a flap of her wings. “Why didn’t you send it then?” “Ah did!” the earth bound pony responded, looking up at Dash’s face. “But ah just got a snotty letter from Aunt Cobbler saying that they never got it. Must have gotten lost in the mail. The point is, if I don’t get one there right away, me and mah kin ain’t gonna be invited to the next Apple family reunion!” “I’ll take it” Twilight was surprised to hear herself say. Evidentially, both of her friends were too. They looked over, confused. “What, you’re going to walk to Fillydelphia?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Teleport. I might have to do it in a few steps, but I shouldn’t be that much slower than you’d be.” “Aw, you don’t have to do that. I’ll take it, I just like giving Applejack a hard time” the pegasus said, pushing the Stetson over the earth pony's eyes. “No, I want to go. I had a really good time in Fillydelphia last time I was there” Twilight said, not entirely sure why. Both of her friends stared at her, Applejack pushing her hat back up her forehead first. “…What?” the unicorn asked. “Good time? Honey, you got mugged” the cowpony said incredulously. “Yeah, well… besides that.” Twilight grinned sheepishly. Rainbow Dash and Applejack shared a concerned look. “Well, if you really want to…” Applejack trailed off. “Yeah, fine with me” Rainbow said with a shrug. Twilight grabbed the letter of the table and tucked it behind her ear. She’d go home and get her bag before she left, but behind the ear was a good place for now. “See you in a day or two, girls” she said, leaving with a wave of her hoof. Both ponies watched her go. “…Well that was weird” Rainbow finally said, drawing a nod out of the confused earth pony. When Twilight arrived home, Spike was sitting on a chair outside. His short legs swung back and forth idly, but as soon as he saw Twilight he scampered towards her. “Hey Twilight! So Rarity asked me to go help her with some gem hunting but you told me to watch the library but now that you’re here you can watch it is that okay alright bye” he said, speaking quickly as possible and scampering right past her. “Hey there Romeo” Twilight chuckled, grabbing his tail with her magic as he scampered past. “Don’t worry, you can go” she said, noting his disappointed look. “I just need to talk to you for a sec. I’m going out of town for a day or two. Will you be all right on your own?” “Oh. Yeah, no problem. Where are you going?” he asked, looking towards Rarity’s house. “I’m delivering a letter to part of Applejack’s family. Apparently it’s urgent” she said, carefully not quite answering his question. At any other time, Spike would have known when Twilight was avoiding a question. Right now, however, he was distracted enough to accept the pseudo-answer. “Alright, I’ll see you in a few days then” he said, scampering away with a wave of his claw. “Have fun!” “You too!” she yelled after him before heading back into the house. She packed the letter and a few essentials, and set her mind to the series of long distance teleports ahead of her. By the time Twilight arrived in the outskirts of Fillydelphia, it was dusk and she was exhausted. She trotted into town, walking east until she hit Stable Boulevard, and followed it to the familiar inn. As she walked inside, she noticed for the first time that it was named “The Lopsided Pegasus”. That was presumably a reference to the bartender’s particular injury. As soon as she walked inside, she was addressed by the lopsided pegasus himself. “Hello Dusk. You looking for Silver?” he asked from behind the bar. “Yeah, I guess so. He still come in here?” she asked, approaching the bar and considering getting some hay fries. “Every night. Should be here in around twenty minutes.” He paused for a second. “It’s nice to see you again.” Twilght arched an eyebrow. “Nice to see me? Last time I was here, you threatened me with a knife.” The scarred pegasus shrugged. “Nothing personal. I’ve just had too many unicorn fights trash this place to let you start another one. You want some hay fries?” Twilight nodded, and he headed into the back kitchen. His voice drifted out through the open door. “Glad you came back though. Silver was annoyingly smug for about a month after you left, but then he started getting all mopey. I’m pretty sure he thought you weren’t coming back.” The unicorn glanced around the bar. The only other customer was a young unicorn passed out at a back table. Although Twilight’s memory was a little fuzzy, she fancied it was the unicorn that had been lying at the bar when she was here for the first time. “Isn’t a mopey pony an advantage for a business like this?” she said, speaking loudly so she could be heard in the other room. “Would be, if he ever actually paid for his drinks” came the voice from the back, tinged with laughter. “On that note, you still owe me a table.” “I didn’t break that, Silver did” Twilight objected, moving to the closest table and sitting down. Her saddlebags went under the chair. “After you threw him through it, yes. I’d say that makes it your fault. No hurry on the payment though. I waited three months, I can wait a little longer.” The purple unicorn thanked him and cracked open the book she’d brought. As she read, it abruptly occurred to her that in her haste to arrive in Fillydelphia, she had never asked Applejack where her family lived. She had no idea how well known the Apple family would be in such a large city. “Got your fries. Two bits, if you’ve got it” the bartender said, stepping out from the kitchen with the basket balanced on his head. Twilight levitated two golden coins from her bag. As an afterthought, she grabbed the letter too. “I don't suppose you know where the Apple family lives in Fillydelphia?” she asked, not much hope. “Don’t know where they live, but I buy my cider from them. Why do you ask?” The pegasus placed the fries on the bar in front of him. “I’ve got this letter addressed to them, but I don’t know where their farm is” Twilight answered, grabbing the fries and dropping the bits and letter in front of him. “Well, they’re dropping off a shipment day after tomorrow. I could give it to them then” he offered, grabbing the letter between his teeth and shoving it somewhere behind the bar. “Sound good?” Twilight nodded and turned back to her book. Soon she was engrossed in the description of ancient methods of transformative magic. Twilight was snapped out of her literary trance when she heard the door creak and the bartender speak. “There you are Silver. You’re late today. There’s a visitor for you.” “What? For me? I…” Silver’s voice trailed off as Twilight turned to look at him. A sudden grin appeared on his face, which he forced into a cocky smile. “Hi Silver” Twilight said, trying not to sound embarrassed. “Hey. I knew you’d come back. Never doubted it for a second” the huge unicorn said, pushing out the chair across from her and sitting down. “Really? Because somepony told me you’ve been mopey for the last two months. That maybe you thought I wasn’t coming back.” Silver Chimes scowled at the bartender, magically snatching the cider that had been poured and placed on the bar. “Well somepony clearly doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Silver took a deep drink from the mug before speaking again. “Although I will admit, it did take you a little longer to give in then I thought you would.” “Look, I’m not saying I want to play in a real match again, or anything” Twilight said, trying to keep him from getting too comfortable. “I just thought that with all the trouble I seem to get myself in, a little offensive magic training couldn’t hurt.” Silver rapped his hooves on the table in a semi-musical rhythm, apparently considering her statement. “Look, here’s my terms. I get 10% of your winnings, and you have to play at least one paid match before you leave town.” “What? I said I didn’t want to-“ “I know what you said, but I can’t just train you for free. A stallion needs to make a living, after all. So does a mare, and if I’m correct, you still owe somepony a table” Silver interrupted, staring her down. “You could use the money too.” Twilight already knew she was going to say yes, but she did her best to look like she had to think about it. “…Alright, fine” she finally said, pretending to be reluctant. The two ponies shook on it. “I can’t train tonight though. I’m exhausted. Do you know where I can sleep?” Twilight asked, finishing off her hay fries. “I’ve got a bed you can use” the bartender said, not looking up from the glass he was cleaning. “…excuse me?” Twilight asked incredulously. He looked up. “Oh, not like that. This is an inn, I’ve got rooms. Five bits for the night.” Twilight blushed. “Oh, sorry. I thought you meant something else. Alright, five bits sounds fair.” Silver finished his mug and pushed away from the table. “Alright. Sleep well, and I’ll come get you first thing in the morning.” He grinned. “And by first thing in the morning, I mean noon."