Twilight wasn't a complicated pony by any means. Give her a book to read, some new magic to study, and maybe a hayburger or two and she would be content to sit around quietly all day. Today was one of those few days where she could get all of those things at once, though she was more careful than usual with the burger, and it would have been perfect if it wasn't for that infernal humming from her currently unwelcome guest.
“Do you really have to do that while you're here? You've already repeated that same song twenty-three times now and it's starting to get annoying! I don't even think Pinkie would repeat the same song that many times.” Looking up from his book, Xellos just glances over to the annoyed unicorn before shrugging and going back to reading, minus the humming. Twilight continues to glare at him before letting out a huff before turning back to her own studying once again.
Unfortunately for her the humming was the less annoying problem as the monster started tapping his fingers atop the table next to him. With a groan of exasperation she slammed her book down onto the table in front of her before glaring at him once again. “What are you even doing here anyways? Don't you have something better to do right now than to annoy me?”
Putting down his book, which happened to be a history book of sweets, he looked over at the purple mare before setting the book down. “Well I thought that you would be bored with all your friends out delivering that tree without you so I felt you could use some company. I actually expected you to leave with them as well especially since Spike went with as well.”
Twilight looked away from him at his words before she muttered to herself at a level not quite low enough for him to miss. “It's not like I would be much of a help anyways if anything happens. Even with my magic Spike does a better job protecting my friends if something happens.”
She let out a small yelp of shock as the biped disappeared from where he was in the room and reappeared right in front of her face, examining her closely. “Why I do believe that you are actually jealous of him. I didn't think that you would take it that hard having to be saved by him when what he was fighting really stood no chance against a dragon's natural abilities. Brass demon's don't use much beyond simple fire magic but if that monster had brought brau demons, trolls, or one of a variety of other creatures then he would have been just as helpless as the rest of you. Of course if old Celly didn't bury all that magic and taught you something other than defensive spells then you would have done better.”
The librarian once again looked away but this time with a slight blush at being caught out before she sighed and turned back to the monster. “Fine, yes I'm jealous of Spike for being able to do so much while I could only stand there while my friends got hurt. All those years as Princess Celestia's student and that was the first time where it all meant nothing.”
Lifting up the book that she was reading she brandished it in front of Xellos' face. “Once the princess learned what happened down there I asked her for help in case something like that happened again and she gave me this, one of her personal journals. While I never expected to get something like this from her it would have helped if I could at least read it so I could learn something that would help.”
She flopped heavily back into the seat she was using while Xellos picked up the book she was reading and paged through it a bit. He made a few noises of interest as he looked through the book, reading the contents with ease. “I don't see what the problem is, it's just one of sunbutt's usual cyphers for her personal works. It's not like she needs to make something she uses herself hard to read when only those she trusts could get ahold of it.”
Twilight just looked at him in confusion before she shook her head at him. “What are you talking about? I already tried that and it only turned out to be nonsense and none of the other ones she taught me were any better.”
Her face contorted into one of annoyance as Xellos started chuckling at her predicament but before she could complain to him he explained. “Remind me to get you a few books from Neighpon next time I head out there. The ponies out there have adopted many of the habits of the serpentine dragons that live there, which includes a habit of writing a bit differently. If you do her cypher in the same style then it works perfectly and...”
He paused as his eyes passed over something that looked more familiar than it should have been and was something he never expected to see here. Twilight looked curious when she saw his eyes open with what she would almost call fear yet it seemed impossible for a creature like him. “It looks like you found something interesting if it can cause you to look like that? Should I be studying that first if it's something that even you seem to fear?”
She worried that she probably shouldn't have said that when she saw the anger in his eyes behind the haunted look he was sporting and wondered if she went a bit far. “If you want to destroy the world to do it then be my guest. You definitely have the skill to cast this spell but I doubt you could control it well enough to survive and if something goes wrong the whole planet would be taken with you. Calling on the power of the Lord of Nightmares is not something to be done casually.”
Twilight's eyes were wide as he revealed what he had read and she felt a drop of sweat roll down the side of her head. “It... it really can't do that, right? I mean, the princess would never give me a spell like that if she knew that something could happen if I accidentally made a mistake in casting it. She wouldn't, right?”
Xellos just shook his head as he slowly regained his composure and flipped through the book to a pair of safer spells. “Those are just the worst things that can happen, if anything you would most likely fail to even get it to work as you are now so I doubt she expected you to use that one even if it will be effective. It looks like the ones you should be starting with are at the end of the book and these two should be all you need for anything up to mid-level monsters.”
After having the book passed back to her, and she did a quick translation of the spells, Twilight's jaw dropped in shock at what exactly she was reading. “It can't be! These pull power directly from the sun and moon respectively. It took dozens of unicorns in the past to just move the sun before Princess Celestia yet she expects me to learn something like this alone?!”
The unicorn was caught between reverence and panic at the thought of doing something like that but her mind shifted to another concern as Xellos started to walk off again. Her eyes narrowed as she realized that she didn't know much about this monster race he belonged to or why specialized spells are needed. “Why are spells like this needed anyways? Wouldn't basic unicorn attacks spells work if you put enough energy behind them?”
Her question caused the biped to pause before turning back to her with an infuriating smirk on his face. “So you finally want to know more now, do you? I'm honestly surprised that it took you this long given what happened with Pinkie Pie. As for your question, basic unicorn magic can't touch a monsters true body and the same goes for most other brands of magic as well.”
Twilight looked confused at this revelation and starts to rub her chin with a hoof. “What do you mean about a true body? I could plainly see those ones down in the diamond dog tunnels and Spike's flame breath worked perfectly on them, not to mention everything you were throwing around. It sure looked like all of that was working just fine.”
The biped took a seat with his book before opening it to a random page. Twilight started to get impatient as it appeared that he was ignoring her until he spoke up once again. “Those weren't true monsters, or at least full ones, except for the one that looked like a winged diamond dog. At best they are classified as lesser demons or even half monster meaning that they are resistant to only the weakest spells. The one that ran away was at least a mid-ranked monster if it had a form looking that close to a diamond dog.”
Glancing up and seeing the purple librarians confused look he started wondering if he should have made a diagram or chart to better explain things before continuing. “Lesser demons usually form by possessing common items which determines what they can do but if they get strong enough they start taking on a standard form. True monsters each have their own body and only a representation of it can be seen on this plane. Those strong enough to be classified as at least mid-rank can start taking on an appearance that helps them blend in with the world around them, making them very had to find if they don't want to be found. Even then, to even damage a monster you have to be able to hit their true body in the astral plane where it is located.”
Thinking it over, Twilight had to agree that it would be hard to hit something that wasn't truly there but something came to mind as well from this information. “So does that mean that Pinkie would have been able to actually hurt that thing since she can travel through the astral plane? If all it takes is getting at their real body then it would be easy for her, even more if she can takes others along as well.”
Xellos looked up from his book with a raised eyebrow and was about to say something when he paused and brought his hand up to his chin in thought. He had never considered what would happen if something invaded the astral realm to directly attack a monster but he did see one very large problem. “Well in theory that could work, but since her size doesn't change any when she crosses over then she would be at a disadvantage as most monsters would tower over her. A monster's size gets larger as it gains in strength, which consequently causes a larger reaction to their body on this plane if they are defeated. It can be hard to judge how strong they are just from that though as perception works differently on that plane so you could think they are weak from how they look standing next to you but they are really further away than you think.”
Throughout all this Twilight had been scratching notes into a parchment and as he finished explaining she read through it again with a frown. “That really doesn't make any sense though. How can it look like the are small and standing right next to you but are instead further away and towering over you? The world just doesn't work like that, it's impossible!”
The reading biped just smirks and chuckles at her question as he expected there to be some comments along that line. “This world maybe, but the astral plane isn't truly this world, it just exists parallel with it so while they touch they don't follow the same rules. As for it being possible, well I thought you were a better patron of the sciences than that, magic or otherwise. Nothing is truly impossible, and if you prove it is then you just missed a variable you didn't know of.”
Twilight sputtered a bit at his accusation but she finally calmed down enough to admit to herself that he had a point. She knew almost nothing about this astral plane he talked about and without more information she was qualified to say much of anything about it. With a sigh she started to put the notes she was writing away to get back to studying when something caught her eye in them. “Wait, you said monsters can change their appearance to blend in with the world around them. If that's true then why do you choose to look like something that stands out completely?”
This question caught Xellos off guard as it was also something that had never occurred to him before and having it happen twice in a matter of minutes was unusual, though unsurprising considering the nature of the questioning mare. “I've actually never thought about that before since this is what I've been accustomed to for the last fifteen hundred years. Taking a new form so that I could blend in and avoid many of the annoyances over the years just never occurred to me.”
With a thump Twilight's hoof collided with her head as she heard this from the biped as she started to wonder what made him such a threat with his obliviousness. When she looked to where Xellos was she found that he had vanished and she wondered where he went until she heard a thump from off to the side of her. Turning her head her face took on a look of complete shock as she took in the new form that he was sporting as he bumbled around on four hooves.
His hair hadn't changed much as it transitioned over to a mane and his new tail was cut in much of the same style as well. Twilight had to hold back a look of annoyance as she noticed his coat was much the same color as her own though being of a lighter shade which mollified her a bit. Her eyes traveled up to his horn for a moment before flickering to his side and the wings that were there. The strange gems she noticed had transferred over to this form as well but due to her position she couldn't see if he had a cutie mark. The last things she took note of was his size, which looked to be around Princess Luna's when she last saw her, as well as how... effeminate he looked compared to every other stallion she saw.
“Hmm, no, I don't think I'll be walking around like. I don't like how it feels and why get used to walking around on four legs when I do just fine on two.” Xellos glances over himself as he rubs a hoof on his head where he bumped into a bookshelf. “Though I could see the appeal of it if I had a reason to do so... Maybe during some event in Canterlot after with a dress or something?”
Twilight just stared at him with a dumbfounded look on her face as he looked over himself and actually considered wearing a dress. That combined with him looking like an alicorn would cause more problems than she wanted to imagine so she decided to try and dissuade him. “Well you definitely wouldn't be able to hide if you go around looking like that anyways. With only three alicorns, all of them mares, you would be noticed faster as the only male alicorn instead of as your previous form.”
“Hmm, you have a point there. I'd probably have even more beings chasing me if I did show up and I rather like not being forced into a role like Celly and Luna.” The unicorn let out a sigh as Xellos turned back to his previous form but it caught in her throat at his next words. “Now if you'll excuse me I really need to have a talk with sunbutt about letting spells that can destroy the world get out. She should know that that is my job.”
Before she could stop him he disappeared in his usual manner and she buried her face in her hoof once again. She was quick to write up a note for her mentor but on remembering that Spike wasn't nearby for the usual fast delivery she rushed out of the library towards the town post office.
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Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia had few pleasures throughout one of her normal days running the kingdom. Her lunch periods were one of those few times as it allowed her to take a moment to herself during the day to relax for a bit and to unwind from the stress of the morning and prepare for the afternoon. So when she prepared to take her first bite of the cake that came with the meal she was puzzled to say the least when her mouth closed on air.
Looking around it didn't take her long to spot a familiar form in the room causing her to sigh in exasperation. “What is it now Xellos? You know how much I dislike having my meals interrupted unless it is important.”
Looking at the annoyance she was mildly surprised to see that his eyes were actually slightly open which gave her a hint of how serious he was being about what he was here for. “I'm curious. You know what my plans are and naturally object to them. So why did you feel it was necessary to give Twilight a spell that could do the same thing if she tries to cast it and screws up? Calling on the representatives of the sun and moon would have been plenty but calling on the Lord of Nightmares is just irresponsible.”
Before Celestia could answer, her sister walked into the room with a loud yawn as she pushed into the conversation. “Sister, why did you tell him about mother? Especially that name of hers, you know how much she disliked being called that.”
The princess of the sun was about to say that she never mentioned her to him at all but was stopped by the dumbfounded look on his face. With an 'oh' of understanding he slapped a fist into his opposite palm as he covered his previous goof. “Oh that's right. She also goes by the Mother of All Things so of course you two would know her, though that still doesn't explain why you gave Twilight a spell that could destroy her and the world. Oh and could you send Twilight and her friends these tickets to the upcoming Stumpy Rotisserie concert coming up while keeping two for yourself and Luna? I doubt they'd accept them from me.”
Both Luna and Celestia stare at him in confusion before the elder sister speaks up. “I can do that for you though I'm wondering why you feel that this is important. Also I had forgotten that the spell to call mother was in there, but I had better let Twilight know about it before she does try to use it. What I am wondering though is how you knew those titles for our mother in the first place.”
As soon as she asked this she knew she shouldn't have bothered as he made a familiar motion of bringing his right hand up towards his face, causing a small growl of annoyance to escape her sister's throat. “That! Is a Secret!”