//------------------------------// // Two Scholars(2) // Story: World of Ponies: A Collection of Days // by ShadowWalking18 //------------------------------// When Castus had arrived at the castle in Ponyville, a week and a half after his last visit, he had taken the time between some tough projects to mentally prepare himself for what he was sure to be a tiring task ahead. A study session with Ponyville's resident princess and all time lunatic in all things science, magic and on one occasion Friendship Reports. He had been sure that Twilight would go full on crazy time when they finally had managed to arrange a time when both of their schedules were open for this study session. But no amount of preparing made Castus feel fully prepared. This was Twilight after all. So, when he finally managed to find Twilight's study room in the castle, he was not surprised by what he saw. There was of course the stacks of papers, scrolls and organized lines of quills and ink bottles. All this was perfectly aligned, and in neat stacks and not the haphazard towers like last time. A pyramid of tomes, all perhaps connected to history or magic, sat beside a number of three sets of tables turned into laboratory sets, glasses and tubes, vials and burners. Three rows of long blackboards, the kind you see in college labs or science classes, the ones that could spin. With so many tools and equipment, the entire room was literally packed, and in the center of it all stood Twilight, going over a last few documents. Her mane was up in a bun, and she wore a pair of thin glasses and a science lab coat. Castus figured he could call to her, but he figured that whatever she was doing probably had her distracted. And even if she wasn't, he couldn't pass up a chance to have a little harmless fun. He walked over to one of the books and placed his finger on the corner edge of the book and then just.....gently......pushed it slightly. "Aaah!" Twilight gasped, and Blinking in a flash and appearing beside him to fix the book. She smiled and gave a slight nod when she was assured the book was neatly aligned once again, before blinking in realization and giving Castus a pouting look. "Why do you and the girls do that?" She asked displeased. Castus smirked and patted her head, "Cause its just so cute watching you been all organizy." Twilight brushed his hand away, but she blushed slightly, "That isn't even a word." Castus shrugged, "Words are just a collection of sounding vocalizations designed to give meaning to an object that can vary differently depending on the cultural representation of the vocalization." "Oh and I guess you have some sort of meaning to that word?" Twilight asked, looking at Castus with speculation. Castus shrugged, "Not really." "Ugh, can we just get started?" Twilight groaned, though Castus caught a slight smile on her lips. "Sure. I'd hate for al these preperations to go unused." Castus said, gesturing to all the equipment and notes gathered. Twilight looked about and blushed harder, "Sorry. I know this is just the first session, but I'm just so excited. This is the first of a once in a life time possibility. The implications could have wonders for the magical and scientific community." "Yes, yes just....try to breathe normally Twilight. Excitement uncontrolled doesn't do any good." Castus said, holding up his hands as he saw Twilight start to get excited as she spoke. "Unless you're Pinkie Pie." Twilight giggled. "You and I both know she is the exception to the rule. Lots of rules." Castus said with a sigh. The two shared a laugh, before finally Twilight held up a notebook and quill, "So, can we start now?" The look of excitement in her eyes evident. Castus smiled, "Alright. What do you want to go over first?" "Well-" Twilight started, but the door to the study opened to interrupt. "Uh, Twilight? I-Oh! I'm sorry, am I interrupting?" Castus turned to the voice to see a pony mare with a purple mane with a band of grayish, light aquamarine in between, and pink colored fur. "Oh, Starlight, no it is alright. Come in." Twilight said, smiling and motioned for the new pony to enter. "Starlight?" Castus said, then remembered, and hit his fist into the flat of his palm, "Oh I remember. So this is the Starlight Glimmer character who forcefully tore off your Cutie Mark and tried to destroy your friendship with the girls." Twilight and Starlight, Starlight in particular flinched. "Oh, sorry. That wasn't well put." Castus chuckled uneasily as he rubbed the back of his head. "N-No. I-it's okay. It's the truth after all." Starlight chuckled sheepishly. Though it was clear she was not comfortable with the topic. "I'm sorry. Let's start over. Good to meet you, I'm Castus." Castus offered his hand out to Starlight. "Castus?" Starlight gasped then as realization came to her, "Oh, Twilight talked about you. You're the human with the strange magic. The one who caused the ruckus in Canterlot three years ago and led the human combatants during the war." "Uh...yeah." Castus deadpanned with a sigh. "Heh, I guess we both have things we might regret." Starlight said, giving a slight smile. "Regret? Maybe. Some things. But if I had the chance to change the things I did in the past, I wouldn't do it. They were what led me to this point." Castus said, "The same can be said for you. You might regret your actions, but they all did lead you here. Right?" Starlight blinked, then smiled slightly, "I...I guess that is one way to look at it. Thank you." "Oh this is great. My pupil has made her first human friend. I will definitely have to compile this into your lesson plan." Twilight said, clapping her hooves. "Oh yeah, you are Twilight's student now." Castus said. "That's right. I've been working on her possible lessons in friendship, and sometimes we go over magic. I think she has a lot of potential." Twilight said with a hint of pride. Starlight blushed, and looked at the floor, "I-I'm nothing special. But thank you Twilight." "I know, Starlight why don't you join us. Castus and I were about to go over some ancient human magic and lore. It might give us all something to bond over." Twilight said, excited. "I-I don't know. I mean, I don't want to get in the way." Starlight said, rubbing the back of her head. "It's fine with me. It is no bother." Castus said with a shrug. "Then it is settled." Twilight said, her horn glowing as she pulled some chairs over from a table for them all to sit in, "So let's begin." "So what do you want to know?" Castus asked, adjusting himself in his seat. "Well, I am curious on your magic. Celestia told me what she knew of it, but it wasn't exactly informative. I don't like to say it, but I think her opinion is a bit biased." Twilight said, adjusting her glasses. "She has her reasons. And she is correct in them. Still, even I can't give you a correct description of the Wind. It is....It is something that defies most conventional explanation." Castus said. "What does that mean?" Starlight asked. Castus rubbed his chin, "I guess I should start from the beginning. First with the general idea of what the Wind is." Starlight and Twilight listened carefully, with Twilight jotting down notes as Castus spoke. "The Wind is very different from what you as ponies think magic is. Where your magic comes from your bodies, the Wind comes from the energies that make up the world." Castus began, "The Wind is of itself, the energies of creation which make up all living things in the world, from the suns and stars in the sky to the planets and all things that call them home." Castus stood up and walked to a blackboard and began to draw with a piece of chalk. "Now, we don't know where this energy comes from. There were plenty of theories, but no exact agreed upon idea. All we know is that the Wind is the forces of creation and destruction that exist within our world. Separate from the energies that form the worlds themselves, this is the energy that forms the life of the world. It is like a river of power, or an ocean." "But it goes beyond that. It is not a singular energy source, but it is actually a multitude of different streams of energy. Using the river idea, the Wind can be described as the river of water that stems from the mountain top," Castus began to draw a line, "At the beginning it starts as a single entity, but as it flows down the mountain or in this case as the Wind flows through the world, it splits off into various different rivers or streams. The energy of the Wind spreads out, splitting up into the various elements that make up the world. As of the final ages of the Valhruan empire there were a number of known and agreed upon streams or branches of the Wind." "What are the branches?" Starlight asked. "Fire. Metal. Shadow, or darkness is another word for it. Heavens. Wilds. Life. Light. These were the designation names given to the branches currently known. Of course there could be hundreds of different branches beyond this, but these main branches are the most common and despite their simple names can compromise a number of various different parts of the world that are connected to these branches in some way. Like metal. It is not just iron, but gold. Silver. Copper. Bronze. Any other sort of metallic element that exists is affected by this. With this branch, a user could melt and mold a metal to their will." Castus said, writing further on the blackboard. "But wouldn't you need to use Fire in order to melt metal?" Twilight asked. "You would think that. But the thing with the Metal branch is that it is the control of the metal itself. This includes its structure. I could use Fire to heat the metal to boil, turning it into a weapon, but it is not needed to turn the metal into a liquid. I simply use the Wind to manipulate the molecules of the metal to turn it from a solid to a liquid." Castus said. "However," Castus added, "This branch cannot affect metal ore. The rocks from which metal comes from. When it is in that state, it falls under the branch of Life, because it is in a natural form. Metal only affects the ore after it is heated and made into a non natural form. So you can see, it is not an easy thing to put a label on the Wind as its abilities to affect the world differ on a number of variables. Like the branches of Life and Wilds. The Life branch consist of al living things. In fact, it is the energy of our bodies that give us life. You, me, all living things have this form of the Wind existing in us because we are alive. But the Life branch cannot say, influence an animal. I could use it to heal a wound, but I could not use it to turn a savage animal into a docile pet. The Wilds branch, or the Beast branch, consists of the mind of all living creatures that are not plant based. With the Wild branch I could, with some work, manipulate the mind of a living creature. To a degree at least. Free Will is the one aspect that is not able to be fully controlled by the Wind. And survival instincts are far stronger then any subtle mental control possible by the Wind. I could make a beast docile, but if I put its life in jeopardy by any suggestions I gave it with the Wind, would break the control I had on it." "This is confusing." Starlight said, rubbing her head. "It is a form of power, that frankly is beyond our understanding. Maybe in time, perhaps we will discover all its secrets. But the Valhruan race spent nearly seventeen million years trying to, and still we did not even come close to scratching the surface." Castus said. "That is amazing! The thought of a whole branch of magic that has endless questions to research. Ehhhhh!" Twilight squealed in joy at the thought, clapping her hooves. "You might find that it is not worth the risk to seek all of the answers it holds." Castus said, "Not if you value your life." Twilight blinked, excitement gone and replaced with curiosity, "What do you mean?" "The Wind is dangerous. It is power. Raw power. To understand it, you must use it. You must immerse yourself in it. And in doing, you risk your life. And doom yourself in the long run." Castus said gravely, eyes serious. "Can you explain?" Starlight asked. "Think of it like walking into a raging river of cold mountain water for a drink. The force of the river could sweep you downstream and kill you. Or the cold water could freeze you to death. You are placing your body in danger, when you draw on the Wind. Only proper training can prevent death when one draws on the Wind. And even then there are still risks. A body can only hold so much of the Wind's energy in it, some more then others and some less, but if they draw in too much then their body can hold it is like filling a glass with too much water. The glass over flows and spills. Only in this case, when you overfill on the Wind, you die in any number of horrible ways. Or if you are very unlucky...you survive." "Wait, how can surviving be bad?" Starlight asked. "Because you become....damaged. I guess that is a good way to say it. You lose your ability to tap into the Wind. You become severed. That is a fate worse then death. You know the saying, Power is Addictive? In this case that is a literal meaning. The Wind is like a drug. Once you use it, you cannot stop. And if you can never touch it again. Well there isn't a point to live anymore then." Castus said, deeply troubled. Starlight and Twilight looked at Castus, curious and questioning. "You don't believe me?" Castus asked. "Well, it is just hard to understand. I mean, I know about addictive power. During the trouble with King Sombra, I had to use Dark Magic to get pass some of his traps," Twilight shivered, remembering, "It...it wasn't something I liked. It felt like my soul was...dirtied when I used it." "You used Dark Magic?" Castus said, shocked. Starlight herself looked at Twilight in surprise and horror. "I've never used it since. I never want to again." Twilight said, holding herself. Castus frowned, "Well. I guess that is close. But....well it is easier if I show you." "Show us?" Starlight asked, looking slightly afraid. "Yes. I will let you experience what the Wind feels to me." Castus said, drawing on the Wind. "But if it is as addictive as you said, won't we get addicted?" Twilight said, worried. "No. You have to directly touch it to get addicted to it. You will simply be feeling it through me. Don't worry, you will be in no danger." Castus assured them. Starlight and Twilight looked at each other, unsure, but nodded. "Good. Then, draw on your magic, but just hold it in your horn. Don't use it." Castus said, watching the girls as they did so. "Good. I won't draw too much in, so the effects might not be as powerful. But you will probably feel....odd." Castus said as he wove the needed threads to use the girls as Amplifiers as he had done with Luna. Twilight and Starlight gasped immediately. Starlights back arched and she gasped, as he tongue lulled out of her mouth and hung at the side. Her eyes wide with a mixture of pain and ecstacy. Twilight screamed, falling forward and hitting the ground. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, and yet she felt cold. So very cold. Yet even in the cold she felt as if her entire body was on fire. Feelings of pleasure and pain mixing through her entire form that she clenched her legs together to try and ignore the burning pulsing ecstact raking across her form. The whole world around her seemed to grow brighter. More vibrant almost. She could smell Starlights perfume more clearly, and the scents coming from Castus. Faust it was intoxicating and she found herself staring with a hungry desire burning in her now as she gazed at him. But within moments as it had begun, it ended just as quickly. Starlight flopped back into her seat, gasping for breath as she leaned forward with a moan. "Sorry. You both okay?" Castus asked as he approached the girls and checked their pulses. Twilight moaned a bit, feeling some drool on her cheek as she lay on the ground, mouth open. Her body still felt sensitive, and feeling Castus finguers brush against her neck nearly sent her into spasms. She blushed, as faded feelings to pounce on him and rip those clothes off and take him in the ways she had read in some of those books she kept hidden in a secret compartment in her night desk, and then drag Starlight into it all came to mind. She felt a warm wetness as well as she curled up, blushing. Starlight moaned as well, gasping. "That....what....Faust." Starlight gasped. "That was merely a background effect. Now imagine if you were exposing yourself to the Wind without me to act as a buffer to its full effects. So you can see. It is not like any sort of power you have felt." Castus said. "H-how can you...how can you even think straight?" Twilight gasped. "Hard work. Practice. Training. The key to using the Wind is being able to keep a clear mind, no matter what. True, it can be used without such training, but that is dangerous." Castus said calmly. Castus looked at the two girls and sighed, "Sorry. I just find it is best to experience something to help you believe it. Sorry for any discomfort or pain. Perhaps we should call it a day. Do you need any help?" "NO!" Starlight and Twilight shouted at once, but blushed and looked away. "Uh...yeah. L-lets call it a day. Uh, maybe again next week or so." Twilight said, more calmly. "Sure. I'll try to be available." Castus said, "So...I guess I'll go." "Yes. Uh....okay...bye." Twilight said, slowly getting to her knees. Castus nodded and walked out. When the sound of footsteps faded, Twilight sighed in relief. "T-that was....I think I need a shower. A nice...cold shower. Ice cold." Starlight said, standing up on shaky legs. "Y-yeah. Me too." Twilight said.