//------------------------------// // Chapter 21 // Story: Trickster Priest // by Fresnor //------------------------------// “I wonder what these tabloids masquerading as a real newspaper have to say today.” Xellos picked out a fresh newspaper that was recently tossed into the trash and rose an eyebrow at a story in the corner of the front page. “'Unicorn saves zebra settlement from monster attack, page 4.'” With his interest grabbed he turns to the page to see a small picture of the damage tone to the unnamed settlement which included a view of the bodies of zebras and brass demons in various poses with a few survivors roaming the wreckage. “'An unnamed unicorn was reported to have rescued a zebra settlement that was in the midst of an attack by unknown creatures. Some experts believe these claims to be a hoax as there are no known records on the creatures shown and that the incident is a publicity stunt to increase funding to the nation. The unicorn, believed to be a mare, was not found for comment but is thought to be the same pony in other incidents reported in recent weeks.' Well, good to see that she seems to be doing rather well. Of course now I'm tempted to start up my own newspaper if this is the quality that Equestria produces now.” He skims over the rest of the paper but with the title page story being about the royal guard rescuing kittens being the highlight he finds nothing else of interest. Incinerating the paper he looks around and notices a flier advertising and event for sisters in Ponyville. His mind is drawn to the three fillies he was teaching and he knew that two of them would be there but he wasn't sure about the third. Flying towards Sweet Apple Acres, where the event was supposed to happen, he kept an eye out for where it was taking place as well as a place to watch from. He found a spot above the action on a fluffy cloud and found that he was a bit early as they were still setting some of the events up. Surveying the area he spotted a familiar orange figure looking at the set-up before turning and walking away, head low. “Oh dear, I had wondered but I guess she doesn't have a sister like the other two. I would have thought Rainbow Dash would have been her sister but I never really did bother to ask.” Floating down behind the filly he watched for a moment as she paused to kick at a rock before speaking up. “Well this won't do, having one of my students looking so down would really reflect poorly on me. What's got you so down?” Scootaloo jumped a bit at him appearing behind her from nowhere but living in a town with Pinkie Pie tends to inoculate you to being surprised to it wasn't as bad of a scare as it could have been. Looking back to see the biped she winces as her gaze hits the ponies setting up for the Sisterhood Social forcing her to turn away again. “It's nothing really.” “Oh really? If it's nothing then why would you be looking so down while walking away from something your friends are about to be part of?” The filly doesn't look back but he can tell he hit a nerve as her wings stiffened up a bit before she slumped and let out a sigh. “Fine, I just haven't been able to do much with the others lately and then this happens. Applebloom has been hanging around the library and sneaking Twilight's books on putting magic in other magic or something. Sweetie Belle has been hanging around watching Spike while he learns how to use that sword of his with a retired guard. Now both of them are here with their sisters while I'm just here with...” The filly trails off at the end as she looks down at the ground sadly once again, not wanting to continue. Xellos looks over the crestfallen filly as he thinks on what she said and realizes he hadn't given much thought to the style of magic the three fillies would use. Sweetie Belle just naturally fell into a support role with her magic while it seemed that Applebloom was searching for a role as well. While those two were doing that they were unknowingly leaving their friend behind and the monster quickly came up with an idea. “Well since you aren't doing anything else and we seem to be in an open enough space then how about this? Try and hit me.” The filly froze in confusion for a moment before turning to look at him questioningly. “What did you say?” “Try and hit me. You look like you have some things to work out so you might as well do it on someone that can take it. Besides, it's not like you even have a chance of hurting me let alone touching me.” His challenging tone at the end causes the pegasus to bristle at him and she gives a halfhearted buck at him as he leans down towards her. As she wasn't trying hard he easily dodged her hooves by leaning back slightly but his non-nonchalant attitude sparked some anger in the pegasus. With a yell, Scootaloo turned and threw herself at Xellos in an attempt to headbutt him before swinging her hooves wildly at him. Xellos, for his part, frowned as the filly essentially flailed at him randomly with him using the minimum amount of movement to avoid her swings. “Really? I've seen better fighting out of a drunk in the early morning. What ever happened to those moves you showed off during the talent show I heard about?” His words made the filly angrier but she did start to flail less as her movements became more composed. She still was overly reckless in her offensive style and Xellos decided to up the lesson some more. “Not bad, but you really need to be ready to dodge.” “What?” Scootaloo's eyes snapped up to him but she was still unprepared for his staff coming up to her stomach, sending her flying back across the ground though she still stayed upright on her hooves. The attack was more of a surprise for her than actually painful as it felt more like she was shoved backwards than hit. It also robbed her of much of her anger which was exactly what Xellos was trying for. “What the hay was that for?” Xellos chuckled as he waved a finger at the pegasus. “Would you really expect someone to just stand and do nothing in a fight? Besides, the most important thing in any fight is defense since if they can't hit you they can't hurt you. Of course even if you do get hit being tough enough to shrug it off helps as well.” The filly just glared at Xellos as she flared her tiny wings and prepared to charge again. “Well how is throwing me around supposed to help with that?” Launching herself at the monster in a flying kick, she used her wings to try and propel herself faster at him. His reaction to this latest attack was to just shake his head before raising a hand in the path of her hoof. When she hit she smirked for a moment before noticing that he didn't even move a hair and then the pain from her impact of her hoof was felt by her sending her rolling on the ground cradling the limb. “Ow, ow, ow, ow! What the hay!? What are you made of, it's like kicking a boulder!?” Casually looking at both sides of his hand before smirking at the filly. “Just proving a point since physical attacks like that won't work on monsters or tougher creatures. Of course if you remember I did teach you some magic that could have helped against weaker creatures yet you didn't bother to use it.” Scootaloo blushed as she remembered the magic she was shown before she smirked as she renewed her assault once again. “RAYWING!” Floating into the air with the barrier around herself, the filly then started circling around Xellos before coming at him from the side. His only reaction was to raise an eyebrow as he waited to see what she was up to now. As she crashed the shield of the spell into his side, she kicked off of him to fling herself backwards into the air before unleashing another spell. “SCATTER BRID!” Watching the swarm of balls of electrical energy fly at him, Xellos smirked as the filly hung in the air behind the attack. “Not bad, not bad. Now dodge!” Vanishing from sight he bypassed the fillies spell and appeared in front of her with his staff pressed against her gut. Her face fell when she found him close in on her so easily before she was once again sent flying backwards from a strong, yet gentle, shove. When she landed Scootaloo started to pour her frustration into the same spell she just used while Xellos prepared for another short lecture as he was unconcerned by any potential attacks. As the filly unleashed her attack a cyan blur flew down and landed between the two before it started screaming at the monster. “Hey! What the buck do you think you are d-d-d-ddddd!” To the shock of the two Scootaloo's attack hit Rainbow Dash right between the wings turning her words into a jittery mess as the electricity flowed through her form. The filly quickly rushed to the side of the older pegasus with a face full of worry. “Rainbow Dash, no! I didn't mean to, please say you're all right!” Xellos stood over the two with his hand pinching his chin as he looked over the two. “Well that was interesting. That was stronger than the spell should have been, about as strong as a mono volt or maybe even a dig volt. Good thing pegasii are pretty resistant to electric-based attacks.” Scootaloo glared up at him before her attention was pulled back to Rainbow Dash as she groaned and shook her still smoking head. “Ow, what just hit me?” “Well that would be a spell that you got in the way of when you decided to jump into the middle of a sparring match. Good think I haven't shown her any of the more dangerous spells I know of or ones that you wouldn't be able to shrug off like that.” The rainbow-maned pegasus looked around and on seeing the two remembered what she was just doing before rounding on the biped. “A sparring match?! What were you thinking doing something like that with a filly?! You could have really hurt her!” Xellos just scoffed at her worry as he motioned towards the young pegasus. “Well she certainly knocked you out pretty good for being 'just a filly' and wasn't it 'just a filly' that helped heal you and your friends back during that diamond dog incident?” Both pegasii refused to look at him as he said this as they didn't want to acknowledge his words on what had happened. It didn't take long though for the older mare to recover and fly up into his face. “That doesn't explain why you are teaching her something so dangerous. That spell hurt and if it was anypony else that was hit I don't know what would have happened.” Xellos paused and looked closely at the filly for a moment before looking back at the older mare. “It's true I didn't expect her to be able to pull something like that off, the spell is normally mostly harmless.” He pauses to ponder for a bit before his mind wanders back to an old minotaur friend he used to know. “But I do know of a spell that would be perfect for her to use at it would let her be able to physically hit monsters as well as deflect magic if she needs to and it's no more dangerous than your hoof.” Going back through his memories he visualizes the time from his past before he starts to chant the words of the spell. “The source of all spirit, That blue flame that is never exhausted, That power that sleeps within my soul. Become one with me and obliterate the dark abyss. VISFARANK!” The two ponies just stare at the glowing ball of energy that appears around his fist after he finishes not knowing quite what to think. Turning towards a nearby tree he slams his fist into it causing it to shudder from the impact but with him holding back there was no further damage. “This spell might add a bit of power behind her attacks but the point of it is to imbue astral energies into your attacks so the you can fight creatures without a solid body. That, along with the defensive aspect, make it a useful spell to have but it doesn't last all that long so needs to be cast continuously.” He lets the two poke at the spell a couple times before he starts teaching it to Scootaloo until she manages to retain it. Rainbow Dash also pays attention as she hovers off to the side, not knowing what to think of the monster's relationship with the filly though she can't see a reason to object after some of what she had seen since it would help keep her safe. She pays attention to everything as she promises herself to try the spell out herself later while also keeping an eye on future meetings between the two. Once Scootaloo gets the spell down the two return to their sparring again with Rainbow Dash keeping an eye on things so it doesn't get too out of control. As she watched she thought back to what had happened when Xellos had last saved her and her friends and wondered where she could go to improve her own skills as she didn't want to owe the monster anything and she knew that as long as he was around things would be always be dangerous.