Ace's Spell Shop

by Aceofgods

The Real Lessons Begin

Chapter Thirteen: The Real Lessons Begin

Ace’s magical avatar strolled away from their physical selves as Twilight’s magical entity followed, nervous about her first real lesson under her new mentor. Ace’s horn began to glow even through their magical senses as he pointed to a location with a hoof. Out of the ground, a magical manifestation of a pony appeared.

“For this test, I need you to cast a combat spell with as much magical strength as you feel comfortable with. Again, if you go over your limit, I will grant you some of my magic to aid your recovery. Do you know of a good combat spell for this test?”

Twilight thought a moment, but realized that combat spells truly weren’t something she had studied often. “Well, I know a couple… But I don’t think I’d want to use them, one of them actually hurts to use it.” Ace nodded, having already thought that Twilight would know of none.

“Very well then, please observe.” The horn of Ace’s magical form radiated magical power once again, but this time, as Ace was lining up the target, his horn shone much more brightly than it should have before exploding and sending his magical self scattering among the grass and hillside.

Fortunately, as it was only a magical form, Ace slowly reformed before the target, shaking his head as he was pieced back together. “And that, my student, is a surefire way to give yourself a headache…”

Ace’s avatar placed a hoof against its head as he tried to shake away the pain once more. Accepting that the pain was going to stay, he began to charge his spell once more, this time forming a ball of fire before himself.

The fire grew slightly in size, becoming about the size of Ace’s head as it glowed purple in Twilight’s senses through her magic. The fireball shot like a sparrow into the target and immediately fizzled, the target magic-turned-pony still standing, unharmed.

“Gather the magic in front of yourself, but keep it a safe distance so as not to get burnt. Once you have put as much magic into it as you feel you are able, launch the projectile into the target. Doing this will give me a proper gauge of your magic capacity.” Twilight nodded as she started to focus.

Twilight’s horn lit up, a small flame starting to form in front of her. Once the flame came into being, she started feeding it more of her magic; a little at first, but working into larger amounts as the fire grew. Before long, the fire had grown to be three times as large as Twilight’s head. The flame grew slightly larger, but Twilight began to feel she was exhausting too much of her magical energy.

Being uncomfortable feeding the fireball any further, Twilight used a kinetic spell to propel the ball of fire into the target. Ace watched as the flame flew lazily towards the target before hitting it and fizzling out into nothing.

Nodding as he took his notes aloud, “Good. It would appear you can cast some level 5 spells comfortably, and with much effort, perhaps a level 6. However, remember for spells to effectively interact, the spell affecting them must be of equal or greater strength; you tried to launch a level 5 fireball spell using a level 2 kinetic spell. I assume you saw the results.”

Twilight nodded, embarrassed, that she had. “I had only copied the spell that you had used, I didn’t think that it would need to be changed, since it had worked before.” Ace’s avatar nodded with a smile.

“Yes, and that is another lesson by itself: Whenever you change another spell in any way, especially making it stronger by adding more magic to it, you always need to be mindful of all of the effects and attributes that will be affected. This can also apply to more than just magic; whenever you plan a course of action, you must bear in mind there is always a reaction.”

Twilight’s magical representation nodded as she took mental note of the lesson. “Are we done? I’m starting to feel tired.” Ace nodded with a smile as his magical self made an otherwise impossible leap up the hill and into his physical shell, Twilight mimicking the action as she withdrew her magical senses, rather than cutting off the magic completely.

While Twilight was regaining the use of her physical senses, she could tell that Ace was watching her. Ace, having both his magical and physical senses active at once, was already recovered and looking into Twilight’s eyes.

When Twilight finally had her senses about her once more, she could feel her magic was quite depleted after only a single spell. After a sigh of exhaustion, Ace’s black glow embraced her body, and she could feel his magic flowing into her to supplement a small portion of her depleted magic.

Twilight’s cheeks flushed as Ace watched her. “Ace? We should get ready to go shopping. I-if the lesson is over, I mean.” Ace shook his head as if he were dazed before nodding. Ace and Twilight headed down the hill towards the marketplace.

Once they were close, she could tell Ace was reviewing each of the wares in his magic. There was a stall where an earth pony was selling hoof-crafted puppets, a stall selling honey with the beehives buzzing upon the counter, a number of vegetable stalls and even the Unicorn selling his magically made synth-gems.

Ace stopped by the puppet stall, looking at each of the individual puppets with a smile before the attendant took notice. “You seem to have a fine eye for puppets. Are you a puppeteer?”

Ace smiled at the attendant, but Twilight wasn’t quite sure he had even heard the stallion. “The white-coated blue-maned mare has an imperfection in both of her left hooves, and her partner stallion has a similar defect in his neck. Likely a trait of the wood they were crafted from, honestly. Still, there are many fine marionettes here. Would you happen to take requests?”

The earth pony minding the stall seemed astonished that Ace had noticed the minor details so quickly, but then recovered with a smile as he praised the pony’s work. “I suppose I might. Did you have something in mind?” Ace nodded before saying ‘Wait here,’ and teleporting away.

A couple of moments later, Ace returned with a framed a picture in his hoof that he presented to the craftspony. Twilight managed to catch a look as Ace was handing the photograph to the pony, but all she could tell was that it was a black-and-white picture of what looked to be a young Unicorn filly. “She looks nice. Is she yours?”

Ace nodded proudly. “Yes, and I’m sorry, but this is the only photo I have of her. She has a deep sapphire blue coat and a vivid sap green mane and tail, complimenting her dark emerald eyes. If you choose to craft her for me, I’d like her to be made from Yew wood. Can you do it? I will pay quite well, of course.”

The stall tender looked devotedly at the picture, likely painting the image in his mind. After a few moments, he nodded with a smile as he handed back the picture. “Sure, I’m always happy to bring a family closer together with my work. However, I am afraid I do not have any yew that I can craft with. It might be some time before I have the proper materials.”

Ace took the picture and cradled it against his chest lovingly. “Sadly, Forest Wave is no longer with us, but I do appreciate the sentiment. Still, I can pay for your materials to hurry the process along, of course.” Ace started to pull some coins from his pouch, which Twilight saw was filled with all gold bits.

Ace placed a few of the coins onto the counter with a smile. “Seventy-five now, for the materials and as an incentive, and I’ll pay another one-hundred-twenty-five when I receive the finished work. Is this fair, mister?”

The craftspony looked at the coins in disbelief, nearly forgetting his own name. “You can call me Deft Hoof, but this is far more than I normally charge for a request. Surely you’ve misspoken, mister Unicorn. I’ll gladly craft the marionette for you, but this is just too much.”

Ace dipped into his introduction as he spoke, “Ace Deus Fenrir, but you may call me Ace. If you feel I am paying too much, then I would consider it a favor for you to push the order as far forward as you are able. The price is, however, non-negotiable.

"If this is still too much, then use the excess bits to buy the best quality yew wood you can, and perhaps some finer tools if you need. Please deliver the puppet in the likeness of my dear filly to the Golden Oak Library. Fare tidings, Mister Deft Hoof.”

Ace teleported the picture back to his home as he and Twilight turned and walked away, Deft Hoof still staring at the coins upon his stall. Twilight had so many questions, she thought she was going to get a headache as they spun through her mind. She thought she would start with the easier one first, “You know how to handle a marionette?”

Ace smiled sincerely without looking at her as he replied, likely recalling some fond memory or another. “I took up a number of childish hobbies when Forest Wave was born. She used to love watching me make puppets dance and put on shows for her. It may have been just a simple passing interest to learn the skill, but watching her smile and laugh like that… really makes a pony think that nothing is childish, so long as it makes somepony happy.”

Twilight admired the loving look on Ace’s features as he spoke of his daughter. “Why did the marionette need to be made of yew specifically? Wouldn’t it normally be made of a more common wood? Yew is normally used to craft bows, if I’m not mistaken.”

Ace nodded, still not making eye contact as he stared off into his memories. “Forest Wave’s special talent was tending for forests and gardens, especially trees. As soon as her cutie mark appeared, we allowed her to plant a Yew tree in our yard, which grew almost as quickly as she did, and she always cared for that tree with her magic.

"When she had passed away, her mother and I buried her below that tree… It was a central part of our family, and was her dearest possession. Rather, it was her dearest childhood friend.

“Of course, there are other reasons as well. The Yew tree is a symbol of sadness, and is often found in graveyards. Also, the Yew tree is thought to be connected to the mythological Yggdrasil. Depending on who tells the story, Yggdrasil may be the Tree of Life, or the World Tree, or the physical embodiment of Mother Nature. Still, the largest reason is because it was her favorite of all the known trees in Equestria.”

Twilight was beginning to contemplate asking the more difficult questions, but with the grocery store close by, she only had time to ask one. “What happened to Forest Wave? It sounds like both you and Little Raven were both around when she had passed away.” Twilight braced herself, hoping Ace wouldn’t get mad at her.

Ace let out a sigh of pain and sorrow as he sat in the road just before the store, with nopony nearby enough to hear them talk. “Forest Wave was a quarter-blooded Al Bhed, and was gifted in the ways of magic. Because of this, she bore the mark of the Al Bhed in her right eye.

"When she was a filly, I shielded her eye with an illusion spell whenever we left our wooded homestead, but when she grew old enough to make her own decisions, she questioned why she must hide her lineage when she had done nothing wrong.

“I explained as softly as I could that the world is not always a just place, but she made the decision to leave home one day without the illusion spell. Things were going good at first; her friends were thrilled to know about her heritage, and thought her unique eye was beautiful.

"However, ponies who did not know her were afraid, and fear and difference often leads to anger and mistrust. A few days passed, but the more ponies who saw her eye, the more they began to speak of it, and the more ponies spoke of it, the more ponies gathered and rallied against it.

“After only three days of going without the illusion spell, an angry mob of ponies came to our home with make-shift weapons and torches to kill her, her family and burn down our home.” A pair of tears rolled down Ace’s cheeks as he lowered his head, closing his eyes as he continued.

“Forest Wave and Little Raven hid in the cellar as I confronted the ponies. I asked them to see reason, I asked them to spare the life of my child and to lay down their weapons. I asked them to hold love and tolerance in their hearts, to lay aside their hatred for what they could not understand.

“The mob yelled and screamed, saying that my child was an abomination, that something so different should not be called a pony. They said that only monsters could bear such a gaze. I had known many of these ponies, had helped many of them build their homes or cultivate their crops in town. I had watched them raise their children as I had raised my own. I revealed my own Al Bhed eye, and I asked them if I too were a monster.

“For a time, there was silence. Then there were whispers. Then there were yells, and battle cries as they charged at me, calling me names and insulting my family and my lineage. There were precisely thirty-four ponies in that mob. Not a single one of them reached my home.

"By the time Forest Wave and Little Raven poked their noses out of the cellar, there were precisely thirty-four corpses scattered among the forest.

“I am not proud of what I had to do. I am not proud that I single-hoofedly defended my family. I am not proud that my only daughter had to see her father coated in blood, looking to all of Equestria like the very monster that the mob had claimed my family to be. I do not, however, carry any regret about doing what I had to. I do not regret that they died so that my family may live. If I had to, I would have burned down that entire town to protect my daughter and wife.

“Forest Wave lived that day, and she knew what had been the cause of the assault on our home. For a time, she hid her Al Bhed eye from the world. When she grew older, stronger, she decided to once again be proud of her heritage.

"She displayed her Al Bhed eye proudly, and would openly accept any challenge from any other pony who did not feel the same way. In numerous horn-foiling, spell duels, and hoof fights, she defended the honor of her heritage proudly. However, not all ponies will challenge their opponent to a straight-up fight.

“Several years passed, and she had garnered many enemies. Forest Wave was strong; powerful in mind, body and magic. Strong as she was, she could not defend herself against another mob of ponies, having been bound by somepony she had trusted, a lover. After she was killed, I eliminated the traitor, and then Little Raven and I moved away from that town, and we never returned, save to pay our respects to our daughter’s grave every year.”

Ace had sat, crying hopelessly through the whole story, a small illusion barrier around the pair to prevent the curious looks of passing ponies. For the second time, Twilight embraced her mentor to comfort him, and he had accepted the embrace, openly sobbing on his student’s shoulder.

For a time, Ace shared in the embrace, allowing himself to calm down before wiping the tears away with his hooves. Once he had, he dried his face, chin and Twilight’s shoulder with his magic as he looked embarrassed sitting before her.

“I… I’m sorry for telling you all this, Twilight. I’m not entirely certain why I do, really. I’ll admit it feels good to tell somepony, after all these years. Sadly, my family only lives on through me and my memories.

"Little Raven and I never had another child, terrified as we were after what had happened to Forest Wave. There have been many times where I contemplated breaking my vow to never alter the past using time magic so that I may save my daughter.”

Twilight shook her head as she lifted Ace’s muzzle with a hoof so he was looking into her eyes. The look of sadness marring her mentor’s features, which looked all the sadder in contrast to his normally happy-about-everything appearance. “You’re a stronger pony than most, Ace,” Twilight spoke using the original pronunciation.

“After what you’ve been through, even only what you have been so kind as to tell me, most ponies would have given up on the world, would have never talked to anypony ever again. You, on the other hoof, go out of your way to help other ponies.

"You saw the dust on Deft Hoof’s tools and the slimming waistline of his stomach – don’t deny it, I saw you looking at them, - and you knew that he was having trouble getting by. You helped him by commissioning work from him, and even paid him up front for the work that I know you could have done yourself for a fraction of the cost.

“Most ponies who have lived your life would be hateful, and mean. You are not most ponies, and I know that it hurts you to remember your past, and that is why you try not to talk about it. Be that as it may, you have happy memories too, and I know that you are capable of great things.

"You are a good pony, Ace, a great pony. I know you sometimes think about the bad things you’ve done, I’ve seen the sorrow in your eyes, but in your case the good outweighs the bad. You’re a great pony, and I look forward to studying magic under your tutelage.”

Ace took Twilight into another embrace, but this time – for the first time, - it was a cheerful embrace rather than a sad one. Twilight was taken aback this time before she wrapped her hooves around him. Ace was the first to separate, his features in a sincere smile as he a spoke a silent ‘Thank you,’ as he lowered the barrier and made for the grocery store.

Twilight and Ace emerged from the grocery store, Ace carrying a few of the groceries in his spare saddlebag while she took much of it in her bags, telling her it is best to train one’s body whenever the opportunity arises.

Twilight had intended to pay for the groceries, but before she had even carried them to the counter, he had already paid for them in exact change – that is, he gave the cashier as close to exact change as he could with gold bits, and said to keep the change. As he did so, he gave Twilight a knowing smirk as though he knew it would bother her.

Twilight was so confused with Ace sometimes. One moment it was almost as though they had known each other for years, while other moments he acted like a complete stranger. Aside from times when he spoke of his past, which Twilight noted was certainly getting more and more frequent, he always had a smile or grin on his muzzle.

In a word, he was truly blithe; happy and not worried about anything. Much of what Twilight heard of his past were terribly sad, so she couldn’t tell what his ‘deal’ was. Was it a mask? Did he truly just not care about anything anymore? Maybe he had a spell that let him forget about the bad stuff that had happened?

Twilight let out a sigh of vexation without realizing she had done so physically. Ace looked over at her with an eyebrow raised, “Come now, surely you’re not tired of carrying the groceries already. I can tell you still have plenty of strength left, and I can tell from how you’re walking that you’re not tired or sore.”

Twilight shook her head. “No, it isn’t that. I was just wondering… Oh, never mind, it’s not a very pleasant topic. We’re going to do another magic lesson before we go home, right?”

Ace nodded as he looked forward again, though Twilight could tell his magical senses were still directed at her. “Of course, unless you’re not feeling up to it. You know, you can talk to me, Twilight. If there’s something bothering you, it’d make me feel better knowing what it was.” Twilight shook her head, and a soft smile spread across his face. “Having boy trouble?”

Twilight’s face flushed as she nearly missed a step as Ace’s smile turned into his casual, goofy grin that somehow looked elegant on him. “That. That’s what’s bothering me. You always know how to push my buttons as though we’ve known each other for a really long time.

"In addition to that, another thing that bothers me is how you can always play everything off with a joke or a grin as though it were nothing. Despite your- sorry, that’s going too far…”

Ace cocked an eyebrow and looked back in her direction as they headed for the hill they had been at before. “I know your buttons because you remind of Little Raven, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight’s cheeks lit up again at the mention of her resemblance to his wife. “Raven and I were happily married for more than fourty years, Twilight. However, we’ve been apart for much, much longer than that.

“As for why I’m able to play everything off as a joke, or just laugh my worries away, that’s just a part of my personality – a part of who I am. Also, assuming you were about to say ‘Despite my troubled past,’ ‘tis not too far at all. Wrong, but not too far. I have been telling you the painful parts of my past because those are the parts you have been asking about.

“You asked about how I got my name, and I told you. You asked about who Little Raven was, and I told you. You asked about how my daughter, Forest Wave, had passed away - did you honestly think that would be a happy story, by the way? You haven’t asked me about the first time I sold a pony a spell, or the first time I went fishing, or the first time I met Princess Luna and Celestia.

"I have many happy memories, and I have many sad memories. I have many memories that make me proud, and many memories that I wish could have happened differently. I’ve traveled Equestria - and beyond! - for a very long time, Twilight, and I have many memories because of it.”

Twilight cringed away slightly, having realized that many of her questions were sort of barbed without her meaning them to be. Given the options, she went with what sounded the most innocent. “What happened the first time you went fishing?”

That question couldn’t possibly go wrong, right?

Ace started laughing hysterically at the memory. “I had a coltfriend who had a special talent for fishing, and he had invited me to come a number of times. He showed me how to tie and bait a hook, and he had this really good, pungent stinkroot-and-leechvine mixed bait he was using.

"Well he shows me how to tie and bait with his line, then let me try to do mine on my own. I had thought I did everything right, but what I didn’t notice was he had dipped his hook in the water first.

“You see, when you put stinkroot and leechvine together, it makes a light adhesive when it touches something wet, which lets it stay on the hook. Well, I baited a dry hook and tried to cast my line, but the bait flew off the hook when I did that, and it landed right on his muzzle. He started kicking and flailing and about tipped the boat over trying kick the gunk off.”

Twilight was at first covering her mouth with a hoof to stop from laughing, the two of them sitting in the shade of the tree on the hill now. Try as she might, the laugh burst through anyways.

“Well, now that he told me how to do it right a second time, I cast my line out prim and proper this time. Some time passed as we talked with one another, me anxiously wanting to reel my line in to check it as he told me to let it sit.

“After a while, a finally landed a hit on my line and my rod bobbed and about pulled out of my hooves. I yanked the rod and cranked the reel with my coltfriend yelling in my ear ‘Get it, get it!’ the whole time. I fought the fish the whole way, and finally got into the boat. I’m holding the fish up, marveling at my first catch, which if you don’t already know, is a bad idea.

“That catfish flapped its tailfin and hopped right out of my hooves and landed right on my friend’s lap before flapping up again – nailing him in a tender spot as it did so, I might add, - and bounced up and whacked him right across the muzzle before leaping back into the water.

"My friend just stared at me angrily as I rolled around the boat laughing my flank off. Another lesson for you: don’t make the other pony in the boat mad enough at you to toss you overboard; he’ll do it. Being a strong earth pony, he lifted me up and threw me right into the water; being a stronger Unicorn, I picked his flank up and took him with me.

"We both hit the water glaring at each other, but both crawled out of it cracking up with laughter.”

Twilight was having trouble keeping on her hooves with how hard she was laughing at the story. Ace wasn’t really faring much better, resorting instead to mimicking the act of him and his friend splashing in the water as they were thrown in, making Twilight laugh all the harder. Ace let the laughter fade on its own as he sat, waiting for his student to regain her composure.

Once Twilight could keep a straight face long enough to nod, Ace returned the gesture with a smile. “Okay, for the first real lesson, aside from the test, we’ll be discussing Efficient Casting. If you’ll please make a magical body, we can begin." Twilight nodded, her face studious now that the lesson had commenced. Twilight closed her eyes, igniting her magical senses and letting them flow about her, taking control of her normal senses.

She looked around for a moment, expecting to see Ace. “Efficient Casting is the act of using only the exact amount of magic necessary to cast a spell,” Ace’s voice resonated through Twilight’s magical body as he spoke to her through her magic before appearing in front of her.

“Much like when you found me under my apple tree at Sweet Apple Acres, when a spell is cast, the excess magic becomes Spell Residue; I believe we’ve spoken about the lingering effects spell residue can have on our senses recently.” Twilight nodded that she had remembered.

“There are a number of things Spell Residue can be used for. The first you seem to be at least slightly versed in, and that is tracking. When you analyze spell residue, you can tell who cast the spell, what spell was cast, how it was cast and what it was cast at.

"The second is more of a sub-category of the first, as for you, you can learn the spell just by feeling it from the spell residue with your eidetic spell memory. The third is called Spell Homing. This is an advanced technique that we’ll discuss later, but I want to bring it up now as well: Spell Homing is using the spell residue of another Unicorn’s magic to use them as an acquired target for another spell.

"This is often done with hexes and the like, but can be useful for other spells, even spells such as healing spells. The fourth and final use for this lesson, is gathering. Assuming the spell that was cast didn’t have a lingering effect, such as a hex, an enchantment, or a trigger-spell, you can harvest the magic to supplement your own.”

Ace paused, knowing that Twilight would be taking every word he said and be committing it to memory in case it would be on a test. Even in her magical form, Ace could see her eyes darting around using some memory mechanic known only to her. When her eyes had stopped moving about and she nodded, Ace continued. “For this lesson, I want you to perfect using your signature spell, that flash-teleport spell, without leaving any magic residue behind.

“You may use your physical form or your magical form for this lesson, as you will pose very little danger to others, so long as you keep your teleports along the hill. The lesson will conclude when you successfully cast the spell efficiently three times in a row, or when you deplete your magic. You may begin whenever you feel prepared.”

Twilight nodded, returning to her more familiar physical body and waiting as her normal senses recovered. She could see Ace getting comfortable and laying on his back in the shadows of the tree, watching the leaves and branches dance in the breeze. She could also feel his familiar magical presence washing over her with his focused attention being solely on her. Twilight’s horn lit up as she started to teleport around the hill, beginning the lesson.

Comments

[Wolfinsheepsclothing]

Colt friend?

[Aceofgods]

3070739
It's meant to be the pony equivalent of guy friend, not boyfriend.
I know it sounds like boyfriend, but it was either coltfriend or stallionfriend, and the latter sounded more like boyfriend to me.

Also, while I thank you for devotedly reading my book, I have this fascinating new concept called 'sleep' for you. :3

[FicusCat]

Ace Deus Fenrir

It's a really BAD name for a pony, sound way too Gary Stu-ish to be a plausible name. " Ace " alone is plausible ( a tennis pony goes by this name ). It's really immersion breaking for me to read the adventures of a MC with this kind of unpony-like name.
You write a story about ponies, you give them ponies names.

The story is a MASSIVE wall of text. Seriously, make more paragraph and space, it's really tedious to read 5k words chapters with only ONE break.

And as for the idea of a random unicorn teaching magic to Twilight ... No. Twilight is able to learn any spell in a matter of second just by watching it being cast ( teleportation trick from NM and dark magic from Celestia ) and she's married with books. So making a huge story about how random OC teach Twilight his powerfull magic and various knowledges don't work for me.

[Aceofgods]

3070830

1. Ace Deus Fenrir IS an odd name for a pony, this is discussed WITHIN the story that I'm not quite sure you've read. Ace isn't from Equestria, and yes, his name sounds strange to other ponies. Zecora isn't a pony, and thus she has a different name as well, because she is a zebra.

2. You're right about the wall of text in Chapter One: This is a formatting issue with copy-pasting from Word 2013, but I've corrected it now. Sincere apologies on that one.

3. By your logic, Twilight should be able to raise the sun and moon because she has seen the Princesses do it. No, she cannot. In my story, Unicorns have to train their magic to become stronger. Besides that, the book isn't about teaching spells, as Twilight's eidetic spell memory is accounted for in numerous sections of the story.

"Maybe next time you will take a second look, and not judge the cover of the book."
— Zecora, Bridle Gossip