Ace's Spell Shop

by Aceofgods

Rest and Recovery

Chapter Eighteen: Rest and Recovery

Ace awoke in a place that was unfamiliar to him, his entire body sore and tense as though he had just been in a battle. He could feel a weight against his right side. Without opening his eyes or moving a muscle, Ace ignited his magical senses to survey his surroundings. There were four ponies in the building with him: he knew two of them, both being quite dear to him. The other two reminded him of Twilight, but he couldn’t recall having ever met either of them.

Analyzing the rest of the area, Ace could tell that the structure was a house, made of stone, and a mildly expensive one at that. Further examination revealed they were in Canterlot, some distance away from the castle and a shorter distance from the market.

Is this Twilight’s home?

Ace observed the room, noticing the broken coffee table in the center and a sword leaning against one of the walls. Examining the sword more closely, Ace could tell it originally belonged to Canterlot Guard, as did the blood that was eating away at the edge and the inside of the scabbard.

”How long doth thou intend to layabout? The night is young, and thou wouldst wish to waste it so?” a familiar voice echoed through Ace’s mind as a smile crossed his features.

”I see that thou still enjoys spying on her little ponies, dearest sister. Whilst I do enjoy the glories of night, I would not wish to disturb the others who prefer the daylight’s embrace.” With that, Ace rose his head and looked upon the weight that was upon his side, smiling tenderly at Twilight as she slept.

”It would seem that Celestia’s student is quite fond of thou, dear brother. As much as we enjoy toying with our sister, might we ask why that is?” The voice spoke again before Ace looked the source of it in the cyan eyes, lit by the cobalt magic that waved around the Light sapphire mane. The mare was larger-than-most, bearing a long pointed horn, upon which rested a small black tiara of a crown as well as a pair of wings. In addition to the crown, the Immortal Alicorn bore an onyx peytral plate that proudly displayed the mare’s emblem – the waxing gibbous stage of the moon.

”Has our sister informed not even thou? Twilight carries the soul of our dear Little Raven, and is to be our student by her own choice.” A look of shock spread silently over the mare’s dark sapphire features as she was taken aback by the telecommunicated news.

”No, she has told us nothing of the sort. From when has our sister known of such things?” Ace shook his head at the disappointing news that Celestia had told not even Princess Luna about such an important discovery, though glad to know Princess Luna had not been keeping secrets from him as well.

”Apparently, she has claimed to have known since Twilight had first enrolled in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. By her own admittance, she had been looking for Little Raven’s soul for some time, and had not expected her to ‘walk into her hooves so easily.’”

”Sister has been keeping far too many secrets of late, even from us. It is most unbecoming of one in her position!” Princess Luna’s wings spread wide in her fury, nearly knocking over a vase before Ace took it in his magic and righted it again.

”Calm yourself, dearest sister. Surely thou didst not come this night to question mine motives with Twilight,” Ace said through their telepathic link as he softly stroked the sleeping pony’s mane. ”To what do we owe the honor of thine presence this blessed night?”

The princess shook her head solemnly. ”Thou were cleaving a path through the castle some hours ago. Thou looked to be unconscious as thou battled thine way to the exit,” Luna leaned forward to look closely into Ace’s unshielded eyes as she spoke. ”Were it not for mine intervention, many other ponies would dirty the floor of the castle. We will always trust thine judgment, dear brother, but what were thou doing?”

Ace cast a recollection spell to review the foggy memories through his more alert state, his eyes going wide at his actions. When his review had ended, he motioned politely for Luna to give him some room as he silently sighed. ” Queen Celestia brought us in for an interrogation under the guise of an audience. Twilight learned from Celestia that she carries the soul of my wife.

At the mention of her, Ace shook Twilight lightly to rouse her from her slumber before moving a hoof to beg silence from his student. When she had nodded, Ace pointed to Princess Luna. Twilight’s face lit up in surprise as Luna smiled. Ace spoke in a low whisper now that she had joined the conversation.

“What happened next should concern both of you. After Twilight left the audience chambers, Celestia called Discord to apprehend me.” Twilight looked over at Ace, still holding the same look of shock as she used her magic to straighten her mane and tail. Ace nodded as he went on, “Discord imprisoned me in bonds laced with Anti-Magic stone, preventing me from using magic. Once they were in place, Celestia teleported me to the Canterlot dungeons.”

Ace looked at Twilight with a smile. “By the way, I told you so.” Twilight rolled her eyes as Ace continued. “Due to my unstable magical power, being unable to use it caused me to suffer an Overload,” Luna’s face was stricken in shock, but she remained silent as she listened. “Discord apparently had this all planned, as my cell was directly under the magically protected vault, which housed the magical artifacts, the Elements of Harmony.”

Twilight and Luna audibly gasped at this news. “So Discord now has the Elements of Harmony?!” Twilight said, trying to mix urgency in her voice while also speaking in a whisper. Ace shook his head solemnly.

“Worse, my student. Discord has the Elements of Power, which when they have been affected by his chaos magic for a time, will become the Elements of Disharmony.” A moment of silence filled the room, each of the ponies needing time to let the information soak in while also thinking of all of the implications that the event implied.

Princess Luna was the first to speak, still not having the answers she sought. “This is very grave news indeed, dear brother, but why hath thou slain innocent ponies within the castle?” Twilight’s face twisted up in disgust mixed with shock, then she turned to the sword with a grimace.

Ace nodded solemnly. “The overload left me delirious, nearly unconscious, from the pain. I proceeded through the castle in an attempt to leave, when a guard stopped me. After that, I was halted by a Unicorn. When I had made it to the upper floors, I was unable to differentiate between foe and friend.” Ace shook his head as the remorse he felt crossed his features. “The pony wished only to help me, but I attacked him without knowing his intentions. I have wronged, and I can utter no apology strong enough that it may give rise to the dead. I will fund the injured pony’s recovery and care, but I can do little more.”

Luna nodded respectfully as she spoke. “All is well, my dear brother. By all accounts, it would sound that our misguided sister is the pony to blame for all of this. I must say, sister has been quite odd of late,” Luna said, trying to choose her words carefully as she spoke. “Ever since Discord agreed to our remedial lessons, she has been acting strange…” The princess shook her head solemnly. “Perhaps strange is the wrong word… She appears to be reverting to her past self.”

Ace nodded thoughtfully as well before he responded with a whisper as well. “’Twould make sense of a number of quandaries, such as why the Celestia we spoke with today and the Celestia Twilight speaks of are so very different. Honestly, to me it felt as though she had never changed at all in two hundred years that I hadn’t spoken with her.”

Luna raised an eyebrow, perplexed, to Twilight Sparkle. “Twilight is privy to thine age, my brother?” Ace bowed his head as if in shame.

“No, but I no longer see reason to hide it, either.” Ace looked Twilight in the eyes as he wore a mask of stoicism. “Twilight, I am nearly as old as Moonlit Embrace and Sol Light, who you know as Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.”

Twilight was floored, her plot landing upon the ground with a soft thud as her jaw attempted to make the same journey. She was silent as Ace and Luna awaited her response. She looked to the princess, who nodded that it was true. “T-then that would mean…. That you’re a…”

Ace shook his head. “No, I am not an Immortal Alicorn, though I am a Wingless Unicorn, a lesser species of Immortal Alicorn who can ascend to the higher race by fulfilling an unknown condition that varies from pony to pony.”

Twilight still stared in awe, unable to reclaim control of her emotions at the noise, fighting to keep her voice in a low whisper. “Then how… How could you be alive still if you were not an immortal?”

Luna looked to Ace for a moment, who nodded. “Through the Ritual of New Life, dear Twilight. Ace has performed the ritual more times than we have.”

Twilight stared at the two, once more needing to organize her scrambled thoughts. “But only Immortal Alicorns can perform the ritual, you said that yourself!”

Ace motioned for Twilight to control her voice as he spoke. “I said that it is only safe for Immortal Alicorns to perform the ritual, though technically anypony can do it. This is why the ritual is kept secret.”

Twilight’s face contorted in a mix or worry, concern and the ever-present shock she was feeling. “Then… It’s dangerous for you to perform the ritual?” Ace nodded. “What makes it dangerous?”

Ace began to speak, but Luna glared at him and interjected as Ace shied away from his sister. “Were a non-immortal to perform the ritual, the first symptom would be an incredible amount of stress on the pony’s body, resulting in an untold amount of pain. The reason the ritual is best intended for Alicorns, however, is because of the nature of the ritual.”

Luna spread her wings – being mindful of her surroundings, this time – as if to exemplify her lesson. “When the pony chooses a soul to absorb, the soul is already destined to be one of the primary races of pony. Should, say, a Pure Pegasus attempt to absorb the soul of a Pure Unicorn, the Pegasus would no longer be able to fly until the next time they perform the ritual when they attempt to absorb another soul, hopefully a Pegasus or one of the off-races of Pegasi.”

Ace rose a hoof and opened his mouth to continue the story, but Princess Luna glared at him again and he retreated once more. “Should a Wingless Unicorn receive the soul of a Pure Earth Pony, then that Wingless Unicorn will have trouble with their magic,” Ace motioned that he would speak the rest, but Luna placed a hoof on his chest to force him back onto the couch with a wince, his body still sore.

“The first time, that pony will suffer from misfires,” Luna applied a bit more pressure at the comment, “Should they receive the soul of a pure earth pony again, their magic will begin to disobey them and cause overloads,” Luna pressed harder against her brother’s chest as Twilight started to cringe from the sound of Ace being in so much pain, but not voicing a single protest or trying to stop her.

“Should that pony receive yet another pure blooded earth pony’s soul, without receiving a Unicorn or lesser species of Unicorn, then their magic will devour their physical body from the inside out,” Luna was now putting her weight onto Ace’s chest as Twilight’s eyes went wide. “Is this not true, mine brother?”

Coughing from the pressure and the pain, Ace could only nod that it was. Princess Luna looked as though she wanted more from him, but lifted her hoof away so that he could speak. “I last performed the ritual thirty-eight years ago.” Princess Luna’s expression changed from anger to shock with a hint of concern in her eyes.

“That is why I need Celestia to work with me, as it would appear she has found a way to divine the origins of a soul, having admitted that she knew who Twilight’s soul belonged to during today’s audience. I don’t suppose you would happen to know the spell or method she used, my dear sister?”

Luna shook her head dejectedly as any signs of anger left her expression. Ace went rigid as he motioned for the others to be quiet. A few seconds passed before the trio could hear hoofsteps upstairs before the lights turned on. “Twilight dear, are you okay down there? Is Ace awake?”

A kind-looking mare who resembled Twilight stood before the banister on the second floor as Ace turned his head to be sure she couldn’t see his eye, looking down at the two, unable to see Luna from her vantage point. “That’s my mother, Twilight Velvet,” Twilight explained before motioning for her to come down. “Yes, and he’s feeling a bit better. Get dad and come down, we have company.” Twilight Velvet nodded and went into the bedroom while Ace teleported his glasses onto his muzzle before returning with a stallion and proceeding down the stairs.

“Glad to see you’re feeling better, Ace,” she started as she and her husband started down the steps. “Twilight was quite-“ she stopped when she saw the princess, who waved and smiled bashfully. The stallion nearly sent her sprawling down the rest of the stairs before he, too, saw the princess. Twilight Velvet hastily set her magic to work straightening her mane and tail, as well as her husband’s, as they came into the living room.

“Oh my, I didn’t expect to see one of the princesses tonight! Please, pardon the mess, we weren’t expecting visitors I’m afraid. Would you care for some tea? Night Light, dear, go make some tea for our guests.”

Twilight Velvet was visibly nervous at the sight of the princess, but Princess Luna looked to be nervous as well, still unsure of herself when interacting with her subjects. “Oh, no, please, that won’t be necessary. Perhaps ‘twould be best if I were to take my leave for the evening. Good night to you.” Princess Luna’s horn lit up as she prepared her teleportation spell. “Oh, and as for you, Ace and Twilight, I would like to speak with you further on this matter on the morrow. Farewell.”

Princess Luna teleported someplace else just as Night Light was returning with the refreshments. He neared the remains of the coffee table in the center of the room before Ace saw the action and the troubled look on his face. With an embarrassed look on his face as his horn lit up and the remains started to resemble a table again. “Sorry about that, by the way.”

Night Light nodded as he set the tea set and a tray of crackers and cheese down on the newly reconstructed table. Twilight Velvet and Night Light took a seat on their separate seats across the table from the couch as Velvet spoke, “So why was Princess Luna here, exactly?”

Ace prepared a cup of tea and pair of crackers-and-cheese for himself as he nodded. “She saw me at the castle, and wanted to come and make sure I was doing well.”

Ace acted as though the gesture were nothing, but Night Light and Twilight Velvet shared a look before looking at Twilight as if they wanted her to confirm his mental health. Twilight just nodded with a proud smile, “Ace and Princess Luna are quite close, though he doesn’t speak to Princess Celestia very often. Isn’t that right?”

Ace nodded as he took a bite out of the second cracker. Night Light regained his composure first as he thought to ask, “Where did you happen to meet the princesses, exactly?”

Twilight Sparkle looked quite nervous as Ace’s eyes went slightly wide before he stalled by taking a drink of his tea. “Well, I don’t think you’d believe me if I were to tell you, truly.” Velvet and Night Light looked at him as though they wanted him to continue motioning with their hooves.

Ace sighed as he set his teacup on a saucer on the table. “Well, I met them in an Adventurer’s Guild. I suppose you wouldn’t see too many of them around here, though. The guild is where one would go to find out what sort of… work needs done around the town.” Ace was stalling over a few words, trying to describe the event as close to the truth as possible, without saying anything that could reveal too much about himself or relation to the princesses. “The Princesses were there to try and lend aid where they could, and we sort of just… came together… in an effort to help.”

Ace was rubbing the back of his head with a hoof at this point. “So then you met the princesses while doing community service in town?” Ace nodded, grateful that she jumped to an assumption rather than questioning him. “What was it like working with the princesses?”

Ace took a sip of tea as he thought how to answer the question. “Well, they weren’t princesses at the time – to me, I mean. They were certainly… capable at what they did. Celestia was always… precise and certain with her actions and planned out every step of the… service,” Ace said as he prepared a few more of the crackers as he spoke. “Princess Luna, however, preferred to jump straight to the… work, and would always rely on her strength to allow her to succeed.”

Night Light nodded as he made himself some crackers as well, while Velvet took a sip of her tea. Instead, it was Twilight sparkle that asked the next question. “Do you mean to say that Princess Luna is stronger than Princess Celestia?”

Ace nodded. “Physically, Princess Luna is stronger, but Celestia is stronger in cases of magic.” Ace covered his mouth with a hoof as he stifled a laugh. “Which is good, because Celestia often has to help Princess Luna out of some pretty tight spots. Celestia has a few faults, but one could never say she doesn’t do what she can for her little sister.”

Twilight Velvet looked at the clock upon the wall when she had finished her tea before looking at Night Light for a moment. “Well, it was a pleasure to meet you Ace, but it’s late, and Night Light and I should go back to bed. Perhaps we will speak more tomorrow before you and Twilight leave. Good night.”

Ace waved at the pair as they ascended the stairs. “Luna’s blessing upon you, Twilight Velvet and Night Light. Sleep well,” Ace said in the archaic form without thinking for the second time that week. Once the two were back in bed, Ace looked to Twilight for a moment. When she smiled awkwardly, Ace teleported the two of them to the rooftop.

Ace stifled a laugh as Twilight looked around, worried. Not happy with the trick, she pushed against him as the pair sat down. Ace winced in pain, his body still tender from the recent overload, but Twilight just asked him, “How did you really meet the princesses?”

Rubbing the sore shoulder, Ace looked up at the stars. “Well, before Equestria was Equestria, the Princesses and I were all just adventurers; we went from place to place, using our skills to help ponies that could pay us or give us something we needed, like food and water.” Ace laid back as he spoke, and Twilight felt his magic flowing over her as he focused on his magical senses. Twilight laid beside him and mirrored the action as well.

“We met at the Adventurer’s Guild, where ponies in town place their more difficult, and more troubling, tasks that require a little more effort and pay a little better,” Ace said, his voice reverberating through her senses in their magical forms. “The particular mission was to slay a hydra that was terrorizing a nearby crossing.

“Hydras are troublesome to slay, as they multiply when cut with bladed weapons, and regenerate when struck with magic. So, what we had to do, was incapacitate the Hydra, and then poison.” Ace’s magical form raised a hoof, and out over the street was a display of a river, with their house being the start of a bridge that crossed it. One of the alleyways turned into a large cave in the presentation.

“Sol Light made the plans for our mission, as well as gathering information on the particular hydra and mixing the poison we were to use. What we found out was that the hydra was particularly fond of Behemoth meat. Of course, behemoth meat is quite rare, and thus expensive.” Ace’s magical form leapt down to the river, his voice still reaching her through the magic.

“So this is where Moonlit Embrace’s role begins,” Ace’s magical form doubled in size as he turned into a large beast with long tusks, pointed spines running down its back, and a spiked ball at the end of its tail. “Moonlit Embrace used an illusion spell to shroud me in the form of a baby behemoth that wandered too far from its family.”

Ace proceeded towards the cave, and as he did a gigantic hydra with two heads roared as it started to come out of the cave and eyed the behemoth. “Once I lured the beast from its cave, I was to run towards the bridge and allow Moonlit Embrace to put the creature to sleep in a slumber spell. While it was true that Sol Light was the better mage, Moonlit Embrace’s magic embodied the elements of night, such as illusion and sleep.”

Ace-turned-behemoth ran towards the home, and the hydra followed. “Once the beast was asleep, I took the poison and slid it down its throat with magic. The poison was powerful, I must say, and it acted quickly, too.” The hydra started to erode, part of its body melting and being washed away by the river as Ace tread upon the waters. “I removed the hydra’s fangs to take with us as proof of the deed, and we collected our reward. After that, we started to travel together for a while.”

Ace appeared, now himself again, beside Twilight as the scene melted away. “So then you and the princesses traveled for a while? That must have been remarkable.” Ace’s avatar cocked an eyebrow at her and shook his head.

“True, the sisters are quite powerful, but I was by no means weak, either. I had worked with Alicorns in the past, though many of them were unpleasant. Moonlit Embrace was actually a joy to be around, and Sol Light was tolerable.” Ace looked as though he was enjoying reviewing his own memories. “We went on a good number of adventures. After a while of working together, we decided to take on some really big jobs.”

Ace teleported something to his physical self and then pointed to it. Upon his hoof as he was getting up from the roof was a bracelet. Twilight rejoined her physical self and awaited her physical senses to recover as Ace stroked the silver of the bracelet lovingly. To Twilight, it just looked like any silver band somepony could find at a jewelry store.

“We first started as relic hunters. Sol Light would research what had happened to an ancient and powerful artifact, and then we would go and see if we could beat back the beast that guarded it, or triumph over the tomb or labyrinth that housed it.” Ace swung his hoof out straight, and out of the bracelet shot a sword of the purest silver.

“This artifact is known as Loki’s Key. It’s named after a mythological entity who once ruled over chaos and mischief, long before Discord was around. The bracelet is how I choose to carry the artifact, but it is able to change its form, shape and qualities to anything the wielder chooses.” Ace threw the blade into the air, and caught a spear in its place, spinning around and twirling the weapon over his head before stopping and pointing the blade in the opposite direction in a defensive stance with the weapon pointed to the ground.

Ace threw the spear straight up as though it were javelin, and when it came down it took on the shape of a mask with a long, pointed nose and hollowed eyes. Ace placed the mask over his features, and then from the bracelet came a full suit of armor, including a shield on his back that could be attached to the left hoof.

“The metal is limitless, and it served me well on more missions than I care to count,” he said as the metal took on a liquid looking form before flowing back into the bracelet. “I would carry the artifact more frequently, but I fear overloading with it nearby and losing the beloved possession forever.”

Ace’s horn lit up and the bracelet disappeared once more. “That does look quite amazing, I must admit. Did Sol Li- I mean, did Celestia and Luna get anything like that during their adventures?” Ace nodded with a smile.

“We wouldn’t be very good relic hunters if otherwise. For our first expeditions, we returned empty-hoofed. On the third outing, we found the Loki’s Key, and our luck changed. I took the artifact, and made weapons and gear for each of us for our ventures.” Ace laughed as he spoke. “Now that we weren’t needing to pay for repairs, we were making money each time whether we got what we were looking for or not.

“Every time we went on an adventure, we’d bring back valuables to sell. Sometimes it’d just be things like animal hides or medicinal herbs, others we’d bring back ancient pottery or a trove of gems and treasure.” Ace stretched as he yawned. “With Loki’s Key, we were able to open any locked doors or chests we found, so the money just rolled our way. Eventually, each of us had a similar artifact to enhance our natural abilities.”

Ace started acting as though he were swinging the sword around once again. “I had Loki’s Key to arm myself with whatever weapon fitted the foe I faced. Sol Light had a ring for her horn that increased her magic exponentially, though it tired her to use it. Moonlit Embrace had the Shadow’s Gift, which was a cloak that would render its wearer invisible for a short time.”

A sad look of realization set across Ace’s face as he sank back to his hooves. “I sure hope they weren’t keeping too many artifacts in the vault in Canterlot… I’d hate to think I just destroyed any priceless relics…” A recovered, clenching a hoof in anger. “When I next see Discord, I’m going to make him wish he never even heard the word ‘magic’.”

Twilight nodded. “What exactly are we going to do? If Discord has the Elements of Disharmony, won’t he be incredibly powerful? You said the Princesses never managed to beat him when before.”

Ace shook his head. “Right now, he had the Elements of Power; they’re completely devoid of their own magic, but once they have been in the presence of powerful magic for a time, they gather it and enhance it. For example, if a powerful Unicorn were to wear an Element of Power and cast only powerful Fire spells the whole time, that element would become an Element of Fire until all of the fire magic was removed from it somehow.” Twilight nodded that she understood.

“We won’t be able to stop Discord from charging the elements, as he’ll be sitting in his dimensional tear until they are prepared, but it does give us some time. For now, all we can do is rest until we speak to Princess Luna tomorrow. Which begs the question of what you want to do, Twilight.” Twilight looked confused as she looked at him.

“Well, frankly I need to sleep. My body feels like I rode underneath the train all the way from Ponyville, and my magic needs to recover fully as well. I could teleport us back to Ponyville, or to my house, or we can sleep here.”

Twilight’s face flushed as she nodded. “W-well, I wanted to sleep here… But my parents only have one bedroom here, and that’s me and my brother’s old room.” Ace nodded and teleported both of them into the bedroom he noticed earlier when he was examining the house in his magic as he flicked on the light.

“Well then in that case, good night Twilight. Sleep well.” Ace crawled into the bed, under the pink bedcovers, as he rested his head against the matching pillows. Twilight’s face matched the shade of the bedspread as she watched him get comfortable in her queen sized bed.

Twilight stammered as she tried to protest, “Wa-wait, is-isn’t this a bit awkward? I-I mean we’d be sleeping i-in the same bed!” Ace shrugged beneath the covers.

“It’s only awkward if you think it’s awkward, Twilight.” He sat up so that he could look at her. “If it makes you uncomfortable, I can teleport us to my house and you can sleep in one of the guestrooms. Optionally, I can teleport us home and we’ll each have a bed in the same room.” Ace shrugged again, shaking his head. “Honestly, I don’t see how this arrangement is too terribly different from our two-beds one-room set-up back at the library, but it’s your choice.”

Twilight thought for a moment, her face still complimenting the color of the blankets, sheets and pillows. Finally, she sighed and nodded, tired and wanting to sleep in her old bed after sleeping in the living room hunched over the couch. Ace turned over and got comfortable again as Twilight climbed into the bed, only inches away from Ace’s back. “Good night, Twilight. Sleep well.”

Twilight adjusted her pillow in her magic to get more comfortable, but couldn’t quite get it right. Eventually, she just laid her head down and closed her eyes. “Good night to you, too, Ace,” Twilight said as she turned out the light.

Comments

[Manah Scarlet]

First again! this chapter was a surprise and yet I feel as though Twilight's reaction was...underwhelming. For some reason I have a feeling all this is going to build up till it explodes in some way, and from what I understand about Twilight's Potential its going to be big

-Member of the Scarlet Legacy, Manah Scarlet Shadowsong: Fae of Fragments; Fae of War-

[Aceofgods]

3092565

Thanks for the response! The implication is that spending time with her parents is meant to cool her mood - for now. Seeing Ace hurt is meant to be portrayed as shocking before troubling. Twilight was too worried about Ace being hurt to remember to be angry at Celestia. Perhaps Twilight and Celestia will have an intense argument? Who knows! I don't yet, cause I haven't started writing the next chapter just yet.