Ace's Spell Shop

by Aceofgods

Literary Lunacy

Chapter Four: Literary Lunacy

Ace appeared out of nowhere with the usual black flash of light that accompanied his magic, standing before a rather large, hollowed out tree in the small town of Ponyville...

Or, rather, he would have, had his teleportation spell not misfired. As it had, however, Ace stood before not a singular, large tree, but instead stood among hundreds of rather normal, wild trees with numerous other flora not seen within the small pony town.

Letting out a growl of frustration, Ace cast the magic once more, leaving the forest, dark with the veil of night, behind as the dark flash of magic appeared around him once more, occupying both the forest and the front of the library at the same time for only the briefest of moments.

Regaining his senses and his orientation with the aid of his ever-present extrasensory magic, having to visually confirm that his hoof was still in fact attached, the pre-magic encasing it preventing Ace from feeling it with his magic despite the constant pain he felt from the glyphs carved in his flesh.

Having finally arrived before the grand, hollowed out tree that served as the town's library, Ace adjusted his glasses as he moved forward to knock on the door. Please be home, Miss Twilight Sparkle...

Moments passed by agonizingly slow as Ace sat before the door, his observation of time distorted in his panicked, pained and caffeinated state. Knocking on the door once more, a voice, sounding like a young colt, came from the other side of the door, "Hold your apples, I'm coming."

A colt? I think Princess Celestia would have mentioned that her star student was a mother... Do I have the wrong address? This was definitely the library last time I was in town... When was the last time-

The door opened to reveal a small purple and green dragon, pulling Ace out of his thoughts. "What do you want," - the obviously tired, baby dragon sleepily rubbed the back of his clawed hand over one eye - "the library is closed. Do you even know what time it is?"

"Approximately two forty-eight A.M., but the current time is not a concern at the forefront of my mind at present. Is this the home of Miss Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia? I urgently need to speak with her immediately."

Ace tried desperately to be courteous, despite his body all but demanding he take more drastic and effective approach, such as probing the structure with his magic and teleporting any and all Unicorns within out here post-haste.

The dragon, in response to the stranger's inquiry, turned and sleepily shambled back into the building, leaving the door open as he raised a hand to his mouth as he called up to the second floor, "Twilight, you have a visitor! He says it's urgent!"

From the second floor answered the voice of a mare that was like silky velvet to Ace's ears, even as the grogginess of having just awoken clung to it like a parasitic Leechvine, "Tell them to come back tomorrow, the library is closed..."

Shaking his head as he slowly climbed the stairs, the young dragon lowered his voice to a whisper that Ace wouldn't have heard without the help of his extrasensory magic, "I think he knows Princess Celestia."

With that, the space upstairs was filled with the sound of a pony literally falling out of bed, followed by hurried hoofsteps and a tangled mane being brushed before a purple flash filled Ace's vision, accompanied by the lantern within the room being lit when the pony appeared out of the blinding light, causing the enchanted lenses of Ace's glasses to darken, his sapphire eyes wincing as his night vision was completely destroyed.

The lavender Unicorn standing before Ace was all nervous smiles, her tri-colored mane recently brushed out of her bed-head by both brush and magic was perfectly composed.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, librarian and Princess Celestia's star pupil. My assistant said that you wanted to speak with me?"

Nodding once, Ace replied: "In a sense. What I require does involve speaking with you, as I am in need of your assistance -" Ace held up the afflicted hoof, which Twilight began to examine more closely, "- in helping to mend the latest result of an experiment turned disaster.

"There's some seriously powerful magic involved, and you're the only Unicorn I know who may be able to help me." Ace was careful to say 'Unicorn' and not pony, as such would then involve the Alicorn princesses, who could, likely help, but awaiting audience would be intolerable.

Twilight's purple colored horn began to glow with a similar light as her face was studious, her gaze locked on the unusual, likely unfamiliar mass that encased the hoof.

Swiftly, almost furiously, Ace slammed the hoof onto the ground, leaving small cracks in the compacted dirt before the doorway, a new wave of pain making its way through his leg, as he exclaimed; "NO! You must not use any magic in close proximity of pre-magic! The pre-magic absorbs magic like a sponge, which brings me to my first question: Do you have any Anti-Magic Stone in your possession?"

Still reeling from the sudden assault Ace had made on the ground, in addition to the sudden shouting, Twilight thought for a moment before speaking, "As a matter of fact, I do have a sample that Princess Celestia sent me to examine... It's in the trunk upstairs."

Looking thankful for Princess Celestia's over-cautionary foresight, Ace let a small sigh of relief escape his muzzle before speaking, "Most excellent. Please bring it here. May I come in, Miss Sparkle?"

Looking almost hesitant, Twilight rubbed her leg with a hoof. "Umm, sure..." Twilight managed, sounding as though she expected something beforehoof when Ace realized he had quite rudely forgotten to introduce himself for the second time in twenty-four hours.

Taken aback by his own ungentlecoltly conduct, Ace took a step back as he pressed his good hoof to his chest and dipped into an introductory bow as he spoke, "Ace Deus Fenrir, though many call me Ace, talented-in-magic Unicorn, humbly requesting your assistance in this matter most grave, Miss Sparkle," he said, first properly pronouncing his name before using the common interpretation.

Nodding more honestly now, Twilight motioned for him to come in. "Call me Twilight. Pleasure to meet you, Ace. I'll be back in a moment with the stone, please make yourself comfortable."

With that, Twilight ascended the stairs to fetch the vital crystal, normally an annoyance to Unicorns. As she left, Ace perused the books that marked the humble home as a library, not wishing to risk using his magic until he had the insurance of the AMS.

Ace noted the white flecks that were forming on the afflicted limb as the pre-magic soaked up the magic that radiated from the dark Unicorn's body from his extrasensory magic, not wanting to cut the flow of magic as it would bring about a wave of nausea at the loss of such a sense that he relied so heavily upon.

After glancing over a number of titles occupying a number of shelves, Twilight again descended the stairs down into the library. "Please place the stone in the floor near the center of the room, if you would be so kind."

Twilight did as she was asked. The pink stone, nearly five inches long and two inches wide, rested within a woven wicker basket that Twilight carried in her mouth by the handle, unable to move such an object in her magic.

Twilight gently placed the basket in front of Ace before retreating a few steps back, eyes warily watching the afflicted appendage as though it may attack her, which was a welcomed sign since it very well could, should caution not be properly observed.

Placing his unnaturally blackened hoof into the basket to rest upon the stone within, an bestial hissing noise filled the small building, eliciting a startled cry from the assistant that rested upstairs and causing Twilight to cringe as she retreated back another step.

"Does it do that often?" Twilight said almost in a whisper, watching as the white spots faded from view.

With a sigh, Ace nodded as his horn lit up with the usual black glow as he prepared a searching spell, giving voice to his query as all of the books in the room, shelved or otherwise, lit up in the black glow that represented his magic, “Filter word: Pre-magic.”

The searching spell would find the given word or phrase in any of the tomes affected by Ace’s magic, and present any works that had a sample within them. Before long, the spell answered the query with a silken voice that spoke within Ace’s mind:

No positive results. Query?

With a sigh, Ace verbally brought the spell to a halt before pivoting on his hoof, away from the books, to face Twilight. “Lacking any of the proper course material, I assume Princess Celestia has yet to teach you about pre-magic. As I am asking you to help me in a matter involving the dangerous substance, I shall take it upon myself to teach you in her stead.”

Eager at the mention of a late-night lesson, Twilight used her magic to gather her stationary supplies from the nearby desk; a quill, an inkwell and an amount of parchment.

Thus prepared, Twilight sat with the ink-dipped quill hovering above the parchment in her magic, the look set upon her feature scholarly. Nodding before he continued, Ace began the crash-course lesson.

“First, history: Pre-magic was used prior to and during the early Mare-in-the-Moon era. Before Mare-in-the-Moon, pre-magic was used to fuel the powerful combat and alteration spells that was the staple of any magic-savvy Unicorn’s arsenal.

"As magic developed and began to be used for simpler things, such as menial tasks, fewer and fewer spells needed pre-magic to be used. In the current era, pre-magic is only used for level 9 and higher spells.”

Pausing for a moment to be certain Twilight was able to keep up and understand, Ace had to wait for only a moment before Twilight looked up and nodded to continue.

“Second, function: Pre-magic is used to fuel spells that cannot be cast instantaneously, which is why few spells today require the use of pre-magic. Most spells, such as the flash spell you showcased earlier, can easily be done with a single burst or flare of magic.

"Higher level spells, however, need a more substantial amount of magic. Since the Unicorn casting the spell is unable to complete the spell in a burst, they create pre-magic around their horn with the purpose of casting the spell, the pre-magic then draining the magic as it is generated in the Unicorn and led through the horn to the pre-magic.

The pre-magic stores magical energy as a fuel source to complete its purpose. When the pre-magic has accumulated enough fuel, it discharges the spell and then dissipates. This is fine, so long as the Unicorn still wishes to cast the spell, however should they require a different spell, they will be unable to cast it, as the pre-magic will absorb their magic should they try, unless they cast the spell using something other than their horn, but that’s a separate lesson.”

Again waiting for Twilight to signal to continue, Ace waited, though this time it took a moment for the information to sink in, a puzzled look setting on Twilight’s features, though she saved her questions until the end of the lesson.

“Third, why I need your help and a summary of what happened: In an attempt to craft a method to make a pony immune to magic, I have created a spell which could be called a level 0 spell, or a spell without purpose or function, which to my knowledge has never been done.

"Using this spell, I accumulated and then manipulated a few units of pre-magic in an attempt to experiment with the possibility of achieving my goal. Due to a blunder entirely my own, the experiment was halted and put on indefinite hiatus until I can figure out a method of removing pre-magic from a pony once afflicted. Questions?”

Twilight looked as though she was mulling over which question would be best to ask first. After a few moments had passed, she finally nodded and, pointed at the markings just above the affliction, “What are those glyphs?” Ace smiled at her inquisitive nature as he pondered how deeply he should answer the question.

“The glyphs are wards from an ancient language, Al Bhed, which I am using to keep the pre-magic at bay. The glyphs are a form of physical magic, rather than magical magic, so the pre-magic cannot drain the magic from them.

"I personally carved the glyphs myself with a class 7 enchanted knife, so they are powerful enough to keep the pre-magic at bay for at least 9 months before I need to imbue them again, though I am hoping that won’t be a concern by then. If you were asking for the translation, it is ‘Hu sykel ouhtan,’ or ‘No magic yonder’ in Common Equestrian.”

Somewhat flabbergasted by the unusual language, Twilight nodded that she understood the gist of it.

“What and how do you think I can do to help? I’ve never used pre-magic before, and know next to nothing about it, especially about removing it. If you needed the anti-magic stone, feel free to take it, as I finished my studies of the crystal’s properties a week ago.”

Twilight set her notes aside as she continued to ponder questions and possibilities as she moved the quill to its resting place on the desk along with the inkwell, set in a row of similar inkwells.

Raising an eyebrow, Ace took a short glance up the stairs, “Including what would happen should a crystallivore, such as a dragon, were to ingest a sample of it? I would very much like to compare notes sometime on the matter, but I digress.

"The reason I came here is to brainstorm with you a solution that will not require the pre-magic being immediately removed. As it stands now, I cannot even enter small crowds for fear that an unknowing Unicorn might do something so simple as levitate an object too close to me before the pre-magic leaps from my hoof onto their horn.

"While I am presently capable of keeping the pre-magic from spreading amongst my body, I can make no guarantee that I can keep it away from other Unicorns. The AMS is a good start, and I have no small quantity of the mineral in my workshop, though I would have to transport it manually out of said location, hence why I have brought none with me through my teleportation.”

Sitting now as Twilight was, Ace used his magic to take some of her stationary to form a makeshift drawing board between the two without obstructing their view of one another.

After the drawing board was in place, Ace took a few more pieces of stationary and worked and wove it into a circlet to fit around his hoof, working the Anti-Magic Stone into a pocket in the weave among the inner side of the circlet, leaving it open and bare as he slid it around the afflicted hoof.

Ace moved the basket aside and tapping his hoof to the floor a number of times before being satisfied the circlet wouldn’t slip or fall off.

“Much to my dismay, this is as far as I can think to prevent such an accident, but it does nothing for the frightful appearance, nor can I flash or teleport without the circlet falling off, as it would be unaffected by my magic. Any ideas you can present would be much appreciated.”

Scrunching up her face as she thought, Twilight Sparkle pondered for a brief time before hanging her head with an exasperated sigh before shaking it.

“I’m sorry, but without magic, I can’t think of anything that would help. As far as keeping the pre-magic hidden, though, I think I know another Unicorn here in town that may be able to help. She runs the town’s clothing store and she is quite good at what she does.

"You’re welcome to stay the night downstairs, and we’ll go and see Rarity at the Carousel Boutique first thing tomorrow morning.” Ace perked up a bit at the thought of meeting another Unicorn as promising a student as Twilight Sparkle, voicing no protest at meeting her posthaste.

“If Rarity isn’t able to help you, then I’ll have Spike – my dragon assistant from before – write a letter to the Princess asking for her help.”

That idea wasn’t so ideal for Ace, as he was uncertain if the princesses would recognize him from before or not, and the past was always something better left behind in his experience.

Voicing a protest against the idea would give off the wrong message, however, so Ace only nodded in agreement while hoping Rarity would be even half as skilled as Twilight in magic and have some way of helping him out.

Plans planned and discussions discussed, Twilight used her magic to pull down a pillow and blanket for Ace, placing them a fair enough distance away that the black, gooey substance about his hoof so that it couldn’t cling to it, then began to head upstairs to go back to sleep. “Good night, Ace. We’ll work things out tomorrow.”

“Luna’s blessing upon you, Twilight. Sleep well.” Ace said out of an old habit, having been thinking about princesses after the last plan of action, though fortunate that Twilight either hadn’t caught the archaic phrase, or passed it off as another one of his eccentricities.

Stifling a chuckle at the thoughts the latter had brought, Ace prepared his bedding off to a corner and attempted to rest, but found himself unable…

Well, ‘tis a library after all. Perhaps I shall occupy my caffeine and leftover-adrenaline fueled night with some light reading.

Going through the books in the library, Ace pulled down a number of titles. Some of them were fictional stories, which he assumed was more for the library’s sake than Twilight’s.

Others were accounts of stories and legends of the past, a few were filled with poems or sagas of other legends and one was filled with the ballads that went into the details of a soldier from the Great Magic War that occurred during the Mare-in-the-Moon era.

Meanwhile, the final tome was one that was familiar to Ace, as he wrote it a number of years ago, though it was a tad bit outdated… by several revisions.

Coming away from the shelves with about thirteen different books, including his own, Ace cozied up in the blanket, the pillow beneath him as he read, using an extrasensory spell to read the books much faster than normal.

After reading a few books, he noticed a schedule pinned near the calendar by Twilight’s desk. Examining the schedule, he noted the time that Twilight and Spike would wake up before continuing his reading.

“Twilight? Twilight, wake up.” Spike whispered and nudged Twilight, who turned over on her side.

I want to go back to that dream with the strange Unicorn stallion…

“Come on Twilight, you’ve gotta wake up. There’s someone downstairs going through the kitchen!” Twilight snapped her head up off of the bed, tossing the blanket aside as she leapt to her hooves, taking off down the stairs as quick as she could without making too much noise.

Looking around the room to see if anything was damaged or missing, she saw a number of books on the table in the middle of the room, as well as a brownish tan colored drawing board that looked oddly familiar…

It’s just like in my dream last night!

Being brought out of her inward thoughts by a whistling coming from the kitchen through the closed door, Twilight started snaking towards the room with Spike following silently and nervously behind her.

As they neared the door, Twilight used her magic to open it as quietly as possible, and just as she got a good look at the intruder, her jaw went slack as a pair of plates, loaded down with pancakes floated towards the shocked Unicorn and her nervous assistant.

“Celestia’s light shine upon you both. Good morning Twilight! I don’t think I’ve properly introduced myself, Spike.”

Dipping into the usual introductory bow that was his custom, Ace introduced himself to the young dragon, first with the proper pronunciation and later with the Common Equestrian interpretation.

Through the whole introduction, Spike held a look of incredulity until Twilight nudged him and gave him a look of discontent.

“What, he breaks into our home, cooks us breakfast and introduces himself, so it’s okay?” Spike planted his wrists on his hips as Twilight let out a sigh of exasperation.

“Spike, not only was Ace here last night, not only did he spend the night downstairs, not only has he been nothing but polite, but YOU are the one who let him in and woke me up to talk to him last night.”

Spike looked dumbfounded for a moment, all of his ego deflating as he started to remember the events of last night.

“Oh, um… Sorry?” Spike tried to look apologetic as well as innocent, like he had done nothing wrong at the same time.

Ace laughed as he took a small bite out of the pancake floating near his muzzle, the skillet in his magic preparing another as he flipped it in the air without looking before taking the coffee pot out of the coffee maker and levitating it over to Spike as he set his plate on the table.

“Tell you what, heat this up and we’ll call it even. Been fiddling with your coffee maker all morning, but I don’t think she likes me very much. I put magic through her but she doesn’t get hot at all.”

Ace exemplified this by again putting magic through the coffee maker, making it glow a black color as he sighed and shrugged.

Spike let out a steady spout of green dragon flame that matched his scales under the pot for a few seconds, knowing when to stop out of habit before drowning the pancakes in the syrup that was laid out on the table, next to a pitcher of orange juice.

“There, we're even,” Ace said as he pulled a stick of chocolate out of a cabinet, cutting it into two pieces consisting of three quarters and a quarter.

Bringing the three quarter chunk to powder using pressure magic, Ace dumped half of the powder evenly between three coffee mugs before pouring in the coffee, adding Whip cream, a dusting of sugar and chocolate powder, and topping each with a pair of long curls freshly cut off the last chunk.

“Sorry, I forgot to ask, but I hope you both like your coffee hot.”

Spike nodded as he took the cup offered to him while Twilight held up a hoof and shook her head. “Sorry, I don’t much like coffee.” Ace was shocked, grimacing and recoiling, holding his right hoof to his chest as though offended.

“Twilight, everyone likes coffee, they just like it differently, which is why there are so many different kinds of coffee. Give this cup a try, and if you don’t like it, I’ll tell you which of your books I edited while I was up last night.”

Ace took a sip of his coffee as he tried hard to stifle a laugh as Twilight looked appalled at the idea of one of her books being changed for any reason. Spike laughed heartily as well as he watched to make sure Twilight didn’t have a meltdown before she ran into the main room of the otherwise quiet home.

The panicked rasp of her voice rang through to the kitchen as she frantically cast spell after spell, hoping to find the defaced tome.

“You won’t have any spells that can find it Twilight,” she growled in frustration as she tensed her features, casting a more powerful spell, a level 4 spell Ace was familiar with.

“Nope, not even a True Work of the Artist spell. I’m not bluffing Twilight, either try the coffee or suffer for the rest of your days, never knowing which book was changed.”

Coming back into the kitchen, her face a mask bearing a mixture of anger, surprise, discontent, OCD overload, defeat, pain and surrender all at once.

Taking the coffee in her magic, almost sloshing the cream out as she yanked at the cup. Still glaring daggers at the invasive guest, Twilight started to take a small sip at first, followed by a louder gulp, and another as her eyes opened wide at the taste of the caffeinated beverage Ace had made for her.

The cup coming away from her muzzle, blushing as she looked both sorry and satisfied at the same time, the blush growing larger as Ace wiped some of the cream off her lip with a napkin in his magic.

“Told ya.”

Spike couldn’t stifle his laughter before taking a drink from his cup as well, savoring the taste as much as she had, minus the blush. Ace stood triumphant as he took the final pancake from the skillet, carrying it with him in his magic, still eating the one before.

“Okay, I admit, the coffee is amazing and I’ll probably make one every morning when Spike brews the coffee, but can you please tell me what book you edited last night?” Twilight looked sheepish, asking for the opposite result of the concluded bet.

Shaking his head, Ace only smiled slightly. “Sorry, but rules are rules and you lost the bet. I’m not heartless though, and totally understand the whole Obsessive Compulsive Disorder thing, so I will admit that you’ll likely figure it out after we get back and you’ve got a clearer head about everything.”

Spike was finishing his pancakes as Twilight set hers on the table with a sigh, just now beginning to eat. Taking the bottle of syrup in her magic, turning it over the stack of several pancakes to little service, the bottle being empty.

Glaring at Spike as he shrugged apologetically, she pulled another bottle from the refrigerator, replacing it after pouring just enough to run over the sides of the stack. “So where are we going, exactly?” Spike asked after the syrup crisis was averted.

Ace spoke in Twilight’s stead so she could at least somewhat enjoy her breakfast, still frantic about the edited volume.

Holding up the afflicted hoof so Spike could see over the table, “We need to go and talk to Twilight’s friend Rarity. Twilight thinks Rarity will be able to help me keep this covered up, but I don’t know anything about her at all.

"The only ponies I know in Ponyville are Twilight Sparkle, Ditzy Doo, Granny Smith, and Pinkie Pie.” Ace put his hoof back on the floor, continuing to finish his dry pancakes.

Twilight, finishing a bite of her pancakes, looked incredulous for a moment as she asked, “Okay, I can likely imagine where Pinkie Pie came from, but how do you know the other two, Ditzy and Granny Smith?” Spike got up from the table to wash his plate as Ace started to explain.

“Well I’m not sure if you recall, but I work at – or rather I own, run and supply – a spell shop on the outskirts of Hoofsdale.

"A long time ago, I sold a spell to Granny Smith and her family to help with a new harvest they were working on. I hear the spell still gives them a bountiful harvest each year, but I’ve never been out here to look; I was thinking about doing so while I was in town.”

Ace looked like he was contemplating either not telling about how he had met Ditzy Doo, or was thinking what parts he needed to leave out.

“Ditzy Doo is a little more complex: she’s never bought a spell from me, but a spell sold in my shop brought her much grief, which I had never known would happen when I sold the spell.”

Ace paused for a moment to take a drink of his coffee before he continued. “You see, Ditzy Doo has had a birth defect since she was a little filly. I’m sure it’s no secret around here, but her eyesight isn’t quite as it could be, as one of her eyes isn’t entirely under her control. Of course, I know and have sold no small amount of spells that could correct her defect, but she doesn’t want her eyes fixed, because she likes being different.

"A long time ago, Ditzy was dating a stallion who saw only her potential beauty instead of her natural splendor. Thinking that he was doing her a favor, he purchased a corrective spell from me and had used it on her when she was asleep.

"When Ditzy woke up, she was worried – and I know it sounds odd, but the naivety of this part makes me smile a little – poor Ditzy had thought that her eye had escaped. Panicked, she flew to the mirror – this is where the grief part kicks in and makes me feel bad for the naïve bit – noticed that her eye had not escaped from her, but instead her lazy eye had been cured.

"Cue the coltfriend, coming in and congratulating her. Ditzy was very upset with him and, well, long story short they’re not together any more for a reason.”

Finishing his coffee as Twilight finished her meal, Ace took the dishes and cleaned them in the sink as he continued. “This is where I’m blessed to meet such a wonderful mare, as she came to my shop all by herself this time.

"Not knowing that she was in a tiff because of my accidental meddling, she goes off on a tirade, telling me off about how I don’t have any right to change another pony’s life – which I totally and whole-heartedly agree – and how much she wishes that ponies would just see her for who she is and not what she could be.

"Before she could close her eyes and turn to tears, I corrected the correction spell, no charge of course – it’s actually a part of our ‘Right Spell Guarantee,’ if a spell we sell fails to satisfy, we’ll replace, mend or refund any purchases made.

"More embarrassed over the mix up than angry at this point, she flew through my window and left Cloudsdale to move to Ponyville, and I haven’t seen her since.”

“Wow, I never knew she wanted to stay like that. I thought she just couldn’t afford treatment or something, or maybe I’ve never even thought about it at all.” Twilight started to sound really sorry for the Pegasus mare whose history was a mystery. Ace nodded as he laid the dishes out on the rack to dry next to the sink.

“There’s a fair number of ponies who really don’t think about others or their problems, Twilight, and from what I’ve heard from Princess Celestia, you couldn’t be any further from those selfish ponies, so don’t beat yourself up, okay?

"Come on, I want to consult Rarity as soon as we can. The sooner I know if she can help me or not, the sooner I can start working out a plan to fix all this.”

Breakfast finished, Dishes washed and laid out to dry, and stories concluded, the two ponies and a dragon were ready to start their day, first making a stop at Rarity’s Carousel Boutique.

As the ponies were passing through the main room of the library, Twilight looked painfully at her collection of books before glancing at Ace with pleading eyes. “Could you at least give me an idea of what book you changed?”

Shaking his head in defeat, Ace stepped toward the center of the room, away from the door as his horn started to glow. “I suppose I should, I might not be around much longer, depending on what happens when we talk to Rarity.

"Search for edits, author: Ace Deus Fenrir.” No sooner than Ace had spoken the verbal command for the search spell, his horn flared several times brighter, along with all the books in the library as they all slid a few inches away from the shelves before falling to the ground in a heap. Ace hung his head, annoyed by the untimely misfire.

Twilight, likely thinking that Ace was lowering his head in shame, stood with her mouth agape staring in absolute horror at the now disheveled room. Spike was covering his mouth, either in a snicker or total shock as well.

“You… You… You DEFACED ALL OF MY BOOKS?!” Ace looked at her incredulously for a moment as his horn lit up again, once more having to use a reversal spell, this time to replace all the books on the shelves.

“Twilight, I’m playful, not chaotic. I did not ‘deface’ any of your books. There was a singular copy in your collection that was out of date and obsolete, behind by several revisions which I kindly introduced to the book.

"Search for edits, author: Ace Deus Fenrir“ this time, the spell only brought a singular tome forward, titled Everything Known about Anti-Magic Stone, by Ace Deus Fenrir

“The previous spell was a misfire, which happens whenever I cast too many spells without keeping count, generally every five to ten spells.” Twilight took the book in her magic, reviewing each page, a fair number of them marred with ink.

“I figured, since I had the time, and because I took your only sample of the stuff, I would at least share what I know about the Anti-Magic Stone. Upon finding a lesser copy of my notes, I decided the easiest and most OCD friendly way would be to simply amend the copy to be concurrent with the latest notes I keep personally.

"However, your copy is more up to date at present, as I have not yet added the chapter mentioning reactions the stone has when in contact with pre-magic. Enjoy.”

Understanding that Twilight needed some time to settle, Ace proceeded outside to wait for her and Spike. Also, he was hoping that leaving her be for a moment would detract attention from the fact that he had authored a book written nearly eight decades ago, and instead make her ask the question involving misfires.

One can only hope.

Author's Note:

Was on the plane all day today, typing this out one letter at a time on a touch screen eReader. During this time, my eReader decided to freeze and lock up, deleting several pages of work... Sorry for the delay fillies and gentlecolts!