Ace's Spell Shop

by Aceofgods

The Cover Up

Chapter Five: The Cover Up

The marketplace in the center of Ponyville was still quiet, only a few stalls open and many stores still preparing their wares for the coming day. Here and there, a few ponies were talking amongst themselves, exchanging pleasantries or sitting at a table to enjoy their morning meal.

Twilight Sparkle, Ace and Spike had just left the library, Twilight being considerably calmer now, having apologized for making assumptions and jumping to conclusions about a pony she had just met and barely knew.

Not being one to hold a grudge, Ace nodded, smiled and motioned for Twilight to lead the way to Rarity’s Carousel Boutique.

As they walked through the market, Ace was viewing the goods for sale while trying to keep a fair distance from any Unicorns while also trying not to look like he was avoiding anypony.

“So, Rarity... What kind of Unicorn is she? What sort of magic is she most proficient in? What’s her special talent?” Ace was thrilled at the idea of meeting more Unicorns, rarely meeting any in his line of work.

Maybe I should start doing magic lessons in the shop when this is over?

Twilight looked back at him for a moment as she thought.

“Well, Rarity’s magic is mostly focused toward her special talent, which is clothing design. Many of her designs feature fabulous, well-cut gems. One of her favorite spells is one that she uses to locate gems below ground. She’s also one of the most skilled Unicorns I’ve seen when it comes to telekinesis.”

Ace was beginning to like this Rarity mare more and more. Preparing to ask another question until he saw the round, pastel colored two-story building.

With the bright blues and pinks, checkered and flowing designs, Ace thought the building more clashed than matched, but then again his talent was helping others, not fashion.

When Twilight started to head toward the building, Ace couldn’t help but ask, “Is that the Carousel Boutique?”

Twilight simply nodded with a light smile at the sight of her friend’s home.

“I must be further away from the latest fashions than I thought, because the building really isn’t much to look at. The structure is nice, I mean, but the choice of color, as well as the designs and decorations just put me off.”

As they neared the building, Ace started to make out the carousel ponies displayed on the second floor, as well as the yellow painted one on the sign, marking the store as Carousel Boutique beyond the shadow of a doubt.

Ace sighed in relief when they approached the boutique, glad that nopony in town had noticed the strange substance on his left fore-hoof, possibly because from a distance, it likely looked like a color mutation compared to the rest of the dark Unicorn’s coat.

When they approached the door, it flew open to reveal a pure white Unicorn with a purple mane and matching tail, spreading one hoof in a welcoming gesture.

“Twilight, darling! Have you finally decided to let me work my magic on your mane? It truly is a shame you choose to wear it down all the time, it’s such a wonderful color and body!”

After a moment or two, Rarity locked eyes with Ace, standing behind Twilight, and just stared for a moment. When Ace rose an eyebrow in question, she turned back to Twilight, “Twilight! Where did you find such a charming coltfriend! Aren’t you going to introduce me, dear?”

Twilight, a blush forming around her cheeks, started the introduction. “Rarity, this is –“

Ace, never wanting to miss a chance to be polite, interjected as he dipped in an introductory bow. “Ace Deus Fenrir, but feel free to call me Ace. Pleasure to meet you, Miss Rarity.”

Twilight, still holding her hoof out, planted it back on the ground as she spoke, “And he’s not my coltfriend. Listen, Rarity, Ace needs your help with something."

Rarity started looking over the features of the stallion before her, getting a little too close for Ace’s comfort, who took a step back as she examined him, a look of concentration adding a serious look to her own features.

“We could start by dying his mane, solid red manes are in this season. The necklace is just too gaudy, we’ll need to replace it. Honestly, silver and sapphire on a woven-fiber necklace? Not to mention the design features a dead carrion fowl! You really do need my help!”

Ace, not wishing to be patronized nor turned into a fashion model, picked Rarity up in his magic, gently, and set her back in her doorway a few steps before he held up the afflicted hoof.

“Beg your pardon, Miss Rarity, while I do appreciate the honest effort to help, you wound me. No, my personal appearance is not the state of emergency, but rather concealing this while also keeping it contained is the predicament that has brought Twilight and I to your doorstep this morning.

"Please bear in mind that the affliction is comprised of pre-magic, so we cannot use any magic to conceal it and I beg you do not use magic near it as well, as it is still very much a dangerous entity.”

Rarity examined the presented hoof for a moment before nodding once and turning back to lead them into her home.

“Please, come on in. Let’s see what we can do about that, shall we?” Rarity shut the door behind them after Twilight, Spike and Ace had come through the doorway into the showroom.

Looking around the room, Ace noted that Twilight was not exaggerating when she said that many of her works featured well-cut gems. There were more than twenty mannequins, most bearing an outfit or article of clothing that would likely cost a large sum of bits, even by his standards.

Surely there cannot be too much business for such expensive clothing here in Ponyville, the ponies wouldn’t have enough bits to buy such extravagant clothing. Even if they did, most ponies here are workponies, their clothes would get dirty or tarnished too easily.

Rarity retreated to the back room while Ace was looking at the lavish ensembles.

“Twilight, has Rarity always sold her clothes in Ponyville? These outfits would likely cost most of the ponies around Ponyville more than a year’s worth of their salaries. Wouldn’t these be more appropriate for someplace like Canterlot, or the Crystal Empire?

"Wait, would it be a faux pas to wear gems in the Crystal Empire?” Before Twilight could answer, Rarity’s voice came from the back room as several bolts of cloth came floating through the doorway.

“Well you see dear, since I harvest all of the gems myself, I can sell these marvelous dresses for much more affordable prices! I have often thought about moving my business to Canterlot, but I wouldn’t be able to gather the gems I need there, and I wouldn’t wish to export the gems from anywhere, and even if I did, it would mean being away from the shop while I was looking for more.”

Finally accompanying the last of the fabrics into the room, she started to use her levitation magic to bring the cloths alongside the affliction for whatever reason.

Immediately, Ace cast a force spell, bringing everything and everypony in the room to the floor aside from him, then he used a restriction spell embodied by a golden lock and chain that soon wound itself around Rarity’s horn.

“NO! You cannot bring magic near the pre-magic, or it’ll become more powerful and jump to one of our horns. If that happens, it won’t detach for any reason, and with the shear amount of pre-magic involved, it would encase that pony’s entire head, cutting off their intake of oxygen or worse, spreading within that pony’s body.

"You MUST exhibit caution, Miss Rarity.”

Cutting off the force spell before righting the mannequins that had fallen, and using a reparation spell on the outfits or mannequins that were harmed, Ace looked over Rarity with a stern look, awaiting her confirmation.

Twilight and Rarity rose to their hooves with a groan as Spike got to his feet and dusted himself off, perhaps more from the sudden shift more than actual pain.

Rarity met Ace’s glare before she realized she had almost made a very grave mistake. “I… I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking, I was too focused on my work to have any caution.”

With the crises averted and the point clearly driven in, possibly too deeply, Ace nodded and smiled as he released the lock from her solid white horn. “So long as you understand and realize this is no trivial matter, then all is well. I bear you no ill will, just remember that everypony’s safety is the largest of my worries.”

Rarity, still nervous and shaken after the sudden assault, looked to Twilight. Twilight nodded her support, but was no less shaken after the outburst, still unsure of just what Ace was capable of.

Regaining her composure with a short, practiced breathing exercise, Rarity took the nearest bolt of cloth in her hooves and held it up against Ace’s coat to compare the colors. Rarity was clearly having some trouble, never before needing to handle the delicate cloth by hoof, always relying on her magic.

Starting to get frustrated after five shades of blue, a single shade of yellow and two shades of green were rejected, Rarity sat before the stallion once more, studying his whole form and not just his head this time.

“Do you really need all of those accessories? I can understand the glasses, and the black frames suit your coat and mane superbly dear, but the necklace and bracelet are raising all sorts of difficulty in making a new outfit for you.”

Ace looked quizzically at Rarity, wishing to reprimand her for making an outfit and not a cover-up for the single hoof, but feeling as though he was already off to a bad start after having to so harshly remind her of the nature of the visit once already.

“The glasses are non-negotiable, as I need them for my eyes, and I suppose to the necklace can be replaced for some other article I can transplant my spherical, enchanted gems to, but the bracelet is only being used to hold the anti-magic stone to the pre-magic so that it doesn’t get any stronger.

"If you could work the stone into something else I can wear, such as a stocking or another bracelet, then that would be acceptable.” Ace took the bracelet off by hoof, then slid it over to Rarity so she could look at it more closely. After a few moments, her eyes lit up with an idea.

“What if we crushed the stone into a powder, and wove it into fabric that matched your coat, and you just wore that until I am able to make something more suitable?” Glad to finally hear a plausible solution to his problem, Ace’s eyes went wide at the idea.

“Yes! Yes, that should work superbly! With the stone being shattered into a fine powder, it will still retain the strength to drain the magic the pre-magic can soak up residually.

"With the fabric preventing the pre-magic from making physical contact with other magic, it shouldn’t be able to gather enough strength to attempt an escape, and with the powder being placed inside of something solid such as fabric, I will be able to teleport or flash with it since I can transport the thing the remnants of the stone are locked within.

"Yes, that is a perfect solution! Can you do it?” While Ace was talking, Rarity had pulled out a loom and some fine dark-gray fabric that matched the stallion’s coat splendidly.

“But of course, dear! This is a clothing store, after all. I wouldn’t be very good at my job if I couldn’t weave fabric the old fashioned way.” Rarity walked up to Ace as she spoke, a roll of measuring tape wrapped around her hoof that she used to take the measurements she needed.

When she went to the do the length, pulling the tape up along the hoof, starting from the floor and ending at the crest of the gooey mass, clearly not liking the feel of the substance, Ace cleared his throat a moment.

“If you’d be so kind, I’d like to cover up the scars as well. The unusual markings might make some ponies uncomfortable.” Rarity nodded, not wanting to test her voice as she was preoccupied keeping her mind away from the feeling of the grotesque, messy mass she was working around as she amended the length measurement as Twilight spoke her mind.

“Do you really need to cover them up? I really wanted to study them, and I think they look appealing.” Twilight’s cheeks flushed as the two looked at her for a moment.

“I – I mean they are so precise, so meticulous, and they really compliment your handsome face. I – I mean…” Twilight’s face turned an entirely different shade as she started to lower herself nervously.

“I’m going to wait outside!” she almost shouted as she ran out the door, closing it a tad loudly as she left, leaving the two to stare at the door dumbly for a moment before Ace broke the silence.

“Let’s keep the scars then; just cover the pre-magic, if you’d be so kind, Miss Rarity.” Nodding as she inwardly cringed when she had to touch the black mass, which had begun to show white stars upon itself, she took the measurements and immediately backed away from the afflicted limb before using her magic to cut off a section of the fine black cloth, then pull it apart thread by thread to work it into the loom.

“Would you like me to crush the stone? I’ll need something to collect the powder in.”

Rarity nodded as she went back into the room beyond the showroom, being gone for a moment before returning with a classy, metal tea tray, setting it in the floor near the paper-weave bracelet.

“Do try not to hurt the tray if you can help it dear, I am quite fond of it.” Nodding as he set the bracelet in the tray before unraveling it, dropping the stone onto the platter with a clatter, Ace pressed his contaminated hoof to the crystal, resulting in a high pitched hiss filling the room.

Rarity sprawled across the floor as she panicked while Spike just covered his ear-fins as he continued admiring Rarity while trying not to look like he was admiring Rarity. “Wha- What was that?!”

Ace looked sheepish for a moment before he spoke, “Sorry, I keep forgetting that it does that. When the magic leaves the pre-magic, it makes that sound. I didn’t mean to frighten you… again.”

Rarity got back on her hooves, watching as the last of the white stars faded from view on the surface of Ace’s left fore-hoof before he pressed the hoof hard against the crystal, forming little cracks at first. Ace continued adding pressure a little at a time, being careful not to dent the fine tray Rarity had provided.

Before long, the stone made one last cracking sound before it shattered, leaving small fragments around the tray, which Ace proceeded to crush into a fine powder.

Once all of the fragments had been dealt with, Ace used his magic to form a glass dish, pouring the powder into it from a corner of the tray before handing the finished product to Rarity, unsure of how she intended to work the powder into the cloth.

Taking the powder into the back room, returning moments later with the glass container holding a quantity of water turned a light pink by the powder.

“I see now; to make sure that the powder merges with the fabric, you mixed it in with the water. Then you’ll soak the fabric in the water for a moment before running it through the loom. Once the threads have come together inside the loom, the powder will be locked within the cloth. Rarity, you’re more brilliant than I thought!”

Rarity beamed at the praise as she set to work on the loom as Ace watched closely, rarely having the chance to watch the process personally. As they were both preoccupied, Spike slipped out to check on Twilight.

Twilight sat alone, brooding silent and alone under a nearby tree. As focused on her own thoughts as she was, she noticeably jumped when Spike rested a clawed hand on her shoulder.

Letting out a sigh to try and relax herself before confronting her assistant, now standing beside her as he tried to figure out what she was thinking about, but letting her work it all out herself before asking any questions.

“Spike, what do you think about Ace? We haven’t known him very long, yet he still seems to almost… Fit in, no matter where he goes.”

Spike held a claw to his chin a moment as he thought earnestly about the question. “To tell you the truth, I haven’t thought about it much. He does make good pancakes, and brews some of the best coffee I’ve ever tasted.

"He seems to know some serious things about magic - even I can tell that much. To be quite honest, I haven’t given it much thought, since I thought he’d just get his hoof fixed and then go back to Hoofsdale.”

Twilight just looked at her assistant for a moment before nodding slowly. “You’re probably right, there isn’t really much keeping him in Ponyville after he gets what he needs from Rarity. He’ll probably wave us off before teleporting back to his shop… But I don’t think I want him to leave just yet, Spike.

"It’s like… I want to get to know him better. Kind of like when we first came to Ponyville, after we helped Princess Luna seal away Nightmare Moon. Once I knew just a little bit about my friends, I didn’t want to stop learning about them, and that’s worked out well, right?”

Spike nodded his agreement. After the fight with Nightmare Moon, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash had all become the best of friends.

“Well why don’t you just ask Ace to stay? Even if he doesn’t stay here all the time, I’m sure he’d visit from time to time if you let him know you want to get to know him better.”

Twilight shook her head, having already thought that far. “But he knows Granny Smith and Pinkie Pie, and I’m sure that one of them would have mentioned if he had ever come to town recently. I don’t really think he gets out much, or at least not to Ponyville. I’m just one pony, Spike. He might not take time out of his busy day to drop in and say hello just because I asked nicely.”

Spike could agree that it was a possibility, but he didn’t think it was a good enough one to drop the whole idea over.

“Well why don’t you ask him to teach you magic? It seems like he’s really good at magic. He even runs a successful spell shop, and it is your talent after all. The worst that could happen is he says no and you can said you tried. Heck, even if he does say no, you could always stop by his shop and pay him a visit instead.”

Twilight looked like she was deeply considering all the possibilities such an idea could bring forth. Once again losing her confidence, she let out another sigh before she spoke.

“What am I supposed to say? ‘Hey Ace, I was thinking, and I’d really like for you to teach me magic, if you’re not too busy.’” Half-way through her dialogue, Spike had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing.

“Of course Twilight, I’d be happy to help you. When would you like to begin?”

Ace had come outside to talk to Twilight when Rarity asked to be left alone with her work, saying that it’d be a few minutes before she had finished. Twilight turned around with a flush on her cheeks as she looked up at him.

“Oh, but I’d like to stop by the Apple family’s orchard before we go back to the library.” Ace sat down beside Twilight in the shadow of the tree while he waited for Rarity to finish with the cover-up for his hoof.

Twilight looked at the blackened hoof that was only inches away from hers. The hoof was beginning to be covered in white spots, much like when she had first met Ace outside the library. “So each of those white spots is a collection of magic? What happens when it gets too much magical power?”

Staring at the hoof himself, Ace looked as though he was pondering the answer himself.

“To be quite honest, I have no idea. Ideally, given enough magical power, the pre-magic will realize it cannot complete its purpose and dissipate on its own – or even get so overloaded that is disintegrates.

"Much more likely, the pre-magic will turn entirely white, and stop gathering magical energy as it can no longer store any more – this would be much more dangerous than it sounds, as the pre-magic has actually displayed that it has primitive use of the magic energy it gains, and I have not yet concluded to what extent it can control it.

"Thus far it has been able to shift its form using magical energy to gain more energy, and the reason why I am in this predicament is that the pre-magic was actually able to jump onto me when it sensed the magic in my horn. Possibly, the shear amount of magic may even completely overload the black mass and cause it to burn out and change into something other than pre-magic.”

Ace shrugged a bit as he shook his head. “I simply don’t know Twilight, and if I’m going to do any further testing or experimentation on the subject, I’ll likely do it in my workshop where I can properly monitor the results, as well as ensuring that nopony else gets hurt.”

Twilight looked as though she hung on every word on the subject, likely taking mental notes that she would properly lend ink to when they returned to the library.

“Does it hurt? It certainly doesn’t look very comfortable.” Ace held up the plagued hoof as though it would help show how it felt.

“Under normal circumstances, that is if it were another pony, it would just feel like putting your hoof in a large jar of jelly and leaving it there for a while. To me, however, since I constantly trickle magic through my whole body to power an extrasensory spell that lets me not only see, but feel and grasp my surroundings, that sense has been cut off where the pre-magic touches.

"To me, it feels like my hoof has been cut off at the knee, even though my mind, my muscles and my eyes all tell me otherwise.”

He let out what sounded like a forced chuckle as he set the hoof back down, “I’ve had to actually look at my own hoof just to make sure it’s still there; it’s very unnerving.

"As for physical pain, the scars I used to make the glyphs still hurt when I move the hoof… More than I show, at any rate. The line you see below the glyphs cuts all the way down to my bone, so the muscle tissue there was severed for nearly three minutes as I worked out the glyphs.”

Twilight’s features paled a bit as she tried to imagine how that must have felt. Without thinking, she reached a hoof out and stroked the strange symbols, not realizing what she had done until her hoof strayed to the perfectly circular scar just above the pre-magic, which caused Ace to visibly tense at the contact to such a tender area.

Pulling her hoof back and not knowing what to say, all she could manage was, “Sorry…”

Ace nodded that it was fine, but before he could speak, Rarity came out of the boutique. Spike went running towards her immediately, before she motioned for the others to come as well as she disappeared back into the brightly colored building.

In a bit of a hurry to get the anti-magic laced clothing Rarity had been working on, Ace started towards the store, stopping a few steps away to make sure Twilight was coming before he continued.

Once the group had all made it into the showroom, Rarity used her magic to pull her latest work out from the hiding place in the back room.

The cover looked exactly like Ace’s hoof, though a bit thicker to make room for the pre-magic. From a distance, for all intents and purposes, it looked exactly like his hoof. Taking the creation in her hooves, she presented the clothing to the dark stallion.

Moving forward, he held out his hoof so that Rarity could help him put it on. As the cover contacted the pre-magic, it let out a high-pitched hiss again, though everypony had already heard it before and was ready to cover their ears.

Once the cover had slid all the way up his hoof, stopping past the pre-magic, but before the first linear scar, Ace started tapping the floor to test the fit. Making sure the cover was completely on, Ace lightly trotted around the spacious room, making sure the cover wouldn’t slip off or loosen under normal conditions.

Coming to a halt before the three, he nodded once as he looked at Rarity. “It’s fantastic, Rarity. It looks just like my hoof at a distance, and it’s tight enough to stay secure without being uncomfortable. Please, wait here for a moment.”

With that, the room lit up in an incredibly bright gray-black light, with the ponies still in the room averting their eyes for a moment before looking up again and realizing that Ace had left. Twilight’s heart sank as her posture slackened.

“He’s coming back, right Spike?” Spike looked like he was at a loss for words as he looked around the room, hoping to find something that would provide an answer for his friend.

The room was eerily silent for a time, nopony wanting to move or say anything. After a few more seconds, the room lit up with a much dimmer light than before as Ace showed up with a pouch hanging from his mouth, which he set on the ground as he bowed his head forward in apology.

“Sorry about that, I had another misfire.” Twilight let out a sigh of relief as she visibly relaxed when Ace rose back up, his usual playful-business demeanor returned.

“I always pay for good work, Miss Rarity, and this work is certainly deserving in every respect; not only is it a custom fitted piece of clothing, but even I can tell the fabric used is top-notch quality, not to mention it had to be hoof-crafted and personally treated with anti-magic powder, as well as being made with a rush order.

"Please, accept these bits as payment for a job well done, you’ve earned it.”

Rarity was taken aback, appalled even, at the very notion. “Ace, darling, you’re a friend of Twilight’s and thereby a close friend to me. I could never charge you for only half an hour of work, it would be must distasteful! Please, keep your money and go about your way, and feel free to visit me any time you want.

"Maybe next time you’ll let me make you a whole outfit, and find some more suitable jewelry to complement it as well.” Understanding that Rarity clearly didn’t want to discuss the payment, Ace flash-teleported the pouch containing four-hundred bits into the backroom for her to discover after they had left under the guise of having taken it back.

“That’s truly generous Rarity, and I will certainly have to visit again sometime while I’m in town assisting Twilight with her studies, but I can’t guarantee you’ll get the chance to make clothing for me.

"Of course, should the need arise, you’ll be at the top of my list. Farewell, Miss Rarity.” Waving to their friend as they left, the three made their way out of the shop.

Twilight, never one to miss a beat, remarked as soon as they were out of earshot of the Carousel Boutique, “You moved the pouch somewhere in her house so she’d have to keep it, didn’t you?” Caught in his deception, Ace could only smile as they started on the road to Sweet Apple Acres before Spike interjected.

“As much fun as seeing everypony would be Twilight, I’m going to go back and mind the library while you’re gone. Tell Applejack I said hello when you see her.” Spike started heading home as the other two waved good bye to him as well.

Author's Note:

There were so many scenes that didn't make the cut for this chapter. I'm half tempted to start writing a "Deleted Scenes" branch of the book and publish it at the end. Of course, the deleted scenes would be non-canon to the story...