Magi Chronicles: Fires of Equestria

by Xeadin

Chapter 8 -- Acquaintance

Furiously pacing back and forth in front of the doorway to Celestia’s room, Twilight groaned for a good few minutes. Her friends, eagerly, watched on as they heard several grovels of anticipation from her.

“Uggh! Why would the princess want to talk to this ‘Asura’ person without even inviting me to the conversation?” She, finally, stopped pacing and fell to the floor on her back. She expelled a sigh of disbelief. “There are so many questions that I want to ask! Couldn’t I have just, at least, asked a few beforehand??”

“Ah’m sure the princess doesn’t want th’ poor feller t’ get overwhelmed with questions to th’ point of burstin’.” Applejack trotted over to Twilight, and patted on her shoulder in reassurance. “No offense, sugarcube. Ah’m sure you’ll get yer chance once they’re done.”

“Hopefully he doesn’t mind that we throw him a super-special welcoming party in Ponyville!” Pinkie Pie bounded in glee. She held her hooves against her hips, and started flapping her arms in the same manner as wings. Her cheerful smile did not detract from her ecstatic mood. “It’ll be the best day we could ever have!”

“I do believe he would enjoy that,” Rarity inclined. She gently brushed her hoof across her mane. “Maybe I could design something that would strike him fancy for the occasion. After all, I did find his outfit, somewhat, drab. How could anyone stand to wear such mediocre attire? The travesty that would incur.”

Pinkie Pie wrapped her arms around Rarity—her smile wider than before. “Now that’s thinkin’ like a chicken, sister! They could be his welcoming presents!”

“I do like the idea of that,” Rainbow Dash fluttered to the ground, gleefully cheering at a sudden thought. “Maybe we could, also, take him out to watch some sort of sporting event? I heard that the Wonderbolts were putting on a cloud racing exhibition on Phillydelphia.”

“Wha’ kinda sports does he enjoy seein’ er doin’, though?” Applejack brushed the back of her head.

“Um, maybe he’s the sort of person that likes to tend with animals.” Fluttershy hovered above. “Having known that he has ‘strange, magical powers,’ he could have a strong bond with nature… somehow.”

Twilight twitched her head in surprised after hearing what Fluttershy had said. “You’re right! Cadence did mention something about him having magical abilities.” She stared back at the sealed double doors that had hid the princesses, and the boy, from view.

“Magical powers?” A tough, masculine voice blurted out, catching the six off guard. The voice came from the golden-clad guard that stood next to the doorway. His mane was a mixture of a fiery red and iridescent orange, and it flowed out from the top of his helmet. His coat was of a majestic creamy, light beige, which accented well with his darling green eyes. What wasn’t typical of the guard was that he held an inquisitive look on his face.

Twilight brushed the back of her head, slightly blushing. She stammered. “Well, yes… heh heh.”

“I seem to find it interesting that a ‘human’ could possess such a talent,” he continued. “I had been told they couldn’t.”

“Well, see, that’s the thing,” Rainbow Dash inclined. “He’s not human.”

“He’s not?” His curiosity grew. “Well, that must explain his, hmph, unique appearance.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow in suspicion. “Hey. Don’t I recognize you from somewhere?”

The guard held his tongue. “I don’t seem to recognize you off the top of my head…”

“Weren’t you one of the ‘door ponies’ for the princess’s tea party down in Equestria at one time? You know, where I made those funny faces at you?”

“Hmmm. I don’t seem to recall…”

“Where the princess lost her pet phoenix and found out that Fluttershy had been taking care of it the whole time?”

Fluttershy kept herself close and smiled innocently—her face flushed with red.

The guard thought hard. “I do seem to recall being told a bit about that event, although the particulars were never fully explained.” He cocked his head a little to the side. “If I may, might I ask why you decided to throw such ‘funny’ expressions toward them?”

Rainbow snickered quietly. “Well, I just wanted to see if they were able to flinch since they both stood as still as statues. I guess that would’ve been a breach in their, uh, ‘protocol’ to laugh or tell me to stop.”

“Isn’t what you’re doing now a breach in protocol?” Rarity inquired.

Rainbow’s gleeful expression flipped upside-down.

“Well, if I may, miss,” the stallion beckoned, and set his spear against the threshold of the doorway. “On any other day of grave importance, you’d be right. I’m not, usually, one to engage in ‘general’ conversations, but on days like these, where the princess doesn’t have anything of importance planned, us guards have less work to accomplish.” He faced the doorway with a stern posture. “Seems to me that whatever is going on in there may seem a bit important, but I’ve, yet, to see any further directives from the captain.” He knelt over to Twilight, who was standing in front of the doorway. “I’m sure, thought, that he wouldn’t mind speaking his head off in front of me for a whole day, if he found out that I was talking to you all.”

Twilight returned a grimace of concern. The guard went back to his usual upright position. Applejack and Rarity stood next to Twilight, as she continued to stare at the intricately patterned double door. She then stepped forth and hugged her head against the wall, laying her ear next to the crack so that she could attempt to hear what conversations were playing out within.

~~~~~~

Inside, the air was warm and subtle; it was filled with various scents of herbal teas and oranges. Princess Celestia and Luna sat together on one end of a long couch facing away from the embroidered fireplace with Asura on the other, next to Celestia. The couch, itself, was furnished quite extravagantly, with red velvet cushions and golden lacing on the edges, and its frame worked in the most exquisite gold. To the left of the couch, two large cushions, decorated in the same fashion as the larger couch, had been occupied by Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, with Cadence sitting nearest to Asura. It felt awkward for him to notice that he was sitting down much lower than the others were, taking into account that they were, effectively, standing on top of the cushions rather than sitting, as he had noticed most normal humanoids do. He wasn’t surrounded by humanoids, nor were they ‘normal,’ by his regards.

Perched on the table before him, the welcoming scent of fresh herbal, peppermint, and orange teas filled his senses. The teas sat on an exquisite silver tray, and he felt a welcoming presence hang in the room. He watched as a teacup ascended in to the air and hovered over to Celestia in an aura of golden haze. Another cup had been enveloped in a pink aura, which floated over to Cadence. Asura leaned over towards the table and took a cup in hand. He felt the warmth of the tea conduct through the cup and onto his fingertips, which was a soothing sensation. It helped make him feel more secure and at home. This was a much different environment that what he had expected to run in to.

He, then, leaned himself back on the couch and held the cup in two hands, gently blowing on the tea to make it more tolerable for drinking. He briefly looked up to see both Cadence and Shining Armor watching him while drinking their teas. Sheepishly, he looked back down and took a small sip. The flavor of the tea overwhelmed his senses. He could not put to words what herbs that he noticed, but they seemed very familiar. One that he could, easily, pick out was licorice root—it had a very distinct, rough taste, but was as soothing as mint.

Celestia cleared her throat. “So, Asura, I take it that you enjoy the tea?”

He nodded. “Yes. It’s quite wonderful.” He set the cup down on his lap. “It has been quite a while since I’ve last had tea. I’ve never had anything quite like this.”

Cadence set the teacup down on the table with a modest tap on the glass. “It does have such a delightful taste.” She brought a napkin up to her and wiped off her mouth.

“We do believe that we haven’t introduced ourselves,” Luna spoke, in a humble tone. “I am Princess Luna, Keeper of the Night and Guardian of Dreams. I am also sub-ruler of Equestria.”

“I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria. I am the denizen of the Sun.”

“I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but you can call me Cadence. I’m the heraldess of the Crystal Empire, and Mistress of Love.”

“I am Prince Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard of Canterlot Castle.”

Faced with such regal introductions, he felt undermined by being surrounded by such royalty. He was, also, undoubtedly underdressed. Still, he had to bring himself to grounds and offer his introduction that would match up to their standards. He felt dumb not coming prepared, but he would, soon, have to learn how to handle his own merits.

“I’m Asura. I am the patron of the Elements and guardian of the Precursors.”

“Elements?” Cadence exclaimed. “You hold the Elements of Harmony where you’re from, as well?”

Asura blushed. “Well, not exactly. I’m not familiar with, what you call, the Elements of Harmony. I’m assuming that is how you all are able to harness magical abilities?”

Celestia chuckled at that remark. “It is not the Elements of Harmony that gives us the ability to use magic. It, simply, runs in the bloodlines of unicorns and alicorns, such as ourselves.”

The term ‘alicorn’ was a first to hear for him. He had heard of many legends and myths concerning unicorns, but was told that they had not existed since the time after Cosmos. The fact that they ‘simply’ carried magical properties was a definite nose-wrinkler for him.

“If thou doest not use, or ever heard of, the Elements of Harmony, where doest thee come from to use such powers, as thou demonstrated toward the captain’s troops?” Luna shot a gaze towards Shining Armor, whom was eager to listen in on what would soon follow.

Asura cleared his throat. “Where I’m from, we possess and harness the powers of, what we’d like to call, the Elements of Nature. The elements were derived from the balance of two greater elements—those of which being Light and Dark. The Elements of Nature were created to ensure stronger stability between the two greater elements, and they also helped achieve greater focus in the use of ‘magical’ talents.”

“Elements of Nature,” Shining Armor held a hoof up to his chin. “Do you mean like fire and water?”

Asura nodded. “Those are two of the six elements that are encompassed within the Elements of Nature. Fire, Ice, and Lightning are the first three that encompass the basic domains, and they are signified as the ‘Brothers.’ Wind, Water and Earth are the second set that also encompasses the basic domain, and are signified as the ‘Sisters.’ Together, they form a balance, or bretherin.”

“And are these elements signified by physical personas?” Celestia asked. “Are there people that these elements are represented by?”

“Yes, there are.”

Surprised by the simple answer, Celestia smiled.

“And how doest thee use these ‘elements?’ Doest your people use the elements with the purpose of entertainment, or doeth they have a greater, more meaningful and repercussive purpose?”

It was somewhat difficult to digest Luna’s question at first, but after a few moments of thinking, he was able to piece together what was being asked. “We use the elements in a way to better ourselves, whether it be useful to entertain or defend ourselves. We acclimate to situations by use of the elements most appropriate to help preserve or highlight key events.”

“And how many of these ‘elements’ are there?” Cadence asked.

“Seventeen, by our current count.”

She blinked.

“What are they? I know you’ve listed eight of them, but what are the others?” Shining Armor spoke.

“We also have elements, such as Balance, which is the fundamental element that governs the powers of Light and Dark; Kinetics, which utilizes the talents of telekinesis and space-time warping; Essence, which governs the life force of the Elements; Lucid, which gives us the talents to teleport and cloak ourselves and others; and there is the Master Element, which was, once, used by Cosmos, himself. There is an element that we do not speak of, but we do acknowledge its existence.”

“Do the Precursors have an element that they use?” Celestia asked.

Asura raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Yes, in fact we do have our own element named after us, respectively.” He scratched the back of his head. ”I’m curious. How did you hear about the Precursors?”

Celestia uncovered a journal that was underneath a few other books on the table, and handed it over to him. He held on to it as Celestia released her grip on it by her golden aura. Asura gazed in awe as he glanced at the book’s title. “I’ve seen this book a few times before, back in my old study.”

“You have that book, as well?” Celestia gawked. Luna was just as surprised.

“I remember glancing through several pages, while I was looking through the ancient archives. It was, mainly, the author of this journal that caught my eye.” He opened the book and peered on to a random page within the book. “The author must have done extensive studies. He must have had stupendous patience and copious amounts of time on his hands.”

“Well, he was one of the greatest wizards of our time,” Celestia inquired. “Starswirl the Bearded was a pony of exceptional talent and had held the most utmost respect toward others.” She pointed out a portrait above the doors, which depicted of a muddy-yellow coated individual with a long white, mottled beard and wore a royal blue robe and hat, which came to a point just beyond the edge of the canvas.

Asura studied the painting for a few moments, taking in the amount of talent from every brush stroke to create an accurate portrait of someone he did not recognize. “Outstanding.” He picked up the tea cup and consumed the last of what was left. He leaned forward and was just about to set it back on to the tray, when Cadence interrupted.

“Hey. Would you care to demonstrate one of these ‘abilities’ of yours, for us?” She clapped her hooves together in anticipation, giving out a high-pitched giggle from her wide grin.

He paused, letting himself clear out any confusion that had, briefly, troubled his mind. He knew of the implications of using his powers to impress others, but he’d done it before. What was more disconcerting was the fact that any use of his powers was at his own risk of becoming a large target of scrutiny. He set the cup down and leaned back on the chair. He had analyzed the scent of the peppermint tea which was inside the lavender teapot. He held his left arm up—his palm facing upward and fingers flush with the floor. He placed his other hand in his pocket, which kept the stone handy.

A small ball of brilliant light appeared above his hand, and the teapot began to levitate off of the tray. It soon began to move towards the teacup, slowly tipping over as it drew near. As the other watched in amazement and awe, the pot had tipped over such that it dispensed the hot tea into Asura’s cup. Once it had become full, the pot went back to its upright position and hovered back to its original spot on the tray.

Celestia blinked—her mouth agape. Luna held a similar expression, as did Cadence and Shining Armor.

“My, that was… Impressive…”

A sugar packet had, quickly, levitated to Asura’s hand. He took it and ripped the top part off, exposing the inside. He, then, sent the open packet over the teacup and inverted it to dispense the sugar within. The empty packet fluttered down to the table next to the cup, and a spoon soon hovered in to the air and into the teacup, where it then stirred the tea and mixed the dispensed sugar for a few good rounds. The spoon came out and was set next to the teacup. The cup then hovered in the air and was met by his hand. He, willfully, accepted the soothing sensation of the warm teacup and took a sip of the, piping hot, tea.

Celestia and Luna looked at each other—their mouths still agape in awe. Cadence had a difficult time registered what had happened in front of her, while Shining Armor was, simply, dumbfounded by the stranger’s remarkable talents.

Asura smiled, reassuringly. “How’s that for a demonstration?”

Celestia tried to put words to her mouth, but found herself opening and closing her mouth inadvertently, unwilling to speak. Cadence was, also, at a loss of words.

Before anyone could speak, the doors gently swung open and a lavender pony came in with a large grin on its face.

Shining Armor, unable to do anything else, turned his head and his expression melted away to a gleeful smile. “Twilie!”

The others were distracted from Shining’s outcry, and shifted their attention towards the incoming ponies—that being Twilight Sparkle and her friends.

Celestia grinned. “Twilight Sparkle. How nice of you to join us with all of your friends. You came at just the right time.”

Twilight held a confused look, leaning her head slightly sideways “You mean I wasn’t intruding on anything?”

“Not at all. Makes yourselves comfortable.”

“Howdy, stranger,” Applejack said, waving her hoof towards Asura.

The others took notice and were all attentive towards him.

Celestia gestured toward the six newcomers. She pointed out Twilight. “Asura, this is Twilight Sparkle. She is my faithful, and beloved, student. She and her friends are all bearers of the Elements of Harmony.”

Twilight bowed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Asura.”

The orange, pony-tailed pony stood up, adjusting her brown cowboy hat. “Ah’m Applejack. It, sure, is a nice pleasure t’ meet ya.”

Rainbow Dash fluttered up in the air. “The name’s Rainbow Dash. We’ve met once, but it’s an honor to meet you again.”

The yellow coated, pink mane pegasus hovered in the air. “I’m Fluttershy,” she said, softly. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh, don’t worry about her. She’ll warm up to you, like she did with us,” The white unicorn said, her purple mane styled in a glorious fashion. “I’m Rarity. It’s nice to make an acquaintance with you, Asura.”

The pink pony bounced up and drew a big smile on her face—her furled mane floating amidst the constant hopping. “I’m Pinkie Pie! What a great opportunity to meet you! Do you like books and tea? I hope you do, because that’d be super awesome and stuff!”

Asura chuckled. It wasn’t the first time that he’s been through formal introductions, but it was his first time facing such introductions in a timely manner. “Well, hello all.” ‘I can tell that this is gonna be a long day for me.’

Comments

[FinalHeresy]

So... whats so impressive about him doing basic telekinesis? Isn't that something most every unicorn can do as well? I feel like I missed something.