Mare In The Everfree Forest

by MoonLily

Chapter Thirty Seven

I was standing in the middle of the throne room watching Twilight on the other end. I could feel Celestia and Luna stand behind me. I took a deep breath as I opened my eyes placing a barrier up with different white symbols written on it. I let out my breath as I stared at Twilight.

“Each barrier is made up of spell runes or spell matrix. What I have lit up is a spell matrix as spell runes are a bit more complex. Now, these won’t be lit up normally, as I am giving a demonstration. On a normal barrier, only one will light up only to the trained eye. it takes a while to get your eyes used to the magic needed to see one. Those who are strong in barriers can make one with multiple fake matrices to through their opponent off. That being said those will be a different colors. The real one will be white and white only. they can be large to small” I waved my hoof causing them to change as I stared at her. I used my hoof and made the barrier turn to water as it moved around me.

“Now I am only showing you this as I am not sure if other ponies can do this. It was a very popular tactic in the Empire as it can be quickly deployed and easily used when running. Now I changed my barrier into liquid. it still has a spell matrix making it a barrier I just changed how it acts. it now acts as water and I can make it like a wave or a quick shield. I can also change the shape to be that of earth or act like fire. If I do this the barrier will also gain some magical attributes. While it's in a water form it can dispel any fire or earth-based magic attacks. Earth barrier can withstand fire or wind. Fire can withstand earth and earth alone. A wind barrier is unheard of as it can turn deadly against the user” I took another deep breath and let it out slowly. I ended the barrier as I placed my hoof down on the ground. I could see her eyes widen as she looked over at me.

“How do I get my barrier stronger?”

“Work on your spell matrix. The old way would be to have another guard break the barrier over and over allowing you to see what you need to change each time. It will also allow you to see how to change it to keep it hidden. Now I am not sure about the new way you need to ask Jr, since he knows a few good night guards who specialize in barriers and the old style of it.” I closed my eyes letting another breath out as I cracked my eyes half open. I could see the light blue lines running along the ground before tugging on one causing it to show itself. I made it charge into a ball of liquid. At this time I noticed solar, lunar, and the empire guards walking in and sitting along the side. I should have known she would do this.

“Now I know Celestia told you about the lay lines. Each country has its own which allows the ponies or creatures have their own specialized magic. Only the strong can tap into this and change it to their will back then. Now the lay lines are more chaotic since ponies have stopped using this method. My grandfather can make these at will. It's why the village and my study have their own. The village one was created by my grandfather, while my study was created by me. These are easy to create all you need is the knowledge of how one is made and how one flows” I dispel the liquid ball watching as it dissolves into the ground. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before opening my eyes. I let out a slow breath of blue liquid causing the lights and the windows to grow dark. My eyes were the only ones to glow while the torches turned blue giving the room an eerie look.

“The crystals in the village will act on how he or I command them. I can hear them talking and can tell where he will be or where he is. He can drown the village in darkness or he can change it to light” I spoke up as the room returned to being light. I was standing behind Twilight causing her to jump.

“Sorry couldn’t help myself” I had a smile on my face. Clouds are not clouds in the village they are made of water and crystals. most of the village is made of crystals. He also knows how to shadow surf”

“Shadow Surf what is that?” my ears turned as I looked over at Celestia.

“it's surfing in the shadows like so” I jumped up bolting into the air before diving into my shadow. I jumped from land to land looking up at the ceiling. I was right behind the princesses.

“You know you should have told me they would be here” I sang out watching as most jumped. I chuckled as I moved to the front and pulled myself out. I shook my coat as I moved my mane a bit.

“You can tell when he does that. if its light watches the ground, you can see a black blur moving. When we Shadow surf it's like we're in a realm of colors with pieces of land we hop along” I could see Celestia staring at me. I gave her a smile.

“So I had a question. you close your eyes and take a deep breath before using your magic while here. you have never done that before” I glanced over at Twilight and smiled.

“I was reaching deep into my magic to use it. The magic I was showing here requires me to dive deep into my mana or magic wellspring. The castle here is surrounded by protective magic. I can tell because if you look for the spell matrix and lick it, it tastes like sunflowers. The only magic I know that tastes like that is Celestia. Learned that the hard way when she was the one who kept locking the pies away. Luna would bitch it was me” I huffed as I noticed her ears raising.

“Magic can have a taste?”

“If you know what to look for when tasting it. It's another way of trying to find the spell matrix. if the pony is smart enough to create a really good fake copy of the original spell matrix. All you need to do is lick the copy and if it has no taste to you then it's fake.” I took a deep long breath in and out creating a wall. I had a barrier-type wall with two glowing spell matrices. Both were white and both were the exact same copy.

“Go ahead and try it. This is a barrier wall so there is no backlash if you try it. But if you know the spell is violent or harmful then don’t do this” I watched as she moved closer and tried the one on the right. Then she tried the one on the left.

“The right one taste like nothing. the left one taste like coffee and a hint of vanilla”

“Vanilla? oddly most of the family say pumpkin mixed with coffee. But yes that is what the majority of my spell matrix tastes like” I pulled the spell as I looked at her. She was clapping her hooves. I started to feel my stomach turning to cause me to end my spells. without a word, I ran to the nearest trash can tossing up my stomach.

“Silver?” I could hear Luna speaking.

“It's not the magic I will say that. I always get sick with the seasons changing from summer to winter and winter to spring. No matter how long I lived in Equestria I cannot handle it” I groaned hugging the trash can.

“Doesn’t the village have seasons?” my eyes moved over to Celestia as I shook my head.

“It was always a constant summer type season. it was only cold outside the barrier grandfather and around it” I groaned as I tossed my stomach again “I’m going to the hospital to get something for this”

“Why not get Red to visit?”

“This is something minor Twilight. Besides it's the snowy season he is always busy trying to help deal with many broken legs, ribs any kind of ice-related injuries that other cities can’t handle. Most cases involve the pony falling through the ice into a river, lake, or pond” I huffed as I rubbed my head.

“Do you need me to come with you?”

“No it's just a simple visit. I should be fine” I made a dark blue scarf around my neck before walking out of the room. I could hear the guards asking questions while Celestia was going over other things. I sighed as I walked out of the castle changing my form. I turned into my earth pony form with a dark purple coat with an orange mane and deep orangeish yellow eyes. my scarf changed to orange and black. I quickly left my mane down and hid my glasses. I shook my hoof changing the three bracelets into one silver one with an amethyst in the middle. Once I was changed I walked toward the hospital.

The hospital wasn’t that busy as I entered the waiting room. I filled out the forms for what I needed with the nurse. Since it was quiet I was taken back after getting some blood drawn. I was holding a tub in my hooves as my stomach was still in knots. I felt like shit after all that. Was it the magic? my mind was racing as the doctor walked in with Red beside him.

“Good morning My name is RedGem and this is a new attending that is shadowing me” my heart quickly calmed down as I smiled.

“Good morning doctor” I gave myself an accent.

“So the lab ran your test and most came back normal. Have you been sexually active?” I could see he was having a hard time with this.

“My mare. she had some spells she said she got from the princess of love ya know. we wanted to get our relationship to the next level just scared since many ponies in Baltimare don’t like unicorns or earth ponies mixin'” I blinked watching him nod.

“I need to talk to Cadence. So I will say congratulations as you are expecting so the spell worked. I will say Canterlot also has that kind of mentality so you might want to find a nice quiet town like Ponyvile. Now with a magical pregnancy like yours, it will always turn out to be a unicorn. You will be in for some discomfort as the foal grows the horn will start poking you. Do you have a pharmacy here?”

“Nah we have family here so we're just stayin with them till we find something. I thought this was altitude sickness” I gave a slight chuckle before groaning.

“Altitude sickness does happen if you come from a low-level city. I will get you some vitamins” he smiled before walking out of the room. As he was gone my heart dropped as I rubbed my forehead. I groaned as to how can I tell other ponies this. This does throw a wrench in my plan as the last three pregnancies I had messed with my magic heavily. My fight will also be a deadly one for me now. I huffed as I watch him walk in with a couple of vitamins.

“Since this is a magical type foal you will need some stronger vitamins such as these. I wrote up a list of other vitamins you can easily get that will help once you get to your new town” he smiled and bowed “Hope you have a great day” he walked out of the room allowing me to slip out of the room. I paid for the treatment at the front desk before leaving the hospital.

I slipped into the crowd as I returned myself back to normal dropping my magic. I pulled my glasses out and placed them on my muzzle before entering the castle. I could see Luna was waiting by the door. I walked over to her tapping her shoulder.

“You didn’t have to wait for me”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Just the flu like I said. Unfortunately for me I wanted another Doctor but I got Red. he gave me some medication to help with the stomach. It’s not my magic” I smiled as Luna gave another smile.

“Good we can have lunch then” she walked into the castle as I sighed. I followed her as I made my scarf disappear. I kept the vitamins hidden in my dimensional pocket as I walked into the dining room. I spotted the Empress with Celestia both of them chatting away. I think Celestia was starting to come around.

“I did not think we would have visitors”

“Sliver my cleric since you can’t come to the empire till after the holiday. I thought I would come and visit you. I did see your doctor grumbling as he boarded the train. My heart dropped again as I looked at her.

“Where is Cadence?”

“Oh, she and Shining Armor are getting some time away from me. They don’t like it when I try to make the castle flow easily” she huffed as I scratched my head.

“Normally Red has a lot on his plate during winter. Oh well,” I smiled and forced myself to eat as the smells were making my stomach turn.