7: Why do you even think I'm going to back down!?
Help! I'm not a changeling!
Chapter 7: "Why do you even think I'm going to back down!?"
Edited by ShadowBeat. It's just you and me, brother.
I promptly headed towards Emerald's location, which was a small classroom, as she was reading in her magic book. The changeling spotted me once I entered through the already open door. A goofy smile was her answer at my entrance.
"Thanks for coming," she said, pointing a small desk next to hers with her head, "Please take a seat,"
I didn't say anything, I just smiled a little and sat on the desk. My desk wasn't very different from other schools, but it wasn't the same either. Judging by the school's modification, the heavy wooden architecture had a dark colored texture from which I couldn't recognize despite my knowledge. The poles supporting the wooden platform weren't made from wood as many other objects in the school. I don't know how to describe it, but it felt smooth, almost like silk and yet, strong enough to handle the pressure. I know this from my visit in the previous classroom.
But enough chit-chat. I stalled long enough from the main topic here.
"Sorry it took a bit longer," I said, showing an apologetic smile, "Something caught me off guard,"
"And what would that be?" she asked. I flinched at her question, for I never thought she would actually ask. Then again, I should have come up with a backup plan if this happened, which it just did.
"Uh..." I stammered slowly while thinking for an answer. Looking around the classroom, I noticed a particular painting hanging on the wall with the image of changeling holding a sword with magic and aiming it towards the sky. Out of nowhere, an idea showed up.
I just hope it actually works.
"A painting,"
"A painting?"
"Yes," I simply said, "I love painting. Painting is like a second life, my soul-bro, I can't stand for more than 5 minutes without thinking of a palette,"
Emerald looked... curious to say the least. She must be taken back by this info I just gave her.
"Uh huh,"
"No really! Hail Picasso! Monet! Pierre-Auguste Renoir ! Edvard Munch! Marc Chagall! Goya! Sullivan Ternt!"
"Uh... "
"Contemporary! Pop Art! Abstract Expressionism! PRE-RAPHAELITE BROTHERHOOD!"
"I have no idea what we are talking about right now,"
I stared at Emerald with embarrassment, realizing that my rambling was out of the blue, especially since she didn't even know what or who I was talking in the first place. That, and the fact that my inner architect decided to show up to talk about art.
Again.
"Sorry, got a little too excited," I said, rubbing my hair with shame. The changeling didn't show any negative emotions. In fact, she seemed rather amused by my extroverted talk.
"It's okay. It's interesting to know that you have a thing for art," she said while focusing back on her book, "Even though most of the changelings here have all sorts of skills,"
"Excuse me?" I asked. Emerald didn't answer. She looked away with sly grin plastered on her face. I knew she was hiding something from me; she perfectly knew I was thinking of that, yet she teases me about it. I swear, these changelings....
"Oh good, hide more things from me," I said out loud, gesturing an annoyed gesture which consisted of looking to the ceiling and flailing my hooves in the air like I don't care, "It's not like I don't know a thing about changelings!"
She turned around to me, pulled her right lower eyelid with her hoof and stuck her tongue out towards me. Taking a closer inspection upon this gesture, I immediately recognized this action as teasing, despite how obvious and similar it was. Back in my world, humans did the same thing every now and then, especially girls who enjoy teasing others such as in this case. I have some experience myself, for my best friend Gabriela, who I have known ever since my childhood, used to do that with a lot of people, myself being the primary victim of her teasing.
Just by looking at Emerald's teasing, I can somehow see Gabriela doing the same. I always liked her, but never had the courage to ask her out.
... Maybe it was for the best. Thankfully, she might find someone better than me.
I hope.
But I suppose some things never change. Even in another world.
Returning my sight on her, my hearing caught the wave of a voice, probably snickering by the sound of it.
I stalled long enough. I have some studying to do.
"If you are done teasing, I would like to study now," I never thought I would say something like that, "Or go home, whatever happens first,"
Emerald didn't say anything again. She simply nodded and smiled at my answer. The mare moved my desk close to hers and levitated the book in front of me. I hesitated on grabbing the book, but it dropped on the desk anyways, showing an index of its contents. I looked it for brief moments before it closed on my face. Curious to why she did that, I looked at her with bemused expression. Then it hit me.
"I suppose studying it is then?"
"That is right," she answered. Emerald looked down to her desk, searching for something. I believed that was what she was doing by the way her eyes were darting from place to place constantly. I didn't hesitate on something else happening, so I decided to read the book she gave me just a little.
On the cover, I could see a blue transmutation sign performing some sort of spell that emanated a purple aura. Literally. I knew it was a transmutation spell since my brother insisted on looking at that after looking an average looking anime about Knights, Wizards and stuff. I probably forgot the name already. Why he persisted to search about that with me is beyond my comprehension, but he looked pretty happy in his research. Older brother or not, it pleased me to see him so happy after all we went through.
Brothers and sisters must look after each other in the end.
Letting that thought slide, I tried (and failed) to open the cover of the book, much to my dismay. Sighing, I used one of my hooves' holes to open it. I was greeted with an introductory page that was probably dedicated to the loved ones of the author's life. Just almost every book does.
It's not bad. Just... predictable. I would be surprised if it didn't have one.
I didn't bother reading it, so I moved to the next page, which was just the index I saw earlier. Boring. Moving on.
Finally, I reached the first contents of the book and began reading. Well, I would have started reading if it weren't for a small detail...
It is completely written in a whole different language.
Seriously! What is that? I can't understand a simple word out of it! It's like someone decided to take the hieroglyphics of Egypt and mix it with Mongolian! What language is this?
"Um..." I said, hoping I would catch Emerald's attention. Hopefully, it did.
"Hm?" she murmured as she looked at me, holding another book in her magic.
"I have a little problem..."
"Huh? Oh, what is it?" she asked. I closed my eyes and pointed at the book's contents.
"I can't read this..."
"What."
"I have no idea what it is saying," I said. My eyes opened once again and saw Emerald, who had a dumb folded expression written all over her face. Looking at her, I realized that her stare was much longer fixed than usual. I didn't mind, but it was starting to worry me. I asked Emerald is something was wrong, letting aside the reading issue. She didn't answer, but in the back of her mind, I suspected something was troubling her. Could it be that my confession just complicated things?
"You... you don't know Ghanix?!" she said in a loud way. I stared at the changeling with even more confusion as the name or word didn't ring any bells. The mare opened and closed her mouth everynow and then, until she finally scrunched her face and closed her eyes with anger. Judging the looks of it, she was rather pissed than angry.
"Oh, for the love of..." she grasped the book on my desk and levitated it towards her. Emerald looked at the transmutation book for a few moments and she put it away in one of the nearby bookshelves. Sighing, she turned towards me with an annoyed expression.
"Well, this just complicates things," she said, "It appears I'll have to read it to you,"
"Wait... Ghanix, was it? What is that?"
"Ghanix, as the name says, is the language we changelings of the Badlands have learned over the years to perfection. It was established by Razor, one of the founders of the Badlands, as our second language," she said. I nodded and understood her explanation.
Analyzing the situation, I concluded that Ghanix is an ancient language that these changelings knew in order to keep their secrets in the way they were meant to be from strangers. A secret. However, this doesn't explain why they do not talk such language. What's more, I have never heard even one of them speak Ghanix. Why is that a thing?
"Oh," I simply said, looking at my surroundings for brief moments. I remained like that until I finally mustered the courage to turn my head towards Emerald once again, "Why?"
She looked rather confused at my question, "Why what?"
"Why is it that none of you are speaking Ghanix?"
The changeling stared at me for a few seconds, only to return her sight towards the book. Judging by the look on her face, it seemed that I triggered some kind of memory or thought. I chose to remain silent as she continued to process her answer. It only took a look for her to come up with an answer.
"Is it not obvious?" she said. I shook my head in response, "Really?"
"So far, I got nothing,"
"Well, it is because of him." she said replied, lifting the book towards me and showing me a picture of a changeling. The picture looked rather odd; old perhaps. However, it is not my job to question that.
"Who is that?"
"That, my friend, is none other than the founder of Badlands. Ace, the sage."
"Ace, the sage?" I thought, looking the changeling in the picture with detail. Said changeling had an old looking face, holding a scar in his right within the size of a claw; it looked a lot like Drive's scar actually. The picture had a sepia filter, giving away the impression of being quite old for nowadays. His hair was styled backwards and part of the left ear was gone. Now that is a man who has seen some action. Wait, I mean, changeling. A veteran changeling.
Anyways... carrying on.
In his possession, Ace held in his magic six different items with unique characteristics. The six objects varied from shape to size. Maybe they were some kind of symbol back then?
Perhaps I'm wrong... but I'm sure they were important to Ace.
"This changeling created this place?" I asked, receiving a nod from her, "How long was it that Badlands was created?"
Emerald levitated the book back to her and held a kind smile, "This place has been around for 800 years after Luna's Banishment, according to the book."
Woah, 8 centuries? That is quite a feat! "That is... interesting." I blinked a couple of times as I looked around me, "I never thought this place held out for so long..."
Emerald closed her eyes and let out a chuckle, "Who knows? Maybe even more...."
I looked incredulous at her remark, letting a pop with my mouth. "More!?" I thought, "That's crazy! Y yo pense que mi casa en Mexico era vieja!" 'And here I thought my Mexico's home was old!'
"You guys must have quite a history," I said, admiring at my surroundings with fascination.
"We do!" she said, using a proud tone, "I'm amazed we have lasted for so long. Even if Celestia lived even more than we have..."
Celestia? Who is that? Is that a kind of God to them?
"Celestia?"
"We... don't talk much about her," she said. I stared at her for a few moments, comprehending that she isn't a good memory to them. Listening to my instincts, I dropped the conversation about her-- she said it was a her, right?-- and focused on Ace.
"So, what does Ace have to do with me? Or magic to begin with?" I asked.
"Well, Mr. Fire, he happens to be a descendant of the first generation leader's. Silver, the heroine." she responded, earning a surprised stare from me, "The changeling who discovered our magic features. In other words, the first true Changeling."
So... this fella right here is a descendant of the one who bloomed the very race of changelings? Wow...
"Amazing..."
"I know," she said, looking at book with... sparkles in her eyes, "I couldn't believe it myself either,"
Remaining silent for mere moments, I understood what was she getting at. She was going to teach me those very magic lessons of Silver. Just one thing though...
"Emerald?" I called, "You still haven't answered my question,"
"About Ghanix?"
"Precisely,"
"Well, ever since Ace created Ghanix as our own language, we realized that even if we continued to use that language, the ponies outside our land wouldn't understand a thing we said. So, in order to keep our low profile during our scavenge missions, we adapted Equus as our main language instead of Ghanix. Better?"
Glancing at the mare briefly, I looked away processing the information just given to me. Considering that changelings, myself included, required love as feeding, their appearances must have caused quite a havoc with the outsiders. Since magic can do almost everything according to fiction and Harry Potter, I assumed that they could somehow disguise themselves as ponies and interact with them. Adding this Equus language to their own as the main communication, which I assume is the English pun-version of the natives, they could easily blend with the crowd, obtaining love as they pleased.
But if they can do such things, why are they having a food crisis? Changeling can blend it easily, so why is love for them so scarce now?
Ignoring the matter at hand, I believed that one day I would know the reason behind the crisis. But for now, I rather learn about magic in order to eat... love. Sounds weird when I think about it. But starving doesn't weird at all. It sounds ugly.
A lot.
I nodded to let Emerald know I understood her explaining. Focusing on the book, I remembered the objects I saw in the picture.
"Hey Emerald," I called out, making Emerald look at me, "I have been wondering about something, taking in regard this picture you just showed me..."
"What?" she asked. I pointed at the objects Ace grabbed with his magic, causing the mare to raise her eyebrow.
"What are those things he has in his grasp?"
"Ahhh," she moaned, "those are Ace's legendary artifacts,"
"Legendary?"
"Yes, legendary." she said, "It is believed that Ace, with his best friends, forged this legendary artifacts in order to survive the harsh environment the Badlands demonstrated back then,"
"I believe they are magical artifacts, right?" I said, holding a lifted eyebrow in my question. She nodded and I let out a small sigh, "I so called it."
"But I'm afraid that will be another lesson for another day," she said, earning a disappointed moan from me. I pouted at her, only to receive an ignoring response. Resigning myself to convince her otherwise, I thought it would be better to let it slide for another day. If there is something that keeps me going, that would be my thirst for knowledge.
Some things more than others, mind you.
In any case, I thought it was for the best. If I have to wait until tomorrow, or perhaps longer, then it wouldn't hurt to do so. I can't go around rushing things like a small kid.
"Already done with the pouting?" Emerald said, earning a nod from me, "Good, because I don't wish to delay the lesson any longer. Ready?"
"Yes ma'am," I said.
Emerald flinched at my reply, letting out a nervous cough afterwards, "U-um, call me Emerald, Mr. Fire. I don't like the way ma'am sounds."
"Of course... ma'am," I said with an evil grin. Emerald looked at me with embarrassment, only to nag and punch me as a child would. I found this too adorable, but after a quick apology, I told her I wouldn't call her ma'am again unless she wanted to, which caused her to relax.
"Thanks," she said, "now, let's begin, shall we?"
"Wait," I interrupted, holding my hooves in front of me, "You mean we actually haven't?"
"Yes, we haven't started yet. Are you trying to suggest something? Or is it more delaying?"
"Well," I placed a hoof on the back of my head and proceeded to rub, "I actually thought you were teaching the language and some history. I actually thought we already began!"
"But, once again, we haven't..."
"And yet, you just taught me stuff. So...." I motioned a circular movement with my my hoof, "Doesn't mean you just gave me your first lesson already?"
Emerald was about to answer back, only to stop and stare into space itself. It took only five exact seconds for her to realize my remark and give herself a facepal- hoof, facehoof. Oddly enough, I felt happy about that. Why?
"Chrysalis darn it, Mr. Fire! Stop trying to stall the lesson!" she yelled with an annoyed tone.
"Aw c'mon! I don't wanna be shocked again!"
"You are not getting shocked! Drive did that to warn you!"
"He did, and magic scares me now!"
"Stop acting like a colt!"
"Scawyyyyy!"
"Geez! You are such an immature changeling! I have seen toddlers taking it up better than you!"
"You can't make me learn magic! I don't like it!"
"Stop struggling!"
"NOOOOOOOO!"
......
Somewhere around fifteen minutes went by before we knew it. Emerald had enough and used a restraining magic to hold me down. Besides my constant nagging and struggle, I kept fighting back, still acting like a small child. Luckily enough, I seemed to calm down and adjust to the situation. I didn't know why I acted like a kid just know, but Emerald suggests it must have been the electricity running through my body that triggered that attitude. Whether that was the case or not, the deed has been done; no point denying it, after all.
To be honest, I felt quite embarrassed afterwards. I apologized for my actions and ask her to continue from where we left off. Expecting an annoyed expression, I instead received a gentle smile, insisting that she was okay with that. Knowing women, or mares in this case, she is SO lying. Yet, I didn't perceived any sort of hostile aura from her. Either she is telling the truth, or her poker face is flawless.
I believe it is the latter.
After killing some time apologizing to Emerald, I came to a point where I said my regrets just about enough. Regarding whether Emerald took my apologies seriously, that is not my debate. I made a mistake and was trying to make up for it.
But in all cases, I wouldn't find out even if I truly wanted to know. Mares, just like a few important women I've met in my previous life, were just impossible to deal with if an argument just happened. Stick your head to the fire, and you just get burned. That is how I see it now.
"Well, seeing how you want to study magic so much," she replied, holding the book in her grasp, "I guess it's studying time my friend."
Just before I could say anything, Emerald looked above her. Waiting mere moments, she immediately blurred out the words, "Oh shut up, will you?"
"Who?"
"No one~"
Lesson 1: Magic Itself
Know yourself before anything else
"Know yourself before anything else?" I repeated, staring at Emerald puzzled, "What does that really mean? I know what it is trying to say, but what it is referring to exactly?"
Emerald waited a few seconds before answering, "Have you ever heard the expression, 'Your worst enemy is yourself?'"
"Yes...?" I replied. It only took a moment later to realize what she meant, "Wait, does that mean I'm going to learn what my magic is?"
"Something like that," she answered. I looked away, my eyes drifting into the nothingness next to me as I began to ponder what kind of magic I had. Sure, I knew I had magic, but it was different? That I didn't know.
"Okay... Now I'm intrigued,"
"Perfect. Let's begin, shall we?"
Nodding in response, Emerald ordered me to stand on my legs and move to the center of the room, where a rather medium transmutation or arcane circle began to form. I had my suspicions, but Emerald affirmed that no harm was about to be done. Trusting her words, I stepped in cautiously as my breathing got a lot heavier the moment I entered.
"Is this... normal... ?" I asked as far my breath allowed me to.
"Normally, when newborns enter this circle for the first time, they tends to show some side effects in response to their own magic. Grown changelings, however," she said motioned at me, tilting her sideways with a small surprised look, "they tends to shrug it off as nothing."
"So.... should I... be worried... or... something?" I asked once again between my panting, acknowledging that my breathing got better ever so slightly. Just a bit.
"No, you shouldn't. In fact, you should be honored!" she replied, holding a surprised tone behind her, "It's not that everyday you get to see a foreign changeling interact with a new type of magic as this one!"
"New... magic?" I asked, my breathing slowly recovering.
"Yes! Considering that your magic is different from ours due to your roots, your own magic is trying to sync with ours in order to coexist!"
"Wow, that's a mouthful." I said, realizing that my body was almost unconstrained by the sync.
"I know. I realized that just now," she said, as I began moving my legs from all directions, figuring out if any kind of side effect still remained. Nothing, so far.
Aside from the fact that my body reacted with this place's own magic, I noticed some slight changes in my nervous system. I witnessed a wave of images floating around me, wrapping themselves in a small orb above of my head. I wish I could see better the orb, but a strange force forced my body to stiffen, rejecting any order from my brain to move. Sure, I could a few inches, but the rest was restricted by both the pain and the magic.
I closed my eyes and endured the process my body was through in that moment. I didn't have to see what it was doing, for I felt its own energy course through my living corpse in a rather gentle way. This new body was adapting to the changeling magic from this place at its own pace. Feeling every fiber of my changeling structure morphing with this energy, I suddenly found myself enjoying this process somehow. It was strange; uncomfortable at some point, but I liked way too much the sensation I was receiving, much to my dismay.
I was acquiring a new power that I never thought I needed before. Subtle, but powerful.
My body growing faster than anticipated by myself, I detected a ever so powerful strength injecting itself within me. Despite the way I described it just now, I felt... as if something slowly embraced me in their sweet and soft slender arms, wrapping my whole self in a safety blanket and protecting me from any harm. It felt...
Motherly.
It wasn't long before my mind decided to add a reference to this situation. Such embrace allowed my subconscious to project my mother's memories into my mind without any warning. However, knowing that my mother's memories were nothing but kindness and love, I welcomed these memories and they slowly came into sight.
"Mamá?" (Mom?)
"Si mijo?" (Yes son?)
"Crees que algún día pueda visitar a la abuela en el cielo?" (Do you think that one day I could visit Grandma in heaven?)
"...."
"...Ma?"
"Mauricio, no creo que puedas." (Maurice, I don't think you can)
"Oh..."
"Yo SÉ que la vas a ver otra vez." (I KNOW you will see her again.)
"Que? En serio!?" (What? Really!?)
"Si, en serio." (Yes, really.)
"Y cuándo la vere otra vez!?" (And when will I see her again!?)
"Paciencia Mauricio. No hay porqué apresurar las cosas." (Patience Maurice. No need to rush at things.)
"Oh... perdon mamá." (Oh... sorry Mom.)
"No tienes nada de que disculparte, Mauri. Entiendo que quieras ver a la abuela otra vez tanto como yo." (Yo have nothing to apologize for, Mauri. I understand you want to see Grandma as much as I do.)
"Eh? Tu tambien mama?" (Eh? You too Mom?)
"Si mijo. Como no tienes idea. La extraño tanto como tú." (Yes son. You have no idea. I miss her as much you do.)
"La extrañas mucho?" (You miss her a ton?)
"Muchisimo." (Even more.)
"Oh..."
"Entiendo que duele mucho que no este aquí con nosotros, pero así es la vida. No todo sale como queremos. Pero por eso mismo Dios nos da estas enseñanzas. Para aprender a partir de ellas, ser mejores cada día. De la misma manera que tú Papá trabaja tanto." (I understand it hurt a lot that she isn't here with us, but that is life. Not everything goes as we want. But that's why God gives us these lessons. To learn from them, to be better each day. The same way your Dad works so much.)
"Aah.... Mamá? Te puedo hacer una pregunta?" (Aah... Mom? Can I ask you a question?)
"Si mijo." (Yes son.)
"Cuándo crees que la vuelva a ver?" (When do you think I'll see her again?)
"... Eso no te lo puedo responder yo." (... That I can't answer you.)
"Entonces quién?" (Then who?)
"Solo Dios sabe. El te dirá cuando sea hora." (Only God knows. He'll tell you when.)
"Tu crees que sea pronto?" (You think it will be soon?)
"No lo creo, pero sé una cosa. Todos vamos a verla otra vez un día de estos." (I don't think so, but I know one thing. We all will see her again one of these days.)
"Ah...."
"... Por ahora, solo disfruta de lo que tienes ahorita. Si?" (... For now, just enjoy what you already have. Okay?)
"Si mama!" (Yes Mom!)
"Muy bien. Ahora llama a tu hermano y dile que ya es hora de comer." (Good. Now call your brother and tell him it's meal time.)
"Okay mama! Te amo mucho!" (Okay Mom! I love you a ton!)
"Yo también Mauricio..." (Me too Maurice...)
"Sebastian... ya baja... puedes... jugar después..." ('Sebastian.... just come... you can... play later...')
"Hehe... even in his sleep, he manages to be cute."
"Huh?"
I slowly opened my eyes as I realized I was looking at the ceiling from my laid-down position. My groggy eyes were slowly damaged by the source of light as they tried to adjust to the sight. My whole body felt numb, reacting every now and then to some sort of energy. With my mind fried for the moment, I obliged my body to move as much as possible. However, my energy was somehow spent and such order couldn't have been executed as I desired. It wasn't long till I heard a giggle.
"Hey, don't force yourself. You just went through a pretty rough situation."
Slowly remembering whose voice was that, I tried calling out for it, "Uh... Emerald? Is that you?"
"Yup."
"Oh, okay." I breathed in and out, trying to recover as fast as my body allowed me to. Between a minute or two, I could see clearly once again, my body still numb for some reason. Looking behind me from the floor, I spotted Emerald sitting next to me, holding a grin of its own.
"Hey Emerald..." I called, attracting her attention, "Uh... what just happened? Why am I lying on the floor?"
"Well," she said, placing a hoof on the back of her head and rubbing it with a shameful look; sad in some way, "It happened during your magic sync."
"Really?"
"Yes. Remember when I told you that your magic was different from ours?" I nodded, earning an approval from her, "Well, it turns out that your magic was incompatible with ours because it was way too different by some reason. When your body was absorbing the energy from the orb above of you during that time, something went wrong."
"Horribly wrong."
I flinched at the spot as I heard a different voice coming from another direction. Mustering some of my recovering strength, I looked in the direction where the other voice was heard. My eyes went wide open when I saw Ivy standing near the entrance, inclining her body towards the stone wall.
"Ivy?"
"The one and only,"
"Why are you here?"
"The same reason I was in your bed the other day. I was treating you." I didn't see Emerald in that moment, but I could feel her flinch when Ivy mentioned the bed incident.
"Huh? Treating me from what?" Ivy closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. Judging from that gesture, I knew it couldn't be good.
"Energy Negligence, a type of non-transmittable disease that only a few changeling possess nowadays."
"Disease?" This is why I knew it couldn't be good...
Backing away from the wall, Ivy moved closer to me and helped me get back on my unsteady hooves. Nudging me to look at Emerald, I observed how the mentioned changeling started motioning circles on the floor with her hooves.
"Emerald?" Ivy said, holding a scolding tone, "Aren't you gonna tell Fire what just happened?"
Now that she mentions it, I'm really curious. Something happened during the process which led to this disease discovery. What went wrong?
"W-well Mr. Fire... during your process... not only you somehow managed to absorb the given energy changing your body into a glowing highlight, but also..." she said, looking away for some reason, "...combust into a ball of magic, blowing away any sort of object in the room."
Looking at my surroundings, it appears that what she said was true. Some of the unused chairs in the room were flipped upside down, several books scattered all over in a corner and most of the paintings were twisted from their original position. Noticing how the room was messed up, I couldn't help but shiver at the sight of such raw power I possessed. Even if it was a disease, I managed to alter a whole room without any intention.
"Oh..." was all I could say in that moment.
"Rest easy Fire. It wasn't your fault." Ivy said, trying to comfort me.
"After releasing our hive's magic, you remained motionless for a few moments, expelling any residue of foreign magic in your body. It wasn't until you completely released any kind of alternate magic that you dropped unconscious to the floor."
"Weren't you affected by my magic, Emerald?" I asked, concerning that I might have hurt her in the process. Emerald shook her head, gaining a relieved sigh from me. Ivy spoke first before the other could say something.
"Emerald casted a shield spell just in time before your magic damaged her." Ivy looked back at Emerald and held satisfactory smile, "Those were some quick reflects by the way."
"Thanks. But I have to admit it," she answered, giving me a surprised look, "I didn't know Mr. Fire had such powerful magic... My shield was barely hanging on when it hit me."
"So... no harm done?" I asked.
"None so far." Ivy replied.
"Good... wait, what about my disease?"
The only one fazed by my question was Emerald, showing a sad expression for some reason. Ivy, on the other hand, remained the same, lifting both eyebrow after my question.
"Like I said," Ivy composed herself, using mandatory tone with us and using her magic to pull something closer to her, "Energy Negligence is a very rare type of disease that few of our kind possess."
"So, judging by the name..."
"It rejects any kind of magic that doesn't belong to your hive." she said, making me feel worried, "Due to its effects, our magic won't be capable to interact with yours with such ease. It is possible, but it requires a ridiculous amount of either magic or love. Unless we abandon our own hive magic and share a connection with yours by ourselves, you won't have a hive connection no matter what you do."
"That is rather specific situation," I replied, earning a snicker from Emerald.
"It's specific because it has happened before." I... suppose it must have been a dark day when that happened, if Ivy's face says anything about it, "However, you can still somehow create a hive connection with somepony whose blood runs the same way as yours. A family member to be precise,"
"Except I don't have a family anymore..." I thought, causing me to feel down at my harsh reality, "Oh... I see."
"The disease itself isn't dangerous. However," Emerald added much to my dismay, "You would be losing a very valuable ability that many of us use nowadays."
"Perfect," I said, rubbing my face with my hooves in discomfort, "just what I needed."
Emerald must have felt my disappointment and decided to comfort me, because I heard her trot closer from behind. However, she suddenly stopped. I know assumption is the mother of all screw ups, but my own assumption was that Ivy stopped her somehow. Just thinking.
"So..." I said, dropping my hooves to the floor and staring at it, "I suppose I won't be capable to use my magic anymore..."
"Huh? What makes you say that?" said Ivy, holding a confused tone with me.
I remained looking at the floor, posing a poker face and trying to avoid feeling sad. I didn't work so well and my voice sounded deeper than usual, "Because you guys are the white screen, and I'm the black dot on it. I simply don't fit."
"How so?" said Ivy.
"If my magic is different from yours, then there is no way nor purpose for me to learn a magic that I can't use in the first place!"
"Well... not really," responded Emerald. I reacted to this, looking at her with a confused mind at that moment.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"It means what it means." interjected Ivy, holding a smug on her face, "You are not the first changeling to have to kind of situation."
"Wait... Is there someone else in the hive with my case as well?"
"Ignoring the fact that your arrival was none other than in a fireball and survived to tell the tale; why yes, there are other changelings like you," said Ivy. I couldn't help but feel happy about this. Despite my restrictions, I wasn't going to be that much of a social reject after all. Unlike my childhood's school, I might enjoy my staying here! If I somehow don't end up waking up anytime soon, that is.
Not sure why I thought of that, but I feel happy at least.
"A huevos! ('Damn right!')" I yelled, pulling my forelegs towards my chest and feeling a lot better. However, my joy was suddenly abrupt with pain. Flinching, I tried to endure it, wrapping my head to why I felt pain.
"Woah! Easy there Mr. Fire," I heard Emerald say, "Your body hasn't recovered from that outburst just yet,"
"Emerald's right. You should probably avoid raw movements if you don't want to feel more pain." added Ivy.
Resting mere moments, I felt the pain leaving my body at its own pace. Once it was gone, I did some breathing exercises my aunt taught me when I was younger. The breathing worked and I felt fine once again; well, as far as fine is considered here.
"Feeling better?" they said, gaining a nod from me. I saw them relax for a moment, just to witness Ivy holding a troubled face afterwards. Not knowing if asking was a good idea, I still went for it.
"Ivy, are you okay?" I asked, "You don't look so good..."
"Well Fire, to be honest," she said, placing a hoof under her chin in thought, "there is still one more problem."
"Another?"
"What would that be?" said Emerald. Ivy looked at her for a few seconds, and resumed to keep thinking... whatever she had in mind.
"As far as we know, Fire has a permanent magic disease, right?" she said, earning a nod from her and a cringe from me. It still disturbs me the fact that I'm infected with a magic disease, "So he can only possess a certain type of magic..."
"So..."
"So... we just gotta find what kind of magic it is."
"Oh... right..." moaned Emerald, as she looked troubled as well. I didn't know what was the problem, but chances were that it wasn't very good.
"And that is a problem... how?" I asked, my curiosity beating my sense of logic. Ivy said nothing; ignoring me to say the least, but I was sure she was looking for the right answer. Just before I could say anything else, Ivy beat me to it.
"It is a problem in the way of identifying it." she responded, causing me to think more clearly, "As we said previously, your disease rejects our magic. Therefore, there is no way for us to identify your magic using said source."
"Something like fossil?"
"I have no idea what a fossil is, but I believe you meant the identification problem,"
"Ah..."
"In any case," interjected Emerald, "without our magic to aid us, your magic is unpredictable as it is unknown. For all we know, it could be destruction magic, or even stealth magic like mine."
I frowned at her answer, but began to understand the situation. Even if I could perform magic, some things would be more complicated to do than others. In other words, I didn't know what my magic talent was... Just my luck...
"Precisely." said Ivy, "There are ways to find out, but I think the most conve-"
"What about the other affected changelings?" I interrupted. Ivy looked skeptical and frowned.
"Who?"
"You said there are changeling like me who possess said disease, right?"
"Yes, I did." said Ivy, looking away in confusion, "But how is that going to help us?"
"Well, maybe one of them has a more conventional way to find that magic talent, shouldn't them?"
Ivy looked confused for a moment, but began to comprehend the situation I was giving to her. Nodding, I noticed that maybe there was a way for me to unlock this talent if a patient actually knew a method. Since Ivy and Emerald weren't affected, they knew little about the term. Well, not that little, even more than me, but they knew few things about it.
Unless they were hiding it, which is a possibility.
My hopes were raising, and my chances to liberate this problem were almost in grasp. However, it didn't last very long. Emerald had something else to say about it.
"Actually, that wouldn't help." she said. Both of us looked at her with confusion as she began explaining, "The changelings with this disease are mostly known for their magic reject, and the disease wouldn't be that big in the first place if they had found a way to counter the effects,"
"We are not looking for counter-effects, Emerald." said Ivy with a dry tone. She simply shook her head and proceeded.
"Nor they do. But if they had a found a way for them to find their magic ignoring the disease, then a lot of my friends wouldn't have gone through so much trouble looking for their kind of magic. And..."
"To make things worse..." Ivy added, coming to a huge realization.
"Mr. Fire isn't from these parts. Mexicolt, to be precise." wait... how did she know?
"Meaning his magic is far different from ours... Grrr, how could I ignore such obvious fact?" growled Ivy, frustration taking hold of her mind while frowning. I didn't know what to say... just what kind of cruel joke is that? Que chingados piensan conseguir con complicarme la vida?! ('What the heck are they trying to accomplish with complicating my life?!')
"What's even worse," Emerald said, rubbing the cruel reality on my face more, "All of my affected friends left in that huge rebellion we had a few weeks ago."
"And I don't remember anypony with said disease," responded Ivy, scratching her head with shame, "I simply forgot the changelings with that disease because I had far bigger problems at the time."
"And with me losing all of my memory," I mumbled loud enough, half lying, "I have no remainder of what kind of magic I used to own. Not to mention that I don't even how to perform magic with anything,"
"Argghh! This is all too complicated!" shouted Ivy, rubbing her head in frustration with more strength than before.
"Who knew things would lead to this..." stuttered Emerald, looking at me with... pity?
Was that pity I was feeling? Was I just another freak for life to mess up everytime it wanted to have its own amusement? Was I just some toy to destiny? Am I just for entertainment? Was it even worth the trouble getting up? With so many obstacles in the way, what opportunities I had to survive this new world, if magic is so important to the changelings?
I... I... I...
I am all alone...
I am worthless...
I can't even do magic... just another freak of the circus...
Just like back home... I was nothing special...
I was.... nothing...
Mamá... Papá.... Sebastian... ayudenme... ('help me...')
"Sebastian! Qué haces!? Te vas a meter en problemas si entras!" ('Sebastian! What are you doing? You'll get in trouble if you go there!')
"Y? Tengo acaso que hacerle caso a lo que los demás tienen que decirme?" ('So? Do I have to listen what others have to say?')
"Pero..." ('But...')
"Pero nada! Ese idiota no tiene ningún control sobre mi, y no voy a dejar que se salga con la suya!" ('But nothing! That idiot has no control over me, and he will not get away with it!')
"Pero son más! Te van a golpear!" ('BUt they are more! You'll get beaten up!')
"No me importa! Que me peguen, que me azoten, que me tiren; me dá igual. El no va a decirme que hacer solo porqué hay más de ellos que tú y yo. Si quiero ir al parque, voy al parque. Las unicas personas a las que voy a obedecer siempre va a ser Mamá y Papá. Y tú lo sábes." ('I don't care! Hit me, throw me, smash me; I dont give a darn about it. He can't tell me what to do just they are more than you and me. If I want to go to the playground, I'll go. The only persons that I will always obey are Mom and Dad. And you know it.')
"Sebastian... Porqué? Porqué insistes tanto en hacer tus reglas?" ('Sebastian... Why? Why do you insist on making your own rules?')
"Porqué? Porque si me acarrean por todos lados, voy a ser siempre su esclavo. Y yo no soy esclavo de nadie. Ya no." ('Why? Because if they push me around everywhere, I'll be their slave. And I'm no one slave. No more.)
"..."
"Escúcha Mauricio. Tal vez parezca que es incorrecto y muy tonto, pero si solo te dejas, núnca te dejaran en páz." ('Listen Maurice. It may look bad and really dumb, but if you don't fight back, they will never leave you alone.')
"Si... yo sé..." ('Yeah... I know....')
"Si lo sabes, porque aún te dejas?" ('If you know, why don't you fight back?')
"... Porqué no quiero que me golpeén." ('Because I don't want to get beaten up.')
"..."
"..."
"Si ellos te intentan lastimar, mi puño va a ser su respuesta. Yo te protejeré, así como me protejes a mi. Y si no estoy, tu te defiendes solo. Porqué yo sé que puedes. Hermanos contra el mundo, no?" ('If they try to hurt you, my fist will answer them. I'll protect you, just like you protect me. And if I'm not there, you fight back on your own. Because I know you can. Brothers against the world, right?')
"Hermanos contra el mundo..." ('Brothers against the world...')
"... Tú quedate aquí. Yo me encargo de ellos, okay?" ('Stay here. I'll handle them, okay?')
"..."
"Si no regresó dentro de cinco minutos, búsca a Mamá." ('If I'm not back in five minutes, go look for Mom.')
"No voy a hacer eso." ('I'm not doing that.')
"Qué?" ('What?')
"Porqué yo voy contigo!" ('Cuz' I'm going with you!')
"..... Seguro?" ('...Are you sure?')
"Si! Hermanos contra el mundo!" ('Yes! Brothers against the world!')
"... Jeje.... Pero ten mucho cuidado. Va? Okay! Vámos!" ('... Hehe... but be very careful, okay? Right! Let's go!')
.............
.............
............. Why? It is so simple...
He is right... Who says I have to back out?
Ever since I arrived here, I've done nothing to fight back, even when the odds are against me.
"No..."
"Huh?"
I have run from my problems back when I was a human a lot of times, and never looked back. Now that I have a chance, I won't back down.
"Not anymore..."
Not anymore!
"Girls... who cares?" I said, my anger slowly raising.
Screw this disease! Screw it so much!
"I can't find my magic? SO what?" I added, adding more volume to my voice as my anger began to rise even more.
Who says I have to play by its rules!? SCREW THEM!
"But, Mr. Fire! There are changeling who never find their true magic! Some perish without their magic! Do you actually think you can make it?" said Emerald, portraying a concerned tone with me.
"You are playing a very dangerous game here, Fire..." backed Ivy. I snorted and shrugged at their point.
"Of course I can! If I could before, I can now!"
If I'm infected, then so be it! I'm goddarn infected!
"B-but..."
"But nothing! Screw that!"
"Watch your words, Fire..." threatened Ivy. I knew my actions were causing a bad impression on them, but I've had enough of being the butt joke in this changeling body.
I don't care if I don't have a hive magic! I never needed it in the first place!
"Even if I have to spend the rest of my days without magic, I'll carry that burden. I never really cared what happened to me."
I'll fight back because I can!
"How could you say that? Stop talking nonsense!" responded Ivy with a hint of confusion in her voice. I knew it sounds really dumb, but my anger prevented me from making rational decisions.
"It is not nonsense! I've had enough with life toying with me!"
"But you could get hurt! You should back down a little and-"
"Why do you even think I'm going to back down!? There is a line between patience and pushover. I'm certainly sure I'm not a pushover!" I said with might. My body began to burn up, assuming it was the aftermath of the previous explosion.
"You sure? Without your true magic, you are still as vulnerable as before."
Even I can't never find my own magic, I still have all my body to fight back!
"Oh, I'm sure. Magic may be important, but I never needed that earlier. I'm doing just fine!" I said. Ivy looked away and snorted.
"Doesn't look like that to me..."
Go suck a hairy garbage, Life! I'm not backing out!
"You can think all you want. I know for a fact that I'm done with everything that life has thrown at me. If it wants a fight, I'll give it a fight." I wasn't looking at Emerald, but I could perceive her fear of my sudden reaction. She may have seen my angry side, but I needed to do this.
"And how do you plan on doing so?" replied Ivy, lifting an eyebrow.
"Easy." I grabbed the magic book on the desk and showed it to her, "Fighting back."
Ivy's expression remained stoic; skeptical, perhaps. But I don't really care. I'll give a fight, and if it not enough, at least I'll know I fought back instead of cowering in the corner.
"Magic?" she read out loud, "Really? We just told you that you can't have hive magic and you don't know what your actual magic is."
"I know you said that. You made sure that happened. However, Emerald said something really important that I might have overheard if I hadn't paid attention," I said.
It was true. I had so much rage pent up that releasing it made me feel much better. Anger was never my friend, especially to my brother. However, there are times where my said fury caused more good than otherwise. As descripted, this is what it is doing right now. Helping out.
Somehow.
"I did?" Emerald replied. I nodded and she simply looked far more confused than before, "What did I say?"
"Well, if I recall correctly, you said: 'There are changelings who never find their magic'" I repeated. Before they say anything else, I continued, "While what she said was true, there is a single flaw in that statement."
Somebody, add a cornered music from Phoenix Wright and this scene becomes a thousand times better!
"A flaw?"
"Yes. Even though my magic is restricted to many things from your magic, Emerald said that many perish without their magic. However, I have survived many other things that might have killed anyone else."
"Your point being?" asked Ivy.
"I just have to keep finding, right?" both of them looked to each other with doubt of my words. I already it sounded crazy, but it was so simple that it just might work. Even if it didn't...
"What is so special about that?" asked Emerald, skeptical to my logic, "You would be doing the same thing a lot of my friends would have done-- no, sorry; what my friends have done their whole lives!"
"I'm aware of that. But the difference here is that it's almost impossible for me to find my magic."
"I still have no idea what are you trying to explain here..." said Ivy, probably thinking about something else by looking at her face.
"I believe I stalled long enough this conversation. Emerald," I said as I got her attention, "Even if I can't find my true magic, I can still perform the basic stuff, right?"
Emerald's pointy ears perked up as she realized it as well. She placed her hoof on her mouth and began a slow, but steady thinking. Giving her a good amount of time, she looked at me with assertiveness, letting me know I was right.
"So, even if I never find my true magic, I can still fight back."
"Well, technically you can..." added Ivy, who began to understand my reasoning. However, she knew a drawback was in hand. Or hoof in the case, "But it won't be as powerful as others' magic."
"But Emerald said it herself, right?" I said while holding my right hoof in front of me, clenching it somehow, "My magic was strong enough to push her back,"
"Don't mistake will with instinct, Fire. It is true that you did such thing, but it was instinct that acted. Not you," she said, crushing a small faith within me, "Instinct has always played a far more powerful force on us changelings when it comes to survival. This case wasn't the exception."
"She is right, Mr. Fire. It was only that survival instinct that managed to give me such trouble," added Emerald with a sad tone, much to my dismay, "Unless you find yourself in a life or death situation, I'm afraid you won't be capable of doing that kind of magic anytime soon."
"Arg, por favor... Agregen mas sál a la herida, ni siquiera me duele~" 'Arg, please... Add more salt to the wound, it doesn't hurt at all~'
"... Right." said Ivy, "I have no idea what you said, but I know it was a complain,"
"Please Mr. Fire. Understand." backed Emerald, placing a hoof on my shoulder once she got close to me, "We are telling you this so you don't get your hopes so high..."
"Yeah, yeah... Reality and all that..." I replied. I suddenly felt a lot more down which almost made me curl up and remain silent. My body was already giving up once again. My stamina, fading after showing up again. But I couldn't allow it. At least, something didn't allow it, "But I don't care. I'll keep searching until the day I die, I suppose."
"Well, that is technically the whole-"
"SHUT IT! I don't want to hear it! I heard enough! No thank you!"
"Okayyy.... have it your own way..." said Emerald as she slowly backed away.
"Well, I suppose you are right in one thing Fire." she said while I turned towards her, "You can't just give up. We may not have a small clue about what your true magic could be, but you shouldn't feel down about it. It may be closer than you think."
"Wow... thanks, Ivy. That was really nice of you to say!"
"You are welcome Fire." she said as she began to leave the room. Emerald looked at me with sympathy as she drew the book I had closer to us.
"I suppose we go back to learning, right?" she said, earning a nod from me. She showed that sincere smile once again and tapped a certain part of the open book, where it said, 'Lesson 5: Levitation'. I acknowledged the message and focused on learning once more with her, eager to learn what is magic capable of. I knew my ourburst caused a big impact on the girls, but I shouldn't dwell too much about what happened. They knew perfectly what I was going through, and that was all I needed to know.
Maybe I was mistaken... This experience can't be that bad.
Just when I thought Ivy was gone, all of the sudden she came back and shouted something I regretted ever hearing.
"Yo Fire! This means you are just a teen to us! Don't go doing naughty things in backstage with Emerald you cute hormoned teen~! Just saying!"
And she left like that. Emerald and I remained motionless for a few seconds, not before groaning and blushing hard. Well, I got groaned. Emerald just muttered uncoherent stuf. My hooves met my face once again and I slammed my covered face on the desk fast.
They never give me a break, do they?
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The name Ace gives me déjà vu
6492920
Odd, does being from an entirely different universe affect why the can't identify his magic? It seems contrived that he has something so novel that they can't do more than the overly basic spells....
Keep going! ;)
Needs a bit of editing here and there, but otherwise looks good.
As the main character, his magic must obviously be deus ex magicka.
It was such a simple solution that I'm surprised that none of them thought of that. But then again I doubt they saw Hive Magic as a bad thing, Maurice never needed that thing anyway in order to just DO magic. From what they described is that once a changeling is infused with hive magic they are "forever" bound to the hive. Meaning that whoever is in control of that magic can CONTROL other changelings or users. So it's a good thing he didn't accept that magic. I'm guessing none of the changelings have experienced true freedom or loneliness that there are things they can do by themselves and the ones that happened to find themselves with that disease thought they worthless because they couldn't be connected with the hive anymore but that does not mean they're not allowed to use magic period. They can still use it, just not be connected with anyone anymore or discovering their "true magic." Though there is one problem with the disease... It may keep Maurice from changing back into a human, unless the whole "acceptance" thing is more dependent on Maurice truly wanting the magic to be used on him.
6497183 Ssssomethin' like that. You got most of the part though.
And yes. Changelings without the hive connection/magic felt worthless, wondering everyday if they had such attribute, things would be different. No lonelines, no desconnection, no freaks. Something a lot similar to people and their dependance on Internet everyday. I'm not the exception either.
However, they still can have hive connection. It is just... extremely hard to do when you couldn't in the first place. That would be it. They would also have a leader, somepony (Oh my god, I'm slowly turning) to look up to whenever they felt in a desperate/ life and death situation.
A god in a extreme point.
BUt since Maurice arrived, things may change a bit....
And true magic? Yup. Definitively a major loss.
EDIT: About the human thing... It is hard to tell this from that. Honestly.
6499989
Yeah, except their problem is a bit worse because they seem to attribute not being able to accept Hive Magic to not being able to do magic at all. ^^;
So the connection still happens to them even though they have a tough time accepting other people's magic? I thought they give up trying to connect with it after the failure happened and just thought that only a god or something could do for them.
Including Sebastian who's connected with Luna before Maurice was teleported to the world.
[quote[And true magic? Yup. Definitively a major loss.I feel that it's more of a figure it out yourself kind of thing. It' s just that the easy way is gone now.
It was just a theory, but the way you wrote it sounds like it could happen that way though I should've made it more clear that it could very well depended on how much Maurice wants the magic to affect him
6493320 They primarily focused on the true magic situation, so they gave no importance to the rest of it. Not because they didn't know, but because Maurice's special case and the consequences of it.
Not only is he Emerald's very good friend that happens to really like him for how he is (so far), but also Ivy's case due to his whole arrival, adding the fact of the fireball and him being a very important guest to everypony according to the excuse they created.
So yeah... the only reason they ddn't pay attention to that fact you mentioned was due to all the events that had transpired in just two days. In other words...
Distracted. Very distracted. Strongly focused if I may add.
6494074 For the plot! Obviously for the plot, ammarite?
So...I like changeling stories. Unfortunately, that first chapter is really...off-putting, somehow. Does it get better as it goes along, or would I be wasting my time if I don't like the first chapter?
As an editor the bad grammar, amount of typos and HORRENDOUS formating make me cry inside.
But the plot makes me stay, like and favorite the story and eagerly await the next chapter.
(And yes, plot in both meaning of the word. I'm still waiting for the MauriceXEmeraldXIvy ship to take off.)
i.imgur.com/sV7eUdK.gif
Really inspirational
Don't fret, the universe will find many more ways to remind him of his butt monkey status.
So… there’s a difference between magic and true magic? Is that like a specialty or affinity?