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1 - Depart2,054 words
2 - Blast From the Future2,124 words
3 - The Oracle2,944 words
4 - Desert Trials2,895 words
5 - Burnt Pancakes2,036 words
6 - Master and Student925 words
7 - Twilight's Questions1,812 words
8 - Revolutin Stripes1,119 words
9 - Just a Little Bit Crazy1,832 words
10 - Treasure Hunt1,455 words

5 - Burnt Pancakes

A clash echoed from the kitchen, causing Fidora to wince painfully. A few more steps through the gates revealed the culprit, hunched messily over Fidora’s stove with one of Fidora’s pans, cooking some batter that looked like it was trying to escape. “What are you doing!?”

Fidora regretted her question almost immediately; firstly it was obvious, but more importantly she had no right to use that tone against Obtrillion’s mother. By rights she should be reprimanded, but Twilight just raised her head with sad tired eyes that spoke of a second night without sleep that struggled to make an apology. “I… was going to make you and Obtrillion breakfast.”

Fidora sniffed the air and found it burnt. Another pan, rammed haphazardly in the sink with batter burnt to the bottom of it claimed responsibility under the duress of Fidora’s cold stare. A glance at Twilight’s glowing horn confirmed her fears; these stoneware pans were crafted by earth-zebras to resonate with earth-zebra magic. Every morsel of nutrition was maintained while the natural flavors were enriched upon, in much the same way farmers coxed the food from the earth to begin with. Telekinesis, and lubrication spells that tried to replace oil, ruined them.

“I cook for Obtrillion.” Fidora said firmly.

“I’m his mother.” Insisted Twilight, “I will feed him.”

‘Or make him sick’ thought Fidora, frightening herself with how close she came to saying that out loud. She took a moment to breathe, and considered starting to speak in rhyme to force herself to think before speaking but decided against it. “This is beneath you,” she said calmly, “You are the mother of the lord of the house; I am his servant, let me serve.”

“I will feed him.”

“… I relent.” Submitted Fidora, “… May I please help you… mother?”

A slow steady smile spread over Twilight’s lips, which opened like they were going to say something, then changed their minds. She passed the bag of carrots to Fidora along with a chopping board, “Can you dice these?”

Could she? Fidora clenched her teeth, wondering what Twilight was trying to imply, then remembered how common rhetorical questions were in Equestrian speech. Without speaking, she ran her knife under boiling water to sterilize it, evenly quartered the first carrot with two strokes and then diced them into 1 centi-meter slices; going slower than she needed to so as not to embarrass Twilight who continued to fumble around with shaking hooves.

“Will you tell me more about enchanting jade crystals?”

Twilight looked over her shoulder as she stirred her latest disaster, but managed to keep it all in the bowl. “What?”

“Last night you started telling me about a new artifact you'd gotten at your university that made it easier to store telekinetic energy in jade. You made it sound interesting, but then Obtrillion got home safely before you finished explaining it to me.”

Honestly; Fidora wasn't interested. Obtrillion had already told her the basic theory, and it was a skill Fidora, being an earth pony, would never find practical. However it was clear that Twilight was still hurting, and needed to think about something other than what had happened to her dragon.

Twilight stared into space like she'd forgotten; and then jolted back to reality as two hours of conversation concluded not twelve hours ago came flooding back to her. “I... don't really want to talk about that right now.”

“Please?”

“Later.” said Twilight, with a smile that almost made Fidora think she meant it.

It was understandable really. Fidora knew what it was like to be betrayed by your own family, but could barely begin to understand the levels of pain Twilight must be feeling right now:

After Fidora had helped Obtrillion secure the dragon in the dungeons on the bottom floor of the sanctuary; they came back up to the lounge to find Twilight pacing tiny circles in the middle of the floor muttering arguments with herself. She'd obviously needed help, but someone needed to plant the tracking device in one of Raggarock’s warehouses as soon as possible and Fidora could not do that alone, and so Obtrillion left her to talk to Twilight while he went to plant the false trail.

Twilight's pacing was something she'd seen in Obtrillion when he was at his lowest. If it had been him acting this way Fidora would have known exactly what to say, do, and would have had him sleeping peacefully within the hour. But seeing as how that was unquestionably out of the question, so she tried engaging Twilight in conversation instead.

It took several attempts, but once she got Twilight on the topic of teaching magic, there was no stopping her. Fidora never asked about specific students, or anything that might lead back to Celestia or her family, they just talked about teaching magic, pure and simple; or at least Twilight talked while Fidora managed to keep her going until Obtrillion returned in the deep hours of the night unharmed, yet exhausted and they'd retired uneventfully. Fidora had hoped that seeing Obtrillion safe would have given Twilight enough peace of mind to engage in restful sleep. Obviously she'd been wrong.

“Tell me more about Obtrillion.” demanded Twilight suddenly.

“Like what?”

“Tell me who his friends were; what kind of people he surround himself with?”

“...Most of them are dead.”

“I'd like to hear it anyways.”

Fidora thought carefully about who to mention:

Sapientry had been an agile brute with a short temper and fast hooves; who Obtrillion kept only for his usefulness. He’d had two wives; both of whom Fidora pitied, and forgave on the nights they showed relief their husband chose prostitutes over them; and one concubine Fidora has given to him as a punishment for the mare. Fidora was glad that he'd died defending Obtrillion's house in the final days of the war; dying doing the only good he had ever seemed capable of.

Cobran had ruled a band of mercenaries that Obtrillion had outbid Ragarrock for after the outbreak of the war. For a time it seemed that his guild would earn their exorbitant price and turn the tide; until he surrendered in the darkest hour and bought his way out from under the sword. Fidora would see him dead for his betrayal, but Obtrillion mused that he might still be useful, and so she waited for him to reveal his plans to her.

Then there was Bouros; a strange and reclusive member of his species. Fidora had always thought that if she ever got the chance, she might very well be friends with him, though he rarely ever spoke to anyone except Obtrillion; and even then only by necessity. Officially he'd been reported dead; but after returning to her father’s house, Fidora had heard rumors of a demon stalking the streets of the poorer districts at night who stole bodies from the morgue. She opened her mouth to speak his name and then reconsidered. Mentioning him might turn Twilight's thoughts back to Spike.

“There was Faetoth.” she said, finding herself suddenly smiling. “An orphan who used to wander the streets with no family, no money and no hope. Obtrillion found him digging through a trash heap for food and brought him home. The next day Faetoth sold himself to Obtrillion.”

Twilight tensed at the word 'sold', and Fidora reiterated; “It was a ten year contract. Faetoth would be housed, fed and given a good education; in return for working part time in security in shifts that would gradually increase as he got older. When he finished he could leave an educated and empowered stallion, or stay on as part of the family which he doubtless would have done.

Legally he wasn't more than a slave but Obtrillion always treated him as family, even from the start, and Faetoth always did more than he was asked to. He was smart, talented and fiercely loyal. Now that Obtrillion is back, I suspect we'll be seeing him shortly.”

“You think he survived the war then?”

“I know he did.” Fidora smiled

“So you saw him?”

“Just once.” quipped Fidora quickly, turning away and hoping that she wasn't blushing; “I told him what Raggarock had done to Obtrillion, and he said he would remain nearby and wait for Obtrillion to escape. That was four years ago, but it would have taken a concentrated effort to catch or kill him.

I doubt even Obtrillion could find him with a trail four years cold, but when Faetoth hears Obtrillion is back, he'll find us. Apart from myself, he was probably closer to Obtrillion than anyone, especially after Obtrillion started teaching him magic.”

“You mean like an apprentice?”

“Something like that, though it was never official. Obtrillion was still an apprentice himself at the time, learning from Raggarock; but he still took several unofficial apprentices and passed onto them some of what he knew. If the war had happened five years later, Raggarock wouldn't have stood a chance,” she sighed, “I suppose that's why he attacked Obtrillion when he did.”

Twilight smiled to herself, trying to imagine a ten year old teaching adult classes at her school for gifted unicorns. “So he had a class of archmages who were willing to take lessons from a kid?”

“Not exactly. His lessons were typically conducted one on one, and with colts who weren't much older than himself. With his telepathy Obtrillion can just look at someone; and tell what their true aptitude was, as well as how badly they wanted to learn and how trustworthy they will be. Most of the slaves he bought for his house were young, unrecognized prodigies of one skill or another, many being his former classmates from the orphanage.”

“But I thought Obtrillion never had any friends there?”

Alarm bells rang out in Fidora's mind as she cursed herself for her mistake, “He didn't.” she said quickly, “But people are more willing to give you a chance if you're the millionaire apprentice of Raggarock rather than the foreign orphan with no heritage. That chance was all that Obtrillion ever needed; and he was willing to forgive past ignorance.”

Twilight nodded happily, yawned, and Fidora gave a sigh of relief which turned into a smile as Obtrillion came into the room and sniffed the slightly-burnt air. “Something smells good.”

“I made breakfast.” beamed Twilight happily.

Obtrillion looked over Twilight's shoulder at the pile of round pastries she'd assembled; “I've never seen these before.”

“There called pancakes.” said Twilight, still smiling, “I used to make them all the time in Equestria.”

Obtrillion looked at Fidora, who gave an apologetic shrug and gestured that she would make him something else if he wanted. He answered with one firm shake of his head that made it very clear that both of them were going to eat whatever his mother made for them, and they were going to like it. Obtrillion picked up one of the cakes and sampled it, making appreciative noises, “So what were you two talking about?”

“Fidora was telling me about how you used to teach magic.”

Obtrillion smiled wistfully, “Those were happier times.”

“You enjoy teaching?”

“I do, and I'm good at it. I can see people's thoughts and know exactly what part of what I've said doesn't make sense to them, and how to make it make sense; but I like learning better. Raggarock was a monster, but he was also a genius who could teach you a lot of secrets you'll never learn anywhere else. It won't be too hard for me to find new people that I can teach; but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to find someone again who will be able to teach me magic.”

Twilight's spatula clattered to the counter top as she turned and stared at Obtrillion; blankly at first, and then with an almost predatory smile that grew bigger by the moment. Fidora sneaked around her to prevent the pancakes from burning.

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