19 - A Decision Unexpected
Fast was practicing the form of a young yellow dragon in a mirror as she spoke, "The term's almost over. Have you decided on a specialty?"
Silver tapped his chin, "Well, my first urge was polymorph, because that looks pretty fun, but I'm actually growing pretty content with the shape I have, minor modifications aside. I don't need wings, and I have fingers of the mind, which is pretty cool."
Fast swiveled an ear while she had one, trying to hold her draconic shape but having limited success, "It's not for everyone."
Silver nodded, "That leaves enhancement, either internal or externally focused, which kind of feels like I'm choosing selfless or greedy."
Fast shrugged as she gave up on the transition, becoming her usual red-furred self, "Depends more on how you use it. It's harder to use external enhancement selfishly, sure, but if you use your internal enhancements to help other ponies, how is that more greedy?" She trotted over to Silver, going nose-to-nose. "Which would you feel better about?"
Silver pinned his ears, looking thoughtful. "Considering I'm pretty settled into the idea that I'll always be referring to my notes when doing a spell longer than a few symbols, internal seems... safer. I mean, would you feel right if your doctor came in holding a book of medical notes? They should have that memorized and ready to go."
Fast tilted her head a little, "How can you just dig out a new spell from the aether, but memorizing a spell makes you squeal?"
Silver smiled, "That's easy. I like experimenting, and taking notes while I do it isn't hard to do, but just memorizing? I forgot the name of the mare that attacked me, because that's how my brain works, and being a pony hasn't changed it." He leaned forward to lick Fast's cheek, "Internal enhancement it is."
Fast smiled gently, "You're welcome."
It seemed that the final exam of the term was far more flexible than Silver was used to seeing in a school. Lyra faced him, alone, in a room. She was smiling, "You have a few choices. You can show that you've mastered at least ten spells by rote of at least complexity level two. You can write a paper on the nature of enhancement magic to be reviewed by the professors, or..." Her eyes went half-lidded, "You could make a new spell. That last one's basically never used, but I have a feeling I know which you'll pick."
Silver blinked, could it be that easy? "How new does the spell have to be?"
Lyra tilted her head, "If it's an enhancement and it's not in our library, bang, it qualifies. The spell would then be added to the library, with credit to you, of course. It's quite the honor and blah blah blah." She twirled a hoof as she spoke.
Silver drew out the book that Luna had gave him, "I have a l--"
Lyra snatched the book out of his hand. Silver grumped, wondering why every mare he dealt with could just grab things out of his mental grip so easily. Lyra opened the book and quickly scanned across it before going red and slapping the book shut, "Where did you get this?"
Silver rolled his eyes, "As I was saying, I've been studying that and making variations. Luna gave it to me."
Lyra snorted, which turned into a full giggling bout, "Why would Luna give you this? This is Princess Luna we're talking about, right?"
Silver reached and took the book back from her, though it stuck in place a moment before Lyra decided to let it go to him. "The same. She's, uh, it's a little complicated."
Lyra raised a brow, "I won't pry into your personal business, but I'm flat-out horrified at what spell you made based on anything in that book."
Silver tapped a chin, "I was told a long time ago that gender-changing is something you can't do easily, but I think I found a loophole, at least for females."
Lyra gave a slow blink, "You're not a mare. How does that help you?"
Silver shrugged, "It doesn't. That doesn't mean I have to be greedy about it."
Lyra sat up on her hind legs, clapping her forehooves, "You have my interest."
Silver leaned forward, "Do I? Well." He flopped down and took out his notes, digging through them until he found the right one, "You can be the test subject."
Lyra lost most of her confidence quickly, glancing around, "Is this safe?"
Silver shrugged, "When is new magic safe? I'll be as careful as I can. Ready to try?"
Lyra set her jaw and took a braced stance before she said, "Hit me."
Silver reached out with a hoof and tapped her on the nose, "I hope I won't." His horn glowed as he followed his notes, weaving the spell that should have been a significant enhancement on a stallion and weaving it around Lyra to create what was not already there. Magic surged through him, flowing through his horn as the spell flared to bright, silvery life. Silver felt his reserves being drained significantly by the moment and he worried he may have bit off more than he could chew as he kept the channel open.
"This feels so weird," said Lyra, but she held still thankfully. Silver wasn't sure if he could handle it if Lyra budged from the spot. A hornache blossomed as magic continued to pour from him far more quickly than he'd have guessed in his plans. Maybe male anatomy required more magic than the matriarchal ponies gave credit for? He twisted a few letters quickly in his horn, launching a secondary spell and almost losing the first. Transitioning spells mid-way was tricky, but he could feel the strain lessening as he sent the magic through his heart crystal as a focus.
Suddenly, it was done. Silver sank to the floor, wheezing for breath. Lyra tilted her head at him, then dashed over to a full-size mirror nearby. Why wouldn't an enhancement testing room have one of those? "Sweet roses on a Sunday afternoon!" exclaimed Lyra as she ogled herself, or was it himself? She still looked and sounded the same everywhere except the one place it counted. "How'd you do that?"
Silver got an oat bar from his pack and voraciously devoured it before replying, voice shaky from the stress, "By not trying to replace your mare bits. They're in there, just hidden away."
Lyra did a slow spin in place, "Crazy! Well, that's a pass. You just have to write down the spell." She leaned forward, "Neatly. And then, you have to be able to undo it." She waggled her bottom, "I don't plan on going through the day with stallion bits, even if it would totally freak out the students after you."
Silver shook himself out before he released the magic. Lyra's heart crystal flashed, and the spell unwove almost instantly, returning Lyra to her usual self. "I wouldn't recommend that on a target without a crystal. Imagine tangling with that spell?"
Lyra shuddered, "No, thanks." She directed to a desk, "Get to writing."
Silver took longer than a unicorn had rights to ask, but eventually he had his spell neatly written out for inclusion in the academy library. Lyra looked over the paper before nodding, "Looks great! I think you're the youngest student to ever submit a spell to there. You'll be famous." She smiled, "Not that you weren't already for other things. You know what I mean." Suddenly, Lyra softly smooched Silver's cheeks. "You don't mind if I borrow that one, do you?" She never specified what she wanted the spell for, though several ideas floated through Silver's mind.
Silver trotted out of the exam room, walking past other hopeful students waiting their turn. He almost went head-first into a stallion with robes and a pointy hat. He had a triangle, no, pyramid stone, and it was yellow. He seemed familiar somehow to Silver.
"My new student," said the stallion, "I will enjoy breaking you of the notion that you are special."
Silver recoiled at the angry tone and aggressive stance, "Huh?"
The stallion's horn flashed a quick spell and Silver found himself unable to move, staring up at the stallion. "Allow me to simplify. I will be your first teacher on the exciting road of internal enhancement, but before you begin learning, I have to be convinced you're ready."
Silver tried to say something, but whatever spell was put on him prevented much movement of any kind other than breathing. His eyes were starting to water and sting a little.
The stallion gave a soft snort, "You can call me Professor Thetics. My specialty is the muscular and skeletal system. I hope you're ready for a little travel, because you're getting an assignment that sends your filthy self far outside these august walls."
Silver tried to speak, to wriggle, or to even blink, but he was paralyzed. "You can stop trying to wiggle," said Thetics, "I'll let you go when our conversation is through. Now pay attention, I know that's not a specialty of yours. I know you're a diplomat, but you chose to come to this school, and you're my student. No amount of diplomatic immunity protects you from me. You sicken me, using your position and contacts to advance so swiftly. You're not even subtle about it." He gestured at Silver, "You're not even a stallion. A colt, in our school, passing himself off as a real wizard. Did you bribe your examiner? I will have a conversation with Miss Heartstrings later. She's a trouble student all on her own, but I won't trouble you with her issues."
A few students began to gather, watching as Professor Thetics reamed the helpless student. It was like watching an accident happen, who could resist? "It was royalty, wasn't it? Don't think I haven't heard about your visits to the castle, and don't even try to start saying it was for 'diplomatic' affairs. This is my school and the students here will be here by merit, not decree of the crown!"
Silver began to get angry. There were a few spells he did know, and one of them started to form on his horn with quick precise shows of the magic letters. Heat began building quickly at the end of his horn as the ball of fire sprang to life. Once he had it, he didn't know what to do with it. Did he really want to throw it at this stallion? No... that would be beyond wrong.
Professor Thetic's eyes went wide before, with a twist of magic, he robbed Silver of consciousness. Even as Silver collapsed to the ground, the pressure holding the fire in place was released violently, sending heat and flames exploding in all directions. There was screaming and pain, but Silver couldn't see or hear any of it, even as his own flames singed his fur and flesh. This would not be a day soon forgotten.
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So... Why isn't that guy arrested for holding students against their will and verbally and likely mentally abusing them?
There's no need for the commas after "young" and "yellow." She was practicing the form of a young yellow dragon, is all.
Lyra is "flat-out" horrified.
He was told that "gender-changing magic" isn't something that can be done easily.
She sat up on her "hind legs."
Than they gave "it" credit for.
The mirror is "full-size."
I'm betting that his eyes went "wide."
well, i wonder who is going to get in trouble here, the professor who restrained a student in such a way that caused him to "panic" or the student that set the classroom on fire
5760133 I quite enjoyed the change! In contrast to the last chapter, where it felt like the characters were getting stuck in a rut (and not the fun kind), this chapter really hit the high notes consistently.
The first scene actually addressed something I'd been concerned about, which was that Fast was going to fade into the background. With his problems with Luna being front and center, and Night being the first wife, I was worried that Fast Change was going to be ignored, or relegated to playing a secondary role in their relationship. While I doubt she'd want to be first wife (too much responsibility), she's also an attention-whore, and being taken for granted is something that wouldn't sit well with her, especially since she can't sleep around anymore. Having a simple one-on-one conversation where she again proves (to herself) her worth to Silver was a great way to avoid that.
The scene with Silver's exam was one that I had to read over more than once before I was able to fully appreciate it. With all of the romantic drama that's been going on recently, I was initially rolling my eyes at Silver's "extra baggage on a mare" spell, and it seemed somewhat puerile. Going back over it, though, I think that I wasn't giving that scene enough credit. That's because gender-changing magic is supposed to be extremely difficult, if not impossible - that Silver was able to side-step that particular barrier is a huge magical accomplishment. In essence, it's a scene of him pushing the limits of what magic can be made to do, rather than him being too obsessed with sexy fun-times. Of course, Lyra's presence was a bonus, since I can only imagine her using that spell the next time she visits her marefriend (or is Bon Bon her wife?).
You definitely saved the best for last, though. The scene with Professor Thetics was excellent for how it set the stage for future chapters. Now we have a new antagonist, supported by the underlying issues of social and political standing, and best of all was the way it wrapped up - the fallout from this is absolutely brimming with potential - issues of what exactly happened (since it's far from obvious), who is at fault, what can be done about that (diplomatic immunity, after all), etc. all makes for a huge amount of drama coming down the line!
To summarize: great stuff here!
5760177 I did, he was the snooty stallion from when Silver first arrived, who offered to escort him out of the building. I thought he was an upperclassman at the time; that he's a professor (and in Silver's specialty) is far better, since now he'll have to be a recurring character.
o feel the burn.
ok he may be the head prof but I do believe he is going a bit to fare with his handling of silver in that manner.
Do I see a new story with a new chapter of Silvers life?
expellant work David Silver.
Harts Fire
While it's unprovable, Silver did actually get royal help and cheat his way into the academy. Luna is more than happy to let him abuse his connection with her to get favors too, even if Silver doesn't want to skip the real procedures.
But, mostly the problem is that Silver is actually about twenty five years older than he looks, and so has the knowledge and experience to help him learn more effectively.
5760482 Easy to forget, but, yes, Celine totally cheated him in. Professor Thetics isn't wrong.
hopefully they have a decent medic on hoof, cause fireballs are not friendly, Silver should probably look into spell reflection or something to deter magic against him.
Does he really want to be famous for doing that?
Is his first name Callous? (You know, calisthenics)
Conjuring a fireball is not the best way to diffuse a tense situation.
5773032 Fireballs can diffuse many situations, often in a very permanent fashion.
5773043 37.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyidllTboJ1ql55zvo1_500.jpg
5773043
why must you do this to me?
Looks like Thetics is going to get a lesson in Ethics...
7821884 He was just missing the E.
5760143
If whoever has jurisdiction over this has it, this seems like a great place to some form of comparative responsibility. To me, it feels like both Thetics and Silver are at fault here. Thetics should not have paralyzed Silver, but on the other hand (or is it hoof) creating a fireball was in no way the correct response to that situation (how could that have resulted in any good outcome?). Thetics rendering Silver unconscious also did not help the situation, though I don't see how he could have known the consequences as he is unlikely to have known the intricacies of that spell. Personally it feels like Thetics is about 40%-45% responsible and Silver is 55%-60% responsible, mostly on account of how poor Silver's choice of response was.
That was self defense. Nothing more.
9348838
Yeah. Someone who can paralyze you by taking control of your muscles can just as easily stop your heart or force you to suffocate, so we’re basically talking assault with potentially lethal force here. That makes “fireball to the face” a far less inappropriate response than it would be in a lot of other situations.
(Besides, if that doesn’t count as one of those supposedly illegal war spells in its own right since there aren’t exactly a lot of legitimate peaceful uses for the ability to render someone helpless-but-still-conscious that I can think of and that telekinesis or other less invasive magics shouldn’t already be able to cover, I seriously wonder what all else might be slipping through the cracks in the system...)