Lending a Hand
His fate changed, this young man now has a choice, will he turn his back on those in need, or will he lend his aid to the ones who are still lost?
You aren’t going to give it a rest, are you, bro?
Probably not.
Sometimes I wonder if you’re sane...
I’m serious when I need to be.
I guess you don’t mind that grabbed the panties from, nah, you won’t.
Al... what did you do?
Just tell them about how you met the Pretty Pink Princess already.
The Pegasus had flown off, apparently to give word to his commanding officer about my presence. The remaining two guards offered to escort me into the settlement proper. It wasn’t a request. It wasn’t as if I was would have denied them anyway, considering I had no real idea what was going on, and even less of where I was.
“You okay, bro?” Al asked as he climbed up my leg to reclaim his perch on my shoulder. The unicorn guard looked at him with surprise.
“As I’ll be for a while,” I responded with a gentle shrug, not wanting to throw him off. Then again, he was able to hold even in the middle of fight sequences, so it was probably a baseless concern.
“It talks?” The unicorn rubbed at the base of his horn and groaned a moment later, his ears flicking back. “Of course it does. Wouldn’t be the wildest thing I’ve seen recently.”
“Talking weasel isn’t the wildest thing?” Well, considering the widest thing I’d seen was a glaring mist cloud, Al only ranked about... seventh on my list. And the top ten was currently monopolized with things from the past hour or so. You know what would help? Information. I could really use a bit of context for what was going on. I looked over at the “Excuse me, mister... um... sorry, I just realized I don’t know your names...”
The pony snorted, shooting a glare at me. “You don’t need to.”
“He’s only a foal. What’s the harm?” The unicorn’s gaze had a subtle rebuke to it when he caught the regular horse-man’s eye. “I’m Verdant. This is Brass Bond. So, you mind telling us what you are doing out here? And outside the barrier? You’re not a Crystal Pony, that’s for sure.”
“A crystal pony? What’s that?” I asked before I could stop myself. The earthen roadway had given way to paved stone, the surroundings progressively getting more developed as countryside quickly became city. The buildings really were made of some sort of glassy or glazed seeming stone. Even the stones in the roadway seemed crystalline. Al murmured impressed sounds as we looked around.
There were a few more of the horse people lurking around, though they looked strange; hooves dragging, eyes to the ground, tail and ears dropping, coat a bit drap. They were like a puppy someone kicked. It was somewhat depressing to watch.
“You turn up this north of Equestria and you don’t know that?” Brass scoffed, not looking impressed.
“Brass,” Verdant said warningly to his companion. He gave me a more reassuring smile and started explaining. “Crystal Ponies are the original inhabitants of the Crystal Empire. Unfortunately, their last king cursed the entire city to look the way it looks now.”
“Crystal Empire?” Al spoke up, voicing the same thoughts I was having. It explained the buildings. I looked around with renewed interest. They must have used crystals to build most things rather than common stone.
“Verdant, you are touching on topics the Princess would best address,” Brass said firmly.
Princess? There was a princess now?
“It’s only history,” Verdant responded. “There’s nothing wrong with telling the colt a little history.”
“It’s actually rather informative,” I interjected, supporting the unicorn man. I was in over my head and only getting deeper with each step. Verdant was at least pointing me to where the surface was. Brass narrowed his eyes at me. It didn’t seem as if he was fond of me.
“Verdant, leave it to-” Brass’ response was interrupted by the return of the pegasi, and the man, stallion I supposed, that accompanied him foot. He was another unicorn, white coated with blue hair, his outfit somewhere between military wear, formal wear and casual wear, heavier on the last and first, going by the various elements.
“Captain Armor,” the two guards who remained to escort me promptly snapped to attention.
“There’s no need for that,” Captain Armor said, his attention focused on me. He was huge, over six feet tall with a solid build. He didn’t quite sound as I expected a military leader to, but there was no denying he had authority.
“Captain Armor, this is Noah Springfield. He is the one that came through the barrier,” Verdant reported.
“Hello,” I said, my grip on my staff tightening a bit. Al waved.
“I see,” the captain said, his tone difficult to judge. “Princess Cadance wishes to see him.”
They wanted to know who and what I was. So I told them. I explained a bit about being a mage and a child prodigy and getting my staff and half my equipment from a strange vendor before being forcibly teleported to this place. I glossed over the fact that I hadn’t exactly been a magi before getting here, but I didn’t have any reason to trust them with that fact.
In turn, they helped fill in some of my knowledge a bit. They covered that they were ponies and not horses and the four kinds. They explained a bit about the King Sombra character and his dark magic. They explained about the Empire being lost for over a thousand years. They explained the sustained attack that had started shortly after their arrival to the empire, held back only by the force field.
There was a protracted period of awkward silence as both sides processed the new information. I was surprised the throne room looked as it did considering it was over a thousand years old. It wasn’t covered in dust, the hangings and carpet were in good condition. There were even flowers set in bouquets, only slightly wilted.
As my gaze roamed while my thoughts worked to process it, Al's gaze alternated between the princess and me, more specifically; her generous bust. Some things never chance I suppose. Captain Armor, who had been introduced formally as Prince Shining Armor was still giving me a more assessing and calculating look, a small frown on his muzzle. The princess on the other hand was smiling slightly. Throughout the entire conversation, her horn had a blue glow to it.
In fact, it had been glowing even before I came in. The prince’s horn wasn’t glowing, neither had Verdant’s during the walk. I exhaled slowly, shifting my awareness to the more magical spectrum, curious as to if it was just a quirk of hers. Immediately I recoiled from the pressure. "Bwaa!"
"Bro?" Al asked.
"Oh, are you okay?" Princess Cadance asked, sounding worried. Prince Shining Armor didn't say anything.
"No, I'm fine, I just," I blinked a few times, "I just wasn't prepared to feel that much magic power flowing up close. I take it you are personally holding up the protection spell over the city? Because that is nothing short of amazing."
"Oh, it's nothing much..." Princess Cadance said, trying to make little of it. "Shining's speciality is shield magic as well. He could cast a partially self sustained barrier around the empire himself. Unfortunately King Sombra seems able to corrupt and block almost all forms of normal magic.”
“One of my best soldiers is down, his horn covered in black crystals that are blocking his magic,” Shining admitted reluctantly.
"My talents are in spreading love and light," Cadance continued, "both of which are keeping him at bay for now."
"Love? An ally?" Al muttered softly. I ignored him.
"But Cadance can't go on forever," Shining said, speaking up again. "If her magic fades... We are expecting assistance, but there is only so much we can do in the meantime."
I didn’t need to take a second look at the princess. Shining was right. She was exhausted. There were a few universal rules that not only the two styles of magic I was somewhat familiar with, eastern and western, shared, but also applied to ki as well. One of them was that physical weariness could and did affect the supernatural abilities. I figured it would be the same for the pony's magic.
"Would you mind if I helped out as well?" I asked. I might not really know them, but even if that mist cloud wasn't the same king that cursed the empire, it wasn't anything good. That; and I was still more or less lost. Being in the good graces of the locals would be a boon.
"You?" Shining asked. "No offense, but you are a foal. A child."
"I'm also Mage. I graduated at the top of my class." Okay, that was Negi, but I had his skills. "I am a teacher as well and have a university degree. Besides, you said love and light were effective, right?" I held out my hands and let some of the magic that was in me flow. Jolts of electricity shot from my left hand to strike at the ground as the air whipped itself into a small twister around my feet. "My affinities are to wind, lightning and light. Even if I don't have the love part, I can possibly be of use."
They stared at me in stunned silence. I let my magic settle somewhat reluctantly, the effects dying away. The smell of ozone and something burnt caught my attention and I looked down to find scorch marks on the carpet from where the jolts of lightning hit the ground. "Oh, um... sorry, I didn't think." I quickly moved on. "I might be able to help you directly too, princess."
"No, just 'Cadance' is fine," she said. "And how?"
"Would you allow me to cast a spell on you?" I asked, already moving towards on of the decorative bouquets. Actually, wasn't this place supposed to have been cursed and missing? I dismissed the thought and picked on of the flowers out.
"What kind of spell?" Shining asked, moving subtly so he was between myself and his wife.
"A recovery spell," I responded. "It won't replace real rest, but it should keep you going for longer than you would have without it."
"Shiny," Cadance said, almost too softly for me to pick up. She smiled in my direction and nodded.
I smiled in return and closed my eyes. Okay, Negi used this one during the exams... Right! It was a simple thaumaturgy spell at the base. Using the flower as a medium... I let my magic pool in the flower and started chanting the words before letting a magical breeze flow from it.
"Ras tel ma scir magister. Fragrantia Floris, Meis Amicis Vigorem, Vitalitatem, Auram Salutarem. Refectio."
The spell was prettier than I expected. With the amount of magic I poured into it, a bit more than necessary in retrospect, a mistake born of inexperience with the skill, the wind itself had a hint of a red and gold glow to it. Faint images, like petals and blossoms of the flower I used for the medium, drifted in the wind as it wafted over Prince Armor and Princess Cadance.
The effects were almost immediate, Cadance visibly perking up, her ears flicking with renewed energy, her posture loosing some of its weariness. “Oh my...That was lovely!”
“Wow...” Prince Armor remarked. “I guess you weren’t just making things up...”
“Bro’s one of the best mages around,” Al bragged, leaping from my shoulder. I raised an eyebrow at him. And just where was he getting that from?
“Um, Al...” I cautioned.
“And just who are you?” Princess Cadance asked; curious, not accusing.
“Um, he’s sorta my... familiar, I guess,” I shrugged. I really wasn’t sure how to class the little weasel. “Assistant, maybe? Pet?”
“Albert Chamomile!” Al said with much bravado, giving the princess a bow. “Ermine Love Fairy.”
“Love Fairy?” Princess Cadance smiled. Prince Shining flinched at her tone. The princess looked at me and nodded. “I’d be glad to accept your help. Shining, would you mind finding the best place to put him?”
“Of course,” the prince agreed.
“And Noah, would you mind if I kept Albert around for a while to talk with?” There was a glint in the princess’ eye that I did not like at all. Worse since Al shared it.
“Sure, it shouldn’t be a-”
“Excellent!” Cadance said. She turned her smile on Shining. “You two have fun now!”
I spent three hours in the Crystal Empire’s largest library. Shining Armor, he insisted I drop the titles, had assured me that simply fighting the Shadow King wasn’t main objective at the moment. There was still the Empire itself to restore. The barrier did more than just keep the King out. It also acted as a terraforming shell over the land, holding back the worst of the local weather. Princess Cadance could not be expected to maintain it by herself indefinitely.
What little they knew about the place from legends and lore hinted there was some device that would serve that purpose. So I headed to the library. The librarian, or a pony who thought she might be the librarian, was of no help, and she seemed to be in actual pain when we tried to press her. Whatever curse was on the place was impressive. The library itself lacked a reference guide, so I turned to the divination and lesser spirit magic I knew.
Fun fact: the local spirits looked vaguely equine in nature.
Related fact: they were different from the ones I expected and took a little more convincing than I hoped.
While the spirits were divining potentially useful tomes and texts, I flipped through the supplies I bought before arriving. For the most part, it was reassuring. I had several simple and beginner wands, three magic guns, a fair stock of reagent and catalyst potions and the like, a healthy supply of Evangeline’s transformation pills, even a stock of eastern magic gear. Flipping through the books made me realize that while western magic could run on simple understanding of magic rules, the higher level spells operated on influencing the world and the spirits into bending and in many cases outright breaking conventional laws of physics. The bad news was that the local spirits and even the astrological charts and signs were slightly different from the spell designs I was trained in.
The conclusion?
“So my magic will be inefficient until I adapt the spells, the high level spells likely out of the question all together,” I mused to myself, nibbling on one of the military food bars Shining Armor provided when I admitted I didn’t have anything in terms of living supplies. And I was so looking forward to hitting that King Sombra with a Thousand Thunderbolts to see how he would handle it. A smirk quickly developed as possible solutions popped into my head the more I thought about it. Being a kid genius was fun. “Should be too hard... Just changing a few of the spell structures and renewing the contract...”
“I found one! I found one!” one of the spirits chimed as it darted over on its oversized insect like wings, noodle like limbs waving cheerfully. It was a tiny thing, about the size of a mouse, with large eyes and a tiny body, its mane and tail almost bigger than it was.
“We brought it! We brought it!” chorused a group of others that drifted after the first, a book in their grips. It took five of them to manage the book. Dropping the book so it could join the pile they had been building with a slight thump, they went back to their tasks. They were adorable, if a little annoying.
“A culture book on crystal berries?” I murmured, checking the latest find. “Fifth mention of that fair thing… it’s starting to look important.” I flipped through the pages a little. At least I had learned a lot about the world I was in, even if I hadn’t learned a lot about this place in particular. There were a few references I noted down, but I still hadn’t found what the key in sustaining the barrier was.
“Mage Noah!” Someone called. It was the pegasus who had been with Verdant and Brass. I tried to place his name. Cliff something. Cliff Diver? Climber? No… Jumper. Cliff Jumper. The pegasus landed lightly, hardly displacing any air with his wings. “The captain is about to head out to meet a group from Equestria! He’s requested you join him.”
“Oh, of course!” I said, fumbling for my staff and setting the book aside. I checked my belt and pouches to make sure they were snug and adjusted my cloak. Well, I volunteered my aid, so it was time to put my magic were my mouth was. I nodded at Cliff Jumper. “Lead the way.”
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The princess of love and the Ermine Love Fairy working together.
Let the shipping begin¡¡¡¡¡¡
Once Sombra is delt with
i cant wait till the next chapter ^_^
I really enjoyed this chapter. I can't what for the next one.
5766415 Ouch. They are going to drive our protagonist and/or the elements crazy. Especially Twilight. Can't wait to read more.
So the local spirits are breezes?
Wait, Cadance and the love Fairy are left alone and the elements of harmony, a group of all girls, is coming to help. While the little ermine knows that Noah's magic calls for him to have one or more partners.
quickmeme.com/img/7f/7fa6b0be9d5614e6e8aa57089f47c718ec462a462188bb1b058a1456cfd02d12.jpg
I can see the ships incoming, and they are many.
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I always liked Negi lets see how Noah does... also don't forget Pactio contracts are useful... ( don't supposed you humanized them to make it easier on him did you writer?) a mage needs a knight guard to be effective and I don't think he'll be to ready for being a battle mage straight off the bat especially with using longer spells.
Team up time!!
5767237 A lot of the low level spirits are breezies (or breezie like), particular those of air.
I'm enjoying this.
Cant wait until the next chapter. Hope it comes out soon.
5753447
5753502
Dudes, are you forgetting that Ken Akamatsu himself didn't intend for it to be another harem fic, or unwanted harem fic if you're troping here, not to mention the whole genre shift they did later on in the manga...
Also, it doesn't have to be anthro for the reasons you're suggesting, but that doesn't mean it can't be anthro at all, plus with all the rush work that was put into the manga, not to mention all the untapped potential, you could do what needs to be done here regardless of the anthro...
Of note should also be UQ Holder which is an alt-universe sequel to Negima
5778241 UQ Holder is pretty good. Actually; extremely good. I'd recommend it to anyone.
5749634 Yeah I first randomly found the manga and read the whole thing. So when I Heard that there was an anime for it I thought that it would be cool to see certain sceens animated. So when it suddenly became more and more rushed untill it simply ended all together I was like wut
, no they can´t possibly end the series anime like this there must be Another season 
. But yeah as it currently stands I consider the anime to be an unfinished abandoned Project that at most should be taken as a trailer for the manga and if anyone only intend to Watch the anime then I would sugest that they simply avoid it (since it only really exist to complement the manga).
What Im waiting for with this is the Ponies reacting to Magia Erebea
Also does he have Everything that comes with the Springfield bloodline?
Ah..Negi...i remember...that kid...a boy...who have alots...girls loving him.
But in the end...love only one. have kid. and wife.
5794232 I'm betting on it.