Friendship and Courage

by Seeking Dusk

The Star Steps Forth

You know that moment when you think you have anything under control, only to find out you don’t?
The climax of any situation brings the greatest challenge. It’s how you overcome them that matters.
You weren’t exactly the best example of a level head yourself.
Well, you see, this isn’t exactly about me…
Look on the bright side; you at least got get some practice in before it all went south.
Small favours.

“Jaculetur!” I called out, sending another three balls of light darting into the air. Spike fired off three shots in quick succession. His first two missed the targets, whizzing past the moving orbs to impact the edge of the field barrier I erected. His third shot was spot on, the ball exploding harmlessly like a firework. I shook my head as I dismissed the two he missed. “Still not good enough, Spike.”

“I know, I know,” Spike grumbled, kicking at the ground a little. Twilight hadn’t turned up yet, so I used the opportunity to let Spike practice with the borrowed weapons. It also gave me a chance to put in some more magic practice in. The spells and formula tended to come to me when I focused on them, but I was still considering going the Nagi route and jotting down notes in a little notebook.

“Don’t feel too bad,” Al said from his shoulder perch. “You’re learning fast.”

I waved my hand, conjuring another five glowing orbs to hover with them in a lazy circle. I really couldn’t help but grin. Magic was just pretty fun. Spike was actually pretty good at shooting for a beginner, as well. The targets were only slightly smaller than footballs, and while he was no sharp shooter, he was good at more or less hitting in the general area of where he aimed. He attributed his claw eye coordination to years of assisting Twilight.

“Okay, this time I’m going to be trying to hit you,” I announced happily.

“WHAT?” Spike yelped, backing away despite already being about twenty feet from me. “I saw what those things did to the golem things!”

“These are different, don’t worry,” I said with a smile, waving dismissively. They were too; wind element rather than light. “At most they will just knock you down while they try to bind you.”

“And that’s supposed to be reassuring?” Spike said, folding his arms.

“It is!” My grin didn’t drop. Actually, I probably should see if the kenpo skills were up to par. I mentally summoned my staff to my grasp and tentatively twirled it. It felt more natural than when I messed around with a broomstick, at least.

“How ‘bout we make it a game?” With the staff and a bit of magic, I marked out a circle maybe eight feet across. “I’ll try to get you with my sattiga magica, you try to get me with the guns. I win if I can pin you for ten seconds. You win if you can hit me or force me out of the ring.”

“Wait, won’t that be dangerous?” Spike asked. “And you can fly and stuff!”

“I won’t fly, I won’t leave this circle, and the only defence I’ll have is my staff. No other magic than it and the five arrows I have.” This might actually be fun. “Oh, and no; it’s not dangerous. Are you game?”

Spike thought about it for a moment then nodded. “Game!”

We had gathered something of an audience in a few minutes, lined up at the edge of the barrier’s boundary, watching Spike and I go at it. It was our fifth round, all in my favour thus far, though Spike did a little better each time. He finally realized that he couldn’t be a fixed shooter after his first loss, and his running around bought him a bit more time each round.

“You’re getting closer!” I encouraged as I deflected a blast before sending two of my arrows racing towards him from the side. He hurriedly backed away and actually managed to shoot one of them down.

“That’s two down!” he cheered, as did a few ponies watching, though he refrained from doing a jig. I caught him in his victory dance the last two times it did it. Instead, he kept moving, wildly shooting in my direction on the hopes of a lucky shoot either taking down one of the last arrows or getting to me. We had expanded on the rules, and I wasn’t allowed to summon more than five arrows at a time, and couldn’t replace them until ten seconds after he got them all, though we never reached that point.

“Still have three more,” I called back, sending them after him with a swing of my arm. He actually surprised me by running towards them. He got one of them on his reckless charge. At the last minute he dropped into a tumble and rolled under my attack. I was impressed. It was a bit bad for me, but I was still impressed. Still, was missing my front line defence until I could call them back. “Crap!”

He popped back up and started shooting at me again. I defended the best I could with a twirling staff and recalled the arrows. Their return was a bit less precise than if I used a hand, but that's where my share of the practice came in. “If you think this gambit is gonna-”

There was a flash of purple light and Twilight, carrying a bag in her hand, appeared in our battlefield. “What the hay are you two doing!” she demanded. I started and hastily turned to her, trying not to look guilty.

“Twilight! We arrrRUGH!” I yelped as one of Spike’s shots hit me from behind, causing me to stagger and ultimately fall to one knee even as my arrows whizzed away uncontrolled and met their ends when they hit various points on the barrier.

“Noah!” Twilight exclaimed. She whirled on Spike. “What did you do!”

“Wait, Twilight?” Spike skidded to a stop and tried to hide the guns behind his back. “This isn’t what it looks like!”

I laughed as I got back to my feet. Al quickly ran over from the bench he had been using to referee our bouts. "Game, Spike!"

“Ha! Looks like you finally got me, Spike. You win this round,” I chuckled.

“… W-what?” Twilight stammered in her confusion.

“I won?” Spike echoed, uncertain. Our audience cheered, hooves stomping their approval. “I won? But Twilight…”

“Nah, I got distracted. Those kinds of things happen. How you handle them is what counts. I got distracted and you took advantage.” I brushed off my pants and gave him a toothy grin. “Still; final score is 4 to 1, in my favour.”

“Colts,” Twilight huffed.

“So… what was that flash?” I asked Twilight as I destructed the barrier, waving at a few crystal ponies as they dispersed since the show was over. They were starting to look… better, for lack of another term.

“What? You mean when I teleported?” Twilight asked. She hastily started explaining. “I was worried about what you and Spike were doing when I spotted you and saw the flashes and light. I used my teleport spell to… is something wrong?” My dumbfounded expression was probably what confused her.

She teleported, without a medium, without any arrays, devices or tools, and she managed to completely bypassing my barriers. Admittedly, they weren’t the strongest barriers, but still, everything I knew about magic placed teleportation, true teleportation, as high ranked spells. I shook my head slowly at the concerned mare. “Never mind, Twilight.”

“Well, then,” Twilight looked a bit confused still, but she let the issue drop. She reached into her bag and pulled out a wrapped package, handing it to me. “I brought you something to eat. I figured you didn’t have much time to eat anything and might be hungry.”

“Oh, thanks,” I said, surprised not only by her kindness, but also by the growling of the stomach I had ended up ignoring in light of all the excitement that had been going on. I belatedly realized it was literally hours since I last ate anything. I carefully peeled the package open to find a pastry as Twilight handed another to Spike, who took it gleefully.

“It’s a few of the crystal berry fritters Applejack and Pinkie Pie whipped up for the fair,” Twilight explained. I broke off a piece and gave it to Al as we took seats on the benches. Twilight pulled out a few drinks.

“How’s the fair coming anyway?” I asked, tentatively trying a bit. It was actually pretty good, and I dug in with gusto. I hadn’t known what to expect from crystal berries, but they were sweet, with a slight tang to them. Something like a cross between raspberries and tangerines, maybe.

“Surprisingly well,” Twilight admitted, sounding relieved. “Once the crystal ponies realized what we were doing, they latched on to it as if it were a life line.” She sobered a bit. “After what we saw in the dream, I don’t blame them for wanting to forget it. Rainbow Dash has got the jousting games set up while Pinkie and Applejack have the concessions going. Pinkie also set up a few games that everypony seems to be enjoying.”

“Sounds like everything is falling into place,” I sighed. I looked up at the tower. “All we need to do now is get the Heart.”

“With the enthusiasm for the fair building up, it will be a cinch to charge it and finally take the pressure off Cadance.”

“Why don’t you two make a pactio?” Al asked again. I would have loved to have paid more attention to Twilight’s spectacular spit, but I was too busy choking on a piece of fritter that went down the wrong way. Al snickered. “That was an impressive reaction. 4 stars, easy. Both of you.”

“Al!” I said warningly. “Do I look like I need a partner?”

“He’s right,” Twilight said, glaring at the weasel. “From what you explained, it's a contract you shouldn't be taking so lightly!”

“And I’m Twilight’s assistant!” Spike interjected, though he looked a bit unsure as to how much weight his point would carry.

“Oh?” Al’s expression turned smug as he huffed in amusement. “You two are only planning on facing off with an evil unicorn king that left an entire empire cursed, the locals cringing at the memory of him and a creature intent on breaking back in now that it's returned from being banished. You obviously don’t need any more help.”

I flinched at his words. Twilight did too. Al pressed his advantage. “A contract doesn’t have to be permanent, you can make them provisionally. It’s better to be safe than sorry, after all. We don’t want that king to take over just because you were too caught up in yourself.~”

Twilight hugged herself. I glared at the little weasel, snatching at him. He nimbly and mockingly danced away from my hand. “You have a lot of talk for someone who was mute a couple hours ago!”

“Sorry bro, but what we know about his abilities doesn’t make ‘taking chances’ an option,” Al said, irritating me all the more because he was actually making sense. “Remember the magic blocking? Who knows what else his dark magic can do.”

“He’s right,” Twilight whimpered, hugging herself tightly. “I had done some reading on dark magic to prepare after Princess Celestia told me about him, but after seeing what he did in that dream… Dark magic corrupts…”

“Twilight,” Spike said, resting a comforting hand on her thigh. He glared at me, the fledgling ‘bro bond’ that was developing between us communicating his thoughts. This is your fault! Fix it!

I shot back an exasperated look. Well what am I supposed to do? And what was that about dark magic corrupting? “Don’t worry, Twilight. Our aim is to avoid directly facing off with Sombra’s magic. So-”

“You don’t understand, Noah,” Twilight said, trembling slightly. “I know how to use dark magic, and I might have to…”

We all looked at her in stunned silence for a while. “What!?”

“Princess Celestia showed me before we left Canterlot,” Twilight continued. “The only way to undo some of King Sombra’s enchantments is with Dark Magic. I might have to use it, and I… I don’t want to turn out like he did…”

A few pieces clicked into place. She was scared. She wanted to please her teacher. He teacher taught her something that scared her even more. Using it terrified her… I hugged her. “I understand, Twilight. I really do.”

She looked like she was going to interject something, but I held out my hand. Faint spiraling patterns traced themselves across it as I focused magic into them. Twilight looked at them, then back at me, not getting my point. “That’s a mark from the dark magic I have.”

Twilight’s eyes widened and she yelped and she tried to back away from me, but only managed to tumbled off the bench. I sighed and rolled my eyes as Spike just gaped at me.

“You have dark magic? Who? When? Why? First Twilight, now you?” He groaned in frustration and jabbed a claw at Al. “Don’t tell me you have dark magic too!”

“Nope! Ermine Love Faerie,” Al said proudly. “No dark magic, only the blushy-blushy lovey-dovey ability to sense the relationship between people and look into their hearts. Like that little thing you have for the whi-”

Spike pounced on Al and covered his mouth, eyes narrowed to slits as he hissed. “That’s worse than dark magic!”

I sighed and held out a hand to help Twilight back up. She took it before realized what she did, tried to yank away, but I held her tight. “Listen to me, Twilight. There are reasons why I have it.” Well, they were Negi’s reasons, but still. “It might have been distasteful, but it was the best option at the time, and it might even come in handy now, but that’s not what’s important right now.”

“How can something like that not be important!” Twilight said, looking distinctly frazzled. At least she stopped trying to pull away. “Anypony would tell you something like that is important!”

“Twilight!” I said firmly. “Listen to me. You’re afraid that using dark magic is going to make you turn into Sombra, right?”

Twilight paused, flustered and confused. Slowly, her expression changed to shame and she nodded, looking down. “Yes.”

“So what?” I asked.

Twilight snapped her head back up so fast that I feared she would suffer whiplash. Her tone was venomous. “So what?”

“You’re supposed to be helping her,” Spike hissed.

“So what? You have your friends.” I smiled a little. From what I could tell, Twilight was firmly on what Rakan and Eva called the ‘Path of Light’. “Love and Light can fight back dark magic, and the princess with that power is your sister in law. You have your friends to help bring you back if you do stumble.

“A hero isn’t someone who doesn’t make mistakes. She's the one to keep working, even if you get a little dirt on you.” Twilight looked thoughtful as I spoke, so I let her hand go and continued. “If you’re afraid of it, it’s not a problem. Your strengths don’t come from just things you are good at. Running away from something can be a strength too. It is a strength. It's part of your strength. You just need to have confidence in you.”

The sky flickered again, a faint roar and crackle accompanying it. I looked up and suppressed the urge to swear. “Um, I would explain a bit more but-”

“No, it’s okay,” Twilight said, smiling a little. “I understand. Let’s hurry and get this done and over with.”

Twilight and Spike were a bit of a load, but I managed to fly us all up without any real issue, particularly with the wavering shield motivating me. Getting into the room wasn’t an issue either. The room was more an observatory, giving a panoramic view of the entire empire, the openings more that wide enough for me to fly us through.

The issue was the lack of anything in the room.

There was a staircase coming up from the lower level and the center of the room had a snow flake pattern worked into the floor. But there was no Crystal Heart.

“It’s supposed to be here,” Twilight said, pacing the room. I frowned and started summoning lesser spirits of divination and had them use their detection and assessment magic on the room as Twilight worried. I looked at her, chewed my lip, and summoned up a few more for good measure. Since Twilight assisted me with addressing the errors in my spell circle, I had started on getting my magic properly sorted out. Summoning a small swarm of the tiny winged equines was no challenge at all and soon they were scouring the area with military tenacity.

“This is bad, very bad! This was the only lead we had! We don’t have the time to try anything else. And even if we did, Princess Luna forbade us from searching the dreams of another pony. At this rate Princess Cadance will run out of magic before we can help her!”

“Twilight, calm down,” Spike said, chasing after her and tugging on her skirt, trying to bring her back down to sanity. “It will be okay!”

“It will be okay?” Twilight demanded. She pointed at the flickering sky. “Does that look like it’s going to be ‘okay’ to you!?”

“Twilight,” I said hesitantly as the spirits worked.

“I know, I know, I shouldn’t get so worked up,” Twilight said, her mane style fraying in places. “But, I’m sorry; this is serious! If my projections are right, Cadance’s magic might fail any minute now!”

“Um… Twilight?” Spike’s quavering voice interjected.

“Umm? Ah… bro?” Al’s voice was shaking too.

“What is it, Spike?” Twilight asked.

“Please be good news,” I added, knowing that it likely wasn’t. Our respective assistants were pointing to something. At the extreme edge of the barrier, spires of dark crystals that were growing just inside the shield and the rapidly flickering barrier was clearly on its last leg. The two crystal towers that acted like a gate to the empire’s territory were slowly darkening, being corrupted.

“Oh no… we need more time!” I said, paling.

“This is very very bad!” Twilight echoed.

“I have the report!” a tiny voice said. I jumped before I realized what it was. Without much courtesy, I snagged the small conjured papers, small for me, massive for the spirit, and skimmed the report.

“What is that?” Twilight asked, somewhere between curious and frantic.

“It’s the divination report,” I said in a distracted fashion. “Oh dear…”

“What is it?” Twilight asked.

“Wow, that’s unexpected. This Sombra character doesn’t mess around, does he?” Al comment, having read over my shoulder.

“What is it?” Twilight asked again, getting a bit frustrated. “Noah, you tell me right now or-”

“The Crystal Heart is here,” I said, nodding at the spirit, who nodded politely and vanished without much flair. The rest of them followed suit, a few calling out things like 'summon us again soon' and the like. Very nice, the local spirits were. “But Sombra set it in a spatial warp. It’s both here and not here.”

“What?” Spike asked. “Wait, is this like when Devious Dare hid Radiance’s bracelets away with the Door of Dimensions in issue #87?”

“I… what? Maybe?” I gave him a confused look.

There was a low rumble as the barrier gave one final struggle before dissolving away, revealing the same dirty sky we saw in the dream. The Shadow and its mass of dark mists was waiting just were the barrier ended, and it oozed between the gateway. The shadowy form of a stallion rose out of it, and despite the distance we could hear his voice. “My crystal slaves… how long has it been…”

“Sorry, but I think we just ran out of time,” Al whimpered as the screams started.

“Can we break the spell?” Twilight asked. She snatched up the divination report from me with her magic.

“I don’t know! These things normally have a disarming trigger, an entrance or something, but the spirits couldn’t find it in the vicinity.” I explained. The shadow chuckled, and its golems started marching. “It’s got several extensions spreading from it, covering the room and even spreading down all the way down to the Castle dungeons! I need to do something!”

Twilight’s horn was glowing, and the air in the center of the room was wavering in response. “I could try and break this, but I’m not likely to succeed without some reference or research, and we don’t have time for that!”

“Bro! No isn’t the time to be holding back!” Al chided.

“Um, what?” I unfortunately knew exactly what he was getting at, and he knew that I knew. He just raised his eyebrow at me, then wagged them. “Gah! Fine!”

“What?” Twilight said, looking back at me.

“Remember I said there was a time when my only option was the distasteful one?” I asked.

“Yes, but what does that have to do with- oh…” She said, realising. She looked around hesitantly, her eyes finally landing on Spike.

“What?” Spike looked at us, then focused on Al. His eyes shrank and he started waving his claws, rejecting the possibility. "No way! You're a cool stallion and all, but I'm saving my lips for Rarity!"

“Fine! I’ll do it! Only because-” I cut her off with a kiss. Al danced around us and got the spell circle up in an instant, its glow surrounding us, causing our hair and loose ends of our clothing to billow slightly.

Al rejoiced with a cheerful cry. “Pactio!”

I had kissed a girl before, but never a mare. Her fur tickled my lips and skin, but it wasn’t unpleasant; her lips where soft, and after her shock passed, she relaxed into it. I broke it off after a few seconds, looking at Twilight’s stunned expression. “Sorry, but we need it.”

A card formed from the fading light of the magic. It bore an image of Twilight in what looked like a wizard’s outfit from one of those Japanese RPGs; a motif of stars similar to the one she already had patterned on her outfit prevalent on it, though she had a sun shaped trinket hanging from a strap around her waist, posing with a hand held to the side, palm up, and a staff pointed at the viewer. A book with the same star crest on it floated above the open palm of her extended hand. The staff was fitted with a gem that matched the shape of purple star, held firmly in her other hand.

Al quickly forged Twilight her ministra copy. She took it uncertainly. “Is this..?”

“Yes, your pactio card and artifact,” I said curtly, shrugging off my cloak and unbuckling my larger bag. I left my staff on the ground too. I cast another glance out the windows. The royal guards had engaged the Shadow’s forces. The shadow itself was content to laugh mockingly at them, letting its constructs and summons fight for it, and I wasn’t complaining. What I didn’t like was the darkness and random outcropping of black crystals making their way across the landscape and towards the castle we were in.

“Al, you stay and teach Twilight how to use that. Hopefully she can bust through the space where the Heart is,” I instructed. I resisted the urge to swear as I noticed some of the outcroppings were spawning new constructs or shadows, and those were behind the first line of defenders. I spotted a rainbow contrail as a pegasus charged at some of them, a lance in her grip. “Spike! I might need to use those shooting skills to either protect Twilight or help the civilians.”

“Sure, wait, what will you be doing?” Spike asked.

I inhaled, finding my center, touching the part of my new skills I really hadn’t wanted to use yet. My skin darkened and my hair paled, the spiral patterns forming on my arms in stark contrast as I activated Actus Noctis. Time to see if Negi’s extensive training in martial arts transferred over as well as everything else did. It seemed to during that little spar with Spike, but this would be the real test. I cast Song of Battle with it's incantation as the two natives gasped behind me.

“No-Noah?” Twilight asked. “What… is that… is that your dark magic?”

“It is,” I responded. Even my voice was affected by ‘Gesture of Dark Night’, coming out hollow and a slight bit rough. “I’m going to try and hold back the shadow so you can work.”

“Are you sure you can manage that?” Spike asked.

“Didn't I saw all it took was a little bit of courage?” I smirk, reassuring myself as well.

“Hey, bro can handle himself,” Al defended.

Spells, ideas and combat tactics rolled across my thoughts like old friends. White Lightning. Assorted Kenpo techniques. Crushing Fists. Even the mechanics for my Magia Erebea forms. I focused on one. The void step and independent flight spell. The former felt easy, the latter not so much. Either way… I quickly cast four unincanted spells and set them on delay as I moved to the window.

“Noah! Your staff!” Twilight called.

“Not taking it! Focus on your job!” I yelled back. And I leapt off the edge.

---

“Noah!” Twilight yelled after the mage as he left them to go fight the greater challenge.

“He’ll be fine!” Al assured her. “Worry about us! You need to call your artifact! The trigger word is ‘Adeat’. Your artifact is Doctrinis Magnorum Ariolos.”

“Right,” Twilight said. She was slightly distracted by Noah as he bounded through the air, racing towards the outskirts of the city. She swallowed and mared up. He was a stranger and putting his life in danger to help them. She would do what she could to help some of her oldest and closest friends. “Adeat!”

There was a flash of light and pressure as her outfit changed and the artifacts appeared before her. On a reflex, she caught the staff as it fell. The book hovered serenely in the air as she stared at the gem on the staff in mingled shock and confusion. “This is… this looks like my element of harmony. But… how? Why?”

“Twilight!” Spike called. He had both guns out and alternated between looking worriedly out at the city and at her. “Can you worry about that later?”

“Oh, right!” Twilight looked at the book. “Okay… book and staff… what do I do with them?”

“Hmm… classic wizard set up,” Al observed. He quickly scampered up to Twilight’s shoulder and studied the book. “Looks like spell book… Maybe we can see if it has anything on detection magic.”

“What? That would be far too-” Twilight was cut off as the book opened, pages turning rapidly before setting somewhere in the middle. The page was headed in fine calligraphy ‘Magics: Detection, Examination and Divinations’. Twilight continued her sentence lamely, “convenient…”

“Never under estimate pactio magic,” Al chuckled as he rubbed his paws together. “Maybe we can narrow it down to something helpful?”

“Like what? ‘Spatial Detection Spells?’ I don’t think it…” The book’s pages turned again, and this time a few illusion like images of other helpful pages formed in the air around it when it settled on a new section. Twilight's expression turned neutral. “I’m going to stop protesting now. It’s like the Pinkie Sense all over again…”

Leaping tall buildings in a single bound and using the very air itself as a foothold was just plain awesome. I know it was a pretty dangerous situation, and that I was running into a fight I had no clue if I could handle, but it was still awesome. The fact that I was charging towards said fight like the shonen hero I was not should have been more worrying, but I was caught up in how it felt.

My barriers were back up to full strength in preparation, and I could feel some minor attention on the spells I held delayed. My magia erebea was churning inside, just waiting to be unleashed. There was nothing I had ever experienced that I could compare to what I was feeling. People might have said they had power, but that was nothing. This was power. It was literally at my fingertips. On a whim I cou-

I landed heavily on the closest rooftop, ignoring the damage my sudden landing caused, slowly clenching and unclenching my fists, bringing my thoughts and impulses under control. I focused on my breathing. In. Out. I never realized how… dangerous magia erebea was. No, I had realized, but I had forgotten. The real danger of it wasn’t just in the magic itself, but on its effects on the user’s psyche. I pushed it back. I could hold out until after this was dealt with. Princess Cadance might be able to help. Maybe even that Princess Luna.

My impulses my own again, I focused on the situation. The guards under Shining’s command were doing the best they could, and where actually holding back the main press of what the Shadow had called up. But a few things had slipped past them. By the loping prismatic trail, I could tell Rainbow Dash was still among the defenders in the city itself, but while her lance might crush the golems, the Shades skulking about would be her bane.

Fortunately, I could do something about that.

“Ras tel ma scir magister.. Sagitta magica: undetriginta spiritus series lucis!” I yelled, twenty nine glowing balls of magic forming in the air around me. I quickly picked my targets; the shadows that had gotten past the front line fighters. With a wave of my hand, my magic arrows lanced out like the magical missiles they were. Unlike in my earlier fight, I was closer to the top of my game, well; Negi’s game, and I packed quite a bit more magic into these. The constructs didn’t stand a chance, getting blown apart by my arrows as they exploded on impact.

I started leaping rooftops again. I needed to get to the front lines. There was no why the regular guards could match the Shadow. I wasn’t being arrogance, much, but their magic style made them very vulnerable to its corrupting effects.

There was a shrill scream. I ground my teeth together and changed course.

It was hard being a good guy at times.

Following the screams, I found a group of golems had cornered a few of the crystal ponies that had lagged behind. The golems were small, but I could tell they were still growing. Kicking off the rooftop, I cleared the cowering ponies and flipped in the air, landing amidst the golems in a slight crouch. I followed the urges of my body. My fists, elbows and feet flew in precise patterns, smashing limbs, crushing heads and punching through the artificial torsos of the quadrupedal constructs. In seconds, only broken parts lay around me.

“Who are you?” a shaken voice asked.

I looked back at the huddled ponies. They flinched and drew back slightly. I gave them a smirk. “Noah Springfield. A mage. You five hurry to the castle.”

“Hold up!” a rough voice yelled. I got into a defensive stance on a reflex before my mind made the connection and relaxed. Rainbow Dash landed before me, glaring daggers, her borrowed, I presumed, lance still in her grip. “Noah? What the hay is this?” She gestured wildly. “The eyes, the marks, the crazy awesome fighting, that downright evil look!”

“No time for that now, Rainbow!” I said. “Can you take they ponies to the castle? I’m going after the boss!” I didn’t give her any chance to response, leaping into the air and using the flight spell again. I suppressed a smirk as her frustrated scream followed me. Instead, I kept my eye on the goal.

The guards were fighting back, but they were only just. I quickly cast my magic arrows unincated and sent them lancing out, heralds to my arrival that blasted a gap in the golem’s advancing force. Said gap made for a convenient opening to leap through the line and land near the shadow.

It was even more intimidating up close. I couldn’t risk using too much magic, least it corrupt and seal it. I’d have to depend mostly on close range melee skills and augmentation. I was hoping that the nature of Magia Erebea would keep it save from outside corruption. I glared at the shadow, my sunken and faintly glowing eyes locking its red and miasma leaking ones. It sneered at me.

“I’m sorry,” I said cooly. “But you can’t have these ponies. Many are my friends, and the rest might be. Leave.”

“And who are you to command King Sombra?” it hissed, smirking as it, he, took on a more corporeal and humanoid form, complete with hands and the hints of feet. His oddly curved and coloured horn glowed slightly as he called up a new crystal pillar. “A misshapen child?”

Well crap. It really was King Sombra. I didn’t break my resolve though. I would just have to put my fist were my mouth was and hope I could back my words up. That ‘child’ comment irritated me, however, and I frowned. Magic flared around me as I increased the output of my Song of Battle.

“Noah Springfield,” I said as his eyes narrowed. I shifted my footing, ‘grasp the earth…’ and used instant movement to get right in his face, thrusting my hand into his form. He had a brief moment to widen his eyes in shock. “And you aren’t welcome here.”

I unleashed the lightning.

Sinsistra Emittam: Fulguratio Albicans.

Comments

[LovinglyBourbon]

*sees cover art* "That can't be who I think it is" *Sees small print in the description* "IT IS! This should be interesting"

Note to self: I may need to re read Negima!? again.

[Seeking Dusk]

5979067 You say that like it's a bad thing.

[Knightwolf1875]

LET THE BUTT KICKING BEGIN!

[Moongaze14]

Watching Negi use Magia Ereba was awesome and I really enjoyed the part where he makes a Pactio with Twilight. Hope to see the next chapter soon and watch his Negi kicks Sombra's ass.

[dragonjek]

Hm... that's pretty similar to Yue's book, but it doesn't seem hooked up to the Magicnet like Yue's is. Perhaps it collects and categorizes all magic-related information carried by magic spirits? Negima magic always has a logic to it (although considering that Equestria doesn't have anything like instant access to knowledge like we do in the modern day, the fact that it might work in such a way would probably be pretty alien to her). The Element of Harmony staff is certainly way better than a broom, though. Is it the actual Element?

Anyways, here's hoping shoving his hand into the face of Shadowpony and blasting him with magic doesn't go badly for him.

[LovinglyBourbon]

5979086 I don't see how I came off bad. No, I love Negima!? It was the first manga series I ever read. I happened to find vol.5, 21, and 26 reduced my sophomore year. $1 each, it was too good a deal to pass on; even if I hated it, I would only be out $3, so I went for it. I got a few for x-mas of that year, and I bough pretty much every single one over the next few years. the only one I have not read is volume 11 because I can't find it anywhere. Last couple of times I checked Amazon, nope. Ha, I must have read them at lest 3 times each.

[conigwolf]

Negima is definitely top 5 favorite manga for me and it's great you're doing it justice.

[FlashShy]

5979086 Please publish the next chapter soon I really like this story.iambrony.steeph.tp-radio.de/mlp/gif/137617%20-%20animated%20artist-deathpwny%20derpy_hooves%20fluttershy%20fourth_wall%20pinkie_pie%20puppy_dog_eyes%20twilight_sparkle.gif

[Grtgfbll]

Now we just need to see what the rest of the Elements, the princesses, and the CMC get from their Pactio...

[GrandSpear]

Cliffhanger nooooooo..... Great work I enjoy this story immensely thus far.

[Angel767]

i can´t wait to see how the cruzaders react to the age changing candy/pills

[Seeking Dusk]

Right! Time to respond to some comments!

5979165 Hopefully the right butt

5979201 The pactio system is a strange and wondrous thing. It tends to award artifacts based on personality, lifestyle and hobbies, adding a bit of flare to it. Then there is that scale of convenience/ease of use/power that seems to relate to how dire the situation it was gained in is. Of course, most canon artifacts were earned in some pretty risky times, but it seems to fit.

Anyway, considering I'm not sure if I'll get a change to get into the details of Twilight's artifact in-story, I might as well put it here.

I did take inspiration for Yue's artifact when coming up with Twilight's. The book on it's own quite similar to Yue's though it's comparatively weaker. Yue's comes with access to the magicnet from apparently anywhere, with a fast pass through most levels of security. Twilight's is more akin to a kobo or kindle. It's a magical compilation of books she's had regular access to. Plus a fast line to the Canterlot Archive. Like a library database.

As for the staff; no, it's not the actual Element, only a replica. Possibly a very good replica.

5979212 5979340 It's a crying shame none of the animes seemed to match up to the manga's levels.

5980466 What do you get the mares that own the sun and the moon and a nation? (Seriously... shopping for them must be a pain...)

5981018 I can promise you shenanigans. There most certainly will be shenanigans.

5979168 5979363 I'm working on it (among other things). Also; you can put that Pinkie away. Please... it's like she's staring into my soul...

[FlashShy]

5981315 no.

[conigwolf]

5981315

I know right?

[RealityDowngrade]

Nicely done with Spike.

[Grtgfbll]

5981315 A Squeaky Mallet and a pair of Battle Axes :insert Luna Here:

[Blaze Fury]

Awesome dude! Your getting there, such potential in this story.
Keep up the amazing work!

[Codyray1]

One thing that's buggin' me is whether or not they're actual ponies or some kind of anthro. 'cause there's mentions of hands (And now noah's) and such and the clothing bits along with right here saying kissing a pony. Otherwise, good stuff.

[Seeking Dusk]

5992075 They are anthros, but the name for themselves as a people still remains pony.

[Codyray1]

5992105 Oh okay, nude dreamwalking makes more sense now and wow that sounds weirder than I thought.

[Greatazuredragon]

Loved the story so far, good work.

“I’m going to stop protesting now. It’s like the Pinkie Sense all over again…”

Also, loved this part.