32. A Day Off
Scholar Arc
Day 6
Atlas was lying on his bed. Amethyst was currently attending a class, which left Atlas to his own devices; after having studied furiously in the past week, Blazing Inferno gave him a day off. Contrary to the fixed schedule Atlas was used to from earth, giving days off in the academy was entirely up to the teachers.
While he still wanted to continue his studies, Atlas found himself agreeing with Inferno. The constant use of his brain started to take it’s toll, causing him to be sleepy during the day while also making it harder to concentrate.
Even though Atlas had only learnt the levitation spell for now, he took his training seriously. Since using hooves to do everything was still awkward for him, he found himself defaulting to magic whenever possible. As such he was using his levitation spell proudly every time he got the chance to, sometimes even just letting things float for fun.
It took quite some work to adjust his magical output and refine his control, but now he could cast the spell almost effortlessly.
Aside from training his spellcasting, Blazing Inferno pumped Atlas’s brain full of basic magical theories. Since Atlas would have to join a regular class in a few weeks, they were going through the material at full speed.
As soon as he was able to, Atlas started to take notes like a madman. As such the desk in his room was cluttered with loose parchment. True to his old human nature, there was seemingly no system behind the mess, but he was still able to find everything he needed. Organized chaos so to speak.
Doing this led to an interesting discovery for him. Blazing Inferno was not able to read Atlas’s notes. While Atlas was using the Latin alphabet from earth, ponies seemed to have developed an entirely different alphabet. Atlas was magically able to read theirs perfectly without knowing how or why, although ponies couldn’t read Atlas’s writing.
Atlas ventured a guess on why this was, and thanked whatever god was kind enough to wire this ability into his head when he was transformed.
Although he’d need to learn their alphabet too at some point, if he ever wanted to write a report for class or similar things. Atlas tried with several books on the subject to no avail. The writings in them just looked like regular latin letters to him. He’d have to ask Amethyst at some point to help him out.
Atlas stretched his limbs out in an attempt to get his blood flowing. His horn flared up with a green glow and his blanket floated off him. He hopped out of bed and a quick glance out the window told him it was almost noon.
Apparently he was more tired than he thought and slept in. A huge yawn escaped his lips while he tried to shake off his morning drowsiness,
“First things first…” Atlas mumbled, before making his way toward the bathroom.
After he got back Atlas felt a lot more awake, thanks in part to the water he splashed on his face. He dried himself off with a towel, before tossing it haphazardly on his desk when he was done.
After stretching one last time, he levitated his saddlebag onto his back. The right latch opened and a small bag of bits floated into it. As he closed the latch he made sure the saddlebag was secure one last time before stepping out of the room and locking it.
It had almost been a full week since he last saw his friends, so he decided to go down into the city proper and see if they were up for lunch.
--------------------------------------
Atlas approached the house where Crimson and Belle were staying. It took him almost an hour of walking from the academy to reach it.
They were staying in a flat on the second floor, the staircase to which was attached to the outer wall of the simple house. Nothing really stood out about it, just one of thousands just like it, mostly found in the back alleys of the city.
He climbed the wooden steps until he arrived at a platform giving access to a door, before knocking on it three times with his hooves.
At first he couldn’t hear anything, which was weird since the door was pretty thin, leading him to believe he came here in vain. But after a few seconds he could hear shuffling from the other side, and steps approaching the door.
A crack appeared at the side of the door and a blue eye peeked out.
“Hi Belle.” Atlas said amused.
“Atlas!” Belle shouted happily, practically throwing open the door.
She lept outside and wrapped Atlas in a friendly hug, which he returned.
“Haven’t seen you in a while!” Belle said. “How have you been? Can you do magic now? Are the ponies in the academy nice? Please come in!”
Belle immediately barraged Atlas with a flurry of questions. Atlas chuckled at her usual spiel, having grown accustomed to her excessive talking during their trip. He entered the simple two room flat and decided to answer one of her questions by levitating his saddlebags off his back and into a corner.
A gasp could be heard from behind Atlas, causing him to grin.
“You CAN do magic now!” Belle said astounded. “You need to tell me all about it!”
She zoomed over to where Atlas was, and shot some devastating puppy eyes his way.
“Alright, don’t worry.” Atlas reassured her. “But only if you tell me what you’ve been up to as well. Where’s Crimson by the way?”
Atlas looked around in the sparsely decorated interior and wasn’t able to spot the red pegasus anywhere. There was another room, but the door was wide open and he’d surely have come out to greet Atlas by now.
“Oh, Crimson’s at work and won’t come back before evening.” Belle offered. “Apparently they’re brutally understaffed and their workload is pretty high this time of year.”
“Well just us two then.” Atlas said. “What do you think about lunch? We can talk over something to eat.”
“Sure, sounds good to me.” Belle responded. “The usual place?”
“Depends, found anything better in the past week?” Atlas asked.
“Nah.”
“Well then, Apple Bee’s it is.” Atlas said.
In the week where they were staying at a hotel they usually went out to eat. It didn’t take them too long before they found the nice little restaurant, a bit off the beaten path. The owner was an earth pony named Apple Bee, a chubby stallion who loved to talk and laugh with his customers. Since his prices were affordable and the food tasty, they quickly became regulars.
They grabbed what they needed and Belle deposited her own bits in Atlas’s saddlebags. Belle locked up before they were on their merry way.
“So how’s Crimson doing?” Atlas asked. “Everything alright with him?”
“Oh yeah.” Belle replied. “He said he’s still learning the ropes, but his colleague are apparently pretty understanding and supporting.”
“That’s good to hear. After all he’s been through I hope this will be something steady for him.”
“I think we’ve all had our fair share of troubles in the past, enough to have earned a little respite.” Belle said seriously.
“Let’s just hope it lasts.” Atlas said. “I’m kind of like a magnet for trouble.”
“Oh don’t be such a worrywart! Everything will be fine.” Belle playfully smacked Atlas on the back of his head. “Besides, we can look out for one and other.”
“Yeah I guess you’re right.” Atlas sighed.
Atlas really hoped she was right. But knowing his fate recently the universe was just waiting for the opportune moment to throw more stones at him. Possibly even literal stones.
They turned a corner and Apple Bee’s came into view. It was a quaint little place, a wooden fence shielding the outside tables from the street. Vines were running up the building wall as well as the fence, creating a nice contrast to the otherwise bleak house facades.
Out front hung a shield depicting a red apple upon which a bee had landed. It was at the same time the logo of the establishment as well as the owners cutie mark.
“Outside?” Atlas asked.
“Outside.” Belle answered.
Atlas nodded and approached the entrance, while Belle was already picking a place to sit. Apparently they made it just before the lunch rush, as almost nopony else was present. Atlas poked his head inside and looked around, trying to spot the chubby stallion.
“Apple Bee?” Atlas called after not being able to locate him. “Table for two, outside!” he shouted.
“Atlas? Is that you? I’ll be right with you guys!” A voice shouted from the kitchen.
Satisfied Atlas turned around and went to sit with Belle.
“So? Tell me all about it!” Belle said as soon as he sat down.
Atlas levitated his saddlebag off to the side, resting it against a table leg.
“Oh, it’s mostly boring theoretical stuff you know?” Atlas teased Belle.
“I wanna know anyway!” Belle said frustrated. “Tell me!”
“Alright, alright calm down.” Atlas chuckled.
“Well, the island is truly a sight to see…”
“Atlas! It really is you!” shouted a voice from the restaurant entrance. “I haven’t seen you in over a week! So nice to have you back!”
A chubby earth stallion made his way over to them. He had a red coat and his mane was cut short and green.
“Alway nice to see you too of course, Belle.” He added as he approached.
“I’ve started living on the academy island, afraid an hour walk is a bit more than my lunchbreak allows for.” Atlas said.
“Good for you!” Apple Bee said. “As long as you don’t forget your old pal Apple Bee and visit from time to time!”
The chubby stallion guffawed, his sides wobbling with every move.
“So what can I get for you two?” Apple Bee asked. “Today's special is a tasty tomato salad, followed by a hearty vegetable stew.”
“Sounds good to me.” Atlas said.
“I’ll take it too.” Belle agreed.
“Two dailies, coming right up.”
Apple Bee shot them his widest smile, and went back to inform his cook.
“So anyway, the whole island is dedicated to magic research!” Atlas continued their previous conversation. “Everything is walled off and there is this huge tower in the center, it’s almost like a fortress.”
“Ohh that sounds amazing! Can I come and visit sometime?” Belle interjected.
“Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem.” Atlas replied.
“Yay!” Belle said and did a little hoof pump.
“The dorms are ok, the rooms are pretty simple, but they are adequate.” Atlas continued.
“That reminds me, you should meet my roommate sometime. His name’s Amethyst Blade and he knows a lot about magic. I’m sure you’ll be able to ask him everything you want to know.”
Belle’s face lit up at that. Her curiosity for the magical practices knew no bounds, so having a friend who could quench her thirst for knowledge was amazing.
“I’d love to!” She said in awe. “But what about your magic lessons? Are they hard?”
Atlas took a few moments to think about his answer.
“What’s this I hear about magic lessons?” A voice said next to them.
Apple Bee had returned with their salads, putting them down on their table. He sat down next to them, obviously interested.
“You finally able to do something useful with that horn of yours?” Apple Bee asked.
“For now only just levitating stuff.” Atlas replied, levitating his fork to get his point across.
Apple Bee started laughing happily again. “Good for you boy!” He said after calming down. “Don’t forget about little old me once you become a famous mage!”
“How could I?” Atlas replied with a smirk.
“Good to know, you guys are good customers. I’d be sad to see you go.” Apple Bee said. “Now excuse me, I seem to have new guests.”
Apple Bee glanced to the side, where two unicorns sat down at a table. He went over to greet them leaving Atlas and Belle alone again.
Atlas speared one of his tomato slices with his fork and guided it to his mouth. Belle watched him curiously, fascinated by the simple task.
“Shouldn’t you be used to seeing magic by now?” Atlas asked after swallowing. “After all you live in the unicorn capital now.”
Belle smiled sheepishly. “Well, my teacher is an earth pony like me, so I don’t get to see that much magic at work. Most of our customers are earth ponies too. Sure I see it being used a lot around town, but you told me that staring is bad, so I don’t just ogle unicorns whenever they cast a spell.”
Belle pouted a bit, eating her own salad.
“That reminds me, how is your training going?” Atlas asked, curious about the earth pony skills himself.
“Nothing exciting yet.” Belle said. “For now I mostly help White Mallow out around his clinic. After closing hours he has me meditating though, and sometimes he wants me to boost a potted plant or similar things.” Belle sighed. “I honestly thought it would be more interesting to learn such an amazing skill.”
“Well learning can be boring.” Atlas agreed. “But in the end it’ll all be worth it.” he added.
“Yeah I suppose you’re right.” Belle sighed. “So tell me more about your lessons! I’m dying to know more!”
Atlas chuckled at her. He remembered that teaching someone is just another form of learning, and started to recap his week for her.
--------------------------------------
Atlas and Belle had spent the rest of the day together. They talked about their week and went for a walk in a nearby park. After the sun had started to set, they made their way back to Belle’s and Crimson’s flat.
They were currently in front of the stairs leading up to it, saying their goodbyes.
“Thanks for tagging along with me today.” Atlas said. “It was fun.”
“Sure thing!” Belle replied. “We should totally do that again next week!”
“Sounds good.” Atlas nodded. “I’ll come down again whenever I get a day off. Maybe Crimson will be home next time too. I could even bring Amethyst with me if he’s off.” Atlas wiggled with his eyebrows.
“Yeah…” Belle said, a sad look flashing over her face before she started smiling again. “That would be great!”
“Well then, It’s time for me to return to the academy.” Atlas said. “I need to get up early tomorrow.”
“Alright.” Belle said while pulling Atlas into a hug which he gladly returned. “Be careful ok?”
“Don’t worry, I’m not learning any dangerous spells yet.” Atlas said while starting to walk away.
Belle waved him goodbye with a smile and turned herself around, making her way inside the flat.
Silence fell over the alley, now devoid of any ponies. After a few minutes, a shadow started to move in a nearby side alley. The rhythmic clop of hooves announcing its departure.
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Interesting development here, and it can be to his advantage-no one can read his notes, find out things he doesn't want to know, and so on. On the other hand...
Atlas is a pony. In a land where the tribes are more or less united and seem to share a language. A language that presumably has similar roots across all three tribes. A somewhat similar real world example to how I'm envisioning Pony/tribal language and writing is how English, French, Spanish, etc. are all descended from Latin, and so Pony alphabet is likely descended from something similar.
And Atlas is writing in a language no one else knows, in a society that is exclusively pony-to my knowledge, we have yet to see one other species the show's cannon has-whether it be griffon, minotaur, cow, donkey, dragon, diamond dog, or any of the many other species. And at least one other pony has seen his writing.
This can only end well
I wouldn't say they were entirely kind-at least part of it was lazy. This is going to be an issue at some point, and if they could make him automatically understand pony language, they should have been able to program both sets into his head. Considering they didn't, I'm guessing godly laziness is behind it.
That's a horrible/clever pun and you know it.
This can only end well. 50/50 chance something happens courtesy of inter-tribal racism/only unicorns are allowed a the academy and Atlas doesn't know because he failed to read the terms and conditions of his enlisting there.
Well this was an interesting to see that Atlas has finally go levitation pegged out now and that he did forget his friend during the time he was in the island. All do I don't understand why the old stallion that is after Bell is taking his sweet time to go after her and her friends, wan't he the master assassin of the Earth Pony kingdom?
Also, sorry for being a bit sharp on you last time, it is just that I always try to make sure that authors put the proper credit for the art that I do for them, I just felt that others artists should get their work properly mentioned.
rocks fall everybody dies. And then you come back to life, only to die by suffocation, and then you come alive again, then you die, this repeats forever.
what's a 'hof' pump? Is it like a hoof pump except that its oxygen free? Because its missing O2.
Good shit mate. I just binged the whole story when I saw it being featured. I love it.
Belle is so cute. She doesn't want Amethyst around because she doesn't want her time with Atlas squandered.
MOAR PLZ MOAR
:o
So I just thought of something. Atlas knows a written language they hoping else knows (currently). He also supposedly invented runes of whatever they were called. What if they are the same thing?
Do I have to complete the story each time I want to unlock a new character?
Just once I'd like to see a human-turned-unicorn-learning-magic prove themselves to their peers by inventing a new fireball spell. Say, by combining tritium and deuterium...
That'll show those unicorns that have a society based on a unicorns magical worth what for!
So, when's he gonna unlock pink magic? Soon, I hope...
Also, I like your idea of different colors of magic having different meanings. I'll be using something similar in my own tale, with obvious differences to prevent plagiarism, and I'll definitely credit you for the inspiration.
Wait... Coming up with my own theory on color meaning (and other things, like coronal layering and particle effects, for example,) means... I'll have to go back, research practically every episode, and take notes on the show! Oh noes!
(Much sarcasm there, it's nowhere near that bad...)
Finally! I was seriously concerned as to how someone with so many resource wasn't able to find a unicorn, a Pegasus and an earth pony. I mean, they're not exactly inconspicuous.
I thought the English Alphabet was Greek?
-does a quick google-
Well, I'm a stoop. Why did I think it was Greek?
7489341
stuffpoint.com/the-sims/image/389377-the-sims-huehuehue-glitch.jpg
(I'm actually quite proud of it :D
7489538 Master Assassin is a bit too much praise for Dusty, he was actually put on "latrine duty" because he messed up baaaad. Also he was more of a mercenary, and is now looking to get back into the Queens favor. As for how he hasn't found them yet, I have mentioned before that the Crystal Kingdom is biiiiiig. Also, he doesn't have that much resources, and only a handful of other agents on his side. two weeks seem appropriate to locate someone in such a big city, could potentially even take longer.
7489839 yes
7490169 Yay! I love people who binge my story! It tells me that I'm doing at least something right, also: glad to have you and more is one the way!
7490416 I can spoilerfree tell them that Atlas's runes are definitely NOT the Latin alphabet. It's a completely made up runeset, which I'm most of the tme won't bother to explain, but I will design/draw some of the more important ones so I can show them to you(Right now I only have one rune finished, I believe I called it 'Nyr' or something like that...)
7490482 Yes, send me a message each time you complete a NG and I will send you the next picture. Also, while that spell would certainly be possible in my magic system, he would first need the right elements for it to mix. As a side note: I believe 'Fireball' to be a gross understatement of what such a spell yould look like ^^
7490954 not telling because spoilers... As far as my magic systemis concerned, I don't care if you copy it 1-1. You don't even need to credit me. Just knwing that my system is good enough that other people want to use it is enough for me.
7491119 Again, Dusty does NOT have a lot of resources within the Crystal Kingdom. High Rock doesn't have a lot of influence over there, a few spies at most. (refer to the answer I gave mix-up)
7492395 dang it I wanted to reveal a huge part of the story literally 1000+ years before it was important!
yay a longer chapter
7492395
Sowwy.
7492395 In your system, can a unicorn cast more than 1 spell at a time? Two? Three?
It would have to be some insane spell stack, with each spell made up of other, smaller spells.
Like:
[1] Electrolysis
1a) Generate electricity
1b) Apply it to a sample of water
1c) filter out the Oxygen from the Hydrogen
1d) Store the Hydrogen
[2] Cooling.
2a) Remove kinetic energy from Hydrogen by dumping it's heat into a storage unit until Hydrogen is liquid
2b) etc
[3] Add Neutrons to Hydrogen to make Deuterium and Tritium
3a) blah
3b) blah
3c) etc
[4] Compress
4a) Use inverted Pegasi magic to compress
4b) reapply the stored heat, plus add more heat, possibly invent a mana to thermal energy spell based off Telekinesis, as well as thermal energy to mana spell to absorb ambient temperature to power the whole process since bombarding Lithium-6 with Neutrons to make Tritium takes a ton of energy on it's own, but you could probably just smash Neutrons and Hydrogen together via a magic particle accelerator because Unicorns are hax.
7493387
Oh great, now you e got me thinking about possible science-magic... Erm... Magi-science? Magi tech. I'll go with magi tech.
Where was I? Oh, right. About what kind of magi tech spells I could think up. I guess it depends on how fine unicorns can control their magic. In theory, if a unicorn A) had the knowledge, and B) enough control over their magic, could they grasp a sub-atomic particle? And, if so, they could create nuclear spells (which I believe the fan-approved term is mega-spells) and they wouldn't even need an unstable element to do it (though it would make it easier.
If a unicorn can generate true lightning, they can make plasma, which would imply the possibility of creating fusion.
As such a self-sustaining (to a point) plasma ball.
Ah, my sleep deprived mind can't stay on track.
You know what, atlas, use a basic understanding of physics to propel these unicorns into space. It's not like it's rocket science!
7493387
7493542 I mean... I guess? Allthough it sounds like you could make all of those spereate spells, instead of one big spell. He could create the required elements step by step and use them in the final spell.
If cast all at once this would be a megaspell (which definitely exist within my universe). Also, isn't magitech supposed to be technology imbued with magical properties? This sounds more like science magic :P
7492395
As a friend has said in one of his stories, "twice is a coincidence, thrice is a pattern."
Refusing to choose from a set of given options is still choosing.
Also, would it be possible for him to run into (or even inspire?) Starswirl the Bearded?
7493886 well, the only spoiler would be when exactly he's going to unlock it, as i'm sure everybody has made the connection by now.
Starswirl will have an appearence, but only in a very minor role.
7493755
I think my sleep-addled brain was trying out several different spells, but couldn't stay on target for long enough to transfer that tidbit of clarity.
Granted my semi-pre-coffee brain is not much better.
Hmm... I wonder if he could use dnd except experience to create spells such as a fire sphere.
Imagine Bigby's Magical Hands and all Five of their amazing schools, grasping, crushing, inter posing, clenched and forceful!
7494330 I'm afraid since I never played DnD I won't be able to accurately give him any DnD spells. :P Biby's hand sounds fun though, but I don't think that's going to be possible with runes...
7494426 He can use Mage hand right now, it's the Equivalent of Levitation, and magic missile is another one that would be interesting
It's the new hoof bump.
7513582 started by a earth pony called night rider.
XD wow! I love Applebees! XD they have really good 4 cheese pasta with honey pepper chicken.
Mysterious shadow huh, either that's Dusty or some shadow corp. investigating him.
I bet the floating pegasus is Crimson's partner/future marefriend/*wink wink nudge nudge*
So, she couldn't actually read the notes back then?
7794059
I like the breakfast burger, you know, the one with enough fat to burn down the South Pole xD
8111490
Probably had pictures
The alphabet we use now is the Phoenician alphabet, not the Latin one, unless Atlas lived in a country where the commonly written language actually used the Latin alphabet
8665236
The phonetians invented the alphabet, the Greeks improved it, the Romans (Latin People) developed it further and that's basically the modern Anglo alphabet today.
i half imagine alex's maging be orange, just red and green together
10172138
...
Orange is red and Yellow.
Red and green just makes reddish green.
Or greenish red.
10435984
Green and red make yellow. Thought you should know
10734229
10435984
That depends entirely on whether you are working with pigments or with lights.