• Published 2nd Feb 2016
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Ice Fall - Bluespectre



Celestia has gone. The forces of the night, victorious at the battle of River Valley, push on towards the castle of the two sisters. Two friends find themselves caught up in the maelstrom of war and their lives will likely never be the same again.

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Chapter Forty Six - Back to Basics

CHAPTER FORTY SIX

BACK TO BASICS

It wasn’t quite what he’d expected: there were no fluffy white clouds, no sparkly ponies and certainly no land of golden wheat and blue skies. It was…stars…lots and lot of stars, and the sensation of being incredibly small. Bracken stared up at the sky; it was beautiful as always, utterly flawless in fact, and even the shooting stars had a magnificence that acted as a strange counterbalance to the twinkling of the motionless stars. He smiled. Mum had always loved stargazing; when he was a foal, she would sit with him, pointing out the various constellations in all of their cold eternal beauty. On some nights, it was like looking into a ‘band’ of stars, an impossibly wide ribbon of silver, a river of light upon which he was a sailor on his boat travelling through eternity. He sighed,

“Beautiful…”

“I’m glad you think so, Bracken.” The voice beside him said quietly, “You appreciate the work a pony has to put in to craft something that can stir the heart. It is one of the things that I like about you.”

Bracken closed his eyes, feeling the familiar scent wash over him, the caress of her hoof down his neck. He dared to look up at the midnight coated mare lying beside him, watching him with her fathomless azure eyes.

“Surprised to see me?” she asked demurely.

He shook his head, “No…Divine Majesty.”

Nightmare Moon chuckled, “Ah, Bracken, your thoughts are as open to me as the pages of a book.” She brushed his blue mane with her hoof and sighed, “It’s not surprising really, that I slip your mind and your heart when I am not near. It is…difficult.”

Bracken frowned, “I don’t understand.”

“Magic, Bracken,” she lifted a hoof, pointing to the sky above them, “it is alive - a force that is both a powerful energy and a living presence that…” she paused, “but you know this, you have seen it…haven’t you?”

“I…” Bracken pondered for a moment, “Yes, Divine Majesty, I have.”

“Yes.” The Goddess rolled onto her side and pressed her muzzle into his neck, “I can always tell when you have been unfaithful, my stallion.” Bracken felt his blood run cold. “You are mine, Bracken, and mine alone. I have forgiven your misdeeds, even ignoring your assistance of my enemies, but all things come to an end eventually…all things…”

The black stallion said nothing. He didn’t know what to say. Neira, Pickles, they were both gone now, both of them. He closed his eyes and hung his head. Everything was so confusing when he was with the Goddess, and yet strangely transparent, as though the ‘other’ world, the world without her, was nothing more than a dream. Here, with this magnificent creature, was the only true reality. He hated himself for this,

“Divine Majesty, may I ask a question?”

She nodded, “Very well.”

“Pickles…”

“Ah yes, the first mare you lay with, was she not?” Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow, “What do wish to ask me?”

“Did you…” Bracken could feel his chest tightening, “Did you order her to be…executed?”

The Goddess fixed him with an unreadable look and then gazed up at the stars,

“Would you believe me if I said no?”

Bracken nodded slowly, “I would.”

“Then you are naïve.” She pushed herself to her hooves and ruffled her wings, “What I say and what I do are mine to understand and mine alone. Nopony else can know my mind, not even you my stallion.” The Goddess looked up at the sky and sighed, “Not even you.”

Bracken stood up, “Majesty, I have not seen you in my dreams for a long time. I wondered…”

“-If I had lost interest in you?” Nightmare Moon finished for him, “Perhaps I had, or perhaps I simply had more pressing matters to deal with.” She snorted and tossed her mane, “Your ‘friends’ have been causing me no end of consternation, Bracken, and they must be dealt with once and for all.” She trotted over to him, her wings stretched out either side of her, making her appeare double her size, “You and I will be together soon enough.” She smiled at him, “Does this…please you?”

He nodded, “Yes, Majesty.”

Nightmare Moon barked out a laugh, “Your encounter with Arc in the mountains was quite fortuitous it seems. Not only did he inform me of your location, but that you are safe with our allies at the fortress of the four winds tribe. Fate appears to favour you quite admirably, my stallion.”

Bracken nodded slowly, “It has a strange way of showing it.”

“So cynical!” the Goddess admonished, “But no matter, I have a few matters to attend to and then, I shall be with you. This time…” she leaned down and nuzzled him, “Very much in the flesh.”

Nightmare Moon wrapped her wings around Bracken’s body. The sensation was beyond sensual, taking him into a world of otherwordly softness and bliss that he could so easily drift away on. The mare smiled down at him,

“No more wandering, my stallion.” She kissed him softly on the nose, “You are mine now, all mine…”

*********************************

Chalk groaned. Why was the light so blasted bright in here? Lifting his head from the pillow he covered his eyes with his foreleg. Dear Goddesses, was he still alive? Everything ached! How the hell could his body manage that? Something was pressed against his forehead. Whatever it was felt moist, and cooling, and…wonderful. He closed his eyes and let the tension in his body relax.

“How’s my patient this morning?”

The voice was very pleasant and feminine, reminding him not so much of Gretel, but of his mother. It was gentle, loving, and made him feel like snuggling down into the covers of his bed. He smiled,

“Sore, but I’ll live. I think.”

The voice chuckled, “My, but you were so brave, Chalky. The fortress is positively buzzing with the stories about you.”

Chalk opened his eyes and peered up into Arathea’s, “About me? What stories?”

She grinned, “You don’t remember?”

He shook his head, wincing, “No! that is…” he couldn’t seem to recall much, only the corridor, the black shape, running, those eyes…dear Goddesses, those eyes! He sat up suddenly, feeling the world lurch around him, making his stomach churn horribly,

“Arathea! That…that thing!”

“Shhh,” she placed the cloth back on his forehead, “don’t worry, its gone now. We sent it back to where it came from.”

“We?” he asked curiously.

Arathea nodded, “Oh, we all helped a little I think. Your friend managed to shut the portal just in the nick of time, otherwise, well…” she shrugged, “Who can say? It doesn’t do to speculate on what may have been, only what is.”

The door opened into the room. It was Maroc.

“How is he?”

Arathea looked up, smiling, “He’s well. The injuries are healing as they should and his magic has been restored. He needs to be careful for a while though, he’s been through a lot.”

“Hmm” Maroc gazed down at Chalk on the bed, “I’ll say.” He raised an eyebrow, “I’m going to have words with that bloody wizard when he’s up and about. I can’t believe how irresponsible he was, and I suppose how stupid I was by not destroying that damned thing years ago.” Maroc glowered, “I don’t mind him experimenting, but if that…that ‘thing’ had got in here, only the Goddess knows what damage it could have wrought, and to endanger our son like that…”

Arathea shook her head, placing a hoof on Maroc’s mouth, “Now, remember what we said?” she tapped him on the nose playfully, “We won’t stifle creativity in a pony, you said it yourself, dear.”

“I know I did!” Maroc snorted, “It’s just…” he stomped a hoof and tossed his mane, “I know love, you’re right.” He looked down at Chalk, “Ignore me Chalky, I get a little upset when it comes to protecting my people. What you did was unbelievably brave, and I can only thank you for what you did.”

“What I did?” Chalk rubbed his head with a hoof, “I don’t remember any of it too well. Oooh! I feel like a dragon’s taken a dump in my brain…”

Arathea giggled.

“Not something I’d like to experience,” Maroc said yawning, “anyway, I’m off to bed. Battling legendary monsters really takes it out of me.” He leaned forward and kissed Arathea, “See you later love, or tomorrow…Goddess almighty, my head!”

Chalk watched the bedraggled stallion wander out, staggering slightly, but safe. He lay back on the large pillow, staring up at the ceiling, “I don’t get it. What happened?”

The grey mare began stroking his mane, smiling down at him, “You opened a portal, a doorway to what should have remained sealed for all eternity. Quite an accomplishment, but not something I would have thought anypony would have knowingly done.”

“But what was that…that thing?” Chalk asked, “It just came at us! There was magic, shouting and…and…oh,no…Starswirl! He was hurt!”

Arathea put her hoof on his chest and pushed him back down onto the bed, “He’s fine, just resting, like you should be.”

“And Bracken?”

The mare chuckled, “He’s sleeping. He’s the one who saved you all too, and an earth pony no less.”

“I wish I knew what happened,” Chalk groaned, “or maybe I don’t. Bracken’s always telling me that ignorance is bliss.” He paused, “You know, now I think about it, I’m pretty sure he meant something by that…”

Arathea laughed, “Don’t worry yourself, young Chalky. Sleep now…sleep.”

Chalk yawned. What time was it anyway? He couldn’t tell, but he supposed it didn’t really matter. The way she stroked his mane felt nice…very nice. He smiled, thinking back to the first time he’d felt his heart feel so at ease, of a ship in full sail, its Captain at the helm with the wind tugging at her yellow mane while she gazed into his eyes…

***********************

“Bracken…”

“Mmm…Majesty…”

“Bracken? You will need to wake soon, you cannot stay here forever.”

“I want to…”

“I know…” The midnight mare sighed, shaking her smoke like mane, “All things in time, my black stallion.” She ran a hoof along his chest, “All things.”

With a huff, Nightmare Moon rose to her hooves and stretched, “You have a way of distracting me from my purpose, Bracken. I find this…intriguing…”

Bracken scratched his head, “Distracting?”

The Goddess laughed, “Indeed! I was furious with you for endangering yourself, although I can see from your memories that you actually did the opposite and rescued your friends from a fate that would have been…interesting.”

Bracken sat up and gave his mane a shake while a black wing wrapped around him, “Majesty, what was that thing? It came out of the portal after the others and…”

“Hush!” Nightmare Moon brought her stallion’s head to her chest and held him, “Do not think anymore on such matters. The world is right now, as right as it can be.” She chuckled softly, “For now.”

“Mmm.” Bracken moaned, snuggling into her. Whenever he was near her, with her, her scent, her presence, he felt…safe. Part of him wondered if she were a figment of his imagination, a leftover of the trauma from when Celestia pulled the spell from his head. Maybe she was, and if she were, did it matter? This felt so real; this closeness, this warmth. The moon, the stars, and the deep azure eyes that gazed into his were so beautiful, he didn’t care if he were losing his mind or not. All he wanted was to be with her.

Nightmare Moon kissed him on the forehead, “Bracken, awake now, I shall be with you soon.”

He didn’t want her to leave. He didn’t want to have to leave this place, the peace of the night and the warmth of her embrace. She tapped him on the nose,

“Come now!” she laughed, “Have patience, my stallion - back to the world of light and your friends.”

Brilliant light suddenly burst around him.

“Gah!” Bracken gasped as a pair of huge green eyes stared down into his from only a few inches away, “What the…?”

“Having a nice dream were we?” Chalk sniggered, “’Majesty’? Pfff!”

Bracken shoved him away and swung off the bed, “Give over, will you! Bloody hell, Chalky, you’re going to be the death of me one day.”

“Well, if you’re going to go, you’re better going with a smile on your face.” Chalk reasoned, prancing away. He returned moments later with a tea service floating in his magic, “Cuppa?”

Bracken let out a sigh and nodded, “Thanks Chalky.” He took the cup from his friend while he poured, “Luna’s arse, what a mess…”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Chalk said quietly, pouring the milk, “I ate all the muffins and got crumbs everywhere.”

“Eh? Not the bloody muffins, you berk! I meant…” Bracken waved a hoof, “this! Everything! What in Equestria happened?” he looked up at the unicorn and rubbed his eyes, “And what the hell happened to your head?!”

Chalk reached up and gingerly touched the bandage, “Oh yeah.”

“’Oh yeah’?” Bracken shook his head, “It was that bloody grey unicorn wasn’t it? It was all his fault! Goddess almighty, Chalky, that guys a maniac!”

Chalk shrugged, “Starswirl? I wouldn’t have said so, he’s just inquisitive.”

“Inquisitive?” Bracken sipped his tea and groaned. He didn’t want to berate his friend, and he’d obviously been hurt too, but this near suicidal streak that lay within him was beginning to look like an unavoidable unicorn trait - an eccentricity that seemed to border genius and madness. Goddess forbid his friend ever slipped off the edge.

“Yeah, well, it could have been worse.” Chalk said with a yawn.

“You got that right.” Bracken sniffed, “You could have drunk all the tea too!”

“Ah…” Chalky rubbed his muzzle, “Sorry about that.”

Bracken shook his head, “You’re my friend, Chalky, I just…worry about you, you know?”

“Yeah…” the white unicorn scrubbed his mane, “I know.”

“What was it like over there?”

Chalk looked away, his gaze distant, “Like…history, frozen in time. It was a graveyard, Brack, and it scared the crap out of me.” He shuddered, “I think I’m going to be seeing those…ponies…” he sighed, “for a very long time.”

“Ponies? There were ponies there?” Bracken asked in surprise.

Chalk nodded, “I thought they were statues, but…they weren’t.” He sighed and rubbed his face, “It was like everything and everypony had suddenly just ‘stopped’, you know? Like time had stood still for them.” He took a sip of his tea, “Remember the island? This was like that - all that pink and blue crystal stuff everywhere.” Chalk shuddered, “I don’t want to see that damnable stuff ever again!”

Bracken rubbed his friends shoulder reassuringly, “Well, I don’t know what that thing was that chased you, but you’re here, safe, and still in one piece.”

“Only just!” Chalk replied shaking his mane, “If it wasn’t for Starswirl, I wouldn’t be here now.”

“If it wasn’t for Starswirl, you wouldn’t have gone through that bloody portal in the first place!” Bracken replied loudly.

Chalk went to say something but relented, raising a hoof, “You’re right…” he looked over his shoulder towards the door, “How is he anyway? Arathea said he was alright, but I haven’t seen him.”

Bracken shrugged, “I don’t know, and frankly I don’t really care. He nearly got you killed.”

Chalk snorted, “Becoming a habit this, isn’t it?” clopping his hind leg, he jumped off the chair, “Well, I don’t know about you, but I want to explore. I can’t stand being cooped up all the time.”

“Well explore away, my friend,” Bracken laughed, “but beware of strange grey unicorns and portals!”

Chalk smiled, “What about you?”

“Me?” Bracken shrugged, “Think I’ll stop here and read for a while, I still feel exhausted from last night.”

With a wave, Chalk trotted out of the room and down the brightly lit corridor. It was full sunshine outside and felt wonderfully warming against his fur. Actually, the fortress itself was surprising warm, and had a vibrancy to it that gave an impression of welcome, and of being ‘home’. Even outside, the scenery was bright, and exceptionally beautiful today. The mountains dominated everything, their snowy peaks pure and white, the sun glinting off the slopes making them sparkle like a million diamonds. He couldn’t help but smile at the magnificence of it all, and eventually, and rather reluctantly, trotted off to see more of this incredible place.

The corridors abounded with yet more of the colourful tapestries, carpets and sconces. Dried flower arrangement sat here and there, each carefully placed just so, adding a tailored individual touch to each area. It was unbelievable how much care and thought the lady of the fortress had paid to her home, and also the amount of time spent. Now she was a mother, doubtless she would have less time to spend on the decorating, however the army of staff seemed to be just as dedicated to the upkeep of their home as their mistress was. Everywhere there were ponies cleaning, dusting, and generally caring for this beautiful place. Chalk smiled, in fact, he didn’t think he’d stopped smiling since he’d left the bedchamber this morning. Staff here and there would bow or curtsey as he passed by and he would wave to them happily. It was a joyful place - one of life and the sheer exuberance of being alive. Chalk liked it here, he liked it very much indeed.

“Sir?” a lilac unicorn mare appeared dressed in a black a white maids uniform, “Master Starswirl has requested your presence. Would you kindly follow me?”

Chalk shrugged, trotting after the maid, while admiring the changing décor of the fortress’s halls.

“It must take some upkeep this place.” Chalk said conversationally, “I imagine you’re all kept busy.”

The maid nodded, glancing over her shoulder at him, “Yes, sir.”

Chalk smiled back at her, watching her cheeks blush before she quickly looked away. He still had it! It was hard being so devilishly attractive, he wondered to himself with a wry grin - he was virtually beating mares off with a stick lately. Chuckling, his thoughts drifted to Gretel and a sudden wave of melancholy washed over him with its insidious tendrils. Even though she said she would, what if…what if she didn’t want to wait for him anymore? He couldn’t blame her really, he’d been away from her for months now, and for all she knew he could be dead. He pondered how he would feel in her shoes - if he were the one left behind and forever wondering what had happened to the pony he loved. Chalk sniffed, a stinging in his eyes threatening to send forth tears he didn’t want to shed. He missed her; Goddesses, he missed her so much. Thankfully he was quickly distracted by a large dark wood door looming in front of him, the sound of glass clinking and bubbling coming from beyond it a sure sign that somepony was at work in there.

The maid knocked.

“Come!”

“Master Starswirl? It’s…Eep!” the maid suddenly vanished into the room and the door slammed shut behind her. Chalk’s eyes went wide. What the hell?! Should he open the door and…hang on…

Giggles and laughing drifted through the narrow gap in the doorframe, catching Chalk’s ear. He leaned forward to listen only to have to jump back as the maid re-emerged, adjusting her headpiece,

“Oh! Er…” she cleared her throat, “Master Starswirl will see you now, sir.” She bobbed her head and trotted away, a huge grin on her face. Suddenly a grey face appeared around the edge of the door,

“Iris? Could you send tea please, for two. Oh, and some of Madam Huckleberry’s tarts too.”

The maid bobbed her head and vanished around the corner of the corridor.

“Chalky! So good to see you my boy, please, come in, come in!” The grey coated wizard waved a hoof, closing the door behind Chalk with an expansive smile, “Thank the Gods you’re alright. My goodness I thought we were goners for sure. I have to say though, you really surprised me back there.” He clopped Chalk on the shoulder, steering him into a chair, “What you did was…well, frankly my boy…unbelieveable!”

“It was?” Chalk shrugged, “I don’t remember much, just that I ran like buggery from whatever that ‘thing’ was. I’ll be honest, Starswirl, its put me off adventuring for a while - I’m getting a bit fed up with near death encounters!”

“Tish tosh!” Starswirl said dismissively waving a hoof, “The price of knowledge can be a little danger at times, my young friend. Take these for example,” he tossed Chalk a small egg like device, “what do you think of that, eh?”

Chalk stared at the thing, unsure what to make of it, “Well, um…it’s a metal egg?”

“Ah! And well you may think so.” Starswirl picked it up in his magic, “A little project of mine; you’ll like this one I’m sure.” He cleared his throat, “Perhaps you are aware of the unstable magical compounds being produced by the griffins?” Chalk nodded. “Awful stuff,” Starswirl continued, “a diabolical mixture that could blast you into tiny little pony pieces if you only so much as dropped it.”

He didn’t need a description, Chalk had seen the damned stuff in action, albeit against the enemy. Still, the thought of it being used against his friends wasn’t something he wanted to contemplate.

“Now,” Starswirl said, perching a pair of wire frame spectacles on his muzzle, “imagine if you will, condensing such magic, rendering it down as a chef creates a reduction: enhancing, emphasising.” He slowly turned the egg before Chalk’s eyes, “If all that devastation, all that raw energy, could fit inside something as small as a chicken’s egg…”

“That’s one hell of a chicken!” Chalk gasped.

“Oh, don’t worry, this one’s empty.” Starswirl replied offhoofedly, “But I do have several prototypes ready for testing.”

“But…why would you need to make something like this?” Chalk asked in amazement, “Do you realise what these could do in the wrong hooves?”

Starswirl clucked his tongue, “Nonsense. Look.” He pulled his stool closer and climbed up onto it while placing the egg beside them on the table, “Imagine something so powerful, so unimaginable deadly, that should you use it your enemy would likely retaliate with the same force.” He explained, “Both would cancel each other out, creating a stalemate that would result in both combatants being too frightened to use it against the other. In effect, this would remove even the possibility for it to be used inappropriately.” The wizard smiled, “I call this…” he paused for effect, “the Magical Annihilation Device” Starswirl tapped the metal egg, his eyes sparkling, “In essence Chalky, you would have to ‘MAD’ to us it as a weapon.” The grey pony waggled his eyebrows.

“You don’t think that, you know, they’re a little…dangerous?” Chalk asked staring at the thing, “I mean, they’re so small.”

“Aha! Well, that’s the beauty of them you see.” Starswirl adjusted his glasses and rotated the egg, “the usual initiation method is a timed fuse of some design, although with it being so unstable, sneezing might work just as well.” He shrugged, “But this! See here…” he pointed to a small hole in the top, “Pop this small rod in here, and you see how it has two crystals? The red one glows to show its in place and when you press it, the green light comes on to show its ready.”

Chalk furrowed his brow, “Ready? What happens then?”

Starswirl shrugged, “You have about thirty seconds to run.”

“Thirty seconds?!”

“Mmhmm.” Starswirl nodded placing the egg back on the bench, “I timed how fast an average pony could run in a straight line out of minimum safe distance. Of course, I allowed for various factors, but I think it would do the job nicely.”

“Dear Goddesses.” Chalk breathed.

“I know, right? Imagine it Chalky, an end to war, an end to suffering and all the killing! If we can export these across the globe, we’ll be able to finally have the peace we’ve always wanted. Of course…” he pondered tapping his chin, “we’d have to ensure all sides had them, but it is most certainly achievable.” He grinned, “I’ve even considered them for mining applications, with smaller ones for blasting rather than all that manual work.”

“Smaller ones?” Chalk asked in surprise.

“Work in progress my boy, work in progress.”

Chalk shook his head in wonder. It was entirely possible, he supposed. After all, if each combatant had a method of annihilating the other, then who would be insane enough to want to use them? There was the slight problem that the wendigo now had these things of course, or rather, Starswirl did, but it was only a matter of time wasn’t it? He shuddered. It was all the more reason to try and get him away from here and back to Equestria. If nothing else, they’d be able to complete their mission and be hailed as heroes! Speaking of which…

“Starswirl? How come you’re not, you know, injured? I thought you’d been hurt last night?”

“Hmm?” Starswirl looked up from making notes in a pocket book, “Oh! You mean after our little soiree through the portal?” he said with a shrug, “Iris is quite the seamstress young Chalky.” He lifted up the corner of his cloak, displayed the shaved lines and neat stitches, “A little magic and a light touch is all it took and I feel as right as rain!”

Chalk shook his head in wonder. Come to think of it, he had more than his fair share of scars, and they pulled every now and again, reminding him of the damage he’d had inflicted upon his body since his fateful decision to join the army. Gretel didn’t mind though, and she certainly had more than a few of her own. He remember sitting with her on the rug in her cabin one day and tracing each others, trying to remember how they’d got them and where. The feel of her hooves against his fur had been tickly, sending him into fits of giggles, until eventually…

“Now.” Starswirl thumped the top of his notebook, making Chalk jump, “I want to have a look at that magic of yours.”

Chalk blinked, “My magic? Why?”

The grey wizard shook his mane, “You don’t know? Good grief, Chalky, your magic’s a mess! Has nopony ever given you mana alignment training? In a stallion your age, you should have had at least some.”

“I don’t even know what that is.” Chalk replied truthfully, “I went to school like everypony else, for a while anyway, and then went into the workshop to learn my mum’s trade.”

Starswirl nodded, “And what was that?”

“Woodworking mostly, some textiles and…”

The mage facehoofed, “You…you were a woodworker?!”

“Well…yes,” Chalk replied, “what was wrong with that?”

Starswirl shook his head in disbelief, “Basic object manipulation, right? Nothing more complicated?”

“I can…um…use illumination spells, light fires and that.” Chalk said feeling a little embarrassed.

Starswirl shook his head, “It all makes sense now.” He scratched his forehead and trotted over to a cabinet, returning with a large square device which he placed in front of Chalk, “Right, put your hooves on the pads and clear your mind. No talking now.”

Chalk peered at the thing: it was a two foot square glass cube, with pads equally spaced for your hooves and a large dial that had numerous small crystals and numbers set into it. He shrugged and did as the wizard requested, placing his hooves on it and, taking a calming breath, closed his eyes.

“Now,” Starswirl began, “I want you to listen to my voice, and only my voice.” A moment later, Chalk began to hear a pencil scratching against paper. “Think of a flower, a small white flower with a yellow centre. Think of it growing, taller, its petals growing outwards as it reaches towards the sun. It’s bigger now, larger…larger…”

Chalk did as he was instructed and pictured it all in his mind, feeling his magic tingling and warming him as he did so. It was unusual, but he went along with it.

“Open your eyes, Chalky.”

Starswirl leaned across, peering at the gauge, then returned to making notes as he nodded his head. He looked up at the white unicorn over the top of his spectacles,

“Now, I want you to light this candle.”

Well, that was easy enough. With little more than a tiny trickle, Chalk excited the air around the wick, causing the air to shimmer and a small flame to pop into existence.

“Hmm.” Starswirl placed a strange wire structure on Chalk’s head, adjusting things on it for several moments and then placed a large glass globe in front of him. “I want you to imagine a flame,” The mage said calmly, “a very, very small flame. Centre it in the middle of this globe.”

Chalk took a breath and stared at the globe, trying to create the flame as normal. Nothing happened. Furrowing his brow, Chalk tried again…still nothing.

Starswirl was saying something, but Chalk couldn’t here the words. Determined to do this, he concentrated, focussing on the globe, channelling his magic. He pushed. It was like there was a blockage there of some sort, a restriction that was holding back the flow, a flow that was beginning to back up, the pressure building more and more. He blocked out everything around him; he could see it in his minds eye - the air dancing, a tiny spark, a flame burning brighter and brighter, bringing the warmth of the sun to the…

The very air in the room seemed to move, and then screamed in protest as the glass globe exploded into a million fragments. Chalk ducked just before the pressure wave hit him, yet…never did. Peering over the edge of the bench, he thanked the Goddesses that Starswirl had thrown up a shield around the thing or the two of them could have been reduced to bloodied shreds.

Inside the glowing blue light of the shield, the glass globe had been reduced to a lump of shining molten material…glass.

Starswirl stared at the shield, sweat beading on his brow, “I think we need to do some basic exercises before we do any more, Mister Chalk.” He said breathily..

“Wasn’t that meant to happen?” Chalk looked down at the contraption his hooves were resting on. The needle hadn’t budged much - it just quivered in place. He felt his heart sink and his ears flopped dejectedly, “Oh…”

Starswirl pushed a glass of water in front of him, taking a mouthful of his own,

“The needle’s not moving because it only goes so high.” He said quietly, “You have a great deal of magic within you, a great deal indeed, but with so little training it will eventually kill you.” Starswirl removed the metal frame from Chalk’s head, “If you spent your life doing mundane and simple tasks then you would in all likelihood never notice, but all it will take is one traumatic event where your body reacts instinctively to danger and…total thaumaturgical reversal.”

“What that?!” Chalk said in alarm, “That doesn’t sound good!”

“It’s where your magic, with nowhere to go, turns in on itself, consuming all the energy within your body until…” Starswirl clopped his hooves together, “Poof”.

“Poof?”

The mage nodded, “Poof…”

“I don’t want to go poof!” Chalk jumped down off the chair, “What am I going to do?!”

Starswirl adjusted his hat and cleared his throat, “We need to remove the restriction in your energy flow and allow the channels to open up so the magic can dissipate effectively. We’ll practice basic spells first, bringing you up slowly so you can better understand what it is your magic is doing.”

“So long as I don’t go ‘poof’ I’ll do whatever it takes, Starswirl.” Chalk said emphatically, “I’m ready now, when do we start?”

The grey stallion smiled, “Now’s as good a time as any my dear fellow. Now, first things first, I want you to open that draw and lift out the wooden box with the bronze inlay.”

Chalk concentrated, reaching out, lifting the handle, pulling out the draw and floating over the box to land neatly in front of Starswirl,

“Easy!” Chalk announced, clopping his hoof on the bench, “What’s next?”

“Hmm?” Starswirl lifted out his pipe and tobacco, “Oh this wasn’t part of the lesson.” He packed his pipe and held it up, indicating for Chalk to light it, “I just wanted a smoke.”

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