Earth, Magic and Sparkles

by Dreams of Ponies

Spears, Flying and an Upset Princess

I checked my journal for what felt like the tenth time. My gaze shifted around the diagram as I reviewed my notes. It seems correct. I reached into my saddlebag and pulled out a golden compass, a gem studded device, prepared before starting out on this journey. It pointed due north as I followed the indicator until I stood in the center of the lines I'd carved into the stone underneath me. The compass spun in circles, a sign that I was right where I had measured. My paranoia has always irritated me while I was working, however, in the end, it's better to err on the side of caution. I turned my head, noting that everything was as it needed to be, a few strands of silver hair falling across the eye holes in my mask. I pushed them back with a hoof, making a note to see a barber when and if I made it back to Canterlot. My blue coat was also in need of serious cleaning after being stained with dirt, blood and more dirt.

"When I make it back to Canterlot," —I placed the compass back into my saddlebag— "I'm definitely taking a bath." I had lost the reluctance to talk with myself a few months ago, as the locals here hardly spoke any Equish. I pulled out a map of Equestria, a map of the Zebra lands and an old global map and placed them across each other. Placing the two country maps on the top, I followed the line I had drawn from the Canterlot mountains across the ocean to my general location. Everything seemed to be going to plan—not that I was put at ease by this.

Still, I was grateful that I hadn't run into any dangerous creatures in this jungle—well, besides the parasprites and the crocodiles. I walked over the six pointed star carving to examine the poles that stuck out at the end of each point. I struck the sapphire embedded lightly in the top of the first copper pole, hearing it resonate in response. I walked around and performed the same action on each stone, sighing with relief after each one. I always worried that I had made a mistake when crafting each gem, and so I couldn't help checking them multiple times. This, of course was silly; as a gem's frequency doesn't change without some form of magic acting upon it.

"I really am just delaying the moment of truth I suppose," I said to myself. My head slumped in self pity for a moment. This was why I had been travelling across the world, was it not? This would be the moment when I would finally prove myself to all the snobby horn heads, and I was having the shakes now of all times? I trotted back and forth, gathering my wits and trying to bolster my resolve. I had made it this far and I would not back down now.

I gathered my saddlebags and looking around for anything I might miss, before I gave the entire area a final evaluation: sapphires set to the correct frequency, magic circle aligned with the flow of magic, all equipment and gem collar still secured around my neck, empty feeling in the pit of my stomach? Seemed like everything was ready to go except my self confidence.

After a moment's hesitation I touched a small diamond set among other gems, in my collar. A small beam of white light pulsed from it, straight into the sapphire rod directly in front of me. The blue gem brightened with the light, resonating to the proper frequency before it pulsed with magic. The blue aura flowed down through the rod into the star-like pattern beneath it, causing some of the carvings to change color in response.

I stood with my mouth open, staring at the magic I'd practiced several times; before I quickly turned and repeated the process with the other five sapphires. Each glowed in response, the magic flowing down and into the carved circle. I waited for several long moments, waiting for the magic to take hold. When nothing happened I started to walk forward.

"What the buck did I do wrong?" I said aloud, before the world seemed to shake; then everything went blue, then black.

---

I vaguely remember hitting the ground, or at least my body ached to indicate as much. I stood up, then promptly fell back down when the world spun around me. I yelled a few unsophisticated words as I confirmed that yes, my side was badly bruised. I laid there a while, resting and observing my surroundings from a down to earth perspective.

Chuckling at my own stupid joke, I glanced at the bottom of the oak trees that were native to Equestria, enjoying the cool breeze that drifted down the Canterlot mountains this time of year. The temperate climate in contrast to the stark humidity of the Zebra Lands was really put into perspective. I had become accustomed to the Zebra homelands over a long period and had adjusted to the differences. I really didn't appreciate how wonderful Equestrian weather was until now.

I slowly stood up, holding on to a small stone pedestal beside me, taking deep breaths before risking another fit of dizziness. I examined the pedestal itself, a small carved diagram on the surface that was a miniature duplicate of the Zebra Land circle. This one had lines protruding from each star point that ended in a circle, forming a seal that acted as a magical anchor. The pedestal had six gems corresponding with each point, the gem in the south-west position now glowing softly.

Standing up carefully, I look around to account for any equipment that might have become dislodged in my magical journey. I turned my head, looking out over the cliff side at Canterlot, the wind blowing hard against my back.

One down, Five to go! Those horn heads didn't have anything on me now, I doubt any of them had ever crossed an entire continent in a single teleport. Looking around to be sure nopony was around, I leaped into the air and gave an hoof bump to the sun itself. Take that, Celestia! I let myself enjoy the moment, the wonderful scent of pine trees filled my lungs. It'll be nice to take a real shower for the first time in months. I turned to make my way out of the grove and then down the slopes of the mountain. The trees seemed to be waving at me as I passed by, like seeing an old friend after many years apart.

I suddenly stopped, hearing a noise coming from the general direction I was headed. There shouldn't be any pony up here, this area wasn't a tourist site or anything. In fact, I had taken measures to prevent it from being discovered. I'd placed a few signs that warned of dangerous creatures, and had made sure not to take the same route each time I ventured up here so as to not leave a trail.

My journey had taken me away from Equestria for several months, though, so only Luna knows what happened between now and then. The noise was getting louder, then I heard the flapping of wings along with two voices. I trotted quietly to the coverage of an oak, the bark scratching against my coat. My knees bent down and I lifted my head, turning my ears up high. I could just about make out the words of a stallion, deep and strong.

"I don't see anything here. Are you sure this is where you felt the magic disturbance, Princess?" he said from above.

I heard some muffled response, not quite loud enough to make out the words, but enough to tell the speaker was a mare. Also, what was Luna or Celestia doing out here? Luna knew about this little venture of mine, and Celestia wouldn't bother to come here herself. That matter notwithstanding, who exactly was here now?

"I see a small clearing this way, Your Highness," said the same male voice.

"Allow us to secure the area first, Princess," announced a second stallion.

Finally I could make out the mare's words, kind of irritated but still formal.

"If you feel you must go first, fine, but be careful. We don't know what happened here," she insisted. "And for Celestia's sake, don't touch anything you don't recognize," she added afterwards.

She definitely didn't sound like either of the royal sisters, or Princess Cadance. Just who is this mare? As I stood up from my super sneaky position, one of the stallions landed with his back to me. I noted his golden armor and tan colored coat along with his black tail and short cropped mane. The pegasus seemed pretty standard for a guard so I relaxed a bit and walked out from under the shade of the oaks.

I heard a swooshing sound, and a spear struck the dirt a few feet in front of me. I turned my head upwards to look at my attacker, who was already holding another spear.

"Stop there monster, you shall not harm anypony here!" The stallion flapped his wings, rising above me. The sun shone from behind him, making it hard to make out any of his features.

Monster huh, where did he get that idea from? I might be dirty and a bit tattered but jeez, I've never really hurt anypony. Well, except for a few unicorns that deserved it, but that wasn't the point right now.

"What in the name of the sun and moon are you babbling about?" I hollered at the spear thrower. As I kept an eye on death-from-above, the guard in front of me turned to see all of this unfold. His eyes opened rather widely, then he bent his knees, trying for an imposing posture presumably. I heard a rapid flutter of wings, followed by a voice that was trying to sound regal, but wasn't quite there.

"Stop in the name of Equestria," said the mare as she came into view. A purple coated pegasus with a horn—okay scratch that, —a purple alicorn came into view. She promptly stopped and stared at me for what seemed to me an eternity. While she contemplated my meaning of existence, I turned my head slightly to examine her cutie mark, a purple pointed very familiar looking star. Well, this is new. I guess I need an update on the goings-on in Equestria.

"Don't move, whoever you are!" called the guard in front of me. I watched him carefully as he stood rigidly before me.

Taking a step forward, I directed my attention to the mare in question, "You're trespassing here, leave my home or I'll be forced to remove you myself."

"Don't move!" said the guard, his grip upon his spear tightening.

"It's not polite to tell a pony what they can or can't do on their property." I chastised him. "Now, you there, purple Alicorn. Please explain to me why I'm being given the evil eye." I took several steps towards the mare, but was met with considerable resistance.

A grunt following by a soft whistling indicated a spear from above as the pegasus in front of me sprung forward. I looked up to see the spear would land about a foot or two behind where I was standing. The frontal attacker was to push me back into the line of fire. If I dodged or tried to trip this guard he would most likely end up as shish kebab. I bent my knees and tapped a small gray gem on my collar, feeling a soft pulse through my bones and fur. I jumped high up towards the spear, meeting it at about twenty feet in the air. I placed my back hooves upon it and kicked off it to launch myself towards its thrower.

I was rewarded by the sight of his eyes bulging out of their sockets, seeing his lips move as the wind swept past my ears.

"Monster," he mouthed.

I collided with him, knocking him off his flight path. We spun through the air, barely avoiding clipping the tops of trees as I attempted to steer us back into the opening. My weight reduction spell prevented us from dropping into the ground, which would have happened if I hadn't used it. I struck him in the back between his wings and he tensed up. I had learned this trick from a zebra who practiced medicine and acupuncture. Wings locked in place, we drifted down to where I had angled us.

The sight that greeted me was rather funny, as the purple princess scolded the guard and turned to look at me oddly.

"I'm very sorry, Sir or Madam, I hope you aren't injured," she said.

We landed softly, I jumped off my chauffeur, scowling a little—Not that she could tell under my mask. So I took the damn thing off, shaking my silver mane as she got a look at my dirty face and blue eyes. Her eyes drifted towards my flanks, examining the ocean waves that comprised my cutie mark.

"I mean, really, attacking me just because I was wearing a zebra mask, that's kind of rude you know," I said making sure she heard the annoyance in my voice. Truth be told, though, I had actually enjoyed that just a tad. I hadn't the need to use my magic for combat scenarios in quite a while. But I don't think I'd let her know that yet.

She bowed her head to me, "Again, I apologize for the hasty actions of my guards. And they shall be reprimanded correctly." She then continued, "Now that we're speaking instead of fighting, I think we're suppose to introduce ourselves". I nodded to her, still scowling at the incompetence of this "princess". Did all guards attack ponies just because they were a bit different? I gazed down at my mask for a moment, the blue and silver paintings on it matching my coat and mane colors. It had been given to me as symbol of trust, and now I had been attacked for it. Equestria, land of friendship indeed!

I took a single step forward, bowing my head slightly, "You may call me Azure, your highness." I looked up, shifting my scowl into what I hoped was a neutral expression.

She waited politely for me to finish and then replied, "I am the Princess of Friendship Twilight Spar"—she was interrupted by a thump followed by a loud moan. We turned to observe the blue pegasus with his face on the ground with his hind quarters in the air. Twilight turned to me and shook her head, while trying not to laugh. "If you wouldn't mind."

I walked over to the flightless dunce, pushing into his back to find the knot I had caused. I then twisted and pushed my hoof into it causing him to nearly melt into a puddle as he relaxed. He lay there for several seconds, then stood up and rotated his wings. I saw a little bit of a red ting around his cheeks as he walked back and took his place at Princess Twilight's side.

"Well Princess Twilight, what can I do for you, now that the whole 'I'm not a monster bit is over'," I said to her. She turned a bit more violet at that comment. I reconsidered my statement, I needn't be this harsh with her as it wasn't completely her fault. I bowed my head slightly again and waited for her to collect her thoughts.

"First of all, I thank you for being so understanding about this miscommunication," she looked at the two guards at her either side, "and for not causing any serious injury to these two in the process." I nodded at her in acknowledgement and waited for her to continue. "I came here to investigate a unique magical output in this general area that I had detected about eight hours ago," she said.

Had I really been out that long? Most likely, but more importantly I was surprised she was able to detect my teleportation magic. It was supposed to use the natural flow of magic in the planet to move objects from one place to the other without a giant pulse of arcane energy. Making a mental note to investigate this anomaly later, I responded to her.

"I'm afraid that was my doing, Princess. I was unaware that it would cause any noticeable disturbance."

"It certainly did cause a rather unique magical signature, but nopony seemed to notice besides myself, so I asked Princess Celestia about it." Twilight responded. "She said it was probably nothing to worry about, but that I may investigate it if I was really concerned," She trotted back and forth a bit at this, then the pitch of her voice raised slightly,"but the last time I had this kind of warning sign was when Nightmare Moon was returning and she told me the same thing then," She looked around, but not at me in particular then continued. "But she was right in the end about that, so I shouldn't worry, I guess." She then turned around abruptly pacing perpendicular to me as the guards watched her with bemused expressions. "But if I hadn't worried about it, then I wouldn't have written to her, and then she wouldn't have sent me to Ponyville and I would have never met my friends," she said looking worried.

She stopped and turned, looking at me as her face turned a bit crimson. I really need to be careful around this mare, she seems a bit eccentric. I watched her take a deep breath, then she raised her hoof to her chest and pushed it out forward, exhaling and relaxing slightly afterwards.

"So, please explain to me why we have this large pulse of magic in the mountains above Canterlot and why you were wearing a zebra mask," Twilight asked.

I looked at her straight in the face, straightened my posture and said with as even of a tone I could manage. "None of your business, really." Her mouth dropped open and both of the guards scowled at me for this. "Honestly, I don't owe you any explanation, Princess. I'd rather just leave you to puzzle out the answers for yourself and go on my merry way."

"I need to talk with Princess Celestia," she looked at me, her composure crumbling like a sandcastle when the tide comes in, "she will know what to do. In the meantime, would you please come with me to the palace? I'd love to know how you performed that magic earlier," Princess Twilight continued.

I'd rather go take a nosedive off a cliff than deal with unicorns poking and prodding me like some kind of test subject. Actually...

"I think not, Princess," I said as I started walking towards the edge of the mountain past where my pedestal and carvings rested. I looked back at the guards and the Princess of Friendship, then chuckled a bit.

"That sounds terribly boring, and honestly, I've got other things planned!" I shouted at them.

Then I jumped off the side of the very tall, precipitous mountain cliff.

Author's Note:

Hey everypony, this is my first fan work on this site so I would appreciate some constructive criticism. I definitely enjoyed writing this chapter, then rewriting it a couple more times. 1st person perspective is constricting but the personality that comes through is almost tangible, at least to me. The responses to this will help me write the next chapter, though I already know what I want to happen.

Sorry for any grammar issues, I'm doing my best to avoid them. Also the cover art for the story will change when I have one made. That one is just a place holder though I still like that picture.

Comments

[Chaosreverent]

Interesting, do warrants exist in this version of Equestria? because it seems like twilight is really abusing her authority.

[Dreams of Ponies]

7421339 Hah, the princesses are just used to ponies questioning their actions. I guess we'll see how it plays out next chapter, which will be released soon!

[wlam]

cdn-img.fimfiction.net/story/3tbs-1469284090-339022-full
This is the most horrifying thing I've seen in... at least week.

Not much to say about the story yet. The concept is interesting enough, though. I'm really always a bit annoyed at fantasy-flavoured settings that establish magical powers as an inborn trait. Something about the idea that some people are just born intrinsically superior rubs me the wrong way. A nice little "rage against the heavens" story like this is always enjoyable.

Seriously, though, don't do things like this:

Just who is this mare? though I suppose there's only 1 way to really find out.

That's just sloppy. Numbers smaller than a hundred are written out as words, not in digits. Also, try to keep narration separate from internal thoughts. "'Who is this mare,' I thought" flows a lot better than having personal commentary blend into the narration like that. It makes it easier for the readers to tell apart what is actually happening and what the main character is simply thinking to himself.

[Dreams of Ponies]

7423190 Thanks for the correction bud, I knew I missed at least one grammatical error in there. I also agree with your statement about personal dialog vs direct thought. I will do my best to avoid it in the future. I hope you continue reading and leaving constructive criticism for me to improve myself. I also plan on releasing the next chapter today with any luck so stay tuned!

[Magic Step]

"I came here to investigate a unique magical output in this general area that I had detected about eight ago,"

...Eight what? Minutes? Years? Sweet merciful Celestia, how long has it been!? Tell meee!

(Takes deep calming breaths)

Seriously, though, I'm liking your main character already. His magical methods remind me of the ones in my story. Best of luck to him!

[Emperor]

Well, Azure seems to know who Twilight Sparkle is, given he remarks her Cutie Mark seems familiar to him. That, or it seems familiar to him because the six-pointed star is the same symbol as what he assembles his gems into. If he knew who Twilight was though, I wouldn't be surprised if he was peeved because she was a unicorn prior to becoming an alicorn. That, and she talked to Celestia and not Luna, and Luna might have known it was him, since Azure mentions Luna knows about his magic work.

Regardless, it's a little interesting that this happens right after Twilicorn, since Azure is going to be out of the loop as he buts heads with the newest Princess, and Twilight is going to find the limits of what she's legally allowed to do, presumably. If Azure owned the plot of land he did his experiment on so Twilight was trespassing, then she has less legal grounds to stand on besides him "using a lot of magic". Of course, since Azure seems to want to keep his talents secret, she's going to find some tight lips.

[insertfootinmouth]

What a cliff hanger. Literally.

[JackRipper]

I turned my head, noting that everything was as it needed to be, a few strands of silver hair falling across the eye holes in my mask. I pushed them back with a hoof, making a note to see a barber when and if I made it back to Canterlot. My blue coat was also in need of serious cleaning after being stained with dirt, blood and more dirt.

Clever way to describe a character without using exposition, good start.

Seemed like everything was ready to go except my self confidence.

It feels like you're trying a little too hard to make me feel sympathy for Azure, though I know he's mostly talking to himself, it still feels a little forced.

The temperate climate in contrast to the stark humidity of the Zebra Lands was really put into perspective. I had become accustomed to the Zebra homelands over a long period and had adjusted to the differences.

Props for being descriptive when it comes to actual scenery, something I don't feel I see enough of.

Well, this is new. I guess I need an update on the goings-on in Equestria.

You along with everypony else in the show apparently.

I needn't be this harsh with her as it wasn't completely her fault.

She is still accountable for the actions of her guards, it's a little OOC to be honest.

"I need to talk with Princess Celestia," she looked at me trying to sound confident, "she will know what to do. In the meantime, we will have to place you under arrest as you present a possible threat to Equestria." Princess Twilight continued.

What?!

[Level Dasher]

Despite a fairly large number of grammatical and mechanical errors—and it seems that others were made that have now been fixed—I like how you started this out. Quite a bit of character introduction without a ton of exposition, like Jack said. Interesting to see the balance between respect and indignation he has for Twilight, but it works nicely, and the fact that he's using arcane magic that draws Twilight's attention just goes to show how knowledgeable in magic he is despite his lack of wings and horn. I like it!

[Dreams of Ponies]

8224600
Yeah, there's a big difference in my writing abilities from this chapter versus the last chapter. This is the first chapter of my first story since high school, about eight years ago at this point. I'm glad you liked the setup, though.

[I Thought I Was Toast]

Boop, the first.

So... Umm... Gonna be honest. This chapter alone raises a hell of a lot of warning flags, but it's hard to articulate why without sounding pompous. It basically comes down to two things -- the instant distrust of guards for Azure, and the equal amount of disdain Azure seems to have for Equestria. Both are given no real explanation or build up which combines with the combat to leave a vague feeling of edginess.

[Evictus]

Then I jumped off the side of the very tall, precipitous mountain cliff.

Splat! The end.