Chapter 3 - Decisions
Everypony in the throne room stared at Xindisious. Out of everypony, Sunset was the only one who held contempt for Xindisious. Along with being suspicious of him, Xindisious was also rather fond of serving Sunset some humble pie, whether she wanted it or not. And that wasn’t even getting into the fact that he taught magic that, unless you had a license for it, was considered outlawed.
"I overheard you talking about Miss Sparkle like she was a weapon of mass destruction and I figured I might be the one suitable enough to teach her," Xindisious said.
"Well, Celestia suggested she should personally teach Miss Sparkle herself" the dark-maned examiner spoke arrogantly "What makes you think you would be qualified to teach her?"
"Allow me to show you."
Xindisious' horn glowed and he ripped his front leg clean off. Even with the bone sticking out for everypony to see and the flesh clearly separated in the centre, not a single drop of blood was spilled. He nonchalantly stuck the foreleg back on, with it quickly reattaching itself to the rest of him. To say everypony was creeped out by the display would’ve been an understatement, with Sunset looking like she was about to lose her lunch. Being as old as Star Swirl himself, Xindisious learned a few spells that helped extend his lifespan beyond that of a normal unicorn. However, those spells were considered dark in nature and many ponies had theorized that Xindisious might actually be a lich covering up his lack of flesh with an illusion spell. But since Xindisious had apparently never been corrupted by his use of dark magic, along with Celestia herself occasionally uses dark magic for demonstrations, she kept him around for him to teach ponies the pros and cons of dark magic and why you must have a license to perform certain spells. Not that it made him trustworthy to everypony else though.
"If you like, I can disintegrate it and grow back a new one."
"I don't think any more displays of your magical prowess are necessary, Professor," Celestia said.
"Perhaps I should also mention that I am well-versed in spells not even Star Swirl has taught you, Celestia. So not only can I teach Miss Sparkle how to control her magic without putting my own life on the line, but I can teach her so much more."
Sunset looked at Celestia, who was pondering on whether Xindisious would be a suitable teacher for Twilight.
"You aren't seriously suggesting we give Twilight over to this guy, are you?!" Sunset asked in disbelief.
"Your honesty is appreciated, Miss Shimmer," Xindisious deadpanned.
"You do specialize in necromancy and dark magic, after all. That's not really the sign of a perfectly sane pony."
"My work on necromancy and 'dark magic', as you call it, is more theoretical than anything. And the only times I ever practice them are in seances. After all, if I were the bad pony you believe me to be, then why would Celestia give me a teaching position at the School for Gifted Unicorns?"
Sunset looked at Celestia in shock.
"He mostly does lectures, Sunset," Celestia said "You ought to know, you attended some of his classes."
"Hmm, tell you what, how about everypony here sleep on it," Xindisious suggested, "but for now, tell Miss Sparkle that her application has been rejected."
"But she passed the entrance exam!" Sunset shouted.
"And at what cost?" came the curly maned examiner’s sharp retort, "she nearly killed us!"
"I'll leave everypony to it," Xindisious said before trotting off.
Celestia mulled over the choices presented to her. On the one hoof, Twilight would benefit from being her personal protege alongside Sunset. But on the other hoof, the examiner and Xindisious did bring up good points about how she could be a danger to everypony. While she knew Twilight would never be accepted into the School for Gifted Unicorns for the safety of the other students and staff, it appeared she would have to decide who would make the better teacher; her or Xindisious. The decision was even more difficult considering the fact that Xindisious had been right about having more experience. It was only natural given his incredibly long lifespan and his experiments involving magic even Star Swirl himself had apparently never used.
It would seem the best course of action would be to make the decision tomorrow.
Twilight laid down on her belly in her bed, disheartened by the fact that she blew her one chance to learn more magic. Despairing over her predicament, she wasn't even in the mood to read. She just stared at her pillow, thinking about how things could have gone better. Then she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," she said melancholically.
The door opened, with Sunset entering the room.
"I know friendship isn't really my strong suit," Sunset started off, "but I thought maybe I could try comforting you."
"I don't think that's a good idea, Sunset. I'm happy you came here to comfort me but I just want to left alone for now."
Sunset pondered on what to do. She hated seeing Twilight like this but she couldn't help but wonder if her attempts at getting Twilight to open up would make things worse. And then Night Light shouted up the stairs.
"Sunset! Could you tell Twilight that we're going out for donuts? Her big brother just got a promotion!"
"Okay!"
Sunset turned towards Twilight, who was still sulking.
"Your dad said we're going out for doughnuts to celebrate your brother's promotion."
"Yeah, I heard," Twilight deadpanned.
"Tell her Cadence is gonna be there too," Night Light yelled up again.
"Okay!"
Sunset quickly turned towards Twilight again.
"Your dad says Cadence is gonna be there too."
Twilight's ears perked up at that statement. She lifted her head up and looked towards Sunset, devoid of any trace of her previous depression.
"Who's Cadence?" Sunset asked.
"Only the greatest foal-sitter in all the history of foal-sitters!" Twilight answered excitedly.
Twilight jumped off of her bed and ran out of her bedroom. Sunset smiled, happy that her friend was happy. She was also intrigued to meet Cadence, since Twilight described her in a very fond manner.
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That's because he is a fraking lich. He knows dark magic, he's functionally ageless, and on top of that, no blood spilled when he ripped off his leg, which means his blood doesn't flow, which means his heart's not beating! Why even call him alive when he better fits the term undead?
Why does everyone call Twilight Celestia's protégé anyways? It's always struck me as a bit odd, because there are so many other terms for what she is. Student and pupil work well, as does apprentice, since she's learning magic and all. Acolyte would also kind of work, since the fans tend to see Princess Celestia as a goddess and when Twilight does channel the Magic of Friendship into an orbital laser cannon, it seems more like divine magic than arcane magic.
Something's going to go down at Pony Joe's place in the next chapter. I can feel it.
10080076
Probably because "apprentice" and "acolyte" make her sound like she is a Sith in training.
10080082
Who said she couldn't be? I'm sure a smart cookie like her would have no trouble seeing through the lies of the Jedi.
10080139
And then she'd bring peace, freedom, justice and security to her new empire.
10080076
Because protégé is someone who is looked after and protected by their mentor, they also live with them, something that is shown in the show.
You need an editor bad. The only reason I’m still reading is because the story has me intrigued
10192422
I actually do have an editor.
the7Saviors edited the story for me.
That said, I'm glad you like the story so far.