1 - Usual dangers of magical rituals
On one of the flat hills surrounding the bustling city of Koredun stood a great complex of buildings, made from enchanted stone and sturdiest wood. Referred to by locals as simply the Academy and in the wider world known as the School of Silver, this ancient institution gathered all that wished to study the law and rules of the world.
Amongst many lecture halls, hallways and domes stood a tower of great height, its roof shining with silver tint in the rays of the morning sun. It was from this that the School of Silver took its name and it was here that it was born. The Tower of Sor'Tel, a place of gathering for mages and sorcerers. Few garments granted such prestige as the silver-lined robes worn by its acolytes.
It was the pursuit of both power and truth that gathered here the most brilliant minds that later founded the Academy around it. They believed that greater understanding allows greater feats of magic. So they pursued knowledge and with this knowledge, they became a power that could influence the world. While many wizards focused on flashy displays or deadly war spells, the deeds of mages of Sor'Tel were usually more complex and discreet. While not known for their power or combat abilities, they were respected for their skill and understanding of the arcane arts, often shining bright when unorthodox problems arose.
Yet even in such a place, some stood above the others. Those braver, smarter, or more determined than their peers. In each generation, one of them would be chosen to become the High Scion, a personal student to the current Silver Archmage. Currently, this position was occupied by August Luciam of house Roltan, a minor noble.
He was a young man, with pale skin and perpetually tired eyes. He was smaller than most of his peers and his head was crowned by a mess of simple, brown hair. No one could tell that this normal-looking man held such an important position if not for the grey robes with the Towers crest, a star illuminated by a ray of light, sewn with golden thread on the chest.
He worked hard to get to this position and he had to work hard to keep it. Right now he was on his way to his master's laboratory. For most acolytes, those large doors would be intimidating, but to August this place was more familiar than his own room. This was where he spent most of his time, learning arcane arts with his master. He was swiftly accepted by the defensive wards and the doors opened for him.
Inside he was greeted by a group of senior mages, his master among them.
- "Welcome, young scion" - greeted him the Archmage - "With you here we can begin. Come, take your place"
August bowed in reverence and went to his spot in the large magic circle that was taking up most of the floor. The Silver Archmage was a tall man, with a long beard. An imposing figure that stood above even most knights. Yet he was also a man of science and a gentle guide to all students in the Tower.
He was also the greatest of known masters of spatial magic. And today, with all those mages gathered in the chamber, he was going to perform a spell that could push his research years ahead, confirming or denying many theories. Everyone was ready and everything was prepared as they took their spots. Rhythmic chants sounded all around and the air in the room seemed to vibrate from the amount of magic that gathered there. The ritual circle seemed to come alive as the spell reached its peak and a wave of mana flooded the space. The circle that surrounded them started glowing, mana spreading through the set path. Everything seemed well, until the magic circle suddenly flickered, mana spreading around, unexpectedly freed from the rigor of the ritual. That was the last thing that August saw before a sudden burst of mana flooded his body. He tried to resist but failed, and as he felt his body and mind fall to the assault of magical power, he lost consciousness.
******
August came back to his senses slowly and with little fanfare. A small grunt escaped his mouth as his hand moved toward his temple in an attempt to quell his massive headache... and it was enough for him to know that something was wrong. He knew his body well enough to know that some of his limbs were in the wrong places. Yet the lack of overwhelming pain suggested that the reason for that was different than simple injury.
Ceasing all movements, August sent a quick mana pulse through his entire body and allowed himself a small sigh of relief - his mana was flowing well. In a strange way, but well. Quickly and steadily. That meant he could still use his magic. That was all he needed.
Not feeling any injuries and with his magic working, August finally opened his eyes. Stabbing pain of headache buried itself even deeper into his mind as rays of sun mercilessly assaulted his eyes.
The first thing the young mage noticed was the cobblestone he was lying on. Next, nice, white walls on both of his sides, that went at least a few floors up. Above all this, he could see a clear blue sky and the sun, high on its path, shining down on him with spite.
August's attention was drawn away from the hateful ball of flames as some creature quickly dashed above the alleyway. Realizing from its shape and size of the shadow that it could not be a bird, August rose to his feet - and promptly fell, only now realizing what was wrong with his body.
He had additional limbs - he could see them now, two stubs covered in a greyish fur, ending with a harder tissue, somewhat resembling hooves. It could be a horse leg, but one imagined by a child taking their first lesson in arts rather than one attached to an actual animal.
A quick glance proved that such visage was shared by the whole of his body - an uncanny mixture of some rather fluffy pony species and a child's overeager imagination. His muzzle was also way too short, but at the moment he found it inconsequential. Instead of thinking more, he rose to his hooves, determined to find what had happened.
He might have been new to this body, but thanks to his training in polymorphic spells, as well as a few less-than-amusing jokes between the students, he already had an understanding of how to move on four limbs.
He slowly made his way to the end of the alleyway where he woke up, only to end up on a crossroad with another small, empty alley. Yet the sounds he heard around him got a little bit louder. Deciding that any way would be fine, the young mage turned right and after a quick trot found himself at the edge of a much bigger - and busier - street.
One look was enough for him to realize that wherever he was, it was far away from his home. On the street were no humans, elves, or dwarves - or any other race he could recognize. Instead, this place was inhabited by strange creatures, one that, just like his new form, resembled equines, yet of many different colors and with short muzzles and eyes far too big for any creature of that size. Some of them had a horn sprouting from their heads, despite not possessing any regality that unicorns August had met previously seemed to have naturally. Few had wings instead of horns, appendages that suited their looks much more in young scion eyes.
Realizing that his current form probably resembled those strange creatures, he lifted his hoof to his head - only to hit his horn, pain from this newly discovered body part adding to the preexisting headache and making him grimace in pain.
That made one of those strange equines look at him and August instantly realized his mistake: a strange person, visibly confused and in pain, was either a danger or in need of assistance, both of those drawing attention that August could not afford right now. He was not sure if he could even communicate with those creatures, any question asked might expose him as an outsider. Not knowing anything about this place or its culture, any contact was a risk that the young mage was hesitant to take.
With all this in mind, he did his best to conceal himself - he stepped out of the alleyway and walked down the street. Now that he caught someone's attention his best chance was to pretend that everything was fine. Unless this place had some strange set of rules that governed how to walk on a road he should be able to remain unnoticed. In his mind he thanked all the gods that being naked seemed to be the norm here, otherwise, everyone would think him a madman considering his current lack of apparel.
Slowly walking away, he allowed his mind to wander, trying to understand what happened. Most reasonable theories were the first to be discarded - it was neither a dream nor an illusion, as neither of them could be so detailed and clear. Then came the less plausible explanations. Severe brain damage, divine visions, sudden madness. Yet even they could not fit this ridiculous situation. That could mean-
August almost tripped when two of those strange creatures walked past him. They talked. They actually talked. And in a language he could understand. It was very similar to Varantian, a very old language used eons ago by mages from the North.
- "... so I told him 'Dude, that's not how you make pancakes'"
- "And he wanted to argue with you? Dear Celestia…"
They passed him quickly so he lost the chance to listen more closely, but he recognized most of the words. Some of them were probably a form of local dialect or maybe names, but that meant he could communicate. He was no longer forced to conceal himself, but to be able to talk with others he needed two things. First, to brush up on his Varantian and second, obtain enough information about this place to not draw attention with his ignorance. And as moths are drawn to flames, his mind, shaped by years of study, was also drawn to one conclusion. A library. In such a big city, there surely would be one. Excited by the prospect of foreign knowledge he sped up his steps.
And realized he had no idea where to go now. A glance at the skyline of the city provided him with a view of a castle, probably belonging to a local ruler, and a few tall towers in the city center, but nothing that would allow him to recognize it as a library. His knowledge of the art of city planning suggested that the library would be close to the center or in the castle, but older cities were usually less planned and more evolved, so this knowledge wasn't useful. Instead, he decided to carefully prepare a sentence in Varantian, trying his best to emulate the strange accent locals were using. After a short preparation, he approached one of the equines, a winged one with with forest green coat.
- "I beg thy pardon, good sir. Could thee mayhaps give me guidance towards the nearest library? I hath just arrived in this city and seeketh knowledge. If thee granteth me thine assistance, I will trouble thee no more."
The equine seemed surprised by his words, but not afraid. August was, honestly, proud of his work. The sentence was clear and while he was unsure of some finer grammar, anyone should be able to understand what he said. His teacher would surely be proud of how much he remembered, even after so many years. Now he just awaited the answer.
- "Eeee... ummm... yeah, sure... just... go to the old market." – the creature pointed at one of the tall towers - "Then go left next to the Flowing Golds mansion, it's the building with a large hedge around it. Go straight and you should be there."
August nodded his head to show that he understood the instructions
- "I'm truly grateful for thine assistance. I wish thee a fair day then."
Having said his goodbyes, he went on his way, only to hear a silent voice from behind him
- "I'm a mare, you bastard..."
He kept going, pretending he didn’t hear. There was nothing he could say at this point.
******
The spell worked, Ausgust decided before he reached the library. The spatial spell of his master worked, but due to some mistake, he was transported instead of the intended item. Most likely a problem with the circle integrity. If he could recreate what happened he might be able to return home. He knew much of the Archmage's research, but he was still far too inexperienced to try to recreate the experiment his master performed. The second problem was the cost, most items used were rare and expensive ingredients. Although the unicorn horn powder seemed to be easily obtainable here.
Amidst many fruitless ideas, he reached the intended place. A large building with rows of windows and many equines walking in and out, with the word 'Library' written on it. Hoping that it would be open to the public, August entered, doing his best not to bump into any of the creatures that were there.
The main aisle was truly enormous. It easily dwarfed the library in the Academy, thousands of books gathered here piled high up into the ceiling. The scion instantly knew that there he could find all the knowledge he needed to survive in this new world... and that he would never be able to find most of it in any reasonable amount of time.
He decided to start with the basics. He slowly made his way down the aisle until he found the section about linguistics. He might be capable of using the language, but he was sure sooner or later he would run into problems, especially while reading more advanced books. He quickly grabbed an encyclopedia and a few other books that might help him brush up on the language, found a good spot, and started reading. Then spent a lot of time trying to find a position in which his new body would be comfortable, failed to do so, and kept wriggling.
After a few hours of reading, he stood up with cramps in all of his limbs and deep shame. Apparently, despite this language being similar to Varantian, it also developed for a few hundred years more after the languages split from whatever common ancestry they shared. That meant he was speaking like some thousand-year-old recluse - if any such being ever existed, that is.
No one approached him during his reading, but he still heard many conversations between the strange equines. They seemed to call themself simply 'ponies' and that name seeped into a lot of their vocabulary. Due to this and many new, strange words that seemed to exist only in this world, he decided to 'borrow' the encyclopedia to make sure he had a way to check new phrases. The only problem was the tracking spell, bound into the tome.
Yet such a simple spellwork was nothing to the High Scion of Sor'Tel. After a few minutes of familiarising himself with the way that mana flew through his new body, his horn flashed green as all mana weaved in the book scattered, rendering the spells useless. Satisfied with a job well done, August left the library.
The sun was setting down, casting shadows on the pristine streets of this strange city. August stood at the doorway for a moment, lost in the strange yet familiar view of a sunset and the bustling city. He might have remained frozen like this until the night approached, but his body had other plans. His stomach twinged in pain, letting him know how long he spent reading and at that moment, August realized how big of a problem he had. He was in an unknown city, with no money, no home, and no food.
Usually, he only had one duty, to study the arcane arts. That was his passion and that was what was expected of him. His more mundane desires and duties were taken care of by a swarm of servants and attendants, sometimes even fellow students trying to earn his favor. To suddenly be deprived of this came as quite a shock.
After fruitlessly going through his options, he ended up in some small alleyway in the lesser part of the city. Quick illusion cast made him unrecognizable from a pile of garbage and ignoring all protests of his body, he fell asleep on the cold bricks of the city he learned was called Canterlot.
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Nice start.
Nice start indeed. It is too early to have anything else to comment about yet.
Oooh I like this! Interesting to see the collision of two different fantasy worlds with different rules. ^^
I have some notes:
Use title case for titles, especially the story title, which is the first thing people will see. This would be better rendered as "Side-Street Sorcery".
I also don't understand the chapter title. Given that August clearly didn't anticipate anything going wrong, and that what happened seems rather extraordinary, this does not seem like a "usual danger" of a magical ritual.
Indicating dialogue with a hyphen is non-standard in English, and not necessary as the quotation marks are sufficient. It's best not to add extra punctuation rules unless you have a good reason.
A closing quotation mark always has punctuation before it. The rules on exactly what punctuation to use are a bit nuanced - this Grammarly article has some examples.
"greeted him the Archmage" is also a strange word ordering in English. "the Archmage greeted him" would be more typical. With all that said, I'd render the line as follows:
The opening is okay, but the pacing is a little too fast. I understand that it's important to get to the pony world, but it would be nice to know a little more about August before he arrives in Equestria, at least so that we can understand or anticipate his reaction. I liked the way he's not bothered by a transformation the way a regular human might be. And we do learn more about him once he's in Equestria, so that's neat.
Interesting that August doesn't seem to believe he was the problem, considering he was the least experienced mage there.
This is a comma splice. There are two clauses here: "The second problem was the cost" and "Most items used were rare and expensive ingredients". Since the second clause is a consequence of the first, you could use a semicolon to indicate that the two clauses are linked. A dash would also work.
oh no
I get the joke, but I think it's a little too on-the-nose :) Fans know that this is referring to Princess Luna's old speech habits, but August has no reason to suspect that such a being ever existed other than for the purpose of this joke. Meanwhile, readers who are less familiar with MLP lore won't understand this at all.
That said, I do love this detail of August's language being hopelessly outdated and him not realizing. ^^
This is a good start! Interested to see more of where this goes :)