Metal Ringing

by 1000Fights

Awkward, Awkward, and More Awkward

This had to be the most unbearable thing that Aquinas has ever had to do. Twilight's parents had always sent their daughter some spending money, but instead of spending it, she gives it to Spike for safe keeping. Why the information? Because sometimes, Twilight does spend that money, and this time she wanted to spend it on some new outfits. She usually went to Sparkle Charmer, which Aquinas would have preferred, but instead, Twilight wanted to go to the large strip mall complex in the middle of Canterlot. Low and behold, she wanted her crush to go with her. Aquinas hated shopping. Except if the destination was a gun store or a sports shop. However, since Equestria doesn't have fire arms, and the sporting goods store is on the other side of the shopping centers the Naval officer was stuck here.

Aquinas had protested and had come up with every possible excuse. He even famed having a head ache. It would have worked, had Twilight not used her puppy dog eyes on him and told him that she would take 'extra goo care of him'. He didn't want that, so he changed his answer. How she was able to sucker him into this was a mystery to him. In fact, the bigger mystery was how women even worked! So, instead of trying to figure it out, Aquinas sucked it up and went with Twilight. Things were going smoothly, until Twilight found a dress store that she heard other people talking about while studying outside on campus.

Twilight inspected herself in the mirror. True to form, she had chosen a light purple blouse with lavender accents. On the top, there were gold swirls around the collar, and similar patterns on the arms. The studious girl twirled once. "Hmm." she inspected what it looked like from the back. "What do you think, Aquinas?"

Aquinas rolled his eyes slyly and said, "Um . . . you look rather nice."

"I just always loved the color purple." Twilight beamed.

"Well, it is the color of your hair." Aquinas was bored out of his mind, so he figured idle conversation would help keep him awake.

"Hmm." Twilight inspected herself one last time. "You know what, I'll take it. I have some shoes back in my room that would fit this just perfectly."

Twilight changed her cloths and paid for her blouse. The duo went up the streets, and headed back to Canterlot Castle. Much to Aquinas' eternal pleasure, Twilight had spent the last of her bits and wanted to head back to the castle library. Aquinas was carrying all of bags as the young woman locked her elbows with his.

"Twilight." Aquinas half whined. "Could you, ya know, hold off on the canoodling?" Aquinas did a take. "Some people are staring." only about three people glanced at them, but those three people also visibly snickered as they passed. This was so embarrassing! Aquinas' face flushed red when he saw a pair of guys chuckle to each other and crack a silent joke as they looked their way. A hood on the back of his coat like Ignatius had on his would surely help right now.

Aquinas found some relief from the peoples' prying eyes when he spotted an alley. Like the rest of the city, it was fairly clean. "Hey, Twilight." the girl's head shot up to him. "This way should take us to the Castle faster." Aquinas motioned with his head towards the alley. With the position of the sun, it did provide some shade. The pair of one and a quarter love birds walked between the buildings. Twilight still cradled the Naval officer's arm in hers. A smile of pure joy on her face as she traveled next to her crush.

Twilight's mirth would have lasted all the way to the castle, had it not been for an unplanned occurrence. Out from the exiting corner of the building shot a figure in somewhat raggish clothing. His garb still looked as if someone in the working class would use it as their mining cloths. A classy thief if one ever saw one. He bore a knife in his hand and held it out straight in front of him. The young scholar yelped at the sight of the armed and dirty man. Aquinas stood still as a stone wall. He had dealt with these types of people before.

"Hold it right there!" the thief demanded in a raspy voice. He sounded like he was sick with a throat virus, or something of some such nature. He inched forward with the tip growing ever closer to his targets. Twilight and Aquinas backed up the same distance that the man advanced. Soon they were all in the middle of the alley. "Now, give me all your money, and any items on you that have any sort of worth. Watches, jewelry . . . you understand?" Twilight went for her coin purse, but Aquinas' hand stopped her. "What are you doing, fatty?" the criminal spat. "Give up the coin, or else!"

Aquinas gave Twilight the bags and unbuttoned his coat, which also made it to the girl's arms. His frame only supported a small portion of fat around his abdomen that could be seen through the navy blue and gold buttoned vest. The rest of his body was made of packed muscle. Aquinas weighed close to two hundred and forty pounds. With most of it being corded flesh, there was no question that this man did lift.

At this point, a plan formed in Aquinas' head. This was the kind of experience that he needed in order to shake Twilight off of him. All he needed to do is get messy. The naval officer inched forward up until the knife was about a foot away from him.

The thief held his ground and took a couple of warning slashes Aquinas' way. "Stay back!" he warned. "I'm not afraid to use this." The timid tone of his voice was enough to tell Aquinas that this man was bluffing. He did a take of the knife. He noticed it was just an old chef's knife with a crude handle. He used his large hand to swat his opponents and sent the knife the knife flying. The weapon shot into the adjacent wall and bounced off. The thief's hand was starting to throb with pain at the sudden hit. He turned away from Aquinas and began to run, but was stopped by the latter when he grabbed hold of the small cloak the man was wearing. Aquinas heaved the man in, and delivered a powerful punch to the back of the thief's head. The weak man tumbled to the ground in a heap. "Okay, okay! You win. Just leave me be." the thief begged. Aquinas wasn't done though. He picked the man up by the collar and the trouser and began to spin. On the third rotation, he let the man fly down the alley way the same way that he came in at. The man groaned in pain. He wasn't prepared for something like this. He also wasn't prepared to figure out why Aquinas was called the minotaur. His head shot up when the thief's bones rung like an earthquake as Aquinas came barreling towards him with his head bent low and his arms set out in front of it. The thief got to his feet as fast as he could, and tried to run, but even with his legs pumping with all their might, Aquinas was still able to catch him, and use his legs, back and arms to smash into the man and send him launching into the air as the Naval officer gave a mighty heave as he brought his "bull horns" up like a charging steer. The thief only got a second's reprieve when Aquinas' quick feet shuffled to change his direction in a full 180. He came in and charged the man again. Keeping low this time, the Ensign used his fore arms and elbows to plow the man over. As he was assaulted by charging man, the thief bounced on the ground a couple of times as the onslaught came. The pair got along long enough for Aquinas to stop just short of Twilight and have the man flop unconsciously at the young woman's feet. Scrapes, blood, and bruises littered the man's body. If the man could talk, he would describe the experience like losing a fight with an angry bulldozer.

Twilight just stood there in shock as she looked down at the limp man. He still groaned, so she knew he was alive. She turned her attention back to Aquinas, who had nothing but a scuff on his shiny, black shoes. The magic student stood there with her mouth agape for a few moments before Aquinas took back his coat and placed it back on his shoulders. He had just buttoned his last gold piece when his neck was ringed by a pair of skinny arms. His face also had a pair of lips on his cheek.

"Oh, thank you!" Twilight chirped. "If I had been all by myself, I would have surely died, but I didn't because you were here to protect me." she kissed him again and placed her head on his shoulder. She was standing on her tip toes and leaning on him, but Aquinas just stood there and took it.

'Well that backfired for the worse.' he thought to himself. 'It can't get anymore sour than this.'

Twilight's hug lasted for as long as her toes could hold her weight. Thankfully so, it wasn't that long. She looked to the limp body of the thief and then back to Aquinas. "What are we going to do about him?"

Aquinas rubbed his chin and thought on this. He then picked up the body in a fireman's carry and placed the thief on the other end of the alley way. He placed him on his side and put the man's arm under him so that he would appear sleeping. He wasn't out of sight, but he was well within the shade. Aquinas took out his bag of bits, which contained about thirty of the gold coins, and it put under the man's arm that his head was resting on so that any would be thief would not see the coins and take it for themselves. Aquinas didn't get a good look at him before, but now he could see the man's facial features. Aside from the new cuts and scrapes, his face was rather narrow, but he spotted a cropping of hair that was orange in color. He also had a cutie mark that was in the form of a pastry. Aquinas couldn't put his finger on the type, but he lost interest when he saw Twilight eyeing him quizzically.

"What are you doing?" she asked with genuine concern.

"I am giving him my coins so that he will, or at least I hope he will, get some medical attention after he wakes up." Aquinas scooped Twilight up by the arm not carrying the bags and went their way down the alley. The girl blushed at this and smiled, but what she didn't know was that Aquinas wanted to leave the man, and this dreaded pass, as fast as he could. Though, he couldn't deny that pretty much saving Twilight's life was a bit of a rush, but instead of having her respectable fear of his strength or his malice, he now had her undying thanks and admiration for his actions. Which only made things more complicated. He felt sick as he thought to himself about the reason for why he maimed a weak thief into unconsciousness. He could just tell Twilight that he didn't want a relationship with her, but he found no way to present it in a way that wouldn't just break her fragile heart. So, he endured it all on his way to the castle. At least the street they were on was residential and the time was well into the work day, so no one saw him. Except, one person. It was a regular sized, if you didn't count the large chest, woman with straight hair that was toned a rosy kind of pink. It kind of looked like a waterfall of frosting. Her light magenta hued eyes shot daggers into Aquinas. Her arms crossed under her large chest and she gave a snort of contempt his way. Twilight was so blissfully unaware that she just kept smiling the whole time. Aquinas did a take to make sure she wasn't disturbed by such an event, but when he looked back to the woman, she was gone. The house she was in front of was rather large, of course it had to be owned by a wealthy family, and she may have just slipped back inside or out of sight. Whichever it was, he finally knew what it was like to be ghosted by someone. That whole experience kind of creeped him out. Although, it made Aquinas smile when he thought of having that happen if a man in a certain black, caped costume had done that to him.
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As the afternoon sun started to begin it descent into the horizon after it had climbed to its peak at mid day, Princess Celestia walked calmly along the hallways with a certain sway in her step. Things had been so peaceful lately. No one had shown up to court today and the nobles had finally stopped their inane prattle about the current hostilities. Which, for the most part, had died down considerably. Alvi had seen to that and did a fantastic job. In fact, it was because of Alvi's harshness and cold demeanor that Celestia hired her in the first place. She knew how to handle deceitful people and shady royals. A good sized smile tugged at the monarchs lips, and it sent her whole body spinning in euphoria. It almost was enough to shut the world out, but that was far from the matter. For when she had caught a movement at the edge of her peripheral vision, she looked to see that her student Twilight was walking with Aquinas through the courtyard. Actually, walking wasn't the correct term. Twilight seemed to be floating off the ground, and Aquinas seemed to be sinking into it as the former held onto the latter's arm as if letting go meant giving up life itself. Aquinas also wore a mildly distressed expression, while Twilight seemed to glow more than the sun itself. The princess looked at this and knew exactly what was going on. She had been this way before as well. Twilight was going through a phase the wavy haired woman knew all too well. So she knew how embarrassing it was for Aquinas. This was going to be a fun evening.

"Well, well, well." Princess Celestia chirped as the pair drew nearer. Both took a respectful bow to the monarch. "It seems you two had a pleasant afternoon." She did her best to suppress a chuckle.

"Oh, we are, princess." Twilight beamed. "Aquinas here took me to the strip malls of Canterlot and I got some knew cloths. He was such a big help." she gave his arm another squeeze. "Not to mention the fact that he faced off against a bandit!"

"A bandit?" Celestia said in a state of confusion.

Aquinas blew out a sigh. "Yah, a bandit. It was just some petty thief with a kitchen knife and he threatened us. I put him in his place."

"Aquinas, don't be so modest. It was horrific!" Twilight broke out. "He held out his knife and was going to kill us if we didn't hand over our bits. Aquinas however, took a brave stand and beat him down. He protected both of us, and all without magic. He just used those strong arms of his and that thief got what he deserved." Twilight's exaggeration was enough to make every drop of blood rush to his head.

"Huh, and where is the thief now?" Princess Celestia said as she raised an eyebrow.

"Recovering from his wounds. I gave him some money so he could go get medical attention." Aquinas used his free hand to scratch the back of his head. "I kind of went overboard on him."

"I see." the monarch stated. "Well, if that is all, Ignatius was looking for you earlier and he wants to talk to you."

"Then I should go to him." Aquinas affirmed.

"WE should go to him." Twilight corrected. Squeezing his arm again.

"Actually, Twilight." Princess Celestia interjected. "I would like you to set up the last lesson for the day."

"Which one, princess?" Twilight asked in earnest.

"The side-by-side gene swapping spell."

"But" Twilight said. "that's a really difficult spell to perform. I don't think I can even do that?"

"Teleportation is much harder than that." the white dressed female stated. "Especially when you have no idea where to teleport to." She gave a sly wink the Naval officer's way.

Twilight let go Aquinas' arm, and as soon as she did, a large rush of plasma filled the man's arm. The girl had been holding him so tight that he lost feeling in it, and the blood flow was half cut off. He nearly fell over from the sensation.

"I will have to get started on it right away if we want to have it done before dinner." Twilight gave a bow, and was about to start off toward the library but spun around and gave Aquinas a hug around his neck. She then skipped happily away after she waved and said, "Don't take too long, Big Bear." With that, Twilight went to do her part for the spell.

Aquinas looked at Princess Celestia with a wince in his eyes. She just stood there and gave an emotionless expression. "Don't do it." said the Ensign. Celestia began to slightly shake and her lips couldn't be suppressed for long. "Don't do it!" Aquinas said a little more forcefully. "DON'T . . ." before Aquinas could finish his sentence it was too late. Princess Celestia was doubled over in laughter. Her face was red and she was gasping heavily between howls of laughter. Aquinas' face had turned the deepest shade of crimson and he covered his face with his hands.

"B-B-Big . . . Bear!" the monarch was enjoying every second of Aquinas' misery. She felt like a total jerk, but this was just too funny. "I-I'm sorry." she said with tears rolling down her face. "That's just too adorable."

Aquinas really wished he had some sort of way to shield his rosy head. "Come on, Princess." his voice was a shaking whine of pure embarrassment.

"I-I know." Celestia gasped a breath of air. "I know." she tried to stifle a laugh but she went into another round of laughing.

"This is just really shitty, ya know?" Aquinas said.

"Oh, come now, Aquinas." Celestia said while wiping her face of the salty tear stains. "Is it really so bad?"

"Yes." he sneered. "People were looking at us on the street and giving us smug looks. Twilight didn't seem to notice, but I saw them all. Especially this one woman." Aquinas shuddered. "She just had nothing but distain for me. I don't rightly know why though."

"Maybe she was jealous." the princess added.

"Yah, I guess . . . DAMN IT!" Aquinas growled in frustration.

Celestia howled in laughter again. Without another word, Aquinas made his way toward Metal Ringing. Leaving the princess to laugh some more.
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Ignatius' gloved hand removed the stones from the lid of the furnace. After making enough room for himself, he reached in with a pair of tongs he produced a white crucible. Te apprentice blacksmith took it over to the anvil by the forge and placed it on the face of the anvil. He then drew his hammer from his side and smashed the white crucible into chunks. Mortar and slag fell off of what was contained inside. A red glowing ingot sat happily on the steel working platform. Ignatius bathed in its glow long enough to admire his work, but that was short lived. He immediately went to work on the red cylinder in front of him and pounded the top and twisted it on its side until the sides of the rounded object started become flatter. During his work, he saw the door being swung open. In stepped his brother. An expression of pure annoyance and frustration was more than apparent on his face.

"Long time no see, brother." Ignatius said with a smile. "How do you fare?"

Aquinas narrowed his eyes. "I would be a lot better if it wasn't for your dumb ass." his harsh tone didn't even bring a wince to his brother's eyes.

"So, you finally figured it out." Ignatius chided. "I figured it would take you longer."

"I found out three days ago." Aquinas said through clenched teeth.

"Oh, double points." Ignatius piped.

"Fuck off!" Aquinas spat. "You are the one that fucked everything up!"

"I didn't fuck anything up." Ignatius countered. "I simply moved the process along at a faster pace than anyone, except Twilight, would like. She already had feelings for you, I just lied and made it sound like you had the same for her. Quite honestly, you were trapped in her heart from the start."

Aquinas opened his mouth to speak, but no words formed. The Ensign gave a grunt instead. He had noticed at the end of the first week of his studies in the school of magic that Twilight was acting friendlier every day, but he never received any inclination that he was being looked at not only as a student, but as a partner. He felt rather guilty for not picking up on it earlier, but then again, he was never able to pick up on such things easily. He had always been so sociable that anyone and their mother would act like he had been their friend for a year, yet he met them not but two hours before. So, in short, he was used to getting positive attention. However, this time, it blinded him from the true nature of the situation. Aquinas blew a heavy sigh, and calmed himself. Perhaps his brother, and all his skill in manipulation, could help in some way.

"Okay, so how do I get out of this?" Aquinas' voice made him seem passive, but really, he was being as humble as he could so he could stay calm enough to spot anything that his brother would say to make things worse.

Ignatius only chuckled. "You can't get out with my help." he stated flatly.

Aquinas cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Why not?"

"Well, you could, but in turn, you would be losing a dear friend in the process. My methods in these matters would easily sever the bond between you two, however, it would work too well, and Twilight would ever speak to you again."

"So, you are going to have to come up with a way to get yourself out of this, or you are going to have to wade it out until Twilight no longer likes you anymore." Ignatius chuckled. "Or until Stockholm Syndrome kicks in and you have the same fillings for Twilight that she has for you." Ignatius gave a wink and a devious smile.

Aquinas snorted contemptuously at that last one. "So," the officer narrowed his eyes further. "I'm going to have to get MYSELF out of the mess that you yourself got me in. Am I right?"

"I already told you. You were trapped from the start." Ignatius put on a shit eating grin. His brother threw him a middle finger to him and left. He wasn't going to be anyone's puppet. Not even Ignatius'.
______________________________________________________________________________

Aquinas stormed up the steps to the library. This needed to end now! He wasn't going to made a fool of by his brother anymore. Once this business with Twilight is over with, he was going to torture the living shit out of Ignatius. He stopped just short of the last set of steps and fixed his coat, and set his composure. He would need it to deal with this problem. Aquinas allowed himself one final breath before he walked the last few steps up the stairs and saw the young scholar shutting a lid on a glass box.

Aquinas stalked over to the girl with an expressionless face, and determined steps. He could hear her humming a soft tune, when he came close enough. The young woman saw a shadow in front of her when the light was blocked out by a large figure. She smiled widely when she turned around to find that the caster of said shadow was none other than Aquinas.

"Oh good, you're back." she chirped. "I have something to tells you."

"I was just about to say the same thing." Aquinas dead panned.

"Oh, by all means, go ahead." Twilight offered with a twinkle in her eyes.

"No, no. You go on. You're the lady." If Aquinas was going to put this heavy matter to rest the way he intended, he was damn sure that was going to be a gentleman about it.

Before Twilight said anything else, she wrapped her arms around Aquinas' neck and held him close. The Naval officer winced, but his instincts kicked in and he hugged her back. Twilight smiled and nearly choked when she said, "You have no idea what it means to me to have someone like you so close. You are the man that I always dreamed of. Strong, handsome, adept at magic. You are also loving and caring." A tear escaped Twilight's eye. "I couldn't ask for anything more than just to be next to you."

She couldn't see it, but Aquinas himself also shed a tear. 'What am doing?' he thought to himself. 'I can't just break this girl's heart when she said something like that to me.' Aquinas did the only thing he could think of. He held her tighter. He said not a word, but his actions spoke volumes. He couldn't bring himself to cause this young woman such heart ache. Especially when all it would do for him is relieve him of some embarrassment. There was no way that he could break Twilight's heart and look at himself with any sort of pride ever again. So, he just held her until his arms shot electrical signals up to his brain that sent the same message over and over again. HEY, THIS HURTS! Aquinas held the purple haired girl out with half cocked arms, and a wide smile. "Hey, it's getting late. Why don't we do the experiment in the morning?"

Twilight shook her head slowly. "Oh no, it won't take long." Her eagerness to make the spell happen was apparent.

"Are you sure?" the officer asked. "I know how you enjoy giving your lectures, and the hour grows late. So I won't be able to hear a full lesson if we start now."

"You don't have to worry." Twilight chirped. "I don't have to talk much. Most of the spell is still in theory, so I won't be able to say much on it."

"Alright." Aquinas chimed. "So let's get started."

"Wait." the girl stopped him. "Wasn't there something that you wanted to say to me?"

Aquinas choked, but with the help of a cough buying him time he was able to speak. "It seems I have forgotten. Though, if it was that important, I would have remembered."
______________________________________________________________________________

Aquinas looked at the glass box in front of him and then looked to Twilight Sparkle. The whole time, he wore a face of utter confusion.

"Sooooo," Aquinas hummed. "What's with the crab and cuddle fish?" He referred to the two aquatic animals that were in the glass box filled with water and sand.

"Those are our test subjects." Twilight beamed in a teacher-like voice. "You will be applying Erlenmeyer Flask's theory of gene swapping."

"Gene swapping?" the novice magic user cocked his head to one side in confusion.

"Allow me to explain." Twilight cleared her throat. "Flask's theory stated that by bypassing the genetic sector of the magic fields around an entity, he could change the genetic makeup of a creature, and later, if success followed, a person. Completely rearranging their genes with another body in order to turn them from their original state, into something completely different. Say for instance, if you had the spell placed upon you with say a buffalo, you would, if the spell was worked in such a way, gain the strength of that animal, and possibly some other characteristics as well. All of it dealing with splicing mechanics and rapid cell growth in order for the tissue to align while a field matrix is placed around the two bodies to combine them into one mass and then later separate them while leaving both exchanged in a state of genetic splice. Ultimately, the two subjects placed within the spell could come out with the opposite's characteristics and traits. Ranging anywhere from physically, to mentally."

"Cool story, sis." Was all that Aquinas could say while the rest of his brain tried to catch up. When he finally made it all make sense in his head he said, "Oh, okay. I get it now."

"Just remember that everything in this experiment happens on a cellular level." Twilight piped.

Aquinas positioned himself in front of the box with the crab, which was trying to escape, and the cuddle fish inside. He looked back to Twilight who gave him some space to work.

"Just concentrate on the smallest level possible." Twilight chimed one last time.

Aquinas went back to the box and took a breath. He gulped. Then he remembered something. This was just a crab and cuddle fish. If he royally screwed up, who cared. Not him, that's who. With that thought, the officer was able to relax and have a smile grow over his face.

Aquinas channeled the magic around him and the test subject. The crab visibly struggled in the air as a navy blue glow emitted around it. The cuddle fish, unable to express any sort of concern, was looked at if it just didn't give a shit. The two bodies started to spin passed each other and soon were enveloped in a white aura. They spun faster and faster, until they both melded together and disappeared in the bright white orb.

"You're doing it!" shouted Twilight. "You're doing it."

'Yah!' Aquinas thought to himself as he marveled at his work. 'This isn't rocket science. Rocket science. Space ships. Alien life? Futurama? Why am I thinking about that right now?'

"Uh, Aquinas!" Twilight's voice shook as she starred at the ball of light as it seemed to be spinning faster.

Aquinas was snapped out of his mental tangent, and had to hold back his eyes before they popped out of his head. The magic being put into the spell was too great. "Um, Twilight, what do I do?"

"Just stop! Cut off the magic." the young lady was frightened and didn't know what else to say or do.

"Okay." Aquinas affirmed, as the glow in the blue crystals in his hands snuffed out completely. However, the magic within the spell was too great. The ball of white kept growing larger and larger, almost touching the walls of the box. Aquinas back stepped, and then grabbed the purple dressed girl next to him and dropped to the ground. He laid on top of her in fear that the orb would explode. "Stay down!" he ordered. The ball of light spun over and over again at increasing speed until it finally erupted. Books, papers, and glass alike were thrown everywhere in a display of raw energy as the spell released its power.

A large cloud of smoke filled the library at the end of the explosion. Aquinas and Twilight both gasped and coughed as the smog trailed into their lungs. "A-Are (cough) you okay, Twilight?(cough)"

"Yah.(cough)" she said back as she looked up at Aquinas who had his head turned away as he choked out some black air. "I think I'm okay.(cough)"

The Naval officer and the school girl looked to the table. A thick cloud of smoke still permeated off of the blue painted wood. Aquinas helped Twilight up after most of the smoke in the air had cleared. They both looked to the table where a sizable red mass waited on top of it. It looked rather large and both of the magic users didn't want to go near it. Luckily for them they didn't have to. It started to wiggle a bit but soon a pair of two-toed feet appeared out from under it. A pair of crab claws followed suit, and then to complete it all, a head came out. The creature before the duo looked be a crustacean. A crustacean with cuddle fish appendages over its mouth.

Its eyes blinked a couple of times to get rid of the fogginess before vision became a possibility. The creature issued a groggy grunt before shaking the rest of his confusion out of head. It eyed the pair for some time before side stepping and snapping its pincers at them. Once it was far enough away, the bipedal crustacean raced down the stairs issuing a peculiar sound.

WOOB WOOBOOBOOBOOB WOOB WOOB

The creature opened the nearest window at the bottom of the stairs and ran out into the garden beyond without so much as a whisper.
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Twilight and Aquinas both stood there in complete shock. Neither was able to say anything until the purple dressed girl spoke up. "What was that thing?"

Aquinas darted his eyes nervously and visibly sweat. "Um . . . " he tried to buy time and think. "Uh, I think we should write a letter to Princess Celestia now, and worry about that thing later." Aquinas knew he was going to be in some deep shit once his brother found out.

"Are you sure?" Twilight said skeptically. "What if that thing hurts someone?"

Aquinas blew a sigh of relief once his memory of what he was dealing with came into focus. "Trust me on this. I know what that thing is, and no one is in any danger." he said with a small measure of confidence. "I just think it would be best to inform the princess of this and keep it between the three of us."

Twilight was going to press the issue of why he didn't want to involve his brother, but then she realized that Aquinas probably knew better and complied. She levitated some stray papers along with a quill and ink from a desk that had not been too disturbed. "What should I tell her?"

"Just tell her that one of our spells went wrong and that she should double her security on her food stores and medical wing." Aquinas started to gain more command with his words as a plan formulated in his head.

"Uh huh." Twilight said as she jotted everything down. "Anything else?"

"We will explain everything to her in the morning."

"Mm, hm." Twilight signed the paper and used her magic to send the letter. Ordinarily, she would have Spike do it, but he was summoned away to the forge for a special duty by Twisted Horns. Although it was more convenient to do it herself, she still didn't like the after effects of 'instant messaging' magic. She soon found her crystals lighting up and a letter with a gold seal on it appeared in her hand. All her fingers felt numb and useless when she held the scroll. She used her other hand to levitate and open the letter. She winced slightly at the text.

"What did she say?" Aquinas asked hesitantly.

"She says that she WILL have ALL her questions answered tomorrow morning." Twilight answered slowly.

"Anything else?"

"Actually, that's the only line on the paper." Twilight showed him.

Judging from his experiences with recruits in the Naval Academy getting similar letters, this was not going to end without a couple lashings. Lucky for him, he never got anything like this from an Academy administrator, but unfortunately, when he did receive a letter like this, he was not facing a fellow officer, but a rather irritated monarch.

The only thing that broke him out of his stupor was a large flash of blinding lights and sound with incredible colors. Depictions of mountain lions chasing prey shone among the dancing stars in a breath taking display. The show was beautiful, and both of the magic students seemed completely enveloped by the image of a predator at his hunt. So much so, Aquinas didn't even know that Twilight had grasped his hand. When he did notice, he couldn't find the strength to pull away.
______________________________________________________________________________

. . . five minutes ago

"This is going to be so totally fucking rad." Ignatius whispered as he dug into the soil of the garden.

"I know." Twisted Horns nearly squeaked in excitement. "I finally get a chance to light off one of these puppies." The man beast patted a large rocket that he cradled in his arms.

"Hell yeah." Ignatius said as he jumped out of the small hole. He fit the rocket's support bar into the ground and held it plum, as Twisted Horns filled the hole back in. "This will definitely make a big 'boom'."

"Especially since we have dragon's fire." the forge master added. "Spike!"

A long irritated sigh accompanied a baby dragon as he came out of the bushes he was sleeping in and rubbed his eyes. "I still don't see how I fit (yawn) into this."

"With the dragon's fire," the horned figure explained. "the magic within the coals will ignite in a fantastic fashion that mimics the appearance of the night time sky's constellation. On this night, we can see the Great Hunt. So, with your fire igniting the fuse, we can see a spectacular display as if we were witnessing it in person." Twisted Horns compacted the dirt around the post of the rocket. "It's ready. Light it up, Spike!"

Reluctantly, the purple drake blew a small bit of flame on the fuse and sauntered over to a bush where the forge workers were hiding. He went behind it and looked just in time as the missile launched into the air and exploded as soon as it reached the optimal altitude. The cascade of colors drew everyone within ear shot of the explosion to attention. The great hunt was in full swing by the time the image came into form. Even Spike's fatigue couldn't keep him from enjoying such a sight. Twisted Horns and Ignatius shared a high five at their handy work. They had built the rocket from scratch, and now, they were enjoying the fruits of their labor. The great starry mountain cat chased after the deer that it was entwined with until it devoured the antlered prey's neck in its powerful maw. Over and again the image danced with the same show. The next one better than the last. It was actually so spectacular that the sharp eyed Marine didn't spot the red crustacean running through the garden foliage not ten yards from him.

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[light snow]

And that's how zoidberg was born...

[Wraithjam]

WOOB WOOBOOBOOBOOB WOOB WOOB

Zoidberg on the loose hide the injured