The Mage's Jump

by Marvelous Cheshire

Chapter 14

THE MAGE’S JUMP
BY GENOSABER
CHAPTER 14

Alex pulled off his pack and turned to us theatrically, "This seems like a good place to set up camp." He threw his arms out, "So, what do you guys think?"

“That you're a ham.”

I paused and glanced around at the surroundings. “Tree cover’s rather scarce, and most of the branches look too fragile to support any real weight,” I muttered, adjusting my grip on my staff.

“Relax Dad, you know there’s none of them here,” Fei said as she set her pack down with Spike and the crusaders. “You’ve checked every single book in the library on the fauna of this world, and you couldn’t find one creature that even resembles them.”

“The little kit’s got a point.”

“I suppose you’re right,” I said reluctantly, removing my hat as I began pulling out camping supplies.

“Something wrong?” Matt asked as he sat down beside Alex.

“My Dad’s terrified of Tonberries,” Fei snickered.

“Tonberries?” Spike echoed, giving Fei and I a confused look.

“Three feet high green skinned chaos-spawn with an addiction to stabbing things,” I grumbled. “I had a run in once a few years after I finished my training while I was traveling with some more experienced members of the Order to the northern regions of Cardia. Woke up in the middle of the night to find one of them less than five feet from me. Next thing I know I’m hiding up in a tree while the others made short work of it.” I paused and looked up at them. “Since then I’ve always made sure to sleep out of range of such dangers.”

“They’re not that bad, during the day at least,” Fei commented, earning everyone’s attention. “While they are considered one of the most dangerous creatures on gaia, they’re also one of the slowest, it’s actually very easy to get away from them.”

“True, but they can be pretty damn scary when you wake up to find one near you,” I said as I finished pulling out my tent and sleeping mats from my hat.

“You carry a lot of crap in that thing, you know that right?”

‘I’ve thrown a lot of things in here and forgot about them over the years, sue me.’ Suddenly, I pulled out a set of faintly glowing carved gems. ‘Oooh, I remember these.’

“What are those?” Sweetie Belle asked, staring at the gemstones.

“Just a little trinket I made after reading some enchantment tomes while staying in Ivalice.” I turned one of the gems over in my hand, noting that the energy stored in it hadn’t faded in the years it had been left in my hat. “They’re mostly harmless, and used for distractions instead of doing any damage to a target. If you’d like, I could show you what they do later.”

Their faces lit up for as they all turned to Alex. “Can we dad?” Scootaloo asked.

Alex gave a hesitant look before turning to me. “Are you sure they’re safe?”

“Positive,” I assured him before dropping my voice down to a whisper. “They just let out a burst of colored light, perfectly harmless if you set it off far enough away.”

He remained silent for a moment, concern still evident on his face, before finally nodding. “As long as no one gets hurt, I guess it’s okay.”

“He may act like a ham and a fool, but it’s definitely just that, an act.”

The crusaders let out a small cheer before we finally returned to unpacking. Once everything was said and done Alex, Matt, and I decided on who would cover which tasks.

“So let’s go over this one last time,” I started. “Alex, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo will cover setting up the tents. Fei, Sapphire and I will be placing simple wards around the camp to help keep any possible wild animals out-”

“And because you’re about as paranoid as it gets, and can’t sleep well without some kind of security measure in place out here.” I turned to glare at my daughter, who simply smiled, her ears twitching playfully.

“Yes, that too,” I admitted. “And lastly, Matt, Spike, and Sweetie Belle will be gathering firewood. Sound good?” They nodded and set about their tasks. Alex began setting up one tent while Matt lead his group off further into the woods and I pulled a small deck of cards out of my hat. I split it into three equal stacks and handed both children one. “Fei, would you mind showing Sapphire how to set these up?” She nodded and headed for the other end of camp.

“By the way,” I said, glancing at Alex as I placed a card on one of the many trees, the magic imbued in it gluing it to the trunk as the runes on the face began emitting a faint glow. “Apparently the girls got together earlier and decided on their plans for Hearth’s Warming.”

Alex paused and looked back at me. “And?”

“Fei and I have been elected to help in preparing food and sweets, Pinkie and Applejack taking up the other half of the work in their respective fields. Twilight’s parents have confirmed they’ll be coming back down for the holiday…” I trailed off as I placed several more cards. “And your house has been elected as the meeting place for everyone.”

Alex stopped what he was doing once more as he stared at me with a blank expression. “I don’t get a say in this?”

“I wasn’t really given a choice in getting elected as a cook, besides, Rainbow Dash made the argument that your house had enough room to fit everyone, as well as a large enough kitchen that I’d be able to work if you let me.”

“Wouldn’t Applejack’s house be just as good, if not better for hosting a party?” He countered.

“That was brought up as well,” I finished placing the last card and turned to him. “Applejack and Rainbow Dash flipped a coin. Your wife won, they asked me to let you know now so to make sure you’d be okay with it.”

“I guess. Just wish they would’ve let me know first. A man's house his castle? Only as long as his wife lets him rule.,” he sighed as his posture stooped momentarily.

“I wasn’t asked if I’d be willing to cook for everyone, but I’m not complaining.” I sat down on one of the logs and crossed my legs. Once I was comfortable, I pulled out a small carved stick, placing it in my mouth and biting down. I glanced over at Alex and the fillies, each of them staring at me in confusion. “It helps me focus and is a hell of a lot healthier than a pipe.”

Not waiting for a response I took a deep breath and began the the process of entering a trance state.

”First, you must block out your physical senses, starting with sight, then following in the order of smell, sound, taste, and finally, the most difficult of all, touch.” As I recalled my mentor’s instructions, I slowly closed off each sense, my body becoming more and more numb in each sense before finally forcing all sense of feeling out. “Once this has been completed, you must reopen them. Not with your mind though, but with your heart and soul, thus opening them not to the material plane, but to the plane of magic.” After a moment of concentration, I managed to “open” my eyes to find myself in a blurry, mist filled forest.

“Lastly, you must remember that while in this state you are at your weakest, so spend as little time as you can in trance, and make sure there are no enemies nearby before entering.” I gave an unconscious nod at my mentor’s words as I took in my surroundings. Along with an nearly endless amount of shapes vaguely resembling trees, near me were four figures, two bipedal and two quadrupedal that carried different “colors” than the rest of the forest. Looking off to one side, I noticed another patch of magic slowly making it’s way towards us.

‘Most likely Matt’s group.’ Looking behind me I saw… That can’t be right. I stared in mild shock at the strange cloud of magic blocking my sense in the distance. ‘It almost feels like… No, the Everfree is too far away, and in the opposite direction.’

‘Focus on the task at hand, it doesn’t appear to be an immediate danger, so it shouldn’t be a major concern at the moment.’ Reluctantly opting to look into it later, I turned my attention back to the area around me. Extending my senses, I reached out and took hold of each seal one by one, pulling them to me so that I could begin tying them together. Locking the last one in place, I added a piece of my own magic so that I could trigger the wards at will. With everything done, I repeated the process of blocking out my senses and reopened them to see the others staring at me oddly.

“We’ve got a problem,” Matt said as he entered the camp, distracting the others from asking any questions.

“Matt, where’s Spike?” I asked with almost disturbing calmness, narrowing my eyes as I noticed the lack of said dragon by his side.

“That’s the problem,” he replied somewhat nervously. “Everything was going okay, then Sweetie Belle and I hear something hit the ground. We turned to find the wood Spike was carrying on the ground, but Spike nowhere to be found..” He rubbed the back of his head. “We tried looking for him, but he wasn’t anywhere nearby.”

“We decided to come back and let everypony know, since it might be easier to find him if we all went out to find him,” Sweetie Belle added, concern evident in her voice.

‘Or,’ I turned to the direction of the “cloud” I noticed earlier and forced my eyes to open to the magical plane once more. It was a stupid and dangerous action, any mage with even the most basic training would know that doing something like this too often can cause one to go blind, but every second is needed at the moment. I add more force as I push my senses past the cloud, seeing a familiar blur of energy shifting in the distance.

“I might know where he is,” I said as I switched back to my normal vision once more, quickly heading in the direction.

“Wait!” Sweetie Belle shouted.

“I’ll be faster on my own. Just wait here, I’ll be back with Spike soon.” Not waiting for a reply, I called forth my magic, whispering a simple “Warp” and vanishing into thin air.

---

Spike gulped as he glanced around the now unfamiliar forest, looking far less like the peaceful White Tail Woods he knew of, and more like a piece of the Everfree. Failing to calm his nerves, the dragon began walking carefully in the direction he believed the camp was.

After just a few minutes though, Spike as he heard something growl behind him. Shakily, Spike turned his head to find three timberwolves standing a short distance away from him. They didn’t look like normal timberwolves though, the bark that made up their bodies seemed much darker, with small branches sticking out like spikes at random points. The oddest part though, was that their eyes. Instead of being the usual yellow, were a bright teal.

Spike froze in horror as the beasts took another step towards him. It wasn’t until they were just a couple feet from him that Spike finally snapped to his senses. Remembering what he was, Spike inhaled deeply before launching a minor burst of fire at the head wolf.

The wolf paused for a second before looking down at the green flames around his paws, before giving a quick breath and blowing them out. Satisfied, the wolf looked back at his prey with a savage grin as he moved closer.

Spike stumbled back against a tree as the wolves brushed off his meager attempt at using his fire to fight them. As they slowly stalked closer, baring their sharpened stake like teeth as their strange teal eyes brightened, Spike picked up footsteps coming from behind him.

“Timberwolves this far from the Everfree, never would've expected that.” Spike glanced back to find Trace walking over calmly, an almost bored expression on his face as his eyes began glowing faintly. “Ah, there you are Spike, I was wondering where you wondered off to.” He paused and glanced back at the timberwolves, his expression turning serious. “You aren’t hurt, are you?”

“N-no,” Spike stuttered, caught off guard by Trace’s sudden change.

Almost immediately, the human’s expression switched to a calm smile. “Good, I would’ve been rather upset if these vermin had harmed you in any way.”

“Now then,” he said, turning back to the timberwolves as he stepped in front of Spike, blocking his view of the creatures. “I don’t know how you ended up in this area, and frankly I don’t care. The second you decided to threaten my little friend here I decided I wouldn’t show you any mercy.” The timberwolves moved closer as Trace began rummaging through his sleeves. “You have two options, you can either leave of your own free will, or I can make you leave,” he finished, his eyes glowing brighter as the wolves growled at him.

“So be it,” Trace sighed, pulling one of the glowing emeralds out of his sleeve and tossing at the wolves as he tilted his head down. “Flash!” At his command, a burst of brilliant green light erupted from the gemstone, startling the timberwolves and blinding them for a moment. As soon as the light faded, Trace threw his hand forward. “Spiritus venti audierit vocem meam, Aeroga!”

Spike peaked out from behind the mage, watching in shock as a giant gust of wind shot forth from around them, slamming into the unexpecting timberwolves and launching them back several feet.

“And now,” Trace muttered, pulling a dark green orb and tossing it at the stunned timberwolves. “Begone.” As he snapped his fingers, causing the orb and wolves to vanish.

“Wh-what’d you do to them?” Spike asked nervously.

Trace looked at him with small smile. “I sent them safely back to their natural habitat.”

---

Deep within the Everfree, the dark forest’s sole occupant, Zecora, jumped slightly at the sound of something crashing through the trees outside her hut, causing her cauldron to shake and the arcane liquids within to slosh. Taking a cautious step towards her window, Zecora blinked at the sight of three confused Timberwolves piled up next to a strange crystal orb.

---

“Well, I hope they arrived safely, don’t really have control of their exact destination beyond the general area,” Trace muttered under his breath. Giving off a small sigh, he looked back down at Spike. “Ready to head back to camp?”

Spike nodded quickly and followed the mage as they started walking through the woods. Both of them were silent for several minutes, simply allowing the sounds of their surroundings fill the void. “Thanks,” Spike said, glancing up at Trace. “And… I’m sorry.”

Trace blinked and looked down at the little dragon in confusion. “What for?”

“Just… How I’ve been acting since you showed up with Twilight,” Spike replied, looking down. “I’ve pretty much been avoiding you since day one. It’s just, whenever I see you and Twilight together, I can’t help but feel… I don’t know, sad, annoyed, maybe jealous.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “I know I should be happy that Twi’s actually gotten into a real relationship again, even if her previous one didn’t last that long. Not to mention every time I’m around you I can’t help feel uncomfortable.”

“Ah, my magic’s aura,” Trace said.

“Yeah,” Spike replied, nodding. “At least, that’s what Fei says it is.”

“Do you feel it now?” Trace asked, stopping and leaning against a tree.

Spike paused for a moment before nodding again. “Yeah, but it feels… different. It still feels kind of disturbing, but not in any way...” The little dragon searched for the words.

“Malicious,” Trace offered.

“Yeah, malicious. And I guess I was kind of worried that Twilight might have stopped caring as much about everypony while she was gone, since she ended up falling in love with you.” Spike sighed once more and looked back down. “Again, all I can really say is, I’m sorry.”

Trace remained silent for a moment, before kneeling down and placing a hand on Spike’s head, earning the little dragon’s attention. “Spike, while Twilight may have gained new interests and occupied her mind with various information back on Gaia, she never once stopped thinking about the time she would be able to return to Equestria,” he said, giving Spike a friendly smile. “And I’ll let you in on little secret. Of all the people she missed here in Equestria, you were the one she missed the most.”

Spike stared wide-eyed at Trace. “R-really?”

“Yes.” Trace said with a nod. “As an empath, whenever she would tell me about her friends and the adventures they’ve had, I could feel the emotions she felt. Joy at the memories, pride at the accomplishments such as purifying Nightmare Moon or sealing Discord.” He paused for a second, a look of disgust flashing across his face before he quickly switched back to his calm, friendly look. “And of course, sorrow at being trapped in another reality. It was when she talked about you that her emotions were their strongest.”

Spike looked down for a moment, choking back a weak sob as tears began to form in his eyes. “Y-you mean it?” he stammered.

Trace smiled at Spike and pulled him into a small hug. “Yes, I do. Twilight cares about you deeply. You’re practically family to her.” He picked Spike up and resumed walking at a slower, more relaxed pace. “You think of her as something of a motherly figure, don’t you?”

Spike hesitated for a moment, before nodding. “Yeah, but, I don’t really know how else I could think of her.” He paused and looked up at the mage, a few tears still present in his eyes. “She’s the one that hatched my egg, and she’s been there for me pretty much since day one.” He gave another pause before adding, “Well, she had help from Princess Celestia for the first year or so I think, but you get the idea.”

Trace nodded and adjusted his hat. “Twilight cares for you almost the same way, even if she herself does not realize it.” Spike opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when Trace placed his hand in front of him. “Try not to question it, emotions are… complicated.” He paused and looked up at the cloud filled sky. “The easiest way to explain it would be that because Twilight has never really thought of herself as a mother figure, her brain has decided that you’d be better suited as a younger sibling. In her heart though, she does see you as if you were her son.” He looked back down. “That make any sense?”

“Not really,” Spike admitted. “I can kind of get what you’re saying, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

“As I said, emotions are complicated. Elves, especially high elves, have always had an acute understanding of emotions, but trying to explain them is harder than most people think.”

They drifted off into silence as Trace continued down the path back to the camp. After a few moments, Spike removed his nose plugs and took a curious sniff. “Huh, not that bad,” he muttered, earning Trace’s attention. “The human scent’s still there, but it’s mostly masked by much more… pleasant, scents. Kind of like a mix of various flowers, herbs, and… coffee?” he finished, looking up at Trace in confusion.

“That last one is likely less a natural aroma, and more a warning sign I need to lower my caffeine intake,” Trace grumbled, vaguely recalling what Twilight had told him about Spike’s problem with humans. After a moment he stopped and sighed once more. “As much as I enjoy the weather, I think just walking back to camp might take a bit too long.” He looked down at his companion. “Hang on.”

Spike complied, grabbing the mage’s robe with his claws Trace raised his hand into the air, muttering a quick “warp” as he snapped his fingers, making both Spike and him vanish into thin air

---

(Trace)

I stumbled as we landed, just barely keeping my grip on Spike as I braced myself against a tree. Carefully, I set Spike down to allow him to brace himself against the trees well as we both tried to fight back the urge to vomit. ‘Right, this is why I don’t do non-single entity trans-location too often.’

“Sorry about that,” I said once the sickness faded. “It’s been a while since I’ve used that spell on more than just myself.”

“It’s fine,” Spike groaned, the effects hitting him a little harder due to his smaller form. “Let’s just get back to camp.” I nodded as we set off, keeping our pace slow to allow Spike time to get over his nausea.

After a few minutes, we found ourselves at the edge of camp. As I gave a quick tap on one of the trees, everyone snapped to us and began hurrying over.

“Spike!” the Crusaders shouted as they tackled the little dragon.

Alex smiled as he watched the fillies began looking over Spike before turning to me. “Were there any problems?”

“Nothing too dangerous, just a few timberwolves that wandered away from the Everfree. I managed to send them back to where they belong.” ’And removed some strange magic that had mutated them’.

“So then” I said as I pulled out the gems, along with a special launcher. “Which color should I use first, just as a demonstration?”

“Red?” Spike offered with a shrug.

“Good enough.” I dropped the selected gem into the launcher before pointing it into the air. Using a bit of magic, I activated the launcher, sending the gemstone into the air before it exploded in a burst of light.

“Oooh,” the fillies chorused, staring up at the explosion.

“That’s it? We had better fireworks back home, probably cheaper too.” Matt asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Not exactly,” I said, pulling a small etching tool from my hat and using it to scratch three diamonds on one of the sapphires. “Watch.” I repeated the process, only this time the explosion appeared in the shape I had marked on the stone.

This time the children gasped. “Rarity’s cutie mark!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, jumping in place.

I smiled and pulled out a few more gems. “Any requests?”

---

We continued firing gems until the moon had risen high into the sky before deciding that we should call it a night. As everyone was making their way into the tents I offered mine to Fei and Spike and opted to sleep outside, arguing that the tent wasn’t big enough for the three of us.

Alex, Matt, and I stayed up for a little while longer, mostly discussing plans for the next few days, as well as what to do for Hearth’s Warming. Eventually we decided to call it a night, with Matt opting to stand guard. He scaled a tree saying something about the view.

I armed the wards before lying down in front Spike and Fei’s tent, looking up at the clear night sky. “Go raibh maith agat as an oíche álainn, Luna, (Thank you for this beautiful night, Luna)” I whispered before closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep.

Comments

[The Library]

Finally an update! But I cant stop feeling something bad is going ro happen. Anyway good job like always.

[Marvelous Cheshire]

3785076

I cant stop feeling something bad is going ro happen

denver.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw2379-99229_-_animated_applejack_Applelie_liarjack_what_.gif

[markoatonc]

irish? huh. could you please add transactions to eny foreign languages, please? I read on phone, and if I open translation app to check it, the page returns to tje top, and I have to scroll down and find the place I was on before. with only two sentences it is bearable, but still it would be nice.

[Marvelous Cheshire]

3900093 Noted, will make sure to do so in the future (and probably go through old chapters at some point to fix them)
Use Irish because unfortunately trying to put together sentences and phrases using "real" elvish is too much of a pain for me, and last I checked Irish was a rarely spoken language in most places

(I apologize for the delayed replay, fimfiction never gave me a message saying you commented)

[markoatonc]

3935994
there is no problem, and thanks for answering. Irish sounds elvish enough for me. you could always try using some elvish from Tolkien's stories for example. but translation and getting those runes here would be hard.