The Mage's Jump

by Marvelous Cheshire

Chapter 1

THE MAGES JUMP
BY GENOSABER
CHAPTER 1

(Location- Equestria)

After what felt like hours, the blinding light began to fade, allowing sight and sound to return full force. This wouldn’t be a problem, except the purple mare clinging to my back was in the process of screaming like a banshee the whole time. Sadly the return of sight also gave me a chance to see where in equestria we ended up.

About a hundred feet above a forest, a small town I can only assume is Ponyville in the distance.

Thinking quickly, I cast a modified form of 'demi' to reduce the force of impact, before smacking the heels of my new boots together to trigger the enchantment on them. Instantly, a pair of glowing blue wings erupt from the heels, acting like a parachute to slow our descent just as we hit fifty feet. Twilight has since stopped screaming and has resolved to just bury her face in my robe. As we reach the last ten feet, I dismiss the wings and drop the rest of the way. Once my feet touch ground, I turn my head slightly and said “You can open your eyes now, we’re here.”

Hesitantly, she opened her eyes, looking around to see that we are no longer in the sky, before sliding off my back and practically kissing the earth beneath her hooves. As she did this, I dropped my bag and removed my robe, switching it out for a simple grey shirt with a black, upward facing pentacle on the front. I finished changing just as Twilight looked back up at me, a smile beginning to form on her face.

“Thank you,” she said. I simply shrugged as I pick the bag back up.

“No need to thank me, Twilight, I said I would get you home, and I did.” I paused for a moment before kneeling down in front of twilight. “Would you mind giving me your hoof for a second, I need to check something?”

She lifted up her bandaged hoof, allowing me to put my hand around it. Using a bit of energy, I checked the limb for any more damage. Instead, I found the injury completely healed, with just a trace of white magic left over. That would explain the devout being part of the circle, she must have healed Twilight by throwing a healing spell in with the portal.

“Looks like it’s healed, let me just remove these bandages.” I quickly unwrapped Twilight’s leg, letting her test walking on all fours again. I muttered a quick “fira” to reduce the bandages to ash.

I turned my attention back to Twilight just as she threw her forelegs around my neck and pulled me into a kiss. My brain became overwhelmed while trying to hold back the sudden wave of emotion. Twilight released her hold around my neck and stepped back, the blush on her face matching my own. As I forced my emotions back in place, small bits of electricity began jolting around my body, making Twilight giggle once she realized the reason behind them.

Once my blush faded, I stood up and stared at Twilight with a raised eyebrow. She smiled sweetly and sheepishly. “Sorry. It just... it just felt right?”

In response, I leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She stared at me in shock as I stood back and smiled at her.

“Nothing to apologize for, and it didn’t feel wrong to me.” I smiled, but felt a tinge of sorrow as Laura’s face flashed in my memory. I quickly forced it back before continuing. “Now, I saw a town off in that direction.” I pointed at a path to my left “So I assume if thats Ponyville, and this must be the Everfree, in which case let's get the hell out of here and back to civilization.” Twilight nodded in agreement, and we set off toward Ponyville. As we walked I decided to check and make sure I remembered what Twilight had told me about her friends.

“Lets see, if I remember correctly, their names are Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, along with two humans named Alex Roberts and Matthew Brennan, right?” She nodded, and I continued, “You and the other five ponies make up the Elements of Harmony, which are magic, honesty, loyalty, kindness, generosity, and laughter, Alex holds the title, ‘Paladin of Redemption’ and carries a slight disdain towards wizards.” At that, Twilight stopped and chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof.

“Hehe, yeah I hope you won’t hold it against him, he hasn’t had the best experience with them in the past.” I waved my hand dismissively and continued walking.

“His hatred is completely valid, and I’ve had to deal with worse for less reason.” She stared at me with a look of confusion and concern. I touched the tip of my ear before speaking. “Half-elves are considered ‘freaks’ in some places, hated by both humans and elves alike, ones such as myself are often abused and insulted for no reason, Alex at least has a reason to dislike me, so I really don’t care.” By the time I finished speaking, the look had evolved into full blown concern for my well being and disgust at the idea of hurting someone for their race.

“Thats horrible!” she exclaimed, to which I nod in agreement, leaving it at that.

"What about this Matthew Brennan?" I asked.

Twilight thought about it for a second before answering. "He's seems very cautious of magic, I'm not sure if he's met a wizard. He doesn't talk about the first reality he landed in though, so I suppose he could have had some experience with them. Actually Rainbow Dash and Applejack have started a betting pool on how long it is before he tells somepony." I nodded at her answer and continued walking, Twilight step next to me.

As we reached the edge of the forest, my ears picked up the sound of... arguing?

“Are you saying we should just give up?”

“No, I’m saying we shouldn’t go running off into the everfree without waiting for backup, the Princess said she was gonna send some guards to help search soon.”

“But if we wait, there no telling what could happen to her.” As we exited the forest, we found the source of the noise. Twilight’s friends were standing about thirty feet away, with two of them (Applejack and Rainbow Dash judging by their features) glaring at each other, they continued their argument until Twilight galloped over to them, I simply increased my pace to a jog.

As I cleared the edge of the forest, the two humans turned their attention to me. The younger one, who I assumed was Matt instantly drew his sidearm and a disturbingly steady red dot marked my chest. The older one, I assume it was Alex, dropped into a very practised combat stance, his blade drawn, electrical discharge dancing over it.

Twilight called out. “He’s a friend!”

Just as quickly, and with a cocky smile, Matt holstered his weapon with a slight flourish, and Alex sheathed his blade in a much more practical way. They, along with all the ponies, meet Twilight half way and exchanged hugs. Alex, once he was satisfied Twilight was alright, jogged towards me, quickly followed by Matt, sporting a cautious smile.

With his calloused and scarred hand extended and a bit of a chuckle. “Any friend of Twilight is a friend of mine. My name is Alex Roberts, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Trace Reinhart, likewise,” I said as I shook his hand and gave a small smile, careful not to show my fangs.

He heartily shook my hand, and while his grip was firm, it was far gentler than I expected. His head tilted ever so slightly, looking to the right of mine. His eye’s grew slightly, but his expression didn’t change. He spoke in stilted and badly accented elvish, “Of elf people are you?”

I blinked in surprise, but quickly recovered myself. “Yes, my mother.”

In a much more understandable Cardian. “Sorry about the bad siombail gan. I just know enough to order pizza and get directions to the bathroom. You don’t happen to know how to make that crust, do you?” I shook my head slightly in confusion. “That’s fine. Odds were you weren't from the same place as I visited. So, new friends need a new meal. And, Dash, dear, please ask Pinkie to hold off on her welcome party for a few days.”

The rainbow maned pegasus chuckled. “One human special, got it.”

“Tell me, how long has Twilight been gone?” I asked.

“About two and a half weeks.” He turned to Twilight with an expression of affection, “We were getting worried, but this is Twilight Sparkle we’re talking about. She’s a tough cookie. Glad to see you back, Twi.” He snapped his fingers, which made us all jump. “Oh, and I was talking to Cheerilee, again,” he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know what I’ll do with that filly. Anyway, and she wanted you to know the kids are doing great with their lessons and they all miss Miss Sparkle.”

Twilight smiled, and I couldn’t help but smirk. “Daughter?” I asked him.

Alex smiled with pride. “Yes, my adopted daughter, Scootaloo. A pegasus, like her adoptive mother.” He looked lovingly at the rainbow maned mare. “And just as strong willed.”.

‘I thought as much.’ I presented him with a friendly smile. “Congratulations to both you and your family. I had to raise my sister, I know children can be-” I paused while I searched for the right word. “A handful, but I also know it’s worth it in the end.” I turned towards Matt. “You’ve been rather quiet. As I said, my name is Trace Reinhart, a pleasure to meet you,” I said with a polite nod.

“Matt Brennan. Sorry if I’m a tad quiet, I’m just trying to sort things out... Jumpers don’t usually return to their origin point. Especially not with additional passengers,” he replied with a nod of his own. I opened my mouth to reply before being cut off.

“Trace, can you come here for a minute,” Twilight said. I walked over next to her and turned my attention the the five mares before me. “Girls, this is Trace, he helped me get back here from his world. Trace, these are my friends, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy,” She concluded while pointing towards the yellow pegasus, who was currently in the process of of trying to hide behind her mane. I smiled lightly and gave a small bow.

“A pleasure to meet you all,” I said.

“Hi!” Pinkie said with a smile.

“If Alex thinks you’re alright, that’s good enough for me.” Rainbow Dash.

“Greetings.” Rarity, giving a polite nod.

“Hey.” Applejack.

“Hello,” Fluttershy finished quietly.

Alex joined us, with and judging from Matt’s body language, he was ready to protect his older friend. “If introductions are all done, I think we should get going. We can head to my house and wait for the others, then head to the library.” He turned his head to Rainbow Dash. “Dash, would you mind gathering up Spike, Bea, and Emerald?” The mare nodded and crouched for take-off, but Alex spoke warmly. “Be careful, okay?”

Rainbow Dash only smirked at her husband. “Hey, I don’t need to be careful, I’m the best.” She gave him a quick kiss and burst straight up. I was impressed at the force of the air I could feel from such a distance.

Alex shaded his eyes with his hand, watching his spouse fly off at impressive speed. Once he was satisfied he clapped his hands and sported a hearty smile. “Okay, pitter patter, let’s get at ‘er. We’re burning sunlight.” Once he was satisfied everyone was ready, we quickly set off in what I assumed was the direction of his house. I fell into step at the back of the group, opting to remain silent until we reached our destination.

It didn’t take long. After a few minutes, mostly spent listening to the conversations of other, including Alex explaining to Matt that elves in some universes have long hair or something like that, we found ourselves in front of a quaint cottage. Two stories, shingled roof, simple paint job, the standard aspects one think of welcoming home. Alex opened the door and lead the ponies and Matt inside, I took an instinctive glance at the doorway, no wards. Didn’t know why I would think there would be any, but I suppose I’ve gotten use to them on Gaia.

The inside was pretty nice. A large living room with a fireplace, a couch, a bookshelf (mostly bare), and a messy, well used desk in the corner. I sat down next to Twilight and slid my bag off. I felt a headache forming, a magical backlash from the ritual, and digging into the side pocket, I pulled out a vial of light blue liquid, ether, and pulled the stopper out before downing it. I replaced the stopper and dropped the vial back into the pocket. I turned to Twilight, and smiled.

“Happy to be home?” I asked, causing her to look at me and smile.

“Very, your world was interesting, but I missed Equestria,” She said.

After a few minutes, I looked over at Alex and noticed his expression change as he looked out the window. That, combined with the feeling I was getting in the back of my head, was enough to make me move a bit to the side so as to put a bit a space between me and Twilight. She barely had time to turn to me before the door swung open.

“Twilight!” A little blur of purple and green shouted as it flung itself onto her. The blur revealed itself to be a purple dragon hatchling with green spines. Twilight wrapped her forelegs around the dragon and pulled him into a hug.

“Its okay Spike, I’m right here,” she said reassuringly. The dragonling choked back a sob and looked up at her. He tried to speak, but settled for just burying his head in her chest. A second later, two unicorns stepped through the doorway, one was a blue mare with a silver mane and tail, the other a dark green stallion with a black mane and tail. They both let out a breath as they saw that Twilight was alright. The stallion was the first to notice me, and turned to me with a small smile and held out a hoof.

“Hello, I am Doctor Emerald, and you are?” he asked. I took his hoof and shook, ignoring the odd sensation I got from his magic. Matthew gave me an assessing look as my hand contacted his hoof, almost wary.

“Trace Reinhart,” I responded as I let go of his hoof.

“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Reinhart. I hope yours and Twilight’s trials were not too perilous,” Emerald said concerned, then looked at Twilight. “Are you or Mr. Reinhart in any need of medical attention?”

We both shook our heads. “Thank you, but that will not be necessary,” I said. I turned to the mare. “And you are?” I asked politely.

“Beatrix Lulamoon, but most ponies know me as-” she gathered herself theatrically, her horn glowed a silvery field, and with a miniature fanfare and burst of fireworks she exclaimed. “The Grrrreat And Powerful Trrrrixie!” She smiled like this was more of a joke than an actual belief and everyone else in the room chuckled warmly with their friend. “I am also a Paladin of Redemption, like my good friend Alex, and and Equestria renowned entertainer.”

“A pleasure to meet you Miss Lulamoon,” I said before turning to the gathered ponies. “I’m sure you all have questions, before you ask them, I would prefer if we headed to the library first. Once we’re there, I will answer any of your questions, okay?” Everyone paused for a minute before nodding in agreement. We all fell into step, and I took a place next to Twilight, who had Spike on her back. The little dragon looked at me warily, but quickly looked away when I turned my head toward him.

As we walked, a brown coated earth pony walked by our group. He frowned at the others, but the second his eyes fell on me, they widened, and I could hear him mutter under his breath “Oh dear Celestia, not another one.” He quickly sped up to get away from us.

‘The hell?’ I slowed my pace down till I was next to Matt near the back of the group and turned to him. “Who was that asshole?” I asked with a raised eyebrow, pointing to the stallion with my thumb.

He looked back. “Oh, Golden Coins. Entrepreneur, a leading member of the city council and the local racist.” His voice was light and cheerful but his face showed a strained tolerance. My eyes narrowed as I glared at the retreating figure. I smirked as he shuddered before turning the corner, apparently the “Evil Eye” trick still works here. I returned to Twilight just in time to the library come into view.

The library was... odd. It wasn’t that I had never seen anything like it before, I’ve seen buildings like it in most forest elf villages. It was odd because I wouldn’t expect to see it in a town like this. The library was a tree, not made to look like a tree, or built like a treehouse, it was an actual tree, the inside had been carved out into a library, but the tree was still alive. Something told me that if I reached out my senses, I would probably find a strong concentration of druidic magic in the building.

The ponies began to gather inside the library. I started to follow them before I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to find Alex and Matt, both with neutral expressions on their face. “Would you mind if we talked for a minute?” I looked back to Twilight, who was still in the doorway. I gave her a reassuring smile and gestured her to go inside before turning back to Alex and nodding. We walked a few feet to the side away from the door, before Alex turned back to me.

Alex rubbed the back of his neck let out a long, slow breath. I could tell his need to tell me whatever he was going to tell me saddened him. “These ponies are good people. They’re innocent, but not stupid. We feel very protective of them. Very. Protective. Now, you have Twilight’s trust, and frankly that counts for a lot more than anything you could say or do. I would be happy to call you friend. Please don’t force my hand by hurting any of these people.”

I nodded after he finished speaking. “I can understand that, all my life I was taught to protect others. But I’d like to make one thing clear as well, while I will respect your wishes and not harm anyone without cause, if I ever see an innocent life in any danger, regardless of who it is, I will not hesitate to defend them, from anything and anyone, and by any means necessary. That being said, I hope we can be friends, Twilight's told me a bit about you, and you seem like a pretty good guy.” I held out my hand to him.

He grabbed my hand and gave it a firm shake. “Sounds good,” he said with a friendly smile, which I matched. He released my hand and began walking towards the door.

Matthew remained silent seeming content in letting Alex take the lead, it seemed at odds with the outgoing personality he had shown when I had asked him about Golden Coins. I choose to take it as a sign of him being cautious of me rather than a sign of distrust or hatred.

I followed Alex and Matt into the Library, the ponies had already taken a seat at the table and Twilight had brought a blackboard out. The humans sat down as I took my place next to the board. Setting my bag down, I turned to the group and smiled lightly. “Okay then, I suppose I should introduce myself, my name is Trace Reinhart, I am a thirty four year old half-elf, and I’m a black mage. Now, first question, who’s up?” I asked.

“I think we’d all like to know what happened to Twilight, would y’all be able to tells us that?” Applejack asked, everyone nodded in agreement.

I nodded as I reached into my pack. “That should be simple enough to explain.” I pulled out the folded piece of cloth and opened it, showing them the stone inside, Spike seemed to tense up immediately. “Twilight was pulled from this world into mine by what is known as a Chaos Seed, one of several hundred fragments of the dark god Chaos created after his defeat at the hands of the light warriors two hundred years ago. They remain dormant until they come in contact with a living creature, upon which they’ll release the energy stored within them. The Seeds’ effects are completely random, and include explosion, corruption, or in Twilight’s case, pulling the victim into another world. Thankfully they’re pretty much harmless afterwards, just have to wait till the residual energy left in them fades, destroying them.”

I went on to tell everyone what happened. How I found Twilight, my conversation with my grandmother about getting her home, etc. Once I was done, I placed the Seed back into my bag and sat down in front of the chalkboard, letting everyone take in what I just said.

“So, what does this 'Order of Magi’ do exactly?” Alex asked after a few minutes.

I sighed and stood up, grabbed a piece of chalk and started writing on the board. “The Order is split into several factions, or ‘Circles’ that each work in different matters. The White Circle is the oldest part of the Order, and as the name implies, all its members practice white magic, white mages And paladins, for instance. Their main purpose is to provide aid to places that are suffering from war, famine, or poverty, as well as combat demons and the undead. The White Circle is run by a collection of devouts, masters of White Magic, and the High Priestess, the current one being my grandmother Sera Reinhart.

“The Black Circle is made up of black mages such as myself, dark knights, and assassins. unlike the White Circle, they focus less on helping, and more on punishing criminals. Killers, evil mages, and regular monsters. I worked for them since I was eighteen, I stopped doing active work two years ago, shortly after becoming the archmage, the head of the Black Circle. Along with the archmage, we employ what is know as the Fangblade, a title given to the best assassin or dark knight at the time, they act as both assistants and bodyguards, standing by us during meetings and protecting us from any threats, along with minor things like paperwork for instance.”

The last two major groups are the Red Circle and the Summoners guild. The Reds are a weaker form of mage, they practice both White and Black, as well as sword fighting, they balance each and never excel in any of them. Their purpose is mostly handling foreign relations, negotiating trade and peace treaties around the Gaia, the world I’m from. Summoners, mages gifted with the ability to call upon the lesser gods known as Espers to fight for them. There are other minor factions but I think that should cover it for now,” I finished writing on the board and turned back to the group. The ponies had mixed expressions, Matt looked a bit confused and Alex gave off a feeling of suspicion mixed with a hint of guilt.

“How does Magic work in your world?” the green unicorn, Emerald inquired.

I set the chalk down for a moment and pulled my hat , robe, and a spell book form my bag.

“That depends on the type of magic, as well as the person using it.” I threw my robe on over my head, letting it fall onto my body. “Normally, the caster must focus his energy on the target, and release it through a vocal command. white mages generally cast spells through physical contact, placing both hands on the target, this allows them to direct the spell more accurately. black mages on the other hand, prefer to keep as much distance between ourselves and our target as possible, normally we cast by pointing our hand in the direction we want the spell to go and snapping our fingers as we either say the name of the spell, or a prefered phrase or command that works with the effects of the spell. Just as white magic is mostly about healing, black magic is almost entirely based around destruction, with only a handful of spells that could be considered non-violent. Because of this, black mages were regarded as evil for centuries, and they had to find ways to hide their identity in order to prevent anyone from attacking them in the open.”

I put my hat on, allowing the veil to take effect. within seconds my vision darkened slightly. Everyone but Twilight looked surprised by this, but I continued before anyone could speak up. “The most common method was to use what is called shadow aura, a form of veil that hides the users features in darkness, as well as distorting their voice to protect gender. While black mages proved their innocence during the first Chaos outbreak, when they used their power to defeat Chaos and send him back to the underworld. Many people still remain fearful of us, and we have become accustomed to keeping the veils as a form of tradition, thankfully,” I deactivated the veil, revealing my feature once more. “We can remove it anytime we want to, and I’ve seen a number of mages forgo them in recent years. If you’d like, I can preform a small demonstration of one of the non-violent spells if you’d like.”

“Would you require a volunteer?” Emerald asked. Everyone looked hesitant at the idea.

“Yes, but I promise that you will not be harmed,” I reassured them. They seemed to settle down, but no one stepped forward.

“Trace, what spell are you planning on doing?” Twilight asked, I walked over and pointed to the spells name in the table of contents. She looked over to Spike, who was in the middle of yawning. “Spike, would you mind if Trace used the spell on you?”

The little dragon looked a bit frightened. “W-what it gonna do?” he asked. I turned and showed him the book. He stared at it for a moment, before nodding slowly. “Alight, you’re sure nothing bad will happen?”

I nodded. “Positive, I’ve used this spell plenty of times, and it's never hurt anyone. Though, you may want to go sit on the couch first.” He complied. I walked over and crouched down in front of him, readying my my fingers, I focus my mind on the spell, pulling any magic I could to make this work. I took several deep breaths, before snapping my fingers and half-shouting “Sleep!” The spell took effect instantly, and Spike fell to the side unconscious.

Matt’s armor beeped causing him to frown and pry open the underside of his forearm bracer. A small screen and keyboard interface glow faintly as he frowned and began tapping what appeared to be a simulated keyboard.

Twilight immediately stood up and levitated the now sleeping dragon onto her back, before making her way up the stairs. She returned a few minutes later, and returning to her seat. The introspective silence broken by the tapping and beeping coming from Matt’s forearm.

“You said you’re a half-elf, what is that exactly?” Rarity asked.

I smiled, knowing I would not be judged for my linage here. "A simple answer. It means that one of my parents was human, my father in my case, and one of my parents were elf. That was my dear mother. It also means I take some of the characteristics of both elf and human."

Rarity mused, “I suppose that makes me half-unicorn.”

“What would these traits be, and does you sister also have them?” Emerald asked.

“My sister does not have them, she was born human. As for traits, because my mother was a hybrid between two different types of Elves, high elf and dark elf, I have inherited a bit of both of them. From the high elves, I have a heightened sensitivity to magical energy and emotions. Instinctively, I can pick up emotions from others when they're directed at me, especially certain powerful emotions such as fear, hatred, and love, as well as sense when someone is channeling magic to cast a spell if they’re close. If I focus, I can pick up emotions all around me, as well as who they’re directed towards, and I can sense more subtle magic, such as wards, enchantments, and areas with high concentrations of magic. From the dark elves, I gained heightened senses, my hearing is about one and a half times that of a human, my sense of smell is about the same. My eyesight is about the same as a human’s during the day, and about double that at night. Due to dark elves having a sensitivity to sunlight, my eyes do hurt a bit in direct sunlight, which is why I prefer to wear my hat when I walk around outside. Like all dark elves, I have fangs," I opened my mouth to show them.

Rainbow Dash looked at Alex and playfully bumped his shoulder with her own. “His, what did you call them? Canines? They’re bigger than yours. Are you jealous?” I chuckled a bit before continuing.

“And a more solid bone structure. I can make my body slightly numb, allowing me to partially ignore pain for a few hours. While I haven’t tested it, I should be able use the same magic as dark elves, but I have no Interest in it, so I never bothered to try it.” I sat back down as I finished, taking a minute to catch my breath. “And as for dark elf magic, I would rather not go into that for now,” I quickly added.

“At least your magic isn't as dangerous as the local variety, aside from whatever combat magic you know. Just do me a favor and don’t use magic on or around me, okay? Alex has some resistance to it but I sort of have to take additional measures to stay healthy. Even those aren’t one hundred percent.” Matt didn't sound bothered by the fact, in fact he had the same borderline cheerful tone he used when he had described Golden Coins to me.

“Sorry to hear that, I’ll respect your wish and keep my spell casting to a minimum around you,” I said politely.

“Speaking of, can you sense the magical field here, and if so, how are you interacting with it?” Emerald inquired.

‘Magical field?’ I focused my mind for a minute and, sure enough, I picked up on a pretty good sized concentration of magic all around. The energy didn’t seem to be doing anything to me at the moment, but I should probably look into this later. “It doesn't seem to be having any effect on me at the moment, but I’ll check regularly and get back to you if I notice anything.” He nodded. I looked out the window to find the sun had set a few minutes ago. “Okay, it’s getting late, any questions you’d like answered?”

No surprise, Emerald spoke up, again. “Yes, what does your diet consist of, and would you mind if we do a medical screening on you so we can treat you for wounds or diseases if you get them, better safe than sorry?” He paused for a moment before adding “I would also like to learn about the world you come from, but I believe that can wait.”

I thought about it for a moment, then nodded, “I suppose so, if it can wait a day or two that would be fine, I can give you information on my world after the screening. As for my diet, Like humans and high elves, I’m an omnivore, but due to the dark elf DNA, I can’t forgo meat, I’ve found I restrict myself to eating meat once a week without any health problems. While dark elves are predators and like their food raw, I need mine to be about half cooked.” I paused for a second before adding. “Oh, and for some reason, dark elves can’t stand fish, there are a few types I can tolerate, but for the most part I feel like I’m going to vomit when I eat fish”

“So you and I will be making some hunting trips into Everfree together, since Fluttershy is friends with many of local animals I have to go and hunt in Everfree for my extra protein and even then I have to be careful what I shoot.” The smile Matt was directing at me seemed to become slightly more real.

I presented him a smile of my own. “That sounds good, I used to hunt from time to time in the woods surrounding the city, though that was more about saving money on groceries than actual necessity.” Matt nodded and everyone began making their way to the door.

I watched everyone as they left, as well as giving a final nod to Alex. As soon as I closed the door I let out my breath, the portal ritual had been draining enough, mixed with a few spells I’ve cast since entering this world and the lecture, I had nothing left. I sat down on the couch as Twilight entered the room carrying two cups of tea, passing one to me as she sat down on the couch. “Thank you,” I said as I took a sip of the tea, smiling as the taste of peppermint hit my tongue. I looked over at Twilight and noticed a scroll. “From the princess?”

She nodded. “She says she’s relieved to hear I’m safe, and that she'd like us to come to Canterlot tomorrow,” She said. She seemed worried about something, glancing back and forth between me and the letter.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

“Its just, humans seem to act strangely around the Princesses, due to their-” She started.

“Magical Aura?” I asked. Twilight seemed a bit surprised by my knowledge. “Twi, I have interacted with the espers before, they’re basically minor deities, they have a strong magical aura that affects everyone differently, I’m used to it enough that I should be able to fight any influence it might have on me, or at least hold it back for a short period of time.” She nodded slowly and set the letter down. She leaned into me, and I threw my arm around her and pulled her close.

We drifted into silence for a few minutes, Twilight picked up my spell book and looked at the list on the first page. “Hey Trace?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are so many of these spells left unchecked?” I moved in my seat and looked over her shoulder at the list, there were a lot of check marks, signifying that I had learned the spell, but there was also a handful of them that remained unmarked.

“Well, the spells written in red are spells only a magus can learn, due to the fact that they require the power that one gains by becoming a magus, I’ve already expressed my lack of interest in that subject, and the rest I’ve just never had the time to practice them, though I suppose I’ll have the time now,” I said as I leaned back, throwing my arm over Twilight and pulling her close. She smiled and leaned towards me, taking a sip of her tea. we sat in silence, content to just sit there and hold each other. Eventually, Twilight let out a yawn. “I suppose it is rather late, we should go to bed then.” I said as I got up and put the cups in the kitchen. I followed her into the bedroom upstairs, taking note of Spike sleeping soundly, and the twin sized bed set aside on lower portion of the room. Twilight stopped and looked down at Spike a smile forming.

“How long will the spell last?” she asked.

“He was already tired when I cast it, so he should wake up in the morning,” I said as I looked back down at the small bed. “I assume that’s your old bed?”

She nodded and pointed to the larger bed next to us. “I switched it for the guest bed, it’s a bit bigger, so we should have more room.” I nodded and moved next to her as she got into the bed. Once we were both comfortable, I wrapped my arms around Twilight and gave her a kiss. We stayed like that for several minutes before we broke the kiss, looking at each with lazy smiles.

“Goodnight Twilight,” I said.

“Goodnight,” she responded before falling asleep. I watched her for a minute before giving her a final kiss and laying my head down, falling asleep a few seconds later.

---

(The Void)
(unknown first Person)

I smiled as I watched the mage and his new love fall asleep in each others embrace. They should cherish their time together, I will give them some peace, but within one month I have to start on my plan.

“Thank you,” a voice said behind me. I turned to find a the image of a forest elf female hovering above the small pool in the center of the chamber.

“I didn’t do it for you, I did it because Trace needed to focus for this to work,” I growled. The elf just rolled her eyes and smirked.

“lovely residence you have, didn’t know they offered real estate in the void,” She said with a smirk.

I snorted and turned away from her. “They don’t, I had to pull this tower in after I killed the old bastard that lived here before, though he deserved it for what he did to that Alex Roberts fellow. Now why don’t you tell me why you came here Laura?”

The elf spirit flinched at her name, but quickly regained her composure. “I wanted to thank you. The last words I spoke to Trace were ‘Ná bíodh eagla ort a lorg grá nua’ (Don't be afraid to find new love). Unfortunately, he has not been following my last wish, thanks to you, he has found a new lover, and there are more surprises ahead. He will need those around him to help him through it. But I was asked to pass on a message.”

My interest piqued, messages from the spirit world were rare, even back on Gaia. “and what is this message?”

Laura strode to the edge of the pool, looking me right in the eyes. “The message is-” Her voice took a darker tone, “Be careful of your actions child, You have served your purpose concerning the mage, it is my turn to take hold of his development. I will allow you to continue you plans for now, but tread lightly, or the beasts of the void will be the least of your worries.” with that, the elf faded from existence, leaving me trembling over the threat I had just received. I stayed in place for a minute, before I regained control and moved to the second floor. I went over to a desk and pulled out a wood box. I opened the box a gazed upon the objects before me.

Five Chaos Seeds, each one identical to the one I sent to Miss Sparkle.

“Well, if this plan is to work, I need to find out how to extract the magic in these,” I said as I sat down and got to work.

Author's Note:

pre-readers/editors
Techogre
KMCA
DiscordsAdvocate
Tosety

Alex is from Memoirs of a Reality Jumper.
Matt is from Jumper.

Comments

[Mother3Forever]

(YAWN) UGh.....what time is it?11 PM. I should really go to bed......

Well....a few more chapters won't hurt....