When a daring human wizard with uncanny magical power opens the gate between humans and ponies, everything starts going crazy in equestria.
Merlin, a powerful teen-aged sorcerer, has torn the veil between his world and Equestria, strangely, right after Twilight was studying up on mythology on humans- particularly because some were said to possess immense magical power. When she meets Merlin, dressed in robes the same color as her mane, and having a necklace exactly the same as her cutie mark, not only does it start an irreplaceable relationship, but fiery secrets are revealed about Equestria's past.
AUTHORS' NOTE: All right, I should make one thing clear before anyone starts reading this story, yes this does have some "Harry-potter"-esque themes and elements to it. I'm trying to write a story that while having some 'mystic' or 'fantastical' elements to it, will be focused more on storyline.
Also, I started this story when I just became an MLP fan. I've updated some of the chapters that had mistakes in them.
My parents have asked me to start a journal. My name is Merlin, I'm 13 years old, and I'm an adeptus minor in the study of magic. That means I'm highly skilled and I'm almost fit for the title master wizard. I've been studying ancient spells from Egypt, and I found one today that differed greatly from them. It spoke of the use of a potion to tear the veil between my world, and one fabled in legend; Equestria. Where Every animal seems to be sentient. I felt a shiver of excitement when I first read the title, I'm going to try it out later toda- the boy stopped writing as his mother called for him.
"Merlin, honey, is everything all right? Do you need more Wolfbane?" She asked.
"Uh, no Mother, I've got all I need! Thank you either way!" He said with an elegant-sounding voice. He looked down at his journal and added the missing "Y" to the last word on the page.
"Mother? Could you send this letter to Father Davidson? It's the results of the potion he suggested." He said, and he handed her a small envelope.
"Yes my son, I'll get to it right away... Oh, and, Merlin?"
"Yes?"
"If the spell works, say hi to princess... Celestia was it? I mean, if the legends of her a true as well."
"Yes, of course." Merlin replied, and he began stirring a cauldron full of boiling water. He ground up some strange herbs into a fine, blue powder. He sprinkled them slowly into the cauldron, and despite the powders color, the water changed to a lava-colored liquid, and glowed with a similar light. He reached in a wooden ladle, and poured it into a metal vial, moving indescribably slow so he would not spill any of it.
"Uhm, Mother?" The boy called.
"Yes, Merlin?" She asked.
"The potion's ready- I need to make sure nobody comes into my room for the next three days, or it will weaken the portal!" The boy called.
"I hear you, just be careful!" His mother said, Merlin began to change into his Purple robes, he slid into them, tied it off around the center with a cord, and finally, put on his conical hat. He had been waiting for this: he had heard legends of the mythical realm of equines who could speak and had a mind like humans. He had heard about the legends of the Mare in the moon, the two Goddess-like Alicorns who ruled over the realm... and how his family had very close ties to that legend. His great, great, great, great, great, great, grandfather, Arthur Pendragon, once was supposedly part of the parliament in Equestria, just in legend of course. In the legend, his position of power was unmatched as both a peace-keeper, and as a master wizard... when he was alive, anyway.
A few minutes later, the room had been cleared out of everything except for a circle drawn in the center of the room, where Merlin stood, he held a container of salt, he walked in a clockwise direction around the circle, spreading salt all over it, muttering an Anglo-Saxon (Or, "old English") chant, the salt glowed as it hit the floor, he poured the lava colored potion around the circle, he then stepped out, and the entire circle was filled with fiery, purple light, then, out of the blinding light came a portal. On the other side, Merlin could see the fabled Equestria. His heart racing with excitement, he grabbed his wand and spellbook, and jumped in. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Equestria...
The room in the library where Twilight sat was dimly lit by the faint glow of a lantern, it was late at night and Twilight was studying something incredible. She had found in an ancient spellbook (Which Celestia had given her as a gift) a tale of the kindred species known as humans once lived side by side with ponies in Equestria. She was really into it; it was midnight and she still hadn't stopped reading.
"Twilight... please... go to bed... you need to rest..." She heard Spike say.
"Allright, I'll go to bed in a little while... I just can't get enough of this story." She said with a smile, Spike yawned.
"Good night..." He said, and then went back to his bed.
Is there a hidden truth behind this...? Twilight thought. She closed the book and trotted upstairs, the last step creaking beneath her hooves. She got up in bed, set the lantern down, and blew it out. I need to get some more oil for that thing. She thought, and her eyes slowly closed as she drifted off to a dream of books, magic, and amongst all of it- humans. The story she read was really gripping on her. She saw them with their legendary magic carpets, all of them dressed in elegant robes which heightened their powers to their magical occupations. But she was woken up rather suddenly.
CRASH!
"Woah-! What was that!? Spike!? Where are you!?" She shrieked, very confused, it was 4:00 in the morning, she galloped downstairs. Lying there, on the floor was a pile of books, seeming to have flown off the shelf.
"How did that happen?" She said, expecting Spike to respond, but he was still asleep, strangely. Her horn glowed as she carefuly picked up book after book. Until she came across one she didn't recognize; "White Magic: Humane Healing, and other enchantments." her heart stopped when she read it again: "Humane healing". She then noticed something was attached to it... a hand. She focused really hard, and all the books flew out of the way. There, lying underneath it all, was a human boy, dressed in a purple robe. He opened his eyes slowly. Twilight's heart exploded with excitement. She hadn't smiled the way she was in years, the boy stared up at her in confusion.
"Hi there!" The boy's eyes widened, even more confused.
"What are you doing here?" The boy tried to speak, but he couldn't; did he hurt his throat? He pointed up to the ceiling. A glimmer shown down on the floor. Huh? What's that light? Twilight thought. She looked up, and saw a portal in the ceiling had opened. She immediately understood everything; the boy lying there was not just a human, but one of the fabled Wizards. Her heart exploded again with even more excitement, but then she looked down at him; he looked like he was in pain. She realized the severity of the situation. She focused her magic on him, then on some blankets and a spare mattress she had left in her closet, and set up a bed for him. He immediately lost consciousness as soon as his head hit the bed. Spike came into the room to see what the ruckus was about.
"Twilight what's going o... holy mother of...!" Spike's eyes went wide in surprise.
"Send a letter to princess Celestia, tell her that the legends of humans are true, and she needs to get down here! Tell her it's urgent!" Twilight said, and Spike sprinted to the next room, writing as quickly as he could.
For the rest of the night, Twilight stood next to the boy, waiting for him to wake up, she combed some of the dust out of his dark-blonde hair.
Merlin woke up. His throat was burning, and for a moment, he forgot where he was. He looked to his side, there, sitting right next to him, was the young alicorn that had helped him. He then remembered the ritual he had carried out the other day, and realized he was on the other side.
"Oh... you're awake." The alicorn said, Merlin's eyes adjusted to the light as he took in the view of the room.
"Wh..where...*cough!* *cough!*" Merlin tried to talk, but he couldn't, something had hurt his throat on the way through the portal.
"You want some water?" She asked. Merlin nodded. The alicorn trotted off. When she came back, her horn was glowing, and a glass of water floated near her side, Merlin seemed unalarmed by this.
"Here, don't drink too quickly, I don't want you to choke." She said, Merlin drank the water, and his throat cleared up. He sat up on the mattress.
"Ugh... I need to stop jumping in portals willy-nilly..." Merlin remarked, he looked to the young alicorn.
"Thank you. You have my gratitude. My name is Merlin. Who are you?"
"Where am I?" Merlin asked, he looked around the room he was in again.
"You're in my library, in Equestria." Twilight answered. Merlin smirked.
"It worked..." Merlin said, smiling.
"What?" Twilight asked, Merlin's face went blank, then looked somewhat concerned.
"I'm terribly sorry for knocking all those books down on my uh... 'descent', I was experimenting with some ancient spells. I tried a spell that said it could take me to the fabled land of the equines, or 'Equestria'." Merlin said.
"Oh, no problem, it's not your fault, I don't mind."
"Thank you, Miss, excuse me, may I get up?." He responded, he got up from the mattress, walked a few steps, and looked out the window, there was a period of silence between the two, then, he chuckled.
"You don't seem too surprised." Merlin remarked.
"About what?" Twilight asked.
"Well... I would've thought that seeing a creature from another world would have been rather... flustering." He explained, Twilight shook her head.
"Oh, no no... we have books on you guys here... didn't think I would meet one of you guys in real life..." She said,
"Same with us for your home..." Merlin remarked.
"I always grew up with the comforting bedtime stories of this place, everyone thought it was a complete myth... I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it showing up in magical spell books. You know that feeling when you find something you've been longing for?" Merlin asked, Twilight smiled.
"I know, I actually had started reading about the legend of humans living here a while ago... I didn't know that it was true. When I saw you laying there, I..." Twilight stopped.
"Hmmm?"
"Well, I didn't know how to handle the situation, really... I mean, what would you have thought?" She asked, Merlin turned his head to face her.
"I probably would've felt the same way." Merlin responded, he turned back to the window, but then he quickly looked back at her.
"...What is that?" He asked.
"My... tail?" She said, rather confused.
"No, that." He said, he pointed at her side where a pinkish-red colored, six sided star stood, it looked like a tattoo.
"Oh, you mean my cutie mark? It's a mark that shows a pony's talents, mines magic. Why?" She asked, Merlin's eyes went wide, then he reached down the front of the shirt half of his robes. He pulled out a necklace with a pendant on it- it was exactly the same as Twilight's cutie mark, Twilight looked at the pendant with wide eyes.
"W...woah. Where did you get that?" She asked, her eyes were now as wide as the boy standing in front of her.
"It was a gift from my mother, it's part of my family's royal crest." Merlin answered.
"But, that's-!" Twilight was cut off by a knock at the door.
"Uh-oh... you have to hide, the other ponies might freak out if they see you."
"I pose no threat." Merlin said, Twilight turned to look at him again.
"That's not the kind of 'freak out' I'm worried about... You are the first human in Equestria in a long time, after all." She said, and Merlin ran upstairs.
The door opened, proceeded by two guards was the tall-standing alicorn, Princess Celestia.
"I came as quickly as I could. Forgive me, I was asleep when you sent the letter." Her voice echoed in Merlin's ears; he was peering down at them through a crack in the floor; Princess Celestia? She's real too? He thought, his heart was pounding with excitement.
"I would have only sent you it if it were really important. Let me close the door... there's something you need to see." Merlin heard hoof steps approaching the door, he froze as he heard it open, he turned to face the door. At first, the princess looked surprised, but then her face loosened.
"Hello, Merlin... You look just like your forefather, Arthur." Celestia said, Merlin's eyebrows raised, the guards broke their blank expressions, and Twilight's jaw dropped open.
"W...What?" Merlin said, he was struggling to find words; Princess Celestia knew him? A human?
"Yes, I do know you." She said, smiling down at him.
"What-but-How-?" merlin finally stammered.
"I've been watching you, Merlin. It seems you found that spell book of mine. The one from ancient Egypt, was it?" she said, her pride almost glowing. Merlin's eyebrows rose again.
"Your spell book?" He asked.
"I had to write it in hieroglyphics; I knew that only you could read it, that way. How are your parents, by chance?" Merlin started to get nervous.
"How do you know me? And how did you know about my-" Celestia did not break her smile as she held a hoof up to interrupt him.
"I've been waiting for your arrival for quite some time. Come with me." and she motioned him to follow her, he followed her out the door, reluctantly. Twilight and Merlin exchanged confused looks.
"How does she know me?" He whispered to Twilight.
"I don't know! She never told me about you!" Twilight whispered back.
"How is it that you know her in the first place, anyway? Don't you need to have special privileges for that?" Princess Celestia could hear them, but she didn't break her smile.
"I do have special privileges, she's my teacher!" Twilight whispered, Merlin looked surprised.
"It's a long story, I'll tell you later." She concluded, they started walking slightly faster, so as not to bump into the guards trudging behind them. They opened the door to the Library and walked down a street. They passed by a few shops. Some of the ponies noticed them, and when they saw Merlin, it was apparent what kind of "freak out" Twilight was referring to earlier.
"Wait- WHAT!?" One of them shouted, very excitedly.
"Oh my God!" Another shouted.
"A human!?" Another said, even more excitedly, all three of them ran towards him, followed by a bunch of other ponies. They all started to crowd around Merlin, all very amazed at the sight of him. the guards pushed some of the crowd back. Merlin exchanged glances with some of the equines staring at him. They all seemed amazed at the very fact he was there.
"Sorry, Merlin, no one's seen a human around here in hundreds- no... thousands of years... and after a certain best-selling novel was released humans are kind of a 'thing' here... Their just a bit excited, that's all." Twilight explained, but Merlin barely heard her because of the crowd rambling excitedly. They finally reached the carriage, they each climbed in, the crowd did not dissipate, some were smiling excitedly at him, others seemed somewhat startled, and seemed to be having trouble comprehending what they had just seen, others were plain amazed. Merlin watched them as they stared in awe.
"So, have you ridden on a magical vehicle before?" Celestia asked. Merlin turned to look from the window to the Princess.
"Uhm...." He wanted to ask her how she knew him again, but realized she probably wasn't going to answer him, like earlier.
"Hmmm?"
"Uh- yes... my grandfather had a flying carpet imported from Persia."
"I've heard of that place. I've always wanted to visit the human world and see their monuments... but, being co-ruler of Equestria, my vacation time is somewhat limited... especially when visiting another world." The Princess said, the carriage lurched as it lifted off the ground. Merlin gave the Princess a weird look.
"I know what you're thinking... do not worry, you'll soon understand." She said, as if she was reading his mind.
Merlin looked down at the countryside passing by them, it was lush and full of vegetation, Just like in the stories! He thought. They passed by a thick forest with a small house with a bunch of animals running around. Merlin saw a pegasus pushing some of the clouds.
"How do they do that?" Merlin said.
"Huh?" Twilight looked confused.
"How can that pegasus push clouds? How do they do that without floating right through them, I mean?"
"They have a passive magical ability to walk and push on clouds. They just can't actively use magic." The Princess explained, Merlin smiled. Oh yeah, this is just like in the storybooks. Merlin thought. He turned to face the Princess again.
"I'm sorry, but, where are we going?" He asked.
"To my private study. It's far from all the commotion- you'll find it rather comfortable." She said, still smiling, Merlin felt somewhat nervous again- the fact no one had opened the gates to this world in hundreds of years made him wonder- was there a good reason for it?
"Uh- I'm not in trouble or anything, am I?" Merlin finally asked, the princess looked confused and somewhat concerned.
"Oh, heavens no! I just have some things waiting for you there- a few gifts if I may."
They kept flying to a tall mountain, at the top was a small castle hidden behind a veil of clouds.
"Princess! The sanctum you were talking about- is this it?"
"Yes. I could have started construction years ago- I just needed to find the perfect place."
"Sanctum?" Merlin asked, intrigued.
"Yes. I wanted to create a separate place where my best of students could study and learn magic, I just haven't announced it's creation to Equestria."
"Wow." Merlin stared in awe at the majestic creation, the carriage landed on a heliport-like area near the sanctum.
"Come, this way. I'll show you around." The Princess said, and they entered the sanctum. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"And this, Merlin, is your room. You must be tired." The princess said, the room was fitted with a king-sized bed with white covers, a glass coffee table, and an alchemical and magical library.
"Thank you, Princess. I'm honored." Merlin said, he bowed his head as she left the room.
The door shut behind him, he sat down on the bed, and began to write in his journal.
17th August, 2010
It worked! The spell to open the veil worked! I passed through the gates, and I'm now in Equestria! I feel like I've fled all my worries and cast them in the ditch! The entire landscape of the land is a majestic creation in itself, with pine trees high as the sky itself, the lush and brilliant land, everything's just like it is from the story books! To my surprise, Princess Celestia (Yes, she's real too!) somehow, not only knew I was coming, but knew who I was! She took me and a new friend of mine to a place she calls "the sanctum". It turns out she practices far more then just magic; inside the sanctum are multiple seperate rooms for different kinds of research. To begin, alchemy, botany, chemistry, astrology, astronomy... I feel like I'm in some gigantic college of mysticism. The crown of the sanctum must be the crystal cave- a most sacred ground carved right into the mountain itself. Princess Celestia will take me and Twilight down next w- The door creaked open.
"Excuse me, can I come in?" Merlin put down his pen and walked over to the door.
"Ah, Twilight! I didn't know you were still here..."
"I asked the princess if I could stay a little longer... can I talk to you for a second?" She asked, Merlin grew concerned; she seemed worried.
"Sure. Come on in. Make yourself at home." Merlin said, he sat down in a mahogany chair.
"Uhmm... so, do you like it here?" She asked, Merlin became even more concerned.
"Yes, why?"
"It's just that... you seemed kind of worried earlier." Merlin then understood what she was saying, he sighed.
"I guess it's the fact that I'm the only human here... paired up with the fact that Celestia didn't want to tell me how she knew me."
"I'll try to talk to her, you should get some rest, it's late." Twilight trotted over to Merlin.
"And, Merlin?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry to expose you to all those ponies back there." She said, smirking.
"Actually, I'm quite flattered. I felt like I was some kind of celebrity back there." Their faces both went blank, then they laughed for a while.
"Okay, well, whatever the case is, I'll see you back at my place tomorrow; Princess Celestia wants me to teach you a couple of things from the books at my library."
"Allright, I'll see you then."
"Bye." Twilight said, and she trotted off, her hoof steps echoing in the marble halls.
Merlin walked down the staircase in the sanctum. He made his way through some hallways and into a room, Celestia had requested him to come by her office earlier. When he entered the room though, she wasn't there. Instead, laying on the desk, was a small note.
"Merlin, I'm terribly sorry for not being here as planned, but something came up, I will send for you again when I need you, right now, go back to Ponyville: Twilight is waiting for you there.
-Princess Celestia, House of Royals.
Merlin folded the piece of paper in half and put it in his pocket. He made his way out to the carriage, where the guards were waiting for him.
"Where to?" They asked.
"Bring me to Princess Celestia's student's house."
"Yes sir." They said, Merlin smiled. He felt like some nobleman, getting all this special treatment. And he felt grateful for it. He wanted however, to get back to Twilight's house as soon as he could; the portal was still open, after all. And since he was the who opened it, he felt an obligation to make sure it was stable, so it wouldn't collapse when someone came through.
On his flight, he passed over the great, lush, countryside, he saw a large orchard where some Earth-Ponies were working on bucking the trees so they would drop their fruit. One of them, with a hat on, stopped to look at the carriage. surely they can't see me from down there, right? Merlin thought.
"So..."
"What?" Merlin asked, the guards broke their blank expressions again, and turned interested.
"What's... What's it like? Your home, I mean." One of them asked, Merlin grinned, he looked out the window again.
"Some parts of it are quite like this place- only overrun by roads and a bunch of buildings. Some are so high you can see the rest of the countryside if you stood on top of one." He said, the guards looked amazed.
"How does that portal you opened work?" The second guard asked.
"The portal I opened only closes when the moon is waning; that's when it's power is at the least. Then it re-opens again when it starts to wax." The guards looked even more intrigued.
"We have something like that here. It was called the crystal mirror- it lets you travel through to the human world- and turn into a human along with that, but, it doesn't open that often." The first guard remarked.
"Huh. So that's not a myth either... I read about such artifacts, the ancient alicorns enchanted them not only to pass into another realm, but take on the guise of one of the creatures there. My portal is the primordial form of the mirror's magic, as one would say. That's the reason I kept my human guise while traveling through; I didn't cast the transformation spell." Merlin explained, the guards stared in awe.
"We're almost here." The first guard looked out the window as they landed.
Merlin made a mad dash for Twilight's door- just in case there were any Ponies that saw him and wanted to crowd around him again. He knocked on the door. It opened shortly after.
"Oh, hi Merlin!" Twilight looked happy to see him, she let him in and shut the door, he looked up at the portal on the ceiling.
"It seems the portal's stable... I should probably move it to somewhere more convenient... otherwise we'll have more people 'dropping in.'" Merlin said, Twilight giggled. Merlin took out his cypress wand, aimed it at the portal, and slowly 'dragged' it down onto a wall close to the floor.
"So... is anyone else coming through?" She asked.
"Oh, yes... it's been about three days, so, we should be expecting more people coming through. If anyone's found out about the portal, that is." The portal began to spark and flash white, then red.
"Does that mean that someone's coming?" She asked, she stared at the portal excitedly.
"Uh... Yeah. We're gonna' be visited by somebody... but I normally don't see portals act up like this unless-" Merlin was cut off by a flash of light and a sharp boom. A boy dressed in a white robe tied with a purple cord, and adorned with a white cowl, flew out and landed face-first on the carpet, he looked up at Merlin, rather embarrassed.
"-unless my brother flies through one." Merlin finished, he walked over to the boy, he looked down at him.
"You really need to stay focused while crossing portals, Mordred."
"Ah... Brother, cut me a break why don't you? I don't do it on purpose!" Mordred said, his eyes quickly turned to face Twilight.
"Uhm... Hi?" She looked at him confused. Mordred looked up at him with a weird look.
"So you aren't insane after all..." Merlin shook his head.
"Okay, all those times I called you crazy, I take it back."
"Help me up, could you?" Mordred said, Merlin rolled his eyes, held out his arm, and helped his brother up, he turned to face Twilight.
"Who might you be?" He asked, Twilight loosened up.
"I'm Twilight. Twilight Sparkle." She answered, Mordred smiled.
"I'm Mordred. Mordred Pendragon." He looked over to Merlin.
"So... how's the first few days here been serving you?" Mordred asked.
"Well, I caused a crowd to gather two days ago... not the bad kind, but now I'm afraid to set foot outside lest everyone crowds around me again." Merlin said, half smiling.
"Seems you've become popular already." Mordred rolled his eyes, jokingly.
"Oh, forgive me. I hope we weren't intruding on anything coming through the portal, Miss Sparkle."
"Oh, no! I'm fine with it! More then just fine, though... I'm kinda' curious to see the human world." She said, smiling.
"I'll give you the grand tour later." Mordred then pulled out his wand.
"Good lord, it looks like a twister hit your library! May I try and fix this up for you?" Mordred asked.
"Really? Thanks! But, its a lot of books, I have magic, and even with that I've only put a fourth of it back on the shelves! "
"Then I guess you should be glad a human sorcerer's in the house." Mordred said, he smiled, turned around, outstretched his arm and aimed his wand at the books. A white mist flowed from his wand, and encased each individual book. Suddenly, they all started to fly around the room, organizing themselves onto there proper shelves and aligning themselves upright. Twilight and Merlin watched in awe.
"Dad's restoration spell? I thought you couldn't do it. Wow, Mordred." Merlin said.
"I practiced a little bit. The only downside is that it takes up a lot my power... I'll need to wait a little while... otherwise, I might end up stuck in bed again." He said, and he groaned.
"Huh?" Twilight looked confused.
"If you use too much magic, it can hurt you. You didn't know that?" Merlin asked, Twilight shook her head. Suddenly, the ground began to shake.
"Hey, what is happening? What is this?" Mordred said, struggling to stand up.
"Uh-oh! Mordred! Merlin! Hide!" She said, she focused real hard and shut all the window's curtains. Mordred and Merlin ran upstairs, and into the guest room. They pressed their ears up to the door.
A knock came from the porch. Twilight opened the door a crack. A bunch of ponies were standing there.
"What are you all doing here?" She asked.
"We thought we saw that human come in here! Can we meet him?" one said.
"I'm terribly sorry, I haven't seen him since yesterday." She said, trying to keep her cool. They all made a disappointed murmur, and trotted away. Mordred and Merlin came downstairs.
"What was that?" Mordred asked.
"That was the ponies that Merlin riled up the other day... they saw him in the streets, and, now, Ponyville's been pretty lively." Twilight said. What a strange name for a town. Mordred thought.
Knock Knock Knock.
"Oh no, are they back again?" Merlin whispered, Mordred and Merlin ran upstairs again.
"Hello?" Twilight asked, putting her mouth to the crack in the door.
"Sugarcube? Ya' all right in there?" A voice said.
"Applejack? Yeah I'm allright." She opened the door slightly more so she could see her friend, or in this case, her friends.
"Hello, Twilight." A soft voice said.
"Fluttershy? Rarity? Rainbow dash? Pinkie pie? What are you all doing here?" Twilight looked confused.
"Your the one hiding the human, aren't ya?" Pinkie Pie said.
"I don't what your talking about."
"Oh, come now, Twilight. You don't have to keep secrets from us." Rarity said, Merlin and Mordred looked at each other nervously.
"Uhm... not to be accusing, but, we did hear you talking to someone... is he here?" Fluttershy said, half whispering.
"I-I-..." Twilight was thinking rapidly, trying to find something to say.
"Come on, we aren't gonna' tell anyone! Promise!" Rainbow said, there was a period of silence. Then, the door creaked open, and multiple hoof steps could be hear in the front hall.
"Allright, fine, you girls got me." Twilight said.
"Well, where the hay is he?" Applejack asked.
Mordred and Merlin looked at each other very hard. Their minds linked and a translucent, gold cord could be seen between the two of them. "What do we do?" "I don't know, your the one who got here first! You handle it!" "ME!? I'm the one their looking for!" "Forget it, let's just walk out, they'll find us eventually anyway!" "Are you nuts!?" They mentally argued loudly, but then froze when they heard:
"Hello? Is someone there?" Rarity called, Mordred and Merlin cringed.
"...Damn it... I forgot, unicorns can hear telepathy..." Merlin said.
"Ya'll can come out." Applejack said. The two boys sighed. They opened the door slowly, and walked over to the railing.
"I knew it! I knew it!" Pinkie pie said, jumping up and down, Mordred and Merlin looked helplessly at Twilight.
"Sorry." She had a nervous smile on her face.
"It's fine. Not like we could keep our act together for long, anyway." Mordred said, he looked over to his brother.
"So... ya' both are the humans? I thought there was only one." Applejack questioned.
"My Brother here just came through." Merlin explained, they started down the stairs.
"My name is Merlin. Merlin Pendragon."
"I'm Mordred." The two boys looked down at the six mares.
"I'm Pinkie Pie."
"Rarity, at your service." She bowed her head slightly.
"Applejack's mah name."
"Rainbow dash, fastest flyer in Equestria." She stretched out her wings.
"And I'm... Fluttershy." She whispered, and hid her face slightly behind her mane. Merlin and Mordred exchanged glances.
"It's good to meet you all." Mordred said. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The evening had been rather slow. The five mares Merlin and Mordred had met showed them around town, dodging the views of the other ponies so as not to cause another riot, the first stop was Rarity's place, while Mordred and the others looked around the shop, Merlin stepped aside to talk to Rarity, the white haired, purple-maned mare.
"So, you're a fashion designer?" Merlin asked, she turned from her sowing machine to look at him.
"Yes, I try to stay at the top of my game, as one might say. I could embroider something onto your robes if you want. You choose the thread."
"Thanks but, I'm allright." Merlin said.
"Are you sure? I could put a big gem on the front as a crest... Oh dear!"
"What?"
"You've got dirt on the back of your robes. If I may?" Her horn glowed blue, and the dirt came off, Merlin stared.
"What? It wasn't that big of a deal for me. I'd do it for anyone!" She said. She's a lot like Mordred... very... generous. And the way she talks... she's got that accent as well... strange. Merlin thought.
"Oh, it's nothing, thank you. Uhm- those gems over there; I've never seen those before." Merlin pointed to a glass display case.
"Oh, those? They are magical gemstones- enchanted by princess Luna herself!" Merlin shuddered, Merlin remembered the legend of the Mare in the moon, he swallowed, hard.
"What?"
"The mare in the moon... She's back?" Merlin asked, worried. Rarity smiled.
"She's reformed, I assure you." Merlin let out a sigh of releif.
After the other four girls had shown Mordred and Merlin their homes and workplaces, the two boys went back with Twilight to the library, they were exhausted from running around town that evening- by some miracle they didn't get seen by any of the residents. Merlin was fine with that, though. He sat down on the couch, and opened his spell book. He began to read through the parchment pages.
"Hey, Merlin, can I sit here?" Twilight asked, Merlin nodded, and she jumped up next to him, she leaned in slightly towards the book.
"What, do you want to read it?" he asked.
"Yeah! After the way Mordred fixed up my library like that earlier- I wanna' see what other kinds of spells you guys have!" Merlin smiled, and handed her the book. She turned to the start of the giant tome, and read the pages as a priest reads from his holy scriptures; the magic Mordred and Merlin had access to was rare and arcane compared to what she knew- amongst powerful healing enchantments, there were many spells she had never even dreamt were existent.
"Yeah! Seriously, I've never even seen spells like this before! Where'd you get this?"
"My family and I live in a country with a powerful wizard as a monarch. His name is prince Andromeda. He owns this place he calls the 'celestial archives'. It's a place where he stores thousands of rare books and ancient manuscripts. The majority of them are magic books- as a close friend of his, I was granted access to the archives." Twilight was intoxicated with his story, paying attention to every detail, Merlin continued.
"Anyway, one day he accompanied me on one of the visits, and we found this book here... it's strange, there's no author, and the enchantments in there don't seem to be related to any other spell book I've seen before- they use spoken incantations."
"Oh, I know about those! Those spells are rare even here in Equestria... They're written in ancient languages, right?" Twilight asked.
"Exactly. Anyway, Prince Andromeda wants me to study this book and try to find it's origins... but it's difficult- I don't know what language the spells are written in, and that's the major giveaway." Merlin's eyes trailed off to the wall with the portal.
"Maybe I can help. Princess Celestia recently sent me a couple of new spellbooks- they had incantions in them." Twilight
"Ancient languages, correct? Shouldn't Andromeda know something like that? Isn't he immortal?" Mordred said, he was leaning against the railing near the stairs. Twilight and Merlin looked up at him.
"If he knew, he would have told me. Besides, he's not that old!"
"Wait- you said immortal?" Twilight asked, she looked surprised.
"Yes. He made a potion called 'panacea' a long time ago- it extends your life indefinitely. A major prize that very few people have claimed- it only works for the person who made it." Mordred said.
"Not to mention it makes you almost immune to illness." Merlin finished.
"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are immortal... you think they might have figured out how to make that potion?" She asked.
"That's impossible. The only books on how to make Panacea are in the archives in the human world... at least, as far as the Prince's records go."
"Ah, well... Andromeda might be able to give you the recipe- not that you'll have any of the ingredients here in Equestria, though. They can only be found on haunted isles in the north sea. Again, in our world." Merlin looked up at Mordred again, he shook his head lightly. Suddenly, the portal began to flash blue, then red, yellow, then green.
"Is someone else coming through?" Twilight and Merlin got up from the couch.
"Yep. Hey Mordred- it's flashing all kinds of different colors- are you thinking of the same person as me?" Suddenly, the portal flashed brightly, Merlin jumped back as a boy dressed in a blue military-like suit came flying -quite literally- out.
"Woo-hoo!" He shouted, he was wearing jet boots, he turned to fly upward, turned off his jet boots mid-air, fell a few feet, then turned them back on, so he would slow his descent.
"I was thinking about him." Mordred answered, Merlin rolled his eyes.
"I came as soon as I heard what you were doing was a success, Merlin."
"Who are you?" Twilight asked, Merlin turned to face the boy.
"You really need to stop flying through portals, Joseph. You give everyone a huge scare that your gonna' either crash into them, or crash into a rock." He said, Joseph rolled his eyes, then turned to face Twilight.
"Whatever. Joseph's my name, just as he said... and who are you?" He asked.
"I'm Twilight. Twilight Sparkle." Joseph nodded, then looked up at Mordred.
"Sorry I didn't get your letter on time, Mordred. But you should have waited for me to come! You remember what happened the last time you flew through a portal without help, you nearly got yourself killed! Not cool, man!"
"I'm sorry, but for all I could have known, Merlin could have been in a similar situation. That's my excuse." Twilight and Merlin exchanged glances, then Merlin looked at Joseph and Mordred.
"Guys, let's not get into an argument again. Anyway, Joseph... welcome to Equestria." Joseph walked towards the window.
"So it seems you weren't insane after all... any good flying spots for me?" Joseph asked, looking eager to get off the ground again, Merlin rolled his eyes.
"Ugh... really Joseph?" Merlin asked, Joseph raised his brows.
"Come on, I wanna' take a look around this place!"
"Ughh... The skies are clear today; perfect for you to practice your new flying tricks..."
"All right!" Mordred glared at Merlin and shook his head quickly. Merlin looked back at Joseph.
"Uh- actually... be careful- there aren't any humans here besides us, we don't want to cause a riot. If you get seen, just fly as fast as you can."
"Why? I can just get above the crowds by flying, right?" But he ate his words when he saw a Pegasus out of the corner of his eye- flying around outside.
"...Oh."
"Yeah... still want to fly?" Merlin said, sounding somewhat annoyed.
"Well, I'm up for the challenge of evasion. See ya!" He ran out of the house. Mordred and Merlin sighed.
"He keeps his conversations short, as you can see... he spends most of his time in the air. Ever since he got those jet-boots he's almost never on the ground..."
"Sounds like someone else I know... Rainbow dash is quite like that." Twilight said, she smirked lightly.
"Maybe I'll introduce him to her later." Merlin said, he chuckled, and rolled his eyes again. Mordred put his face in his face in his palm.
"Oh, well. He's always been like that- living life to the fullest. He never seems to calm down..." Mordred said, he raised is head from his palm.
"Yeah... he left the magic school to pursue a different lifestyle... he wanted to find excitement and adventure above all... he's addicted to adventure novels, to top that." Yep, definitely like Rainbow Dash. Twilight thought, Merlin started to polish his wand with wax, it hummed lightly as he slowly covered the surface in a thin coat, he put the wax in his pocket, sat down, and began to write in his journal. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Woo-hoo! Oh, yeah! I'm LOVIN' this! Ha-ha-ha!" Joseph shouted, his medium-length brown hair blowing in the wind. He was higher then the clouds, it was thrilling. Unlike at home where there were flying laws on how high you could go, here there weren't any laws, and hence he could go as high as he wished. He slowed down slightly to take in the view of Equestria- he flew over to an oddly-shaped cloud, it looked almost like a house. Upon closer inspection, he found it had 'windows'. He was surprised when he looked inside and saw furniture in it. What the heck? He thought. He heard a distant voice, he peared around the corner and saw a blue-haired, rainbow-maned pegasus coming his way, he ducked behind the corner of the house, trying to make as little noise as possible.
"Is someone there?" The voice called. Ooooh boy... time to fly. He peered his head around the corner one more time to see where she was.
"Wait- are you a human? How'd you-!?" Before she could finish her sentance, Joseph flew the other direction. His jet boots creating a mix of colors as the gas left. He was going so fast the air stung his face. Heh-heh! She'll never catch me! He thought. However, out of the corner of his eye he saw that she was closing in on him.
"No way!" He yelled, baffled, his jet boots gave a burst of flame and he jolted ahead fifty feet.
"Wait!" She called. Joseph looked back at her for half a second. a cone of air was forming around him. He reached into his back pocket and grabbed a pair of earplugs. He stuffed them into his ears, barely keeping his balance in the air. His jet boots gave another burst, he was going faster and faster... the cone was getting thinner and thinner around him. Come on... one more! His jet boots gave one more burst. A gigantic boom sounded as a field of wind shot out in all directions, along with a rainbow color from the gas in his jet boots. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18th of August, 2010,
Today I was introduced to some of Twilight's friends. They promised not tell anyone we were hiding here, it's strange to think that they weren't so freaked out about the whole thing that humans were in Equestria. Perhaps Twilight talked to them while I was at Celestia's sanctum, maybe? I'm not sure. What can I expect? This is a land only mentioned in legend and folklore, after all. They showed me around town to their workplaces and homes, perhaps so that me and Mordred have more then one 'base camp', I guess. Right now, it's late in the evening, and my friend Joseph, who was a former member of the magic school, arrived earlier today. He came flying through the portal like a moron, as usual. I'm waiting for my requested presance with Celestia so I can introduce her to Mordred and- KRA-BOOM! Merlin dropped his pen as a window shattered and a vase broke, he bareley caught his journal as his hands jerked up in surprise, sending it up in the air.
"GOOD GODS-!" Merlin shouted.
"What in the name of Christ almighty!?" Mordred shouted, a book fell from it's shelf.
"Ugh... what now?" he said, he got up, dropped his journal on the couch, and ran outside. Up there in the sky, was a ring of colors of all sorts, Twilight ran out with him.
"Joseph... not again..." He said to himself.
"What? Joseph did that?" Twilight said, she looked amazed.
"Yeah... I don't know how he does it, but, somehow that suit he wears allows him to break the sound barrier. The gas emitted from his boots causes that ring to look rainbow-colored..."
"Uhmm..." Twilight looked up at him.
"Let me guess- she can do that as well?" Merlin chuckled and rolled his eyes at his joke.
"Your not going to believe this... but yes." Merlin looked down at Twilight with wide eyes.
"Really?" He asked.
"Look out!" Mordred yelled, Merlin looked up- Joseph was coming straight at him.
"Oh Cr-" Merlin was cut off as Joseph slammed into him. Merlin screamed. They landed near a tree.
"Dang it, Joseph! Do you honestly think breaking the sound barrier is gonna' keep you hidden? What were you thinking?" Joseph got up, followed by Merlin.
"I had to- a Pegasus spotted me and-"
"Hey! Something else is coming!" Mordred yelled, the Pegasus chasing Joseph earlier slammed into him.
"Gack-!" Joseph yelled as he flew through the air. The two landed near the fence. Face to face.
"Oh, Dash, it's you. Never mind, Joseph, your safe, she knows." Joseph glared at Merlin, then turned to look up at Rainbow dash.
"Please get off me..." He said, the Pegasus complied.
"Heh-heh... sorry about that... My fault." She answered. Joseph got up.
"I'm surprised you were able to keep up with me... even when I was nearing the sound barrier- where'd you learn to fly like that?"
"Well I AM the fastest flyer in Equestria... name's Rainbow dash."
"Name's Joseph... pleasure to meet you... sort of..." He clenched his gut in pain.
"What?"
"Ya' hit me smack in the gut... ooowww...." Rainbow dash got a guilty smile on her face.
"Sorry." She said.
"It's cool... oh man my gut...God...ow..." Twilight took Joseph back inside and tended to the giant, head-shaped bruise on his stomach. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joseph layed on the couch with an ice patch covering his stomach. He didn't regret the flight he had today, while at one point it turned to him flying for his life, (or at least he thought, as Rainbow dash allready knew about the humans.) he couldn't wait to get back up in the air again. He looked from the roof to over his shoulder as he heard the door open. Rainbow dash was standing there.
"Hey, I'm sorry about earlier." Rainbow dash said.
"It's all right, R.D." Joseph said, Rainbow dash smiled at his nickname for her.
"So... where'd you get those jet-boot thingies?" She asked, Joseph smiled.
"They were a gift. My parents got them for me." Rainbow dash hopped up next to him on the couch as Joseph sat up.
"Cool! If the town cools down from all the comotion and you guys can go out without being crowded around- would you like to join me in one of the flying races?" She asked. Joseph's face lit up like a lantern.
"Yeah, that'd be awesome! It's been a while since I've entered a sporting event." He said, he layed his head back on the couch's cushion, there was a moment of silence, he looked down at his jet boots, lying next to the couch.
"Ever since I got those jet boots, I've been obssessed with flying... it's thrilling. Being up in the air without a care, and no one to say what you can or can't do... it's that feeling of freedom that drew me to it... How about you?" He asked.
"I... have a very similair story, but I do it because it's my job here."
"Your job? Aren't you a little... young?" He asked.
"What?"
"In our world the legal age to work is 18... you don't look that old." He said.
"I'm 13. That's the age you can start delivering mail here in Equestria- or working on the weather.." She said, she looked confused.
"Oh- well... never mind, now that I think about it that's the only job that you can do as a minor... I'm surprised you guys can keep a house as well- that's against the law at my country..." Rainbow dash gave him a weird look.
"Hey, don't look at me, I'm not the one who makes the laws! Talk to the weirdo on the throne back at my place!" There was an akward silence between the two, then, they laughed.
Merlin tossed and turned in his bed; he had been having nightmares for the past 2 days in Equestria, ever since Joseph got there. His nightmares were strange and disturbing; in his dream, he was standing in a misty, dark forest, very little light allowed him to see. As he walked through the forest, he heard breathing behind him. Each time he whirled around, there was nothing there. The ground was covered in roots and dead grass. Every now and then, he would hear a gargled, almost demonic, hiss. For the past two nights he hadn't been able to reach the edge of the clearing, however, tonight was different. He made it to the opening of a forest, a lone pedestal stood there, made of grey stone. Laying on there was a short, bright, sharp sword. He reached out, closing the handle in his right hand. and grabbing it with the other. It had a red handle, gold pommel and guards, a silver blade, and runes engraved on one side. On the other side, it had the word "Kether" engraved down the blade.
Suddenly, he heard the hiss again, he whirled around, and a red-winged human was standing in front of him, he raised up his hand, then pounded Merlin over the head. As his vision faded, he heard a whisper:
"Come to Calisto Village."
Merlin shot up in his bed, shaking, sweating, and gasping for air. He had of look of horror stuck on his face. The door creaked open.
"Merlin? Are you all right?"
"The... same nightmare... again." He said, Twilight frowned.
"I'm sorry, Merlin."
"I'll get over it... it's weird... this time it ended differently."
"What happened?" She asked.
Merlin told her about how he got to the edge of the clearing, how he found the sword, and about the red-winged 'angel'. Twilight seemed even more concerned when he mentioned the "Calisto Village" it whispered to him about.
"Do you know a place like that?" He asked. She shook her head.
"I don't... it's probably just your mind playing with you, Merlin. Either that, or you might have cast a spell that had side-affects." Merlin smiled at her.
"I'm sorry to trouble you over my problems... I've been having similar nightmares to this ever since I was back in kindergarten... not too often, though..." He got up, and grabbed his conical hat off the nightstand.
"Y' know... I kind of find it funny, actually. It's almost like something's warning me of something... oh, well." He walked past Twilight and towards the doorway.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"Princess Celestia sent for me the other day; she wants me back at the sanctum by noon." Merlin said, he half-smiled.
"Aren't you going to have some breakfast?"
"No, I'm not hungry. Thanks anyway." He walked out the front door, the carriage was waiting for him, along with Mordred and Joseph. They seemed to be in a good mood, but after five seconds, their expressions went blank, then, they started flailing their arms at Merlin. Merlin couldn't hear what they were saying, he gave them a weird look. Then, the ground began to tremble.
"There he is!" He heard a girl's voice shout, and a crowd of ponies started running towards him. Not again... Merlin thought, and he ran towards the carriage. He opened the door and slammed it shut behind him.
"Get this thing off the ground!" Mordred yelled, the two guards nodded. The carriage lurched upward.
"Is this what you went through the first day you got here?" Mordred said, looking out the window down at the crowd of Ponies staring up at them.
"Yep, exactly the same..." Merlin answered. The carriage rose up higher and higher until they were above the clouds.
"Sounds like half of a nightmare, half a dream; you get to be a celebrity, but you also have to deal with the fans." Joseph said, he chuckled.
"Funny you should mention nightmares..." Merlin said, he looked down and held his hands together. Mordred and Joseph exchanged concerned glances.
"Oh no...don't tell me- their back?" Mordred asked, he reached over and put his hand on his brother's shoulder, he sighed as Merlin nodded his head.
"I'll make you another sleeping draft when this is over." Mordred continued.
"Watcha' talkin about?" A squeaky voice said, the three boys jumped up in surprise.
"Good Lord, Pinkie, how long have you been down there!?" Mordred said. Pinkie stared up at them through the grate in the floor of the carriage, which served as a door to the storage compartment. Instead of an answer, Pinkie Pie just giggled.
"Never mind... Come on up here." Mordred said, he opened the grate. Pinkie Pie hopped out and sat down on the cushion next to Merlin.
"Hey! You're... Joseph, right?" Pinkie asked, Joseph gave her a weird look.
"Uh, yeah. How'd you know?" He asked.
"Rainbow Dash told me about ya'! My name is Pinkie Pie!" She said, smiling.
"Huh. Good to meet you."
"You too!" She answered. Joseph looked out the window as a Pegasus flew by.
"So, where'd you say we were going?" Mordred asked. Merlin opened his mouth as if to talk, but then stopped.
"Uhmm... guys?" Merlin said, turning to the guards.
"Yes, sir?"
"Could you drop Pinkie Pie here off at her house?"
"What?" Pinkie said, disappointed.
"Yes... wait, how long has SHE been in here?" The guard asked, Pinkie rolled her eyes. They stopped by at her bakery.
"Sorry, Pinkie. But these are private matters. I wish I could tell you about it, but... I can't. Sorry." Merlin said. The mare sat in front of the Bakery and watched as the carriage took off again. Merlin stared down at her, apologetically. She smiled to let him know she was all right with it. She walked inside of the bakery. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Uuggh... How much longer?" Joseph asked, he kicked his feet up on the chair across from him.
"I don't know! It felt a lot shorter when I first came here!" Merlin said.
"Time flies when your staring down taking in the country side." The first guard said.
"Fair point." Mordred remarked.
Joseph looked longingly out the window, then looked at Merlin.
"What?" Merlin asked. Mordred pointed his thumb at the window.
"Oh, all right." Merlin said, Joseph opened the door and jumped out.
"What in Equestria-!?" The second guard said, Merlin shut the door. Then, Joseph rose back up to the window. He was wearing his jet boots, again.
"What the buck!? How is he-!?" The first guard was struggling to find words.
"He's all right." Merlin said, smiling, but shaking his head a bit.
"How is he flying!? No kind of magic here can do that! You have to be born with wings!" The second guard said.
"That's not magic, that's cutting-edge technology, direct from the military." Merlin smiled as he looked out the window at his friend. Joseph came close to the window and motioned for Merlin to roll the window down. Merlin did so.
"Hey, you have a map, right? To this secret place your taking us to?" Joseph asked, he looked excited.
"Uh... yeah...?" Merlin asked, he slowly pulled out a map, he unfolded it to show where they were going.
"Good! See ya' there!" His jet boots gave a burst and he left them in the dust.
"Come back here, you oaf!" Mordred shouted out the window. All they heard was loud, almost maniacal laughing.
"Maniac." Merlin whispered, but he was trying hard not to laugh. The two sat back down.
"Will he everget over those stupid boots!?" Mordred asked, very annoyed.
"He's in his element while flying. I can't stop him! Cut him a break, he's just having fun." Mordred looked even more annoyed, and the guards still looked amazed as they watched Joseph fade into some mist in the distance.
"Come on, it's been his dream since he was just a kid- I mean... a little kid. Let him have his fun." Merlin said, Mordred sighed.
"Very well... you think he'll give us a lift next time, though?" Mordred asked, Merlin shook his head lightly, not in disagreement, but in humor.
"Someday, Mordred. Someday you'll get a pair of those and understand what it's like." Merlin said, and Mordred half-smiled. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They landed in front of the sanctum, Joseph was waiting for the two boys there.
"What did you call me? An 'oaf'? Really, Mordred?" He said, Mordred rolled his eyes, then laughed.
"Yeah... So, Merlin, what is this place?" Mordred said.
"You know how I told you guys about Princess Celestia, right? How I met her when I got here?" The two listened intently.
"Well, this her 'private study' in a sense- it's where she researches subjects like alchemy, magic, astronomy, and a lot of other things I think you guys will enjoy. Come on, she's waiting for us." Mordred and Joseph looked at each other excitedly, they walked up the concrete steps to the brass doors.
"By the way- how did she say she knew you?" Joseph asked.
"She didn't... she actually seemed real evasive... it was weird..." Merlin said, Joseph was about to say something when the doors opened. Standing there was the majestic Princess. Merlin bowed, Joseph and Mordred followed.
"Hello Merlin... I take it you invited some friends into Equestria?" She asked, Merlin stood up.
"Well, actually, they heard from my Mother that I had re-opened the portal, so, they decided to jump in the portal themselves." Celestia smiled.
"Quite the lovely surprise. What are your names?" She asked, Mordred and Joseph stood up. Joseph stepped forward.
"My name is Joseph. A pleasure, your Majesty." He stepped back.
"And who are you?" She motioned to Mordred.
"My name is Mordred. I'm Merlin's brother." He replied.
"A pleasure to meet the both of of you. Come, I'll show you around the sanctum." She turned away, and the three boys followed.
Celestia showed Joseph and Mordred the same room she showed Merlin. Mordred was intrigued by all the rooms, specifically the one that was for alchemy; she showed Mordred how, with a little magic, you can turn not only lead into gold, but also quartz into diamonds, Bloodstone into rubies, charcoal into clay, whatever you wanted, however, Mordred got lost halfway through the process as it was very complicated, so he asked Celestia for some books on the subject.
Joseph was surprised to find that Celestia was also working on flying devices. She said that before she opened the sanctum to the public, she wanted to have the devices she designed tested. He immediately volunteered, and showed her his jet boots. He tried just one of them to start with; a hang glider. He took it outside, and ran down the road leading from the landing area for the carriage, to the sanctum itself. It worked much better then originally thought. It worked even better when he used his jet boots along with it- it made it travel much quicker. He landed down on the ground with ease. Celestia looked at him proudly.
"I started these projects so flight would no longer be limited to the common pegasus here in Equestria- now, thanks to you, unicorns and Earth Ponies may no longer be bound to the ground. Thank you." She said, Joseph was glowing with pride. He bowed his head to her, ran back up the path, and to the doors.
Late in the afternoon, Merlin went down to Celestia's magical library. The shelves were aligned with spell books of all kinds of different magical subjects. He found himself drawn to the magic books that taught how to do tricks and create illusions, one showed how one could use illusions to bring any book to you, whenever you wished. He tried the spell, and performed it properly after just four tries; he conjured up a holographic-like image of his grandfather's spell book.
As he flipped through the ghost like pages, however, his thoughts were drawn to his nightmare. He lost concentration, and instead of the normal words on the pages of his grandfather's book, he saw his nightmare playing before him, as if in a cinema. He watched not in horror, but intrigued. When he saw the sword again, he felt something in his hands. He completely lost concentration, the book faded to a mist, when he looked down in his hands, he saw a flash- and whatever was in his hands, disappeared. It felt like it was made of leather, and oval shaped... Merlin quickly brushed it off as his mind playing tricks on him, and left the library. Mordred and Joseph were waiting for him out in the marble hallway.
"Dude! This place is awesome! Not even Prince Andromeda's magical college is this cool!"
"I agree, Princess Celestia is quite the scholar in alchemy- look at this ring, it used to be made of clay, now it's a ruby!" Mordred held up his hand, to reveal of solid-ruby ring.
"I could really grow to like... no, love this place! If this place ever opens up, I'm applying to become a student here!" Joseph said. They walked down the hallways, then an elegant voice spoke from behind them.
"So... your liking the school so far?" It asked, the three boys turned around, and were met by a dark blue-colored Alicorn. Joseph and Mordred jumped back; it was Princess Luna.
"Oooh crap." Mordred said.
"What?" Luna asked. Joseph and Mordred stepped back even more.
"Your n-n-nightmare m-m-m--" Joseph stuttered, Merlin turned to look at the two boys.
"She's not 'nightmare moon' anymore, she... reformed a while back." Merlin said, Mordred and Joseph got half-confused, half-scared looks on their faces.
"Forgive me, if I am causing you any trouble-"
"Not at all, Princess Luna, your not causing any trouble.." Merlin said, he bowed his head, and Mordred and Joseph -cautiously- followed, still keeping their eyes on her.
"Hmmm... Purple robes... six-rayed star pendant... conical hat... you must be Merlin." She said, Merlin raised his head.
"Yes... Did Princess Celestia by chance tell you that?" She nodded her head.
"And did she tell you how she knows me, by chance? She won't tell me." Merlin asked.
"No. But if my sister doesn't want you to know, I can assure you it's for good reason." She said, Merlin sighed.
"Anyway, I need you to come with me." She said, Merlin looked back at Joseph and Mordred, both looked still unsure of the situation. Merlin turned around and followed Princess Luna. They came to a large office adorned with stars on the ceiling. Merlin sat down in a chair across from Princess Luna.
"I was sent a letter an hour ago, from Twilight. She says you've been having nightmares. Having domain over the night, it's part of my responsibility to prevent nightmares in our citizens... would you mind telling me about them?" She asked.
"Well... they sometimes have there differences, but... It always starts with me waking up in a misty clearing. The grounds are completely covered by roots- no soil." Merlin said, Princess Luna focused her magic on a quill, and began to write the details down on a piece of paper.
"Go on." She said.
"Anyway, sometimes I'm actually trapped up to the waist in the roots, when I get up, I start walking... I can't see more then twenty feet in front of me... but then I start running because..." Merlin stopped.
"Because of what?" Luna asked.
"Well, I hear this gargled... demonic sounding hiss far behind me. Every 10 seconds I hear it getting closer... But every time I turn around, even when I swear it was right behind me, it's not there... normally that's where the nightmare ends- and I get stabbed in the back by something..." Merlin said, Luna began writing more quickly, she gave on an intense vibe.
"Anyway... normally I'm not able to get out of the place, but... last night was different. I came to the edge of the clearing... and I saw something..." He said.
"What? What did you see?" She asked, Merlin closed his eyes, re-living what happened.
"I saw... a stone pedestal... on top of it was a sharp, bright sword... it's handle was colored gold and red... I don't remember why, but, I picked it up."
"And then?" Luna asked, finishing a few letters on the page.
"And then I turn around and I see a... red winged angel." Merlin finished, Luna's quill snapped, she looked at Merlin with wide eyes.
"Are you sure?" She asked, she seemed very worried.
"Yeah, I'm positive." He said, there was a moment of silence between the two.
"...I will see what I can do." Luna finally said, she rolled up the paper into a scroll. Merlin got up, bowed his head, and walked toward the doorway. Did I forget something? Merlin thought.
"And Merlin?" She called, Merlin turned around.
"Take care. Try to get some sleep tonight." She said. Merlin nodded his head, and left the room.
Oh, precious moon... have mercy on me... I wished this day would never come... Luna thought, and she looked up at the moon, with a very worried look in her eyes, almost afraid.
Merlin walked down the marble halls to where Joseph and Mordred stood. they looked dumbfounded.
"What?" Merlin asked.
"How long has she... not been Nightmare Moon anymore?" Joseph asked, Merlin looked up at the ceiling in minor frustration.
"She's not gonna' plunge this world into darkness like she threatened. I, to be honest was just as surprised as you were when I found out." Merlin said, Mordred and Joseph looked real worried.
"What's the matter with you two? Your acting very... odd." Merlin said, Joseph looked at Mordred, and Mordred nodded his head. He turned back to face Merlin.
"Prince Andromeda... it's just... there's this other legend about Luna and Celestia... I don't know if it's true, but... it says that he hates them both. It said that just months before he drank the panacea... they betrayed him and sent him and his friends into a war. We just read about it in the library." Joseph said.
"He probably is raging right now that you re-opened the portal to this place- he might expel you from the academy for this!" Mordred said, very worried for his brother.
"I'm friends with Achi... I mean... Prince Andromeda. If any of what you said is true, I can try to work something out with him. Not all of the legends about this place are necessarily true, are they?"
Merlin said, he walked past the two and outside to the carriage waiting for them. Joseph and Mordred looked at each other again.
"Well, he has a point." Joseph said, Mordred shook his head in doubt. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Merlin was silent the whole way home. He couldn't believe that his friends would think that lowly of Celestia and Luna, for one. And second, he was also very worried that whatever they read... might, just might, be true. He looked out the window at the night sky, it was far more beautiful then it was back home, that gave him comfort- by distracting himself. He looked up at the constellations and tried to find the big dipper, or the drinking gourd as it was called in his magical textbooks back home. Mordred broke the silence.
"Brother...? Merlin?" He said, Merlin blinked, and turned away from the window to face him. Mordred looked real worried.
"I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions so quickly... I didn't know I would offend you." He said.
"I'm not mad... I'm just worried... what if you're right? What if the reason No one has opened the portal to this place in so long... was because of Prince Andromeda not wanting anybody to do just that?" Merlin said.
"Or, nobody has tried because the method was lost until now?" Joseph suggested, trying to offer solace to his friend.
"Maybe... but I'm worried." Merlin said, he looked out the window again.
"We'll be landing soon." The guard said.
After five more minutes, they landed with a soft thud. They climbed out of the carriage, and walked towards Twilight's library. They opened the door, and nearly had a heart attack when they saw who was standing in front of the portal. The boys fell to there knees.
"Y-your majesty!?" Merlin coughed out.
"I've told you, call me by my first name." The man said, he brushed some of his long, white-blonde hair out of his face.
"Achilles... what are you doing here? Where's Twilight?" Mordred asked.
"I'm right over here..." They heard, the boys turned their heads to see Twilight and Spike coiled up in a corner, afraid.
"Wh-who are you?" Spike said. Achilles walked towards the two, he kneeled down in front of them.
"My name is Achilles Andromeda. Forgive me for my rough entry, I do not go through portals often." The man said, he got up.
"A...Andromeda? Merlin? Is this guy really-!?" Twilight said, Merlin looked over at her.
"Yeah. Prince Achilles Andromeda." Merlin said, finally catching up with himself. He stood up, followed by Joseph and Mordred.
"Equestria, is this not?" The Prince said. The boys nodded, nervously.
"Thought I'd never see this place again... it's been more then a millennia..." He said.
"I thought you said he wasn't that old!" Mordred whispered, Merlin flashed him a glare.
"What did you say?" Achilles asked.
"Nothing." Mordred said, his heart was pounding. Then, the door opened behind him. The boys whirled around. Celestia was standing in the doorway, she looked very surprised at first, but, like with Merlin, her expression softened to a smile..
"My friend... it has been too long." The Alicorn said, she walked past Merlin, Mordred and Joseph as if they weren't there. Achilles gave an almost sad smile.
"Ti's indeed." He replied, the Princess looked suddenly sad.
"You have no idea how sorry I am for all that's happened-" But the prince raised his hand to her mouth.
"It was never your fault. I misjudged you. Badly." Achilles said.
"Come. There is much we must speak about." He continued, he walked towards the portal, And Celestia followed. The room flared with bright, fiery-white light, then, the two were gone. The three boys blinked.
"Wh...wh...what was he doing here!?" Joseph sputtered out.
"I... I have no idea." Merlin said.
"You guys know him?" Spike said. The three turned to look at him.
"Yeah... he normally doesn't make public appearances..." Merlin said.
"Then what was he doing here?" Twilight asked.
"I don't know... but I'm gonna' find out what. I'm following them." Merlin said.
"Wait- I'm coming with you." Twilight said.
"Why?"
"I'm as curious as you are... Princess Celestia's never told me about... that man..." Her voice trailed off. The two jumped into the portal, it was standing in a mad whirlpool, then, they fell. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It has been no less then a two thousand, five hundred years since I've seen you. That's all those years of waiting... wanting to tell you how sorry I am that all this happened." Achilles said, the two were standing on a balcony. Staring out at the dark starlit sky.
"I should be the one to apologize... this is all my fault... I brought this upon you... I sent you into the war..." She said, she looked very sad.
"You must not feel guilt for what you had no control over. I said it before- you are not a Goddess- you can't pull at fate's strings. There was nothing you could do. It is not your fault." He said, Celestia looked at him.
"I could have saved your cousin..." She said.
"My cousin was glad to serve you to the end. You should know that he wanted to fight. It was his choice. As was it mine."
The two sat there, Achilles put his hand on the back of her neck- to comfort her. She looked at him with still sad eyes.
"You still look like you did that long ago... the panacea still hasn't worn off." She said.
"It never will... That is my blessing... and yet, at times a curse." He replied. She looked at him again.
"I understand what you've gone through. I'm sorry for that, too." Her voice trailed off. She walked close to the edge and leaned against the railing.
"I owe my life to you, as well... you sent me those equine mages, didn't you?" He asked. She didn't answer.
"Achilles... I've done horrible things... not only to you but to humans in general... Arthur Pendragon... I forced him out of the-"
"Not another word, your highness. I know of the true circumstances. Why you had to remove him from the parliament. I say this again, even though I may only understand why, you are not to blame. I shall make that clear to all, and I will put a stop to all of... his works."
"He's still alive?" The alicorn said.
"Yes. He... got his hands on the panacea recipe... he's a shape shifter, he can behold the form of any man, woman or creature that he desires... he has an army of human changelings as I take it... some are in the city right now- my palace was robbed a while ago." The Princess looked at him with a hopeful look.
"What if you came back with me to Equestria? You could set up a palace there." She said.
"I can't move an entire nation... besides, that thought has never crossed my mind... I... love my country... I love this place. I've made it as close to Equestria as any place here on Earth will get... even though that's not close at all, it still reminds me of the home I once had." He said, his eyes turned up to the sky, as if trying to remember something.
"...If you ever change your mind-"
"Then I'll have someone to turn to." Achilles said.
"The age of separation is over, again. Now that the worlds are connected again, it is time we learned to live with each other... again." He said.
Twilight and Merlin were hiding behind a pillar, they looked at each other, very confused.
Again? This has happened before? Maybe the legend of my forefather was true! Merlin thought, the two crept out of the palace, back to Merlin's room, through the portal, and into Twilight's library.
"What did you find out?" Joseph asked.
"Well, go on, speak up!" Mordred continued.
"Your not going to believe what we know." Merlin said, and he sat down on the sofa, the other boys sat down across from him.
Merlin sat on the couch as Mordred and Joseph looked impatiently at him. Twilight hopped up next to him and sat down.
"Well... first of all, I found out that my early suspicions, were true. He is Achilles from the Trojan war."
"I called it! I said he has to be Achilles but you didn't-" Joseph stopped as Mordred and Merlin glared at him.
"...Sorry." He finished.
"I thought in the legends he died. How do you suppose he actually is the Achilles?" Mordred said, Twilight and Merlin looked at each other.
"He said that Celestia had sent some mages to revive him. I don't know how they did it, but, knowing Celestia she would have found a way." Merlin said.
"Merlin, this is crazy! Did he literally say he's two-thousand five-hundred years old!?" Mordred exclaimed. Twilight and Merlin looked at each other, they both said:
"He did..."
"Ridiculous! You two must have heard him say two-hundred fifty- he can't be that old!" Mordred exclaimed.
"Didn't you say the exact opposite a few days ago? And didn't he say something along the lines of "It's been almost a millennia" since he's been here?" Twilight asked, Mordred opened his mouth to say something, but then stopped, and put his face in his palm. Joseph rolled his eyes.
"I wasn't suggesting he was THAT old! Besides, he might have meant it felt that long, he couldn't have been serious..." Mordred said, Joseph turned from Mordred to Merlin.
"Well, what else did you find out?" Joseph asked, ignoring Mordred's close-minded attitude.
"The two seem to be real close. It's really weird... I said this before, Celestia never mentioned him." Twilight explained.
"And, there's something else. This isn't the first time the portal has been opened." Merlin said.
"Of course it hasn't, Celestia said it herself, didn't she? What did she say- 'You look just like your forefather, Arthur, am I right?"
"Well, she could have just known about him through some magical means- isn't there like some mirror that lets you see into the human world?" Merlin questioned. Twilight nodded.
"Hmm... fair enough. But why look into the human world and just watch this one person?" Mordred continued.
"I don't know... as I was saying, it doesn't sound like this is the first time someone's opened the portal."
"You're repeating yourself, Merlin. Of course it hasn't! Where would the legends come from?"
"No, guys, you don't understand. Merlin, I think I know what you're getting at." Twilight said.
"What?" Joseph said. Merlin and Twilight leaned in, as if afraid someone would hear them.
"From the way he said it, it sounds like the portal had been opened and closed multiple times in the past. He said something about the age of separation being over, again." Merlin explained, Mordred and Joseph looked at each other.
"What are you getting at? You're saying someone might have closed the portal by accident?"
"I'm not sure about that yet... but the fact that he said the portal had been closed before the Trojan war troubles me... how would Celestia send those mages to revive him?" Merlin said, Mordred rolled his eyes.
"Come on, I'm telling you that's not possible- he can't be the Achilles from the Trojan war, even Achilles himself would think you're daft!" Mordred said.
"I'm sorry why would I think he's daft?" Mordred jumped out of his seat.
"Y-your majesty! H-how long have you been standing there? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" He said, he had a look on his face as if he had been caught doing something reprehensible.
"I heard you saying I'd think Merlin 'd be daft. About what?" Achilles said, he was looking at Mordred very hard, as if trying to read his mind. Just in case that was what he was doing, Mordred thought: Don't even think about it, I'm a closed book, your highness! And, as if Achilles actually did hear him, he backed away.
"Nothing. I just suggested that maybe that book you were having me study was from ancient Greece- Mordred said that the book just looked too young to be from that time." Merlin said, his brain working full-time to come up with an excuse.
"Specifically... from around the time of the Trojan war?" Merlin finished, flashing a look at Achilles, Achilles got a worried look on his face.
"Never mind. Where's Celestia?" Merlin asked.
"She's taking a tour around the palace... Merlin?"
"Yes?"
"You might want to put a safety lock on your portal... we don't want any unwanted guests coming through." Merlin nodded in agreement. Achilles walked back through the portal, and disappeared.
"Yeash, that was close, dude." Joseph said, Merlin put is hand on his head, and rubbed his eyes.
"I knew it. Didn't you see the look in his eyes when I mentioned the Trojan war?" Merlin said, Mordred exhaled, annoyed.
"Whatever... Believe what you will, I'm going to head over to Rarity's, she said she wanted to see me." Merlin looked up as Mordred left the library, and disappeared down an alleyway- so he wouldn't get caught.
"Well, I might as well get some flying practice in with Dash." Joseph said, he grabbed his jet boots.
"Just don't break the sound barrier again, I spent all night that one time you did fixing the windows!"
"I second that... I have some fragile things around here." Twilight finished, trying not to irritate Joseph.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it!" Joseph said. He walked outside, put on his jet boots, and took off. Merlin and Twilight got up.
"Their not listening to us..." Twilight said.
"They'll eventually come around." There was a silence between the two, then, Merlin got up and walked up to his room where his journal, spell book, and cypress wand laid. He sat down and began to flip through his spell book, as if looking for something. His hand passed over the runes on the page and they glowed gold. The words "To Conjure Crystals" glowed red as they appeared on the page. He read the instructions, said a quick chant, snapped his fingers- and a blue crystal point appeared in his hand. He smiled in satisfaction. The door creaked open. He looked back to see Twilight standing there.
"Uh... Merlin? Can I talk to you for a second? I didn't want to talk about it while Joseph and Mordred were here." Twilight asked, Merlin saw that she looked rather concerned.
"Of course. What is it?" Merlin replied, Twilight sat on his bed.
"Well... I have a bit of a problem on my hooves... A while ago we got in this fight with a traveling magician named "Trixie". We kind of... exposed her in front of her fans by accident- that she wasn't as powerful as she claimed. It hurt her rep pretty badly... later she came back and he we had a duel... a magic duel- you know?" She said, Merlin listened intently.
"Anyway, she kind of... showed a soft side after that... but I haven't seen her much since... anyway, I got a letter from her the other day."
"People like her should just be ignored, Twilight. If she's sending you threatening letters-"
"I didn't say they were threatening. She wants my help." Twilight said, Merlin looked confused.
"What do you mean? Weren't you fighting earlier?"
"Yeah, but, she apologized after our fight. Anyway, she sent me a letter the other day- she sounded desperate. Her Mom is sick... very sick." Merlin didn't move, he just sat ,listened, and watched as she unfolded her situation before him.
"She wants my help to heal her... but I don't know how I can help her..." She said, her worried eyes bore into him, he knew what was coming- and he wouldn't turn down her request.
"You want my help, don't you?" He said.
"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have asked- never mind..." Twilight said, Merlin looked really confused.
"What do you mean? I'd be glad to help."
"...Huh? But I thought you guys said if you used too much magic-" Merlin put his hand up, dismissingly.
"I'm an Adeptus major at my magic school. That's right before the Magister... The master rank. Healing spells are no problem for me. I'll help you." Merlin said, his voice had become very soothing. Twilight smiled.
"Thank you, Merlin." She said.
"Send a letter back to this "Trixie", tell her you'll be over there later today with a friend to help you out." He said, Twilight's horn glowed and a piece of paper came flying from Merlin's desk along with a quill and inkwell. She began to write.
"Spike? Can you come here for a second?" Twilight called.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Could you send this letter to Trixie? It's important." Twilight said, Spike took the letter and breathed fire on it- the ashes flew out the window in a magic-like mist. Merlin watched as they faded into the distance.
"That's a neat trick." Merlin commented.
"Thanks." Spike said, he walked out of the room.
"Merlin? Thank you. For helping me out, I mean. It means a lot." Twilight said.
"Oh, no. The honor is mine. A pleasure to help someone out, Twilight." He said, Twilight smiled brightly. Something crashed downstairs, the two came dashing out. A fair-looking boy wearing yellow-satin robes with a light-red star on the front stood there, wearing a conical hat like Merlin's- only yellow.
"Ezra!?" Merlin called.
"Merlin!" The boy said, Merlin dashed downstairs.
"I thought you were in the hospital! You all right?" Merlin asked.
"Well, it's thanks to that potion you made for my father." The boy said, he looked up and saw Twilight standing, his face went blank in surprise at the sight of the unicorn- he then gave Merlin an amazed look.
"I thought you were joking about that portal spell to Equestria!" He said.
"Well, I was dead serious. Come on down, Twilight." She did so and trotted down the stairs.
"Twilight, this is Ezra-" Ezra bowed his head.
"-he's a friend of mine from the magic school. Ezra, this is Twilight, she's the first one I met here." Merlin explained.
"An pleasure to meet you, Miss." He held out his hand, and she shook his hand.
"You too, Ezra." She said.
"Where'd my book go--- ah! Here it is." Ezra picked up a glossy black book with a gold star in the center- it was titled The White Magic Compendium. He brushed some dust off of it.
"Where's Joseph and Mordred? I don't take it as a coincidence they mysteriously went missing that quickly after you opened the 'gates'." He said, Merlin shook his head.
"Well, you're quite the intelligencer, aren't you?" Merlin said.
"Yeah, I try." Ezra said, he chuckled.
"Well- where are they?" He said.
"They just left a few minutes ago. Why?"
"Prince Achilles wants them back at his palace. He didn't say why."
"All right. When I see them, I'll tell them Achilles sent for them, as for now, I have something I need to do. Twilight?" He turned to look at her.
"Yeah?"
"I need some herbs for the spell I'll be using- parsley, mint, and vervain. Do you have any of those?"
"Merlin- I brought along my medicine bag. I can spare you some." He said, opening up the bag slung over his shoulder and taking out three jars."
"Never mind." Merlin said, Twilight smiled.
Merlin spent half an hour over a pot of boiling water, mixing together the herbs and whispering incantations in Anglo-Saxon. As he was nearing completion of the potion, Ezra approached Twilight, and knelt down next to her.
"So... this is Equestria?" Ezra asked, smiling.
"Yeah." Twilight said, Ezra looked over at Merlin, still brewing the mystic potion.
"Me and Merlin always heard the legend of this place. No single person at my hometown has not heard of the ancient legends or great stories handed down. To think I'm in a place my ancestors may have once walked... and then left." Ezra said, his voice trailed off.
"Oh- that reminds me. What does the legend say about why the humans left?" Ezra looked at her again, looked down at his book, skimmed the pages- and stopped dead. He started to quote the book.
"Celestia and Luna were forced to close the gates. Only a few equine mages -high ranking sorcerers- were allowed to stay in the human's world... To revive an ancient warrior and his cousin... and grant them a drink that would give them eternal life." He said.
"No one knows what actually forced them to close the gates, though." He continued.
"Finished!" Merlin called. He walked in the room and was holding a glowing green vial.
"Let's go." Twilight said.
"Where are you going?" Ezra asked.
"One of the town's residents is ill. Her daughter wants someone to use magic to heal her. She doesn't know this yet, but I'll be the one to do so."
"Then let me come, I have a lot of knowledge on healing, myself." Ezra said, he got up from the couch. Merlin nodded.
"All right, but we'll have to be swift. The more time we spend in public, the more likely we'll get caught." Merlin said.
"I gather your first day you got crowded around by half the town, or something like that?" He asked, jokingly.
"Actually, yes... he did." Twilight said.
"I expected as much." Ezra said. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trixie stared down at her mother with sad eyes. She had been ill for several weeks, and no one knew how much time she had left. The hospital could not help. All she had left was the hope that Twilight would be able to help her, despite their bad blood. A knock came at the door, she walked over and opened it. There she was, waiting on the front porch.
"Trixie? I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner."
"It's fine. She's in here." Trixie said, she walked Twilight to the room where her mother laid on the bed, unconscious.
"Can you heal her?" She asked.
"...Well, I can't... but..."
"But what?"
"I know someone who can. Merlin?" She called, and in walked Merlin, he had a nervous look on his face, Trixie almost fainted in shock.
"Y...y...you're... the human...!" She forced out.
"Indeed. And I'm not the only one. Ezra?" Merlin called, he walked in carrying his medicine bag, Trixie shook her head in disbelief.
"Twilight- you've been hiding him?" She asked.
"I didn't really have much choice." Twilight answered.
"If I may?" Merlin asked, he held up a vial.
"R-right... this way." Trixie answered, she led Merlin into the small room where an old mare laid. She was breathing only faintly.
"We must do this alone. Wait outside, come on, Ezra." Merlin said.
Twilight and Trixie stood outside, Trixie looked like an empty shell, filled only with disgrace and depression. Twilight looked at her, concerned, but when Trixie noticed her, she tried to hide her feelings, turning away from her.
"What is it?" Twilight asked, Trixie didn't say a word.
"Trixie, what's the matter?" Twilight asked, then, she realized she wasn't wearing her robes as normal.
"Why aren't you wearing your robes and hat?" She asked, a tear rolled down her cheek.
"I don't see the point. Ever since the incident with me... putting on the Alicorn amulet... my career plummeted." She answered.
"Trixie?"
"No one would buy tickets to my show anymore... when I asked why... I got spat at by someone." She said.
"Then, it turned into slaps from random ponies on the streets... and last week..." She stopped, then lifted her head, showing bruises on her neck. Twilight gasped.
"Trixie...! What happened?"
"Some idiot tried to kill me... do I deserve this? How was I supposed to know the amulet would turn me into a-"
"It wasn't all your fault, Trixie. You need to talk to Celestia about this." Twilight said, Trixie looked even more depressed.
"And do you think she would help me? After all I've done? To you? The one who represents magic... and to the others? She would rather have me executed for asking."
"Celestia isn't like that! They would never punish you like that, either! Take it from me, I'm her student, after all."
"Yeah, but someone already did try to 'execute' me." Trixie said, looking down at the floor.
"Trixie... I'm sorry." Twilight said, the door opened.
"All right, everything's done. She'll have a pretty nasty headache when she gets up, but she'll be all right." Merlin said.
"Thank you." Trixie answered. Ezra and Merlin walked out the door, and climbed into the carriage.
"Aren't you going with them?" Trixie asked.
"Trixie, listen to me. I know I represent the element of magic and all, but, I wouldn't throw away those robes." She said.
"Why?"
"Because if there's any doubt in my mind if I truly am worthy... I might as well give up the element of magic to someone else." She said, and smiled at her. Trixie looked at her in shock, then, Twilight left the room, and climbed into the carriage, leaving Trixie standing there.
What? She thought, and the carriage left. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Merlin, Ezra, and Twilight stepped out of the carriage and walked towards the library. They opened the door, Twilight walked towards her private study where her books on human magic laid, Ezra sat down on the couch, and Merlin walked upstairs. He sat down at his desk. He began to polish his wand with a little magical wax, as he finished polishing his wand, the door creaked open. Twilight was standing there.
"Can I talk to you for a second, Merlin?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, of course." He answered, he wrapped his wand in a white cloth, Twilight sat down on his bed, looking at him.
"I just wanted to apologize."
"For what?" Merlin asked.
"Since you're a visitor it was kind of impolite to ask that much of you- healing someone with that severe of an illness takes up a lot of magic... I mean, you said that if you used too much-"
"Twilight, let me stop you right there. I already said it- it's all right. I don't mind helping you out." Merlin said.
"Well, I just kind of feel... a bit uneasy. I didn't know humans could get hurt casting too much magic." Twilight said, Merlin's eyes trailed up to the ceiling- as if he was trying to remember something.
"Wait- what? Oh, no-no-no. I think I misspoke earlier- If you use a spell that's too powerful for you to control- that's what'll hurt you." He said.
"Oh... has that ever to you before?" She asked.
"Uh... let me think..." He scratched his hair.
"Nope. I've never cast a spell that was too powerful for me. It's weird. Wizards and witches normally have inherent strengths and weaknesses... maybe there's something wrong with me." He said.
"Says the guy who puts the whole school to shame during the magic exams!" Ezra called, Merlin smiled.
"Some of the time, Ezra, only some of the time." Merlin called back.
"You're a little too humble at times, Merlin." Ezra said, Merlin looked back to Twilight.
"Anyway, It wouldn't matter either way."
"Why?" Twilight asked, Merlin put his hand on her shoulder, she blushed lightly, with a surprised look on her face.
"I'd do anything to help out a friend, Twilight. Especially a friend in need. Besides, I owed you one." He answered, and gave her a smile. He left the room, with Twilight still sitting on the bed. N...no one's ever done that... She thought.
"Come in!" She called, the door opened to show Mordred standing there.
"You wanted to see me, Rarity?" He asked.
"Indeed, come this way." She said, she lead Mordred through a room full of ribbons, cloth, and other fashion supplies. Amongst them, many mannequins with completed or semi-completed dresses and outfits. Mordred stopped to look at one.
"You sure are quite the designer... I am impressed." Mordred said, Rarity smiled.
"Thank you, it takes some practice, though. You have to hyper-vigilant at times." She remarked, Mordred returned to following her. They came to a small room with six boxes laid spread across the table.
"Princess Celestia sent me a letter some time ago- she said she wanted you and Merlin to look at what's inside these boxes, she told me to wait until you came by to open them." She told him, Mordred stepped forward and opened one of them, inside was a white crystal star, glowing with bright, fiery light, Mordred stared in awe and shock.
"Woah... I know what this is." Mordred said.
"What is it?" She asked, very intrigued, Mordred looked at the other boxes, back at the star, then at the boxes again. He set the star down, and opened the others- each had its own white star inside.
"Where did Celestia say she found these?" Mordred asked, he looked half-horrified and half-astounded.
"She said some workers found them while mining in a cave... the 'crystal cave', I think it was?" Mordred looked to her.
"What are they?" She asked, Mordred stopped and stared at each one of them, then, he answered.
"These are crystal stars... properly used, you'd be able to harness the five powers of nature- fire, water, earth, air... and magic." He said, Rarity looked confused.
"For instance- if Merlin could use one of these things- he could level a building by causing a massive Earthquake or starting a bon fire, all with a snap of his fingers." He explained.
"Or part the sea and cross untouched by water- or be able to fly by propelling himself with air alone." Mordred continued.
"Just one of these things could make you seem God-like... I am glad you called me with such haste- I must take them back to Merlin. He'll find a safe place to put these." Mordred took each of the stars and put them in his bag.
"Are those... things really that powerful?" She asked.
"Oh yes, and from what I know about these things- powerful isn't a strong enough word in itself." Mordred said. He sat down in one of the chairs at the table.
"If it's that important, let me be of assistance." She said, she walked very close to Mordred, she put her front hooves on his chest so she could stand up on her hind legs- and be at eye-to-eye level.
"Wh...what are you doing?" Mordred asked, his face went red, Rarity rolled her eyes, -still smiling though- and touched her horn to Mordred's head. A flash of light illuminated the room- and Mordred and Rarity found themselves standing outside Twilight's library, Rarity backed away from him.
"Good Lord!" Mordred said, Rarity smiled.
"A spell that powerful- you must have exhausted all of your magic doing that!" Mordred exclaimed.
"Oh no, no, it's quite all right! Besides, It's not much trouble walking back home." She said, and she began to walk towards the door.
"R-Rarity?" Mordred called.
"Yes?" She asked.
"Uh... Thank you for that, I guess..." He said, he scratched the side of his head.
"Oh, not at all- the pleasure is mine." She knocked on the door.
"Twilight?" She called.
"The door is opened!" a voice called. She opened the door and walked inside- there, lying on the couch... was another human? Merlin was standing next to him.
"Oh, hey Rarity." Merlin said.
"When did he get here?" Rarity asked, Ezra looked up from his book.
"A couple of hours ago. Name's Ezra." Ezra said.
"My name is Rarity. A pleasure." She said, Ezra smiled and closed his book gently.
"Merlin- can I talk to you for a second?" Mordred asked.
"What about?" Merlin asked, Mordred motioned for him to come outside, and Merlin followed. When they got outside, they could be seen talking, and that Mordred was opening his bag to show Merlin some objects- and Merlin staring in amazement.
"Merlin and Mordred... what a mystery." Ezra said, shaking his head lightly.
"Oh- might I ask, is there another human here by chance? Specifically- one that can fly?" She asked, Ezra rolled his eyes.
"That must have been Joseph you saw back there... he's got these jet-boots... apparently." Ezra said, Rarity gave him a surprised look.
"I didn't know humans were that far on in technology..." she said, wondering what else humans may have in their fields, a short pause came between the two.
"Speak of the devil, here he comes!" Ezra said, the sound of Joseph landing could be heard from inside the house, he walked in.
"When'd you get here, Ezzy?" Joseph asked, Ezra frowned.
"Oh, don't bring up the old nick-name... You know it annoys me!" He said.
"Yeeeah, but, it just motivates to me do it more, then." Ezra growled at Joseph, giving him an icy glare that almost made Joseph's heart stop.
"All right, all right! I get it! Just, please- don't do that- that's really freaky!" Joseph said.
Rrrrrrr....
"I said I get it, knock it off!" Joseph exclaimed.
"That wasn't me!" Ezra answered.
"Then where's that coming from?" The portal sparked.
"Watch out!" Twilight exclaimed, the portal flared with multiple white sparks, then, a flash of light illuminated the room. Coming out of the portal was a boy dressed in a long, red coat and a white shirt on a motorcycle.
"Uh-oh!" He said, and skidded to a halt as he neared the wall in Twilight's library. He looked around. He gave a sheepish look towards Ezra and Joseph.
"What the heck was that!?" Merlin shouted, he and Mordred ran back inside. As soon as they saw the boy, their arms dropped to their sides.
"David... someday your going to get hurt doing that..." Mordred said, he looked very annoyed.
"Yeah, man, you scare the life out of us even more then when Joseph comes flying through!" Merlin said.
"Hey!" Joseph protested, but he was met with only a blank expression from Mordred, Merlin, and Ezra. David hopped of his motorcycle.
"So, what realm is this? Alabastia, the land of the crystal hillsides? Or is this Pangaea, the land of infinite Earth, again?" Twilight stood up, and David's eyes went wide in surprise at the miniature Alicorn.
"...No way..." David said, Merlin smiled.
"No way... impossible... those were just legends!" He continued.
"We thought the same about humans until recently, ironically." Rarity said, David shook his head in disbelief.
"To think I ever doubted you Merlin... you're the magic expert, I should have listened to you." David pressed a button on his bike, and it began to fold up into the shape of a suitcase.
"So, you probably heard, but, my name's David. Who are you, by chance?"
"Her name's Twilight- and she's Rarity." Merlin said, Twilight smiled at Merlin.
"Huh. Well, sorry for crashing into your library like that... I didn't know that's where the portal opened up. Most of the ones we've been through open on planes or grasslands."
"Well, I'm getting used to it, actually." Twilight answered.
"I get the feeling someone nearly got themselves killed again on their way through...?" David answered, he flashed a look at Mordred.
"Why is it people keep pestering me about that?" Mordred asked.
"Well, those scars on the back of your neck still haven't faded, y'know? Nobody wants you to get that badly hurt again." David continued.
"I was eight years of age! It was five years ago!" Mordred retorted, Merlin got between the two of them.
"Guys, please! Enough!" Merlin exclaimed, an awkward silence befell the group.
"Mordred, Joseph?"
"Yes?" Mordred answered, Joseph looked over at Merlin.
"Prince Androme- I mean, Achilles wants you guys back at the palace- he didn't say why."
"Yeah- and don't kill yourself on the way there." David continued, Mordred looked like he was going to erupt from anger.
"I'm just messin' around! Ease up!" David said, he punched Mordred in the shoulder (in a friendly way), and Mordred smiled a little uneasily. Joseph and Mordred walked over to the portal- and disappeared into the rift. David turned to face Twilight.
"Uh- seriously, sorry about my... rough entry." He said, half smiling.
"Oh, no, Seriously, you don't have to apologize." Twilight answered, David smiled, he looked around the room.
"Seems you have quite the collection of books here. Uh- forgive me- might I?" He asked, pointing to a book on magic, Twilight nodded, and he plucked the book off the shelf.
"Still looking for that one spell, huh, David?" Merlin asked.
"Six points was ripped out of the spell books a long time ago- once we find it, the changelings won't stand a chance." Merlin rolled his eyes.
"And you think you'll be able to cast it? That spell is so powerful even Achilles would kill himself trying to cast it!" Merlin exclaimed.
"I didn't say that. We could find someone who can, though." He answered, he took the book and put it back on the shelf.
"'Six points'?" Twilight asked, Merlin looked down at her.
"It's a light charm that can engulf an entire square mile- it forces your enemies to turn and run... David here has been obsessed with finding it.. it was lost a long time ago." Merlin answered.
"Don't lie- you share the same feelings as me, right?" He said.
"Can't deny that." Merlin said.
"Don't you guys have really powerful Equine mages on Earth? Wouldn't they know spells like that?" Rarity asked, Ezra, Merlin and Joseph all gave her a weird look.
"...No... what are you talking about? ...If you don't mind me asking...?" Ezra asked.
"I was told that Ponies were a real common species on Earth." Rarity explained, Ezra, Merlin, and Joseph looked at each other confused, then, David spoke.
"Ooooh... Uhm... Actually- the ones we have on Earth... their very different from you guys." David explained.
"How so?" Rarity asked.
"Well... to put it simply... they aren't sentient, can't cast magic, have a much longer face -quite literally-, their bodily proportions are different... and can't talk." David finished.
"That sounds very... strange..." Rarity muttered, trying to think of what they might look like, Merlin put his face in his palm, then looked up.
"Ezra, David, I need to head back with them- there's something I need to give to Achilles." Merlin turned and entered the portal. Twilight and Rarity stood there with Ezra and David for a while, then a knock came at the door.
"C...can I come in?" A very quiet voice asked.
"Fluttershy? Is that you? Come on in!" Twilight called, Fluttershy quickly opened the door and closed it.
"Oh, my!" She exclaimed, staring at Ezra and David.
"W...what?" Ezra asked, somewhat nervous.
"I didn't know there were more of you." She answered.
"Oh." Ezra answered.
"He's Ezra, and the guy over there Is David-" Fluttershy stepped forward.
"-they got here a while ago." Twilight finished, Fluttershy walked up to Ezra.
"And your name is 'Fluttershy'? A pleasure." Ezra said, closing his book.
Fluttershy walked up to Twilight, she looked nervous and somewhat afraid.
"What's the matter?" Twilight asked.
"Uhm... Rainbow Dash asked me if you knew where Joseph was." She said.
"He just left. Surprised he didn't fly through the portal like usual." Ezra said, pointing his thumb at the spiraling vortex of light.
"Uhm... I was wondering... if it's no trouble- could I take a look at what it's like over there?" Fluttershy asked, pointing at the portal and speaking very quietly. Ezra looked over at Twilight, she nodded.
"As you wish, come with me." Ezra said, he got up, put his book in his pack, and walked Fluttershy over to the portal. He held onto her front hoof.
"Hang on tight, this is going to be a rather bumpy ride!" Ezra said, they jumped in- and disappeared into the waterfall-like vortex. A silence befell the library, David looked over to Twilight.
"Well... now what?" David asked, the ground began to rumble.
"Now- would be a good time for you to hide!"
"What's going on?"
"Just hide!" She urged, pushing him towards the stairs, David ran up them, and hid in Merlin's room, he looked through the crack of the door, holding it with his left hand and the 'suitcase' in his right hand. The front door opened.
"What are all of you doing here again?" Twilight asked, trying to sound cheerful, but the crowd sounded impatient.
"Come on, Twilight, we know your hiding him here! We just want to meet him!" A Minty-green colored unicorn said.
"I keep on telling you guys- I'm just as oblivious as to where he is as you guys are!"
"We saw you walking with him and Celestia- you do know him, don't you?" another said.
"And what about that thing on your wall- don't tell me that isn't what I think it is!"
"Oh no, no- I'm just trying out a new spell Celestia instructed me to try out!" Twilight answered.
"Really?" One asked, sounding annoyed. As David watched he looked around the room, thinking of some way to help out Twilight. Then a thought so crazy he at first struck it down, entered the fortress of his mind. He opened the window and jumped into the backyard, and set the 'suitcase' down on the ground.
"We don't blame you for keeping him a secret, but you really don't have to." One said. David appeared behind the crowd, he motioned to Twilight, Twilight looked at him surprised, but then understood what he had in mind as he pressed the button and the suitcase turned back into his motorbike.
"If I'm really trying to keep a secret- then what's that over there?" Twilight retorted, trying to sound annoyed. The crowd turned around and David mounted his bike, looked back at the crowd- and took off. The crowd rambled uncontrollably at the engineering marvel he was riding on. They didn't notice that he wasn't the same human, so they chased after him. ----------------------------------------------------
David bolted away from the crowd as he reached the other side of town, he turned and drove straight past the crowd- and booked it to get back Twilight's library. He was running out of gas, and would need to pick up the pace if he were to make it. He lost sight of the crowd and pulled up to Twilight's library, turning it back into the suitcase, he picked it up and walked inside, looked at Twilight- and collapsed on the floor.
"David!" She exclaimed, she ran towards him.
"Yeash... I've never gone that long on my bike before..." He said, sitting up with a sheepish smile.
"Eew... what's that smell?" Twilight complained.
"Gasoline. It's what this thing runs on." David said, setting his case down, and he sat down.
"I think my little diversion oughta' keep 'em busy for a while." David said, putting his hands behind his head.
"...Uhm... thanks." Twilight said.
"No prob." David answered, he brought his hands down and saw the gasoline he had gone through had formed a thin coat on his hands and legs.
"Uh- I better get washed up." David said.
"The bathroom's upstairs." Twilight answered, David got up and ran upstairs.
Wow... pretty lively guy... he's kinda' like someone else I know... Twilight thought, and chuckled lightly.
"Yes, it is. I'm a member of the local gardener's club. We're intent on restoring this valley to it's original beauty- before it was overrun by roads and buildings..." A look of disgust was seen on his face.
"You've done a good job." Fluttershy said.
"Thank you. Our magic has become quite useful to speed things along." Ezra said, a truck pulled by playing some cheerful music, it stopped in front of the garden.
"Oh, hold on for just one second." Ezra said, he got up and went over to the truck.
Fluttershy sat there for a while, she looked around the garden, it was just as impressive as the countryside back at home, but it was a lot smaller... she wondered if there were any places in this strange new world untouched by human hands, and if there were.... were they like Equestria?
"Fluttershy?" Ezra called, he was carrying two sticks of ice cream in either hand, he handed one to her.
"Oh- thank you." She said, taking the ice cream bar. They ate at their ice cream for a while, looking at the beautiful scenery, and smelling the autumn air, until Ezra broke the silence.
"Y' know... sometimes I wonder why the whole town doesn't join in with us... the whole Earth deserves to look like this... wouldn't you agree?" Ezra asked, Fluttershy opened her mouth as if to say something, but stopped.
"Oh my, Ezra- look, on your shoulder." She said, Ezra pointed his eyes to the left to find a monarch butterfly choosing him as her perch.
"Ah..." Ezra said, he put is finger next to it, and it climbed on, he brought his finger over to Fluttershy.
"Fascinating creatures, butterflies are. To start a creature on the ground, next one that hangs from a tree... until it transforms into these beautiful specimens... just like the soul... always growing, always changing... regardless of the body it lives in." He said, he lifted his finger and the butterfly flew away.
"And yet... I wonder why things are the way they are... why is it that we can't we ever be like them- the butterfly- living blissfully?" He asked.
"...Because not everyone agrees with everyone..." Fluttershy answered.
"Yes... and I think that's the reason Merlin wanted to use that portal spell of his in the first place." Ezra said.
"What?" She asked.
"Your world is very peaceful... this place is wrought with the scars of war... conflict... and in some places, deep sadness. I think Merlin just wanted to get away from it all. As do I. It's why he acted out the spell to open the gate in the first place." Ezra finished.
"You want to run away to Equestria?" Fluttershy asked.
"Who wouldn't want to run away to a land held in fairy tales if it meant a perfect life?" Ezra asked. Fluttershy didn't answer, but she did nod her head and smile, Ezra stood up.
"Well, let us go. The local gardeners will be here soon- they don't like people getting in their way... and they might faint if they see you." Fluttershy got up and started to walk with him back to the Merlin's house, through the portal- and they were back in Twilight's library.
"Oh, Ezra?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yes?'
"Thank you- for showing me, I mean." Fluttershy said.
"Oh, not at all- the honor is mine." He said, he walked over to the couch and sat down, and Fluttershy followed. He opened his book to a page filled with healing spells and enchantments, and began to read. -------------------------------
"Joseph! Slow down!"
"Not a chance, Dash!" Joseph yelled, he sped through the clear sky with ease, looking back at Rainbow Dash.
"Seriously- watch out for that cliff!" Dash yelled, Joseph curved up and sped over it as if it didn't exist at all.
"What cliff?" Joseph answered, he curved sharply upwards into the clear sky and stopped to rest. Rainbow Dash hovered by him, trying to catch her breath.
"You...really...know how to...fly..." Rainbow Dash said in between quick breaths.
"You haven't seen nothing yet!" Joseph replied, Rainbow Dash slowed her breathing and smiled at him.
"How long did you say you've flying?" She asked.
"A couple of years."
"Well, it shows." Rainbow Dash said, Joseph's face went red, Rainbow Dash giggled silently at the sight.
"Hmmm... so... quick question."
"What?" Joseph asked.
"Why did you give up on magic?" she asked.
"Huh?"
"Merlin said you left the magical academy, why?" Joseph's eyes shifted left and right, then he spoke.
"I left because... well... let me just get something straight: I didn't give up on magical practice... I just wanted a different lifestyle then the one I had." He said, he lowered down to the ground and Rainbow Dash followed. They began to walk towards Twilight's house, which could be seen in the distance. Beyond that was the town.
"I wanted to live a less restricting life. I wanted to get out and see places- my home, Babimost, isn't exactly the most exciting place... the kids there don't run around anymore- their addicted to magical studies and nothing else. Guys like me who want to get out and see things- we're outcasts."
"But you still have friends, right?" She asked.
"Of course... Merlin thinks I can be a maniac at times with me flying all over the place, but... I think he gets why. I can't get enough of flying... And if Mordred would give up the up-tight attitude and try a pair of jet boots on, I bet he would like it as well."
"Hmmm... It seems you've thought of this a lot. Are you the only one who can fly?"
"Well, actually... no. Ezra doesn't look like it, but he tried these boots on and had the time of his life up in the air."
"Ezra? Really?"
"Yeah...but he got airsick and came down after ten minutes. It was weird. Normally he's not the type for excitement- quite the opposite actually. I mean, one time he was gazing into a crystal ball, and he fell into such a deep trance state when he finally broke his concentration- four hours had passed by."
"F-four hours!?" Rainbow Dash asked, Joseph laughed.
"Oh, man! You should've seen the look on his face when I told him how long he had been like that! He almost fainted in surprise when it hit him!" He continued to laugh for a few seconds, then stopped, they walked up to Twilight's door and stepped inside, Ezra was sitting next to Fluttershy, reading a book. He looked up to Joseph.
"Ah! Finally back I see. How'd your flight go? Didn't crash into anything, did you?" Ezra asked.
"Actually, Dash here kind of-"
"Don't tell him what happened." She said, hovering next to him and putting her hoof to his mouth.
"Mmmwhaat?" Joseph said, his voice muffled, Ezra exhaled and stood up. Rainbow Dash let go of Joseph's mouth.
"Well, all's well that ends well... I guess." He said, and night came as the sun set.
Merlin awoke in a misty wood with the ground covered by dark-brown roots. He got up, his head hurt, and his ears were ringing. He saw something in the distance, and walked toward it, his legs aching at each step. As he got close to it, he recognized it as the red winged angel- giving him a blank expression.
"Who are you?" Merlin asked, the 'Angel' smiled.
"Who am I? I am a creature that was once only human..." The creature outspread three sets of fiery-red wings. Six in all.
"I know I'm dreaming... so tell me- what's happening to me? Why do I keep having these dreams?" Merlin asked.
"Hahahah... your not dreaming. Try pinching yourself. It feels strangely real, doesn't it?" The creature asked, Merlin did so- and felt an irritating pain where he pinched himself. He looked up, shocked at the creature.
"Have you ever heard of an O.B.E.?"
"An out-of-body experience? Your not saying..."
"You got into the habit of doing it since your very early childhood... you always ascended to the plain of nightmares and dreams. When I said come to Calisto village- I was referring to an astral plain. Not a physical one." The creature said.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm referring to Complevitia- the sphere of creation. Hidden like the element of magic itself- it is where you'll find answers."
"And what if I say no?"
"You have no reason to say no. You are neither dead nor alive in this state- nothing can hurt you. Nothing can truly touch you." The creature said.
"Who... who are you?" Merlin asked again.
"Heheheh... hello, grandson." The creature said- and Merlin immediately realized who he was talking to- Arthur Pendragon. His forefather.
He shot up in his bed in a cold sweat, rapidly breathing, and shaking. He was cold- as if touched by death's hand. Mordred walked into the room to find his poor brother in a state of obvious distress.
"Brother?" Mordred asked, and Merlin got up, horror was in his eyes.
"Brother? Did it happen again?" He asked, and Merlin nodded his head. He noticed that Joseph, Ezra and David were all standing there, looking very concerned.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked. --------------------------------------------------
"So, you're saying the guy in your dreams is... Arthur Pendragon?" Joseph asked.
"As I said before, it wasn't a dream, it was an O.B.E., but yeah, it was him. No doubt about it."
"How is it that you didn't realize sooner?" Mordred asked.
"I wasn't looking at his face! I was more focused on the fact that he had six wings!" Merlin said.
"Calm down, Merlin, no one's blaming you for anything." Ezra interrupted, he got up and walked over to Merlin.
"-besides, what's the big deal anyway?" Ezra asked, Merlin looked at him confused.
"You meet your forefather on the astral plane. If anything, that's just a mystical experience. Nothing more- it's not like he's gonna' try and force you to do his bidding. On top of that, who's to say it actually was him? It could have been some shapeshifter or a changeling's ghost... I wouldn't worry about it." Ezra concluded.
"But-!" Merlin said, but he stopped.
"If, by chance, it is true, take something positive away from it- this is a lifetime opportunity! you could get some magic lessons from him- he was the sorcerer who invented six points! In all honesty, I'm jelous of you." Ezra finished.
"Ezra-! I never thought you to be so insensitive!" Mordred exclaimed.
"I'm not! Merlin- your probably the luckiest apprentice who ever lived, right now! I mean, think about it!" Ezra said, Mordred looked very angry at Ezra.
"Ezra-!" He began, but Merlin put his hand up to silence him.
"No. Mordred, it's all right... Ezra? Thanks... I guess..." Merlin said, he wasn't serious. He didn't want his friends to fight over his problems, though. They had done that enough in the past.
"You gonna' be all right...?" Joseph asked, Merlin nodded.
"I'll be fine... just... I need some time to myself..." Merlin said, even though his spirits were lifted (by a fraction) by Ezra pointing out the positives, it wasn't enough to wipe his despair away. He looked up at the four, and Joseph, David, Ezra and Mordred left the room, with Merlin sitting there with a strange look on his face.
"Merlin?" A soft voice asked- Twilight's.
"Twilight?" Merlin answered.
"Are you all right?" She asked, Merlin stayed silent for a few seconds.
"I don't know. I honestly don't." Merlin answered, Twilight hopped up next to him.
"Hey, we'll find a way to fix this, don't worry." Twilight said, Merlin's eyes trailed up to the ceiling.
"Thank you, Twilight." Merlin said, and he took a cup of tea to his lips. -------------------------
Joseph took off like a rocket to the skies, but he couldn't get Merlin out of his mind. Him meeting Arthur Pendragon? His forefather? He decided to put it out of his mind, he raced to Rainbow Dash' house- his brown hair blowing in the wind. He slowed to a stop as he approached Rainbow Dash's home. He knocked on the door and it opened.
"You wanted to see me, Dash?"
"Yeah. Hold on a second." The door closed and Joseph heard her walking away from the door. Then he heard steps coming towards the door, it opened a crack.
"So... ready to get some flying practice in?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Oh, sure! Why not?" Joseph answered, Rainbow Dash walked out- and Joseph immediately noticed something different about her appearance.
"Come on, let's get going!" Rainbow Dash said, Joseph stared with a very confused expression on his face.
"What?" She asked.
"Uhm... what's with the-?" Joseph asked, Rainbow Dash looked confused at first- but then realized what he was looking at.
"What? These? Their sports socks. Their a new thing for Equestrian racers- they keep you from burning out too fast. Don't ask me how, but, they work!" She said, Joseph was silent.
"What's wrong?" She asked, Maybe I shouldn't... nah. When did a compliment ever hurt anybody? Joseph thought, then, he spoke.
"Nothing. I just didn't expect you to walk out looking so... cute." Joseph said, Rainbow Dash's face went red, she giggled.
"You're just flattering me." She said, Joseph shook his head.
"Not that you aren't normally." He said, her face went redder, Joseph rolled his eyes jokingly, Rainbow Dash brushed off her blush.
Well, that turned out sounding more flirty then I expected... Oh well. He thought.
"Heheheh... Uhmm- so. anyway... race you to Canterlot?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Isn't that twenty-five miles?" Joseph asked.
"I've seen you go about halfway without burning up- this'll be a breeze!" She answered, Joseph looked out into the distance- he could barely see Canterlot in the distance.
"All right..." Joseph answered, but then Merlin came busting his way back into his mind... he couldn't put it out of his mind again. In fact, now he didn't want to.
"Hey, Dash, has Twilight told you about Merlin's forefather- Arthur?"
"That member of the high council? Not much. Why?"
"Merlin claims to have met him in an out of body experience- an O.B.E.?"
"Really?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"Well- I was wondering, I heard Twilight and Merlin talking to each other about him a few days ago... what does Equestria know about us humans?" Joseph asked, Rainbow Dash's eyes trailed up to the sky, then she looked back to Joseph.
"I think Celestia found some old books a few months ago- they got published on the local market and apparently skyrocketed to the top of the popularity list. Seems that everyone in Equestria reads about you guys, now- at least that's what Twilight says. Anyway- one of those humans was apparently some legendary hero or something in Equestria- and Celestia confirmed that. Ever since then unicorns keep going around town trying to find a spell to summon one of you guys... it's actually kind of crazy, two years ago we knew nothing about humans... now, half of Equestria treats them like idols..." Her voice trailed off near the end of her sentence, Joseph looked off into the distance.
"Funny... same stuff over at our place- the legend of the land of the Equines was a huge hit when it was published as a book... seriously! Half the town raided the bookstores to get it! Prince A.A. himself wrote the story- it was rumored they were going to make a T.V. show out of it... the very rumor of it skyrocketed as well... what was the show supposed to be called...? It was 'my little' something-or-other... I don't remember." Joseph said, he looked out in the distance.
"Ah well, let's get some flying practice in, huh?" He asked, Rainbow Dash smiled and took off, followed by Joseph, but he still couldn't get Merlin out of his mind. -----------------------------------------------------
Merlin sat on the couch with morbid confusion and a hint of depression on his face. Ever so often taking the cup of tea to his lips and sipping. He didn't want to involve his friends in all of this, he didn't want them to fight over his problems... but this was something important. Maybe something bad. He didn't know.
"Merlin?" Twilight called, she was upstairs, Merlin didn't move, he just stared ahead at the doorway. He could hear something walk downstairs, then, Twilight hopped up next to him.
"Merlin..." She nudged him in the shoulder, Merlin looked over to her.
"Sorry, Twili-" But he was interrupted by a hoof to his mouth.
"Don't be." She said, she took her hoof down.
"I know it wasn't a dream... it felt too real..." Merlin said.
"I believe you... do you want to go to Luna? Even though it's not a nightmare she might be able to help you." Twilight said, Merlin shook his head.
"No... I'm fine."
"No, you aren't Merlin. You've been sitting in that one spot ever since you got up. Merlin... please. I don't want to see you like this." Twilight finished, Merlin put his forehead in his palm- his head hurt, bad.
"All right... I'll go if it happens again- sometimes I snap out of it." Merlin said, Twilight smiled and scooted closer to him.
"Thank you..." She said, but she could see that he only looked worse. She decided in that moment to try to get his mind off of his vision. It would help cheer him up.
"Hey, I got a new magic book from the Princess- she said she got up from Prince A.A.?" Her horn glowed and a book came down from a bookshelf. It was brand new- a bright blue color with a dazzling gold border. She opened the book, and the two began to read, she wrapped her right wing around Merlin's shoulder, he repelled a bit at this.
"What?" Twilight asked, Merlin's face went bright red for a second, but it quickly faded.
"Nothing..." Merlin answered, and they continued to read.
Did I just... blush? Merlin thought. -------
They read for almost half an hour before one of them broke the silence.
"Twilight..."
"Yeah?" Merlin thought for a second, about all that had happened... he thought about all the stuff that had happened- and realized something- was this taking a toll on Twilight? At the very thought of this, he spoke.
"I think I may have overstayed my welcome- if you want me to leave-" Merlin got up but Twilight brought him back down with her magic.
"Don't be like that Merlin. I'm glad to have you guys here." She said, she brought her wing away from him.
"Especially you..." She said under her breath.
"What was that?" Merlin asked.
"Nothing." She said, she scooted away from him.
"Seriously, Twilight- my room is on the other side of the portal-"
"Merlin, it's all right." Twilight said, she got up and used her magic to put her book back. Merlin looked down at his necklace and held it in his hand. Twilight looked over to him.
"Who did you say gave that to you?" Twilight asked.
"My Mother. I got it when was eight years old..." Merlin said, his eyes trailed up to the ceiling in thought.
"So- why is that you family's crest...? What does it symbolize- to your family?" She asked, Merlin looked over to her, he looked at her eyes. He saw beautiful, compassionate eyes- staring back at him. He broke his gaze after a second, and spoke.
"To me... it represents far more then magic." Twilight looked at him anxiously.
"I think it represents the positive influences in our lives... the heart of white magic- that feeling of empathy... to me, it means a lot of things. What about you?" Merlin asked, Twilight looked at her cutie mark.
"Well... for me... I..." Twilight stopped- what did it mean to her? It was a mark for magic, yes... but what did it mean to her?
"I... I don't know, honestly, I don't know... I know it means magic, but... I don't know."
"Hmmm... Maybe we're not supposed to know about some things... who knows." Merlin said, he got up.
"Twilight?" Merlin asked.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks... thanks for listening to me." He said, Twilight couldn't help but get a warming feeling- what was this strange, foreign feeling she had never felt before...? She thought for a second- she realized it, but couldn't accept it, she looked down at the floor.
"Twilight? What's the matter?"
"I...I... I need some time to myself." She said, and she trotted upstairs, and shut the door, Merlin sat back down and began to write in his journal.
24th of August, 2010,
Or is it a much later date? I don't know... it's been a while since my last entry. I took Joseph and Mordred up to the sanctum and showed them around, along with that, David and Ezra arrived. It seems only appropriate- they are my friends after all... but my nightmares have come back, and now I think they are O.B.E.'s- I don't know if that's worse or better, but I do know one thing now: Arthur Pendragon, my forefather, is the red winged angel I'd been seeing... so much stuff has happened that it be an overstatement to say that's the most important thing that's happened to me... Twilight... there's something I don't understand... she seems to be very caring for me and my friends- a rare person to come by, nowadays... back home people would care for you, but, not like the way she does... I don't necessarily need her to take care of me, but, I do need some place to crash for the night so I won't get seen by the town members... lest I get dog-piled again. He stopped writing for a second. He thought about all that had happened, yet again- him being here in general... then, more questions filled his head. He continued writing.
And yet... despite that... my time here has been the most peaceful time of my life... the beautiful countryside... Celestia's sanctum... and Twilight... I've never had a friend like her... there's something about this whole place that I just can't wrap my finger around... but it makes me want to stay here and never go back... I know that magic school will be back in session soon... if only I could just stall it for a little longer... maybe I could close the portal... When did I start having thoughts like this...?
Merlin shut his journal and dropped it on the couch, he walked up to his room and began to ponder his feelings, he saw Twilight appear in front of his doorway, she stopped and smiled- then walked away. Merlin sat there- then, for seemingly no reason- lost consciousness. His head hit the pillow- and he had a nightmare free sleep.
As he slept, Twilight sat in her room- did she really have a crush on Merlin? Or... was she just flustered by the awkward events between her and Merlin? She didn't know... she'd never felt like this before. She'd never felt this warm feeling deep down... it felt nice, but also strangely sad. She didn't know what to make of it. She felt like something was wrong with her. This was all too sudden. She didn't know what to make of it... only that it was a new feeling. Something she could not feel for anyone else...
No. It couldn't be. Merlin was a nice guy and all, but... this was too fast for her. She felt her feelings waging war against each other. She looked over to the window and looked out at the countryside... needing something... she then knew what it was. She knew however, she didn't have it with her... it was in the room next to hers... she needed to talk to Merlin.
She got up and walked over to the other room where she saw Merlin resting there.
"Merlin...?" She called, no answer. She walked up to his bed and put her front legs on the edge to try and see his face- he was sleeping. Not like the previous nights when he was tossing and turning, he was still... he wasn't having any more nightmares. Twilight smiled when she realized this- she left the room... she could ask him questions later.
Twilight walked downstairs and sat down on the couch. She, having come to terms with her feelings, decided that she wouldn't think much of it. Not for now. She was probably just emotionally confused, that's what she thought, anyway. Merlin was still sleeping upstairs and had left his magic book on the couch- Twilight opened it and looked through the pages and found one that caught her eye- Concerning the Experiment of the Mind's Dimension. What an odd title for a spell. She looked at the description.
This almighty spell was used by the Pendragons, it's importance is veritable. Within this page lies a spell which anyone, Karcist (He who conjures up the most powerful spells) or not, may accomplish. Within this chapter, ye shall learn how to bring you and another into a secret world, while he who you do doth summon shall feel it to be just a dream. Its uses are in-finite.
Twilight couldn't help but feel like she was finding a treasure trove. If spells like this worked, there was no telling what else was waiting for her in the Human's magic books. She was curious about the whole six points spell they kept mentioning, but until they found it, that spell would have to wait. She proceeded to read the page.
ZAP! Twilight jumped as the portal began to flash, Merlin shot up in his bed and ran over to the railing of the stairs. The portal flashed again and out came a boy wearing brown leather pants and a leather jacket. He had a conical hat on that looked almost like a cowboy's. He didn't see Twilight, instead, he turned to look up at Merlin.
"Oh, howdy Merlin! Been a while, aint it? Ah sure hope you aint gettin' into trouble." The boy said, Merlin rolled his eyes.
"John, what are you doing here?" Merlin asked, the boy smiled.
"The very idea of you openin' a portal to another world-- this early on in your education? Now that's phenomenal! Ya' think I wouldn't come through to see? You've riled up the whole school with the news!" John exclaimed, Merlin smiled.
"John... you really can't sit still, can you?" Merlin asked, John shook his head.
"Nope... so, where we at?" John asked.
"Why not you look behind you and take a wild guess?" Merlin asked, John turned around and saw Twilight standing there, his arms dropped to his sides.
"Ah, you gotta' be kiddin' with me!" He said, Twilight couldn't help but smile- it was actually getting amusing, seeing how almost every human that came through was amazed at the sight of them. John put his face in his palm.
"Okay... I am not seein' this... I am not seein' this..." John repeated, Merlin and Twilight exchanged glances, merlin was struggling hard not to laugh- the look on John's face was priceless compared to Mordred's, Joseph's, Ezra's, and David's.
"Yep... you are..." Merlin said, he broke out laughing, Twilight followed.
"Merlin..." John said, they kept laughing.
"Merlin!" He repeated, Merlin and Twilight just laughed harder, but then, John yelled so loud it made Merlin jump.
"MER-LIN!" Merlin shot up in a straight position, and had a look on his face as if he had been caught doing something reprehensible, Twilight froze. John had yelled so loud it made Merlin feel veritable fear.
"Seriously- did ya really open the gate ta---!?" John said finally, Merlin loosened, and yet again, tried hard not to laugh.
"Sorry, man... but the look on your face..." John's face went blank.
"No- Really! Did you-!?" He asked.
"...Welcome to Equestria..." Merlin finally said, John put his face in his palm again.
"Are you frickin' kiddin' me, Merlin? Half a' the town's gonna try ta' pound down your door to get to the portal if they find out about this! And... I recollect those only bein' legends!" John exclaimed, he looked back up at Merlin.
"Turns out that those were true stories." Merlin said, John looked dumbfounded, his eye twitched.
"Ya' really deserve to be in the elites for this, Merlin! Imagine what they'll be thinkin' when they find out where the portal goes! Your gonna' be the talk-of-the-town, no doubt about it!" He said, Getting a grin on his face.
"Well... I guess I'll enjoy the popularity, then." Merlin said, smiling. John turned to face Twilight.
"Well, this is quite the surprise... who might you be?" John asked, kneeling down.
"Twilight." Twilight answered, John outstretched his arm.
"Name's John. John Amesbury." Twilight smiled at his peculiar surname. She shook his hand... or, had her hoof shaken, as she didn't have hands or fingers. John stood up.
"So- ah don't take it Joseph, David, Mordred 'n Ezra went missin shortly afta' you opened the gate, did they?" John said.
"Uhm-" The door opened, in walked Mordred, Joseph, Ezra, and David. They all looked up at John.
"Oh, hey John!" David said, Merlin looked over at the four boys.
"Yes, good to see you!" Mordred said, he turned his attention to Merlin- Mordred was holding a bottle.
"What's that? Merlin asked, Mordred gave him a small smile.
"It's called z-medicine- it's better then the sleeping draft, it will keep you from jumping out of your body again." Mordred said, he handed Merlin the vial and noticed it had Luna's cutie mark as it's label.
"Luna made this, didn't she?"
"Quite... She was very kind to make this for you- it takes a lot of patience." Ezra said, smiling.
"I'll have to thank her the next time I see her." Merlin replied.
"Oh- and Celestia wanted to talk to you, but, she couldn't make it." Mordred said, he held out a note.
Merlin, I have taken notice that you have a few new guests coming in from the other side. I have set up extra rooms at the inner sanctum so that they may have a place to stay. I hope to see you all soon, and, I hope that you'll enjoy the new room I have set up for you- you'll find it even better then your old room. -Celestia, house of Royals
"Merlin- if I may ask... what is this 'inner sanctum' me and David keep hearing about?" Ezra asked, John's attention spiked at hearing this.
"Inna' sanctum? Like A.A.'s magic temple?" Merlin looked over to John.
"Better- guys? Come with me... and- stay out of sight." Merlin said, he walked towards the door, Twilight, Mordred Joseph, Ezra, David, and John followed Merlin to the carriage, the guards looked at Ezra, David and John with suspicion.
"Their with me, don't worry." Merlin said, the guards loosened. They climbed inside the carriage.
"Wait a minute- I just noticed- am I going mad, or is this carriage bigger on the inside then it is on the outside?" David said, poking his head in and out of the carriage door.
"Hey- yeah- woah- wait a minute- these kinds of enchantments are practically non-existent back at our place!" Joseph said, looking surprised.
"Yeah... about that..." Twilight began, she had a sheepish look on her face, Merlin looked over at her.
"I noticed the steady coming of visitors... so, with Celestia's permission I made some 'modifications'." She finished, Merlin's eyes went wide.
"Jeez Lueez! Ah'd reckon with the power and skill it takes t' do somethin' like this... ya' must be one with powerful magic!" John remarked, Twilight's face went red.
"Well, some people do call me the 'Princess of Magic', so..." She said, Merlin's eyes went wide.
"Wait- what? 'Princess'?" Merlin said, Twilight looked up at him.
"Uhm- all Alicorns are Princesses..." She said, her voice trailing off near the end of her sentence, the six boys stared.
"...I'm sorry--- what???" Mordred said.
" S'cuse' me?" Joseph exclaimed.
"Huh?" Ezra questioned.
"Really??" David exclaimed.
"Holy mother' a' Prince A.A., Twi!" John said, he put his hand on his forehead.
"It didn't tell you that in those legends I keep hearing about?" Twilight asked, she looked at the boys with a very confused look.
"We knew that it meant you had a high roll in society, but... jeez, Twilight! Normally Princesses live in castles, not libraries... even if it was a huge place you have! Ya' shoulda' told us! Now I feel like a jerk for the way I acted when I met you! Shooting off like that, not even realizing I was talking to a Princess..." Joseph said, he slumped back in his chair.
"Well... actually... I felt that a library suited me better- a castle was just too... flashy. And, I honestly just like being treated like everyone else, so... I don't mind, Joseph." She said, the boys exhaled.
"...Let's just get going." Twilight said, she looked down at the floor.
"Also... it reminds me of my previous home." She said, the boys looked at her.
"Sorry?" Ezra asked.
"...My first home here was destroyed in an explosion, I moved into a castle, but, I decided to have a new home built on top of the sight of my old one... it felt kind of nostalgic." She said, the boys exchanged glances.
"Oh... I'm sorry." Merlin said, Twilight smiled.
"No, I've gotten over it. Besides, my new library's bigger then the old one. Not to mention it has all the comforts of home on the second floor." She said, The carriage lurched.
"Woah!" Ezra said, multiple sputters and various other noises were heard from the carriage, smoke began to seep out of the grate in the floor, Twilight and the boys coughed violently.
"Let's get outa' here!" Merlin exclaimed, they all jumped out of the carriage, followed by the guards, blue smoke rose out of the carriage, Ezra coughed violently.
"*Cough!* What the *Cough!* -heck!?" Ezra said, he looked over at Twilight.
"Eheheh... uhm... I think I may have put a little bit too much energy into that last spell I did."
"Ya' don't say!" Joseph complained, coughing violently.
"Serious- *Cough!*-ly! What is that smell? What do use to drive that thing!?" Mordred said, Twilight's eyes trailed up to the sky.
"Uhm..." She said, the boys coughed more, then, they heard an excited shout.
"There he is! Oh! And there are more of them!"
"...Not again..." Merlin said, he tried to stand up, but couldn't, he continued to cough, a crowd formed around the six boys and Twilight.
"So you weren't just hiding him- but five more, Princess?" One said, the crowd rambled, Merlin put his face in his palm, the crowd rambled excitedly, the guards got between them and Merlin, trying to push back the crowd again, but to no avail.
--------------------------------
After what seemed like hours of non-stop questioning, the crowd finally dissipated, they gave Merlin and the other boys excited smiles and amazed looks as they left- Merlin had to reveal practically everything about his home world during the questioning, and he was mentally exhausted from the nonstop questions from half the town. He sat down on a bench near the broken-down carriage. Mordred glared at Merlin.
"What?" Merlin said,
"Admit it, you enjoyed every second of that!" Mordred exclaimed, Merlin had a guilty look plastered on his face.
"Uhm... maybe just a little bit...?" Merlin said, Mordred erupted.
"Merlin!" He complained.
"Okay, fine, it wasn't too bad! Big fat, hairy, deal!" Merlin said, sounding majorly annoyed.
"Ugh... never mind... Twilight? Is there another carriage in this town?" Mordred asked, Twilight looked down.
"Sorry... but, no." Twilight said, having a guilty smile.
"...Oh! I just remembered!" John exclaimed, he reached down a large bag he was carrying on his back- and brought out six slick broomsticks.
"...Are you serious, man!? You had those the whole time!? We could've gotten away from the crowd!" Joseph complained.
"Says the guy with rocket-boots, I'm mighty surprised ya' didn't shoot off on us." John said, Joseph's face went blank.
"...Well, now I'm feeling like an idiot." He said, there was an awkward silence, then, Merlin, Mordred, Joseph, Ezra, David, John, and Twilight all burst out laughing.
"No- seriously... what are those things even for? How are those going to help us get to the inner sanctum? They're just brooms." Twilight said, the boys looked at her with odd looks, then, excited looks.
"Watch." John said, he mounted the broom, kicked off from the ground and rose twenty feet into the air.
"Woah!" Twilight exclaimed, David, Mordred, Joseph, and Ezra followed suit.
"Their enchanted to let you fly them- their pretty useful, and wicked fast... Merlin?" Mordred explained, Merlin looked up and nodded his head, he jumped off the ground and rose to the air, then he had a look on his face that said one thing; he had forgotten something. He lowered back down to the ground.
"What is it, Merlin?" Twilight asked.
"Need a lift?" Merlin asked, Twilight looked at him oddly.
"I do have wings." She said, Merlin smiled.
"You sure you can make the thirty-mile trip?" Merlin said, Twilight pondered it for a second, then answered.
"I'm not sure, actually, I don't fly that much." She admitted, Merlin smiled and raised his broom a few feet off the ground.
"Then hop on and hang on." He said, Twilight flew up and wrapped her forehooves around Merlin's back, Merlin then took off with surprising speeds.
"Woah!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Because of their shape, they get to top speed real quick. Impressive?" He asked, Twilight smiled.
"Y-yeah! Whoever made these must be real good at magic!" Twilight said, Merlin's face went red.
"I'm the one that actually designed these, I'm flattered you like them." Merlin said, Twilight's eyes went wide.
"Really?" She asked, Merlin nodded.
"Yeah- Uh-oh!" Merlin exclaimed, he jerked out of the way as a male pegasus shot by and nearly collided with him.
"Look out, you idiot!" the stallion yelled.
"Sorry!" Merlin called back, Twilight held on for dear life.
"Merlin, let's go above the clouds- there's less 'hazards' up there!" Joseph said, and the six followed Joseph as they rose above the clouds. They could see all of Equestria within 50 miles- including the faint blur of the inner sanctum.
"Hey, guys! Watch this!" John said, he then kicked his legs up- and stood up on his broom, standing on the shaft.
"Woah, dude! Knock that off! That's dangerous!" Joseph said, but he looked amazed at the sight, John then simply dropped back down onto his broomstick, as if nothing happened. Twilight merely held onto Merlin as they flew closer and closer to their destination.
They were a few miles off from the sanctum when fog began to cover their visions.
"Merlin?" Mordred called.
"I hear ya- guys! Listen up- let's get out of this fog, if we lose sight of each other, just keep going to the top of Mount Everfree- that's where the sanctum is. Got it?" He called.
"Yep!" John answered,
"Got it!" Mordred called,
"Right!" David answered,
"Understood." Ezra said.
"See ya' there!" Joseph called, and Merlin lost sight of them completely, after a few minutes, he couldn't see anything.
"Hey, Twilight, is this normal?" He asked, he felt movement on his back.
"I don't know- I've never seen fog like this." She answered.
"I'm gonna' try something- hold on tight!" Merlin said, he raised his right hand off the shaft of the broom, a white orb of light appeared in his hand. Wind blew in their faces, and the fog moved out of the way- they were alone in the sky, and they could see the inner sanctum. They could also see Mordred, standing in the landing area. Merlin exhaled.
"Agh- how did we get so far behind?" Merlin said.
"I don't know." Twilight answered, she let go of Merlin and kicked off from the broom, she flew next to him. She looked down towards the inner sanctum, and glided to the landing pad. Merlin followed her, and they landed.
"Ah, there you are, brother." Mordred said, Merlin and Twilight walked towards him.
"Where are the others?" Merlin asked.
"Their inside the sanctum- Celestia's teaching a few things to them." He answered, Merlin looked down at Twilight.
"Shoot, I wanted to see their reactions." Merlin said.
"Me too." Twilight answered, but she smiled.
"Well, I can tell you one thing, brother: Ezra hasn't left the library's healing section since he got here, and David's stuck himself in the alchemical laboratory... I think that says a few things, to say the least." He remarked, Merlin smiled.
"Hmmm... all right, then. Let's go inside." Merlin said, and they walked up the path to the gates.
---------------------------------
"Ahhh... am I glad that's over." Merlin said to himself, he walked inside of his new room, and was dazzled at the beauty of it: It had marble walls and a black, warm, carpet. A lantern hung from the ceiling, and two sofas stood across from one another in front of a small glass table under the lantern. Off to the side was a king-sized bed with thick, red cotton blankets and a set of pillows. The wall near the glass table had a fireplace, with wood ready to be set ablaze. And off to the right was a desk with magic tools and books.
"Wow..." Merlin whispered, he walked in and sat down on the sofa, and found it to be very comfortable. He noticed that the glass table had a compartment on the side, he opened it, and found two bottles of freshly made apple cider waiting for him, along with a few crystal glasses. He took one of the bottles and opened it, pouring some of it into the glass. He sipped it- and a rush of flavor filled his mouth. He read the side of the bottle.
Sweet Apple Acres' Homemade Cider, it read, Merlin smiled.
"You know, Applejack's family are the one's who made that cider, right?" Merlin looked back to the entryway to see the cheerful face of an alicorn staring back at him. Merlin nodded his head.
"Well, it does say 'Applejack's' on the front, so, yeah I had an idea." Merlin said, one of the cups suddenly rose up, engulfed in a hot-pink aura.
"May I?" She asked, Merlin smiled again and poured her a glass. The cup zipped over to her, she took a sip, and hopped up next to Merlin on the sofa.
"So, Merlin... how's your stay been, so far?" She asked.
"Good, why do you ask?" He replied, Twilight looked up at the lantern.
"Because earlier today you seemed real... upset about your dreams- I mean... O.B.E." She said, Merlin looked ahead.
"Well... I've had this problem for a long time, actually. It started when I was in kindergarten, before I was even able to use a wand properly... then, Prince A.A. came to our school and gave a huge speech about the power of magic... I was intoxicated by it- I began devoting most of my time to it... but one day, I accidentally picked up the wrong book..." Merlin said, he paused for a second.
"...It was a book on ancient magic- using spoken incantations... improperly used, they could cause lifelong damage or side-affects. I said one by accident... and I got covered in this purple mist... then, I woke up in the hospital a week later. After that, nothing seemed to have changed... until I started practicing the beginner's spells... simple sparks, levitating objects, lighting candles- again, really, really simple stuff..."
"What happened?" Twilight asked, Merlin looked over at her.
"Well, when I tried creating the spark, I sent my professor flying- I created a small explosion instead." Merlin said, Twilight looked surprised.
"Then, when I tried lifting a feather off my desk... the whole desk started to levitate- just by a few inches, but, it caused the guy next to me to start freaking out." Twilight's eyes went wider.
"What about the spell for lighting candles?" Twilight asked, Merlin's eyebrows raised and his eyes widened in memory.
"...the flame was so big it nearly set the building on fire." Twilight's jaw dropped.
"Really?" She asked, Merlin nodded.
"I don't know what that incantation did, I don't even know if it was the cause of my sudden power boost, but, shortly after I had come to, I started having those O.B.E.'s- I just thought they were lucid nightmares at the time... jeez. If I had told my professors that I was able to leave my own body- that would have been enough to get me sent to Prince A.A.'s magical academy ahead of time!"
"Wait- you weren't already there?" Twilight asked, having a sly smile on her face, Merlin's face went red in flattery.
"Oh, no, no, no- heheh.... I was in The Karcist's School of Aspiring Students- If I wanted to get there at the age I was at... I would have had to..." Merlin stopped, his face went blank.
"You would have had to...?" Merlin scratched the side of his head.
"Well, you had to have three weeks of magical flying lessons to get in- I wasn't nearly old enough to be allowed to take classes on how to fly a broom." Merlin said, he had a guilty look on his face.
"Then how did you get in?" She asked.
"...You remember how I said I designed those brooms?" He said, Twilight nodded.
"Well... a few years later, when I was.... ten, I think? Yeah, ten- I went out into the forest and started collecting twigs and a large branch. I took it home... and had a makeshift broomstick. I casted the enchantment myself- and then, taught myself how to fly... but, since it was technically outside the school, it didn't count. I had to wait for an opportunity. Then something happened that was a once in a lifetime chance, for me. There were rules on who could take flight classes... but not on who could race with brooms."
----------------------------------
A crowd cheered excitedly, on either side of a snow covered, dirt road. A tower with three people on podiums stood to the side. A man at the center with dark black hair stood up.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and Girls! Welcome to twenty-first annual Witch's cup! Twenty racers this year- here's the lineup!"
Merlin sat in a waiting room with nineteen other racers, amongst them, John. An old friend of his, John suddenly caught a glimpse of Merlin, he ran up to him.
"Merlin! Gosh, man! You sure your up fer' this? This aint no ordinary race, y' know! I didn't think of ya' t' be a racin' type!" John said, Merlin smiled.
"If I do well in this race, I'll get a free scholarship to Prince A.A.'s Academy- I'll be the first in my grade level ever to get in, so, I can't pass up the opportunity! I'm glad I qualified." John smiled at his friend and put his hand on his shoulder.
"Ya think ya can beat me?" John asked jokingly.
"I think you might give me a run for my money, I'll admit that... after the way you did in the tag racing tournament- I'm scared of you!" Merlin answered, half laughing.
"Well, I'll go easy on ya- for the most part. Don't be gettin' no ideas, though. I saw you lookin' in the 'explosives' section in yer spellbook!" John said, Merlin's eyes shifted.
"Uh... actually, you know that chalkboard incident my teacher went through a few weeks ago?" Merlin said, John's face went blank, then, he started laughing.
"Yer' tellin' me that was you!? Hahahah! Oh, gosh, Merlin... you broke 'em! He didn't know WHAT that was all about!" John said.
"How was I supposed to know that the potion he was working on would-" Merlin was interrupted by the man at the podium.
"First up, we have Merlin Pendragon! Prodigy in magic and soon-to-be Adeptus Major! If he does well in this race, he'll get a one-way-trip to Prince A.A.'s Academy!" Merlin heard a huge crowd scream excitedly outside. He smiled.
"Seems you've gotten mighteh' popular from the sound of all the screamin'! What'd you do?" John asked, Merlin smirked.
"I'll tell you later. All I'm gonna' say is that it had something to do with the immersion test that ended in me wowing the class."
"Second! Mordred Pendragon! Worker at the talismanic robes shop and master at enchantments! He too will win a scholarship if he does well! Good luck to the Pendragon brothers!" Merlin's jaw dropped as he slowly turned around to see his brother standing there.
"M-Mordred!?" Merlin exclaimed.
"Thank you very much for the 'vote of confidence'- yes, I did pass the major tests. Now don't think I'll be dragging behind you the whole time- their judging on our performance, not what place we get in, remember?" Mordred said, Merlin tilted his head.
"I didn't expect you to." Merlin replied.
"Siblin' rivalry... you guys oughta' lighten up! Enjoy the race!" John said.
"Third! We have Morgan Le Fey!" Merlin, Mordred and John cringed.
"...You were saying about enjoying the race?" Merlin said, glaring at John. They turned around to see a girl with blue robes and long, silky black hair, she had pale skin and paler eyes.
"I find it extremely rude to be talked about in that manner. You boys have no respect for a powerful witch, like myself. You guys should try to get along with me better!" Morgan exclaimed, sounding very irritated.
"W-well excuse me!" Merlin said, he was trying to make it overly-obvious he was being sarcastic.
"Fly back to your hut in the woods, witch." Mordred said in a very low tone.
"You watch your mouth." Morgan said.
"One would assume yer' blind, considerin' ya can't watch yours! Zip it, and get lost!" John said, Morgan glared at him.
"Fourth! We have Jamie Rachel!" Merlin whirled around at hearing the name- an older girl with long pink robes entered the tent, wearing a hot-pink conical hat and heart crest on her robes.
"Merlin!" The girl exclaimed.
"Jamie?" Merlin asked.
"Oh look, you got yourself a girlfriend, I see?" Morgan asked, Merlin almost erupted.
"She's my cousin, thanks." Jamie looked very confused at the sudden change of atmosphere.
"Why don't you just go polish your outdated broomstick? Go on!" Merlin said, Morgan walked away, with a look of disgust on her face.
"What was that all about?" Jamie asked, Merlin and Mordred turned back to her.
"Never mind her, what are you doing here? I thought you were staying in London!" Mordred questioned, Jamie smiled.
"What, I can't visit my cousins from time to time? London was getting boring after a while- what with the absence of magic, that is. I invited a couple of people to come to one of the magic schools- they're skeptics, but, I think once they see what we're capable of, they'll be great students." Jamie said, Merlin smiled. Mordred tilted his head.
"I thought only the elites had that kind of privilege- inviting outsiders to magic schools I mean."
"Funny you should mention that..." Jamie said, and a pair of light-pink wings sprung out from her back, Merlin jumped.
"Woah! No way!" Merlin yelled, taking a few steps backward.
"Yep! It's true!" Jamie answered, smiling ear to ear. Mordred and Merlin looked baffled.
"...Wha---???" Mordred sputtered.
"The race is gonna' start soon, you guys better get ready." Jamie finished, her wings folded back up. She walked away.
"Wait-!" Merlin called, but she didn't turn around, he turned to Mordred, who looked like his brain had frozen.
"I'm sorry- did you just see WINGS poking out of Jamie's back!?" Mordred exclaimed, Merlin did a face-palm.
"They never tell us about stuff like this! She's our cousin! Prince A.A. should at least tell guys like us that our cousin has become basically a Goddess!" Merlin complained.
"Well, I guess I was too late to tell you, then." A majestic voice said, Merlin's heart stopped. He knelt down after whirling around to find the Prince there, himself.
"Y-your majesty! I-I-I didn't m-mean... a-any of-f-fense..." Merlin stuttered, the Prince smirked.
"Come now, I'm not some barbaric king from ancient Greece who beheads anyone who insults him, Merlin." He answered, merlin stopped hyper-ventilating and stood up.
"Anyway, so, yeah... for some reason, Achilles seemed to have gotten word of my talents in magic- he made me an offer; if I completed the race, I would get unrestricted access to the magical archives." Merlin finished.
"Wow... so, you did well in the race?" Twilight asked.
"Actually... no." Twilight's ears perked up and she had a confused look.
"Let me explain... I was nearing the end of the race..." ------------------------------------------------------
"Move it!" John shouted, he lunged in front of Morgan.
"I don't think so!" She retorted, and slammed into him, sending John off to the side a bit.
"Wanna' play rough? Let's play rough!" He said, and he slammed back into her, sending her flying off the trail, Merlin was right behind. He looked over his shoulder- and saw that she had landed in a pile of sharp rocks. He skidded to a stop.
"It seems the racer Merlin has stopped in the middle of the track!" The announcer said, Merlin was quiet for a second. He looked over at his rival- she was gasping for air. Merlin slowly turned away from the finish line- and found himself floating above Morgan- she was obviously in pain.. He hopped off his broom.
He couldn't see it, but Achilles was leaning forward in his chair to get a better view of him. He placed his hands around Morgan and helped her onto his broom.
"Wh...what are you doing...?" She asked, looking very confused.
"I'm thinking an 'almighty witch' should finish her race." He answered, and he slowly took to the finish line.
------------------------------
Merlin was looking down at the floor.
"Why did you help her?" She asked, Merlin looked up at Twilight.
"She was badly injured... better to see an educational opportunity pass me up then watch a girl potentially... well... fill in the blank." He said.
"And you got into the academy even though you came in fifteenth place? Why did Achilles let you in?" She asked, Merlin looked up at her.
"I don't know... he just... saw something in me, I guess." He looked out the window.
"...It was a really weird day, honestly... all my gut instincts were telling me to stay at home... I don't know why, but, my accidental soul travel experiences became more frequent after that day... I don't get it, it doesn't make any sense..." He said, one could hear thunder.
"Maybe it's just a coincidence?" She offered, Merlin put his hand on his head.
"Perhaps... I don't know." He answered, he sat down on the sofa across from Twilight.
"You think something else is going on?" She asked, Merlin paused for a second.
"I wish I knew the answer to that question." He finished, but they were interrupted by the sound of a hoof pounding at the door- a guard.
"Princess! The sisters request your presence!" He called, she made her way to the door, but then turned around.
"You left your spell book in the laboratory, by the way- It's on the first desk." She remarked, and walked out.
Merlin sat in silence as a storm began to brew, heavy rain pelted the ground outside. He looked out the window- and saw something hurdling towards him- Joseph.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He shouted, and slammed into Merlin, Merlin let out a shout as the found themselves up against the wall.
"Dang it, Joseph! What the heck do you think your doing!?" He complained.
"A lightning bolt threw off my balance!" Joseph complained, Merlin groaned and did a face-palm.