> Mages of the Immortals
>  by TornadoBlitz
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Soul of the streets
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A much wiser pony than most once said that everything in Equestria has a soul. This includes the wind that often is said to sing through the streets of all cities except Djeeneigh, where it weeps in sadness at what it sees there. On the day of the expulsion, the wind sings through the many boats in the marina, almost blessing them to have good voyages, then rushed through the gates and into the streets, wanting to see more of the happiness it has seen in all Equestria, but the moment it sees the ragged clothes, thin bodies and angry faces of Djeeneigh’s citizens, it almost becomes appalled and quietens to a whisper.

Or at least that what it felt like to Soul Star, as another gust of wind battered him, creating goosebumps on his body as it went. He pulled his cloak around himself and kept walking trying to block out the cold. A sudden movement caught his attention and he sidestepped as an old stallion who staggered out of the alleyway and collapsed in the street. Soul Star offered a hoof to the stallion, but he seemed not to notice Soul Star. He rose to his feet and then rejoined the other hunched figures who made their way slowly down the street. Soul looked around to see what was the cause and discovered an earth pony guard, wearing blue armour and a look of disgust on his face as his eyes quickly looked from pony to pony.

‘Curse those guards,’ Soul Star thought, ‘May they find Zebrica poisonous roots in their armour.’ The names of a few friendly and helpful guards came to his mind, but Soul Star was in no mood for making exceptions. The guards in this city all worked for the noble houses, so they more served their interests rather than helping the majority of the citizens of Djeeneigh. There were good guard ponies, the guard of the Royal Pony Sisters for instance, were incredibly friendly and helpful. Unfortunately their visits were few and far between so often times Soul Star had to deal with the corrupt and black hearted guards of the noble houses.

Following the steps of the other figures around him, Soul Star followed them out of the side street into a wider main street. The buildings on this street, all at least three storey houses, rose up either side of them. As often happened on today’s date, the upper windows of the buildings were crowded with faces. One in particular caught Soul’s attention, a well dressed mare was holding a small colt so he could watch the action below. The mare wrinkled her nose with disdain and the colt grimaced as if he had tasted something awful

Soul glared at them. ‘You nobles are all the same. I’m more than willing to bet you couldn’t walk a mile in our hooves. I bet you wouldn’t have such looks if a rock was hurled at you.’ He looked around to see if any were there, but sadly there weren’t any. There was also the fact that even he had found one, he knew that he would get in trouble if he threw it, so he moved on. Up ahead, he saw a pair of guards at the entrance of an alley, these ones wearing green armour and looked to be twice as large as the ponies in the city. They carried menacing looking swords because if it was one thing the nobles did, it was made sure that their guards were well equipped to deal with attackers. Soul passed by the two ponies.

“...plan is to cut them off before they reach the square,” One of the guards said to another. “There are about thirty ponies, with a Pegasus gang leader, said to have scar on his cheek and-“

Soul Froze, his heart was starting to beat quicker. ‘They aren’t talking about them…. Were they?’

Just ahead, Soul spotted a recessed doorway and quickly hid in it. If the guards were talking about who Soul suspected they were, then some of the only friends he had would be in trouble. He looked from his hiding spot trying to get a better look and found two dark blue eyes staring right back him. A foal gazed at him, eyes wide with surprise. Soul took a step back and the stranger did the same. Soul then smiled and let out a small laugh.

‘Just a reflection,’ he thought. Soul then took a better look at himself through the polished piece of metal. There were words scratched into it, however Soul did not know how to read so he could not make them out. Soul took in his reflection.

A white foal with a black mane and tail, a thin-hollowed face and body and no cutie mark. Nestled in his mane however was what he considered his curse. A horn slightly jutted out of his hair. In Djeeneigh, being a unicorn not from a noble house was dangerous. In some instances, being a unicorn, you could get adopted into a noble house and they would teach you to control magic. However, it was clear that it was only to have a trophy to show to the other nobles that they could be good to the people as well as the other nobles, often times with the orphans being treated like dirt to the point where they wonder if they were better off back on the streets. In other cases, the guards would just exile you outright because they did not want to deal with the responsibility of training a unicorn to control magic because of the potential damage they could cause. Either way, the family that he lived with, a Pegasus family, had gone to enormous lengths to hide Soul’s horn, brushing his mane in order to hide it and telling Soul to always wear his cloak if ever he left home.

Soul never knew his real parents. He had heard conflicting opinions about what happened: Some say that his parents died at the hands of the guards, others had said he was abandoned and his parents had left him to die. Soul, however did have one memento from his parents. A pendant, that he always wore around his neck. He quickly opened it up to reveal a picture of his parents, two unicorns, looking back at him. His father was white with a red mane while his mother was light blue with a black mane. His father was holding his mother and the roundness of the mare's stomach showed that she was heavily pregnant, almost ready to give birth. Their faces had wide smiles, a couple looking like they were ready to be parents. Soul shed a tear when he saw the picture, even though he never met his parents he did miss them greatly and wanted to meet them.

Soul then looked back at his reflection, his father had been a handsome stallion. Maybe when he grew up, Soul could be as handsome as he was.

“-bout ten minutes ago,” One of the guards said, jogging Soul’s memory back to the task at hand, remembering why he was hiding there in the first place.

“And where are they trapping them?”

“I don't know, but I would love to see it.”

“Me too. I was there when those punks attacked Sword Striker last year. He still has nightmares about that, he couldn’t open his eyes for a week afterwards and his injuries took a further three. Hey I wonder if you and I could get – Oi! Wrong way boy!”

As the guards were talking Soul, had sprinted out into the street, knowing that the guards wouldn’t follow him. If they left their position, ponies could take advantage of it and slip down the alleyway unnoticed. Soul weaved his way through the increasing thickening crowd, hoping to find familiar faces.

He had now no doubt who those guards were talking. Stories about what Cloud Runner’s gang, otherwise known as the Wing Brigade, had done during the last expulsion had been entertaining to hear during the long winter months. It was good to hear that his friends were giving the guards a hard time. He used to be a part of the gang and it was fun pulling pranks on guards, but after his foster mother found out what they were doing, she made him promise her that he wouldn’t continue doing his work. Otherwise, his identity as a Unicorn could be found out. Now it seemed that the guards were going to spring a trap on the gang and get their revenge.

‘She’d kill me if she found out what I was doing, but I need to do this! My friends need me. It’s not like I’m gonna join back up with them.’

Soul kept looking around, hoping to find one of the gangs lookouts. He looked around a little more and… there!

A lookout, an Earth Pony colt, was quickly looking between two alleyway entrances trying to see if any guards were coming his way. His gaze then found Soul’s. Once it did, Soul quickly did what anyone else on the street would interpret as a crude sign, not knowing its true intentions.

The Earth Pony narrowed his eyes suspiciously, however gestured for Soul to come over to him. Confident that he had found a genuine lookout, Soul came over and produced a small cloth he was hiding in one of the cloak pockets. The earth pony stretched out his foot and Soul pretended to scrub it.

“Who are you with?” he asked, looking away from Soul.

“No one.” Soul replied.

“You used an old sign.”

“Haven’t been around the Brigade in a while.”

The earth pony colt started, eyeing Soul suspiciously.

“What is your business with the Brigade?” he asked.

“To give a warning,” Soul said, “I overheard the guards. They are planning to ambush the gang.”

The lookout looked directly at Soul as if he had just said the most ridiculous thing in the world.

“That’s a tall claim you’re making,” he said, “Why should I listen to you?”

“Because Cloud Runner is a personal friend of mine. He trusts me.”

The Earth Pony started eyeing Soul suspiciously again, which made sense considering it was a tall claim to have Cloud Runner as a personal friend. While Soul was sincere about what he said, the earth pony was right to be unsure. It also didn’t help that Soul was a Unicorn and most of the Wing Brigade were Pegasi, so there was also that to consider.

“Well then, let’s see if Cloud Runner remembers you,” the earth pony said, pushing Soul forward and guiding him through the crowd, some of the guards started eyeing the pair.

“Hey! You don’t have to take me to him,” Soul said, getting worried that he will get too deep in the crowd, “Just tell him my name. He knows I wouldn’t mess him around.”

The colt ignored him, continuing to push him forward. Soul tried to get out of his way, however he kept moving his hooves to block off his path.

“Please,” Soul pleaded, “My name is Soul Star, Cloud Runner knows me, so does Shadow Eye.”

“Well then you shouldn’t mind meeting them again,” the colt said, pushing Soul forward again. Ahead of them, they could see a commotion going on as ponies ran towards them. Soul could see why and sighed. He was never going to get back to his foster parents at this rate. He was supposed to meet up with them, but that was looking as if it wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

Instead, he focused on what was ahead. He could see why people were running. There was a line of guards ponies, the line stretching across the street with their shields held high. Ahead of them were ponies Soul recognised as members of the Wing Brigade, pacing on their side of the invisible battle ground, shouting insults and jibes at the guards. Soul watched on as he did, one of the youths threw a small rock shaped object at one of the guards, when it hit his shield it exploded spraying dust over the guards. The guards moved back a few spaces, which elicited a round cheers and more insults from the Wing Brigade.

Soul noticed two other ponies a few paces behind the guards. One was taller and had become bulkier since the last time Soul saw him, but it was unmistakably Cloud Runner.

It had been two years since Soul had run with the Wing Brigade and Cloud Runner had done a lot of growing since then. Even though Cloud Runner looked more like a teenage colt, he didn’t seem to have changed much in the intervening years, if the way he was acting was anything to go by. In a way, it was kind of nice to see that. Cloud Runner was always a friendly pony, very welcoming of others like him; however, if you disputed his leadership, he would not hesitate to put you in your place with a good hoof straight to the face.

Beside Cloud Runner was a colt about half his size and Soul couldn’t help but smile at that. The name of the smaller colt was Shadow Eye and it was clear that he hadn’t changed much in the intervening time either, and Soul knew how much that annoyed him. Despite his stature, Shadow was always thought of highly in the gang because of how much he looked like his  father, a master thief who taught Shadow and the others to fight back against the guards. Shadow's father was part of the Cloaked Dagger, a thieves gang with an infamous reputation in the city and beyond. Whether or not Shadow’s father was grooming the Wing Brigade to be the next generation of Cloaked Dagger was anyone’s guess.

As the lookout brought Soul closer to the pair, Cloud Runner gave the command and the gang threw more packages of dust at the guards and it was rather satisfying to see the guard ponies cry in pain. The smile that was forming on Soul’s face soon disappeared when he notice a hooded figure walking past the guards.

“MAGE!” he shouted.

The lookout gasped in surprise.

“OI! MAGE!” he shouted, as the guards gave the newcomer a weird berth, whether it was out of respect or fear was unknown and the youths started backing away from him.

Suddenly, a blue glow appeared on the robed figure’s forehead and a hot gust of wind blasted at the youths. A foul smell hit Soul like a frying pan to the face as the dust that the youths had been using was now turned against them. The stinging was horrid, but Soul did not cry out. He refused to show weakness in front of nobles and mages.  

“RUN!!!” Cloud Runner roared and the youths sprang into action, running as fast as their legs could carry them away from the guards. With a yelp, Soul noticed that the lookout had picked Soul up, placed Soul upon his back, and started running away. They didn’t get very far as Soul saw to his horror that another set of guards was there. He had come to warn about the trap, but now he was right in the middle of it.

‘Why did Fate have to be cruel?’

However it seemed that the brigade had already prepared for this encounter so they ran at full speed at the guards, who held up their shields in preparation. Just before contact was made the youths ran into the nearby alleyway.

“Down!” somepony yelled, and the lookout threw himself on the ground, throwing Soul off him and onto the cobblestones. Soul heard screams from behind and looked back. The guards had tried to enter the alleyway behind them, but their armour and shields could not fit without going single file. This in turn allowed the other brigade members to throw a cloud of red dust on them.

“Soul Star?”

Soul Star looked up at the voice’s source and smiled as he saw Shadow Eye.

“He told me that the guards were preparing to ambush us,” the lookout said, coming over to where Soul fell.

“We knew,” Shadow said. He looked like he was going to say more, but he saw that the guards were starting to recover themselves. “Come on, guys! Let's get out of here!”

Soul stood up and followed Shadow down the alleyway until a flash of light filled his vision. “What is that?”

“The Mage!” Shadow growled

“RUN!” Cloud shouted. Half blind, Soul stumbled forward letting Shadow, who recovered his vision first, guide Soul towards the road. Soul then recovered his vision and, with the other youths, burst out of the alleyway and ran down the street. They then slowed down, pulled up their hoods, and slowly walked down the street in silence. When they were a safe distance away, the tall figure of Cloud Runner came beside Shadow Eye to look at Soul.

“Hey! Looky who we got here,” Cloud Runner said, eyes wide in surprise. “Soul Star!! What in Equestria are you doing here?”

Soul smiled back. “Getting in trouble, no thanks to you.”

“He said that he was coming here to tell us that the guards were coming to ambush us,” Shadow Eye said. Cloud Runner waved his hoof dismissively

“We figured that the guards were looking for some payback after what happened last year, so we took steps to make sure that we would get the last laugh,” Cloud Runner answered, almost absurdly pleased with himself.

Thinking back on the members of the Brigade stationed on top of those buildings, it all made sense to Soul. “I should’ve guessed you knew about this trap already, it figures that I’m always the slowest to get the news.”

“So where have you been? It’s been…. Years?”

“Two years,” Soul said, “I’ve been living in the North Quarter. Storm Light got us a room in a stay house.”

“I heard the rent stinks, just because you’re the walls of the city.”

“It does, but we manage.”

“How?”

“Mending odd things, like clothes, and Storm Light and Breeze Dancer also clear out the clouds around the noble homes for more money.”

“Doesn’t sound fun,” Shadow noted.

As Soul looked at his friend, he could see that while he hadn’t grown much in two years, Shadow seemed more confident and more daring since the last time he saw him. He also wore a new cloak, which was almost definitely filled with more pockets made for storing knives, lock-picks, and those sweets that he loved so much. Even if Shadow’s father’s motives for teaching us tricks and moves was not to make the next generation of the Cloaked Dagger gang, Shadow Eye was pretty much set on joining them.

“If that is the case, then why are you here?” Cloud asked,

Soul’s demeanour changed to one of sadness. “A lot of ponies in our stay house are being thrown out, order of the king. Says that it's not clean. The guards came and threw them out this morning. My family was lucky that the nobles stepped in, saying that my parents were useful to them for the services they do.”

Cloud Runner then muttered a foul curse and Shadow rubbed tears from his eyes. Soul was grateful for their sentiment, but it didn’t change the facts. The ponies that lived in that stay house were good ponies, many of them were his friends, and now with one word, everything that they had done was gone in an instant. They barely had enough time to get their things before they were thrown out.

“So where are they now?” Cloud asked.

“I was wandering around, looking for the old place I stayed in, see if there is any rooms there.”

“If there isn’t, send them to me,” Shadow said. “My dad and I can help them out.”

Soul nodded, “Will do.”

As they followed the crowd, it finally spilled into a plaza. This was the North Quarter, where the markets were held each week, whether they be small local ones or the larger kind, bearing food and treasures from other parts of Equestria. Soul, Shadow, and Cloud stopped at the centre of the Plaza, where a pool of water stood with the statue of one of the rulers of Djeeneigh. Djeeneigh was once a city state, proud of its heritage before becoming part of Equestria. While the royal pony sisters were the true rulers here now, Djeeneigh still kept hold of their monarchy, albeit one with less power.

The king that the statue represented was King Silver Sword, one of the more favourably looked monarchs in Djeeneigh history, but was routed by bandits when his body started to show the signs of his age and his many battles. There had once been another statue standing here of a different king, however the level of hatred and disgust that king had garnered from the citizens that were not nobility had led to brave ponies taking hooks and tearing down the statue. That king had been King Silver Axe. Over the years, many statues had been erected of this king, but only one has survived until today and even that one is said to have been defaced. The reason being is that it was King Silver Axe that started the yearly expulsions.

Soul’s foster father, Storm Light, had told him the story before. Djeeneigh had only recently become a part of Equestria and a lot had changed, not all of it for the better. When Djeeneigh applied for Equestrian membership, the city was looking it's very best, Soul wasn't born at the time but Storm Light had told him about beautiful the city was. Even the outer circle was shining and at the time it seemed that all of the ponies, Nobility and commoner, were united. Once Djeeneigh became part of Equestria, the whole city rejoiced, but that joy was not to last. 

Like all empires, Equestria kept records on how each region was doing, such as employment numbers, average income and other stuff like that. Needless to say, with the amount of slum dwellers there were, it didn't paint Djeeneigh in the best light. Fearful of their reputation, The King, whose title was now Magistrate of Djeeneigh and nobles, who were mostly Unicorns, ordered the guard to drive out all beggars, vagrants, and suspected criminals out of the city, most of which were Earth Ponies and Pegasi. Those of the expelled who could fought back against the guard. Facing the continuous street riots, Silver Axe turned to the Mage’s Guild for help. No matter how strong the weapons the rebels had were, no weapon could defend them from magic. The riots didn’t last long and after its success, the king ordered yearly expulsions, saying that the city would be purged. In the eyes of the inspectors, the plan worked, Djeeneigh started climbing the ladder to become of the best cities in Equestria. 

This expulsion seemed exceptionally important though. According to some ponies he had heard from, the princesses were coming to Djeeneigh. This had sent the nobles into a frenzy, telling the mages they had to be thorough with this expulsion in order for the city to look its best.

Looking at the nearby clock tower, Soul felt a pit form in his stomach.

“I have to go,” Soul said, but Shadow stopped him.

“You can’t go yet,” Shadow said, “I’ve been looking for you for two years!”

Soul shook his head. “I’ve been gone too long. I need to get home otherwise Storm and Breeze will scold me.”

“Still afraid of their scolding, are you?”

Soul gave Shadow a look that said, “Of course I’m still scared.” Shadow sighed and handed Soul a packet.

“This is the stuff we used against the guards. If you’re ever in trouble, throw this at the guards. It will blind them and give you your chance to run.”

“Not useful against mages,” Soul said, remembering what happened to them when the mage showed up with the guards.

“Got one once, when he wasn’t expecting me,” Shadow said, with more than a hint of pride, “Anyway, the mages make a barrier, so it’s not useful now.”

“So then you throw stones?” Soul asked, “Why bother?”

“Feels good to do it,” Shadow responded, “We can’t not do it. It would seem that we’ve given up trying to oppose the expulsions, and you know as well as I that it will never happen.”

Soul looked at the other youths, all brimming with anticipation with the plan. Storm Light had always forbidden him from doing this and even when he was running with the gang, he didn’t throw stones at the mages. He never saw the point. Just then, Cloud and the rest of the brigade started getting into position to start throwing stones.

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Shadow said. Soul shook his head in reply, causing Shadow to say, “Come on, you can watch from the side.”

“But…” Soul said, gesturing up to his hair.

“Oh right, the horn,” Shadow said, pulling his scarf off and wrapping it around Soul’s head. He then put his the cloak hood back on Souls head.

“There, now no pony can tell!” Shadow said, “Now come on, I am not losing you again.”

“Alright, fine,” Soul said, realizing that his friend was not going to let him leave until he saw this. The crowd had grown in the plaza, however as the gang made their way through the crowd, they were not met with retaliation, but encouragement. Some ponies handed Soul rocks and rotten fruit to use against the mages. A hum of excitement ran through the crowd, as the ponies that didn’t want to get involved, including Soul’s foster parents had already either exited through the north gate or were in their houses. The ponies who were left were simply a show of defiance, no matter how pointless it was.

As they moved forward and came to the edge of the crowd, Soul felt whatever confidence he had in this movement drain away because, not twenty paces away from where they were standing, stood a row of mages.

Instead of panicking, Soul took a deep breath and calmed down. He knew that the mages wouldn’t move until they were ready to drive the crowd out of the city, no reason to be afraid. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t help but feel a shiver go down his spine. He had never dared to be this close to a mage before and this was the only chance he ever had to look at them up close.

It was a combination of both Mares and Stallions and they all wore long robes. There were about 10 of them, either on their own or in pairs. What struck Soul most though was their ages, some of them looked very young while others looked ancient.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cloud pull back his front leg and throw a stone against the magicians. Despite the fact he knew what was going to happen, Soul held his breath.

The stone bounced off the shield the mages had and tumbled harmlessly to the ground. Some of the mages turned to see the missiles fly before they turned back to their conversations. Soul stared at the place where the magicians’ barrier hung. He could see nothing. Moving forward, he took out one of the lumps in his pockets, drew his front leg back and hurled it with all his strength. It disintegrated as it hit the invisible wall, and for a moment, a cloud of dust hung in the air, flat on one side.

He heard a low chuckle and turned to see an older mare smiling at him.

“Not a bad throw, little foal,” she said, giving Soul another stone to throw.

Soul smiled back at her and then turned back to the mages, taking a few steps closer. He could see the annoyance on their faces. It was clear that they hated being defied, but it was clear that something was stopping them from confronting the interlopers. One of them, a particularly well groomed red stallion turned to his companion, a slightly older looking mare.

“Pathetic vermin,” Soul heard him say, “When can we get rid of them already?”

That comment hit Soul right in the gut. He took the stone the mare had given him, a heavy one and then focused on the mages, letting all his hatred and anger for them combine to become a tangible force. He hurled the stone as hard as he could at the speaker. He traced the path that the stone was flying and as it reached the barrier, he willed it to pass through, using all of his inner strength to wish for it. As he did so, the scarf from around his head fell and his horn lit up with a yellow aura. There was a flash of yellow light and the rock slammed into the mages temple with a thud. The stallion stood unconscious for a second before his knees gave way and he fell only to be caught by his colleagues.

Soul stood there, frozen in place with his mouth wide open, shocked by what he had done. The jeers of the Wing Brigade stopped and then turned into cheers and the mages started exclaiming about what happened.

‘I did it,’ Soul thought, ‘I broke through their barrier, but that’s not possible unless…’

Then he look up and saw the scarf had fallen and his horn was showing.

‘I did magic’

A shiver rushed through Soul. He had never used magic before because no one was ever around to teach him. He remembered that he focus all of his hatred and anger, he had followed its path and willed it to break the barrier. Something in him started to stir, as if willing him to keep going and do it again.

Looking up, he saw several mages gathered around their fallen friend, with most of them turning out into the crowd to find who was responsible.

‘They’re looking for me,’ Soul thought, terrified by that prospect. Luckily they hadn’t seen him and were looking elsewhere.

‘They didn’t know it was me,’ Soul thought, relief flooding through him Then he saw that the others were backing up under the mages punishing glares, Soul decided to follow suit.

Then the older mare from earlier got up, unlike the other mages, her eyes looked directly with Soul’s, and with one look from her showing that she saw the white spec that was his horn under his dark hair. She pointed her hoof directly at him and the other mages then locked their eyes onto Soul’s. As they began to light up their horns, Soul felt a true surge of terror and quickly turned and bolted. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the other youths running as well. As he was running, he saw several flashes before him before his vision was engulfed in flames and the heat caught up with him and he fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

For some reason, Soul wasn’t in pain. He looked down to see to his relief that his body was still intact. When he looked up, ponies were still running away, despite the loud, amplified order.

A burning smell caught Soul’s attention and he turned around to see to his horror that there was a corpse of the one of the wing brigade, face down in the pavement just a few feet away. Soul felt his stomach twist to the point of nausea.

"STOP!!" A voice rang out, powerful and feminine. The voice was coming from above and as everypony who was still in the square looked up and froze at what they saw. Soul looked up to see a sky carriage, being led by ponies in golden armor.

The Royal Guard! Soul thought But that means... 

In a flash of movement, three mares flew out of the carriage, The Princesses. Unlike all other pony races, the princess were alicorns, immortals and sharing the best qualities of every pony race. Soul had never seen them this close, but he immediately understood why all ponies were in tremendous awe of them. Their expressions stern, they turned to see the dead colt and then turned their gaze to Soul. Soul quickly took a few paces backwards before whatever courage he had left evaporated and he sprinted away.

"STOP! WE WON'T HARM YOU!"

Soul did not listen and kept running. He caught up with the crowd running through the north gate, darting around ponies legs and trying to get as far away as possible. However, several hooves grabbed him and pulled him into an alley, all to see the eyes of Cloud Runner.
> The Debate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Though she had entered the Guildhall of Djeeneigh many a time in her eternal life, Princess Luna had rarely heard as much of an uproar as she did today.

She regarded the ocean of robed mares and stallions: mages were still pouring into the hall, the usual groups of friends and allies started to form around her, others roamed around uncertainly to different groups. Luna sighed, even when something as serious as what had transpired today had happened, these ponies could not stand united. 

Meets like this were usually dignified affairs, however until the administrator called them to order, the mages seemed to mill around in the centre. As Luna heard the conversations, the guildhall seemed to amplify the sound, especially when somepony raised their voices.

However, the effect was not magical, as non-magical ponies often assumed. It was the unintended side effect of the building being converted into a gathering hall. The building they were standing in was the first building that the mages had built when their order was formed thousands of years ago. It originally had rooms for both mages and their charges, as well as rooms for meetings and lessons. However as more apprentices were accepted, the order had created more buildings to accommodate them. They didn’t want to destroy their first home however, so to keep the building in use, they removed the internal walls and added seating. Ever since this change, every acceptance ceremony, guild meeting, hearing, and graduation ceremony had taken place inside this hall.

Two figures, wearing a white cloak and a purple cloak respectively, made their way through the crowd, with the mages giving the figure a weird berth out of respect. As the figures looked up to the head of the hall, Luna caught their expression and smiled, seeing that it was her sister and her fellow princess, Celestia and Twilight Sparkle. The royal pony sisters were in Djeeneigh on tour of their kingdom, overseeing the outskirts of the Equestrian Empire. Unfortunately, Princess Cadance could not be there to join because she and Shining Armor had business to attend with in the Crystal Empire. 

“Hello there, my dear sister,” Celestia said as she and Twilight took their seats at the head of the hall. “How did it go?”

“What did the administrator say?” Twilight asked, her inquisitive mind hungry for information.

“Nothing,” Luna said, “The administrator asked me to describe what happened. It appears that Bright Spark was the only one who saw him.”

“Lucky for him,” Celestia said, 

Suddenly, a bell rang out above the conversations of the mages and the guild administrator’s amplified voice echoed around the hall.

“Will all mages please take your seats.”

Behind the mages, the massive doors of the hall slammed closed, making sure no one would disturb the meeting. The mages were also excited by the company they were keeping today, for not only were the higher magicians and administrators in attendance, but the royal pony sisters were in the special booth that was constructed for them when Djeeneigh became apart of Equestria. It was placed on the same level as the highest seats in the hall, which were ranked in tiers of importance. At the centre of the highest row, there stood a large chair embellished with gold with the seal of Djeeneigh: a stylized bird of prey. What struck most people in the hall was that King Silver Axe was in attendance, along with his two advisers. 

“So, King Silver Axe is here. Interesting,” Celestia commented.

“Why is that?” Twilight asked.

“The Silver royal family have rarely ever seen meets of the guild as ‘important enough’ for their attendance,” Luna said, “But, if Silver Axe is here, that means that they consider this an extremely important matter.”

“I see,” Twilight said, “Still, all this for one foal?”

“Indeed, he has caused quite a fuss hasn’t he?” a voice said.

The trio turned to see their guide of the order, the mare Bright Spark, joining the princesses in booth. “I see that Obsidian Sword isn’t here, but his followers are.”

Celestia and Luna couldn’t help, but smile at Bright Spark. While they did not approve of hatred Bright Spark had for Obsidian, they couldn’t deny the mare’s feelings. Obsidian Sword’s officious attitude did not endear itself well to many. In a way, it almost reminded her of the attitude her nephew had.

“According to the healers report,” Luna said “the blow to the head had caused not only significant injury, but also confusion and agitation. So, they felt it was required that he be sedated.”

“He’s asleep!” Bright said, choking back laughter. “When he finds out he’s missed the meeting, he is going to be furious.”

“As you can imagine, the administrator was most disappointed that Obsidian could not give his version of events.”

Bright Spark choked back more laughter. Looking across the hall, the princesses could see that there was only one pony standing now. The newly appointed administrator of the order, Lord Soulful Tale. 

Soulful’s expression was more grave than usual. After giving it some thought, Luna realised that this was the first crisis that Soulful Tale would have to deal with since taking up the mantle of administrator. Other mages had commented that he was good with everyday situations, but there were more than a few mages in the crowd who were wondering how the new administrator would handle this crisis.

“This meet has been called today so that we may discuss the events that happened in the North Quarter this morning,” Soulful began. “The killing of an innocent and the existence of a unicorn that is beyond our control. These issues are of the most serious nature. To begin, we will discuss the most serious of the two matters. I call upon Bright Spark who was witness to these events to speak.”

Bright Spark paused to consider her words before standing. Though she had been here many times before, she had never been called upon to speak. Her sister had told just beforehand that if she was called upon as a witness, be precise and avoid elaboration unless asked to.

“I arrived in the North Quarter this morning and found the other mages already in place,” Bright Spark started, “ I took my position behind them. Some of the youths that we came across starting throwing stones, but they bounced off the shield so the other mages ignored them.” Looking around the hall, she could see all eyes upon her, including King Silver Axe who was listening intently. 

“Next, there was a flash of yellow light in the corner of my eye and I felt a disturbance in the shield. Before I had time to react, it struck Obsidian Sword in the temple, upon which he stumbled and fell unconscious. I managed to catch him with my magic and made sure he was safely lowered to the ground. Then, while the others went to assist Obsidian, I searched for the stone’s thrower.

“I saw that, while most of the youths were either confused or surprised, one particular young colt was staring in utter amazement, looking rather fidgety. I lost sight of him when the others arrived but when they could not find him, they asked me to point him out”

Bright Spark shook her head, not wanting to remember this next part. “Unfortunately, when I did point him out, they believed I was pointing to the colt that was standing next to him and…. and they retaliated.”

Soulful Tale raised his hoof and gestured for Bright Spark to stop. He looked along a row of magicians before his eyes set upon Lord Magic Shield, the head of warriors.

“Lord Magic Shield, what have you ascertained from questioning those involved?”

The red robed unicorn stood up. “All nineteen unicorns involved believed that it was one of the older colts in the crowd was the attacker. They thought it unlikely that a foal could wield that power. Each of them wished only to stun the colt, not harm him. Judging by the power of the blasts as described by witnesses, I believe that this is true. In conclusion, I believe that the stun strikes all joined to become a unfocused fire blast. This is what killed the colt.”

The memory of the smouldering colt flashed across Bright’s mind. Sickened, she looked down on the floor. Even had the strikes not combined, the battering from the nineteen stunstrikes would have shocked the colts body excessively. She could not help but feel responsible. If only she had reacted quicker, before the others had reacted…

Bright felt a hoof on her shoulder and looked up to see Celestia, softly smiling. It was almost as if Celestia was silently saying that it wasn’t her fault; that no matter what, she was going to be there for her. 

Even though Djeeneigh was a part of Equestria, the discussions of their joining the empire allowed the royal family to keep control of policies which affected Djeeneigh. At first, Celestia and Luna thought this was fair, the other parts of Equestria were allowed to govern themselves so it only seemed fair. This had been until they found out what the expulsions were. In most of Equestria Earth Ponies, Pegasi and Unicorns lived together in harmony but in Djeeneigh, the amount of hatred and racism from Unicorns towards Earth Ponies and Pegasi reminded them of a more one sided version of the Hearth's Warming Eve story. The amount of classism and tribalism shown by Djeeneigh was sickening to them. 

So here they were, after many reports of this, hoping against hope that these were wrong. But after seeing the actions of this day, here they sat, furious at both Djeeneigh and themselves for letting this happen.   

“This raises some difficult questions,” Soulful said. “The general public are unlikely to believe us if we said we simply made a mistake. An apology is not going to be enough. An attempt of reparation must be made. I say that we should compensate the family.”

Several of the higher mages nodded, and the three princesses could see a general nodding of approval throughout the crowd.

“If they can be found,” one of the higher mages noted.

“Even so,” Soulful said, “I fear that compensation is not going to be enough to repair the damage that our reputation has taken.” Soulful’s face set into a frown. “How can we regain to trust and respect of the populace?”

A murmur started to spread throughout the gathered ponies, until a voice called out: “Compensation is enough.”

“Give it time - Ponies will forget.” said another.

“We’ve done all we can.”

And at the edge of the princesses earshot, “-just a slum colt, who cares?”

Celestia looked to her side and saw Bright Spark, clearly repressing much anger. She placed a hoof on Bright Spark, who looked up at her ruler and started breathing deeper and calming herself down, but Celestia could not blame Bright Spark for her anger. The order existed by law to protect others - and that law made no distinction between nobility and the gentry. 

“There is little in what we can do,” Lord Magic Shield said. “The Nobility will accept the colt’s death as an accident, the rest of the population will not. I seriously doubt that anything we do at this point will appease them.”

Soulful Tale looked towards the other high mages, who all nodded in agreement.

“Very well,” he said. “We will review this matter at the next meet, when enough time has passed in order for us to properly gauge the depth of this tragedy and its effect on the populace.” He took a deep breath, in a way wiping his mind of the matter so he could focus on the new task. “Now on the second matter: the rogue unicorn. Is there any amongst us today, other than Bright Spark, that saw this unicorn, or witness him throw the stone?”

Silence followed. From her viewpoint on the balcony, Twilight could see Soulful frowning. It was her first time seeing a guild meeting in Djeeneigh so she took the opportunity to learn as much as she could. Celestia had told her beforehoof that the discussion was often dominated by the three heads of the disciplines: Lady Spring Leaf, Lord Magic Shield and Lord Platinum Hex. Lady Spring Leaf, head of the healers, was a practical and stern mare, but could be surprising compassionate and always had a soft spot for foals. The robust Lord Magic Shield was an observant stallion, who was careful in hearing out all sides to an issue, but once his mind was made up he never changed it. Lord Platinum Hex, the head of alchemy, was the oldest of the heads. With this age came experience in dealing with issues, he could be harsh in his decisions, however he always recognised other ponies claims as valid.

Even though these ponies seemed reasonable, the fact that they were almost casually talking about the death of the colt was so sickening, she wanted to leave the room. The course of action was clear, they had to be some way to change that and if this foal could be the catalyst of that, then she would do all she can to help him. 

It was these higher mages that Soulful Tale was now addressing. “We must begin by examining the facts that were confirmed by the witnesses. Let there be no doubt in any pony's mind that, as impossible as it sounds, a mere stone broke through the barrier. Lord Magic Shield, how did this happen?”

The warrior pony shrugged. “The shield used to repel the stones was a weak one. Strong enough to stop missiles, but not magic. What is clear however is that from the yellow light and from the disturbance felt by those holding up the barrier that magic was used. That being said, magic like that must be made for that specific purpose. I believe that the attacker used a strike - a simple one - to break through the barrier.”

“To conceal the strike, perhaps?” Lord Platinum Hex suggested. “If the mages had seen the strike coming, there would have been time to strengthen the shield.”

“That is a possibility,” Magic Shield said, “However, I believe that the strike was only meant to pass through the shield. If the attacker’s intent had been malicious, Obsidian Sword would have suffered more than just a bruised temple.”

“Perhaps it was just a demonstration - a showing of defiance maybe,” Magic Shield replied.

Platinum Hex frowned at the notion while Bright Spark shook her head. Catching the movement, Magic Shield looked up and smiled. “Do you disagree, Bright Spark?”

“He did not expect to do anything at all,” Bright Spark said. “By his expression and actions, it was clear that he was just as surprised as anypony else. I choose to believe that he’s untrained.”

“Impossible,” Platinum Hex said, shaking his head. “Somepony had to have shown him how to do it or to release his powers.”

“And trained him to control them, we hope,” Spring Leaf said. “Otherwise, we have a serious problem of a different kind.”

Almost immediately, the hall descended into crowded whispers of speculation. Soulful lifted his hoof and the crowd hushed.

“When Bright Spark told about what transpired, I called upon Lord Scroll Scribe to see if, in his studies of the order’s history, there any records of mages whose powers had developed without assistance.” Soulful Tale sighed, a grave expression passed his face. “It seems that the original assumption that a mage can only be taught to be or released by another mage was wrong."

All eyes turned to Scroll Scribe, who was an aged unicorn, as he stood up and bowed to the high magicians and the royals assembled. 

“Until 500 years ago,” the old stallion began, “A mare or stallion seeking to learn magic would approach an individual mage for apprenticeship. They were tested and chosen based on the strength of their magic and how they could pay. Because of this tradition, some apprentices were already into their adults years before they began their training, as it could take long years of work, or a generous inheritance, before they were able to pay for training.

“Sometimes, however, a young mare or stallion would appear whose powers were already ‘loosed’, as they termed it in those days. Those ponies were never turned away for two basic reasons: firstly, their powers were always incredibly strong and secondly, they had to be taught control.” The old stallion took a deep breath before speaking again. “We already know what happens to novices who are unable to master control. If this foal can unlock his power without help, we should expect him to be more powerful than an average child, possibly more powerful than the average unicorn. If he is not found and taught control, he will be a considerable threat to the city.”

A short silence followed, followed by whispers of considerable alarm.

“If his powers indeed surfaced on their own,” Magic Shield added.

The old stallion nodded. “There is a chance, of course, that he has been trained by somepony.” 

“Then we must find him - and those who taught him.” a voice declared,

The hall filled with discussion before Soulful Tale silenced them all. “If he is a rogue, then we are duty bound and law bound to bring him and his teachers before the king. If his powers are natural, we must teach him control. Either way, he must be found.”

“How?” a voice called.

“A systematic search of the slums, following every street, opening every door and leaving no place unlooked.” He looked up at King Silver Axe. “Your Majesty, we will need assistance.”

Soulful Tale frowned before follow the gaze of the warrior to the king “The guild formally requests the assistance of the city guard.”

The king glanced at both of his advisors, who both nodded.

“Request granted,” King Silver Axe said.

“We should begin as soon as possible,” Magic Shield said, “Tonight, if at all possible.”

“If we want the guard’s assistance, then it will take more time to organise. I suggest that we start tomorrow morning,” said Soulful Tale.

“What of classes?” a voice called.

Soulful Tale looked to the high mage on his left. “I think an extra day of private study will not affect the novice's progress?”

“One day will not make a difference,” said the sour faced director of the school, a pony named Guiding Principle, “But will we be able to find this foal in a day?”

Soulful mulled that thought over for a moment before speaking again. “If we cannot find him, then we shall hold another meet tomorrow evening to discuss who will continue the search.”

“If I might make a suggestion, Lord Soulful Tale.”

All heads turned to see Bright Spark standing up to speak.

“Lady Bright Spark, you may speak.”

“The slum ponies are sure to hamper our search efforts, not to mention that the foal will not come to us willingly, he saw what happened in the North Quarter and will avoid us at all costs. I suggest that the search party goes in disguise in order to increase our chances of finding this foal.”

Soulful leaned forward, as if intrigued but also confused by Bright Spark’s idea.

“An interesting idea, Lady Bright Spark. What disguises would you suggest?”

“The less conspicuous we are, the more likely we will not be discovered as mages. I’d suggest some of us dress as they do. They may be able to tell us that we are mages when we speak, but-”

“Absolutely not!” growled Magic Shield. “How would it be if one of us was discovered dressed as a grovelling beggar? We would be ridiculed throughout Equestria.”
 
 Several voices rose in agreement and Soulful Tale nodded slowly.

“I agree. We, as mages, have authority to enter any house in the city. Our search will be hampered if we do not wear robes.”

“How will we know what we are looking for?” asked Spring Leaf.

Soulful looked at Bright Spark “Lady Bright Spark, can you remember what he looked like?”

Bright Spark nodded. She closed her eyes and called up the memory of the small, scared and skinny foal with the thin face. She then lit up her horn and in the air before her a glow appeared and quickly sharpened to form a slightly transparent face. As her memory filled in the rest, the rough cloak appeared and the scarf that fell from his head appeared at the bottom. The illusion completed, Luna looked to the higher mages.

“That’s who attacked us?” Magic Shield said, shocked by the image. “Look at him! He looks like he just came out of the cradle.”

“Big things can come in small packages,” Platinum Hex replied.

“What if this is not the attacker?” Guiding Principle asked. “What if Bright Spark is wrong?”

Soulful Tale looked at Luna. “For now, we shall assume that Bright Spark is correct. We will know soon enough if the city gossips agree, and witnesses may be found in the public. Thank you, we no longer need the illusion”

Bright Spark dropped the spell and the illusion disappeared.

“What are we going to do once we find the foal?” Spring Leaf asked.

“If he is a rogue, we will apply the law,” Soulful replied. “If he is not, then we shall teach him control.”

“Of course, but afterwards? What then?”

“I believe the question Lady Spring Leaf is asking is: Should we make him one of us?” Magic Shield said.

At once the hall was filled with voices.

“He attacked one of our own! He should be punished, not rewarded!”

The princesses could see Bright Spark shaking her head as the protests continued. While there was no law forbidding the testing of children from lower classes, the order generally only sought after the children from the houses only. 

“The order hasn’t accepted an novice from the lower classes in centuries,” Magic Shield muttered.

“But if Scroll Scribe is correct, he would be a very powerful unicorn,” Spring Leaf said.

“If I may speak,” said a loud voice that got everyone’s attention and every head turned to see Princess Celestia .

“You may, Princess Celestia,” Soulful Tale said.

“Hail Celestia, Princess of the Day,” the hall said in unison.

“Spring Leaf brings up an excellent point,” Celestia said “That this foal is already exceptionally powerful, being able to unleash his powers on his own and use them to break through your shield. It may not have been strong, but he did accomplish it. In my own school, I have seen foals who need months of training to break through simple shields like yours and this foal has done it in one attempt without knowing he could do magic. So I say this: Since you are all dead set to ignore this foal then the moment he learns control, we shall welcome him to Canterlot, to the Imperial Academy. We will organise his further studies and life. Only if he declares his wanting to stay in Djeeneigh shall he remain here. That is my decree.”

Both Luna and Twilight stood up and nodded their heads in agreement with Celestia, while the room started uproaring again. Most claimed that the foal was unworthy of Djeeneigh, let alone Canterlot.

“SILENCE!” King Silver Axe roared and the whole hall crashed into silence. Silver Axe took a deep breath before speaking again. “I see no flaw with the Princess’s reasoning. Once you find this foal and teach him control, the possibilities for apprenticeship of both Djeeneigh and Canterlot will open to him. Before we all turn our backs on this foal, we should give him the chance to prove himself.”

“I agree with His Highness,” Spring Leaf said. “If there is even a small possibility that he will conform to our rules and grow into a respectable stallion, then we should offer him the chance.”

“The further his powers grow, the harder it will be to bind them,” Platinum Hex noted.

“I know, but it's not impossible. Consider how we will be regarded if we take him in. A little generosity and kindness will go a lot further toward redressing the damage we did to our reputation this morning than blocking his powers and sending him back to the slums.”

Magic Shield raised an eyebrow. “True, and it may save us the trouble of a search if we make it known that he will be welcome among us. Once he learns that could become a mage, along with the power and wealth that it entails, it could entice him to come to us.”

“And the loss of that wealth may be all the deterrent he would need to consider returning to any distasteful ways he once had,” Platinum Hex said.

Spring Leaf looked over to Bright Spark. “What do you think, Your Highness?”

Bright Spark looked directly at Spring Leaf. “I was wondering if he would believe anything we said after what he witnessed today.”

Magic Shield’s expression darkened. “Hmmm, I doubt it. We will probably have to capture him and then explain our good intentions.”

“Which means there is little point in us waiting to see if he will come to us,” Soulful Tale said. “The search begins tomorrow as planned.” He looked to the row before him. There was a row reserved for the leader of the guild: High Lord Visionary Mind. The Black robed unicorn had not spoken throughout the whole meet, but that was not unusual. Though Visionary Mind had been known to change the course of a debate with a few words, he generally remained silent. 

“High Lord, have you any reason to suspect that there are rogue mages in the slums?”

“No, there are no rogues in the slums,” Visionary Mind said.

Nodding, Soulful turned to face the hall and used magic to make the bell ring. 

“The decision whether or not to teach this foal shall be deferred until he is found and his temperament is assessed. For now, we will focus on the task of finding him. The search will begin on the fourth hour tomorrow. Those of you who feel that you have a valid reason to remain with the school, please prepare your request and present it to my assistant tonight. I now declare this meet ended.”

The hall filled with the rustling of robes and the clattering of booted feet. The princesses then made their way down the corridor from their balcony, then another mare walked to Bright Spark and whispered something in her ear before bowing to the princesses and running off.

“She said that Lord Tech Spell wanted the foal punished for attacking his dear friend, Obsidian Sword. I swear that foal couldn’t have hit a nicer mage.”

“Now Bright Spark-” Celestia began

“-and now they got us sorting through the rubbish in the slums,” a voice said across from them.

“I don’t what’s the bigger tragedy: the fact that they hit the colt or that they missed the foal.”

Appalled by this, Celestia turned to see where the speaker down the hall was: an older alchemist who was too busy staring at the floor to notice. Celestia shook her head.

“I was going to lecture you about being uncharitable Bright Spark, but there is little point, is there?”

“No,” Bright Spark agreed, before letting the High Lord Visionary Mind and Administrator Soulful Tale pass. 

“What if we do not find him?” Soulful asked

The High lord frowned. “Oh you will find him, one way or another - However, I do get the sense that most of the mages here are still appalled that they have to find this foal. I believe that by tomorrow most will favour the more spectacular and less fragrant alternative.”

Luna sighed whereas Twilight shook her head sadly.

“It seems that we are the only ones who care about what happens to this foal, sister,” Luna said to Celestia.

Bright Spark put a hoof on Luna’s shoulder.

“You are not, Your Highness, but try lecturing the mages down there, who have no idea what life is like down in the slums.”
> Wanted Soul
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“He’s a rat.”

The voice was male, young, and unfamiliar. Where am I? Soul thought. Lying on something soft, for a start. A bed? I don’t remember getting into bed-

“Not a chance.”

The voice was Cloud Runner’s. Soul realized that Cloud Runner was defending him, and then the significance of what the stranger had said came crashing down on him. In street slang, rat meant spy. If Cloud Runner had agreed with this stranger about that, then Soul would be in serious trouble…. but a spy for whom?

“What else could he be?” retorted the first voice. “He’s got magic. Mages have to be trained for years. Who does that stuff around here?”

Magic? Memories came back in a rush, the plaza, the mages...

“Magic or no magic, I have known him for as long as I’ve known Shadow Eye,” Cloud told the other colt. “He has always fought on our side.”

Soul was barely paying attention to what they were saying. In his mind, he saw himself throwing the stone, saw a yellow glow surround it, pass through the barrier and strike the mage.

I did that, he thought, But that’s not possible…

“But, you said he’s been gone for the last few years. Who knows who he’s been hanging with since he last ran with us.”

Then Soul remembered how he felt when he threw the stone, how it felt like he was drawing upon something inside him, something that he knew he shouldn’t have.

“He’s been with his family, Slate,” Cloud replied. “I believe him. Shadow does to and that is good enough for me.”

...and the order knows that it was me! The dark blue mare had seen him and pointed him out to the others. The memory of the smoking colt’s corpse flashed through his mind and he shuddered.
“I warned you,” Slate said, though his voice had a hint of defeat. “If he rats you out, don’t forget who warn-”

“I think he’s waking up,” murmured another voice, one belonging to Shadow Eye. 

“Out Slate,” Cloud said.

Soul heard hooves moving away, then a door closing.

“You can stop pretending you’re asleep now, Soul,” Shadow murmured.

A hoof touched his face and Soul blinked his eyes open. Shadow was leaning over him , grinning.

Soul rolled over and pushed himself onto his hind legs. He was in an unfamiliar room, lying on what looked like a very old bed. As Soul made his way to the floor, Shadow gave him an assessing look.

“You look better,” he said.

“I feel fine,” Soul agreed. “What happened? Where am I? What time is it?” He asked looking between Cloud and Shadow.

Shadow laughed. “He’s fine, alright”

“You don’t remember?” asked Cloud, crouching down so he and Soul could see eye to eye.

Soul shook his head. “I remember walking through the slums, but not how I got here.”

“Cloud carried you here,” said a mare’s voice. “He said that you fell asleep while you were walking.”

Soul turned to face a young mare sitting in a chair behind him. The mare’s face seemed familiar.

“Terra Sapphire?”

The light blue mare smiled “That’s right. It’s good to see you again Soul. You are in my father’s pub. He let us put you here. You slept right through the night.”

Soul looked around the cramped room and smiled. When he used to run with the gang, Cloud and his friends used to bribe Terra into stealing mugs of cider for them. The brew was strong and it made them feel giddy.

Terra’s father’s pub was close to the outer wall, among the better built houses of the slums called Northside. The inhabitants of this area were thriving in defiance to the inner-district attitude that the slums were not part of city.

Soul guessed that he was in one of the rooms the pub let out to guests. It was a small space taken up by the bed, the tattered chair that Terra sat in, and a small table. Old, discoloured paper screens covered the windows. Judging from the faint light shining through them, Soul guessed that it was early morning.

Cloud turned to Terra and beckoned. As the mare pushed herself out of the chair, they shared a quick nuzzle as she smiled at him affectionately.

“Could you please get us something to eat?” Cloud asked.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Terra said, walking out of the room.

Soul sent Shadow a questioning look to all he received was a smug grin. Cloud looked at Soul and frowned. “Are you sure you are alright? You were out of it last night.”

Soul shrugged. “I feel good, actually. Like I slept well”

“You have. Almost a whole day.” He shrugged before giving Soul an appraising look. “What happened Soul? It was you who threw that stone, right?”

Soul swallowed, his mouth becoming painfully dry. Briefly, he wondered if he could get away with denying it.

He felt a hoof on his shoulder and turned to see Shadow. “Don’t worry Soul, we won’t tell on you.”

Soul nodded. “It was me, but.. I don’t know how I did that.”

“Did you use magic?” Shadow asked eagerly.

“I don’t know. I wanted to stone to go through and… it did.”

“You broke the mage’s barrier?!” Cloud said “That would have to take magic, wouldn’t it? Stones don’t normally do that.”

“And there was that flash of light,” Shadow interjected.

“Cloud nodded “Not to mention you really riled up those mages.”

Shadow leaned forward to point at Soul’s horn. “You think you can do it again?”

Soul stared at him. “Again?”

“Not the same thing obviously. We can’t just keep rolling you out to throw stones at mages. They don’t seem to like it all that much. Something different, if it works then we know you can use magic.”

Soul shuddered. “I don’t think I want to know.”

“Why not? Think of all the good you could do!” Shadow said.

“No one would give you any lip, thats for sure,” Cloud told him.

Soul shook his head. “You’re wrong, they’d have more reasons to hate me.” He scowled. “Everypony hates unicorns. They only tolerate me because I can’t use magic, but now that I can, they’d hate me too.”

“Everypony hates the Noble unicorns,” Shadow told him. “They pull us from our homes, only ever caring about themselves. Everypony knows you’re a dwell, just like us.”

A dwell. After two years in the city, Soul’s pegasi family had stopped referring to themselves as it, but that was the term that the slum dwellers gave themselves. They had worked hard and were finally free from the slums.



Soul shook his head “What good things? Mages never do anything good. Why would they trust me to do differently?”

“What about healing?” Shadow said. “Sun Beam has a bad leg, maybe you could fix it for her?”

Soul’s breath caught in his throat. He remembered the amount of pain that Sun Beam had suffered and understood Shadow’s enthusiasm. It would be wonderful if he could fix Sun Beam’s leg. If he can help her, why not others?

Then he remembered how Sun Beam had told him the story about the “curies” that healed her and shook his head. “Ponies don’t trust the curies. Why would they trust me?”

“That’s because ponies think the curies make them sick as much as they make them well.” Shadow explained, “Ponies are worried that they are gonna get sicker.”

“They’re scared of magic even more. They’d think that I have been sent by the mages to get rid of them.”

Shadow laughed “Now that’s just silly. Nopony’ll think that.”

“What about Slate?”

“Slate is an idiot. Not everypony thinks like him.”

Soul snorted, unconvinced. “Even so, I don’t know anything about my magic. If everypony thinks I can heal them, I’ll have ponies chasing me around even if I won’t be able to help them.”

Shadow frowned. “That’s true.” He looked up at Cloud “He’s right. It could get really bad. Even if Soul wanted to try and use magic again, we would probably have to keep it secret for a little while.”

Cloud mulled it over and nodded. “If anyone asks if you did magic, Soul, we’ll tell them you didn’t do anything - that the mages must have lost their focus and the stone managed to get through.”

Soul looked up. “What if that is what really happened. Maybe I didn’t do anything at all.”

“If you can’t use magic again, then you’ll know for sure,” Shadow said, “If you can, they we will make sure that nopony figures out. In a few weeks, everypony will just think that the mages just made a mistake. Give it a month or two and they’ll forget all about you.”

A knocking on the door made all three of them jump. Rising, Cloud opened the door and let Terra in. The mare carried in a tray laden with mugs and a large loaf of bread.

“Here,” she said, placing the tray on the table. “A mug of juice each for the return of an old friend. Also Cloud, father wants to talk to you.”

“Better go see what he wants.” Cloud picked up his mug and drained it. “I’ll see you around Soul,” he said, before following a giggling Terra out of the room.

“How long has that been going on?” Soul asked.

“Those two?” Shadow said, his mouth full of bread. “Almost a year. Cloud plans to marry Terra and inherit the pub.”

Soul laughed. “Does her father know?”

Shadow smiled. “He hasn’t chased Cloud off yet.”

Soul picked up a piece of the dark bread. Made from darker grains and dusted with spices, he bit into it and his stomach made him painfully aware that he had neglected it for an entire day so he ate ravenously. The juice was sweet and welcome after the salty bread. When they had finished, Soul sighed.

“With Cloud running the pub, what will you do Shadow?”

He shrugged. “This and that I guess. Work for Cloud in the pub, teach his foals how to pick locks. At least we’ll be warm this winter. What about you, got any plans?”

“I don’t know. Storm and Breeze said that… OH!” Soul leapt to his feet. “I didn’t meet with them! They don’t know where I am! Oh I am in so much trouble!”

Shadow waved his hoof dismissively. “Don’t worry. We’ll find them tonight and once we explain what happened, they’ll be happy you’re alive.”

Soul reached into his cloak, finding the money pouch hanging full and heavy on his waist.

“Nice bit of savings you have there,” Shadow said.

“Storm told me that I can keep some of the money I earn from the mending jobs. Most of the money goes to the rent obviously, but he said I earned this much to use for what I want.” Soul narrowed his eyes on Shadow. “I know how many bits are in there.”

Shadow laughed. “So do I and don’t worry. It’s all there. Come on, I’ll help you find them.”

Shadow ushered Soul out of the door and into a short corridor. Soul followed him down a narrow flight of stairs into a familiar drinking room. As always, the room was thick with the smell of cider fumes and the constant sound of laughter and chatting mixed with amiable swearing . A large Earth Pony slouched on the bench where the drinks were being served.

“Morning Sea Fruit.”

Sea Fruit narrowed his eyes at Soul short sightedly and grinned.

“Hey there! If it isn’t little Soul.” Sea walked over to where Shadow and Soul were standing. “Not so little anymore. I remember when you used to swipe cider from me. A swift little thief, you were.”

Soul grinned and cast a glance at Shadow. “And it was all my idea, too. Wasn’t it, Shadow?”

Shadow cocked his head to the side and blinked innocently. “I have no idea what you’re talking about Soul.”

Sea chuckled. “Well, that’s what comes with hanging around the Cloaked Dagger. How are your parents, then?”



“That’s them.”

Soul quickly explained the events of what happened at the stay house, how the nobles stepped in saved them from eviction. Sea nodded sympathetically with the evicted ponies misfortune. Soul had to admit that while the nobles only ever looked out for themselves, if they had one saving grace, it was not throw his family out into the streets.

“They’re probably wondering where I got to,” Soul said. “So I’ll just be-”

Suddenly the door slammed open. The room quietened and all eyes turned to the entrance. Cloud was there, chest heaving like he had just run a marathon and his brow drenched in sweat.

“Oi! Watch the door!” Sea yelled.

Cloud looked up and saw Soul and Shadow. Hurrying across the room, he caught Soul’s front leg and pulled him through a door into the pub’s kitchen with Shadow close behind.

“What is it?” Shadow whispered.

“The mages are searching the slums!” Cloud panted.

Soul stared at him with horror.

“They’re here?” Shadow exclaimed “Why?”

Cloud gave Soul a meaningful glance.

“They’re looking for me,” Soul breathed.

Cloud nodded grimly before turning to Shadow. “Where should we go?”

“How close are they?”

“Close. They started from the outer wall, working outward.”

Shadow whistled “That’s close.”

Soul placed a hoof on his chest. His heart was beating so fast it felt like it was about to rip out of his chest. He felt sick.

“We’ve only got a few minutes.” Cloud told them. “The mages are searching every building. They will get here soon.”

“Then we’ll have to put him somewhere they have already been.”

Soul leaned against the wall, his knees losing strength as the memory of the blackened colt corpse rose before his eyes.

“They gonna kill me!” Soul gasped.

Shadow looked at him. “No, Soul!” he told him firmly
    
“They killed that colt…” he shuddered

Shadow gripped his front legs “Soul, we’re not gonna let that happen!”

Shadow’s gaze was direct and his expression was uncharacteristically stern. Soul stared back, looking for doubt but finding none.

“Do you trust me?” Shadow asked.

Soul nodded to which Shadow gave a quick smile.

“Come on then.”

Shadow pulled him from the wall and pushed him through the kitchen, Cloud following close behind. Passing through another door, they stepped out into a muddy alley. Soul shivered as the chilly air quickly seeped into his clothes.

Stopping at the end of the alley, Shadow told them to stay back while he check if the coast is clear. He paused only for just a second before coming back and shaking his head. With a wave, he sent them hurrying down the alley again.

Stopping at a section of wall, Shadow opened a grille set into it. Cloud gave his friend a doubtful look, before he flattened himself to the ground and slithered through with ease. Pegasi were more aerodynamic than the other pony races to help them fly fast and straight, so he easily fit through. Soul followed and found himself in a darkened passageway. As Cloud helped him to his hooves and pulled him to one side, Shadow slipped through the opening. The grille closed silently, suggesting that it had been recently oiled.

“Are you sure about this?” Cloud asked.

“The Cloaked Dagger will be too busy trying to stop the mages from finding their stuff to worry about us.” Shadow told them. “Besides, we will not be here long. Keep a hold of my cloak, Soul.”

He obeyed, taking a hold of Shadow’s cloak with his teeth. Cloud took a hold of Soul’s cloak. As they started down the passage Soul started into the darkness and felt his heart begin to race.

From Cloud’s question, he knew that they had entered The Cloaked Dagger Highway.

Using the underground network of tunnels without prior approval was strictly forbidden and Soul had heard many a disturbing tale about the punishments that the Cloaked Dagger dealt to those who trespassed.

For as long as Soul remembered, people had always jokingly called Shadow Eye. ‘A friend of the Dagger.’ There had always been hints of fear and respect from their teasing. His father was a prominent member of the Cloaked Dagger so it was possible that Shadow had gained the same rights and privileges. Soul didn’t have proof of that, but he did suspect that Shadow had encouraged speculation on the subject, thus allowing him to keep his position of importance in the Wing Brigade. For all he knew, Shadow had no connections and all Soul was doing was approaching his death quicker.

Better to chance a meeting with the Cloaked Dagger above ground than face certain death below. The only solace Soul could take was that at least the mages were providing distraction for him.

The way darkened even further until Soul could see nothing but varying shades of blackness, then it gradually lit up again as they approached another grille. Shadow turned into another passage then changed into the total darkness of a side passage. They continued for several turned until Shadow stopped.

“They should have been here already,” Shadow murmured to Cloud. “We’ll stay long enough to buy something, then move on. You should get the others and make sure no one has talked about Soul. Ponies might think they can get something out of us by threatening to tell the mages we’re here.”

“I’ll round up everypony else,” Cloud assured him, “Find out if they talked and tell them to keep their mouths shut.”

“Good,” Shadow replied, “Now, we’re here to buy some powder, that’s all.”

Faint noises could be heard in the dark, then a door opened and they stepped out into the daylight. They ended up in a garden and ahead of them, a mare who was watering some flowers caught sight of them, her face turning into a scowl.

“Oi! Who’re you?”

Soul turned to Shadow who stood up and smiled at the mare.

“Come to pay you a visit, Shine,” he said

The mare peered down at him. Her scowl vanished and was replaced with a smile. “Shadow! Always good to see you. These are your friends? Welcome! Welcome! Come in my house and have some juice.”

“How’s trade?” Shadow asked as they stepped out of the garden and followed Shine through the door into a tiny room. A narrow bed filled half of the room and a table and stove dominated the rest.

Her brow creased. “Busy day. Had some visitors about an hour ago. Very noisy they were.”

“Robed visitors?” Shadow asked.

Shine nodded. “Scared me witless, they did. Looked everywhere, but didn’t see anything, if you know what I mean. The guards did, though. I’m sure they’ll be back, but when they do there’ll be nothing to find.” She chuckled. “Too late then.” She paused as she set water boiling on a stove. “What you here for, then?”

“The usual.”

A wicked gleam appeared in Shine’s eyes “Planning a few late nights, then? How much you offering?”

He smiled. “You owe me a favour, if I remember.”

Shine’s eyes narrowed. “Stay here.”

She disappeared out the door. With a sigh, Shadow dropped down onto the bed. “Relax Soul,” he told him. “They’ve been here. They won’t look again.”

Soul nodded. His heart was still racing and his stomach was uneasy. Taking a deep breathe, he allowed himself to lean against a wall. As the water boiled, Shadow helped himself to a jar of bright powder and heaped spoonfuls into the cups Shine had left out. A reassuring smell began to waft through the room.

“Guess we know now one thing for sure, Soul.” Cloud said as he took the cup that Shadow handed him.

“What?” Soul asked.

“Whatever you did must have been magic. They wouldn’t be searching if they didn’t think it was, would they?”    





With an impatient gesture, Bright Spark banished the moisture from her robes. Puffs of steam billowed from the cloth, causing the guards to shy away. Then, as an icy gust of wind swept away the mist, the four men returned to their places.

They walked in formation - two beside her and two behind. A ridiculous precaution. The dwells weren’t stupid enough to attack them. Besides, if they did, Bright Spark knew it would be the guards who would look to her for protection.

Catching a pensive glance from one of the men, Bright felt a twinge of guilt. At the beginning of the day, they had been nervous and deferential. Knowing that she would have to put up with this for the rest of the day, Bright had made an effort to come across friendly and approachable.

To them this was like a holiday - infinitely more entertaining than standing at one of the gates for hours on end or patrolling the streets. Despite their eagerness to break into smuggler’s stores and warehouses, they hadn’t been much help in the search. She didn’t need anypony to force locked doors or open shipping boxes, and the dwells had been helpful, even if reluctantly.

Bright sighed. She’d seen enough to know that many of these people were well accustomed to hiding what they didn’t want found. She had also seen many smothered smiles on the faces that watched them. What chance did a mere hundred mages have of finding one ordinary-looking foal amongst thousands of slum dwellers?

None at all. Bright Spark clenched her jaw as she remembered Lord Magic Shield’s words from the previous night.

How would it be if one of us was discovered dressed as a grovelling beggar? We would be ridiculed through Equestria.

She snorted. And we’re not making fools of ourselves now?

A pungent smell filled Bright’s nostrils. She glared at the sewage choked gutter. The people standing beside it shrank away hastily. With an effort, she made himself take a deep breath and school her expression.

She did not like to frighten ponies. Impress them? Yes. Inspire awe? Even better. But not terrify. It disturbed her how these people always shied off the road whenever she approached, then stared at her as she passed. The fillies and colts were bolder, following her around but quick to get away if she looked at them. Mares and stallions, young and old, regarded her warily. All looked hard and cunning. She wondered how many of them worked for the Cloaked Dagger.

Bright Spark froze.

The Cloaked Dagger. The guards skidded to a halt and looked at her questioningly. She ignored them.

If the stories were true, the Cloaked Dagger knew more about the slums than anypony else. Did they know the location of the foal? If they didn’t, could they find him? Would they be willing to help the order? Perhaps, if the rewards were lucrative enough…

How would the other mages react if she suggested bargaining with the Cloaked Dagger?

They’d be horrified. Outraged.

She looked at the shallow, stinking trench that served as a gutter. The mages would look more favourably on the idea after a few days in some of the worst parts of the slums. Some areas were surprisingly well kept for where they were, but they were not anywhere near the standards of the inner districts.

The more Bright Spark mulled it over, the more it made sense. The longer she postponed it, the easier it would be for her to get approval.

But every second that passed gave the foal more time to hide himself. Bright Spark pursed her lips. It wouldn’t hurt to see if the Cloaked Dagger were willing to bargain before she took the idea to the order. If she waited for approval, and the Cloaked Dagger were uncooperative, then a lot of time and effort would be wasted.

She turned to face the eldest of the guards.

“Captain Iron Shield. Do you know how to contact the Cloaked Dagger.”

The Captain looked stunned that she was asking such a question. To his credit, he recovered well.

“No, My Lady,” he said.

“I do, My Lady.”

Bright turned to face the youngest of the guards, Bronze Lance.

“I used to live around here, My Lady,” he said, “before I joined the guard. There’s always ponies that can get a message to the Cloaked Dagger, if you know where to look.”

“I see,” Bright Spark thought this over. “Find one of those ponies for me. Ask if the Cloaked Dagger is willing to work with us. Report directly to me and no other.”

Bronze nodded before looking at his captain. The older stallions mouth tightened as if he wanted to argue, but then nodded. “Get to it.”

Bright watched as Bronze disappeared down the street before she turned away and continued walking, her mind absorbing the possibilities. A familiar figure walked out of a house slightly ahead of her and she smiled as she noticed her friend and fellow guide to the princesses: Winter Sun.

The mare stopped, the wind catching her cloak so it swirled around her.

Bright Spark?   Winter’s sending was faint and uncertain

I’m here. Bright Spark sent a quick image of the street to the other mage, and a sense of nearness. Winter turned and straightened up as she saw Bright coming, her eyes looking haunted.

“Any luck?”

“No,” Winter shook her head. “I had no idea what it was like out here.”

“Some areas are better than this,” Bright tried to reassure her friend “But it’s like a changeling warren out here.”

“Well, there’s that, but I meant the ponies,” Winter gestured to the crowd. “Conditions in this part are so bad… I couldn’t have imagined…”

Bright shook her head. “I know it’s awful, but we have to keep going. Anyway, we have no chance of find the foal, there are too few of us.”

Winter nodded. “Do you think the other’s fared better?”

“If they had, they would have contacted.”

“You’re right,” Winter frowned. “It occurred to me today that the foal might not even be the city. For all we know he could have fled the country by this point.” She shook her head. “I fear you are right. I am done here. Let us report back to the princesses, maybe where we have failed, they can succeed.”