> "Low Level" Mage
>  by Knight of Crows
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Come on Manus, is half-assed defense all a failure like you can do?" Zane mocked as I was getting back on my feet after a surprise attack.

Now I'm sure you want to know what's going on so I'll just summarize it for you. We're both students at Chroma Academy, this one specificalizes in teaching elemancy partially because each color represents a specific element. Zane here is one of the top students and I'm at the bottom, though not for the reasons you would think. I can guarantee I'm more powerful than him and probably most of the students above him, I just never applied myself, it's even to the point I'm considered to be so weak that I may as well not even have magic. I just never cared enough to prove myself, though tody will be different. You see I lost my uncle the day before so I'm not exactly in the best of moods, and after a surprise/ unofficial duel in the school I'm in even less of a good mood.

My father passed away when I was at a young age, my mother did all she could, but it was barely enough to feed and shelter me and my sister. My uncle after seeing the sorry state we were in stepped in as best he could, over time I came to see him as a second father, though I never called him that. He was actually the reason why I was able to enroll in this school, I didn't care about magic, but I couldn't tell him that. How could I after all the strings he pulled to get me into the school? I know it was wrong of me to not even try, but there was a reason for that, he wanted me to take his job or rise above it if I can. I didn't want the job, I didn't care about magic (though I do enjoy it), I just wanted to live my life and repay him for everything and every penny he gave to us. Now I'll never get that chance.

I'm less than pleased with myself, and I doubt he felt much better than me considering my grades and performance in school. I was hoping that someone else would get the job, then I would actually improve in everyone else's eyes.

"You know Zane, I'm really not in the mood for this. Back off now!" I threatened getting a laugh out of him and everyone around us.

"Are you of all people threatening me? You really are stupid, have you forgotten the difference between us? Hell, no one here has to even try to put you in your place, everyone here is above you!" He said.

"It's not that I've forgotten. I've just never showed the true difference between any of us." I boasted.

"Pfffffffahahahah! That's the best joke I've heard all year. Plea-" He started. I shot him with lightning before dashing to him and hitting him in the gut with a fire empowered fist launching him into a wall blowing enough dust and smoke to impair vision. 

Now I should note something. No one has seen me use magic before, well they have, but they never got a good look at it. No one knew how many elements I had or which ones I had and I've just shown 2/3. That first wind spell Zane used to knock me down earlier, I made a small ash shield to block most of the damage, it was used at just the right moment to look like I didn't cast a spell. Back to now, I took advantage of the crowds inability to see and sent 3 of my familiars to keep Zane pinned, a phoenix and 2 lightning wolves, afterward I launched a fireball at him to finish him. When everyone was able to see again they saw me looking down on one of the school's overall best and powerful students with him still pinned to the ground.

"You just had to piss me off didn't you? I was already in a bad mood and you just had to antagonize me and look at the result. By the way, I was holding back, let that show you the difference between us. Do me a favor and never stand before me again!" I said before dismissing my familiars and walking away. In my anger I didn't notice him moving.

'Beaten, by HIM? A pathetic excuse for a mage like that weakling! No, this is inconcievable! To be humiliated by a low class wretch like him! I'll show him what happens when low level trash like him messes with me!' Zane thought to himself as he charged up a wind spell with the intent to kill. 

I was too focused on other things to notice what Zane was doing behind me. I wasn't going to hear the end of it, now there was no reason to lie and hold back as much as I was. This is all going to end with one very long and painful headache.

"DIE MANUS!" I heard Zane shout. Now there were many things going through my mind in the very short time it took for the air slash to hit me.
1. How is he still conscious?
2. Does he have a learning disability?
3. Does he have anger issues?
4. That's an air slash.
5. Oh shit that's an air slash.
6. I can't react fast enough.
7. I'm fucked.

When it hit me I had lost all the air in my lungs. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. All I felt was pain as I began to lose consciousness. I saw Zane speaking, laughing, but I couldn't hear him. I saw a few teachers arrive too late and quickly subdue him. Before I died I saw a light no one else seemed to notice, it spoke to me and I heard it tell me my fate wasn't to die here before light took over my vision.
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manus POV

Beep

Beep

Beep

'What's going on? Where am I?' I thought. I tried opening my eyes, but everything was too bright for me to handle and I immediately shut them. I tried to get up out of what I'm assuming is a hospital bed if the beeping and the feeling of something strapped on my arm are anything to go on, but it hurt to move. My eyes having finally adjusted to the light I was able to see I was right, though my vision is blurry to say the least. I tried calling out, but my throat was too dry for me to do so. As if some god heard me the door opened, but I still couldn't quite make out who opened the door, I heard a gasp and running shortly after so I didn't get the water I was going to ask for. I just relaxed since there was nothing else I could do, minutes passed and it looked like I was finally getting some visitors, though I couldn't make out what they were saying.

Someone walked in, but I couldn't see them still, my eye sight is so bad I may as well be blind.

"What is your name?" The lady asked.

"Water." I tried to say only to go into a coughing fit immediately after. The lady quickly poured some and helped me drink it. After several cups I was finally able to speak without coughing, but it still hurt to do so.

"Your name please." She asked again.

"Manus." I answered.

"Race?" Not one I expected to hear.

"Human?" 

"Well Manus, a few days ago you appeared in my court room and you were bleeding enough you were at death's door. How did that happen?" She asked. I started coughing again and was quickly given more water.

"Fight in school, Zane went too far, all I remember." It really is all I remember. Why do I feel I'm forgetting something?

"A fight in school left you on the brink of death??!!" She nearly shouted, shocked such a thing would happen.

"Yeah? Chroma University has duels all the time, though that's the first time something like this happened since it was founded. I wasn't in the mood for his shit so I finally fought back and beat him, apparently he didn't take too kindly to a low level mage who can barely use magic as far as anyone knew wiping the floor with him and attacked with my back turned to him." Really wish I could see right now, I can barely see my hand. There was a long silence between us, whoever I was speaking to.

"You said you were a 'low level mage who could barely use magic' and yet you still beat this Zane, how?" She asked curiously.

"I was stronger than him, I just didn't let anyone know. I also struck him while he was laughing at what he thought was a joke." I answered. Silence returned as she thought of more questions to ask, but I had one of my own.

"So is this blindness a temporary thing or what? I can barely see my hands much less you." I asked.

"The nurse said that was one of the possible side effects of the medicine she gave, your sight will return by the end of the week." She answered.

"A week? The Hell did they give me? Nevermind, I don't want to know." I do want to know actually, but I'm afraid of the answer.

"Besides what you've told me so far, what kind of school was Chroma Academy?" Not a question I expected considering how well known it is.

"You haven't heard of it? It specializes in anything considered to be elemancy. Summoning in most cases is counted and the seven elements to name a few."

"There is no school by that name in Equestria. Where did you come from?" She asked, I looked in her direction with confusion and slight fear evident on my face.

"Equestria? I come from Xelroth, I have no idea where Equestria is on the map and we've explored just about every inch of the world except for the Ash Lands and the Frozen Kingdom." I answered, alarmed by this new information.

"I'm afraid I've never heard of those lands either. My apologies, but I must return to court, we will continue later." She said before leaving. Never even got her name.

If this is the same world then how'd she not know what I was? Humans are common almost everywhere. The Tilokra Marshes with the Naga, the Dark Kingdom with Moon Elves and Dark Elves, and the Grepo Mountains with the Dwarves to name a few, we're just about everywhere. We might not get along with some like the Hollows of Helmora or the Harpies of Sechlor Isle, but at least no one's actively trying to kill each other.




Celestia POV

I had actually canceled court for the day upon hearing the creature calling himself Manus awoke, but he didn't need to know that. Luna has been working to keep this private, I'd rather not think of the reactions if word got out of how easily somepony found their way into the castle regardless of whether or not they were injured. I found her in the dining hall with a small plate of brownies and a plate of red velvet cake by my seat. Upon seeing me enter she put down the brownie she was about to eat and spoke.

"You went to see the creature yes?" Luna asked.

"I did."

"And? What do you make of it?"

"I believe he was fortunate to have found his way here, or rather he was fortunate to be transported here." She raised a brow.

"His physical state aside, why do you believe he was fortunate enough to be 'transported'?" She asked, wanting clarification on my choice of words.

"He is like others who have randomly appeared in our world, the current Vampire Lord and the Archon to name the most recent in the past 1,200 years." I answered.

"How are they by the way?"

"Solkier after changing his body has been ruling over the Thestrals for centuries and the Archon is still searching for a way to break Bloodthirst or it's curse."

"He is still in possession of that accursed sword?" She asked shocked.

"Unfortunately, at this rate I'd be more surprised to learn it wasn't the creation of a Demon Lord. Anyway, back to Manus." I said getting us back on topic.

"The creature?"

"Yes."

"Apologies. Now, did you learn what caused his injuries?"

"He was challenged to a duel by another student in his school because he was thought to be weak as he wanted to be thought as. He finally fought back and won, flawlessly from the sound of it. The other student became enraged and attacked while his back was turned." Luna looked down angrily at her plate.

"Coward. Rather than admit defeat he would become a murderer. He is fortunate to not have come as well, otherwise the dungeons would have been the least of his worries." She said, getting a laugh out of me.

"On that we are in agreement. Later would you like to meet him?" I asked.

"I don't see why not." She responded.




Manus POV a few hours later

I can see why no one likes hospital food, it's like they only give the bare minimum of what's needed and even that's asking for a lot. The apple tastes like it was thrown in a dish washer and the actual meal has almost no flavor, doesn't help it's stale as well. I ate it, but I really hope I'll be able to get some real food and soon. Not long after the nurse returned to take my tray out so I took the opportunity to practice my magic a little. Remember the ash shield I used against Zane? Ash and smoke are part of the fire element, though no one uses them because they aren't as useful as the flames themselves. The strange thing about smoke and ash made using the fire element is nothing actually needs to burn to produce it. As I was trying to make an ash dagger in my nearly blinded state I lost concentration when the door opened. I heard 2 sets of steps this time instead of one.

"I'm sorry about earlier. I hope you don't mind, but I've brought another with me." The lady from earlier said.

"Greetings. I trust your treatment thus far has been adequate?" A new voice said, also female.

"I've had worse treatment for less serious injuries so it's not like I'm unused to it." I answered.

"Do you mind if we continue where we left off?" The first lady asked.

"First I'd like to know who I'm talking to, especially since my blindness is getting in the way of telling who is who." I said.

"Oh! That must have slipped my mind. I am princess Celestia and with me is my sister, princess Luna." Celestia answered finally giving names to the voices.

"I would bow, but that would hurt too much so I hope you don't mind a handshake." I said holding out my hands hoping they'd take the bait so I can narrow down what they are.

"That is fine, we wouldn't want a patient to hurt themselves just for us." Celestia said as she and Luna shook my hands. Fur huh? No claws, no paws, so not the Wolf or Cat people, whatever they were called.

"So now that introductions are out of the way, could we continue where my sister left off?" Luna asked.

"Go ahead." I answered.

"You said you were challenged to a duel and that these things happened often at your school. These were allowed?" Celestia asked.

"What better way to find out who has the most potential for what is mostly battle magic than to let the students find out themselves? So long no permanent damage was done, both were still able to attend school, and there was a teacher present it was allowed. Zane thought it was a good idea to break all three rules when he challenged me who he thought was weaker than everyone. If he wasn't arrested for murder he was at least expelled and banned from being a mage, his descendants also banned from being mages if by the off chance he even has any."

"A fitting punishment if you ask me." Luna commented.

"If he can't be trusted to use magic legally/ responsibly what reason do we have to believe he'll teach his kids to do so? If he just broke the third rule he would've just been suspended, the second rule was expulsion, and the first rule was what costed him his life as a mage. He was from a high ranking noble family so he also basically destroyed their reputation on top of it. Now I have a question. What are you not telling me about my arrival here?" I asked.

"You haven't told him yet?" Luna asked Celestia.

"I didn't think he should be bothered with that information because of his condition." Celestia responded.

"Tell me what?"

"You're not on your world anymore." Luna answered for Celestia. I looked where I think she was with a 'are you kidding me' expression.

"It takes over a dozen Spacial mages with years of study and practice to teleport one guy half way across the world. You mean to tell me that in a school occupied by nothing but elemental mages and students that someone there was able to teleport me to a whole other world? Forgive my language, but that is bullshit!" I said in disbelief.

"Though extremely rare, things and sometimes living beings are transported here. We are not lying, we are sorry, but you're no longer home." Celestia said. I still don't have all the information I need, but it'll probably be better if I play along.

"Not like I had much back home anyway. Next question." They don't need to know I lied.

"This is more to sate my own curiosity, but what did enrollment in your school involve? I own a school myself and would like to hear your school's method for applications." Celestia said.

"Enrollment served a few purposes actually. We would be in an empty room save for the instructors and judges and are taught a spell to summon a familiar. The familiars show us what elements we are attuned to as well as show our I guess you could say 'spirit animal'. Depending on the element you might have a safety hazard. Wind is very likely to play around, Light will almost always be docile, others like Fire or Lightning will be completely random. The animal has nothing to do with nature or aggression, though of course a dragon will always be more dangerous than a tiger. The size is always small to person sized at first, after the first time you can slightly change the animal and it's element so a phoenix can be changed to a Thunderbird or with a bit more magic a wolf could be turned into a werewolf. If you can't even tame much less summon your familiar you aren't worthy of being called an apprentice."

"Is there not an alternative?" Luna asked.

"No, moving on. The familiars summoned also show how much magic you have because the first time summons however many you can hold before you use magic faster than you regenerate it. At least one of each element if you have more than one."

"How does attunement work?" She asked.

"You are technically weaker if you have more elements. A mage with we'll say fire and two other elements will have about 1/3 of the raw power that a guy with one of those elements has. Let me clarify, that mage's fire will have about 33.3% of the power a mage with only fire will have. Versatility over power if you will. Increasing your level or tier will make up for the difference though."

"What are your elements then?" Celestia asked.

"How about I show one and see if you can figure it out." I began forming a gauntlet out of ash. I heard them sniff the air and move back a little.

"It's fire, but how can there be ash with nothing burning?" She asked.

"It's still technically fire apparently. While flaming armor and weapons are better they drain more as well. You can either have a weightless weapon with heat/ cutting power being entirely dependent on the amount of magic put into it or you can have a light weapon that still burns and requires significantly less magic to become as strong and durable as damascus steel." I answered before dispelling the gauntlet.

"Last question from me for the night. What do you intend to do after recovering." Luna asked.

"I plan to continue my studies. Though the school didn't know it because for the most part I hid my magic, I was close to reaching level 5 for my fire magic. Most of them were just reaching level 2. My other elements are close to level 4, but I'll deal with that after I can cast one of the strongest fire spells in the book. After doing so I will have met the minimum power requirement to become part of the Magistrate or even an Archmage, not that I cared for the positions anyway."

"Why did you make yourself appear weak?" Celestia asked.

"I didn't want the attention nor did I want to be pushed into a career I didn't care for. I liked learning magic, but the job I was being groomed for didn't interest me."

"That will be all for tonight then. Farewell for now." I heard the door open and both of them leave.

I can't really be in a new world can I? That shouldn't be possible. Damnit, I need to see it to believe it.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manus POV

I spent a few days in the hospital, still blind mind you. The princesses visited whenever they could, but it was still lonely as hell, thankfully they were able to get me a temporary service dog so that issue was solved quickly. Celestia, when she wasn't asking me about Chroma Academy, was telling me whatever progress was being made to get me home, Luna still had questions about how our magic works. 

To give a more detailed rundown than last time, each race has a sort of "default" attunements if applicable, for example, Dwarves are more likely to have an earth element than other races and are often more proficient than other races when gem or metal related magic is involved. Another example is that Dark Elves and Hollows are more likely to have a dark element, but while Dark Elves are more proficient with fire strangely enough, Hollows are more proficient with death related magic like necromancy, though not all of them can use dark magic as well as you'd expect given what they're naturally attuned to, that's if that's what they're attuned to. Humans don't exactly have increased chances of a specific element nor do we have naturally higher proficiency, but we do regenerate our magic at a higher pace than the others.

There were other details that were left out last time, it hasn't been proven, but it's believed that the more familiars a specific element has the first time they're summoned, the more powerful that person is with that element. People can still switch elements with their familiars as I said, but if a person had 2 elements and 4 familiars, 3 familiars in one element for that first summon meant they were 3 times more powerful with that element than the other, for better or for worse I hold the record of 9 familiars in total. Surprisingly they haven't tried to learn my other elements, but that might be for the best right now.

Around the fourth day I was able to see again, sooner than the docters expected given the usual recovery rate is a week give or take a day. Now, we had beast folk back home, but none were horses, or ponies as I learned, especially ones with colors like these. When they learned I could see again, I had to say goodbye to the dog, but they did say he was temporary so there wasn't anything I could do about it. Walking after several days in a bed was a chore, but nothing a cane or crutches, pain killers, and a bit of physical therapy couldn't fix. I wouldn't expect therapy for something like what Zane did, but doctor's orders.

Around my sixth and final day in here, there was a lot of commotion in the hallways, I reeled back a little as the smell of charred flesh hit my nose. I ran into the princesses as I was following the doctors, they were trying to stop me and let the doctors do their thing, but if the victim's condition is as bad as they smell then it would be best if I was there. Upon arrival at the ER, everyones efforts to stop me only increased so I summoned 3 thunderbirds to hold them back. Third degree burns all over this guy, I should be able to heal most of the damage even with a poorly worded incantation, so long as the meaning isn't lost, fire magic can increase burn resistance and heal them as well, but not nearly as well as light or water magic.

"With these flames do I become the bane and cleanse these scars born of hatred's flames." Flames began to fall from my hands and travel to the affected areas, coating them, and healing the burns as best they could. Poorly worded incantation magic can only do so much, but after about 20 seconds, the smaller burn areas were fully healed and the larger ones were now between first and second degree burns. I desummoned the familiars and turned to leave the room, on my way out, I heard one of the doctors say what I did was impossible. For them maybe, but different magic, different rules. I returned to my room with the princesses behind me, I can almost feel their disapproval, their frustration , but I know they're still thankful for what I did.

"What was that back there?" Celestia asked.

"Recovery magic, only light, fire, water, blood, and dark magic have a form of recovery magic, I just used my fire magic to heal his burns." I answered.

"Forbidden magics aside, why didn't you tell us this sooner?" Luna asked.

"You didn't ask, I saw no reason to bring it up. Now what's this about forbidden magic?" I asked.

"Dark and blood magic. Every practitioner of dark magic became corrupt and needed to be put down, as for blood magic, abominations are all it creates, and it's power always comes at the cost of innocent lives." Luna answered.

"We're all still iffy about certain magics, with the exception of hexes, curses, and geas', dark magic has no records of being a direct cause of corruption. Blood magic always focused on using blood or life force for different purposes, runes using blood are more powerful as well. Goes without saying that blood mages are powerful on battlefields, not that there are many of them."

"You said before that you would show us one of your elements which was fire. Answer me truthfully, was lightning your only other element, if not, then what other elements do you have?" Celestia asked seriously.

"Given what you've told me, I don't feel comfortable answering that question. Blood magic isn't an element so Chroma doesn't teach it, and it's legal back home. Dark magic is taught at Chroma to those attuned to it, and it's also legal. What would happen if I have any?"

"You will have those evil magics removed if you have any, if you use any here it will be considered a criminal offense and you will be tried for it." Luna answered.

"Do you realize how ridiculous that is? We've already established our magics are different from each other, who's to say they even follow the same rules? People don't choose their elements, they are BORN with them! Do you seriously mean to tell me that if someone with only a dark element came here that you would take away their magic? Do you not see how unfair that would be? Taking away someones magic simply for having it is no different than a family of earth ponies chopping off their pegasus child's wings!" I said in a raised voice. "That's not to mention the other effects it would have on people, magic is a part of our souls! Take it away and you're ripping out fragments of peoples souls just so they can't use magic you don't like!"

"What about Zane then? Didn't you say he and his descendants would have their magic taken from them?" Celestia questioned what I told them before.

"By 'taken' I didn't mean ripped from them! Powerful blood runes would be used to seal away their magic. Only another equally powerful blood or light mage could remove the seal, even then not only is there the chance of permanent damage, but they would have to leave the country and pay more than most people make in 10 years just to have one rune removed. He would need double that, and that's not taking into account that his family isn't exactly like in much less outside the country." I clarified.

"A compromise then?" Luna said as her horn lit up and engulfed me for a second. "I've just casted a truth spell on you, we will know if you lie. You will glow green for telling the truth, and red for lying."

"Fucking hypocrit." I said angrily. "Believe it or not, that is dark magic you just used!" True to her word, I glowed green and shock became evident on their faces.

"That can't be... Tell a lie!" Celestia demanded.

"I'm gay." I glowed red. "As I said, different magic, different rules. That might not be dark magic for you, but that is for us, you used a type of geas that doesn't force action or carry any consequences." I glowed green.

"Your other elements?" She asked.

"First, use that spell on yourselves then answer my question." I need to know I can trust them a little. 

"Very well." Luna engulfed herself and Celestia in the same spell, though she was hesitant to do so, probably because of what I said about her magic.

"Should I have what you consider illegal magic, unless I show signs of corruption, not you nor anyone working under you, directly or indirectly, officially or unofficially, will try to take any action like what you said against me, will you comply?"

"We will comply." Luna glowed green.

"And you?" I asked Celestia.

"I will." She glowed green as well.

"Good. Now, you wanted to know what other magic I had right? Let me show you." I summoned a werewolf familiar, causing them to jump back. It's eyes glowed white, black mist was seeping from it's blackened body, it's fangs and claws were a dark purple. "Trust me when I say I'm the one in control. I told you I had 9 familiars, 4 dark, 3 fire, and 2 lightning. I mostly improved fire because it just needed a little push to be equal to my dark magic, assuming that one theory was true anyway." I glowed green again.

"Have you used it with malicious intent before?" Celestia asked.

"If you count temporary hexes of bad luck against students who gave me a hard time as malicious then yes. Otherwise no." I glowed green again. "If you need further proof, I should be able to dispel, but not heal those afflicted with curses and hexes, perk of being a dark mage." Guess what color I glowed. Luna shut off her spell.

"We will keep that in mind. We will keep to our word so long as you keep to yours." Luna said.

"That's not something you'll have to worry about." I desummoned the familiar and we went back to just conversing, or whatever counts for such in this situation.
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manus POV

I've officially been released from the hospital, or medical wing of the castle if you want to be specific. The princesses are letting me stay in their castle for the time being while I try to advance my pyromancy, apparently the older one has a student who moved to "Ponyville" a while ago and decided to give me her room and some robes as an apology until they have confirmation that I'm stuck here.

(Voidfang Vestments from Destiny, just imagine they're a really dark purple, almost black, and the decals are grey)





I think it was sort of a joke regarding the robes, they seriously do look like something the Archmage would wear, but I'll take it regardless. Anyway, I've basically been told to try to keep my Dark magic from the public for my stay here, or at least hide it if I do use it, that if I do practice it, I should go to a secluded location such as this "Everfree Forest". I'm going to need to study their Dark magic some time because if it really is like my world's, there should have been no reason for them to be corrupted. Blood magic too as that's supposed to only draw power from one's life force and/ or blood that has been exposed to the air. History and personal experience tell me that they most likely just saw a magic as unnatural or evil.

Right now though, I'm in one of the training rooms for the guards, trying to finish my pyromancy. Magic advancement will work differently for each person. Some can progress simply by using it, while others will do so by reaching a sort of "enlightenment" for that magic, then there are others who find out they've reached the next level by successfully casting a higher tier spell.

Fire.

It was the "First Light" in a way. Aside from it being basically all the sun is, it was the spark that eventually gave rise to life, but since then, it has been among the most powerful tools of destruction. Though even destruction has it's place among the tools of life, case in point being that pony who suffered those burns not long ago. Just after darkness, it's the second element, and the potential has always been high. It is the nature, the meaning, and it's power that I am trying to reach a new understanding of as I practice it's use here thanks to these self regenerating practice dummies.

There's much that can be done even now. Flame, ash, and though I haven't told the princesses, smoke. Unfortunately, I don't feel like I'm getting any closer to level 5 fire magic. I'll probably get it eventually though. In the mean time, I think I'll start using the more wasteful fire magic to get more used to that and hopefully lower the drain on it.

(Bound swords from Skyrim, I couldn't find any that looked like they were flaming projections so this will have to do)



If I can keep the current drain on this weapon, I can keep this up for maybe three minutes tops before I'm forced to pull back. I took a few swings at the dummy and it will definitely do damage if it hits something living. To further test this, I grabbed a nearby bucket of water and drenched the dummy with it. A single slice was all it took to ignite the whole thing again. As powerful as this is though, I'd still prefer weapons made of ash, they may not be as powerful or light, but the drain to make one as strong as steel isn't even half of what it takes for one made of flame. That, and the flame weapons would be better as a trump card.

I kept that up for two minutes before backing away and letting my magic regenerate. Considering I can have nine familiars out before I start using magic faster than I can regenerate it, I don't have to wait long. After a few minutes, my reserves were almost full again, so I decided to give level 5 magic a try and started directing fire into my hand. I tried to remember what a book back home said about it and how to cast it.

Forbidden Sun,

It's flames are unusual in the sense that there are two completely different temperatures in this spell. Though anything the flames surrounding the projectile does hit will have it's natural and magical fire resistances nearly destroyed, even dragons fear this spell despite being highly resistant to magic and being able to live in lava. Due to the destructive potential of this spell, it has been banned and lifted many times since the Archmage-turned Vampire Lord, Drylon created this spell during the warring states to combat the Hollow King near the end of the second era. At the time of this addition to pyromancy tomes, the ban has been lifted fourteen times, and three times, knowledge and usage of this spell has been limited to Archmages, Generals, Royalty, and others of sufficiently high status before becoming fully available to all shortly after the third era began.

All pyromancers possess the ability to manipulate the temperature of their flames, it is believed that through the application of this ability that pyromancers have been recorded using blue flames (as few as they were) and may contain the heat in the projectile itself. Envision a sun in the palm of your hand, envision the effect it will have on your enemies. The key isn't to fully contain the fire, but to ensure the shell of ash is durable enough to contain the inferno within and still allow enough flames to escape and fully surround the shell, otherwise you'll have an explosive in your hand that will become increasingly volatile. Yes, ash will be combined with this.

For new entries to level 5 pyromancers, you may be required to say the associated incantation in the language of the Ancients to give the spell that last push before most will collapse from magic exhaustion. If one isn't needed, then they are already past the entry point. If they do need it, then this will be their last push too:

Arva iacent cineres me expectant semitas contritio. Fiat voluntas tua nulla salus invenitur in eis in Oculis ad Caelum. Solis Saevire!

If one possesses the Darkness element, they may conserve their magic and replicate the effects to a significantly lesser degree as early as level 3 on both elements, but still powerful enough for most younger dragons to be cautious as even a Dark Sun is still effective.


It's a good thing that most spell tomes have memory spells put into them that only apply for their respective mages. I tried to do as the instructions said and prepare the spell. True enough to the name, it's insanely bright, like a light mage is trying a Blinding spell for the first time and almost did it right. I continue trying to feed the flames and temperature while keeping it all contained in the shell, eventually the light dies down enough for me to see what's ahead of me, though the flames are spread out and raging. I begin to feel one of the first symptoms of magic exhaustion and it doesn't feel ready yet. I haven't had to use incantations for spells often, but I had to use it for this one.

"Arva iacent cineres me expectant semitas contritio. Fiat voluntas tua nulla salus invenitur in eis in Oculis ad Caelum. Solis Saevire!" I felt for lack of a better way to put it, a change in the spell. The flames were sucked into the shell as the light died down before bursting out again, but they weren't raging or insanely bright. They almost looked to be shifting around it in a ring shape, the heat felt less tense, but I could almost feel the power contained in the shell. Feeling the drain more after the incantation, I decided enough was enough and threw it at the target. The result was that it couldn't regenerate after the blast that covered at least 20 feet, blasting the other targets nearby as well. I took a moment to gaze at the destructive potential.

"I can see why it was banned if it's capable of doing that to fire and magic resistant creatures." I thought out loud.

"That spell was banned you say?" I heard a voice ask from behind. I turned and saw princess Luna making her way towards me with two of her Night Guard following behind.

"At least fourteen times at the time it was included in level 5 pyromancy tomes." I answered. "I think I'll take a short break before improving my lightning element. Did you need something?" I asked. She looked between me and where the target was, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Targets such as those take weeks of enchanting and more bits than most guards make in the time it takes to make one." Oh shit! "I hope you realize you'll be paying for a new one regardless of whether or not we can return you home." Is she being serious? I can see the amusement in her eyes.

"..."

"..."

"I open for a job." What else could I say? No? Bad idea!

"Excellent! Come with us to the throne room, we can discuss your employment with my sister there." She turned and started walking towards the door as I just stood there trying to process what just happened.

This is my life now. I have no control. Is this the universe's way of getting back at me for never applying myself back home?

"Are you coming, Manus?" I heard Luna yell from around the doorway. I followed as I had no choice.
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manus POV

"So I'm assuming you already have a job in mind?" I asked Luna as I followed her to the throne room.

"Yes and no. Originally, I was going to ask for your insight regarding a matter near a couple of the towns near the border. Now you can consider it your first task that depending on what you have to say, one of us will be heading there with you following us." She answered.

"What's it about?" I tried to learn what I might be getting into.

"We'll discuss that soon enough." She responded. "So tell me more about Xelroth- was it? Your home?" She changed the subject.

"That's a question with a lot of answers, you're going to need to be more specific." I told her.

"Tell me about the beast races." She specified.

"Not a lot to be said. They prefer to keep to themselves because of experiences with other races centuries ago and they aren't exactly fond of magic that doesn't heal because of those experiences. Enough so that most would refuse magic assistance of any other kind and instead rely on their own natural advantages which differs greatly between each." I said.

"I see. Would we be included among these races?" She asked, not sure to answer this one without any risk.

"That would be up to either them, the world leaders, or the council of mages. Though since you are humanoid ponies, it's likely you would be included." I answered, cautiously. We continued the rest of the way discussing Xelroth and the other races. We reached the throne room and once we reached about halfway towards the throne, Celestia stood up from her throne.

"Leave us." She ordered the guards in the room, the doors closed behind them shortly after. "Did my sister inform you of what this was about?" She asked me.

"Nothing beyond telling me it had to do with a border town, though for reasons I'm not getting into, you are now one of my employers." She raised a brow as she looked at Luna, questioningly.

"He destroyed one of the enchanted targets on the training grounds beyond it's capability to repair itself." Luna explained. Celestia looked at me, amused.

"I wondering when somepony would do that again. Worry not, your 'employment' won't be long, you'll only be working with us or the guard for a little over a month, maybe a month and a half." She assured me before taking a more serious expression. "On to the matter at hand, we have been getting reports of unusual phenomenon and disturbing scenes near-"

"Point to it on a map, I'll have a few guesses depending on the information after." I interrupted her.

"As you wish." She used her magic to create a projection of Equestria.



"Anyway, in the area between Apploosa and Dodge Junction, there have been reports of strange lights, disturbing sounds in the night, and around the same time it started, graves were being robbed. There are no suspects and the closest we have to witnesses are the civilians who see these lights." She explained.

"My input? Best case scenario, they've got Will-o'-the-Wisps and a grave robber. Worst case scenario, a necromancer that's abusing his gift and was probably insane before he learned to use it." I told them, shocking, then angering both of them.

"You would call magic as vile as necromancy a 'gift'??!!" Luna asked, clearly not pleased with me.

"The original purposes of necromancy back home were to revive the dead and achieve immortality, though both reanimation and lichdom are bastardized versions of these goals. I say 'gift' because only dark mages and Hollows can use it, and even then, not even 10% of the dark mages can learn it because they weren't blessed by Exolvuntur, the God of Life and Death. Even then, not all of them delve into necromancy, some don't even learn magic. If a priest is unavailable, it's true necromancers that give the departed their last rites and they also defend graves and crypts, though they'll usually use the reanimated corpses of condemned criminals or bandits to do so. So yes, if they don't abuse it, necromancy is a gift because not only was it given to us by a God, but THE God of Light, Life, Darkness, and Death!" I explained. This did nothing to calm them down.

"Answer truthfully right now! Do you know necromancy?" Celestia asked.

"So how do you want to go about this? Personally, I'd just-" Celestia made the map disappear.

"Are you a necromancer??!!" She interrupted.

"I'm not going to answer that. Why? Because you won't believe me unless it's confirmed with the use of dark magic like back then, and if I say 'yes', either I die, or my short leash becomes even shorter. And right now, if this is a necromancer abusing his power, you're going to need me, unless you want to take unnecessary risks." I refused to answer.

"Then it's decided. You will go with my sister to investigate these reports." She said, causing me to raise a brow.

"I don't know how dangerous necromancers are in this world, but trust me when I say if this is what I think it is that it would be better if I went alone. Depending on how far they've delved into it, there might already be a small army that can spread a curse of death, Exolvuntur forbid if they attempted to ascend without His divine protection and instruction!"

"We are going to have a long chat about this later! We are leaving now!" Luna ordered as she teleported us outside what I'm assuming to be her room, though there were no guards. Unfortunately, I needed a moment to compose myself, teleportation has that effect if you're not used to it. Once she came out, she was dressed in dark blue, full platemail body armor, and a light blue claymore.

"No! You won't be leaving like that!" I told her.

"Excuse me??!!"

"If this is a necromancer, a princess will either encourage them, or force them into hiding. Take it with you, but hide it! If you're bringing guards, make sure they're hidden too! Alerting them to us is not something we want! Have someone else carry the gear and follow after us." I explained. She thought to herself for a moment before sighing.

"You are right." She went back into her room and changed back before exiting, looking like a completely different person. She shrunk down a little to stand up to my shoulders, she wore casual clothes, her fur turned a light blue, and her mane was turned purple, no longer waving in a nonexistent wind.

"That's better." I commented.

"Call me Moonlight in this form. Now onward!"




We don't have trains in Xelroth, I'm not impressed, nor am I happy right now. I thought teleportation was bad, no, this is MUCH worse! Even with her magic helping me, it's not doing much. I can deal with carriages and boats (had to go to Tilokra for a field trip) for short periods of time, but this is another level! Luna/ Moonlight seems to find this entertaining though.

"Never rode a train before?" She giggled a little.

"Go! Fuck! Yourself!" I said between heaving.

"Oh! I apologize, but I left my toys back in the castle!" Is this a game now? Also, do I even want to know what she means by 'toys'?

"I hope you get me home soon." If for no other reason than to say 'hi' to Zane, that prick!

"My sister's student is currently trying her best to find you a way home, but travel to other worlds hasn't been researched extensively." She told me.

"I'm sure there's something, there's always a way with-with magic." I tried to keep it down.

"So how would you handle this situation?" She asked me. I made sure there were no passengers nearby, the train was mostly empty. No one was near us, but I still kept my voice down.

"Have everyone in different inns if there's more than one. Don't worry about the graveyard, focus on the lights. If no one follows these lights, especially children, then that'll narrow it down. If pe-people are being drawn towards the lights, then they're likely being drained of their life force elsewhere. We'll also want a list of missing people since this started." She became disturbed.

"You're rather knowledgeable on this subject." She commented.

"Because one of Chroma's professors was a necromancer who taught us how to approach the situation. They don't need to be near a body to reani-reanimate it as long as they have the exact location of it, though they do need to be within a certain distance away, and it becomes harder the further away they are. It's possible no one is e-entering the place when it's being robbed. The other reason is because my fam-familiars can deal with the graveyard which will need to be closed off so they don't attack actual visitors." It's becoming harder to keep it down now.

"Your tea-" I put my hand over her mouth to shush her as she nearly shouted that.

"Yes, but no point in teaching necromancy to everyone if it would only apply to one or two at the most." I answered before falling back into my seat, feeling a little dizzy.

"Fair enough, though I would appreciate it if you never did that again." She complained.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't jeopardize the mission I'm basically being forced into, but you don't see me complaining." I told her flat out. She didn't really have a response to that and silence hung between us for a minute as my insides calmed down a little.

"You said before that it would be bad if one became a lich without that God's blessing. What did you mean?"

"If a necromancer tries to ascend without His protection, they'll become a true undead. A powerful enough necromancer could bend the lich to their will. Not only that, but the lich wouldn't be able to feel anything. No emotions, their only senses would be sight and hearing, and to top it off, they'd suffer the natural weaknesses of undead, specifically light and fire. Exolvuntur would basically negate everything and they would be more powerful while still looking like regular mortals, aside from their eyes either glowing different colors or seeping different colored mists or something like that. Also, if they ascended with His blessing, He would basically have the final say in when they die, even Fate will back off on that one."

"Why would your world allow such things to be used? Does it not under-"

"Unless the magic literally corrupts the user, there is no such thing as 'evil' magic. Even healing magic is used as a tool in torture, and even blood magic is used to heal people. Healing magic can't reattach limbs, but blood magic can. I'm going by what a literal God says before I go by what you say about His gift to dark mages. One last thing I should note about Him, just as dark mages can learn necromancy and become liches, so too can He grant light mages the power to call on angelic assistance, and even revive the dead, though doing so will cost their powers as a mage. Let that sink in for a moment." I interrupted her and made no attempt to hide my agitation. I don't know if she responded, I was more focused on my insides acting up again to register her saying anything.

I really hope they get me home soon.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manus POV

"Finally!!!" I groaned as I got off the train to-was it Dodge Junction or Apploosa? I can't remember. Whatever, I'm just glad my motion sickness started going down after a few seconds.

"We should find an inn first." Luna said as she followed shortly after.

"You know of any near the graveyard?" I asked her.

"One a few minutes from there if you're walking to it." She answered as she began to lead the way.

"How far is the graveyard from here and how far is it from the outskirts?" I followed behind her.

"Not very far if I remember correctly from my last stop here, should be a few blocks away."

I stayed a short distance behind her and checked behind us to see if I could find her escort. Three thestrals I think they're called were following us from afar. I got some strange looks from others along the way, ignoring them, I summoned a couple of Thunderbirds to soar over the area and find a good spot to watch over. After a few more minutes, we reached the hotel closest to the graveyard and I followed her inside.

"Good evening! How may I help you?" The lady behind the counter asked.

"I'd like a room for two please?" Luna requested.

"Two? She can't seriously trust me that much, can she?" I thought.

"Alright, I'll need the two of you to sign here." She marked where she needs our signatures. Luna signed 'Moonlight', then handed me the quill (where are the pens?) to sign mine. After climbing up two flights of stairs, we reached our room and awaited the guards she brought. While waiting, I closed my eyes and focused on my familiars, both of them found a few good spots to over see the graveyard, but I decided to pull them back until later since this is a night job.

"You mentioned Will-O'-The-Wisps back at the castle." Luna got my attention. "What are they exactly?"

"Best way to describe them is they're basically just living lights and gases in some cases. I know I mentioned the draining of life force, but they're normally harmless."

"Why would they be considered harmless if they're capable of killing in such a way?"

"Easy way to tell is their colors, all of them can drain your life force, but it's only the crimson ones that are aggressive. A green wisp is often a sign that the area is safe, a yellow one is a warning to avoid the next area, and blue ones are guardians. Different colors will have different meanings, if you do have wisps here, I doubt these ones are any threat unless attacked first. The only real problem is they often have a passive effect of varying strength on young minds that draw them to them." I explained.

"The guards should be here soon." She looked to the door. "How would you proceed?"

"The first thing that should be done is to have the graveyard closed off for a day or two. If it's a necromancer, a corpse should lead us to them if they're reanimating from afar. If it's a grave robber, they'll be subdued the second the shovel hits the ground. As for the wisps? Depending on their color, they can be left alone or relocated."

"That can be arranged shortly. If we are against a necromancer-"

"If it is one, I would highly recommend any light and fire spells or weapons if you have them, especially if he's delved deep enough to apply certain curses indirectly. If one of you gets cursed, I'll have to use the same magic you don't want me using to deal with it." I interrupted.

"What do you mean 'indirectly'?" She asked, concerned.

"Depending on the curse, physical contact is required. A curse of misfortune doesn't need it, but a curse of blood does for example. If they cursed a strand of their own hair and that hair touched someone else, the curse would still apply to them. Unless you're a light or dark mage, those can be tricky. It wouldn't surprise me if they did something similar with their reanimated dead and spread a curse of undeath." I clarified.

*knocking*

"That should be them now." Her horn lit up and opened the door, the three thestrals I saw earlier walked in, gender and height aside, they looked the same.

"We've still got a few hours until night, I'll let you explain the plan to them." I grabbed a towel out of the closet and stepped into the bathroom.




(Around 10 PM)

Three of my familiars are keeping watch over the entrances and the graves. The guards managed to convince the local law enforcement to close off the graveyard and they're watching the outskirts between the south and the west entrances. Nothing out of place has come into view yet, nothing approaching the graveyard, nothing but a few bugs moving in it.

"Was this the only town getting robbed like this?" I asked Luna as I changed my view to one of the other familiars.

"Yes, Apploosa doesn't have it's own graveyard, but they have seen the lights on the outskirts between the north and east sides." She answered.

"Anything from the guards yet?"

"Nothing yet." I cut the visual link for a moment to get a drink.

"Answer me this. If it is a necromancer, do you intend to arrest them, or kill them?" Will I need to get my hands dirty?

"If they resist, then their justice will be swift." Death it is then. I restored the link after getting some water. More time passed, I'd say about another twenty minutes before Luna heard something from the guards.

"They see the lights southwest of town!" She said, grabbing her claymore.

"Wait! Let's watch the graveyard for a few more minutes. Those lights aren't crimson, right?" I asked.

"No, they're a bright blue." She answered.

"if those are wisps, then they're hardly a threat to even children, tell them to keep watch." My gaze fell upon something moving under one of the tombstones. It was just a moth, a few minutes later, something moved under the stone again. The ground was shifting, a hand reached out a minute later.

"Anything on your end?" Luna asked.

"I have good news and bad news. The good news is I found what we're looking for, the bad news is it's not supposed to be moving on it's own." I answered.

"Not supposed to-..." She caught on to what I meant.

I really hope this asshole hasn't ascended yet.
> Chapter 7.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manus POV

I was really hoping it would be wisps, we could've dealt with it tomorrow if that was the case. Instead we ended up with a corpse making it's way out of town. Once it reached the edge on the west side of town, it turned a little to the south and crossed over the train tracks. If I remember correctly, there were some grass lands in that direction and a wooded area further down before crossing into Appleoosa. We followed far enough behind that it couldn't detect us, the lights reappearing every so often. After about an hour of tracking the undead, we reached a cave of all places.

"What is this? A poorly written horror story from several hundred years ago?" I thought as the targets entered the cave.

"We should deal with this now while we have the chance." One of the guards whispered as he drew his blade, I wasted no time pushing it back in it's scabbard.

"We don't need the glint from your sword giving away our position!" I whispered loudly.

"The target is right there, I'm sure we can take them out with no trouble." One of the other guards supported the other.

"Tell me, do you know how dangerous necromancy can be?" I asked her as I focused my sight into my familiars to search the surrounding area for freshly dug graves.

"A necromancer isn't really anything without their army of dead ponies." She responded.

"Saying a necromancer is nothing without their puppets is like saying an enchanter is useless without an enchanting table, or a lightning mage is useless without a lightning storm, and I am far from useless without a storm." I told her as I found eight graves so far.

"Princess, your orders?" The third guard asked Luna.

"We wait until Manus is ready." Luna answered as I found fourteen graves.

"Almost ready." I told her. Twenty one graves. I began to make my way to the nearest one.

"What are you doing??!!" The female guard questioned me.

"Figuratively and literally protecting our asses." I answered as I commanded my familiars to start drawing runes on each grave.





"What is that?" Luna asked as I finished the first one and poured a bit of dark magic into it to charge it without them noticing.

"A rune to keep the undead from coming behind us." I answered as I moved to the next one.

"Why not just destroy them now and be done with them?" The first guard asked.

"Because depending on how far the necromancer has delved into their work, killing one could alert the rest." I moved to the next one. "There are twenty one graves here, how many do you think are in there? Safer to disable them than to destroy them."

"How do you know so much about necromancy?" The third guard asked, suspicious of me.

"That's enough, let Manus do what he needs to!" Luna ordered them before coming my way.

"Need something?" I asked her.

"Where did you learn runes?" She asked back.

"Chroma had an optional course since runes can be imbued with elemental magic. I didn't take it, but we had three or four sections in the library specifically for runes." I'm almost done charging all of them.

"This is ridiculous!!! Why is he even here??!!" The first guard asked, loudly like an idiot.

"Because aside from your princess, I have the most experience with dark mages." I answered for Luna. "I know what can be expected and how to deal with it. Tell me, how do you counter curses?" I asked him as I finished the last rune.

"What do-"

"What would you do if the undead out here caught you by surprise while you were in there fighting a horde and the necromancer in front of you?" I interrupted and started closing the distance to him.

"That's not-"

"What if the necromancer is increasing the strength and durability of their 'pets'?" I'm practically in his face now.

"Back off n-"

"What if one of you gets struck with a curse? Maybe one that will turn your comrade against you or into an undead after some time and you don't have the means of removing it?" I made an ash sword and held out the hilt to him. "Are you capable of killing your friends or your princess if such a curse falls on them?" I asked him as I pressed the hilt against his chest plate.

"That's enough! We get it!" The second guard placed herself between us and stopped this from escalating further. I got rid of the sword and started walking towards the cave in question, stopping a few steps away from them.

"I'm here because I basically put myself in debt to the princesses and the guard. This is my first job to repay that debt, I was just told to investigate what was going here with Princess Luna. Her's is a given, but your health and safety, your lives are not a priority. If something happens, don't expect me to bail you out. The others are a different story though since they've been very reasonable so far." I desummoned my familiars and made my way inside, not waiting for the others to follow.




It definitely reeks like death down here. I don't just mean dead things, I mean death has it's own smell and words can't describe it. The others caught up after a little while, there hasn't been any trouble yet. We would hear strange noises every now and then, I thought I heard screams mixed in as well, I really wasn't looking forward to this. After several minutes, we finally arrived near the sources of the sounds.

We passed through a stone door of a design I swear I've seen before and descended the stairs. The first thing we saw was a large empty room that was lit up by stones in different areas. I think I recognize these ruins, these are the ruins of the Ancients, but why are they here I thought to myself as we went further in. As I was about to grab one of the Moonlight Stones in case of emergency, we heard screeching from above and we were ambushed by a few dozen undead. Luna wasted no time to cover us with a barrier. Figures stealth would be thrown out the window.

"We're surrounded!" Luna struggled to maintain the barrier on such short notice. The guards stepped in front of her in a defensive formation.

"Teleport out! We'll cover you!" One of them said, willing to make that sacrifice.

"No need." I summoned a five fire werewolf familiars and gave them the order to start decapitating everything outside of it after the barrier fell.

"Shield us with thy flames, turn those who would desecrate our flesh to ash." I casted a cloak spell on the five of us, each of us was covered in a thin layer of flames hot enough to melt iron with ease. This startled the others and Luna lost her concentration on the barrier. In that moment, the werewolves started making quick work of the undead while I shot a lightning ball above us that would shoot at them for me. They all died (again) in seconds, the ones that weren't dealt with by my familiars were dealt with by the flame cloaks or lightning from above. I collapsed onto my knees as I tried to catch my breath.

"What was that??!!" The female guard yelled in shock at what just transpired.

"That *huff* was me saving our asses." I answered, trying to catch my breath as I desummoned the familiars and the lightning dissipated. I didn't collapse from low magic, just that it was a lot to do at once. Summoning five altered familiars and channelling magic into two other completely spells from different elements will do that.

"Do you need a moment?" Luna asked as she knelt down to place a hand on my back.

"I'm fine, let me just grab something." I grabbed one of the stones and shattered it in my hands, magic flowed into me and I felt renewed. As I turned back, I felt something crunch beneath my foot. What I saw almost made me lose my dinner, but quickly angered me. "We're killing this bastard, we're not even going to attempt to bring him in."

"What's the-" Luna looked down at my feet and saw what was wrong. Each and every corpse had extra limbs and other physical alterations. All of them had giant spider legs on their backs while others had deformed faces and jaws resembling different predators or weapons like claws replacing their fingers.

"Someone has been studying beast magic and using it to augment their army, though they've twisted it immensely." I walked past them and through the door, sending a shadow bird down the hall when no one could see me.

"I'll be back to deal with the bodies later." I thought as I continued down the hall, my familiar ensuring the path ahead was clear. This is as much of an insult to Exolvuntur as it is to the Goddess of Beasts and The Hunt, Venari! My familiar detected a few undead further into the ruins, armed skeletons this time. I summoned a couple fire dire wolves and lightning snakes to deal with anything else, I want to deal with this asshole myself!

Soon, these souls of the departed will once again find peace in His domain.
> Chapter 8.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manus POV

I swear to the Gods if this bastard has even researched more like what they've done already, I'm destroying this place and everything in it! I can't even bring myself to care about the value these ruins of the Ancients have to mages, better they be destroyed than used so a necromancer can abuse their gift and desecrate them any more than they already have. As I continued along the path my familiars were carving out, I started drawing a rune on the back of my hand using some of my blood. I didn't cut deep enough to leave a scar, just provide enough blood is all. Dark mages have a natural resistance to curses, like how the body fights illnesses, our magic defends us naturally. This is just a precaution for the more serious curses.

"Manus! What has gotten into you??!!" Luna asked as the group caught up.

"Oh, I'm just a little pissed that someone decided to rob graves, defile corpses, mindlessly slaughter several creatures, desecrate these ruins, abuse their power, and was probably getting ready to go on a killing spree across the country." I listed the reasons for my anger.

"We feel the sa-" She tried to say.

"Not to the extent I do. I swear to Exolvuntur, if they've tried a blasphemous ascension, I'm going to lose it!" I interrupted.

"'Blasphemous ascension'?" The first guard asked.

"World and magic differences. Not getting anything else out of me." I told him.

Eventually, we reached a door that looked like it had a glowing tree carved into it. Behind it was a massive room with several benches lined up, leading to a set of stairs and an altar with some kind of round object on it. There was someone wearing white hooded robes standing in front of the altar with their hands out and they-he was chanting something. I tried to shoot him with lightning, but my magic just fizzled out.

"I was wondering when you would arrive." He turned around and lowered his hood. A middle aged gray unicorn with black and brown hair and dark pits around his light green glowing eyes greeted us. "You made quick work of my pets on your way here, too bad your magic won't work here now."

"So you have delved that far into dark magic and necromancy." I said, trying to control myself.

"A fellow practitioner perhaps? Why would you serve those who would see you burn for studying magic?" He asked as I looked around for more undead.

"They're my only ticket home." I took a second to look around for any magic suppressing runes, but the second I did, one of the guards got too eager to finish the job and flew towards the necromancer. He was shot out of the air with a paralysis spell, barely missing both the necromancer and the altar. No, his body just locked up.

"A rigor mortis curse?" I asked. He looked at me surprised.

"Well that just confirms it! You-"

"I'm nothing like you and others who abuse their gift." I finally found the rune, it was on the ceiling. A rune like this is probably a level 3 or 4 suppression rune. I should be able to power through it with Forbidden Sun.

"I'm only trying to bring justice against this country for casting me out so long ago. Is that so wrong?" He asked as he lit his horn again.

"Necromancy is legal and a God given gift where I'm from, but even they would still put you to death for everything you've done. Let me guess, you simply wanted to learn because it was something you didn't know, or you wanted to learn how to combat it, but got yourself exiled when you were found out? Maybe you casted a death curse in self defense?" I asked as I tried focusing fire magic into my hand.

"Our art is legal where you're from?" He asked, hoping I would tell him. Also, I still need the incantation apparently.

"Arva iacent cineres me expectant semitas contritio. Fiat voluntas tua nulla salus invenitur in eis in Oculis ad Caelum. Solis Saevire!" The spell formed in my hand and I launched it up towards the ceiling, destroying the rune and collapsing several parts of the ceiling.

"... Disappointing." He shot me faster than I could react and I fell, my body locked up completely as he teleported me near him. I was still able to look around, so I wasn't missing anything while I waited a minute for the rune and my magic to fight off the curse. The other two guards flew towards him, but... He has bones shaped like blades sticking out of his arms and extending towards his hand... That's not something I recognize. He blocked their assault and shot them both with a different spell before throwing them towards Luna.

"This is the end for you!" Luna shot a continuous stream of magic at him, but he kept teleporting everywhere, eventually going to the first guard and used him as a shield.

"You're too soft. You won't sacrifice him even if it will kill me too." He taunted her before speaking to his hostage. "You will serve a higher purpose." He said as his eyes and horn glowed brightly, the guard was released and charged at Luna, mindlessly attacking her and the other guards.

"An insanity/ frenzy curse? If that's the best he can do besides rigor mortis, then curses aren't an issue." I thought as I regained my ability to move.

"Can you all kill your friend? Or will you become my puppets? I could use some capable meat bags considering how you've destroyed my work. Perhaps I could use you instead for the ritual, alicorn." He said, not happy about the situation.

"Ritual?" I stood up while his back was turned to me and looked at the altar. There was an egg on a pillow surrounded by candles and more runes next to a sacrificial knife of sorts and a book. A quick skim through the book and another inspection on the egg confirmed his intent and pissed me off. He was planning to use an unhatched phoenix as a sacrifice in a blasphemous ascension, but Luna coming into the picture would've either made the phoenix pointless or using both would've help with the ritual. I closed the book and formed an ash dagger in my hand and thrusted it into his back, forming more ash spikes at different lengths and directions inside his body.

"What??!! How??!!" He choked as he coughed up a bit of blood while trying to look back at me.

"You think a low level curse like that would put me out? You don't know the first think about dark magic, but you certainly know how to piss me off! Have fun when you meet Exolvuntur, Venari, and Ardente Veritas, tell them Manus sent you before they send you screaming into the underworld!" I growled before setting the dagger ablaze and letting the flames finish him as he screamed in agony. I went to the still frenzied guard and casted a paralysis curse on him before dispelling the frenzy. As I turned to retrieve the egg, both of the other guards put their swords to the side of my neck.

"That was dark magic you just used, we're placing you under arrest. Come along quietly." The female tried to order me.

"You think your princesses didn't already know? Besides, if it weren't for me, you would all be dead and the country would be forced into a war with probably one of the most powerful liches in existence. The least you can do is thank me and not threaten me for an act worthy of the highest rewards most kingdoms can offer back home." I told her plainly.

"He speaks the truth regarding his magic, under certain conditions, he is permitted to use dark magic. Now I trust the three of you will keep this revelation to yourselves." Luna ordered them in my defense. I walked back to the altar and retrieved the egg and burned the necromancer's notes.

"Sssshhhssshhh, it's alright, you're safe now." I whispered to the egg as I began to pour a very small amount of the dark element with the occasional dose of flame. I would deal with the bodies in the other rooms, but I'm prioritizing the egg now.

"What's with the egg and why are you holding it like your life depends on it?" The female guard asked.

"They're considered sacred where I'm from, embodiments of the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. A collaborative creation of Exolvuntur and several other Gods, and that bastard was going to use it in his attempt to become a lich! The constantly renewing life force of a nigh immortal creature would've definitely done it." I explained as I started walking past them towards the exit.

"Our work here is done, we can alert the local law enforcements of Appleoosa and Dodge Junction when we returned to town." Luna came up to me and signalled her guards to stay a short distance behind us. "Why are you pouring magic into the egg?"

"The base element of a phoenix is fire as was agreed upon by the Gods, but if a mage finds an egg, they can change the element with the right applications of magic, another agreement between the Gods. It's as much a means of 'welcoming' it into the family as it is a privilege. I don't think I've ever seen something more beautiful than a cryophoenix on a snowy winter night under Seres's moon. Now let's hurry along, I don't want to stay here any longer after what almost happened." I hurried along, ready to put this day behind me.
> Chapter 9.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manus POV

I paid no mind to the guards or the princess as I hurried out of the ruins. I grabbed another Moonlight Stone and stuffed it in my pocket before continuing to pour fire and dark magic into the phoenix egg, I might be able to give it lunar magic so long as the town has the right color paint, candles, and lunar moth wings. Before that though, I want to get the egg to safety and deal with the bodies that necromancer desecrated.

Once we reached the outside, I summoned a few werewolf familiars to dig up the graves and wait for the others to leave before bringing the other bodies outside, make the jobs of the local law enforcement and whoever else a little easier with what I had planned. Along the way back, the egg was turning out as I intended, the colors changing from red and orange to varying shades of black and purple, indicating the phoenix's element has had dark added to it. If I can add lunar magic to it, it will have a similar appearance to the night sky, and it's magic will be stronger during that time.

Upon our arrival back at the hotel, the first thing I did was gently lay the egg down on my pillow and move it somewhere out of the way so it wouldn't be disturbed. Once the others had finally gone to sleep, I quietly made my way back out of the town, the werewolves should be done by now with the runes I needed them to draw. Once I arrived back at the cave, I saw they were just finishing up with the runes.





I carefully avoided messing up the rune as I stepped into the massive circle that was large enough to contain all the bodies. Once I was near the center, I created an ash dagger and cut into my fingers, adding blood to enhance this. I dropped some blood into the center circle.

"Exolvuntur, with this ritual, do I carry out your will as one blessed with Death. These are not your people, but I ask you offer those without peace to find it within your Shadow, warmth in your Light, and both in your arms."

My eyes started to glow purple as I used what this world calls a taboo magic. I moved back and dropped some more blood into the three circles surrounding the middle one.

"Exolvuntur, with this offering of blood, I ask that what was taken by one who would abuse and misuse his Gift be restored. With this offering of blood, I ask that what defiles the vessels of those who may have entered your domain be cleansed by your Light."

I moved further back out of the circle and started walking around the outer layer, dropping more blood along the second inner ring where the triangle and hexagon meet. The circle began to emit a purple light and all the bodies were being restored to their states before the necromancer stepped in. Specifically, any additions and alterations done by him were being undone; the extra limbs, the fangs, claws, etc. disappeared. In a few cases, flesh was restored.

"Exolvuntur, with this last offering of blood, I ask not for the departed, but for myself. Please, guide me in this unfamiliar world that may become my enemy. I ask for Sanctuary in your Shadow if I must hide, Absolution if I must fight, and Judgement if I lose myself."

With this last drop of blood, the circle changed colors and turned white. The only bodies left unaffected were the ones beyond repair like the skeletons. Seconds later, the light dimmed, indicating the ritual was done. I turned my attention towards the cave and made my way back into the ruins inside.

As much as I wanted to destroy these ruins because of the necromancer, I didn't want to risk leaving any stones untorched, so to speak. He might have had other notes regarding necromancy and I wanted to personally ensure they were reduced to ash. Back at the room with the alter, I checked around for any other pathways we might have missed. There was one that I saw.

There was a storage room at the other side, not what I expected, but it was still something. There was a bed and a small book shelf containing untitled books. Skimming through them, some were notes on necromancy, others were journals, and a few were of him researching lichdom, not that any of them would've worked. Viable phylacteries are difficult to make, even harder to find the items for. A potion that kills without actually doing so and grants immortality is nonsense. Cats and eyes being windows to souls isn't even a thing.

I burned the rest of his research until one thing caught my eye. It was long and wrapped in cloth. The book next to it had some answers.

These ruins were more than I could ask for! I could do without all the dust in here, but it's better than hiding in crypts-

"You have got to be kidding me." I thought as I just skimmed the page.

The sword I found is unlike anything the world has ever seen!

"Definitely has nothing on the Archon's sword, that's for sure."

Every part of the weapon is like it's not meant just to kill, but cause excruciating pain and even cause the wielder to bleed. The countless "teeth" along the blade, the bladed crossguard in the shape of bat wings, the hooks near the end of the blade, the spike fit has for a pommel, even the hilt! The first and only time I held the sword, spikes pierced my hand and I dropped the sword. My blood was absorbed into the hilt and traveled up the blade, the edge looked sharper and turned a dark red after a few seconds.

"That sounds familiar..."

No matter what I tried, I couldn't learn anything about this sword except for what I learn upon touching it! Perhaps I'll be able to learn more and even translate the text on the blade after I ascend?

I unwrapped the weapon and held fire close to it to get a better look at it.

Ferrum in prima Vampire, Vita Exhaurire

"Nope!!!" I quickly wrapped it up again and took it with me before burning everything else here and setting explosive runes on my way out. That was the plan until I ran into Luna in the previous room. "Why did you come back here?" I asked.

"I could ask you the same thing, though what I'm smelling right now gives part of it away." She said.

"'Part of it'?"

"I saw what you did outside." She clarified. "I know you used blood magic, and I'm sure that was necromancy as well."

"So what does that mean for me then?" I asked as I gripped the wrapped weapon tighter.

"Dark magic, blood magic, and necromancy. Three forbidden, illegal magics. By law, banishment would be a mercy that one wouldn't deserve under any other circumstance."

"So what about my circumstances?" I summoned several shadow snake familiars coiled around my arms under my sleeves, armed with paralysis curses.

"However, you yourself have proven your magic is different from ours on more than one occasion, and what I saw outside, you used two of those magics to clean up the mess here, and ask for your God to help the dead. You keep proving you're nothing like every other practitioner of these magics and doing the exact opposite of what practitioners are known to do. You lifted a curse with dark magic, and you restored the bodies of my subjects with the very same magic that defiled them, though I know not what the blood was for."

"To empower the ritual and hopefully be heard by Exolvuntur. Depending on how long their bodies were like that, it would've been impossible like with the skeletons." I explained.

"Regardless, you can consider your debt repaid. I will have to inform my sister of this, but I doubt she'll be against it."

"I guess I should thank you then."

"Just don't go destroying anymore expensive things like that again." She joked before turning her attention to the sword. "What is that?"

"An extremely dangerous weapon that shouldn't even be in this world, partially because the only people who have any business directly touching it are Vampire Lords. The text reads 'Blade of the First Vampire, Life Drain', thankfully, our target couldn't learn anything from it." I answered.

"Vampire Lords? Perhaps we should ask to meet with Solkier." I didn't hear that last part. "Either way, I must ask you hide your necromancy, dark, and blood magics. Please stick to fire and lightning until I speak with my sister, if we do grant you a permit for dark magic at least, would you be willing to try and learn why users of these magics all become monsters? We could do the same for blood magic after?"

"Fair enough. Now let's get out of here, I was setting explosive runes set to go off when one does and destroy this place once I got outside." I walked past her and desummoned the snakes. Still not happy that she followed me, but she and her sister are still my best chance at returning home.
> Chapter 10.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manus POV

The encounter with Luna hasn't really helped my opinion or level of caution when she or Celestia are involved. My debt may be repaid, but I am still essentially on a tight leash that has only gotten tighter now that Luna knows about my necromancy and blood magic. I kept my attention on Luna and kept the sword close as we returned to town, Luna talking me out of destroying the ruins along the way. The guards it turns out were ordered to stay behind, probably for the best since they likely would've attacked me on sight if they saw. After returning, I checked on the egg and applied a little more dark magic to it while Luna was writing a letter to- I'm assuming her sister, before calling it a night.

Come the morning and I was dreading the trip back to Canterlot enough that I didn't eat anything for breakfast. Seeing as I would be unable to do so myself, Luna offered to tend to the egg for me. I might not trust her personally, but I doubted she would hurt an unborn creature, especially one of religious significance right in front of me. The next several hours were hell, but once we reached Canterlot, I wasted no time getting off the train.

"Trains are probably the only reason I'd ever use light magic if I had it." I said as I regained my bearings.

"You'll get used to it eventually." Luna said.

"I'll leave that for Fate to decide." I responded before trading the sword for the egg.

"Would you care for something to eat now, or after we return to the castle?" She asked.

"After, I don't like the idea of being that vulnerable near something of value."

"Oh? Do you mean myself, or the egg?"

"Not going to dignify that with a response." I chose to ignore that question before asking my own. "Are there any places that sell paint, colored candles, and forgive me if this is too specific, lunar moth wings?"

"Yes, but why?"

"Provided the egg doesn't hatch until after the full moon, which I think is scheduled for tonight, you could witness the hatching of a moonshadow phoenix."




Princess Celestia POV

-as both a thank you and a reward, I have informed Manus that his debt has been repaid. Provided you also choose to give him a permit to use dark magic, I have requested he investigate what may be the cause of the corruption forbidden magic users tend to display, a permit for blood magic afterward. With that said, I ask you gather any books on dark magic should you sign off on this as well.

Regarding the ruins themselves, I talked him out of destroying them as we left with an item of interest: "The Blade of The First Vampire, Lifedrain". A weapon that as he put it, "shouldn't be in this world" and only Vampire Lords have any business having direct contact with it. I believe we should contact Solkier some time in the near future, seeing as it is a relic of his kind, I'm certain he would be delighted to have it back in the right hands.

Your sister, Luna

I disposed of the letter before putting court on hold and leaving for my bedchambers. Under any other circumstance, Manus would've been dealt with as others of his kind have in the past. However, as my sister has observed thus far, he is different. He has not proven to be malicious, deceptive, heartless, power hungry, certainly not insane, or anything all the others had in common. The only other po- individual to do so was the Vampire Lord mentioned, contrary to what we said to Manus, and mistakes on all sides nearly started a war with a now good friend. We may have jumped to conclusions, but what is to be expected when all others who used such magics before had no problems committing the worst atrocities.

If this does bear fruit, the applications of magic could see a second renaissance, perhaps more than what Starswirl contributed all those years ago! From what he demonstrated with the burn patient, to lifting two curses one after the other with such ease. Regardless, I'm glad he's different from the rest. As I reached into my desk for the supplies needed, another letter, one from dragon fire, appeared before me. My student isn't finding much in her library and is requesting to meet Manus and examine where he appeared, hoping that what he can teach her about his world's magic might help her to understand how he arrived if the Royal Archives don't have what she's looking for. After granting her permission, I continued with my original task.

"Though I do worry if he can't return home. I suppose I should have a place of residence ready in that case, perhaps officially hire him. No that probably won't work, the position of Archmage sounds as political as it is proof of magical prowess, so such a thing likely won't interest him in the slightest, even as an advisor for matters of the arcane. Maybe if it really is the user that's corrupt and not the magic, we could hire him to find such individuals, the non-violent ones and welcome them back into society. If it is the magic, he could potentially save many from themselves if the curse or corruption can be dealt with." I thought as I pulled out a type of medallion that hasn't seen use in a long time, the bearer of such basically having the same authority as royalty with some exceptions of course. I debated whether or not to give it to him, but put that decision off as I finished writing what I needed to and stamped my seal on the parchment.

Finishing what I set out to do, I went to the Archives' forbidden section. I never dared to read anything Starswirl didn't try to teach as far as forbidden magic is involved, so I can only go by the covers. As I was searching through, only one other thought came to mind.

"This week is going to be quite busy, I'm sure."




Manus POV

We arrived back at the castle and upon arrival, a different looking guard came to greet us. A white unicorn stallion in purple and gold armor saluted the us as we approached.

"Greetings, Princess! I hope everything went smoothly?" He asked.

"We had some trouble, but it's been taken care of, Captain Armor." Luna answered.

"You should probably rethink how to train your soldiers. More than once did they all nearly get themselves killed in the stupidest, most avoidable way possible! You're lucky you don't have an Exolvuntur damned Lich to fend off!" I told him, the Captain glared at me in response.

"And who are you to tell me how to train my troops?!" He asked me. I took Life Drain from Luna and pushed it against his chest plate.

"Someone who actually knows how to deal with necromancers. Now throw this in the darkest corner of your vault and keep it wrapped if you want to keep those hands and not suffer any effects of blood loss!" I walked past him and moved up to my chambers with the egg and tools needed, paying no mind to those I passed by, I arrived at my chambers with everything I needed. I have several hours before the ritual, and it's as short as it is easy since there aren't exactly any special runes or incantations needed. If anything, it's repetitive.

After clearing out a several feet of space, I began drawing the circle needed. Along the edges of the circle, I drew several suns and on the next inner layer, different phases of the moon, I needed enough space for two full moons and two new moons. On top of the moons, I placed the tallest blue candles on the full ones and descended in height to the new ones. After drawing the symbol representing the Goddess, Seres in the middle, there wasn't much left to do for the circle except to draw lines connecting to the full moons and dig out a bit of wax to the top is curved inward.

That was it for the circle itself, now to set up the items needed during the ritual. Provided I don't make physical contact with the Moonlight Stone, their magic won't be absorbed into me if they get crushed. Forgetting to buy some gloves, I made due with ash to cover my hands. I needed to break up the stone into a powdery substance before it would be usable. While breaking it up, I found myself wondering how blacksmiths, jewelers, and geomancers find the patience for this considering how durable some are and how small others are. It was a pain, it took a lot more time than I thought it would, but I still had enough time for the finishing touches. After covering the lunar moth wings with the powder, I just needed to attach them to the candles and gently place the pillow carrying the egg in the center and wait until the moon rises before lighting the candles.

Lunar magic is a strange thing. Aside from being as useless during the day as heliomancy is at night, it's what it's capable of that makes it strange. One such example being the stones themselves, one would think that they couldn't restore magic for those who can't use it, or anyone could use it under the right circumstances. You can't under any circumstance use fire if you're not attuned to it, but that's different to some extent for lunar magic. As for what it's used for; light, restoring magic, divination, and can create weak physical illusions, it's kind of all over the place. It's because of this that I wanted a moonshadow phoenix, because aside from the advantages it has from dark and fire magic, lunar magic would make it even more of a capable companion. That, and how it would look, I'd have to see it in person before comparing it to a cryophoenix.

As the time drew nearer, I realized I had forgotten to eat dinner. After requesting a servant bring me something quick and easy to make, I double checked that I had everything ready. It was now time for Luna to raise the moon (I'm still not sure how to feel about that), and not long after the Sisters entered did they do their daily routine. A full moon shone through the balcony and it's lit up the circle.

"With how educated- how talented you've proven yourself to be, I must ask why you never applied yourself in Xelroth?" Celestia asked.

"Did you want to be a princess? Did you want to bear the weight of an entire country, or your cases with the sun and moon, the fate of the entire world?" I asked both in turn.

"There are some things only certain ponies can do." Luna answered.

"There might have been others more worthy, more suited for the position. But from what I understand from the little history I've read, the reasons you two rose to power were because as alicorns, you represented all three tribes, and with your power, you stripped the sun and moon from the equation, forcing the unicorns to actually contribute. I didn't want to be the Archmage."

I lit the candles with the wings and after that, this ritual should basically take care of itself.

"Then what do yo want?" She asked another question.

"Nothing I didn't already have or had the ability to obtain." I answered vaguely. Everything I wanted was back home, and I've honestly been trying to keep myself from thinking about it.

After the wings were burned down to the candles themselves, the stone caught fire and burned every color of night. We could see what looked more like stars than sparks or embers, even nebula in the dark, but equally beautiful flames. Inch by inch, the circle glowed white, then changed between a light and dark blue. As more of the circle began to glow, so did each of the other candles catch fire. Once the rest of the candles were lit, all the light, all the "stars and nebulas" began to flow towards the center, towards the egg, engulfing it slowly.

"So what did you want then, back in Xelroth?" Celestia asked.

"I just wanted to learn magic, but had no other plans beyond that. Well, I might have gone to one of the border cities near Helmora to get a job lifting curses. The land itself and the wild life aren't exactly friendly if you catch my meaning. Maybe the grasslands in Tilokra, just outside the Marshes? Made a friend there on a field trip who wanted me to visit after graduation, a fox girl who seemed to know her way around an alchemy lab." I rambled off.

"We are trying to find you a way back, my student should be here soon if she isn't already. She should be able to det-" I chose this moment to interrupt Celestia.

"I'm not going to get my hopes up. To transport a person to another world shouldn't have been possible even with every spacial mage in the world unless a God had a hand in it, and I fail to see what Locus could've possibly wanted with me. Now can we please drop the subject so I don't have to think about the possibility of never seeing home again?!"

After several minutes of what under almost any other circumstance would be a glorified light show, the egg now almost looked like the night sky itself with dark purple flames around the bottom. Now all that's left is to wait for it to hatch.
> Chapter 11.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manus POV

I've been keeping the egg close as I scoured the library at Luna's request. The Sisters hope that I can discover what exactly is wrong with this world's dark magic, though I can't promise anything about blood magic since it's possible that the users were just psychopaths that got off on painting the world crimson. If they had this place organized, this would be much easier, it also doesn't help that very few of these even have titles much less authors. 

Tartarian magic sounds more like Sin magic. From what little I've read, it's similar to Demon magic which can be dangerous with excessive use, but that's also dependent on the kind of Demon magic. At worst, Lust magic will turn the user extremely obsessive or into a horny mess that will fix itself in a few hours without release, and increased usage will give them traits of Succubi and Incubi. Further usage can result in actually becoming them.

Nightmare magic is just a branch of Dream magic, neither of which is dark magic.

Poison magic is quite capable of making antidotes and pacifying people without the risk of breaking bones or death.

Beast magic is part of the reason Beastfolk even exist and is just a branch of transformation magic, but Beastfolk have Gods to thank for their existence as well.

Dragon magic isn't nearly as barbaric to learn and use as this describes. This is one of the reasons dragons have two hearts damnit!

So many others, and so far, nothing I've read equates to dark magic, or even magic that's banned back home. It's like they had one bad experience or declared something unnatural and wrote it off every time. Honestly, what should they expect when their names seemingly reflect at times, their talents and personalities? Seriously, who the Hell names their kid "Sanguine-" I can't make out the rest of the name. Still, who does that? The kid was practically destined for something related to blood, and it just so happened to be magic!

Umbral magic, finally something I can work with. Let's see, originates from the Umbrum, a sort of shadow pony or something. It's not telling me anything that I didn't already know. From what I'm seeing, this isn't all dark magic. It has similarities with Lust and Wrath magic, in fact, this has to be a pony's attempt to combine a powerful magic with two others and pass it off as dark magic, or a poor attempt to adapt it for pony use. The more this magic is used, the more powerful it becomes because it's feeding off of anger and hate while it's also fueling said emotions and making someone want to keep using it by also making them feel different forms of pleasure. Usage = power = pleasure = more usage, an Ouroboros effect.

"Well that's one mystery solved. Half the problem is the government, and the other half is between the user and whoever named/ raised them."

Not even four hours in here and already have an answer. Still, as beneficial as this discovery could be to this world, it doesn't change the fact it's essentially been beaten into everyone's heads that such magics are to never be used. I don't need to be a politician much less Archmage to know that there's a good chance someone will slander me or something at the very least.

Looking towards the egg, I gently picked it up and left for the throne room with the book in hand. I can feel it, another day at the most and it will hatch, then it's just a matter of making sure it's well fed and basks in the moonlight for a few hours each night until it's able to care for itself. A few nobles were standing outside, but I paid them no mind as my business is more important than them wanting more money and power or whatever they feel the need to bug her about.

"I found your first problem with that thing you asked me to look into. The short answer is that someone bit off more than they could chew." I interrupted the noble inside, paying no mind to him beyond his existence.

"And just who do you think you are to just barge in here and interrupt an audience with Her Highness??!!" The noble practically shouted in my ear.

"My apologies, but her exact words were 'inform me as soon as you learn anything'. If you have a problem with me simply obeying direct orders from the Princess to the letter, you are free to take it up with her. Oh look! There she is now!" I bowed to her to sell the lie that she ordered me to do anything.

"Princess Celestia, surely this fool-"

"There is no need for such rudeness, Baron. However, he is simply following orders. The fault would lie with me as it was a poor choice of words on my part." She interrupted and shifted the blame towards herself. "We will continue this later; of that you have my word."

"Very well... Good day to you, Your Highness." He turned and left, the other guards following suit on her command.

"Now, what did you find?"

"Well for starters, you need someone to organize that entire part of the library, there's no reason for Nightmare or Poison magic to be in the same general area as Sin or Dark magic, much less each other."

"I'm sorry, what was that about Nightmare magic?" She asked.

"Irrelevant. Anyway, none of the magics I looked at are necessarily banned back home, and the reason dark magic corrupts the users here isn't because it's 'evil', but because the 'creator' decided to combine Umbrum magic with the Wrath and Lust branches of Sin magic. In short, once they start, there's no stopping it after so much usage." I explained.

"'Lust and Wrath magic'?"

"Tartarian magic, Demon magic back home, specifically Sin magic. The point is your welcome! I fixed in a few hours what you've outlawed for millennia! I haven't read much of your history, but I'm fairly certain that more than a few problems could've been avoided if someone took 10 minutes to research those after they became an 'issue'. Now, unless I'm getting paid to deal with that headache, you can find someone else to do so." Just as I finished that sentence and handed her the book, the doors behind me opened, revealing a light purple mare with a blue-ish purple mane with a pink stripe. Said mare was carrying a large bag of scrolls and books, of what I couldn't tell.

"I'm sorry for the delay, Princess! I wanted to triple check-" She started.

"Ooohhh no, please tell me she's not punctual or anything of the sort to the point it's a borderline criminal offense if she finds out?"

"-and then I-"

"Twilight, my student, I assure you it's not an issue. You're here, and so is Manus if he may be of use in the process of sending him home." Celestia stopped her and she finally took notice of me.

"I doubt that though. As much as I want to return to Xelroth, you'd need more power than can be safely stored or utilized just to teleport a guy halfway across the world. Locus forbid to another world or dimension."

"I'm certain I can-" I put a finger on her lips.

"This isn't me being doubtful, it's me being realistic. I won't stop you, in fact, I'll even help you. Just don't make a promise if there's a good chance you won't be able to keep it. Now lead the way to a more suitable location, I'm sure Celestia-"

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight corrected me.

"Not my Princess. Anyway, it's time we got started, so lead the way."

"Actually, this is where I need to be. It would be best to start where you came into Equestria." She levitated several books from the bag and began setting up some kind of equipment, probably another example of technological differences between worlds.

"Then while you're setting all that up, why don't you tell me what exactly it is you're doing?"

"First, I'd like to review any magic related to transportation magic. Then I'll need to see if there are any traces of magic and attempt to use the equipment I'm currently setting up to isolate the different types of magic before attempting to reopen the-" She began to explain.

"If you're about to say portal, let me stop you there. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a portal since those don't cause a body to glow unless one was opened inside a person, and that at best would result in live dissection." I interrupted to save time. She looked at me horrified.

"'At best'???!!!"

"There are worse ways to go. Continue?" I urged her.

"Okay...we'll still need to isolate the exact area you appeared in-"

"Found it." I pointed to a spot on the carpet several feet from the throne.

"What the-...how did-" She questioned how I found it so quickly.

"If you know what you're looking for, it's not hard to trace magical signatures. Now it would be nearly impossible here since everyone supposedly uses magic to some extent, but mine may as well be the black dot on a white board. Trust me, it would be kind of hard to mistake my own for any of yours." I answered as she continued to set up the equipment.

"Alright then...I'll need you to channel some of your magic into this orb once it's all set up. While I'm doing this, do you mind if I ask about that thing you're carrying?" She pointed to the egg.

"The egg? Once it hatches, it'll be a new breed of phoenix in this world. That's all I'm saying for now." I kept the answer short.

"A phoenix egg?" She didn't believe me.

"Yes. How long until it's set up?"

"Almost done,-"

"Really? All that equipment, and you only needed a few minutes?"

"-and done! Please begin?" She stepped around to another side.

"Celestia, if she attacks me, I'm blaming you." I said as I began pouring my magic into the orb. The orb was clear at first, then turned to red when I poured fire into it. It changed colors more as other elements were added, then I poured dark, lightning, and blood magic into it. I looked to Twilight as she took notes of the different changes the orb went through, then after the machine tried to- as best as I can describe it, rip a hole through reality, it began to break down as she looked at different parts of the machine with confusion, then alarm. After it broke, she took another look at everything before teleporting several feet back, looking at me unpleasantly.

"You use forbidden magic??!!" She shouted in alarm as she lit her horn.

"Oh wow! Who didn't see that one coming?" I said to no one.

"He does, my student, and we won't stop him from doing so." Celestia stopped her, causing her to look at her teacher with confusion.

"What?! But-"

"His magic is different from ours, but similar enough that if his findings are correct, he will have contributed just as much to magic as Starswirl himself. Before you arrived, he was just sharing his findings on various forbidden magics with me, and several days ago he used dark magic to save my sister and countless others from a necromancer. He's earned our trust."

"Saving others with dark magic? But...what?" Twilight couldn't understand what she just heard.

"Yeah, like, the only actual dark magic you have is really a poorly thought-out attempt at combining several magics. Seriously, do you know how many lives have been saved by poison magic for example?" I asked her for a serious answer.

"Poison only kills ponies in some of the most painful ways imaginable!" She didn't answer me.

"Yeah, and counter argument, Celestia, don't panic..." I set the egg down, carved a rune to reduce pain into the back of my hand, then cut off a finger with an ash dagger.

"What are you doing??!! We need to-" She did a complete 180. I paid no attention to Celestia's reaction.

"Counter argument: 'blood magic only creates monsters' or something like that, and yet,-" I reattached the finger. "I just did in seconds what it would take your doctors to do in days or weeks. Trust me, I know a lot more about 'forbidden magic' than you do, even the kinds I don't use. Celestia, she's your problem, I'm out. If you need me, I'll be unfucking your actual dark magic." I picked up the egg and left with the book in hand, though it was mostly because I didn't want to be seen after this catastrophic failure to return home.



Dark magic has several forms but is mostly the creation and manipulation of shadows. Its other forms would include, but not be limited to curses and resistance to them, and a way to enhance other types of magic. As one of the seven primal elements (water, earth, fire, wind, lightning, light, and dark), one cannot use it unless they are attuned to it.-

I wanted to take my mind off of that event by writing down what I knew of dark magic, correcting centuries worth of misinformation. After writing a couple more pages, I set the quill down and carried the egg with me towards its bed. I can feel it, it won't be long before a new life is officially welcomed into the world.

"Nova, I think that will suit you." I softly said to it.