> Diverted to a Different Destiny > by Amethyst Dragonfly > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > 1 Not as might be expected > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dee parked her car in the grocery store parking lot. She took her purse then got out and locked the door. But as she started walking toward the store a wave of dizziness washed over her that was strong enough to cause her to stop walking and drop her purse.  She vanished from that world. ****** Dee suddenly found herself standing on a street in a small  village. Looking around she saw… Sugar Cube Corner? And some pastel colored little ponies standing about looking at her with fearful expressions. Bon-Bon saw her arrival and thought, I don't know who... or what that is, but I better go make certain that it's not up to anything bad. She walked over to Dee. "Excuse me but who are you, what are you, and why are you here?" ****** But The Author had seen the odd human Outsider that had slid between realities because their path had passed through the reality that Everglow was in. She noticed that the travel did not seem to have been of the human woman's own volition. The fabric of the Veil that divided worlds was still weak from that passage so she could see the woman in the place that she had ended up in. She decided to do something that she only extremely rarely did, directly interfere, and quickly wrote: But even though the shift in realities was seemingly completed, something caused a tear in the Veil between worlds to open under the woman. It diverted her from her originally intended destiny, and into a passage to a different destiny. ****** Dee was about to answer the familiar looking pony, whose name escaped her at the moment, when a sudden tear in reality opened under them and they fell through it. The tear closed up immediately after them. ****** Dee appeared with her feet about a half inch above the cobblestones of a street in a town much larger than Ponyville.  Bon-Bon appeared about the same distance from Dee as she had been in Ponyville. Her hooves were about a half inch above some other cobblestones. She landed without incident. But as Dee had landed from that short drop, one foot landed on a cobblestone that had a wide streak of something slick across it. That foot slipped out from under her and she started to fall backwards. -blip- Dee appeared with her feet about a half inch above the cobblestones of a street in a town much larger than Ponyville. She landed from that short drop in a steady stance with both feet on dry cobblestones. Bon-Bon appeared about the same distance from Dee as she had been in Ponyville. Her hooves were about a half inch above some other cobblestones. She landed without incident. An elderly pony in bright purple robes saw their arrival. Both times! But it was the same time? It differed for one of the new arrivals. Under Score stared in wonder. "By the quill! That was a reality reset!" He then started quickly walking over.  Even though others on the street had also been facing Dee's arrival, and were closer to where she appeared, Under was the only one that reacted to what had unhappened. No one else, not even Bon-Bon, remembered the different past. Dee looked around in wonder and what was becoming fear. Nearly all of the beings that she could see were ponies wearing clothing. But for some of them the clothing was actually medieval looking armor of differing types. Also, some openly carried medieval looking weapons. She frowned worriedly while thinking, I don't like this, I'm somehow somewhere else for the second time. Judging from the armor and weapons, this place at least could be violent. I'm not prepared for that. And although they look like they are the same size and have pastel colors, those ponies look somewhat different from the ponies that I saw in Ponyville. Bon-Bon had been looking around also. She had quickly realized that ponies on the street were definitely not Equestria ponies. She closed the short distance between herself and Dee and nudged her hand. "I don't suppose that you know where we are, or how we got here, do you?" Dee looked down at Bon-Bon and shook her head. "I haven't got a clue. In fact I don't even know how I got to your world." "Excuse me, but would you be willing to come with me to talk to Fore Word, the Mistress of the Library? She resides there in Luminace's Library." Under looked hopefully at Dee as he gestured with one hoof at a magnificent building that looked as much temple as library. "It is a truly rare event when somepony that can reset reality, even in a minor way, comes to Viljatown. I am certain that she would like to talk to you." Dee blinked. "Uh, sure, I guess so. But I would like to know the name of the stranger who somehow noticed that minor retcon. To be fair I will tell you my name first. It is Deeann Rhiannon Ahearn but please call me Dee." "Retcon? What a strange term. My name is Under Score, wizard and priest of Princess Luminace. Undoubtedly it is by her grace that I remember the replaced past." Under started walking towards the library. "Oh, retcon is a term that I picked up from… some books. It is short for 'retroactive continuity' which is just another way to say that the past was changed." Dee walked along with Under, but still gave glances towards the crowds. Bon-Bon followed them, studying the crowd along the way. "Yeah, wherever she goes I'm going also. Staying close to her might be my only way to get back to Ponyville. I know that I'm not as interesting as Dee because I didn't do a ret-whatsits, but my name is Bon-Bon." "Did you learn how to do a retcon from the same books?" Under stopped walking after they had entered the temple. Dee gave a short laugh. "Hardly. They were strictly works of fiction. And I didn't learn how to do a retcon, they just happen. But they have only happened rarely, just a couple of times when I was about to be injured. I thought that I was the only one who could remember both pasts." Dee then looked around, staring at the stacks with their many rows of books. "What a magnificent library… there must be thousands of books." She sighed. "Since I am almost certainly not in the same universe that I started off in, and definitely not on the same world, there is probably little chance that I can read your writing… or numbers either. It's frankly amazing that I can understand your spoken language." "From that sigh I take it that you like to read?" Under smiled at her while making a mental note of her Outsider status. "Like to read? I can almost be sort of compulsive about it." Dee took a few steps towards the nearest shelf of books, peered at them, then walked right up to the books on it that were closest to her. "Wonder of wonders, I can read both the writing and the numbers!" She scanned rapidly over the books in front of her then frowned. "Unless I have interpreted your system wrong, this book," she pointed at it, "has been misshelved." Under gave a start, walked over, and looked at the book in question. "No, you have interpreted our system correctly. That book is indeed misshelved." He took a few steps away. "Amazing how you figured out our system like that so quickly. Please wait here while I go speak to Fore. I won't be long." Dee shrugged. "I am good at seeing patterns. Sure, I'll wait here." Under nodded, hurried into the stacks, and was soon lost to sight behind the many rows of books. Bon-Bon had been holding back a laugh. "You would have gotten along great with Princess Twilight Sparkle. Everypony knows that she is more than a bit obsessed with books. She would have probably put you to work beside her assistant Spike in making sure that the books in her castle were in the correct order." Dee nodded distractedly as she took the misshelved book and put it in its proper spot a few books to the right. Another robed priest who had just walked up saw this and noted that Dee had handled the book carefully as she moved it.  The priest walked up to Dee. "I can see that you respect books." Dee gave a wistful smile. "At one time books were my only escape, and my only 'friends'." The priest looked slightly troubled by that. "I hope that is no longer true. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Foot Note. Have you come here seeking knowledge?" Dee smiled more fully. "You may call me Dee. One can never have too much knowledge. A wise person once said 'The more that I know, the more that I know I don't know.' But actually I am here because Under Score thinks that Fore Word would want to speak to me.  "And no, it's not true anymore. I do have friends now, although I’m a very long way away from any of them at the moment." Foot shook her head. "How is it that Under always finds such interesting beings? Your attitude towards knowledge, while common among us priests of Luminace, seems otherwise almost vanishing rare nowadays. Nearly all that visit here, while they might be seeking knowledge, are only looking for it in answer to a very specific question or problem.  "And I feel confident that you would find new friends here." Bon-Bon yawned, bored with the conversation that she wasn't a part of. She walked a short distance away so as to not look like she was rudely eavesdropping. A book fell off of a shelf right in front of her. She looked down at it, and saw that the title was "Steady Shepherd, The Lonely Chaos Hunter." She picked it up and started reading a bit Foot noticed that Dee’s gaze had kept going back to the books. “You really want to pick out a book and read, don’t you?” Dee nodded. “I do, but it would be rude to do that when Under should be back soon.” Just then, Under came trotting back into view and approached them. “I see that you’ve met Dee, Foot. I am about to take her to meet Fore.” “Yes, and I think that she would fit wonderfully as a member of the Library.” Foot smiled at Under. “I realize that’s not why you brought her here, but she has the heart of one of us.” “And I don’t even keep it in a jar beside my bed”, Dee joked. “I do appreciate the sentiment, but I couldn’t help noticing that this is as much a temple as a library, if not more, and I know nothing about your religion, or your god or gods. I have to say that I didn’t have high opinions of at least most of the religions back where I came from.” “That is a conversation that, at the least, needs to wait until after you talk to Fore.” Under turned back towards the way she had just come from and headed that way. “Follow me please.” Dee started to follow him and then stopped for a brief moment. “It has been nice to meet you, Foot. I hope to talk to you more sometime.”  “So polite too.” Foot nodded at her. “I enjoyed meeting you too Dee. And I also hope to talk with you some more sometime. Friendship guide you.” Bon-Bon closed the book after noting the page number she was on, but kept a hold of it. She followed Dee and Under. I’m used to not being noticed a lot, but this is a bit ridiculous. It’s like there’s some sort of focus on this Dee, she mused. The walk back to Fore's office was spent in silence. Dee glanced at the shelves that they passed. Bon-Bon silently thought over what she had read. They arrived at a nice office with even more books on the shelves around its walls. There was a robed elderly unicorn at a desk, reading a book that floated in the glow of her magic. Under knocked softly with one hoof on the side of the door frame as he and Dee entered the room. “Here’s the human named Dee that I told you about. Should I stay or leave?”  Bon-Bon stopped at the door to watch whatever was going to happen. “Please stay Under, whatever is discovered will be your concern also since you are one of the leaders of Everglow.” Fore used her magic to set the book on the desk. She then marked the page she was on with a soft cloth ribbon and closed the book. She looked at Dee. “So you actually reset reality, even if it only affected a very short time period. That’s very impressive even though Under did say that it isn’t something that you consciously do. Would you mind if I cast some analyzing spells on you?” Dee looked thoughtful. “Analyzing spells? I don’t see any harm in that so go ahead. Maybe they will also explain how I ended up here, if not why.” Bon-Bon shook her head. Dee is too trusting. Just because they say that they are going to be only casting analyzing spells doesn't mean that's the case. Fore stood up and moved slowly out from behind her desk. She walked over to a chair close to it that had a stool in front of it. She then sat back down and motioned to Dee. “Please, come sit on this stool. My aged bones won’t take kindly to any attempt on my part to stand for as long as casting even the shortest spell that I have in mind will take. Also, it is easier for me to reach your head this way.” Dee went over and sat on the stool, and then smiled at Foreword. “That sounds far too sensible. I’m ready whenever you are.” Fore placed her front hooves on the sides of Dee’s head and started chanting in a droning manner. As she chanted she appeared to be looking through Dee, rather than at her. A dim multicolored glow gradually built up around Dee.  It flickered and rippled as its colors moved around her. Dee giggled. “That tickles.” Under gave a start but kept quiet. He had never before seen an analyzing spell cause that effect. After some time Fore frowned slightly and changed the chant that she had been uttering. The glow brightened a bit and its movements increased in speed a bit. “Ooh, now it is starting to feel nice.” Dee looked at Fore. “Hey, why the frown? Nothing’s wrong is it?” Bon-Bon watched worriedly. I don't know this magic but something doesn't seem right. Instead of answering, Fore continued chanting for a longer period of time. She then frowned deeper and changed her chant again. The glow got brighter and its movements sped up again. “Wow, I feel like I’ve drunk a lot of caffeine. But you’re frowning more?” Dee looked at Foreword worriedly. Fore changed her chant once more after even more time had passed. The glow increased in brightness several orders of magnitude and its movements sped to a dizzying whirl. “Uh, I’m starting to feel really odd.” Dee closed her eyes as her very form started to seem indistinct because of the bright whirling glow surrounding her. After an even longer period, Fore changed from saying a chant into saying what seemed more like a prayer in its pacing although she was still saying it in the same droning voice. After she did this nothing at all could be seen inside the whirling glow as it brightened even more and sped up yet again. Bon-Bon paced in place. I hope that Dee is okay. A couple of hours later Fore stopped abruptly with a gasp of surprise and dropped her hooves to her sides. An instance after she did so the glow erupted into a blinding flash  When the dazzle from the flash faded from the ponies' eyes they no longer saw a very mature human sitting on the stool but a pony just barely past the cusp between being a teenager and being a young adult. She had a gold colored unicorn horn. Her coat was a iridescent dark forest green color that seemed to shimmer in the room's light but was clearly not that of a Gem Pony. Her mane and tail had bright yellow and medium blue locks. On her flanks a Brand of Destiny was displayed that was an open book with a stream of stars of different colors forming the top part of a question mark above the book. The clothing that she had worn as a human was gone. Bon-Bon looked over the new unicorn in surprise. I wonder if Dee is still in that body? The body has the lines of the other unicorns that I've seen so far in my short time here. She isn't very similar to Lyra. … And now I want to go home even more. I miss Lyra so much already. Dee opened her now bright green eyes. "What a trip and I don't even do drugs." She then noticed that her forward view had a pony's muzzle in it, and that muzzle was her's! Shocked by this she abruptly stood up on her four hooves and some sparks of several different colors sputtered from her horn. She then froze in position. She raised first one front hoof to look at it and put it back down. Then she did the same with the other. She rolled her eyes up to look towards her forehead as much as possible in order to look at her horn. Finally she craned her head around as far as possible and looked over her new body. She looked at Fore with a calm expression. “Well this is new and unexpected.” She then fainted. > 2 She got the point. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- She woke up suddenly, and sat up in bed. A sheet that had been put over her slid down halfway. Self conscious about her lack of clothes, she managed to use her mouth to take the sheet and drape it to cover herself back up. Only then did she look around. She was in a small, rectangular room that had the bed she was on, a small table with a pitcher sitting in a basin with some towels beside the basin on it, a chest, and two doors, one in the wall at the end of the room furthest from the bed and the other one across from the head of the bed. The door at the far end opened, and Bon-Bon stuck her head in. "You're awake, good. I was worried until they told me not to be. How are you Dee? Are you up for a talk with Fore and Under? Because if you are, then I'm supposed to lead you back to Fore's office." There was a long moment of silence then Bon-Bon raised her voice a little and knocked a hoof against the door frame. "Hay, snap out of it! I asked you some questions." She startled, then nodded uncertainly. "Uhh, other than being really confused and scared, I think that I am okay. I can try going back there, but I don't know how good I'll be at walking on four legs instead of two? Also, I don't think that dragging this sheet with me would be the best idea, but I would really rather not go around naked." "Yeah, about that, they said that I should even get some clothes on." Bon-Bon walked into the room, over to the other door, and opened it, revealing a closet. "They said there were some robes in here for us to wear for now." She took two plain, undyed robes out and put one on the bed. "It would be great if you could help me get one on, and then I'll help you." They got the robes on each other, one using her hooves, the other her mouth. "I don't like having to do things that way." she said curling her top lip. "Well, since you're a unicorn now, maybe you have horn magic that you can learn in order to handle stuff." Bon-Bon walked to the door out of the room. "And as far as walking, just try to not think about it too much?" Bon-Bon led the way to the office."Odd thing, after you passed out, it was almost like they suddenly realized that I was there." She had found getting out of the bed and standing easy. And so was walking as long as she really didn't think about it. In fact, it was only a little bit more difficult even when her thoughts drifted back to it. The only answer Bon-Bon got was a distracted, "Huh, yeah odd. "…You know, it's not easy to not think about walking after you're told not to think about it. Sort of like if I told you not to think about a green bear." "Why would I think about a green bear? Oh, wait… I see your point. Well, maybe think about all of the books around you?" Bon-Bon found herself thinking about a green bear the rest of the short distance. When they entered the office, Fore was sitting behind her desk while Under was sitting in the chair near it. Fore spoke up first, “I’m glad you were feeling well enough to come back to my office. There are things we need to discuss. And the first isn’t the one that is visibly obvious.” Under nodded. “You told me your full name when we first met. Would you say it again?” “I don’t see the point, but sure. My name is Dawn Star. Wait, what?!” She felt that saying that name had let something finish anchoring firmly and deeply into her being. Fore sighed. “Please don’t panic. Now try saying what your name was.” Dawn did look ready to panic, but did as Fore said. “My name was Deeann Rhiannon Ahearn, and I asked to be called Dee.” After being able to say that, she relaxed a little bit. “Just as I suspected.” Fore looked at Under. “My using magic native to here on a being who wasn’t, and who was already somewhat unusual, was used as a plot device to change her physically completely, and some mentally. It also explains why I kept getting mixed information from the arcane spells. It took me directly asking Princess Luminace for insight as to what was happening for me to get any straight answer at all.” Under took a deep breath. “You mean the Author took a direct hand again? There are no words!" Bon-Bon spoke up. "Whoa, wait a minute. Who are those ponies you mentioned? What do you mean 'plot device'?” Under laughed. “They’re gods, and only one was ever a pony, Princess Luminace. The Author is, and has always been human in form.” Fore nodded solemnly. “Yes, and The Author likes a good story. She usually doesn’t take direct action, but it isn’t completely unknown. There are a few old stories, and one recent one, about her doing so. But even then, for her to do two direct actions on the same being so close together in time? Very unusual. “As far as my using the term ‘plot device’, the Author treats everything as if it is a story. So when apparent circumstances created a combination of events that it was even remotely conceivable could cause such a change from Dee to Dawn, she took the opportunity to cause them to do it.” Under looked at Fore in surprise. “You say that The Author did two direct actions on Dawn?” Fore looked at Dawn with an ambiguous expression. “Yes, it’s true. The first one was that she caused you to be brought here from Equestria. We have had visitors from that world who came here without changing to fit in here before, and I recognized the lines of your unwitting companion, Bon-Bon, as such. Which means, actually, that she had you appear in Everglow in such a way that you would be brought to my attention, and I would cast analyzing spells on you. “To be under the direct view of The Author means that you will be the subject of a good story. Tragedies can be good stories. But so can tales of high adventure.” Under chuckled. "Along with comedies, and also romances. There are so many different ways that a good story can go that we can't even hazard the wildest guess as to why you caught her attention." Dawn groaned."Just great, I'm the plaything of a god." Fore shook her head. "No, it shouldn’t be quite that bad. The Author will probably just let events proceed from this point in general. Normally she doesn't make direct demands for specific actions, but that also means that she very probably won’t intervene directly on your behalf. But she's not above a nudge if she feels one is really needed.” Bon-Bon looked from Fore to Under to Dawn and then back to Fore . “So, uh, since Dee… Dawn’s body has changed, and her name has changed, what else has changed in her?” Fore looked thoughtful. “I would think that enough has changed so that she fits in Everglow, and specifically fits as a unicorn. I’m not going to even guess as to why she was transformed into a unicorn though. Especially since humans exist here. "Such physical changes are not common. But when they do occur, it is due to things like magic meant to do just that, unexpressed heritages, gaining a new spirit tribe, or maybe, in a few very rare cases, even a long term intense desire to be the new form. So this change was even more rare than ‘normal’.” Dawn fervently hoped that the dark color of her coat hid the blush that she felt warming her cheeks. Fore gave Dawn a curious look. “Hmm, Dawn, if you were wanting to say that something affected all those that were in a room, what one word would you use to refer to those it affected?” “Why, I would say everypony …Huh. Let me see… nopony, anypony, somepony…” Dawn shook her head, distressed even more. “I know other words for those uses, but those are the ones that come naturally to me now?” Under placed a calming hoof on Dawn’s shoulder. “There are probably other changes also. But think about this, have any of your memories changed at all?” Dawn closed her eyes and took slow, even breaths for a few moments. She visibly calmed down as she did so. Then she gave Under a thankful look. “No, they don’t seem to have. Thank you for that suggestion. I guess that as long as my memories haven’t changed, I’m still me.” Under gave a nod back. “Just think about that fact anytime that you notice a change in yourself that you hadn’t before. It might also help to think of the changes as all having happened at the same time, instead of thinking of newly realized ones as new changes.” “There will be some changes that you like. For example,” Fore’s horn glowed, as did a book on her desk as it lifted, opened, some pages turned, closed, and was set back down. “you can do that now.” Bon-Bon tilted her head quizzically. “I know that unicorns where I come from can do that, but they have to learn how. That’s not true here?” “No, we can do that bit of magic without learning how.” Fore’s horn lit up with a glow that was dimly visible in the already lighted office. “Just like we can make a source of light without needing to learn how.” Dawn rolled her eyes up to stare at her horn. “I can?” She frowned in concentration, and some sparks spat from her horn. Fore chuckled. “You’re trying too hard. For light just will it, for moving something just imagine reaching out and doing it. Other spells will not come as easy, you will need to learn them.” Dawn looked around. “What can I practice moving? I don’t want to disarrange how you have things in here.” Fore smiled and indicated a small stone paperweight on her desk. “That is a common type of stone, worn smooth by a river. It isn’t heavy enough to damage much if dropped, and won’t be damaged itself.” As she looked at the stone, Dawn imagined reaching out with a hand she no longer had and picking it up. A glow with the same colors as the stars in the question mark part of her Brand of Destiny appeared around both her horn and the stone as the latter lifted into the air. Bon–Bon cheered Dawn on. “You did it! Too bad I don’t have a horn for such a useful trick.” Under gave a soft laugh. “Not only unicorns possess magic.” He muttered something too softly to be heard, and a book slid out of a shelf, flipped through some pages, and was then returned to where it started. Bon-Bon’s eyes got big. “Can I also learn magic? I heard some talk that Applejack and some others in Ponyville had been doing so, but I put that down to wild rumors.” “You would need to find what sort of magic calls to you. Though that is true for all that want to cast spells, even the unicorns.” Under glanced at where Dawn was moving the stone around in loops in the air while she smiled broadly, and then looked back at Bon-Bon’s hopeful expression. “There are several different ways that may be used to access your magic. Some gain their spells from gods, or very powerful beings, or nature itself. There are those who combine certain things together in specific ways to achieve the desired effects. Still others need to learn spells from written sources. And then the spells just come to some.” Bon-Bon nodded at Dawn. "Well you at least already have a Cutie Mark. Now you just need to figure out your special talent." Fore held up a hoof. "That's not what those are here. That is Dawn's Brand of Destiny. They are given by The Author, and are tied to a pony's destiny." Dawn bent her head around to look at where her Brand of Destiny was. "The Author again? ...Well, what does mine mean?" Under answered in a solemn tone, "That's something that you will need to discover on your own." “In any case, you will both need some training.” Fore looked to Under. “Do you think that the Seekers would teach them ? I know that the local chapter of the Seekers has recovered greatly, especially since Fast Shadow joined it as a combat instructor.” Under nodded. “I feel that I can convince them to let them join. Especially since it would be better for Dawn to seek out adventure than to tempt a nudge from The Author. "I will attempt to help both of you determine what sort of magic suits you best myself. But first, let’s go get you more proper clothes than borrowed initiate robes.” Bon-Bon shuffled her hooves. “I don’t have many bits on me, if they’re even any good here.” Dawn set the stone down, and shook her head. "The world that I came from used paper money as a medium of exchange, or, more often, credit cards, which I'm not going to even start to try to explain." Fore sighed. “The Temple of Luminace will pay for your clothing. Go now, I am tired and must rest.” As they made their way through the library, Dawn looked around. She sighed as they went out the front doors. “I have the distinct feeling that it will probably be some time before I get a chance to read for just my own enjoyment.” “But that will just make it all the sweeter when you do.” Under briefly chuckled. “I speak from experience." Under mused out loud as he led them down the street to a tailor’s shop. “I knew another pony with the name of Dawn, Dawn Event. He was a cleric of all the gods, so I don’t know which one he went to after his last adventure. I wonder what he would think about you sharing his first name?” He knocked on the side of the door frame with a hoof as they entered the shop. “Bright! Bright Weave! Come on out, I’ve brought you two customers, and the temple is paying.” “Bah! You say that last like it’s a good thing. You clerics usually hold on to a copper tighter than the sea does her secrets.” A pony dressed in well made, colorful garb walked out from the back of the shop with a scowl on his face. Dawn looked Bright over. His clothes fit very well, and they show that he keeps in shape. And he doesn’t look that old. But I really don't care for that attitude. Instead of being angry, Under just laughed. “You old sea horse, you know that you’ll tack another quarter of the price on if we’re paying for it.” Bright stopped scowling and laughed also. “And you know that you’ll talk me down to ten percent below the street price. How have you been, Under? You don’t come by that often anymore.” “I’ve been well, but busier than normal, and you know how busy that is.” Under knocked hooves with Bright. “Now, why don’t you show these two that you aren’t the dour pony that you greeted us as?” “For new customers? Gladly.” He walked over to them and greeted Bon-Bon first. “You’re not a mare from a tribe I recognise, but welcome to my shop. I think that you’ll want something that you can move well in, maybe fight in?” Bon-Bon knocked hooves with him. “You’re right, that would suit me best. My name's Bon-Bon." He then walked over to Dawn, lifted one of her hooves, and kissed the back of it. “Any you, young beauty, seem like the spell using type. So I know just what to garb you in.” Dawn felt her cheeks flaming, and she was certain that her blush was visible. “Uh, t.thank you, mister Weave. And yes, I will be using spells, but I don’t know what type yet. O.oh, and my name's Dawn Star." Bright blinked and looked towards Under. "First she puts me in my place with a polite 'mister Weave', and then she says that? I am sure that there's a tale behind how she doesn't know what magic she has. And I expect to hear it over some beer later." Under frowned slightly. "It's not my tale to tell. I consider it Dawn's private business." Bright sighed. "Of course it is, the best tales are always 'private business'. Ah well, let's get you both properly clothed." After they both had their new clothes on, and farewells had been exchanged with Bright, Bon-Bon, and Dawn followed Under out of the shop and down the street. Some distance, and four turns later, they saw a four story building that showed signs of recent repairs, with gardens in its lawn, some of which were overgrown, while others were being tended to by ponies. Under led them through a thick door and down a narrow corridor. “I’m going to introduce you both to out best combat trainer. She can seem a bit rough, but you’ll be able to fight and defend yourself by the time that she says that you are ready to begin accepting Seeker tasks. I recommend that you stay in the practice yard and train with her first, Bon-Bon, while I help Dawn find her magic.” He led them through a door and out into an enclosed courtyard. There were ponies practicing in different areas at different types of combat. Some bore close-in weapons, some used bows, a few employed magic, and still others preferred weaponless hoof-to-hoof combat. He headed over to an earth-bound pony using a lance against a pegasus with a spiked mace. “Fast, I have some new recruits that need training. Quit playing with Sudden Gale, and do some work.” Fast and Sudden stopped their practice, and Fast walked over. “I see that one is from the same place that Maud came from, so it’s clear why they might need training. I take it that there is a story behind the unicorn, but I don’t need to know it.” She nodded to them. “My name is Fast Shadow, and I will be making you learn… and hurt. But the more that you learn the less that I’ll have to hurt you.” Bon-Bon knocked hooves with Fast. “I’m Bon-Bon, and Under said that I’m to train with you first.” Dawn nodded. “My name is Dawn Star, and I need to find and learn my magic before training with you.” Fast raised an eyebrow, and then looked at Under. “I know that I said that I don’t need to know Dawn’s story, but…” Under gave a short laugh. “As I told Bright Weave, it’s her story to tell or not. Maybe you can get her to share it later. For now, I’m going to take her down to the magic users area. Don’t leave Bon-Bon in too many pieces.” He then led Dawn back inside.