"Eira, nomitic, naur vie ios
"Eira, dorovic, nue va ros"
A melodic, heavy voice hung in the dark enclosure with an enchanting tune of dismay. In it was a wealth of sadness, yet the sorrow was constrained in the patient elegance of the mare possessing it.
From up above, a single, magical lamp lit up the center of the room. A large table with a half-covered form was the sole focal point, a smaller metal stand filled with medical instruments to its immediate side. Only one pony stood in the sphere of light, her white-tipped black mane and tail catching the light as her delicate voice continued to fill the air.
"Though I lay my head down tonight,
"I pray my soul to find your light."
Acting in dissonance with the female voice, was the rasping, wild breathing of a stallion in the throughs of suffering, caught painfully between consciousness and feverish dream. He lay splayed out over the table with his forelegs against his chest, his body partially covered by a white sheet that had been thrown halfway off his body in his agonized writhing and twisting. The faint scent of urine and antiseptic held in the air and wafted off of his coat, creating an odd, unpleasant combination.
"I have come so very far, my friend
"Yet we all lay here in the end"
The black and white earth pony mare stood over him with kind eyes, though a certain darkness of thought shining from their depths. She watched over him as a caretaker would its patient, though she knew whose hooves his blood was on... What made it worse, his suffering would likely be in vain. She knew the signs well enough. The breakdown of mental cohesion, muscle control, pained breathing... His body was rejecting the magical drug now fusing with his own latent magic that sustained him. Instead of strengthening it, as was the intention, it was now destroying it.
"White Needle. Counteragent, now. See if you can stabilize him," the black mare called out, another small coated form appearing beside her.
Unceremoniously, the entering white unicorn levitated a syringe out of his lab coat, injecting a purple, clouded fluid into the convulsing stallion's abdomen. Instantaneously, the stallion's body turned rigid as air forced its way out of his pained throat in the form of a breathless scream. His eyes opened wide, moving about the room despite the lack of consciousness and comprehension behind them.
"R-run home, run h-home, my little mare
"One day... you'll see, I will be there"
It all ended in little under a minute as gradually, the white stallion calmed and he slipped back in a coma-like state, only his rising chest signaling his continued life.
"... His heart is stabilizing, but his magical aura is still fluxuating dangerously," a voice from the back of the room called out, belonging to one of the nurses poised over machinery barely illuminated in the darkness. "However... it is decaying at a slower rate now,"
"White Needle... Take him into Observation. Have someone watch over him," the black mare said, a sad brooding softening her voice.
"Yes Black Star," White Needle returned.
It was a beautiful night. The moon shone bright in the light-dappled sky like a silver sun, though clouded as to look incomplete. Wispy clouds softly streaked the sky, their edges tipped a brilliant white by the shining crescent behind them. A cool breeze wafted between the twin buildings rising out of the darkness, carrying the distant smell of flowers, fragrant in their autumn bloom on the outskirts of Vanhoover. The two structures were adorned with elaborate trimming, balconies, and flowering ivy clinging to their dark walls. Vaguely geometric stones spread seemingly without end from their bases. The pathways began at large, decorative twin doors, and wound outwards towards fountains, around trees, and away into the distant hills.
A navy-blue pony moved among the brush marking the edge of the cobblestone pathway, dutifully rooting through the foliage. The pony, a young male unicorn by the name of Blue Shift, busied himself by clearing the left-behind litter and various trash scattered about the ground. It had a way of getting swept in among the bushes where it goes unnoticed by most, yet it must be cleared all the same. At the grounds of the Mareiott, this was his role, as the resident night groundskeeper. When the sun set and the tired guests retired to their soft beds in the upper floors, Blue Shift stirred from his own bed and sought to remedy the clutter left in the wake of the day-goers, so that upon the sun's return, the park would once again be orderly and clean. This often left Blue Shift to work in relative silence, but he didn't mind. He felt the din of waking crowds were spoilsome of the night. ...Though, perhaps that was simply long-time conditioning speaking, since he had been away from the day since he was but a colt.
Grasping a half-filled bag in his mouth, Blue Shift trotted slowly over to the center of the park where his broom and wastebin were leaned up against one of the central three fountains. This particular statue was carved to form a stone unicorn spitting out a constant stream of water from its mouth. In its shadow was a small, yellow-white filly, getting up of her haunches with a small bounce as she had noticed him approach. She gave another little bound and skipped over to him, her small, feathered wings opening and subtly catching air with each hop.
"Hey Blue! Can I help?" She asked excitedly.
"Shouldn't you be at home?" Blue Shift teased her. "Young fillies should be in bed at this time of night."
Honestly, Blue Shift was not at all surprised to see Dove Wing here. For the past year or so, she had the habit of following him during his work, despite his nocturnal schedule. Though, he suspected she was nocturnal to begin with, long before the two had met.
"But Blue, I can't sleep." She pouted with exaggeration. "And it's more fun to visit you than lay in bed!"
"What about your parents? Do they know?"
"They found out I slip out at night a long time ago," she said with a sly grin. "Besides, I told them I come to see you at night. If you let me stay, it won't be a lie, now would it?"
Once again, Dove gave a little bound, a gentle smile on her youthful face.
"So how about it?" She chimed again.
Tonight was far from the first time he'd caught her out alone at night. True, often she did sneak out to meet him, but often he caught her roaming at night anyways. Initially he was worried about her getting into trouble, or lost, or something, but after awhile he had to admit she was more capable than she seemed. Still, he wasn't about to give her any tedious, actually-hard-work-like task of his to do, lest he lose all respect in himself as a pony.
"I know something we can do together." Blue said with a smile, ruffling her mane with his front hoof. "But, I need to go get something. Close your eyes and don't peak, okay?"
From the start, he suspected she may enjoy what he was given to do tonight. He didn't know she'd show up for sure, but he had his suspicions.
"Of course!" She promised with a serious expression, quickly fixing her mane. "Scout's honor!"
You're not a scout, silly. Blue thought as he trotted away towards the service building behind the left-most structure with a smirk on his face.
As he wound further down the pathways, diverting from the main entrance to skirt around the side towards a fairly shaded, concealed structure, Dove Wing had disappeared entirely. While he doubted she'd take the no peaking thing seriously, which was fine, he knew she would nonetheless stay put. He admitted she was a bit of a trouble-seeker, as well as a victim of a serious run of bad luck that even brought them together in the first place, but she was a good filly all the same.
Right where he had last seen it sat a wooden cart with the Mareiott's logo engraved on its side, just in front of the wheels. After briefly checking the contents over, he slipped the riding brace onto his back and pulled the cart out of its standstill. He wasn't quite used to the physical work of pulling a wagon, and honestly, it took a bit out of him, but the short distance he had to travel made it little to no issue. Only a few minutes had passed before he had made his way back to the unicorn fountain. Seeing him with the cart, and completely forgetting about the surprise element of the whole thing, Dove bounded over to meet him at the edge of the opening. After affectionately rubbing noses, she broke off to inspect the back of the cart.
"What's in here?" She asked eagerly.
Blue simply smiled, slipping out from the brace and over to her side as she looked in on the mass of color. Within, was a wealth of fall-blooming flowers, from blue to red to purple to yellow. Though all were muted in the darkness, Blue admitted they were still quite pretty in the partial moonlight. Many varieties, all fragrant and welcoming, were to be planted to greet tomorrow's newcomers, but that wasn't the best part.
With a nod, Blue motioned for Dove to climb aboard. Though there was little room, she flitted up and clung happily to the frontal barrier preventing the cart's contents from falling forward. Blue once again donned the brace at the front of the cart and wheeled it onward. They left the fountains behind them, traveling away from the two buildings and around the numerous hedges that now rose to their sides, each solid form delicately shaped to be completely uniform. Before long, they came to a circular opening where four hedge-lined pathways converged into an open area. At the center was a large stone circle, making something of a short stage, while between the four converging pathways were four open spaces of grass just outside of the circle where the hedges had stopped short. Two of these spaces were already marked with symmetrical earth pony statues. The stone ponies were posed in a majestic, bucking display with long, flowing gray manes and tails that swept around their rear legs. The other two grassy areas, running parallel to the two buildings to their sides, were recently dug up and left fairly disordered, giving evidence of only hours before being worked over by the maintenance crew in their preparation for Blue’s job.
Up above, he could tell that Dove was putting two and two together.
"So what are we making?" Dove asked, looking back into the cart. "Are we spelling out something with the daises and---"
"That's the best part." Blue interjected. "Velvet said I--we, could do whatever we wanted with it."
"So that means--"
"Yup." Blue smiled. "Make whatever you want."
As she passed another quick glance over to the cart, she bounded down off the cart with a light laugh. Together, they had done a few other creative projects during his job in the past, much to Dove's enjoyment. They were rare, but the two of them enjoyed them as they came.
"...And don't worry, we have more where those came from." He said to the smiling filly.
Many hours had passed by the time Blue trotted up to the front door of the service building. It had taken the two of them longer to arrange than he had anticipated, but after a quick once-over of the park prior to the first rays of dawn, he could call it a day--or night--and retire to his room there at the Mareiott. Having already said good bye to Dove Wing, Blue pushed open the double doors, faint light from the awakening sun gleaming slightly on the metal engraving of the handles. Inside, it looked much like the lobby of the true Mareiott, though notably more compact and sparsely furnished. There was no front desk, but instead there were a few couches, tables, and a coffee bar. A jukebox off in the corner lay silent; even during the day, it was never touched. Blue doubted it even worked anymore. Two mares lay on the couch immediately to its left, one pulling at the lacing of her maid outfit, and the other sipping from a magically-suspended tea cup.
"Good morning Blue," the one pulling at her dress called out curtly, a tan earth pony with emerald-colored hair and similarly green eyes. "Oh dear, it looks like you got some dirt on your coat."
"Good morning Gemstone," Blue Shift said the Earth pony, who was now getting up from the couch and pulling a small handkerchief from the table nearby.
As she approached him, he shyly backed away before pointedly rubbing the dirt off himself with his front hoof, giving her an apologetic smile. She stopped and pouted for a second before recovering her normal upbeat attitude.
"How was your shift?" Gemstone asked cheerily.
"Looks like it was rough, if your filthy coat is any indicator..." The other pony said from the couch, an orange-brown pony with shimmering, straight red hair; her lips were still kissed to the rim of her cup, a field of orange energy holding it airborne.
"Cadie..." Gemstone chided.
"It was actually rather fun." Blue said with a slight smile, glancing over to the orange and red unicorn.
"Did your little friend visit you again?" Gemstone asked.
A slight, good-natured humph sounded from the nearby 'Cadie', known as Decadence to most.
"If she really visits as often as you say, she may very well be on a troubled road. It's not good to encourage her vagrant behavior, you know."
Blue gave her a puzzled look as she paused to sip her tea, purposely taking a dramatic pause.
"You really should do something about her. Talk to her parents, or something."
"I know, but--"
"I'm sure she's fine." Gemstone cut in, defending Blue. "After all, she's got this big stallion to look after her."
Blue started a little at that, a slight blush creeping over his face at the undeserved praise. From afar, he could see a slight smirk on Cadie's face as she caught his reaction.
"Alright, Gemstone. Don't tease the poor little colt."
"I'm not a c--"
"Anyways, we have places to be, dear." Cadie cut him off before he could retort.
Together, the two mares Gemstone and Cadie, the latter jumping up from the couch, headed off to the door in a hurry. Gemstone gave Blue a kind, joyous smile as she bounded lightly past him, flanking him on the right side. Following closely behind her was Cadie, crossing Blue on the left. As she passed by him, he felt a light touch on his cheek where her lips lightly touched his skin.
"And try to relax, dear. Too much stress will kill you dead."
After hearing a small laugh, they were gone, and Blue was alone in the service lobby. Rubbing his cheek with his foreleg, he shook his head slightly and sighed. He really didn’t need to think about that now. All he wanted to do was climb into bed. The night was over, and his place was in his room under a his blanket.
Though, I could use a bath first, he noted, looking down at the dirt that still clung to his body.
White walls.
A figure in the distance.
A strange smell.
...
Floor.
Blue opened his eyes to gray carpet pressing against his face. The rest of his body hung limply off his bed with his neck bent sideways at a painful angle. When he tried to move the rest of his body, it simply rebelled, causing him to fall out of bed completely and land in a heap of jumbled limbs, covers, and sheets.
The heck, body?
Blue tried to salvage his dignity, pretending nothing happed as soon as he stood up and kicked the covers back onto his bed to be sorted out later. After checking himself over in the mirror, to which he noticed his head was still bent to the side a little, he shrugged and walked to the door, grabbing a small saddlebag on his way out. As soon as he entered the narrow hallway just outside, music permeated the air, if only in a low, barely audible hum. It seemed to resonate from behind one of the doors further down, carrying a melodic, peaceful tone he would have enjoyed listening to given another chance. However, today, he was busy. Today, he had a date. ...Of sorts. Turning away from the source of the music, Blue made his way down the hallway until it opened up into the service lobby. Unlike last night’s accompaniment of only two familiar mares, there were relatively numerous ponies relaxing in the entry room. Most were still familiar to him in a passing sense, but not heavily so, and all engaged in something or another he had little interest in remarking on. A few glanced his way and smiled at him as he made his way to the front door, but largely he passed them by with little thought, fragments of conversation and idle gossip being the only thing he caught.
The peaceful atmosphere of the lobby, which all together had a very subtle comradeship of ponies sharing a workplace, was quickly replaced by an alien mixture of luxury and stiffness. Gazing about him, the working ponies of the service lobby were quickly replaced by the social elite of Equestria, dressed prim and proper for a near-sunset stroll. Blue couldn't find the logic in wearing formal attire to something as mundane as a walk literally yards from the hotel. He shrugged.
Trying not to draw attention, Blue took one of the paths that lead away from the Mareiott. He saw a few upper class ponies glance in his direction, disinterest showing in their eyes, but otherwise he was ignored completely. These weren't they type of ponies he got on well with. Something about their nose-to-the-air behavior and adherence to appearance over all bothered him. Strange, his choice of workplace, he admitted.
Though, before long, the fanciful and meticulously cared for greenery was quickly replaced by more rough, indigenous flora, kept relatively tame but left to a more natural state. Lesser shops and modest homes rose around him near and far, all with dirt trails leading up to their entrances. Vegetable gardens and small, barely cared for parks replaced the Mareiott's hedges and fountains. Though, as the path wound further away from his place of employment and housing, the structures grew denser and denser.
Before long, he was at the cusp of the nearest town, a relatively small place by the name of Kingstalon. It was easily dwarfed by Vanhoover, Canterlot, and the other major cities that graced the kingdom's map, but Kingstalon was still quite the notable township to visitors hoping to traverse the Unicorn Range; thus, the bountiful land it was built on--land with high potential for recreation--allowed it to grow into the busy, populated place it was today.
...Not that you would know it from its streets, Blue noted, looking around at the bare, orange-tinted masonry. Few ponies seemed to mill about in the prelude to night. Many stalls, iconic of the heavy commerce Kingstalon attracts, lay vacant, with the few merchants remaining looking on the verge of slumber or tactical retreat in the face of so little business. Many were already gathering their supplies in large sacks, and throwing them onto their wagons at the back of their wooden stalls. A few wanderers still stopped at the stalls, perhaps to buy an apple or a pastry, but the large quantities of goods--especially food--remained largely untouched, overflowing generously from their baskets and onto the counters. Plums, peach pies, expertly decorated angel food cakes, delicious looking apples...
Blue's stomach growled.
With an awkward smile, he approached the nearest stall, the owner looking up from his packing with a hint of a knowing grin.
A few bits lighter, and with a half-eaten red fruit held firmly in his mouth, Blue resumed his steady trot towards the center of town. His eyes studied the corners of each trimmed building, many with store windows shut against the nonexistent customers-to-be. He mentally remarked the more elegant architecture of the area, which only grew grander as he went on. Before long, his gaze locked on a single building, one he was quite familiar with by this time. It had large pillars in the front, reminiscent of ancient shrines and government centers, and large, scholarly statues in the front. One such was of one particular bearded stallion, who arguably contributed more to the field of magic study than any other. Blue paused beneath it, a small flame growing in his eyes before he gave the statue an exaggerated bow, knowing that the long-dead stallion would never know the difference. Still, it felt right.
With a slight edge of restlessness in his step, he rushed up the few, but large mason steps and to the front doors, each carved out of aged oak wood. Inside, was what looked to be a single, colossal room that spanned three separate floors. Shelves stocked thickly with books of all sorts carved out a labyrinth in the large, three story floor plan. As Blue continued his stride forward, a small voice shook him from his thoughts.
"Excuse me."
Nearby, reclining gingerly behind a large, ornate desk was an aged mare with a brown bun manestyle, her eyes narrowed at his direction.
"H-hello. I'm here to see Radient Dawn?" Blue responded politely, a slight edge of nervousness in his voice.
The librarian mare scrunched up her face, studying him closely. Shakily, her hoof pushed a pair of glasses up to rest on her muzzle from where it previously hung around her neck.
"Ah! Young Blue Shift, how are you today?" she asked with a kind smile, finally recognizing him. "Dawn should still be in the alchemy branch of the traditional medicine section. Such a studious mare, she is."
"Huh...? Where is...?"
His question dropped off at her pointing a hoof towards one side of the building, far back to the corner of where the east wing should be. He nodded his thanks, only to see her leaning over the desk with a strange grin.
"Don't keep her too long with your lessons. I hear she's been given quite a doozy of a project."
A slight blush creeped over Blue’s face at having his lessons made known. Her words also drew a slight fear that he may be inconveniencing his friend now. However, at the good-natured, dismissive wave from the mare before him, he put it to the side and went to seek out his friend.
After avoiding collision with a few passersby in the hallways, he finally came upon the alchemy and non-magical medicine section on the first floor, tucked away in a small subdivision of said floor. Several long shelves took up the large alcove, each housing old texts originating or dedicated to a different era of history. Many titles did not even seem to be of common tongue, marked instead by symbols he could not read. Counting off the different eras, he made his way to a small study area just past the eighth era shelf, three small tables and several scattered chairs filling the otherwise vacant space. Alone at one of the tables sat a cloaked figure, her scarlet robe marking her as a magic scholar, one of many housed by this library.
Completely enraptured by her text, she did not notice Blue's approach to her table. Craning his head, he spied the title ‘Natural Restoration: Theories and Applications. By Moon Ivy.’ By the looks of the scattered sheets of parchment around the open book, each marked black with various illustrations and long swathes of text, his friend had been at the book for quite some time.
Suddenly, she heaved a large sigh, before brushing her hood back to reveal a mess of red hair sticking out at strange, jagged angles around an orange horn that matched her coat. Her golden eyes seemed a little unfocused and tired, though they instantly cleared as soon as she realized she wasn't alone. Her eyes now focused solely on him, silence gaping between the two ponies.
"Oh h-hey, Blue." She stuttered, quickly closing her book with a sheepish grin.
"If I'm interrupting, I can leave," Blue suggested with a small smile, getting the gist of how much she got herself into this time, "Work comes first, after all."
"It's fine." Dawn gave an awkward laugh. "I was actually winding down on the Moon Ivy's theories involving several herbs from the bogs surrounding Blackhoof that supposedly promote heightened vigor and sexual--"
"I get it, thank you," Blue cut her off with a smile, still trying to be polite but really uninterested in hearing the rest of ...that. "So do you have time for another lesson, then...?" He held his tone in a hopeful way, but still mentally acknowledging she may be too busy.
Her eyes seemed to go blank at the question, as if she didn't understand his words.
"Lesson...?"
A slight frown crossed Blue's face.
"Yeah, our basic magic lessons," he said.
Dawn was still silence, seeming to try to piece together recollection of something that... wasn't quite there. Blue sighed inwardly before adopting a patient, non-condescending smile. He knew he’d have to jog her train of thought a little, as usual.
"Like, levitation magic, light spells, simple shows of--"
"Oh!" Something in Dawn's head finally clicked and whirred back to life. "Basic proficiency spells as outlined by the coucil of magic! Why yes, just this afternoon I was looking into the different theories of levitation magic and their connection to such a wide spectrum of magic archetypes exists. It's been proven by Star Shine to be an almost universal--"
Blue coughed.
"R-right, I'm rambling again," Dawn said with another sheepish grin. "Sorry. It’s been a long evening. Anyways, I’d be happy to continue our lessons."
Blue smiled a wide, friendly smile. "Thank you so much, and it’s no problem at all. Any chance we can start?"
"Of course, just let me set these over here..."
With a good amount of care, Dawn began to shuffle her various notes and illustrations to the side, many going into a fairly sizable, red-stitched bag resting against her side. As she set her book aside and started to clean off the table, Blue reached into his own bag and pulled out several fruit pastries. He wasn't technically supposed to bring them into the library, but he hasn't exactly been caught often before, and when he did... It seemed to be more or less passed over, so long as he didn't make a fuss over it. Nonetheless, he could feel Dawn's eyes finally take in the tasty looking confections, seeming to realize only then that she was indeed... very hungry.
"I... think I forgot to eat breakfast." She smiled shyly.
"I figured as much." Blue replied with a kind smile, nudging a few of the pastries towards her, still feeling a little guilty over interrupting her work.
Each dug into the small meal Blue had smuggled into the library. After polishing off a little of the food, the two unicorns set into the lesson, Blue acting as the student to Dawn's very capable mentorship.
"And now, Black Star. Please come forward."
Black Star stepped forward with White Needle in tow, replacing a green unicorn who previously stood before the magic council. The six council members stood behind a curved stone table in the shape of a crescent moon, their faces aged and their eyes following Black Star as she stepped into the center.
"Black Star," the eldest of the groups spoke with a weakened, gentle voice, "you are here to report the progress on your dealings with magical auras. Please, share your findings with us."
"Yes, Conflux," Black Star said with a formal nod. "White Needle?"
Her partner stepped to her side, his eyes focused forward but otherwise empty of any depth or emotion. "As you all are aware, Black Star has led research into delving further into the nature of magic auras, and the possibility thereof to be altered for the benefit of ponykind, as well as for the futherment of knowledge regarding magic as a whole. We have found there are many agents in this world, both magical and natural, that stand to influence the core of a pony on a magical level, selectively imposing changes that manifest in their aura and magic ability."
"So instead of changing the form that magic energy takes on, changing the energy itself..." One of the council members muttered thoughtfully.
"Exactly," Black Star confirmed, "instead of taking raw energy and twisting it to one of the many established venues such as kinetic fields or form alteration, we believe we can instead alter the source of energy and empower it. We have already confirmed that it may be possible to increase the latent magic power of a unicorn... or any other form of pony for that matter, quite substantially, increasing their natural potential by a substantial amount."
"Which brings us to our original question," stated one of the central council members, a relatively young unicorn with a deep voice. "What has been your progress?"
Black Star nodded, prepared with a carefully prepared answer. She always felt a little nervous reaching this part of her report to the council, but she knew better than to let it show in anything she did here in the slightest way.
"While we have experienced minor setbacks in creating predictable alteration agents, we have already increased the natural magical affinity of three of our subjects by a notable margin. The effect is temporary, but we are actively working on not only extending the duration of effect, but also its potency. We believe we should eventually be able to safely extend the effect over the course of a natural life time, voiding any issue of natural relapse."
"However..." A previously silent council member, an off-black unicorn, spoke up. "Black Star, considering the vital nature of the natural magic aura you are attempting to alter, how stable can you claim these changes to be? Were there any negative effects evident in your three subjects? There's a very good reason research has been... limited in your area, beyond its obvious difficulty.”
"We have taken all the necessary precautions, and have not taken on any rash action in our work," Black Star asserted strongly. "The three ponies I mentioned have shown no negative effects, and returned to normal over the course of a week or so with no perceivable side effects. I understand the possible danger in our work, so let me assure you, I am doing everything I can to prevent any ill effects as a result of my experiments. My team and I fully understand that there are many risks we cannot take with this, nor will rushing benefit us. We have been very careful with our work, I assure you.”
Seeing the nods from most of the council members, minus the one outspoken off-black unicorn, Black Star continued.
"We stand to lose nothing from our pursuit, so long as we are mindful of the edge that we walk on. I feel we will undoubtedly benefit ponykind through our research in time, even if the end result is modest at best. Regardless, the last thing we want is to know our research caused any pony suffering."
"Very well then," Conflux spoke up again. "Thank you, Black Star. And you, White Needle. You have the council's blessing."
From the side, Black Star still saw the off-black unicorn glaring at her rather intently with an unreadable expression. Not meeting his gaze, she tried to silently swallow the apprehension rising in her throat.
"Until the next hearing, Black Star," Conflux declared.
"Now then," a unicorn sitting next to the eldest spoke up, being Conflux’s second in seniority, "let us hear from the Canterlot Magic Scholars."
Black Star nodded to the council and turned to leave, White Needle following her back into the shadowed crowd gathered to watch the proceedings. She could still feel herself being watched still by the black unicorn.
Blue and Dawn left the library together, night having set in a few hours ago, leaving them to darkness permeated magnificently by soft street lights and the ever-present celestial canvas above. The two moved well in stride with the other, each feeling light and slightly euphoric, despite the meager accomplishments of their task.
"No way that's what they did." Blue refused.
"It's quite true! It was a sacred ritual, even!"
"But... In public? In the marketplace even?!"
"Believe it or not, ponies wouldn't even look at it twice. It was so... common place."
Dawn laughed a little, a joyous smile on her face. Though, Blue's own face darkened a little.
"...Hey, Dawn?"
Noticing the change of Blue's mood, her tone suddenly dropped to one of concern. "Yes?"
"Am I ever going to be able to learn to use magic?"
Blue's voice had dropped low, traces of dashed hope playing at his inflection. Dawn's expression quickly matched her worried tone, but she quickly pushed it away after adopting an optimistic smile.
"Of course! It's pretty much unheard of for a unicorn to not be able to use the basic tier of magic. Why, it's only rarely been confirmed to happen at all!" She declared with a smile. "Though, there was one particular unicorn by the name of Misfortune who only learned well after he had foals."
Dawn grinned brightly.
"Otherwise, unheard of! We just haven't found the right approach yet!" She continued.
"I hope so," Blue returned, a slight smirk on his face. "Just..."
He looked up to the sky, and the endless swathe of celestial bodies above. Countless stars suspended in an endless abyss. Flecks of light so large in actuality, yet so small in appearance. It... was strangely beautiful.
"I want to be able to prove myself, one day." Looking to his friend, some of his buried determination shone through in his sapphire eyes. "I want to enter into the Magic College. To prove myself as a unicorn. To be more than just some janitor."
"You're not just some janitor." Dawn said with a gentle, if slightly sad smile. She pulled Blue into a warm hug. "You're my friend, and I will gladly help you figure out how to use magic."
A brief moment of silence passed between the two.
"...Though, I gotta say, you've proven to be one of the more difficult cases." She mused, a teasing smile on her face. "Maybe it's that thick head of yours."
Blue backed off slightly with a smirk at the hoof attempting to prod his face. "You're one to talk. Tell me, what color robe are you wearing again?"
She looked a little offended.
"Why of course its--"
...She stopped to look back.
"--Red!"
A slight blush on her cheeks proved his point as she huffed defiantly. Blue's smirk grew into a full on grin.
"Anyways, how about dinner?" he asked, changing the subject. "As a thank you."
Seeming to forget the exchange entirely, her eyes seemed to snap to focus once again.
"Oh, but I don't want to ma--"
"No worries. After all, you covered it last time." Blue winked at her, "besides, I still want to even it out for helping me with this..."
He gave her a shy smile. Finally relenting, she dropped her objections and the two simply took in the night around them for a moment. They seemed to be the only souls out and about in this part of town. While peaceful, it was somehow a little eerie, though Blue had a lifetime to get used to it.
"So, where are we going?" Dawn asked.
"The usual place," Blue returned, a jokingly exaggerated look of shock on his face. "I'm surprised you don't remember."
"Of course I do," Dawn huffed. Blue was sure that was a lie.
Soon they came upon an open-air café with tables and chairs set out under the starlight. Soft, magic lamps adorned each table and hung from the side of the small establishment. A few mares and stallions gathered around it as they ate and chatted, filling the air with a very light buzz of conversation that was largely lost between sunset and sunrise. As the two settled into a table, a young mare wearing a tie and black jacket came to their table and left a small, stylized menu. After ordering, Blue and Dawn once again began to muse over various subjects.
"Don't tell me, they really had you looking into the sky for two days?" Blue raised an eyebrow. Excessive much?
"Three, actually." Dawn frowned. "And I was only able to study about half of the olden constellations."
Thinking on it, she adopted a mildly frustrated expression. "I mean, it wasn't even the correct month for the Pegasi Crest to actually be visable in the southern sky! If they wanted me to study the Olden Constellations, they should have had me do so at least 40 days later on. At least. It would have been a lot more efficient."
"Huh."
A moment of silence stretched between the two as Blue was a little lost to a proper reply. However it wasn't long before it was interrupted by the server returning with two tea cups, one for each of them. Sipping from his sugar cane tea, Blue resumed their conversation with a small change of subject.
"So what about this new project of yours? What do they have you doing now?"
Dawn's cup stopped midair, suspended in a field of red energy that helped light up her confused expression in the dim light of the café.
"...New project?"
"Like, what you were doing in the library when I interrupted you," Blue continued, still being met with no more than a blank stare. "With the books on alchemy, and Moon-whatever's theories on--"
"--Oh!" Suddenly her face lit up with a sudden rush of clarity. "The Head Archivist is having me research and compile the progression of Alchemy from the full length of time covered by the library's historic reference books. Some even date to before the rule of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, though largely they've fallen out of favor due to their... darker components. Though, most notable are the reference materials originating in Zebrica, which seem to have a much greater potency and sheer volume of brews than any of our own books can boast. It seems to be based off of a strong knowledge--though it may be more out of a greater length of trial and error--of the magic that lays dormant in flora and fauna."
"But... how is Zebrica more advanced than Equestria in terms of alchemy. Don't we hold a major technological advantage over them?"
A disapproving look was returned to his question. "The Zebras are less advanced, yes, but their herb lore and focus on natural magics puts us to shame easily."
"I see," Blue nodded, giving in. "So, how does natural magic work, anyways?"
"Well, you see... Um." Dawn struggled to put her thoughts into words. "As you probably know, all ponies have some amount of magic, unicorns above all. Though, their magic takes different forms, and differ completely depending on the individual. Even cutie marks are tied to a pony's natural magic."
Blue nodded, downing the rest of his tea. This stuff is like sugar water... oh yeah. It is.
"Pegasi magic has to do with flight, largely. Their bodies are slightly ethereal in nature, meaning they can fly despite their weight being too much for their wingspan and lift power. It also means they can manipulate many ethereal bodies we cannot, such as water vapor and weather. Unicorns meanwhile, are something like magic generators. Their natural magic will swell, grow, and focus itself through their horn into a usable form, such as spells and barriers. Earth ponies... while they 'have' magic, it doesn't really change them in a largely notable way, instead it simply is stored away inside their bodies, almost as if giving them a second energy reserve."
Dawn put down her cup and started gesturing with her hooves.
"Most people think Earth Ponies lack any magic, but in truth they have a certain form of healing magic! Well, sorta... While they can't actively use their magic, it still seeps into their body and replenishes their strength when needed. The more often they use it, the greater their magic pool grows to be, and so the greater their strength and endurance begins to surpass natural limitations."
Blue blinked, taking a moment to let it sink in. Once upon a time, he heard the explanation of natural magic, but somehow, it didn't stick out to him as much as it did when his friend explained it. Though, something was missing from her exposition...
"What about alicorns?" Blue asked, though half forgetting his question as his food finally arrived. It only took him a few seconds to fill his face with the hay sandwich offered to him.
After taking a small bite of her own salad, Dawn contined, "Alicorns are... Different. In a way, they ARE magic."
"...Buh?" Blue mumbled, his mouth still full of food.
"You see... alicorns aren't born, they simply... ascend, usually from unicorns. When a pony's natural magic grows to a certain point, their body is transformed into an alicorn. Usually only the greatest and most powerful of unicorns achieve this form. Essentially, it happens when their bodies contain so much residual magic that their very flesh becomes magically charged and a chain reaction initiates, freeing them of some of the 'natural' properties of their body."
Blue tilted his head, confused as to her meaning.
"As I said, in a way, they ARE magic. They still retain their physical form, but a strong magical residue permeates every cell. Their lifespan exits the natural path, and instead reflects their magic pool. Instead of age taking a toll on their body, their body simply falls apart as their magic is slowly depleted. The more powerful the alicorn, the longer it takes for that to happen."
"Hence how Celestia and Luna have managed to live for well over a thousand years?" Blue asked hesitantly, trying to follow along.
"Yes! Actually if you look closely, Luna, despite being banished for a thousand years, is actually the more powerful of the two. Well... maybe not yet, but I believe she will be. Ever notice her smaller size?"
Not really sure what Dawn was getting at, Blue slowly nodded, urging her to continue.
"Well, an alicorn's lifespan reflects the level of his or her natural magic. Celestia and Luna have learned to draw magic out of external sources, bolstering their own magical aura to godlike status, yet Luna has aged to a much lesser degree, meaning she either ascended much sooner during her natural lifespan, or has achieved a much greater pool of magic energy than Celestia."
"But, Celestia draws power from the sun itself, doesn't she?" Blue asked, a little too loud. "What can be more powerful than that?"
Dawn seemed to think on it, but couldn't come to a good answer. Sadly, this is where her educated observations ended and became simple theories.
"My guess is in addition to the moon, she draws energy from the stars and constellations?"
Dawn shrugged. Blue simply drifted further back into his seat, his body slumping. Picking up his cup between his hoofs again, he stared into the empty bottom.
I want more suger water, dang it.
“And Alchemy?”
“Alchemy is simply exploiting natural magic or certain physical properties of plants,” Dawn said with a shrug. “Stuff like brews to cure a headache and such.”
Blue chewed on all he’s heard for a moment. Suddenly, he rose from his seat, adopting an optimistic grin. Dawn followed suit, both getting ready to leave. After throwing a few bits onto the table, the pair began to stride back out into the night.
"So Luna is really more powerful than Celestia?" Blue asked.
"Theoretically, yes."
"So how did Celestia bana--"
Blue was instantly cut off as a large form rose to violently impede his path. Falling to the ground, Blue scolded himself for not paying attention to the road.
"Sorr--"
Looking up, he saw a large, gray stallion with slate colored eyes staring back at him. Instantly, he recognized one Piston Lever.
"No one is more powerful than the Golden Goddess." Piston huffed, ignoring the fact he just became an impromptu break for one unlucky unicorn. "Anyways, you haven't stopped by the shop in days, Blue. Your timepiece has just been sitting there behind the desk for ages."
Piston glared at him with an annoyed expression. Blue's face contorted, confusion playing on his features.
"But, you said it'd take until the new moon to fix my pocket watch?" Blue asked, still lying back on his haunches.
"Timepiece," Piston stressed, "a pocket watch goes in your pocket, hence the name. Yours hasn't been a pocket watch for ages. If anything, it's closer to being a pendant now, really."
"He's right, you know." Dawn chimed in with a good-humored tone. "Some even call it a 'neck watch' or 'chronopendant,' though both are technically incorrect."
"Anyways, I have no idea what you're talking about," Piston continued, "we've had it fixed for days though, at any rate."
Blue simply frowned. "Alright, I'll go pick it--"
Before he could finish, Piston tossed a small, metal object to Blue. Having barely caught it in time, Blue looked down to see his pocket watch timepiece. It was fairly simple with the three basic hands over a silver background and black gothic numbers. The frame was smooth and featureless, though lightly scratched and tarnished with wear. He turned it over to see the familiar insignia of an alicorn surrounded by six stars, the crest of the Magic College.
"Somehow, I knew I'd find you roaming about tonight," Piston boasted, ever so subtly glancing over to Dawn while Blue slipped the timepiece around his neck. Somehow, Blue knew Piston wasn't there to see just him.
"Anyways, don't leave stuff with us for so long. It clutters up the store," Piston asserted, this time adopting a friendlier if still prideful smile.
"Well, thanks," Blue returned, getting up and dusting himself off. "Anyways, I have to get back to the Mareiott. My shift starts soon."
"Right. You do that, while I take Dawn home," Piston declared a little too boldly, though Dawn seemed completely passive to his intent.
"...I was headed that way too, as it's in the exact same direction as the library."
"...Right," Piston muttered, poorly concealed disappointment in his voice.
Under his breath, Blue could have sworn he heard the gray stallion curse his luck.
"That went well." White Needle said flatly, sitting against the table with a mug raised to his muzzle. Having just now returned in the dead of night to their facility, the two opted to share a brief meal before retiring to their rooms.
Black Star, however, was nervous. She paced back and forth, her calm exterior during the four hour hearing having long worn off now that she had returned home. It was the off-black stallion, she realized. Something about him... disturbed her. He didn't trust her. She knew it.
Picking up on what was bothering her, White Needle spoke. "It’s inevitable that not everyone believes our ‘success stories’ fully. So long as we produce presentable results, they won't pry enough to matter though, so long as we're careful."
At that, he lowered his mug to stare into Black Stars eyes, his own eyes intense despite their blank expression. "And we have been nothing if not careful."
A pained expression crossed Black Stars face. She had stopped pacing, but she couldn't quite look him in the eye for long.
"...Do you think we crossed the line?" She asked quietly.
"What we're trying to achieve would never be possible through harmless means," White Needle stated matter-of-factly. "Once that was established, we were given two famous options."
"...To compromise ourselves to try to reach our goal, or sit by and do nothing," Black Star finished for him.
"Exactly so."
"We will never be forgiven," she stated.
"And for a reason."
Silence passed between the two, White Needle continuing to drink from his mug. Black Star gave in and pulled up a chair to sit across from him.
"...The Twilight Council killed thousands," Black Star muttered quietly.
"They were ineffecient," White Needle stated coldly. "Their technology and methods were at a much greater disadvantage."
"So what are we left to kill? Hundreds? Somehow, that doesn't seem much better," Black Star admitted.
"Weighed against all of Equestria? It’s only logical to follow our path even if we still had to sacrifice thousands."
Black Star sighed. "I know. I don’t like this, though. Sometimes... I just wish there was another way."
"We're voiding death, or attempting to do so. Of course the price is high."
"...How much is a few lives, weighed against sustaining an entire era of peace?" Black Star asked, more aimed at herself than anything. "Even the rule of Celestia and Luna, which has taken us out of the dark ages of war and chaos, is doomed to end. While we can only hope to live maybe a century, the two of them have lived for roughly three millennia. And, they may very well continue to see many more..."
Black Star reached out to grab a second mug left on the table, staring into the clouded brown liquid inside.
"...But it all must end. Peace never lasts forever, and while it may exceed our lifetimes, we are dooming our children's children to a dark, godless future if we dare sit idle."
Black Star shook her head.
"If we prevent the death of countless others,” she continued, “it will be well worth it. Even extending the lives of the princesses by a mere 200 years may keep generations from knowing the darkness that consumed Equestria before. We will be found out eventually, but with any luck, we will have our solution prepared before then. Nothing matters beyond that. Nothing."
Without a word, White Needle reached inside his pocket and slid a small, white capsule across the table to his employer, keeping one for himself.
Picking up the pill, Black Star gave a tired, pained smile. "Here's to world peace," Black Star mused sarcastically.
"Here's to dreamless slumber," White Needle echoed, downing the medication that promised him just that.
