A New World

Chapters

Story One:Trace
Trace 2
Trace 3

Story One:Trace

It was night at the academy; Celestia had tucked the sun below the horizon a few hours ago. Trace sat at his desk toiling away into the night, preparing for a particularly difficult exam that he would have the following morning. His roommate, Draper, hummed to himself while reading a comic book every now and then letting out a fit of obnoxiously loud laughter. Each time that he heard it the white stallion could not help but wince. Though he would never ask his roommate to not laugh or at least be more quiet, he hoped one day his grey friend would notice the discomfort that it caused him. An insane hope he knew, but hope still.

The room was very small, the only two lights on in the room coming from candles on both the unicorn’s desks. After collecting himself from the latest outburst Trace leaned back over his desk, using his horn to move the pencil he held drawing a circular image on the paper. Around the outside of the circle he etched various magical runes, he would have to memorize this page perfectly if he had any hope of passing the exam tomorrow. Unlike most of the other unicorns at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, Trace possessed very little raw magical ability. He relied solely on his ability to memorize and create rune circles to pass the examinations that were given at the academy, and would spend days in advance creating and studying them should he need them come the fated day.

The white unicorn sat back from his drawing very pleased with himself, having finally completed it. He lifted it, with his horn, so that it hung in front of him; the elaborate circle would be what he used from now on if asked to perform any transmutation, and he had to admit that it was his greatest work yet. After looking at the page for a few minutes, and dedicating it to memory he crumbled the paper up and threw it in the metal bin next to his desk. Trace then placed a hoof to a rune etched into the bin and poured a little magic into it; the paper inside quickly caught fire and became ashes. The grey colt behind him did not stir for this was a regular occurrence in the room, and Trace had disabled the smoke detectors so that the little fire would not bring any attention to the room.

Just as the white stallion removed another paper from his desk intending to start on his newest light rune he heard very loud knocking at his door. He glanced at a clock and saw that it was eleven at night. He was irked by the sudden interruption, but all the same rose to his hooves, and went to see who it was that disturbed his studies. Before he opened the door he stopped, noticing that he had forgotten to put on his glasses. They were not prescription glasses, but ones of his own designs. To anypony else they would appear to be regular sunglasses; however for those who wore them they served a different purpose other than shielding the eyes from the sun. When looking through them anypony would see an aura around a unicorn of pure magic. The aura’s intensity showed the user how much magical ability they had, and the color told them the color of magic the unicorn possessed.

Trace had made the glasses over the course of his first couple of years at the school, and found that in a school of all unicorns they were useful a lot of the time. At the very least the glasses showed you who you really really should not pick a fight with at the school, which had saved the unicorn from getting his flank kicked on more than one occasion. Trace walked to his dresser and lifted the glasses off of it. He then brushed back his black mane so that the glasses could rest on his nose, and then let his forelock fall back to its usual position covering his left eye.

Ready to make his appearance before whoever had felt that they should disturb Trace at this late hour he made his way to the door once again and opened it. The unicorn that stood before Trace was a good six inches taller than the young adult. She had a pink coat and a turquoise mane, which was pulled back into braids. Trace knew her as Berry Grow, one of the teachers at the academy. In her magical grasp she held a parchment, which she began to real aloud.

“Cornelius Trace you have been summoned to the dean’s office and are to report immediately once receiving this summons. A matter of the utmost importance regarding your future needs to be discussed.” Having said her piece the mare turned and walked away grumbling something under her breath. No doubt she also did not want to be delivering messages at this time of night either.

Trace sighed knowing that answering the door he had sealed his own fate on the matter. He quietly closed the door behind him as he made his way down the hallway of the school. As he trotted, his mind sorted through many different scenarios that would explain why he was being called for so late at night. Nothing obvious came forth so he decided that he would discover the reason upon reaching his destination, and there was no reason to worry about it until then. He let the matter drop and proceeded to trot down the hallway.

The school was deathly quiet this late at night. As Trace walked through the dormitories leading to the main offices of the schools all he could hear were his own hoofsteps echoing off the marble floor of the hallway. It was not often that Trace found himself transversing the school so late at night, and the lack of anypony else made the scene eerily peaceful. While Trace was a pony that had no problem talking to others or sharing ideas, he was a pony that knew the value of silence. He found himself slowing so that he could admire the architecture of the building in the dim torchlight.

As he made his way out of the dormitory the torches that lit the walls were left behind and total darkness lay ahead. Trace lit his horn easily enough emitting a pure white light that caused shadows to begin to dance against the walls. Like the dormitory the main building of the school had white marble floors and white walls. No doubt the architect of the building had their ruler Celestia in mind when he had decided on the colors of the building. Trace turned down a halway to his left that led to the faculty offices and proceeded, not wanting to be late for his summons.

He reached the end of the hallway to be blocked by two very large metal doors. The dean’s office lay just behind the door, and Trace took a moment to gather himself so that he looked his most presentable. He then proceeded to knock on the door and waited for a reply.

“Enter,” said a feminine voice, distinctly not that of the dean.

Trace cast his magic out to encompass the handle of the door which was then encompassed in white, and pushed. He grunted a little at the effort and the door slid open. Trace was not prepared as the full fury of the sun struck his eyes, and he had to snap them shut so that he was not blinded.

____________________________________________________________________________

Though Celestia did not take a personal role in running her academy, she did often watch as prodigies were born within its halls, and sometimes guided these youths. The unicorn she now waited on could be said to be anything but a prodigy. From all accounts she had heard this particular student was barely able to ever pass his demonstrative examinations. On the other hoof, all of his written exams had perfect scores attached to them. The combination of the two made this student have quite average scores in the end, and average is not what Celestia usually took time out of her busy schedule to come and see.

While talking with the dean of the school she had been made aware of the young stallion through an offhand remark.

“True, many of the student here at the school very greatly. One example of course would be young Cornelius Trace who while is at the top of his class in theory, his ability to execute spells is just dreadful. I feel sorry for the young lad, he has so much potential but will always be held back by his lack of raw magical power,” The dean said with worry making its way to his face.

“If he has so much trouble at casting spells why is he still enrolled?” Celestia pressed.

“Well I have talked to him about dropping out and finding something he was more suited for, but he is very stubborn and would hear none of it. I believe he is trying to prove something to himself by staying enrolled. Far be it for me to remove somepony from the academy if they can manage to keep passing grades,” The dean replied.

It was this student that Celestia now waited on in the dean’s office. She sat at his desk reading through various reports on Cornelius Trace each one having something completely different to say about that student. They were entirely unhelpful. She tossed the latest report back into the pile letting out a sigh, and roused herself from the chair she was in. She proceeded across the marble floor to the window to gaze out upon her sister’s beautiful night, and became lost in thought. A knock at the door pulled Celestia back to the world, she turned to the door.

“Enter,” she announced to the pony standing beyond the door.

There was a short pause before the door opened, and white unicorn stepped into the room. He was tall for his age, which Celestia guessed was his late teens. His mane was black, interwoven with strands of dark blue. A lock of black hung from his forehead nearly obscuring half of the colt’s face, and he wore sunglasses, which Celestia found particularly interesting seeing as how it was eleven in the evening. The unicorn turned to cast his gaze on Celestia and suddenly turned away wincing.

“Wow,” he said in a startled voice. “Who dropped the sun in the middle of the room?” the unicorn asked removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

This was to say the least, not how Celestia was used to being addressed. She had to admit that she found the display slightly humorous, and suppressed a chuckle making its way up her throat. Celestia regained her composure, and cleared her throat loudly bringing the unicorn’s attention back to her.

Trace had been nearly blinded by the intense light the second he had stepped into the room, and was now clearing his eyes trying to remove the black spots he saw. The sound of somepony clearing their throat loudly caused Trace to hesitantly look back to the source of the light. There stood a tall alicorn smiling down at him, Princess Celestia. Trace managed to suppress a yelp that almost made its way out of his mouth before bowing; nearly slamming his head into the ground with the swift motion.

“P-princess Celestia, I did not see you there. Well I guess I did see you there, but I didn’t know that it was you. Please forgive me your highness I-I-I am not worthy to be in your presence,” he stammered trying to keep his voice even.

Celestia was unable to stifle a chuckle this time, which she noticed seemed to literally send a shiver down the unicorn’s spine. “Please rise, Cornelius Trace I have business with you that will be difficult to carry out if you keep your head to the ground,” she said in a gentle voice.

The unicorn lifted his head slowly to meet her gaze, and she had to admit to herself that this colt was at the very least amusing. A moment passed and Celestia was unable to stop herself from asking the question “Tell me, why did you react that way when you first entered?”

The unicorn took a second to word the next sentence perfectly before replying, “When I entered the room I suppose I was blinded by your radiance princess,” the answer elicited another chuckle from her.

“I must warn you now that I do not succumb to flattery that easily my little pony,” Celestia said with a slight grin stretched across her face.

“It was not an attempt at flattery I assure you. I was quite literally blinded by your radiance,” the unicorn replied motioning to the glasses that he held suspended in the air with magic. “I have enchanted these glasses to show me the magical power that anypony possesses, and when I laid eyes on you your highness I saw the sun standing in the middle of the room,” he said slipping the glasses onto his head making sure that they didn’t pass over his eyes.

“I see, well that is quite an interesting pair of glasses you have there then. But, I did not summon you here to merely ask about a pair of spectacles. I have come here to address your request to become a state researcher,” the princess stated flatly.

“Oh. I wasn’t aware that you did the interviews yourself princess.”

“Usually I don’t.” She announced “Most of the time I simply read the report handed to me by the interviewer, and decide whether or not a pony should be allowed admittance,” she paused as if thinking of how she should continue. “However, on rare occasions I take an interest in a certain applicant, and conduct the interview personally. Now is such a time.”

Trace tried to hide his shock. He knew that he was an unusual student to say the least, but he never imagined that the princess herself would call him in for the application interview. “I am honored to be considered in such a way your highness,” he replied bowing again.

“I am not sure you should be,” the princess continued. “From many accounts that I have heard you simply lack the magical ability for the position, but at the request of some of the staff at the school I have decided to determine that for myself. As you undoubtedly know a researcher into the field of magic must have a firm grasp on the arcane arts, and I am here to see whether or not you do.”

There was a pause, neither wanting to be the next to speak. Trace kept his head bowed not wanting to breach some unknown code of conduct that would have the Princess immediately fling him from the room if not the planet itself. Unfortunately for Celestia, he could not read his expression with his head bowed, so she decided to continue.

“Now Cornelius Trace tell me, why did you enroll in my academy in the first place?” the princess asked in a voice much softer than that in which she had been speaking.

Sensing that the interview had officially begun Trace lifted his head once again to meet Celestia’s gaze. A small bit of anger lingered from the mention of his obvious shortcomings, though he would not hold it against the princess, this was her job after all.

“I come from a long line of talented unicorns as you may know. My siblings all were what most would consider very talented in the way of magic. Unfortunately, I was not so lucky to be blessed with power at birth. By all accounts I was a weak foal unable to lift a leaf, which my father felt brought great shame on himself. On my tenth birthday he told me so. He said how I was a failure and didn’t deserve the family name of Trace. At this point I made it a goal to prove him wrong.

“For an entire year I studied the magical arts so that the coming year I could take the entrance exam for the school and hopefully gain admittance. All of my hard work paid off the following year when i passed the entrance exam, and was allowed entrance into this grand academy,” Trace finished his monologue that had been rehearsed many times to himself in anticipation of this question.

Celestia frowned, which Trace took as an obvious sign he had said something wrong. “While you certainly have proven that you can contend with other unicorns that were graced with magical ability, seeking power for power’s sake is not something that is a noble goal,” she replied looking over the colt, and saw a flash of remorse shine in his eyes before he quickly gathered himself to meet her gaze evenly.

“Though” she continued, “it is by far not the worst reason for enrolling in the school that I have heard over the years.”

“Tell me, how did you receive your cutie mark?” she asked pointing to the purple symbol on his flank. The cutie mark was of a circle, which held a triangle within it. Along the inside of the circle were magical runes. They formed a pattern unknown to even the unicorn on whose body they rested.

“It was during the entrance exam, Princess.” he replied, seeing her eyebrow arch asking some unheard question.

Trace decided that he would attempt to demonstrate and hopefully earn favor with Celestia. On the underside of his left fore-hoof he had inscribed a rune for such circumstances. He concentrated his magic and pressed his hoof to the floor causing a brief flash of white light. When he removed his hoof a piece of chalk lay on the marble ground of the office.

“As I have told you I do not posses much raw magical power,” he continued encasing the chalk in white light before removing it from the ground.

“So when I went to take the entrance exam I was very nervous. The proctor asked me to transfigure a rock into a potted plant, a simple task I suppose for somepony expected to be able to enter the academy. Though for me, this task was near impossible.” As he continued to talk he began to etch runes on the marble floor with the chalk he held.

“My brain was racing trying to figure out how I could possibly complete the task set before me with my tiny bit of magic. I remembered back to the countless books I had read on transfiguration and remembered all my failed attempts to do something even smaller than changing a rock into a plant. But, that is when it struck me. If I could not do the spell with the little power I had, perhaps I could change the spell so that I could pass.” He had nearly finished creating the large circle in the middle of the room. The princess watched as he moved, seeing where he was going with this.

“I do not know exactly where the inspiration came from, but I fetched a piece of chalk from a nearby chalkboard. I began to write on the ground around the rock a collection of magical symbols that I had read could aid a pony in pulling off very difficult transfigurations. I however was using them for something so simple, and was skeptical as to whether it would work. As you know, Princess Celestia runes can be used to focus a unicorn’s power so that a specific task can be completed, and while most magic is done by simply using the horn as a focal point I lack the ability to pull of much by doing so.” Trace had completed his rune circle and now pulled a pen from the dean’s desk and placed it in the middle.

“On that day I had some how cobbled together a working transfiguration circle like the one I have now drawn. My last hope was to pour as much magic as I possibly could into the circle and hope that the rock changed,” as he said this Trace placed his left fore-hoof onto the circle, which bore a slightly different set of runes on the underside. With a quick white flash the pen had vanished, and in its placed stood a tree, which just barely reached the ceiling of the room. “On that day after completing the entrance exam my mother pointed out to me that I now had my cutie mark,” he finished, motioning to his flank.

Celestia kept her stoic expression standing silently as she watched the conclusion of the demonstration. She now understood why the dean had been so adamant that she take a look at this pupil. It had been a while since she had seen a unicorn show such promise though she would not tell this particular one. No, he had a certain confidence about him that she did not quite trust. Confidence while not an out right bad trait to see in a pony, always carries with it the risk of arrogance, which is not something that was ever good in a unicorn especially when given the high ranking position he was asking for. Despite knowing this, Celestia could not help but like the colt.

“Though I didn’t ask for an actual demonstration, I believe that it was well performed. How long have you been rehearsing?” Celestia said after a long uncomfortable silence.

Trace’s confidence cracked at the last question, was it that obvious that he was doing things the he had rehearsed a hundred times for this interview? Was that even a bad thing?

“I have been waiting for the interview a long time Princess,” he said after a moment. “I have many such answers well rehearsed. I can divert from them if you wish,” he finished.

The comment earned him another chuckle from Celestia. Yes she did indeed like this colt, and she had to admit that he had potential. Potential of course, was one of the main requirements for the position, but there was another just as important.

“I have only one final question for you Cornelius Trace,” the princess announced. “The dean is a personal friend of mine and he tells me that on more than one occasion he has tried to encourage you to drop out of school and find something else to aspire to. Now tell me, why did you refuse to do so every time?” she asked, the final question rang in the air.

Trace saw that this question was greatly important, and stopped to think of an answer. Admittedly this was not a question he had prepared for, and this was obvious to the Princess.

“I don’t wish to drop out of school because… I want to learn more. Over my years here I have seen many a student with great power kicked out because they did not understand how to wield it. I have seen others who while not possessing the most natural ability have continued on to become great mages because of their perseverance. I wish to learn how I may one day do the same, and this is the only place in all of Equestria that I can do so. Learning to be the best unicorn I can is my dream, and asking me to leave here would kill that dream. So every time the dean asked me if I would consider finding something else to do with my life I refused, because this is the only thing in the world that I truly want,” he punctuated the final sentence with the stomp of his hoof on the marble floor.

He realized that he had raised his voice a few seconds later and quickly shrank away from the Princess. ‘I blew it, how could I have raised my voice to the princess. I am such a foal to do something so blatantly disrespectful. There is no way she will allow me to become a State Researcher now.’ The thoughts filled Trace’s mind, and he did not even notice that Celestia was smiling down at him.

She could see it now. The thirst for knowledge and the drive to improve oneself. These were the traits she was looking for and this young stallion had showed just how passionate he was about his studies. He was everything that she was looking for, and he would undoubtedly prove his worth in the future.

“Well then,” she spoke, Trace once again looking up to meet her gaze.

“I believe that I have come to a decision on this matter. You have shown yourself to be a capable unicorn that has a thirst for knowledge; these things are paramount for anyone to even be considered for the position of State Researcher.”

“However,” she continued, Trace wincing, as he knew the rejection was coming. “It was your passion for your dream that has won me over this day. I hereby bestow upon you, Cornelius Trace the title, and position of State Researcher for the land of Equestria.” She finished he proclamation in the most regal of voices.

Trace could not believe what he was hearing. She had accepted him, it seemed impossible, but it had just happened. He was hardly able to form a coherent thought, and felt tears of joy begin to well at the edges of his eyes. He snapped back to his senses pushing the tears back, not wishing to spoil this moment.

He bowed deeply before the Princess once again “You do me a great honor to grant me this position Princess, I will not allow it to be a mistake,” he stated in a steady voice.

“I know you won't Trace,” she said warmly smiling down at him. “Now that we have gotten that out of the way you will leave to academy immediately to begin your research,” she stated.

At this Trace looked up not only wondering how she knew his official nickname, but also why he would be leaving the academy. “I do not understand Princess Celestia. Why would I leave the academy to do my research?” he asked.

“I have seen in you great promise Trace, and being the greedy Princess that I am I wish to keep you all to myself. So I am sending you to Ponyville where you will have lodgings of your own, and all of the research equipment you could possibly ever want,” she stated still smiling down at the white unicorn.

“Ponyville? Do you mean the small town right outside of Canterlot?” he asked.

“Yes, my personal student Twilight Sparkle lives there and has told me that it is a great place with much to offer. I believe it will be a most fitting location for your future studies,” she assured him.

“Of course Princess, whatever you think is best is what I shall do.”

“Very good then.” She levitated a folded piece of paper to the new researcher. He took it in his magical grasp and opened it.

“On that paper is the address of the house that I have prepared for you, below it the number of your new bank account so that you can furnish it upon your arrival in Ponyville. That will also be the account you can use to purchase all necessary research materials that you may need, though many books you may be able to find at the town library. Now I wish for you to depart as soon as possible, there is a chariot waiting for you in front of the school. Hurry back to your room and gather anything you feel that you will need at your new home.”

Trace turned to leave, and once he reached the doors pulled them open. He stopped to look back a moment. “Thank you Princess, you don’t know what this means to me,” he gave his thanks before quickly heading back to his dorm where he would jump up and down on his bed in pure elation.

____________________________________________________________________________

The house he stood before was huge, or at least compared to the tiny room he had been staying in. It was two stories tall and painted navy blue, and to his eyes, was the most magnificent building ever built because it was his. He turned the doorknob with his magic and proceeded inside levitating behind him a single bag containing his entire life up until this point. All the lights were off, and at three in the morning the dwelling seemed foreboding. Trace quickly lit his horn; even though he was considered to be weak in magic he was always able to produce a pure white light easier than any other unicorn.

As anticipated there was no furniture in the house, and he felt that he really needed a rest. He crossed the empty living area, and trotted up the stairs oh his new home searching for the bedroom. There were three empty rooms on the second story of the building, but inside the largest stood a magnificent king size bed. Trace felt his heart leap at the thought of sleeping on a comfortable mattress instead of the hard floor. He made his way over to the bed and saw that a note lay on it. He placed his bag on the floor before and levitated the paper to his face so that he could read it.

Dear State Researcher Cornelius Trace,

I hope that you will find your new life in Ponyville every bit as exciting as you hoped this new position to be. You have a great responsibility now as you are tasked with furthering the study of magic for the benefit of all of Equestria. I recommend that you do not take this position lightly. However, I hope that you remember that the ponies who most furthered our grasp of the arcane in the past lead full lives. They did not simply devote their entire lives to studying magic, and I recommend that you do not either. You should spend some time in the town getting to know ponies. This I have no doubt will help you further your dream more than staying cooped up in a dark room.

Hopeful of the Future,

Princess Celestia

Trace curled up the note and placed it into his bag. He smiled to himself, and thought of the kind words offered to him by the ruler of all ponies. He would do as she suggested, since he was not one to be pent up all the time it wouldn't be very difficult. He pulled back the covers before climbing onto the bed. Once on top of the mattress he pulled them back over himself, and magically tucked himself in. Before turning off the light of his horn he thought to himself of just for fortunate he was. He had worked hard to get to where he was now, and now that he had done so a whole new life was going to open up before him. The only light in the house went out and Trace found sleep quickly, with sunglasses still resting on his forehead.

____________________________________________________________________________

“You dare stand before me, how foalish of you.” A fit of laughter erupted from a black alicorn causing his white mane to twirl more furiously in the wind, the light of his mane casting shadows across the deserted ruins. Standing on the ledge of a decrepit castle the black figure abruptly ending his laughter stared at the white alicorn hovering in the air, thirty feet away. “Well then,” he said challenging her, “Come at me.”

Celestia felt exhausted at this point, and was barely managing to keep aloft. The trees below were swaying in the violent wind, and the alicorn was fighting to keep her position. The night sky was blank, and was completely blocked out by the clouds. A drop of rain struck the Princess’s nose, and soon became a torrent. The sky let loose its floodgates and lightning cracked in the distance. Celestia continued to hover in the air before her enemy.

Celestia was staring directly at him knowing that she was unlikely to win this engagement. However, she wasn’t going to be deterred that easily. Her horn lit as she let loose a brilliant light that temporarily blinded her opponent. While he could not see she charged straight at him, but he knew this was coming. The dark alicorn smiled, planting his feet and lowered his head so that Celestia may be impaled on his horn. The princess barely managed to spin out of the way at the last second, crashing into a pillar behind the dark alicorn. Another fit of laughter broke through the air.

The dust in the air was quickly cleared by the falling rain, revealing Celestia breathing heavily. She lay in the gaping hole in the wall that was left by her crash. Turning her gaze so that she could see the black stallion the white alicorn began to get to her hooves. She drew herself as high as she could and began stepping towards her opponent, only to be stopped by a shooting pain in her side.

She looked down to her side where the pain had erupted from and found a red streak along her side where she had brushed his horn. Blood slowly trickled from the wound, but was stopped by her skin sealing itself off, rapidly healing. She looked back at the black stallion who had not moved an inch, and was smiling to himself facing away from her.

“YOU WOULD DARE TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!?” she screamed at him unable to contain her anger at the obvious insult.

“Why would I not, you have already failed. Your Equestria has fallen, and yet you seek to fight me. Do you not understand that what I have done is for the love of ponies everywhere? I wish paradise for this land. I have delivered it,” he stated flatly. “Why do you still defy me?” The question was sincere, the dark alicorn truly did not know.

“You are insane, and you are a mass murderer. You have torn this world apart, and the only way I can make up for allowing this to happen is to take you down,” Celestia raged. Lowering her horn she charged him once again.

The black alicorn sighed pressing his hoof to the ground. A purple ring erupted around the two alicorns and chains shot from the ground entangling Celestia. The princess was slammed to the ground, knocking the air out of her. Straining against her bonds she tried to move, but the chains would not allow her an inch, her magic also would not come when she called on it. One of the chains had wrapped itself around her horn preventing her from drawing on her power. The black alicorn turned to face the bound goddess. Slowly he began to trot over, until he was standing completely over her.

“I truly pity you Celestia, you ruled to the best of your ability but were just not up to the task. I on the other hand am the perfect pony for the job, and as you know I have already found a replacement for you.” The dark stallion stated, hoping that he could see even more anger build in Celestia’s eyes. She was unfortunately unable to make a reply, since his magical chains had bound her muzzle shut. “My queen will you not join me in my final moment of triumph?” he turned calling to a figure standing at the top of stone stairs leading into the room.

Turning his attention back to Celestia as hoofsteps behind him indicated that his queen had joined the two in the room he began to perform another spell. Magic crackled and a sword appeared from the black alicorn’s horn. The sword was long, and made of steel crackling with purple lightning. Trace looked down at the bound goddess and lowered the blade to her neck.

“Any last words Celestia?” The dark alicorn chided, raising the blade into the air. Another fit of laughter almost broke him from his pose, but he brought himself under control. Trace took one final look down at Celestia, whose face was calm and stoic.

Then he swung.

____________________________________________________________________________

Trace awoke sitting straight up in his bed panting. His purple silk sheets were damp with sweat, and his comforter lay on the floor. His throat was dry and soar, he wondered if he had been screaming. Panic swept over him as he realized he wasn’t in his dorm room, but quickly subsided. He was in his new house in the town of Ponyville, and had just arrived a few days ago. He swung his hooves over the side of the bed and hopped down.

Night terrors were not foreign to him, but he hadn’t had one in a very long time. He trotted over to his dresser and pressed down on a magical seal that lay atop it. He removed his hoof and after a moment there was a small flash of light, and a glass of water appeared where his hoof had been a moment before. He took the glass in his magical grasp and drank greedily from the cup. His parched throat thanked him for the water with an audible sigh.

He placed the glass back on his dresser, and looked around the room. Besides the dresser and bed he had a dark mahogany desk set against a window stacked high with books. He had already placed seals along the top of the desk to bring him pencils and pens when activated. Trace took his glasses from the dresser and put them on before he trotted over to the desk so that he could look out the window.

Trace telekinetically pulled back the white lace curtains to allow clear beams of sunlight to shine in. The sun itself was eclipsed by a tall purple building directly across the road. The building seemed to be constructed of several floors of varying length stacked atop each other. Near the top of the structure was a marry-go-round that went completely around a central spire. Trace laughed to himself as he couldn’t help but thinking that it looked somewhat like a giant purple cake. He gazed down and noticed that most of the ponyfolk were already going about their day blissfully unaware of the white stallion observing them.

He had yet to get out and mingle with the ponies in the town, as he had spent the last couple of days furnishing his new dwelling. Today however, he had business that he needed to attend to. While he could summon a glass of water from downstairs, food on the other hoof, was a completely different matter. He had run out of the stock of food he had found on the first morning, and would need to go and purchase some more today.

Trace let the curtains fall back to their original position causing the room to become darker once again, and turned to leave. Once in the hall he looked to the left to see that he had left the study open last night. He trotted over and peered inside the room before entering. One window near the back of the room allowed the sun to beam into the room revealing the dust that was floating in the air. ‘This house needs to be cleaned out’ Trace thought.

He once again looked about at the room noting the desk he had up against the near wall, an exact replica of the one he had in his room. A single black bookcase sat against the far wall, and held a measly five textbooks, which Trace had brought with him when he left the academy. Trace frowned at this, he would also need to find some books while he was out, and begin to build a library. In the center of the room was a huge transfiguration circle Trace had finished last night, it would no doubt come in handy during his research.

Trace left the room, closing the door behind him this time, and descended the stairs into the living room. Upon reaching the bottom he was struck by the sight of the mustard yellow couch that lay in the middle of the living area. This had been what greeted him every morning since the couch first arrived and he had begun to grow irritated that it was here. He had never ordered that couch in the first place! It was supposed to be red and go with the rug, which it was settled on. But, the grey mailpony with the blond mane had insisted that this was the correct couch when she arrived with it. Trace had reluctantly given in and allowed the yellow monstrosity to be placed out in the open where it declared that Trace was color blind, and unable to make his living room look like anything but the ketchup and mustard sompony would get when ordering hayfries.

Trace hung his head as he walked through the living room, which was furnished with common condiments. He slowly made his way towards the kitchen, which was only clean because of how empty it was. Trace placed his hoof on a seal that was inscribed into the counter top, and after a brief second the empty glass from his bedroom appeared. He settled the glass into the sink along with others, and with nothing better to do this morning began to wash the dishes.

‘I don’t think that I have actually ever done dishes’ he thought after a while. He remembered back when he lived with his parents that the cooks had always done the dishes for the family. He would often find himself hanging about in the kitchen away from the watchful eyes of his father talking to the serving ponies, but had never actually done any himself. ‘This wasn’t so hard’ he mused. At that moment water shot from the sink and hit him in the face in what seemed like an effort to prove him wrong. Trace retrieved a washcloth from a nearby drawer, and washed the suds off his face. With a grimace he allowed the glassware to settle into the soapy water, he had always heard it was good to allow dishes to soak.

Having bested the dishes he decided that now it was time to leave the house and begin on his errands. He opened the door with a flick of his horn, and proceeded into the sunlight not bothering to lock the door behind him. ‘In a small town it is customary for many ponies to leave their doors unlocked’ he recalled reading in a book on small town life. As he began to turn towards his first destination he was stopped by the sight of a pink mare trotting towards him. No, she wasn’t trotting. She was bouncing. In what appeared to defy the laws of physics the pink earth pony bounced on all four hooves down the road in his direction.

Trace realized that his mouth was hanging open, and he pulled himself back together. This was to be the first pony in the town that he met, and he was determined to make a good impression. As she neared Trace sifted through his mind to find exactly what he should say.

“Hello I…..” he was caught off guard as the mare in front of him froze in midair with a gasp. She then turned tail and galloped away disappearing from sight. “am Cornelius Trace, and may I ask what your name is,” he continued though she was already gone.

Trace rolled his eyes, if all ponies in this town were scared of new ponies perhaps he should just stay inside. ‘No!’ he thought ‘I will not allow one pony to shape a prejudice against this town.’ He decided, and turned back to the road to see if there was anypony else he could become acquainted with. Then he noticed movement at the front door of the cake building across the road.

A white unicorn mare with a marvelous purple mane stepped out into the sunlight. Trace could see her coat shine in the light, and also able see the light blue wisps of magic coming off her. The unicorn bore three diamonds on her flank as a cutie mark, which seemed to fall short of accenting her beauty. It was true that almost all the mares he had seen in this town were attractive, but this one across the street was on an entirely different level. She paused for a second once outside as if deciding which way she should head. Picking a direction she trotted off, no doubt busy with whatever work beautiful ponies like her were busy with. Then she disappeared from sight, never even seeing Trace standing across the street. Trace let his gaze fall to the ground and turned in the opposite direction, then he proceeded towards his first errand of the day.

____________________________________________________________________________

Twilight sat at her desk reading one of the several books that were delivered to the library late last night. Equestrian Amphibians and Water Foul was the book currently fascinating the lavender unicorn. Twilight had previously read many books on either amphibians or water foul, but she had never read one that covered them both together. It was amazing at the relations the two had to each other within their environment.

“Spike, can you get lunch ready?” Twilight called to her number one assistant who was stacking books on one of the shelves.

“Um, yea I guess so Twilight,” he replied “But isn’t it kinda early to have lunch?”

“I was thinking about stepping out in an hour or two, and I don’t think I’ll get a chance to eat until later this afternoon,” she explained.

“Oh… Well in that case I guess ill make us some sandwiches,” the baby dragon said as he slid down from the ladder. He then made his way into the kitchen and began to rummage through the pantry for sandwich supplies.

Twilight turned back to her book and continued reading about how newt population had an inverse relation to that of ducks in any given pond. The ring of the bell above the door snapped Twilight out of her concentration. A white unicorn with a long black mane stepped through the doors and began to look around. When his eyes fell on Twilight he quickly looked away.

“Can I not go a couple days without being blinded?” he asked under his breath.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked, as the stranger removed his glasses and began rubbing his eyes. Twilight caught a glimpse of something on the bottom of his hoof before he placed it back on the floor.

“Quite fine, thank you,” he replied. “Am I right to assume that this is the library in Ponyville?”

“That would be correct, we have whatever you could want here… well mostly everything,” Twilight answered. The white unicorn rested his gaze once again on Twilight, this time his sunglasses were on the top of his head. Twilight could now see that his eyes were a brilliant shade of azure, and he also had a streak of the color that ran through his long mane.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle,” she said greeting the new comer properly. “I don’t believe I have seen you around Ponyville. Are you new to the town?”

“My name is Cornelius Trace,” he replied with a bow, “and yes, I just moved in to town a couple of days ago.”

“Well welcome to Ponyville, it’s a pretty great place to live,” Twilight said returning the bow.

“Yes, I find it… Quaint. Very different than Canterlot, but it has a warmth that isn’t found in some of the bigger cities.”

“You are from Canterlot?” Twilight asked taking a step closer. “I am from Canterlot also. May I ask why you have moved all they way out here to Ponyville?”

“Well I have finally received my license to be a State Researcher, and Princess Celestia was convinced that I should conduct my research here. A little odd, but one should no argue with the royalty I suppose.”

The answer seemed odd to Twilight. This unicorn just did not seem old enough to be a State Researcher, only unicorns that had proven their prowess in the magical arts, and had studied for years were given the title. The unicorn that stood before her was about her age, maybe a year younger. It just didn’t seem to fit, but then Twilight remembered what he had said his name was.

“Wait. You said your name was Cornelius Trace. Of the Trace noble family?” she asked, her voice rising a little.

The unicorn seemed to sigh at the mention of his family name. “Yes, my father is Augustus Trace, and my mother Cornelia Trace. Though I myself hold no noble title,” he replied.

“You have no title? Why is that?” Twilight realized how insensitive the question was a moment to late.

“My father disowned me when I was younger. I don’t really like to talk about it.”

“I am so sorry I shouldn’t have asked. That was really wrong of me.” She sputtered.

“No, no. It is quite all right. Now tell me Miss Sparkle you mentioned that you were from Canterlot also, what brings you to this quaint little town?” Trace asked, attempting to change the subject.

“Well Princess Celestia sent me here so that I might study the magic of friendship,” she answered quickly. Talking of The Princess always got Twilight in an excited mood.

“Oh so you are the personal pupil that the princess spoke of. She said that you would be in the town, but tell me, what is this magic of friendship. I don’t believe I have ever heard of such a thing.”

“Well there is power between the bonds that ponies make with each other, and one of the stronger bonds is friendship. In fact it is what is required for the Elements of Harmony to reach their full potential,” Twilight stated matter of factly.

“Well that seemed a little rehearsed. Do you get asked that question a lot I wonder?”

“Yea well. There are a lot of ponies in the town that ask me what the magic of friendship means. I guess you just get used to it after a while.”

“Yes well, I came here today to see if you had a couple of books that I may need for my research,” Trace said steering the conversation to his errand.

“Well I have many books that you might need, but I wont know for sure until you tell me what it is you are looking for.”

“I know of one book that I will particularly need, Transfiguration and Transmutation by Wilhelm Colttington,” he replied looking about the room. This place seemed awfully small for a library that would have anything he would need, but it was his only option short of ordering the books from Canterlot.

“Oh yes, that’s a great read I think I have a copy over here,” Twilight said trotting over to a bookcase marked with a C. She pulled a large tome off the middle shelf and floated it towards Trace, who took it in a magical grasp. He seemed to be straining as he placed the book on the ground next to him. ‘This is really odd.’ Twilight thought. ‘How could a State Researcher be hardly able to lift a book. Perhaps he wasn’t telling the truth about why he was in town.’

“Thank you Miss Sparkle, now if you don’t mind I would like to browse the rest of the shelves to find any books that I may need.”

“Be my guest, this is a library after all,” Twilight said stepping aside so that he could pass her and reach the books on the wall.

Trace smiled and walked past Twilight, which is when Twilight saw his cutie mark. ‘A runic circle. That isn’t such a common cutie mark.’ she thought as she sat back down at her desk intending to resume her reading.

At that moment Spike walked out of the kitchen carrying two plates with sandwiches. “Twilight I made your sandwich, sorry it took so long,” Spike declared turning all eyes in the room on him.

Spike didn’t notice the white unicorn standing near the books staring at the baby dragon until he had already placed the plate in front of Twilight and taken a seat at the desk, prepared to eat his sandwich. When Spike finally spotted Trace he turned and gave a wave.

“Hi I’m Spike,” he stated.

“I am Cornelius Trace.” The unicorn gave a bow. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he added before returning to the shelves looking for various books.

“So Twilight. Who is that guy?” Spike asked lowering his voice so that only Twilight could hear him.

“His name is Cornelius Trace like he said,” she replied.

“No I mean like, why is he just looking through the bookcases. You usually just find whatever book anypony is looking for,” he countered.

“He said he was a State Researcher,” Twilight said lowering her voice to a whisper also. “Though I don’t know.”

“A state researcher?” Spike whispered back. “But Twilight, he looks younger than you are, aren’t state researchers supposed to be old grumpy ponies?”

“Well usually they are but I guess I am an exception,” came a voice from behind the young dragon causing him to nearly jump out of his skin.

Spike turned to see Trace standing behind him smiling, and barley holding in his laughter at the baby dragons reaction. For reasons he couldn’t explain he loved sneaking up on unsuspecting ponies just to see what their reaction to him speaking would be. This hobby had on more than one occasion earned the unicorn a black eye, but did little to stop him from continuing to startle others.

“Did you find everything you needed?” Twilight asked, also holding in a giggle.

“Well I found most everything I thought I might need, for now.” He motioned to the pile of books near the door.

“You should let me know if you need anything else,” Twilight added before she turned back to her book.

“I will be sure to do that.”

Twilight was engrossed in her book, and didn’t even notice that the white unicorn had summoned a piece of chalk and had begun to draw on the floor. Spike however, had noticed and was watching in rapt attention. There was a quick flash of light that pulled Twilight away from her books to find Trace brushing chalk marks off the floor with his tail.

“Did you burn my books?” Twilight asked in a mix of annoyance and curiosity.

“Aw Twilight you missed it.” Spike replied from him. “He started drawing on the floor with this chalk around the books and then he put his hoof down and FLASH, all the books disappeared. It was really cool.”

“So what did you do exactly?” Twilight asked curiosity beating out annoyance.

“Well I drew a simple summoning rune on the ground around the books that matched one I had on my desk back at home,” Trace stated as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “Then with a slight application of magical force the books were transported back to my home.”

Now Twilight could see that his earlier statement was true, and he was in fact a State Researcher. The display though it may be small had massive potential, and Twilight caught onto this immediately.

“Wow you need to show me exactly how you did that.” Twilight stated in a moment of unbridled curiosity.

“I do?” Trace asked.

“Well I mean, could you please demonstrate that again so I could learn it?” she asked much more politely this time.

“And what may I ask would I get in return for this demonstration?”

“What?” Twilight deadpanned.

“The only thing I have that sets me apart from other unicorns is my understanding of runic circles. You have probably noticed that I have difficulty levitating a large book, so what could you offer in exchange for this knowledge?” Trace asked.

Twilight had no answer for this question. While it was true that when two scholars got together to exchange magical insight the exchange usually went both ways ponies weren’t usually so bold as to ask that they be compensated for their insight. Trace could see that she was having difficulty coming up with an answer. When he had first arrived he had seen that this unicorn possessed immense power, perhaps comparable to Celestia herself.

“I have an idea,” he offered, “in exchange for me sharing my knowledge on runes you could help me with more basic spells such as simple levitation. You no doubt, have had to curb the power you put into levitation seeing as how much power you are able to wield. I on the other hand have to try really hard to pick up a medium sized object. If you would help me find ways to make such simple spells more efficient I would certainly help you delve into the mysteries of magic runes.”

Twilight thought this over for a few moments. She had been asked to swap spells with other unicorns before but she had never really been asked to help another unicorn become better at a particular spell. However, her curiosity had been aroused and she just had to learn more about what Trace had to offer.

“I think that’s a great idea. When can we begin?” Twilight asked, thoroughly excited at this point.

“Well I have errands I need to run today,” he stated, “How about I come back tomorrow and we can see about exchanging some knowledge.”

Twilight deflated at the thought of putting off a new intellectual pursuit. “I guess that would be okay.”

“I will see you then, Miss Sparkle,” Trace said with a bow before he turned to leave.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, Cornelius.” Twilight replied.

“Please just call me Trace,” he called back shutting the door behind him, and leaving the library.

____________________________________________________________________________

It was nighttime in Ponyville as Trace walked back to his house. The well-worn path crunched beneath his hooves. His recently purchased saddlebags were full of apples, carrots, and other various foods he had purchased at the market today. This was the first time that Trace had walked through the town at night, and he found that there was no pony to be seen. He thought it was odd, but continued on home.

In the distance crickets could be heard playing their music. When Trace looked up he was astonished at how many stars could be seen. Growing up in Canterlot there was always too much light from the city to see the stars clearly, but out here in the small town every single one could be seen twinkling. The slight breeze carried with it the smell of the farmlands that were just beyond the edge of town. Trace wasn’t accustomed to the smell of so much nature, but he didn’t find it unpleasant.

He paused. “I think I’m going to like it here in Ponyville,” he said to himself before continuing along the path.

He rounded the corner on the street to see his house a block away. Once again he thought about how strange it was to not even see another pony on the street all the way back from the market. He pushed the thought from his mind ‘It probably just means that ponies in rural towns like this don’t stay up as late as they do in Canterlot’ he thought. Trace reached his doorstep, and twisted the knob with some magic. He pushed the door open and stepped into the darkness of the house.

He was immediately forced to the ground as something tackled him. Trace tried to move but was completely caught in a vicious bear hug unable to move. He struggled for a moment longer before finally he finally resigned himself to his fate. ‘This is it.’ He thought closing his eyes waiting for the stroke that would finish his short life. ‘Why was I so naïve as to leave my door unlocked. Now I’m done for.’

All of a sudden all the lights on the lower floor flashed on and a chorus of ponies shouted “SURPRISE.”

“What?” he asked as he cautiously opened his eyes to take in his surroundings.

Trace looked up to see that a particularly bubbly pink earth pony was what had tackled him and was smiling down at him. She moved off of him and began to help him up. Once Trace was back on all fours she began to rapidly talk to him.

“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie. Remember we met today and I was all like I don’t think I’ve seen this pony around town before, but you didn’t hear that because I thought it. And then, I thought that if I hadn’t seen you around town before that was because you are new, and if you are new in town that means I haven’t thrown you a party yet. So I went back to Sugercube Corner to get stuff for a party, but then I thought if I can’t have a party if I don’t know what your name is so then I went and asked everypony around town if they knew who you were.”

“And then when I asked Twilight she said that you were Trace, and I was all, that’s a weird name, but then I have a weird name to so it was okay. And then I made this banner,” she said pausing to breathe and pointed to a banner that hung across the ceiling spelling out WELCOME TO PONYVILLE TRACE.

Trace unfortunately committed her entire monologue to memory and cursed his near flawless memory for doing so. He looked around and found that nearly fifty ponies were stuffed into his small house, and were in fact having a party. There was a flash of pink and once again the mare that claimed to be Pinkie Pie took up his entire vision.

“So then I got all the stuff for the party and brought it here, and then I asked everypony in Ponyville to come but not everypony could make it, but I still got a lot of ponies to come see,” she said motioning back to the ponies mingling and drinking punch.

“So what do you think?” she continued, “Do you like the party?”

Trace looked down at her and saw that she was really worried that he wouldn’t like the party.

“Um… Yes I think it’s a great welcome party. Thank you.” The pink mare brightened at his approval and once again brought him into a strong hug.

“THAT’S GREAT,” she exclaimed, “now that everypony is here you can make friends, and get to know everypony,” she said releasing him from her viselike grip.

“Yea I think I’ll go… mingle,” he stated as he picked up the now spilled foods that had once been safely tucked in his saddlebags.

“Okie Dokie Loki.” Pinkie Pie saluted before bouncing off into the crowd.

Trace watched as she left. ‘What an interesting mare’ he thought before he trotted to his kitchen to put away his groceries. As he began placing the various foods in their proper places he noticed that the entire kitchen counter was filled with cupcakes and cookies. ‘Perhaps she puts something in the food that keeps her going a mile a minute.’ Trace mused while he placed the last apple in the cupboard and closed it.

He picked up a cupcake with a bit of magic and stared at it intently. ‘Well if there is something odd in this cupcake I don’t think ill ever know unless I try one.’ he thought weighing his options. ‘FOR SCIENCE!’ he mentally yelled taking a bite into the dubious pastry. There wasn’t a hint of anything dangerous that immediately greeted his taste buds, and he had to admit that the cupcake was perhaps the best he ever tasted.

Trace finished the small pastry and made his way out of the kitchen to begin looking over the crowd. He didn’t know any of the ponies at the surprise party. He frowned, he had been hoping that at least Twilight would have come and been a familiar face. Then he spotted her. The beautiful mare he had seen earlier today was staring at his couch intently, while levitating a cup of punch beside her. Trace could clearly see that she was not pleased with his décor. A thought popped into Trace’s head and he smiled as he made his way over.

“I wonder who decorated this room, a server at a fast food place perhaps,” he stated standing slightly behind the mare.

“I know what you mean,” she replied without turning to face him. “It looks like someone put a glob of ketchup and mustard in the middle of the room.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking, the only thing missing would be a green chair to be the relish.”

“Oh you are just awful,” she said back letting out a chuckle, and Trace joined in the good-natured laugh.

“Yes, I curse the day that couch was delivered here,” he continued

“Well maybe if….” Whatever else she was going to say was cut off as she froze. Then she slowly turned to face the smiling Trace who looked down on her, taller by an inch or two.

“Oh darling I didn’t mean to say, well what I mean is,” the beautiful white unicorn stammered only to be silenced by Trace raised hoof.

“It’s quite all right I hate the furniture in this room myself,” he stated. “That couch there was supposed to be a nice crimson, but I received this yellow monstrosity instead.”

“Well that would be a much better match I think.” She then turned back to the couch and mentally pictured what the room should have looked like. “Yes, crimson would go very well with the carpet and the rug.”

“That is what I thought, if I may say so I think you have a very fine eye for décor Miss...”

“Rarity,” she replied.

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Rarity,” Trace said with a bow, “My name is Cornelius Trace.”

Rarity’s eyes shot open at the mention of the surname. “Trace as in the Canterlot Traces? Would you happen to be related to Margaret Trace?” she asked.

“Margaret is my older sister, one of my few sibling that I keep in contact with.”

“Oh my, your sister is Margaret Trace the designer and model? I have followed her work for years,” Rarity said allowing a bit of glee to enter her voice.

“Yes that would be her. I suppose you are a model too aren’t you?” Trace asked hoping that his obvious attempt at flattery would go unnoticed.

“Oh my no darling.” Rarity said trying to keep herself from blushing. “I am a dress designer.”

“Is that so? I suppose that would be your studio across the street wouldn’t it?” Trace asked.

“Why yes it is, but how did you know.”

“I noticed you rushing off when I went outside to run some errands today. I can only assume that beautiful structure belongs to a beautiful mare such as yourself,” he stated with a sly smile.

“Oh Mr. Trace flattery won’t get you very far with me,” Rarity said letting out a very unladylike giggle.

“Are you sure about that?”

____________________________________________________________________________

The party had ended at about two in the morning and everypony had made their way home. The entire down stairs was a mess, and all the groceries he had bought that day were completely gone. But as Trace picked up the paper cups and cupcake wrappers up off the floor he couldn’t help but thank Pinkie Pie for allowing him to meet a mare as beautiful as Rarity.

He sighed to himself fully knowing that he had a schoolcolt crush on her, but at the moment he didn’t care. She was truly a magnificent creature. The two had talked for a long time before she had excused herself saying that she “needed to take care of her sister” and left the party. After that Trace had spent the remaining party meeting a few ponies and making small talk. The entire time however, his mind was stuck on Rarity.

He finished picking up the trash and placing it into the trashcan. He then proceeded to incinerate it by touching a hoof to a rune on the side of the bin. Now that the house was in order he turned and made his way up the stairs back to his room. He was exhausted from the long day, and hated the thought that tomorrow he would have to go out once again and buy more groceries.

Trace made his way to his room and settled into his bed prepared for sleep to come to him quickly. It did not however, as thoughts of Rarity kept him awake for another hour. The last conscious thought he had before slipping off into blackness was ‘Didn’t it seem like she was flirting back with me?’

Trace 2

“Okay so, basically what you are saying is that runes are letters that form commands?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, I suppose that is one way to look at it,” Trace confirmed.

“You say that like its not what you do,” Twilight replied, slightly irked by Trace’s unwillingness to explain fully.

“Well no not exactly. To me I see it more as the runes are pieces in a puzzle, and when we put all the right pieces together we get a picture.”

“What kind of picture?” Twilight asked, not entirely understanding the analogy.

“That depends on what you are trying to accomplish.”

“Okay so the runes are small pieces that fit together to make a bigger whole, and this whole is what performs the magic?” Twilight asked still trying to grasp the concept.

“No, the first part of what you said is right. The runes fit together to make a bigger whole, but it’s not the puzzle pieces or the picture that does the magic. It’s the unicorn,” answered Trace.

“Wait a minute, I thought your runes circles are what let you teleport books and things, now you are saying that they don’t?” Twilight was now thoroughly confused.

“No the runes help me to focus my magic, it’s like...” Trace paused to try to find an analogy. “Like a magnifying glass. Yes it is exactly like a magnifying glass.” Trace smiled having found the perfect analogy.

“A magnifying glass?”

“Okay so for example, if we put a pan outside in the sun it would warm up right?” Trace replied stepping onto his soapbox.

“Yes I suppose the pan would get hot after a little while,” Twilight said, prompting him to continue.

“But if it was really cold outside and we put the pan out there it wouldn’t get any hotter,” Trace continued, “That is why we need a magnifying glass.”

Twilight was beginning to understand “So you use the magnifying glass to focus the suns rays together to heat the pan.”

“Exactly, each unicorn has a different radiance like the sun, but some are stronger or weaker than other. Using runic circles we can magnify a unicorns magic exponentially to accomplish a certain task. But make no mistake, it is still the unicorn doing the magic. That is why a pegasus or earth pony cannot use magic runes,” Trace finished.

“I think I get it now, so you put the runes together to make a certain picture then apply magic to carry out the task,” Twilight summated.

“Absolutely correct,” Trace replied, giving a slight applause with his hooves on the table.

“Okay now that I think I have the basic theory down could you show me some runes, and what their meanings are?” Twilight pleaded.

Trace stood from the cushion he was sitting on and turned to retrieve his bag, which was lying against the wall near the door. The library was an absolute wreck; books covered the ground and made maneuverability difficult. Trace suspected that when the snoring dragon upstairs awoke he would not be in a good mood seeing the library’s current state. Twilight had apparently pulled every book from the bookcases lining the walls in an attempt to learn everything she could about runes before Trace had arrived, only to later realize Trace had taken the books she might use.

Trace reached his bags and levitated out a thin journal. The grey journal had no title on the front page, and instead had a green rune circle. Trace then turned back to where Twilight was sitting and began to make his way back through the book labyrinth, levitating the journal and bag behind him. When he once again reached the table he placed the journal before Twilight, and let her study it a moment.

“What is this?” she asked.

“This is all the research I have compiled over the years in my research of runes,” Trace answered simply.

Twilight gazed back at the journal. It only appeared to be twenty pages thick. How could this be all the Trace knew?

“Are you playing a joke on me?” she asked after a moment.

“Kind of.” Trace chuckled.

“So what is this then?” she asked again.

“Exactly what I said it was.” Trace placed a hoof on the cover and poured a little magic into the runes on the surface. The book shuddered for a moment, and then exploded in a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared a three thousand-page tome sat in front of the two unicorns.

“Could you imagine me dragging this around with me everywhere?” Trace asked laughing again.

“No, I imagine that would be difficult,” Twilight replied not getting the joke.

“In this tome I have written everything I know on runes, you can borrow it if you would like.”

Twilight’s eyes shot wide with the realization of what he was offering. All of Trace’s magic was in this book, and he was willing to let her borrow it. This was an amazing opportunity to learn about an area of magic that wasn’t normally taught. Then a thought occurred to her Doesn’t he need this to do his research?

“It would be amazing to learn everything this had to offer, but don’t you need it Trace?”

“Not at all, I already know every single word of this,” Trace added tapping a hoof to his temple. “I have perfect a memory I’ll have you know.”

“Perfect memory? Then why write a book like this?” Twilight inquired.

“It is always a good idea to have a back up, who knows one day I might lose my memory. Or perhaps when I am old I wont be able to recall things as clearly. Maybe one day these notes will help another become a great user of runes. In the end I think it is always a good idea to catalog whatever we learn, so that we can pass the knowledge on to other,” Trace replied taking on a note of his aristocratic heritage.

Twilight realized that at times Trace reminded her of the stuck of aristocrats that could be found throughout Canterlot. But, something was very different about him. He didn’t have the sense of entitlement that seemed to seep from those other ponies. He seemed to be a noble pony who worked hard for everything he had and didn’t expect to get any handouts. He didn’t seem to push this philosophy on others, which made Twilight admire him, even though he was the younger of the two. He seemed like a pony that would make a really good friend.

“I still don’t know Trace this is a lot that you are giving me here. I don’t know if I can accept it,” Twilight said breaking the silence.

“Don’t worry about that at all, I will be getting plenty in return. Here I am swapping secrets with the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, what could be more valuable than that?” Trace replied, a smile creeping back to his lips.

“Well I wouldn’t say that.” Twilight blushed and looked away.

“Oh trust me the only other pony I have seen with more magical power than you was Celestia herself,” Trace praised, causing Twilight to turn a darker shade of red.

“Anyways,” he continued, “I think we should have a little experiment.”

“An experiment.”

“Yes, it is a simple one.” Trace said pulling his sunglasses from his bag. “But I think I need to adjust these a little bit.”

“Adjust your sunglasses?” Twilight asked.

An idea struck Trace and he once again found himself smiling. He didn’t know why but being around Twilight made him smile and he was hard pressed to stop. It had been a while since he talked with somepony who wished to learn magic as passionately as he did. He feared the Twilight’s curiosity might even surpass his own. A little prank was a good thing for friends to share, or so he recalled being told so.

“Would you like to wear these?” Trace asked, “They are very special sunglasses of my own design.” Trace levitated the glasses to Twilight who took them in her own magic hold.

“I guess,” She replied.

Twilight slipped the glasses on, and noticed that they didn’t really seem to keep light out well at all. She turned to Trace to comment on this, and stopped as she saw a white aura around him. It was odd, she could see veins of dark blue running through the aura and then disappearing to be replaced by the white once again. Then it dawned on her that she was seeing his magic through the glasses.

“Wow, these are amazing"

“They are probably my greatest creation,” he agreed. “But, would you like to see something really amazing?”

She quickly nodded wondering what else he would show her. She had already learned and seen so much from Trace already, could he really want to show her more?

“Why don’t you go take a look in a mirror,” he suggested.

Twilight immediately jumped from where she was sitting and galloped to the closest mirror. She was desperate to see what the glasses would show her about her own magic. She was not prepared when she reached the mirror and was blinded by a bright magenta light. She let out a scream, and turned away from the mirror, only to hear Trace laughing his head off behind her.

“That wasn’t funny,” she growled at him. This however did little to stop his laughing.

“Yes it is,” he howled, “do you know how many times I have been on the other end of this? Was it really this funny every time?”

Trace fell over and continued to laugh on the floor. Tears began to stream from his eyes. He knew that he was laughing a bit to hard at the situation, but he didn’t really care at the moment. Twilight couldn’t help but find Trace’s display humorous also and joined in the laughing. After a long fit of laughter it was Trace to first speak.

“I’m sorry. At least now you know why I reacted the way I did the first time we met,” Trace said, to Twilight while wiping a tear from his eye.

“I guess so, but why was it so bright?” Twilight asked handing the glasses back to Trace.

“That would be because you have so much raw power. So if I am going to use them in here at all I will need to calibrate them,” he replied before he sat back down at the table and began to tweak the glasses.

Twilight watched Trace work in rapt attention, noting how exactly he changed the runes inscribed on the inside of the glasses with his horn. A specific rune would begin to glow white and float away to be replaced by a completely new one. Twilight didn’t understand what any of the runes meant at all, but it was obvious by the way that Trace worked that he knew exactly what each one was for, and how it worked in concert with all the others.

“There I think I have it.”

Twilight broke from her stupor “What did you do exactly?” she asked.

“Well seeing as how both you and Celestia have caused me permanent eye damage,” he chided. “I have changed the glasses to show raw power in numbers rather than in brightness.”

“Numbers huh. What number do I have then?”

“Well…” Trace replaced the glasses on his head and looked Twilight over. “I don’t really have anything to compare this against, but the glasses tell me your magical power is just under ten thousand.”

“That sounds good I guess,” Twilight replied, uncertain of exactly what to say.

“I would hope so. Anyways lets get on to the experiment shall we?” he said turning the conversation back to the matter at hand.

“Okay. So what kind of experiment are you wanting to do?”

“It’s quite simple really,” he replied retrieving a pair of rocks from his bag and placing them on the table in front of Twilight. “I have never really had a chance to use these glasses for an experiment with a powerful unicorn before, so I thought we could start with something simple. Can you levitate this rock for me?”

“Sure that sounds easy enough.” Twilight said, and with a flick of her horn the rock floated into the air in front of her.

“Okay good. Now can you crush the rock please?” Trace asked.

Twilight froze. “You want me to crush the rock. Like with a different spell or something?” she asked.

“No I would like you to use your telekinetic grasp to crush the rock into pieces. I know you can do it all you have to do is try,” Trace said, attempting to get her to continue.

“Well okay I’ll try.” Twilight scrunched her face in concentration and poured her magical strength into it. Trace stared at the rock through his glasses carefully taking mental notes on what he was seeing. After a moment the rock split into several different pieces, and after another moment later was crushed into sand.

What Trace saw was completely different however. He watched as the magic streamed from Twilight’s horn and touched the field surrounding the rock. The field didn’t seem to change at all, but more power continued to be poured into it until the rock was crushed.

“Amazing.” Trace said awed at the amount of power Twilight had. Even though she kept pouring more and more magic into the field surrounding the rock the field itself never got bigger or smaller. I have never had an opportunity like this before or I would have noticed this earlier. Does this mean that the size and thickness of the field has no bearing on its strength?

“Okay that was very good,” Trace said, after collecting himself. “Now can you lift this other rock please?”

Twilight released the sand that she had in her telekinetic grasp, and watched as it fell onto the table. She then cast her gaze on the other rock that sat on the table before she lifted it into the air.

“Now we are going to try to do the opposite of what we just did,” he instructed. “Try to weaken the hold you have on the rock while holding it still.”

This task was harder for Twilight than crushing the rock had been. She tried to not hold onto he rock as hard, but it was hard to do this and keep it in the air at the same time. Trace watched as magic flowed away from the field and back into Twilight’s horn. A smile began to spread across his face as the implications of what he was seeing struck him.

This serves to strengthen my previous hypothesis. The field is not shrinking it is just being weakened. If the size of the field can be manipulated, levitating large object could be possible for a unicorn like me. If I were to change the thickness of the telekinetic field would I be able to grab larger objects easily? The ringing of the clock behind Trace broke him from his musings as well as causing Twilight to lose concentration. The rock fell back onto the table, and a moment later Trace stood from the table.

“Well this has been incredibly informative.” Trace began collecting his saddlebags and placing them on his back.

“Wait you are leaving?” Twilight asked getting up to follow him.

“I have some shopping I need to do today, and I think it is the best idea to get to the market before it gets to late,” he stated trotting to the door.

“What about the experiment. Did you learn anything?” Twilight asked still following him.

“You have an insatiable curiosity you know.” Trace said stopping to look back at her. “However, I cannot share my theories at the moment until I can verify them. I will tell you as soon as I do though so don’t worry. In the meantime why don’t you take a look through those notes and see what you can learn.” Trace then turned, and opened the door with a glow of his horn.

“I guess I will see you later, Trace.” Twilight called as he left the library.

“Yea see you later.” Trace called back momentarily dropping his Canterlot accent.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rarity walked through the streets of Ponyville heading to her good friend Twilight’s library. On her head sat a spectacular purple hat of her own design. The fashionista greeted ponies she recognized along the way. She would also stop to thank them for their compliments, but tried to maintain a decent pace, as the matter she needed to discuss with Twilight was urgent. Love always was of the top priority.

Rarity arrived that the Ponyville library, and trotted to the door. She raised her hoof, and knocked on the door a couple times. She knew that it was a public library and anypony could enter whenever they pleased, but a lady always announced her arrival. So Rarity waited until she heard a familiar lavender unicorn grant her entry from the other side of the door. Rarity then quickly opened the door and entered the library.

“Hello Rarity. How are you doing today?” Twilight asked from behind a massive book she was reading. Rarity wondered how the table even supported the monstrous tome, but trotted over to Twilight to pose an even more important question.

“I am doing very well dear. Thank you for asking.” Rarity paused so that she could pose her question perfectly. “Twilight I heard that you seem to be the only pony in Ponyville to know Cornelius, and I was wondering, is he your coltfriend?” Rarity asked keeping a very ladylike poker face.

Twilight however, was a pony to wear her heart on her sleeve. Pages of the journal were torn out as Twilight momentarily lost control of her magic. She shot up from her seat and stared at Rarity.

“What? He um… NO! I mean. No he isn’t my coltfriend he is just a friend.” Twilight was blushing madly.

Rarity let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “Oh thank goodness. I don’t know what I would have done if you told me he was,” Rarity said, as a smile spread across her face.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“Well the two of us talked for a long time at his welcome party yesterday. He is such an interesting stallion. Did you know that his sister is Margaret Trace. He is so smart, and did you see how gorgeous his mane is? He even has a very good sense of style and fashion,” Rarity gushed.

“Are you telling me that you like Trace?” Twilight couldn't help from rolling here eyes.

Rarity thought for a moment on the question. When she considered it, she did seem to have feelings of attraction for Cornelius. It was not passionate love, but she wanted to know him a lot better and maybe even be his marefriend. Rarity blushed slightly at the thought.

“Yes darling I believe that he is a perfect gentlecolt, and not stuck up at all like Blueblood was,” she confirmed. “I had heard around town that you were the first one to be seen with him and that he came over here earlier today. So I came to clear my intentions with you first.”

“Well thanks I guess.” Twilight deadpanned.

“It is no problem at all. Now that this business is done with I just need to wait for him to make a move.” Rarity took a seat at the table, and began to read a magazine.

“Wait. You are going to wait for him to make a move on you? Why would you do that?” Twilight asked, taking a seat opposite her friend.

“A lady does not announce her feelings to a stallion. She uses her allure to have him make the first move.” Rarity pointed out.

“Are you sure about that Rarity? It seems kind of risky with all of the single mares in Ponyville,” Twilight countered.

Twilight’s comment struck Rarity like a brick. She was absolutely right, there were many single mares in Ponyville and not enough stallions for all of them. It was not uncommon for a stallion to be scooped up by sompony the second that he became single. Trace was the first real gentlecolt to ever come and settle down in Ponyville. Not only that but he was a Canterlot native, and a member of the aristocracy. He was her dream stallion, and she was just going to let him sit out in front of all the love hungry mares in the town, and hope that he would come up to her.

“Oh my gosh Twilight, you are absolutely right. I wouldn’t be surprised if Berry Punch was hitting on him this second. I need to move on this now,” Rarity said, standing from the table and allowing a small amount of her anxiety show.

“That’s the idea, Rarity, go get your stallion.”

“Oh dear. How do I look? Is my mane all right? Do I have anything in my teeth?” Rarity asked, giving Twilight a big smile so that she could inspect her teeth.

“You look beautiful as always, Rarity.” Twilight replied to her unusually flustered friend.

“Well I better hurry if I want to reel in this fish before anypony else can get to him.” With that Rarity turned and exited the library. After a moment the door opened again and the fashionista poked her head back inside. “You don’t happen to know where Cornelius is right now would you?”

“I think he said he was going to the market. That was about an hour ago so you should hurry if you want to catch him.” Twilight replied, turning back to Trace’s journal so that she could continue her studies.

“Thank you, Twilight.”

Twilight gave a small chuckle at the situation. It was not often that Rarity was so nervous about something. This will be good for her I think. Trace seems like an excellent pony to be with.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Here ya go mister, a bushel of apples. That will be twelve bits,” Applejack informed passing the apples to Trace who stood on the other side of the apple stand.

“Twelve bits? That seems kind of steep doesn’t it?” Trace replied.

In all actuality twelve bits was a fair price for a bushel of apples, and both Trace and Applejack knew this. Trace had decided that since he was going to be shopping at the farmers market from now on he would need to get into the hang of haggling. He had tried the other stands with zero success so far. His latest attempt at haggling would be at the Apple Family apple stand.

“Now ‘ah will have you know that twelve bits is the goin’ rate for a bushel ‘round here,” Applejack said knowing exactly where this conversation was headed.

“I don’t know twelve seems kind of high to me. I would compare the going rate to another apple stand, but unfortunately there doesn’t happen to be one. It would seem that you have a monopoly on apples around here wouldn’t it?” Trace stated, hoping to steer the conversation into his favor.

“Hey now you shouldn’t be throwin’ words like monopoly around here. Isn’t my fault nopony else sells apples here.” she countered.

“You are certainly right it isn’t your fault that you can set whatever price you want. I have to buy from you seeing as there is no one else.”

Applejack furrowed her brow attempting to figure out where this new stallion in town was trying to take this conversation. He is probably tryin to make me say somthin ah’ll regret. But ‘ah wont.

“I suppose you are right. Now that ‘ah think about it prices were supposed to have gone up. This here bushel of apples will actually be fourteen bits,” she said after a moment, thwarting any attempts the stallion might have at negotiating down the price.

This is stupid. I am so bad at this I cant believe that I actually made the price go up. With a sigh he hung his head and retrieved a bag from his saddlebags containing his money.

“Hang on a moment there, Applejack. I can’t believe that you were going to extort this kind stallion.” Came a voice from behind Trace.

He turned to see a beautiful white mare with a perfect purple mane standing behind him glaring at the farmer. Trace was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the mare he had a crush on coming to his aid.

“I will have you know that Cornelius is new in town and hustling him over the price of apples is just plain rude,” Rarity continued.

“It taint hustlin it’s called hagglin,’” Applejack retorted.

“Haggling is what you call this? All I saw was a poor stallion wandering around the market ready to purchase a bushel of apples to only have the price go up on him when he was ready to pay.”

“Now don’t go getting your mane in a fuss. He is the one that tried to make me lower my prices first,” Applejack stated, pointing a hoof at Trace.

It was then that Trace caught on to what Rarity was doing.

“I wasn’t trying to back you down. I was merely commenting on the price of the apples. If you say that I need to pay fourteen bits though I suppose I have to,” Trace said, trying to look as pathetic as possible. At the same time he began to place bits on the counter.

“Now hold up a second. ‘Ah suppose it wasn’t very neighborly of me to try to get y’all to pay fourteen bits. Here take the apples, and it will only be ten bits,” The orange earth pony said, pushing the apples forward.

Trace finished paying the farmer pony. “Thank you for your generosity,” he added before placing the apples into his saddlebags.

Trace then turned and left the orange mare where she stood at the apple stand. He noticed after a moment that Rarity was walking along side him. Is she following me? Rarity looked straight ahead seeming not to notice the Trace was staring at her as they walked down the street.

“Thank you for the help,” he said after a little while.

“Oh think nothing of it. Applejack can be a little stubborn sometimes. It just takes some getting used to.”

“So may I ask to where you are headed?”

“Well I do not really know,” she replied truthfully. “I don’t have much anything else to do today so I believe a walk around town might be in order.”

“A walk around town you say. Well I am still new, so I don’t really know many of the buildings here in Ponyville. If it wouldn’t be to much trouble, could I ask you for a tour of the town?”

Oh my gosh he is asking me for a tour of Ponyville. Could this mean that he feels the same way? Wait Rarity asking for a tour of the town is an innocent request you cannot jump to conclusions so quickly.

“I don’t have anything else to do so I suppose that I could help you out, and show you around town,” she replied.

Great you managed to get her to carry out a chore on your behalf. You idiot. How could you reduce such a beautiful mare such as this to be a mere tour guide? She is probably taking pity on you to agree to such a thing. Trace mentally slapped himself.

“That would be wonderful Miss Rarity. Please lead on,” he said.

The two continued down the street passing several buildings as they walked. Rarity pointed out to Trace various shops such as Quills and Sofas and Sugercube Corner. Trace nodded committing each to memory as they passed. He however, was only paying half attention as he attempted to think of something that would broach the subject of courtship.

This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I mean I don’t know how I could possibly have a chance with a mare like Rarity. No! I can’t think like that. I need to be confident. There is no way that anypony could get a mare like Rarity to go out with them without being completely confident.

Rarity continued to point out the buildings that they passed as they continued down the street, but she too was lost in thought. I don’t know what to say. Look at me boring him. He seems to not be paying any attention to me. Oh my look at his chest swell he must be really strong. No I cant think of how gorgeous he is right now I need to get him to notice me. She flicked her mane and gave Trace a very alluring look.

Did she just do that? Yes she did. The confidence is working keep it up Trace. She just flicked her mane, and that is code for interest. I think it is. Either way I’m taking that as a sign that the confidence is working. Okay I need to do something else now. The ball is in my court. Now what. Trace held out a hoof to stop Rarity where she was walking besides him, while at the same time flexing.

“Miss Rarity there seems to be a puddle, and I would hate for you to get your hooves muddy,” he said, before he removed a cloak from his saddlebags with a flick of his horn, and laid it over the puddle so that the two could cross. In actuality the puddle had been very small and the two could have easily gone around it.

“Thank you, Cornelius,” Rarity said, stepping across the offered safe passage.

“Please, call me Trace.”

“Then I would insist that you call me Rarity.”

Rarity stopped and looked back at Trace once she was over the small obstacle. He just offered me his cloak to keep me from getting wet. That is straight out of the gentlecolt handbook, and I cant believe how toned he is. Was he trying to flex to show off for me? Maybe he was, but if he did then that means… Yes Rarity you did it. You managed to get him interested in you. Now you have to make him yours.

“You truly are a gentlecolt aren’t you Trace?” she asked.

“I was raised to be a chivalrous pony. I suppose that it just stuck with me,” he replied.

“I was wondering if you would like to come by the boutique later and….” Whatever else Rarity was going to say was cut off by three fillies running towards her yelling hellos.

“Rarity, Rarity,” a small white unicorn filly with a purple and pink mane called. “Applebloom and Scootaloo wanted to know if they could come over for a slumber party tonight.” Sweetie Bell said once the three had finally made their way to the fashionista.

Rarity stopped to look back to Trace. “Sweetie Bell why don’t you be polite and introduce yourself to Mister Trace here before you go making demands.” Rarity motioned towards the stallion standing next to her.

Sweetie Bell turned to look up at Trace. “Hello my name is Sweetie Bell and I’m Rarity’s little sister,” Sweetie Bell said, giving a small curtsy.

“It is a pleasure to meet you lady Sweetie Bell.” Trace said giving a bow.

“Sweetie Bell isn’t a lady she is still a filly,” Scootaloo chimed in.

“Well Rarity can we have a sleepover tonight?” Sweetie Bell asked, turning her attention back to her sister.

“I don’t think so Sweetie Bell I have a lot of work I need to do later on today, and I wont be able to keep and eye on the three of you,” she replied and watched as the three fillies began to look at her with puppy dog eyes pleading for her to reconsider.

“Please, big sis, we won’t be trouble I promise.”

“Yea we will be on our best behavior.” Applebloom added.

“I am sorry you three, but I simply cannot tonight. Perhaps you three can spend the night tomorrow night. Don’t you have crusading to do today anyways?” Rarity said, attempting to change the subject.

At this Applebloom looked to Scootaloo. “What was next on the list, Scoots?”

“I think the next thing we were going to try was beast taming,” Scootaloo replied.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS BEAST TAMERS YAY!” The three shouted in unison before running off.

Once they were out of sight Trace dared to speak. “That was… interesting.”

“Yes fillies at that age do seem to have a lot of energy don’t they?” Rarity replied. “Anyways I was going to ask if you would like to come over later tonight around perhaps nine. I feel like I could make an excellent suit that would be perfect for you. Yes, you simply must come we will make a dinner out of it since it will be so late.”

Didn’t she just tell her sister that she had a lot of work to do? And she wants to make dinner for me too at her boutique. That sounds a little unprofessional. Trace's eyes widened as he realized what Rarity was actually asking him over for.

“Yes I think I would like that very much, Rarity. Now would you please excuse me I have much work I need to complete. I will make my way to your boutique at around nine.”

“I will see you there Trace.” He heard Rarity call to him as he trotted away.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Celestia stood in the dark hallway waiting on her sister. Luna had been secretive about something ever since she had returned to Equestria, but Celestia had respected her sister’s privacy and not pestered her about it. Celestia’s patience was wearing thin however. Luna had been back in the world for nearly two years now and still she kept this secret from her older sister. In the past there had been nothing that the two didn’t share, but ever since Luna stopped being Nightmare Moon many things had changed between the sisters.

The stone blocks in the wall of the hallway rumbled for a moment before they began to slide apart. When their movement finally ceased a dark entry way had appeared. Beyond the threshold dim torchlight could be seen as the new passageway descended into the darkness. Hoofsteps were heard ascending the stairs. Moments later a dark blue alicorns appeared in the entryway.

“Hello Luna. A beautiful night we are having, isn’t it?” Celestia said, startling the other princess who had not seen her standing in the hallway.

“Celestia, what are you doing here?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing dear sister,” Celestia countered.

Luna looked back down the stairway, and into the darkness. Her horn lit and the passageway began to seal itself back up again. After a moment all that was left was an unblemished wall.

“Tia, I know that you have an insatiable curiosity, but you must promise me that you will never go down there,” Luna said, turning back to her older sister.

Celestia looked taken aback at the request. “Luna what exactly do you have hidden away down there?”

“Please, Tia, Promise me,” Luna pleaded to the Reagent of the Sun. It was clear to Celestia that Luna wanted to desperately tell her what was going on, but she would not.

This must be unimaginably important for Luna to ask me to promise this. She cast her gaze at the wall where the entryway had been, and then back to her sister.

“Okay Luna. I promise that as long as we are both in Equestria to rule that I will not enter this hidden passageway. I just hope that one day you will tell me what you are doing down there each night.” Celestia finally relented.

“Oh thank you, Tia,” Luna said, approaching her sister to give her a nuzzle. “I promise that one day I will tell you everything. Just not now.”

With that the matter was dropped for now and the two sister walked together down the hallway towards the throne room. It didn’t take them too long to reach the end, and part ways. Luna trotted off towards the throne room so that she may hold her night court and Celestia turned to head back to her room.

What is it that Luna has down there? Could it be some ancient weapon? Perhaps a torture chamber. What if it’s a room where she meets her secret lover? Random thoughts about what Luna was hiding continued to come to the forefront of Celestia’s mind, but none of them seemed to fit. Either way I will find out eventually. All I need to do is wait for Luna to leave Equestria.

Celestia smiled to herself at her clever wordplay.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Trace was hard at work at the desk in his study. The room was dark as usual with only the light of his horn allowing him to see what he was doing. He had been working for a couple of hours now trying to apply his new theory practically. As he had initially sumized, by changing the thickness of the magical field used for levitation he was able to pick up much larger object than he had ever dreamed of before.

Unfortunately, Trace had very little control. He was only able to lift any large object for a few seconds before his magic would give out and it came crashing back to the ground. There was a small hole in the floor of his living room where the couch had hit the ground after being suspended in the air for a mere five seconds.

“I have to make something to help me stabilize my magic,” he muttered to himself. It was not uncommon for him to do so while working on a particularly hard problem.

His quill flew across the paper before him as he inscribed onto it runes that he hopped would yield the desired results. The quill stopped, and Trace inspected his work. He frowned and crumpled up the paper with his magic and tossed it into the trash. He then retrieved a fresh piece of paper from a stack he had on the desk and began the procedure again.

“No no the markings have to be just so. I can’t use the lines of Sanzu and expect still bind perimeter to a focal.” He cried out in frustration. Another paper flew into the trash.

After a moment of introspection, inspiration finally dawned on Trace, and he retrieved a new piece of paper. The quill moved with new purpose across the paper. When its movement ceased a work of art was left on the paper. Trace lifted the paper admiring it this time rather than tossing it to the side.

“How could I not see this before? A duel ring. The central, to focus the power, and the outer to collect the magic that gets away from me and refocus it back through the central focus” Trace said, literally patting himself on the back.

How will I implement this though? I don’t have any room left on my hooves. He raised one hoof to inspect it in order to confirm this. This is a powerful rune circle I cannot use paper to bear the magic, or it would be incinerated. Frustration returned to Trace once again.

Trace closed his eyes to pray that inspiration would strike him twice in the same night. Moments passed as Trace sat in the room beneath the light of his horn. He brushed a lock of hair from his face as it started to annoy him. His prayers were answered inspiration struck him for the second time that night.

“My mane, that’s it,” he exclaimed.

This is going to be tricky. He walked to a full-length mirror he had against the wall. I know that runes are my special talent, but I am going to have to inscribe this backwards. Trace then lifted a brush he had sitting on his desk with his magic and levitated it towards his face. He then brushed his forelock back over his face to be the canvas of a new rune.

Trace’s horn glowed even brighter as white runes materialized in the air and then settled onto the black lock of hair Trace was concentrating on. Trace continued to inscribe runes onto his mane for several minutes making sure that everything was exactly in the right position. A mistake, no matter how minor could have dire consequences. When the process was complete Trace stepped back from the mirror to admire his work. On the lock of hair that covered up the left side of his face now glowed a purple rune circle.

“It’s perfect,” he said, pleased at his long days worth of work. “But it might look a bit creepy if I go walking around town with a rune glowing on my face.”

Trace then lifted the brush to his face again in order to brush the lock of hair back into the rest of his mane. He did not usually wear his hair back so the new look seemed a little odd, but not in a bad way.

“Now I suppose the only thing to do is to try this bad boy out,” he said, to his reflection before he turned and headed downstairs to the living room.

Trace turned on the light as he entered the room so that he did not have to multitask while trying out new magic. His horn began to glow as he concentrated on the rune that was now hidden inside the rest of his mane. The black of his mane began to give off a purple overglow as the rune came to life. The yellow couch that sat in the room lifted into the air with ease.

“This is still difficult,” Trace said to himself, straining a little against the weight of the couch. “I can’t even see the magic surrounding it though. Do I really have the field stretched that thin?”

After a few moments of holding the couch up with his magic Trace was satisfied that the rune was working properly and would not give out under the strain. He then gently set the couch back down onto the rug and smiled.

Now this is truly my greatest work yet. I was able to lift something as big as a couch, and would be able to hold it in the air for hours. I was barely able to lift a large book just yesterday and now look what I have accomplished.

The clock upstairs chimed nine times bringing Trace out of his stupor of self-satisfaction, and back to the world. Panic began to take hold of Trace as he realized the importance of the hour, and he galloped back upstairs to his room.

“I can’t believe that I forgot. How dumb can I be?” Trace chastised, as he hurried to the bathroom that was adjoined to the bedroom.

Trace raced to the sink and levitated his toothbrush out of the cup it sat in. He turned on the sink and wetted the brush before he applied the toothpaste, and began to violently clean his teeth. Once finished he smiled into the mirror to make sure that he had gotten everything. He then began to closely inspect his face to find any blemishes. When he couldn’t find any he replaced the toothbrush and toothpaste and hurried back downstairs.

He made his way across the house to the front door. He was not expecting to be stopped by Rarity when he opened the door however. She stood at the entryway to the house about to knock on the door. Trace could tell from a glance that the mare was distraught.

“Rarity what’s wrong,” he asked.

“It’s Sweetie Bell. She hasn’t come back home all of today. Applejack told me that they just found her wagon near the Everfree Forest. What if she and her friends went in there and got lost. I don’t know what I would do.” Rarity was talking almost to quickly to follow. The fashionista looked on the verge of tears.

Trace could see that she really needed some help, and he would be the pony to give it to her.

“Rarity,” he said, “don’t worry we will find them. Now where is this forest?”

Rarity turned and galloped off, and Trace followed her without a word. The two made their way through the town until they came to the town square. Most of the residents of Ponyville were already in the square. At the head of the crowd Pinkie Pie stood holding a megaphone.

“Everypony listen up,” she beckoned through the megaphone. “This is a search party. We are here to find three fillies that are lost in the Everfree Forest. There are glow sticks over here for everypony. Now lets move out ponies there are fillies that need our help.” She began leading the crowd through the square and out of town towards the Everfree Forest.

Trace followed the crowd, and looked back to see that Rarity was behind him. He slowed his pace so that he could continue along side her. He then looked around the crowd to see that everypony in the crowd wore the same disturbed expression on their face.

“I have never been to the Everfree Forest before. What exactly is in there?” he asked Rarity.

“Nopony really knows. The Everfree Forest is a very dangerous and mysterious place,” she replied wearing the same expression he saw everypony else wearing.

“Don’t worry, Rarity. We will find them no matter what. I promise.” He turned to her to make sure she could see how serious he was.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“I am never going to find them,” Trace sighed, as he walked through the dark foreboding forest.

He had separated from the group with Rarity in hopes that the two of them could cover more ground. They had then proceeded to split up again after a few minutes of searching. Trace deeply regretted that decision.

“I have no idea where I am!” he yelled into the night.

There came no answer from among the trees. The forest was as silent as it had been all night. Trace sighed, and continued to search through the seemingly endless forest by the light of his horn. Trace wandered aimlessly knowing full well that he had very little hope of stumbling onto the missing fillies, and even less hope of finding his way out of the Everfree Forest once he located the missing children.

“Not in here,” Trace said, to himself as he pulled back a bush.

“Not in here,” He said, inspecting a hole in a tree.

“Not in here!” He called, into a dark tunnel causing bats to stream out of it past him.

“I am never going to find them,” Trace reaffirmed with another sigh.

A moment later the scream of a young filly pierced through the silence of the night. Trace didn’t even think as he raced through the trees towards the origin of the sound. He could no longer hear it but he knew which direction it had come from. He dashed through thorn bushes, which left superficial cuts on his skin, as he made his way to the clearing the scream had come from.

As he broke through the perimeter of trees he saw Rarity and three fillies cowering in the middle of the clearing. All of them were looking off to the edge of the clearing with pure terror on their face. Trace followed their gaze to the trees where a massive lizard made its way into the clearing.

The lizard stood at least nine feet tall, and was roughly twenty-five feet long. Its legs were adorned with claws the length of a ponies leg. Its tongue flicked out of its mouth as it tasted the air. Its eyes glowed red as it looked across the clearing to the four ponies that stood frozen in fear.

Oh no, a Basilisk.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rarity had been wandering through the forest alone now for well over an hour. She had split up from Trace a while back in the hopes of being able to search more ground by herself. The forest was beginning to get to her though. In every shadow she saw a monstrous figure, and every rustle of the bushes she heard a ponyeating monster stalking her.

I can’t afford to be afraid right now. Sweetie Bell needs me. Rarity redoubled her determination and continued forwards through the dark forest.

Unlike the first time that she had been in the Everfree Forest Rarity did not have a map, or her friends to guide her. She knew that there were very dangerous things that lived in this Celestia forsaken place, and that time was of the essence. She continued her march forwards through the thick underbrush.

Rarity stepped through a patch of mud without breaking stride, showing just how determined she was. Up ahead she could see a clearing in the forest where she might be able to reassess the direction she was taking. As she entered the clearing she was able to make out three fillies huddled together. Rarity immediately broke into a gallop and hurried towards the three.

“Sweetie Bell is that you?” she called.

Upon hearing her name the unicorn in question turned to see her sister racing across the clearing. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she galloped towards her big sister, the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders following behind her. The two siblings embraced in a tear filled hug.

“I was so worried. What are you doing here?” Rarity asked, through tears of relief.

“I’m so sorry, Rarity, we got lost and couldn’t find our way out. I was so scared,” Sweetie Bell cried into Rarity’s mane.

Applebloom and Scootaloo joined the hug. All three of the fillies were quaking in fear, which did not go unnoticed by Rarity. She slowly released Sweetie Bell and stood before the three of them.

“You should never have come in here,” she scolded, and saw how ashamed and afraid the three truly were for the first time. She then embraced her sister again “Don’t worry everything is going to be okay now.”

“Rarity how are we going to get out of here?” Sweetie Bell asked.

“Don’t worry about that I know…” Rarity was cut off as Scootaloo let out an ear-piercing scream. Rarity turned to the orange Pegasus to see her eyes wide in terror as she looked to the edge of the clearing. Rarity also looked to the treeline to see a massive form moving amongst the trees towards them, its red eyes glowing in the darkness.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Trace galloped as fast as his hooves could carry him into the clearing, where he stood between the basilisk and the four mares. He turned to the monster and tried to make himself look as intimidating as possible. The basilisk however was undeterred and slowly made its way into the clearing to claim its midnight snack.

“That’s a basilisk,” Trace called back to the ponies behind him. “Don’t look into its eyes. If you look directly at them you could die.”

Fortunately Trace’s glasses prevented him from looking directly into he creature’s eyes. He realized that the basilisk was not going to simply leave the ponies alone and that he would have to stop it somehow. He pressed his hoof into the ground and poured power into the rune on the bottom of his hoof. There was a very large flash of light as a sword was transmuted from the ground. Trace’s mane then began to glow purple as the sword was levitated into the air and leveled at the incoming reptile.

“Rarity stay back. Keep those three safe,” he ordered.

“Trace, what are you going to do. You can’t possibly hope to stop that thing,” she shouted back to him.

“What choice do I have? Let him eat you four? I would rather die first,” he replied, levelly turning his attention back to the basilisk.

“No matter what happens. Stay back!” he shouted as he raced to intercept the monster.

Rarity yelled something back to him, but he didn’t hear it. He made it twenty feet before the basilisk was close enough to take a swing at him with its massive claw. Trace deftly rolled to the side and slashed at the air where the creature had been. He missed, and the creature began to focus on him.

Yes I have its attention. Trace rolled again to dodge another swipe.

Trace swung again with the sword, this time he landed a hit on the basilisk’s side. The cut was shallow but managed to draw a few drops of blood. The basilisk let out a cry of frustration and swung at Trace again. Trace had now grown accustom to these attacks and easily dodged once again. He countered with his sword once more, and cut a vertical line in the basilisk’s side through the pervious one, carving an cross into its side. This cut was much deeper, and this time the basilisk howled in pain.

Then the beast lunged at Trace attempting to catch him in its mouth. This was much faster than the previous attacks had been and Trace had to dive to the side in order to avoid being eaten. Trace rolled on the ground a moment before jumping to his hooves. The basilisk quickly turned and swung at him with its powerful tail. Trace was not fast enough to dodge this attack.

The strike from the creature’s tail felt like being hit with a tree trunk. Trace was sent flying fifteen feet through the air, and crashed into a tree at the edge of the clearing, hard. He could hear a snap from his front fore-hoof as he hit the tree, and let out a cry of pain. He fell to the ground with a now fractured hoof, and attempted to get back to his hooves only to fall back to the ground from the overwhelming pain.

He looked across the clearing to see the monster charging Rarity and the three fillies. Rarity attempted to stop the basilisk’s approach, but was unable to even slow the creature. It brushed past her to go for the weaker and smaller prey. The three fillies immediately began to run in different directions to try and get away from the predator, but it was much faster than they were.

The basilisk turned and began to chase Sweetie Bell, and Trace once again tried to make it to his hooves. He succeeded in standing, and tried to limp across the clearing to save the young filly, picking up the sword once again in his telekinetic grasp as he did so. He was not fast enough however; with a swipe of its claw the basilisk lifted young unicorn into the air and hurled her across the clearing.

Sweetie Bell hit the ground with a thud, and bounced several feet before coming to a rest. She lay there unmoving, and time stopped as Trace stared at her still body. A crimson ichor began to seep from a deep cut in her side. Trace was unaware of the pain that raced through his body as he put his full weight on his injured leg and charged at the beast, sword raised. Rarity’s cry was heard for miles around drawing the attention of a particular cyan pegasus.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Luna slowly descended the staircase into a pitch-black room. With a flick of her horn torches around her sprung to life illuminating the space. In the center of the room floating on a pedestal was a book. Luna could not see or sense it, but she knew that there was an unimaginable evil that dwelled within its pages.

The Princess of the Night slowly made her way across the dark room towards the evil tome. She came to a stop a few feet away from it, unable to will herself to step any closer. She simply stared at it, and by doing so felt anger begin to well up in her. She quickly broke her gaze and the anger began to recede. This book was very dangerous.

Luna had come here every single night since her return to the world. She was thankful that this secret room had gone unnoticed over the millennia of her banishment. She could not even fathom the destruction that might have been caused if somepony had stumbled onto it during her absence.

The dark room was completely silent. The sound proofing spells have seemed to hold strong over the years.

She would not speak in this room. Words are what gave the evil in the book its power. She had been lucky that not even a single sound had made its way into the chamber so far. She turned her back to the black tome and made her way to the wall so that she could recheck the spell that kept the room hidden. She had done so every night, but was a naturally cautious pony and would continue to check them every night. Everything was in order, and she returned to her place a few feet away from the book.

Luna stared at the book attempting to unravel its secrets by merely staring at the cover. She knew that the point was moot, but continued to leer at it all the same. The black book remained where it had been for more than a thousand years, floating above the pedestal suspended by magic. Once again Luna could feel anger begin to take hold of her, and she looked away.

She sighed. Everything is exactly how it was last night. Luna then turned to leave the chamber. Her horn glowed again putting out the many torches that lined the wall, sending the room once again into complete darkness. The Princess began to make her way up the spiraling stone staircase pausing halfway up to open the entryway at the top. When she reached the top she was startled by an unexpected voice addressing her.

“Hello Luna. A beautiful night we are having, isn’t it?” Celestia said.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

The basilisk screamed in pain as Trace slashed its leg with his sword. It swung at him again and Trace rolled under it in order to stab its underbelly. The monster jumped away before it could be injured again. After landing it swiped at him again causing Trace to roll to the side. Pain from his injured leg attempted to make itself known, but Trace ignored it, he was completely enraged and not thinking at this point.

He once again charged the beast. This time he dropped the sword and turned to deliver a buck to the basilisk’s injured side. Trace poured magic into the runes on his back hooves as he bucked the monster. When he connected a magical explosion threw the two away from each other. The basilisk was lifted from the ground for a few feet before it fell back to the earth with a thud. Trace helplessly rolled over himself several times eliciting another crack from his injured leg. The leg was now broken in two places and no matter how hard he tried to push through the pain he would be unable to stand on it.

The basilisk had fared even worse. Trace had landed his blows on the cuts the he had inflicted earlier. Blood poured from a gaping hole in the creatures side. The basilisk had suffered four broken ribs and a punctured lung from the explosion. It slowly climbed to its feet and tried to limp out of the clearing. Its injuries didn’t allow it to move much faster than a tortoise, but even the unthinking creature knew that if it stayed much longer it would not survive. Trace noticed that basilisk was trying to leave the battlefield, and slowly made his way onto his three uninjured hooves.

“No, you don’t get to leave!” he screamed at the retreating monster.

Trace found his sword laying on the ground ten feet away and cast out his magic to envelope the blade. It levitated into the air, and he glared back at the basilisk. He poured all of his energy into the blade and threw it across the clearing. The sword cut the air as it soared towards the beast. It struck home in the back of the giant lizard’s skull. The basilisk shuttered for a moment before falling to the ground, finally vanquished.

Trace desperately looked around the clearing to find where Sweetie Bell had fallen. Rarity sat next to the filly, crying. Trace began to limp to her side when he was stopped by the sound of a pegasus landing in the clearing.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rainbow Dash looked around the clearing not knowing what to think. Near the tree line a massive lizard lay slain with a sword protruding from its skull. In the middle of the clearing she could see her friend crying over the still body of her sister, Scootaloo and Applbloom were also with her. In front of her was a white unicorn standing on three legs barking orders at her.

“GET A DOCTOR NOW!!!” Trace screamed at the stunned Pegasus. He had been trying to snap the cyan pegasus out of her confusion for several seconds and could no longer control the volume of his voice.

Rainbow Dash looked to the clearly broken leg of the unicorn in front of her, and then back to his face.

“NOT FOR ME YOU FOAL!” Trace screamed, prodding the mare with his horn hoping to get her to take flight.

Rainbow Dash looked back to where Sweetie Bell was laying and came to fully realize the situation. She gave Trace a salute and rocketed into the air in search for Nurse Tenderheart. After Dash’s rainbow trail disappeared over the trees Trace turned and limped as fast as he could to where Rarity sat over the still body of her sister. It took him a while to reach her.

Trace looked down at Sweetie Bell and saw the filly was still breathing, but was seriously hurt and needed medical attention immediately. He pressed his hoof into the ground, and poured the last of his magical reserves into completing a final transfiguration. After a moment a flash of white light came from the ground and a few bandages manifested where Trace’s hoof had been.

“Here Rarity use…” Trace was unable to complete his sentence as his eyes rolled back and his body gave into exhaustion. Trace fell to the ground as the sweet darkness of unconsciousness took hold of him.

Trace 3

Trace found himself in pitch-blackness. He looked around, but couldn’t see anything in the black abyss. Panic started to take hold of Trace, he knew that he needed to do something, but couldn’t remember what it was. He stood still in the darkness trying to recall how he had gotten here. Trace focused on his surrounding and found that he could feel the grass beneath his hooves. Trace’s eyes began to adjust to the darkness, and he was able to make out shapes.

The shapes became distinct little by little. Ahead of him was more blackness, but when he looked behind him he could make out a tree line. He looked ahead again and could see that there was another tree line in the distance. Things began to grow more distinct and Trace was able to tell where he was. It was night, and there were neither stars or a moon out to light the clearing Trace was in. In the middle of the clearing Trace could barely make out five figures.

One of the figures was huge and was slowly moving towards the other four. Trace could see its red glowing eyes in the darkness. Terror struck Trace when he realized what the moving creature was. He then looked to the other four, and knew immediately who they were. The basilisk slowly moved towards the four ponies cowering in fear. Trace stared at the creature as it licked its lips, ready for its meal.

“You can’t be here. I killed you!” Trace screamed at the monster. It didn’t hear him and continued to near Rarity and the three fillies.

“Rarity run!” Trace screamed to her, but she didn’t move.

Trace tried to gallop to them so that he could save them again. He was stopped when he was unable to move his left fore-hoof. Trace looked down to see shadows grasping his leg holding him in place. Trace tried to pull away from the shadows, causing immense pain to lash through his leg. He continued to struggle screaming in agony and frustration as he tried to free himself from the shadow’s grasp.

More shadows erupted from the ground, and curled around Trace’s body forcing him to the ground. Trace ignited the rune in his mane and hurled magical power against the shadows causing them to let up. Some of them were blown away by his outburst, which caused him to pour magic into freeing himself. Every time Trace would fight one off pain would lance through his horn. He tried to ignore the growing migraine, but was unable to. He continued to fight, and the shadows kept reappearing, trying to conquer him. The pain in his horn kept growing in intensity, it felt as if someone were cutting it in half with a molten cleaver.

Suddenly, an immense force slammed him to the ground. He could not push against it as it held him tight to the earth. Trace yelled in anger as he tried to buck himself free, but it was in vain. Trace continued to rage, which only made the force press down on him harder allowing him no movement at all.

He could not possibly hope fight such a powerful foe. He would not submit, he had to save the ponies that needed him. He looked back across the clearing to see that the ponies and the basilisk were gone.

“Trace.” A voice called out in the darkness.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight sat in the waiting room of the cold sterile hospital. Two ponies she knew had been taken to intensive care last night. The worst of the two, Sweeite Belle, was still in critical condition. The doctors had done everything that they could for her, and she was now stable.

“She is lucky to be alive honestly.” The doctor informed Rarity. Twilight stood by her friend offering her support.

“Tell me doctor is she going to be okay?” Rarity asked. The white mare had been crying for a long time now, and seemed to have no more tears. Her mane was a mess and her eyes were red and puffy.

“We have her stabilized now. There isn’t anything else anypony can do for her. At this point we just have to wait and see.” The doctor replied.

“Can I be with her?” Rarity asked.

“Of course.” The doctor replied.

Rarity moved into the room behind the doctor and took a seat at the side of the bed Sweetie Belle lay in. Twilight attempted to follow her into the room, but found her path blocked by Nurse Tenderheart.

“I’m sorry Twilight, but family only.” The blue pony informed.

Twilight stepped back, and turned back to the waiting room. She walked to a corner where she took a seat on a cushion that was set out. She levitated over a magazine from a nearby table and began to flip through the page.

Twilight broke from the memory; it was in that same waiting room that Twilight now sat. Over the hours she had read every magazine in the room, and was just looking at the pictures in them at this point. The doctors had not allowed anyone to go and sit with Trace, he had no family in Ponyville. They had told Twilight that he had a leg broken in two places, and had suffered from severe magical exhaustion along with some internal injuries. They had exclaimed that it was remarkable he wasn’t going to suffer any permanent damage after expending so much magic.

Twilight tossed the magazine aside, having grown bored with staring at pictures. She looked around the room to be greeted by white. The walls were white. The ceiling was white. The floor was white. Twilight had never thought she would ever grow so bored of white, but sitting in this room for hours was starting to wear on her. She looked up to the ceiling and began to count the tiles.

’76, 77, 78.’ Twilight’s monotonous task was halted when she heard alarms start to go off, and several large orderlies raced past her into Trace’s room.

Twilight got up from her seat, and trotted over to the room investigate. She was lucky that she hadn’t galloped there as one of the orderlies was hurled from the room and slammed into the wall of the hallway. Twilight chanced a look into the room to see several nurses and orderlies trying to restrain a thrashing Trace.

“We have to hold him down before he does any more harm to himself.” Nurse Tenderheart yelled over Trace.

Trace lashed out with his magic and tossed two more nurses aside. Twilight decided that it was time she intervened. She cast out her magic to envelope Trace and held him still. Trace continued to struggle, but could not move with her holding him still. Trace was beginning to foam at the mouth as he strained against her magic, it was then that Twilight noticed that he wasn’t even awake.

“Trace.” Twilight called to him. The change was instant. Trace seemed to calm down at hearing her voice.

“Trace you need to calm down. Everything is okay. Everything is going to be alright.” Twilight said stepping closer to the white unicorn. Trace stopped struggling against her, and slowly opened his eyes.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Trace sat up as he opened his eyes, he immediately shut them again as he was blinded for the third time that week. There was a massive white light beaming down at him, and his throat was sore. He had no doubt that he had been having another nightmare, though he was never able to remember what any of them had been about. Wincing Trace slowly opened his eyes again to be greeted by a blurry lavender unicorn standing over him.

“Twilight, is that you?” he asked.

His question was confirmed when the mare in question leaned down and hugged him tightly. The magic that Trace hadn’t noticed was enveloping him dissipated. Trace stared around the room to see that nurses and orderlies were staring at the two in amazement. Trace saw that one of his legs was suspended in a cast, and held in the air above him by a sling. It was then that Trace realized he was in a hospital.

“Twilight what happened?” Trace asked pulling away from the embrace. “Is everypony okay? Where is Rarity?” Trace was beginning to panic again, and was stopped as the pain in his horn flared up again.

“Rarity is okay Trace. I hear that you are to thank for that.” Twilight replied trying to calm the stallion once more. The nurses and orderlies left the room and the two to their conversation.

“What about Sweetie Belle. Twilight what happened?” Trace asked, calming down a little.

Twilight paused, not knowing exactly what to tell him. Trace saw her hesitation, and began to fear the worse.

“Don’t tell me that she… is dead.” Trace said.

“NO!” Twilight exclaimed. “No Trace she isn’t, but it isn’t good. She is in critical condition. Rarity is with her now.” Twilight explained.

Trace sank back into the bed horrified by the news.

‘I wasn’t able to help her.’ He thought. ‘I wasn’t strong enough. Why wasn’t I strong enough? Why did I let that monster get to her?’

“I’m so sorry Twilight. I wasn’t able to stop this from happening.” Trace said, apologizing to the pony he could find.

Twilight saw the depression on Trace’s face, and grew concerned. ‘Of course it is sad that Sweetie Belle was hurt, but if Trace hadn’t been there none of the four he had saved would be alive now.’

“No Trace you can’t think like that. If you hadn’t been there who knows what could have happened. You saved four ponies last night.” Twilight informed him.

“Thanks Twilight.” Trace replied giving her a fake smile. “I think I need some rest though.” Trace continued laying back into the bed.

“Okay then. I will go back home, but I will be back in the morning to see you.” Twilight said making her way to the door.

Trace waved to her with his free hoof as she left the room. He was alone in the room. He buried his head into his pillow trying to allow sleep to reclaim him. He was unable to fall back asleep however.

‘I should have been stronger.’ He thought. ‘What hadn’t I been stronger. If only I had been born stronger like Twilight I would have been able to easily save everypony. Why was I born such a weakling?” Trace was unable to turn his brain off, and this kept him awake.

Trace lay in bed for several hours unable to make himself comfortable. Part of him knew that he had done everything possible to help the injured filly, and another part knew that if he weren’t so weak things would have gone better. Trace wrestled with himself for hours before a thought occurred to him. ‘I need to see her.’

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was approaching morning as Rarity sat next to her sister in the cold hospital room. There were several machines hooked up to the sleeping filly. One kept track of her heartbeat, and another kept filling her lungs with air. The beep of the machine and the bag filling and releasing air were the only sounds Rarity had heard in hours.

Sweetie Belle lay on the bed with tubes protruding from her mouth. There were bandages wrapped around her torso where the Basilisk had maimed her. She looked to be sleeping, but Rarity could hardly bare to see her in such a condition. So she continued to stare at the ground as she had done for hours.

“I’m so sorry Sweetie Belle I wasn’t able to do anything for you.” Rarity whispered.

Behind her Rarity heard the door to the room open. She didn’t look up as sompony limped into the room and stopped when they were beside her. She was hardly aware that there was a pony standing next to her, she was exhausted by the day and had not slept yet.

“I’m sorry Rarity.” Trace said to the mare he was standing next to.

Rarity was startled by the voice and looked up to him. Trace stared down at her noticing that her mane was a mess and her eyes puffy from crying, but she still looked beautiful to his eyes. This made the situation that much worse.

“I wasn’t able to keep her safe. I’m so sorry Rarity.” Trace apologized again, letting his head fall.

“No.” Rarity said. “If anything this is my fault. I lied to Sweetie Belle and told her I had work to do. If I had just let her and her friends stay over for the night then none of this would have happened.”

“No Rarity I am as much to blame for that as you.” Trace replied.

“Oh Trace, you did everything you could. I know that.” Rarity said stroking his mane, Trace kept his head down.

“That is exactly the problem.” Trace replied. “I did everything I could and it still ended up like this.”

“Trace we were lucky that you were the one who found us there. If it had been anypony else I fear what might have happened.” Rarity said trying to sooth his self-loathing.

“No!” Trace exclaimed. “I am a mage trained at the academy in Canterlot. If it had been any other graduate from that school then nopony would have ended up hurt. I am just a weakling and I was unable to protect your sister. I can never apologize enough Rarity I’m….” Trace was cut off as a pair of lips stopped his confession.

Trace opened his eyes to see that Rarity was passionately embracing him. He gave into the moment and returned the embrace. The two sat there on there on the floor of the hospital room in each other’s hooves. It was Rarity that broke the embrace.

“Trace if you had not been there none of us would be alive right now. I can never thank you enough for saving my sister and me. I don’t want to ever hear you again saying that you failed us.” Rarity told him.

Rarity looked down and saw that Trace’s leg was in a cast. “Should you be walking around the hospital?” she asked.

“Probably not.” Trace replied. “I cannot tell you how hard it was to get out of that sling without using magic.” He continued.

Rarity gave a small laugh. “I imagine that Nurse Tenderheart would have a heart attack if she saw you up and about.” Rarity said.

“I don’t know her very well so I will have to take your word on that.” Trace replied.

Several moments passed as the two sat on the floor looking at each other. An awkward tension began to seep into the air of the room. The white elephant in the room raged to be acknowledged, but both ponies were afraid to bring it up. It was Trace that broke first.

“Rarity.” Trace said taking on a serious tone. “I don’t know how I feel about that kiss. It is true that I really like you and I admit that I want you. But you have just been through a traumatic experience I don’t know if I feel right about it. You don’t have to…” Trace was once again interrupted as Rarity pulled him into another kiss. The two held this one for several minutes before parting.

“That is not fair.” Trace said, his demeanor noticeably light. “I might have to get you to stop doing it.”

“Make me.” Rarity dared.

It was Trace this time that pulled Rarity into a lip locked embrace. The two sat in a room in the overly white hospital holding each other. Both expressed what they wanted and the other returned their desire in full.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Trace limped into the room, and surveyed it. The sling that had held his injured hoof in place lay on the ground next to the bed. And there was a small puddle of clear fluid on the ground next to the IV, which had been removed from his leg when he was making his grand escape. The room was dark, and silent. Exactly how he left it.

Trace slowly made his way across the room to the bed, where he would sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He carefully climbed into it making sure that he didn’t bump his leg into anything, and cause pain to shoot through his body. The leg was already hurting a lot. The pain had been growing ever since Trace had left the room, he could only assume that the IV had some sort of pain reliever in it. However, he wasn’t going to attempt to put the needle back into his leg. That would have been a terrible idea.

Trace laid down on the bed, and attempted to drift off to sleep. This was not as easy as he had expected it to be. He found himself tossing and turning as the chronic pain in his leg kept him awake. Trace started to think back to the events of the last couple of days, eventually he settled on a memory that happened not to long ago.

“Now what.” Trace asked still holding Rarity.

“I’m not quite sure actually.” She replied.

“Well it seems that we may have skipped that date that we were supposed to have.” He said.

“Yes, it would seem so.” Rarity agreed.

“I feel that we have ventured out of the friend zone.” Trace said with a smile.

Rarity let out a small chuckle. “I agree with you there.” She replied.

“So do you want to make this thing official?” Trace asked.

“Right now I think we should wait.” Rarity replied, causing Trace to lose his smile. “At least until everypony is out of the hospital.”

Trace stopped to contemplate this before he spoke again.

“I think that you are right Rarity. We will hold off for now, no matter how hard that may be.” Trace said nuzzling Rarity. Rarity returned the gesture, and pulled away to give Trace a serious look.

“I think that you should get back to bed.” She said flatly.

“Are you sure?” Trace pleaded, but Rarity would not be swayed.

“It was nice to see you walking around, but the doctors said that your leg was hurt pretty bad. I don’t want you harming yourself further on my account.” Rarity replied.

Trace looked down in defeat. Rarity had been right his leg was killing him. He lifted his head to tell her that he would see her tomorrow only to find himself once more in a passionate kiss.

Trace had finally managed to fall asleep. He calmly breathed, his body had lost the ability to tell him he was in pain. For a while peaceful dreams were what greeted Trace, it had been the first time in a long time.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Screaming was all that could be heard for miles around. An entire city fell from the clouds. Lovers held one another. Parents attempted to shield their children. Some even tried to reassure one another that something would pull them out of this mess. More than anything, there was screaming.

Well over a thousand ponies fell from the city of Cloudsdale flailing their useless wings in an attempt to fly. None of them managed to even slow their decent. Among those straining to pull out of their death fall were four ponies in the blue flight suits of the Wonderbolts. Spitfire pumped her wings as fast as she could.

The screaming was deafening as the ponies fell together. It did not last long. In a moment the area beneath the previous city of Cloudsdale grew silent. There was nopony left in the city. The had fallen.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Trace bolted awake causing a shooting pain to lance through his leg. He found himself once again drenched in sweat; he had another nightmare last night. He had been in the hospital for five days now, and every single morning he had woken to the same scene. Any minute now the nurse would come in and ask him if he was okay. He would wave her away and attempt to remember what had terrorized his mind the previous night, but be unable to recall anything.

‘Right on time.’ Trace thought as Nurse Redheart entered the room. The white earth pony with the pink mane looked Trace over. She sighed and made her way across the room. Trace noticed that she had a new pair of sheets balanced on her back. Nurse Redheart pulled a key from her saddlebags and undid the lock that chained Trace to the bed. Trace had been confined to his bed for the past three nights after Nurse Tenderheart found him wandering the halls a few nights ago.

“Another nightmare?” the nurse asked.

“I wouldn’t know.” Trace replied truthfully.

Nurse Redheart rolled her eyes, and prompted Trace to move so that she may retrieve the sheets he was on. He begrudgingly complied so that she may do her job. Once there were new sheets on the bed she lifted Trace’s file from the holder at the end of the bed. Once she checked it over it was placed back into the bin.

“The doctor will come in later to see you.” She told him before making her way out of the room.

Trace was left again to his thoughts. ‘I have never had this many nightmares in a row.’ He thought. ‘Maybe it has something to do with what happened. I hope I’m not suffering from PTSD.’ Trace lost himself as thoughts began to race through his mind about his current predicament. He didn’t even notice that Rarity had entered the room.

“I hope I am not intruding.” The white unicorn said snapping Trace out of his trance.

“What? Oh when did you get here?” he asked.

“A couple of minutes ago, but you look so cute when you are lost in thought that I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt you.” She replied.

Trace blushed a little at the comment, but quickly recovered.

“How is Sweetie Belle doing?” he asked.

“She is doing much better. The doctors say that they are going to release her later today.” Rarity answered brightening significantly. Sweetie Belle had woken up three days ago and had been on the fast track to recovery ever since. She hadn’t suffered many serious injuries asides from blood lose and a large laceration where the basilisk’s claw had gotten her.

“That’s good to hear.” Trace said. “I guess that means you will have to get used to having a hyperactive filly in your boutique again.”

“I am afraid that mother and father won’t be letting her stay with me anymore after what happened.” Rarity said, her mood dropping. “I don’t blame them either. It was my responsibility to keep her safe, and I failed horribly.”

Trace was quick to reply.

“What happened wasn’t your fault Rarity.” He said. ‘It was mine.’ Trace was still unable to let his failure to protect the filly go, but Rarity had asked him not to bring it up, so he wouldn’t.

“I know what happened was nopony’s fault, but I still cant help feeling responsible.” Rarity admitted.

“Do you know what that makes you?”

“What?” she asked.

“The best big sister in the world.” Trace replied.

Rarity made her way to the bed where she planted a kiss on Trace’s cheek. The two hadn’t had a real kiss since they agreed to hold things off until they were both out of the hospital. That did not dull the feelings that were expressed between the two however. Trace was about to say something when he heard voices coming from outside the door.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“I can’t believe he did that. Was he always so wild when he was young?” Twilight asked.

“You wouldn’t believe. He was always getting into fights with the other colts at school. At least once a week he would come home with more bruises. It was always over something trivial too. Like someone calling him a blankflank or making fun of him for not being able to use magic.” The mare that walked next to her replied.

Trace knew who the two were before they entered the room. He hid his head beneath a pillow, and tried to look as if he were sleeping. This was really hard to do when one leg was dangling in the air restricting his movement. Rarity turned to see Twilight enter the room with a mare that she didn’t recognize. Her eyes shot wide as it dawned on her who the mystery mare was.

“Are you pretending to be asleep Corny?” Margaret Trace asked.

Margaret was a white unicorn mare with a pink and red mane. It was styled perfectly, very much like Rarity’s. On her flank she bore a cutie mark of a sewing needle and a camera. Rarity was next to her in an instant.

“OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH. Do you know who you are?” Rarity gushed at the bewildered unicorn.

“I think so, but now I’m not so certain.” Margaret replied.

“Corny?” Twilight asked still unable to get over what she had just called Trace.

“Oh yes. He absolutely hates whenever anypony calls him that. In fact that might have caused a few of the fights I was telling you about earlier.” Margaret said turning to Twilight.

“What do you mean fights?” Rarity asked after collecting herself.

“I mean that my brother was quite the rebel rouser when he was just a small little colt. Always getting into fights with older children at school, and come crying to his big sis whenever they beat him up.” She replied.

Trace who had been watching the entire exchange from beneath the cover of his pillow let out a snort at the last remark. This caught the attention of Margaret and she trotted over to the bed so that she could remove the pillow from his head. ‘Dammit.’ Trace thought as he came face to face with his older sibling.

“Hello Corny. You don’t look so good.” Margaret said smiling down at the invalid.

“I would say that same sister.” Trace shot back invoking a laugh from his sister.

“I see that being confined to a bed has not dulled you sharp tongue.” She replied.

“It would take more than a week of bed rest to relieve me of my greatest weapon.” Trace said eliciting another laugh from the older mare.

“Well now Cornelius aren’t you going to introduce me to your marefriend?” She asked, causing Rarity to turn a deep shade of red.

Without missing a beat Trace turned to Rarity.

“Margaret this is Rarity. She is a dress designer in town, and is very fond of your work.” Trace answered, pleased that he was able to change the subject.

“Is that right?” Margaret asked turning to the mare in question.

“Yes, I absolutely love what you did with the dresses that you put out last fall. I have even tried to incorporate your designs into my own.” Rarity said moving closer.

“You honor me with your praise.” Margaret replied.

“Careful if you make her ego any bigger it will take all of the air out of the room.” Trace said causing Margaret to give him a death stare. All this did was cause Trace to break out in laughter.

“It is you who should be careful Cornelius. Do you know how many embarrassing stories I have of you?” Margaret said.

“Have you not already told Twilight everything?” Trace asked motioning to the lavender unicorn. Twilight backed up against the wall not wishing to be caught between the feud of the two siblings.

“It seems that you have wasted your ammunition, and do not forget that I have tales of my own.” Trace shot back.

“You know me brother. I save the best for last.” Margaret replied with a grin. “Would you want Rarity here to find out about the toaster incident?”

“What toaster incident?” Rarity inquired.

“Okay, okay you win.” Trace conceded.

“Trace what was she talking about?” Rarity asked turning to Trace.

“That is for me to know and you to never find out.” He replied causing Rarity to pout.

Rarity was about to say something, when she was interrupted by Doctor Remedy walking into the room with some X-rays floating behind her. The mare was about twice as old as Trace, and her yellow mane was beginning to grey. Doctor Remedy stopped as she entered the room to look around at the four ponies within it.

“I am sorry, but what I have to say should only be heard by the family of the patient.” She said addressing Twilight and Rarity.

“It’s fine doctor I don’t mind them here.” Trace said stopping Rarity and Twilight from leaving the room.

“Very well.” Doctor Remedy said before making her way to a wall where she hung up the X-rays. The blue mare then pressed a button on the wall causing a light to come on behind the X-rays. The pictures were of a clearly broken leg, which Trace could only assumed belonged to him.

“This has to do with your leg Mister Trace.” She said turning to the patient.

“So what is the news doctor?” Trace asked, hesitation apparent in his voice.

“It seems that there is nothing else that we can do for it. Your bones have managed to heal well, but there was extensive muscle damage. I fear that you will never have complete mobility again.” Doctor Remedy replied, she didn’t like bearing bad news but it was part of her job.

Rarity gasped at the news, and Twilight’s eyes went wide. Margaret made her way to her brother and hugged him tightly. The only one that didn’t seem affected was Trace, but that was only because he was lost in thought and unable to show his emotions on his face.

‘Never have full mobility again? What does that mean? Is she saying I won’t be able to walk again? Can this really be happening?’ Trace was beginning to feel dizzy.

“What does that mean exactly doctor?” It was Twilight who spoke up this time.

“It means that he will never be able to gallop again, though he should be able to walk on it somewhat after it has healed some more.” The doctor replied turning to Twilight.

Doctor Remedy turned back to Trace ready to answer any questions he might have. She waited there for many more minutes looking at the stunned stallion. After five minutes had passed in silence she made her way to exit the room.

“I’m sorry that there wasn’t more I could do.” She said before leaving.

Trace sat in his sister’s embrace for a while unable to say a word. Nopony in the room dared to speak, or even move. Nearly another ten minutes passed before Trace managed to pull himself away from his sister.

“I think… I think that I want to be alone right now.” He said addressing everypony in the room.

“Cornelius are you sure?” Margaret asked making her way back to her hooves.

“Yes. I think it would be for the best.” He replied.

Slowly everypony began to file out of the room. Rarity was the last to leave. She looked back to Trace and saw that his expression was completely blank.

“I am here for you Trace.” She said to him.

“Thank you Rarity.” He said turning to her. “Can you please close the door behind you?”

“Of course.” Rarity replied, making her way out of the room, closing the door.

From beyond the door she could hear the sound of sompony crying softly.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Hey there Sweetie Belle.” Scootaloo exclaimed as she entered the hospital room, Applebloom trailing close behind her.

Sweetie Belle looked up from a book that she had been reading. One of the nurses had given it to her when she complained about being bored. Sweetie Belle sat up in her bed to look at her friends as they entered. She was no longer hooked up to the machines, and only had the bandages wrapped around her torso to give away that she had been injured a few days prior.

“Hey there guys.” Sweetie Belle replied, waving a hoof to her friends as the made their way over to the bed.

“We heard that you were gonna get out of the hospital today.” Applebloom said as she approached her friend.

“Yea, the doctors said that I could go home.” She replied.

“Well that’s great. It hasn’t been that fun trying to crusade with you bein in the hospital.” Scootaloo said.

“I don’t know how much crusading I can do guys. The doctors said that I cant play around outside for a while.” Sweetie Belle informed her friends, looking a little depressed.

“Well that’s okay. We can do other stuff like…” Applebloom deadpanned.

“Like sewing.” Scootaloo offered.

“Yea we can do stuff like sewin’. Rarity has lots of stuff at her place to do that with.” Applebloom confirmed.

“Rarity doesn’t like me touching her dress making stuff. And besides, I’m not going to be living there anymore.” Sweetie Belle replied.

“If you’re not going to be living with Rarity then where are you gonna live?” Scootaloo asked.

“My mom and dad are taking me back to live at their place.” Sweetie Belle confirmed. “I usually stay at Rarity’s since they are always going on vacations and stuff, but after what happened…” Silence filled the room as Sweetie Belle stopped mid sentence.

“Well that’s okay we can still visit you right?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yea, my mom and dad live on the other side of Ponyville.” Sweetie Belle explained.

“Well see there, ain’t nothin’ gonna change to much.” Applebloom said.

Rarity walked into the room, and saw that Sweetie Belle’s friends were talking with her. She paused for a moment wondering if she should wait for them to finish their visit before she came into the room. She decided against it.

“Hello there Applebloom and Scootaloo, it’s a pleasant surprise to see you two here.” Rarity said causing the three fillies to turn to her.

“Hi Rarity.” Applebloom said to the older mare.

“Yea, hey Rarity.” Scootaloo added.

“Hey sis. Why are mom and dad not letting me stay at your place anymore.” Sweetie Belle asked, causing all of the fillies in the room to look at Rarity in expectation.

“Well Sweetie Belle” Rarity started “they were just so worried by what happened that they want to have you with them to make sure you are okay.”

“But, I like living with you.”

“I know, and I love having you around. But it’s their decision to make, and we have to abide by them.”

Sweetie Belle’s head sank as she saw the finality in her sister’s words. She didn’t really have a problem living with her parents, but she preferred living at Rarity’s much more. It seemed that her mom and dad were trying to punish her, and that was mean. Rarity saw the look on Sweetie Belle’s face and made her way over to her sister, pulling her into a hug.

“Don’t worry Sweetie Belle we will see each other all the time, and you can come over to the Boutique whenever you want.” Rarity said

“Thanks Rarity.” She replied.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

The room was completely black, but that didn’t give it any difficulty in seeing. It knew where everything was since it had been here so long. It had no eyes, but it could see the unlit torches that lined the walls. Any minute now they would come to life, as its nightly visitor would descend the stairs.

As if on que a rumbling from above signaled that she was coming. The lights in the winding staircase came on one by one as she descended the stairs. A dark figured entered the chamber, and with a flash of light, the torches around the room sprang to life. Luna cantered up to the book that sat in the middle of the room to inspect it.

‘She is here again. Every single night. Does she come to gloat or does she want to open the book. If only she would. I would be out of here in an instant.’ An unseen force glared at the alicorn from its prison.

Shadows danced against the walls. The book in the middle of the room cast no shadow. The blue alicorns stood in front of the book staring at it, her face unreadable. Every night she came here, and every night the invisible entity raged at her.

‘Look here Luna. Remember your hate. You know it is still there. You cannot escape the truth. Those ponies care nothing for you. That’s right, feel the disgrace of a princess hated by her subjects.’ Luna broke her gaze from the black book and quickly gained a hold of her emotions.

‘LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! FEEL MY ANGER!’ The being raged at the princess. It knew she couldn’t hear it, but he mentally screamed all the same.

Luna sighed and turned away from the book, and made her way to the wall to check the enchantments that kept the chamber a secret. Every night was the same; it would get a few moments with the princess before she would walk away. She would come back and look into it again. It was nearly impossible for the being to escape its prison with a pony merely being close to it. Especially when that pony was Luna who already knew all of its tricks. It would still try. Just like it had for countless nights.

Luna made her way back to the black book to gaze at it once again. Just like she had every night. The entity within reached out to her once again.

‘Look at me Luna. You know me. Just talk to me. It can be whatever you want. I am a very good listener.’ Luna opened her mouth for a moment, as if she were going to say something. ‘YES! YES! Talk to me Princess.’

Luna began to laugh to herself hysterically.

‘I’LL KILL YOU LUNA! MARK MY WORDS, YOU WILL DIE!” The being raged as the princess turned and left the chamber, still laughing. Once she was gone it began to calm and turned back to its thought on escaping the prison it was locked in.

‘She is lucky that no one else knows I am here.’ It thought. ‘All I need are some words. It is so simple. I cannot be contained here forever. I will be freed. The first thing I am going to do when I’m out is wipe that smile right off of her ugly face.’

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Trace lay in his bed staring at the ceiling. He had been lying here for hours unable to bring himself to do anything different. He had counted the tiles on the ceiling three times, and was now just staring blankly into space. He had cried a little after hearing the news. Luckily he had persuaded his visitors to leave before he did. He would not allow them to see his tears.

‘Have I ever wanted to go out and gallop before?’ he thought. ‘But now that I know I never will be able to I don’t know what to do.’

‘Don’t worry about it to much there is nothing you can do about it now.’ He answered himself

‘Maybe I can find a way to fix this. I have done some complicated things in the past. Why should this be any different?’

‘Runes can do a lot of things, but you know that you can’t fix a pony with them.’

‘Maybe nopony ever tried to use them for something like this.’

‘If the doctors here couldn’t do anything for you then you should not presume that you would be able to. Just let it go.’

‘That is probably true. It’s funny how just when I gain a little bit of power something else is taken from me.’

‘That is just how the world works it seems.’

‘The universe preserves equality. Once somepony gains something it needs to be balanced out.’

‘That is how the universe should work, but it isn’t. Maybe that rule just applies to you.’

‘If it applies to me then it should apply to everypony. That would be true equality wouldn’t it?’

‘Yes but is that…’ Trace was brought out of his internal conversation by the sound of the door to the room opening. His sister made her way into the room. She was smiling warmly at Trace, but he had known her long enough to know that she was really forcing it.

“Hello Cornelius, don’t you think that sitting alone in this dark room is going to depress you?” she asked turning on the light to the room.

“I think I deserve to be depressed at this point.” He spat back, angry that she had interrupted his musings.

“I guess you have a point there. I heard that you fought a basilisk to get those injuries. I never would have thought that my little brother would have ever been able to do something like that.” She remarked.

“I killed the damn thing to.”

“Yes I heard about that also.” Margaret said looking to the floor.

“I know you disapprove, but it was necessary. That thing would have just found some other pony later who probably wouldn’t have been able to get away from it.”

“I know you are probably right.”

“I don’t regret ending that thing one bit. Just look at what it did to me.” Trace said motioning to his defective leg.

“Don’t you think that you should feel a little bad? You ended a life, and it shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

“You weren’t there. It was survival of the fittest. Even if I hadn’t needed to I would still do it. Look at what happened. I am a cripple now because of that thing!” Trace screamed.

“I don’t pretend to know what you are going through Cornelius. Just know that I am here for you whenever you need me.” She said placing a hoof on his shoulder.

Trace calmed down. He wasn’t mad at his sister, and taking out his frustration on her wouldn’t do anypony any good.

“I am sorry sister. I am not angry with you.”

“It is fine brother, I know.” She said smiling down at him. This time Trace returned the smile.

“I do not think that you have to worry to much about this.” She added, “It seems that you have already made plenty of friends here in Ponyville. Perhaps sompony that is more of a friend?”

Trace gave a laugh.

“We are not supposed to discuss that until after I have been released.” He stated.

“Oh well pardon me for intruding.” Margaret said giving a small laugh of her own.

The two broke into a wild fit of laughter. The mood in the room seemed to change in an instant, from sadness to mirth. The sibling truly enjoyed each other’s company and had not had a chance to talk like this in a long while. Trace ended the merriment when he turned to his sister.

“Has father been told?”

“Yes I told him before I came. I asked him to join me, but he was too busy I’m afraid.” She replied after a moment.

“To busy with his posturing to come see his injured son. That sounds just like him.” Trace commented.

“You two really should work this out.”

“Work what out? I think he made his feelings regarding me very clear when I declined dropping out of school to help him run the family business. Disinheritance is usually a strong way to determine feelings.”

“I know he feels just awful about that.”

“Awful that he ended the nobility of his bloodline. That would probably weigh on the mind of an old stallion like him.” Trace said chuckling to himself.

“The bloodline ends with you does it? What about me?” she asked taking insult.

“No offence sis, but I don’t see you as the kind of mare that settles down. I on the other hand.” Trace motioned to his injured hoof. “Well let’s just say that my dream of being a great war hero are probably dashed now.” He joked.

“I wasn’t aware that you had such aspirations.”

“Of course not aspirations like those will ruin your health.” He stated laughing some more.

“Well it seems that I have succeeded in cheering you up. But now I must get back to Canterlot, and the last train tonight leaves in little more than and hour.” Margaret said turning to leave.

“Remember Cornelius if you need me I am but a letter away.”

“I will keep that in mind. It has been good seeing you again Margaret.” Trace said waving to his sister as she made her way to the door.

“It has been wonderful seeing you as well. We will have to do this again sometime.”

“I only have so many hooves sister. Must we sacrifice one every time we are to meet?” Trace called to her as she left the room. Down the hallway he could hear her give a laugh before the door closed behind her.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Trace limped into his house and shut the door behind him. The place was completely dark, and he flipped the light switch that was on the wall next to him to illuminate the space. He still couldn’t do any magic.

He made his way into the dark house not bothering to turn the lights off behind him. He had not slept in over two days. He was afraid, because every time he did sleep he would awake after having a terrible nightmare. He couldn’t remember what they had been about, but the fear still lingered with him. Bags were beginning to appear under his eyes.

He slowly crossed the living room only to stop when he reached the stairs. ‘Ah stairs, my old nemesis.’ It was awkward as he tried to make his way up to the second story and to his bedroom. Only being able to use three hooves was not something that he was accustom to. It took Trace several minutes before he finally reached the top of the stairs.

Trace grinned as he triumphed over adversary

“Aha stairs you should have known that you were not match for me.” He proclaimed, unable to pat himself on the back without falling over.

Trace then limped across the hall and into his room where a perfectly made bed greeted him. Never in his life had Trace been so happy to see a bed as he was now. He slowly made his way over to it, and awkwardly climbed into it. Once situated he laid down so that he might sleep, hoping that it would be dreamless.

‘Celestia please grant me at least one night of peace.’ He prayed as he closed his eyes.

Not a moment later he heard the doorbell ring downstairs.

“You just don’t like me do you?” he asked the Goddess as he got out of his extremely comfortable bed.

Trace grumbled as he made his way out of the room and back to the stairs that blocked his path. The way down was much easier, but halfway down the doorbell rang again.

“I’m coming. I’m coming.” Trace stopped for a moment as he realized that he sounded like an old stallion having trouble getting to the door.

Trace snarled and made his way down the last few steps and into the living room. He limped across the floor as fast as he could, trying to prove to himself that he wasn’t old yet. He reached the door, and twisted the knob with his teeth opening it. Rarity greeted him as he the door swung open.

“Um, hello Trace I hope it isn’t to late.” The mare said giving him a hesitant smile.

“No of course it isn’t.” he replied.

“I just heard a little while ago that you were released from the hospital, and I remembered that I needed to give these back to you.” Rarity said lifting a pair of sunglasses out of her saddlebag with a bit of magic.

“Oh well thanks.” Trace said, taking the glasses in his teeth.

“Oh think nothing of it.”

The two sat there in silence for a while just looking at each other. The situation was steadily growing more tense and awkward. They both knew what it was that they wanted to discuss, but neither was able to breach the subject.

“Trace.”

“Yes?”

“Returning your glasses wasn’t the only reason that I came over here tonight.” Rarity admitted.

“I was hoping that it wasn’t.”

“I am not really that good with this kind of thing. I know that ponies seem to think I am, but I really haven’t had much time for romance in the past. I don’t think that there is really a guide for how we are supposed to go about doing this.”

“I think it is rather simple.” Trace said. “Rarity would you do me the honor of being my marefriend?” he asked.

Rarity was shocked by his frankness.

“I would love to Trace. Would you likewise be my coltfriend?” she asked in return.

“Nothing would make me happier my lady.” Trace said with a bow. Rarity giggled a little at the situation.

“You are right that was rather simple.”

“Most things are really.” Trace admitted.

“I suppose you have a point there Trace.”

“Now that is over with, would you like to come inside and have a cup of tea with me?” Trace asked motioning to the kitchen.

“I would love to” Rarity said making her way inside the house.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Celestia sat in her chambers reading a letter that Twilight had seen fit to send her.

Dear Princess Celestia,

This week I have learned that one pony’s bravery can overcome almost any obstacle. A new pony named Cornelius Trace arrived in Ponyville last week, and we quickly became friends. When some fillies were lost in the Everfree forest he went in to help save them. While in the forest Trace confronted and beat a basilisk in order to save four ponies from it. Trace however, was injured pretty badly in the battle. He showed me however, that when other ponies are on the line we have to step up and meet a challenge head on.

Your Student,

Twilight Sparkle

‘This would probably be why Trace hasn’t sent me any reports on his research so far.’ Celestia mused. ‘I am glad though that he has managed to make friends in Ponyville so quickly. Perhaps I misjudged him'