The Magister

Chapter 2

I regain consciousness and feel the soft touch of damp green blades upon my face. Opening my eyes, I find myself in a vaguely familiar environment. It’s dark and my body is surrounded by a chilling breeze, flowing through the surrounding grass. I get up and see that I’m no longer anywhere near the Everfree Forest, or anywhere for a matter of fact. I look up at the night sky, and I still manage to make out the Nocturnal Rainbow from before illuminating the blank sky.

“What the hell happened…?” I ponder, examining myself. I still retain remnants of the injuries I had acquired from earlier, but I am alive.

“Thought I was done for this time,” I chuckle softly to myself as I brush off any loose blades of grass from my body. Then I feel a sudden chill down my spine. At first, I thought it was brought upon by the cold breeze, but I finally realize something. If this were all real, everything would be dead. I don’t feel any magic resonating off any of the nearby greenery, sky, stars, anything. “Okay, this is really throwin’ me off…”

Taking a quick walk around the meadow, I don’t appear to be moving in space. Using my sixth sense I could feel that I am stationary, not moving anywhere, even though all my other senses are telling me otherwise.

“This isn’t real… I’m still layin’ in the Everfree,” I conclude to myself. “So why am I dreamin’ at a time like this, oh wait, never mind…” Taking a glance at the moon, I can feel magic come from that direction.

“Yup, that’s why…” I sit down and see a black entity animate from the middle of the moon. As I remain here, the entity grows larger and larger, until I can clearly see it’s an Alicorn mare, specifically the lovely princess of the night, Luna. “…Well, wonder what she needs that she’s approaching me before our agreed upon checkpoint… then again, I was runnin’ late.”

She lands, her mane glistening in the moon’s light, like a constellation of dim stars and once her hooves finally lay themselves atop the ground, I am greeted with a soft gust from her wings, which causes a wave throughout the sea of smooth green blades.

“Hello… Eli,” she says to me closing the distance between us.

Getting up, I state politely, “Hello Princess.” I then begin to walk closer to her until there is only a foot or so in-between us. “This isn’t how’d I imagine this meetin’ would go, but inside my head would actually be the safest place…”

“You were not at the designated location on the agreed upon time, so I started to worry,” she explained.

“Oh, I was just on my way…”

“Was that you who created the rainbow…” she looks back, her face pointing towards the dreary dark blue rainbow.

“Not entirely, somethin’ else generated all the magic needed to alter your moonlight like that. I just simply dispersed it to avoid my death…”

“Your death…?

“I was attacked… I think, by somepony more powerful than I’ve ever seen.”

“Did you see her!?!”

“Her?” Quickly I take a combative stance ready to defend myself if needed. “You better explain yourself princess! Your one step from bein’ in the same position your sister was…?”

She lifts her fore hoof toward herself, signaling me to try and calm down. “Patience, may I have a second to explain.” She pauses, “Why I beckoned to you was to tell you of a treasure more valuable than Equestria as a whole…”

I calm down, but didn’t fully relax my muscles. I then say, “That’s a bold statement, my princess. Equestria holds many secrets and wonders of its own. It’s also run by the most powerful alicorns ever recorded, but I shouldn’t have to tell you that.”

“Yes, but there is a pony more powerful than my sister and I…”

“Me…” I state with a smirk.

“Even more powerful than you…” she responds solemnly.

“… Okay, you’ve got my attention.”

“She is nameless. Many of us have long forgotten the legends but it has never left my mind. My sister thinks me a fool, living in a filly tale, but not only have I not forgotten, I’ve seen this legend in the flesh. She is a fateless alicorn.”

“Fateless… like a blank flank?”

“Precisely.”

“But how is that possible, born alicorns are conceived with their cutie marks, born with their fates. And if she was just a normal pony at first, she would have had to recognize her destiny fully in order to become an alicorn. Like Celestia’s favorite student, Twilight.”

“There still are many things that are unexplainable, knight. But this is what we need.”

“And you think I’ve already confronted this fateless alicorn?”

“Yes…”

“Hmmm… a fateless Alicorn, I see how that would help us, but I have a few questions.”

“You may ask them.”

“We are doin’ all this for the freedom of every pony and to finally show the world that not only unicorns could use magic, right?” My princess nods in response, remaining silent in the false moonlight. “What of every other race? The griffons, diamond dogs, changelin’s… will they be free to enter our society as well?”

“I am working on that. Many ponies still view all the other inhabitants of Equestria as second class citizens. So, it’s hard to convince everypony in the council, but I am making head way, most pegasi view griffons as their equals. In turn the council is at the very least considering full citizenship for the griffons.”

“Eghh… I see why Celestia prefers a monarchy, elected officials are idiots…”

“It is not a perfect system, Eli. But if given a chance, everypony will surprise you. We are a united species and our ability to help other races is beyond compare.”

“For someone who has lived longer than me, you have a lot of faith invested in the citizens of Equestria.”

“I’ve seen the good in everypony, unlike my sister. I have also experienced what it means to be conquered by your own vices and succumb to weakness. That is why… I believe that when you brought upon me the issue of my sister censoring magic, “for the better of Equestria”, that this action was too extreme. That her belief in “limited rights” has finally gone too far. Ponies can be trusted.” She again pauses, “Do you not believe in our race as trustworthy and noble at heart?”

“… I’ve lived for one hundred thirty two years, and all of them have been outside of your world of privilege and ivory walls. I’ve never lived in a castle, but in the streets linin’ Equestrian cities, the woods that make the Everfree Forest, even the snow lands of the north and I think… I think… Sigh, just to summarize, no I don’t think us as trustworthy and noble…” This statement seems to hurt my princess as the words leave my lips, but I am not finished. “… But I do believe, as a race, we are worthy of a chance to become a trustworthy and noble one…” With this, she smiles and says nothing more. Afterward, we both stand silently in this illusion my mind had imagined. Both of us unable to competently discuss any further ideals. “So is our little meetin’ over…?”

“Yes, it is. I will be taking my leave, Eli. But before I do, may I ask you one question?

“Go for it.”

“Why go by Eli? Being in your mind, I can tell that “Eli” is not your dam given name.”

“Damn…?”

“Are mother’s no longer referred to as such?”

“No. Anyway, history won’t remember my mother, only I will… so the name she had given to me as a filly… belongs only to me.”

“Oh…” Luna closes her eyes. “… It’s locked so tightly in your mind.” I can then see that underneath her eyelids her pupils are moving. “I might even say it’s locked in your heart, seeing how I cannot reach it…”

“That’s enough, princess…”

“If that is what you believe, then I will take my leave…” Suddenly everything vanishes. Luna, the meadow, the sky along with the stars that pepper it so gently, the rainbow, even I vanish into the complete darkness…

*

I regain consciousness for a second time, and bolt upward. Instinctively I take a breath, however, my gasp for air is strenuous and prolonged making a high pitched wheeze as I breathe in.

“I really was dead, what the hellll!” I hold my chest feeling the need to refill my lungs with air. “Sigh, the magic holdin’ me together is almost at a negligible level… damn, I need to get home.” Struggling to get the lower half of my body off the ground, I stop for a moment and rest.

It’s still dark out here with the only real light coming from the moon itself. The Nocturnal rainbow from before has also faded. It has become nothing more than an aurora of blue and purple lights that sprinkle in the sky. The forest that had once surrounded me has vanished and was replaced by charred dirt with shadows scorched onto the ground.

“Alright… now I just have to awkwardly limp my way home.” I whine to myself. “Ehhhh… if only Luna coulda' teleported me home or something.” Lifting myself off the ground finally, I begin my agonizing journey home. I drag my hooves through the scorched earth and can feel embers producing some comforting warmth. This allows me to stay comfortable in this otherwise cold and dark night.

“What the hell, all my body hurts… I shouldn’t a' left my home so unprepared.” Finally, I reach the rim of the destruction. Life again is becoming apparent, and the blast doesn’t seem to have had any effect here. I stop and take a moment. Being here my heart lightens, I feel less open now surrounded by the remains of the Everfree Forest. I am more at home within these trees, away from both the moonlight and upcoming sunlight. Now, I just have to get home.

Moving for a few more moments, I walk beneath a collection of vines and low lying bushes. Then I stop and take a seat on the ground. I place one hoof on an invisible entity surrounded by trees and take a single breath. A veil then removes itself from before me, exposing a small wooden cabin. Its wall enslaved to vines and moss, the windows fogged by age, and its entrance nothing more than a badly warped and cracked wooden door.

“Finally, I’m home…” I get up and push open the door with my shoulder. Because of the door’s age and poor condition, it lets out a stiff creaking. To anypony else, it would be unsettling, but to me, it just means I am home. As I enter, I limp my way into the center of the small space. I see all the trinkets and small treasures that I had collected over my long life. They glisten in the newly forming sunlight that manages to find its way through the vines and cracks in my home’s walls.

“Welcome home, master…” A small soft voice murmurs from behind me. I turn and see that Alma is hovering right over my shoulder. Alma is an Alpha A.K.A. Artificial life enchanted item. Without the magic animating her, she would just be a small filly figure made of glass with golden crafted wings and an ivory horn. Thinking back, she’s the first enchanted item I had ever found and the most complex. She was also what allowed me to study the theory of magic and how it holds everything together. Not that she’s a prime example of life magic at work, but inside her is this vast library of ancient knowledge. Unfinished magic theories, Magic law, Natural Law, Chaotic Law, documented events before the rise of Celestia and Luna, there’s even a hint that she holds the secret of our origins. But presently she is how I became who I am…

“Alma, please run repair program, ‘ardentem medicum’…” I say as I turn away from her and look straight forward preparing myself.

“Yes, master Eli.” She says before she stops talking. I can then feel heat start to accumulate behind me. Letting out a horrid sizzling noise, I am blasted with a skin boiling blast. Within moments, I scream in pain as my skin quickly forces itself together in the heat, closing off any openings that led to the inside of my body. “Procedure complete master.”

Breathing heavily in the pain, I whisper under my breathe, “Alma… run repair program 'mulcebris lumen'…”

“Understood…” As quickly as she had brought me pain, she brings me relief, showering my body in a sprinkle of lights and removing all visible scars and skin level damage. After a long period of time, possibly an hour or two, I can even feel my magic return to me.

“That hit the spot…” I say as I sit down and rotate my shoulder. “Oh, you can stop now Alma and thank you very much for the healin’.”

“It is always a pleasure to assist my master in any way possible,” she gleefully replies as she clings onto my shoulder, looking at my cracked earrings and necklace. “Should I mark your present enhancements as unserviceable master?”

“Yes, and while you’re doin’ that, please open inventory folder: Echo India and run power calculation program for any withdrawn items from this folder. Oh and do we have any spell weave left?”

“All present enhancements have been marked as unserviceable. Now opening inventory file: Echo India… please wait…” Immediately her eyes start to glow and then a magic aura accumulates around her horn. After a few moments of waiting, a thin beam shoots off from the tip of her horn and onto the tip of mine. “Connection achieved, now sending visual representation of inventory folder: Echo India.”

Soon, my home tears itself open. The walls replaced by shelves upon shelves of enchanted items I had found throughout my journeys, the floor no longer a mossy mess covered in trinkets but marble slates lined with gold, and the dim sunlight substituted with a hollow white light coming from nowhere that supplies no warmth. Walking around, Alma still on my shoulder, I look through all the trinkets and jewelry. Finally, I find something I like and levitate it off the shelf towards Alma.

“Alright, power calculation for the eleventh and twelfth star earrings and the thirteen star necklace, please.”

“Yes master…” She pauses and then opens her mouth stating, “With the eleventh and twelfth star earrings and the thirteen star necklace your power will be enhanced by… thirty times. However, all spells higher than basic level will consume fifty times more magic. Do you approve withdrawal of these items?”

“Meh, works for me. I approve of the withdrawal, Alma. Please mark each item as withdrawn.”

“Yes master… all items previously stated are now marked as withdrawn. Now searching all inventory files for… “spell weave”… Two items found. One is currently withdrawn…”

Interrupting her, I look at my destroyed jacket and sigh, “Please mark that withdrawn item as unserviceable…”

“Yes master, restarting search… one item found. It is currently under the file name, LAST SPELL WEAVE ROLL LEFT IN ALL OF EQUESTRIA, USE ONLY IN EMERGENCY!!! Do you wish to withdraw?”

“Yes.”

“Please state confirmation password…”

I Pause and take a second to remember what I had told her for the password. “Ehhh, oh I know. The confirmation password for all emergency withdraw files is 'Faedes'.”

“Password correct, unlocking compartment in bottomless box to access emergency withdraws. LAST SPELL WEAVE ROLL LEFT IN ALL OF EQUESTRIA, USE ONLY IN EMERGENCY!!! Is now marked as withdrawn.”

“Alright, end session.”

“Yes master. Ending session…” I only have enough time to blink when I am again in my home. “Master your visual enhancements appear damaged…” Alma states pointing her hoof at the shattered lenses of my goggles. “No files indicate the possession of any other visual enhancers.”

“It’s no problem. I’ll just buy a new pair. How many bits do I have?”

“Four.”

“Really, just four bits?

“Yes master,” she nods. “The last withdraw was last week amounting to nine thousand and eighty six bits. It was marked as essential. The last deposit, however, was thirteen years ago amounting to one hundred eighty four thousand nine hundred and ninety two bits.”

“Geez, I haven’t done a job for profit in a while. Alright… Alma, clear my calendar for the upcomin’ week and wait for new entries mostly consistin’ of ‘for profit jobs’.”

“Calendar cleared, waiting for new entries marked ‘for profit jobs’. Do you need anything else master?”

“Where is the bottomless box currently located, if it isn’t too much trouble?”

“It never is too much trouble and the Bottomless Box is located just beneath the tiny shrub I have been attending to in the corner of your home.”

“Thank you,” I say walking toward the shrub, hinting for Alma to please vacate my shoulder. Finally at the shrub, Alma hovers off my shoulder as I dive my upper body in to it. “And please refer to current location as 'our home'.” I say as I finally manage to get the box free and lift myself out of the shrub looking at Alma. “Okay?”

“Yes master… please wait…” she stops, staring blankly into nothing as her eyes go from having so much life to a hallow shell of what they just were. “… But this isn’t my home…” This statement appeared to have actual emotion to it, a deep sadness that I had never heard her express before. “This isn’t…” She then looks around frantically buzzing by everywhere in a panic then falls.

“ALMA!!!” As swiftly as I can I go to catch her glass body. I jump forward and she lands into my two hooves making a soft clink noise. Bringing her closer I can hear her mumbling something. “ALMA?!? What’s happening?!? ALMA?!?”

“System failure, initiating emergency restart… unable to complete restart, unknown program still running. Intervention needed."

“Conduct Intervention!” I yell not knowing what’ll happen.

“Please wait…” She looks at me, as if she were suffering but with a new sort of life in her eyes. Not artificial but that of a real pony. “Intervention not needed, system restarting.” And like that, her little body becomes limp then jolts back to life saying, “Hello master,” like nothing even happened.

“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!!!” I blare at Alma. “WHAT THE FUCK!!!! Alma, please run a diagnostic sweep of all systems and for the love of Luna... TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!!!"

"Nothing did master..."

"What...?" I am very confused at her response, especially since a system sweep usually takes days. "Run diagnostic sweep, NOW!"

"Running diagnostic system sweep. Completion time estimated at four hundred eighty two days. Do you wish to run sweep in background."

"Yes Alma." I then think to myself, 'Something musta really fucked her over... I'm happy she is still functioning though...' I then take a second and collect my thoughts. "Alma, for the next four hundred and eighty two days, you must accompany me, your being must be no further than twenty feet away from me. Is that understood?"

"Yes master."

"Alright... fuck it, I'm done for today..." I look at Alma and lay on the mossy floor. "Love you Alma, sleep with the angels."

"Yes master. Commencing sleep mode."

"I'm happy to be home..."

"I'm happy you're home too..." I am astonished at her response, but it makes me happy. Doesn't really matter though I'm too tired to respond anyway.