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                      The Mana Pools                       
                       -by Novashy-                        
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                         Prologue                          
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Prologue
Glace stood in front of the gates to Canterlot’s palace. The brown coated, green eyed pegasus stared at Celestia’s tower, wondering if he might catch a glimpse of her. After a few minutes, he gave up and focused his attention to the guards in front of the gate. The two guards had watched him for awhile, wondering if he was going to do something. “Ifre,” said Glace softly. Two sparks appear on each side of him; barely given any time to react, two large columns of fire rushed forward into the guards.
Their screams of pain quickly attracted attention, smoke already filled the air. The fire had rushed into the gate, melting the iron bars until there was a large hole in it. The flames evaporated into the air, only to show a dozen guards behind the gate, waiting for Glace’s next move.
“What shall I do this time? I've already done fire, so maybe... Natlsp.” As soon as Glace said the strange word, the vines and flowers around the guards whipped out and ensnared them. Glace watched the guards struggle in hope of breaking free of the plants, but it was no use. Soon the guards were being suffocated in a cocoon of the plants. Glace walked by the no longer moving cocoons.
It was the perfect day for the attack Glace had planned, there were few guards near the palace, and fewer inside. The effects of using the magic he had cast, was already starting to affect him. He found he was wanting to sleep, or to just sit down for awhile. But he had dealt with these urges before, so he had pressed onward towards the large doors into the palace itself.
As soon as he had touched the doors, he was tackled in the side. Glace kicked off the attacker and got on his hooves, his attacker was a Wonderbolt. Three others flew next to her, waiting for the one that had attacked Glace first to give an order. Glace however, didn't give them a chance. “Taelm,” he had burst out. The armor on the guards that he had burnt up, shifted and turned into several spikes. They had thrust forward and instantly killed the three that had come late. The Wonderbolt that was left had quickly dodged the spikes of metal.
“Oh good, I was hoping you didn't die. I was wanting to do something else with you. Siiovn.” The mare looked at him blankly, but soon she started to flap her wings irregularly. She fell to the ground and stumbles around, she screamed out for help several times. The last one making her curl into a ball and cry. Glace had taken her ability to see away, leaving her blind.
He walked to the palace doors, leaving the sobbing mare behind. He opened them and walked into the throne room where Luna, Celestia, and a couple guards had been waiting. “Why have you come here?!” shouted Luna with rage. Celestia appeared more calm than her little sister, as if knowing they would come out on top. “Well, I want to rule Equestria. And I have the power to do so, however, I can’t really do that when you’re here.”
Luna’s horn glows a soft transparent blue, charging her magic for a powerful spell. “Ighlt,” whispers Glace. The beams of sun that came through the windows suddenly shifted towards Luna, she tried looking away but there was a beam of light there as well. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to shut out the bright beams of sunlight. Celestia pulled Luna close to her and warped her wings around her, the sunlight no longer touching Luna.
“You spoiled my fun, Celestia.” The beams of light intensify and start to burn Celestia's coat. She winced in pain, her horn glowed a soft golden color and the blinds close. Glace growled, “Stop fighting back and die already you idiots! Cei!” he shouted out. The water from nearby fountains quickly turned into ice, the hunks of ice lifted out of the fountain and flew towards the princesses. However, they didn't reach their intended target.
The guards quickly rushed into the chunks of ice, sacrificing their lives in order to shatter the ice and save Luna and Celestia. Celestia watched in horror as her guards were broken and slammed back onto the ground. The ice did shatter, so the guards didn't die in vain. Celestia lets go of Luna slowly, her body shakes in anger. Luna looked around at the bodies of the guards, she had known a few of them, but she didn't know them very well.
Luna had risen up next to Celestia. Glace sighs, “I’m getting tired already. Can you two just lay down and die alre-” he was cut off as a beam of black slams into him. However, the beam didn’t come from Luna.
Celestia’s horn jolted with black electricity, a sign of dark magic recently being used. Luna took a step away from Celestia, in fear of the magic at use. Glace slowly pushed his black-squared glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. “Well this is a surprise. I didn't expect the princess of the sun to use dark magic. I rather expected Luna to do that. But, it doesn't matter. You’ll both be dead soon enough. Cei.” A wall of ice formed in front of Glace just in time to shield him from a blast of dark magic.
“I’m not” - she shot another blast of dark magic at Glace - “dying today!” The ice shattered and a small bit of the blast slams into Glace, he slides back and falls onto his flank. He shakes his head and starts to stand up, but another blast of the dark magic slammed into him.
Glace flew back and slammed into the wall, he slowly falls forward. “Poor Glace, tired already?” Came a female voice from beside him. Glace looked to see who it was. Vigne, his spiritual snake was on the ground, tilting her head at him. “I’m not tired,” he lied.
“I never said you were tired!” yelled Celestia.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” responded Glace.
“You know, you might not get a day like this again. Few guards, no distractions. And you’re just going to, lay here?” mocked Vigne. Glace slowly stood up and shook his head, trying to shake the tiredness away.
“Sorry, but I can’t do this right now. I’m too tired. I’ll just have to wait for awhile. Doawssh,” he melted into the shadows and vanished. Celestia shot where he had stood before, destroying the entire wall. Luna puts a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder.
“Sister. He’s gone.”
“No. No he can’t be! He’s still here! I’m going to-”
“Sister! Let it go! There are ponies wanting to know what is going on, if they saw you like this…” Luna went silent in thought of what would happen. Celestia took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. “Alright… I’ll go talk to the families. I won’t be long, get all the Lunar and Royal guards together. Have them search for this stallion.” Luna nodded, she turned and walked out of the throne room.

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                          Allumer                          
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Allumer
Nova slowly shut the door, he leaned against it and closed his eyes. Celestia had told him of his little brothers death, Celestia had been confused when she came to the door. Nova was a Griffon, white coat, silver feathers, and crimson eyes. And his brother was a pale black pony.
His father was a griffon and his mother was a pony, they had met when they ran into each other making delivery trips.
Nova and his little brother had never been very close. Nova had helped his dad with letters, and his brother had trained most of his life to become a royal guard like their mother. But they were still family, and it cut through his heart like a knife.
He pulled away from the door and walked into his dads old room. The room was a mess; dressers were knocked over, clothes were strung out all over the room, and mail was all over the bed. Nova had already sorted through the mail, each one of them was to his dad. The room had been destroyed a few years ago by a robber, that had accidentally killed Nova’s dad. The griffon had been taken into custody.
Unlike Equestria, murder happened in the Griffon Kingdom every so often. Most of it is accidental though, not all of it is on purpose. The charges of murder is also not a bad. Where you’ll be sent to the sun or the moon for murder in Equestria, one will be sent to a max security prison for the rest of their life. Unless it’s self defense, then it’s only for ten years.
In the middle of all the white letters, was a black one. This had caught Nova’s attention. He didn't remember the black letter before, he picks it up and uses a claw to tear the letter’s seal off. He pulls out the letter and reads. “Stop.”
Nova raised an eyebrow in question. He slowly got dizzy, he was hardly able to keep his eyes open. He sat down onto the bed and stared at a strange blue wisp that hadn't been there before. Soft voices comes from all around, “Nova. You are to be a champion of us. The Mana Pools. What you do with this power is up to you. And to find out this power, you must rest for five days.”
“Wh-… What are you?”
Upon saying that, the wisp of blue turned red, “We have already said! We are the Mana Pools!”
“O-okay! Sorry! Why am I so tired?” he asks, managing to hold a yawn back.
“Our magic. It is too overwhelming for a creature of your world, even being around you will take away most of your energy.”
“Magic? What kind of magic?”
“Do not ask. Your mind is to simple to understand it all. However, Glace, has stolen some of our magic.”
“Glace? Who is Glace?”
“He is our other champion, the one who attacked the Canterlot palace and killed your brother.”
“I see…” he grew silent, trying to keep his dark thoughts at bay.
“You will have to fight Glace. Both champions will always fight, like you, and the ones before you. He may kill you, or you will kill him. It depends on your power, and how much you understand it. We suggest you travel to Equestria and be around Celestia and Luna, they seem to be his primary target. Being around them will give you a sure chance to fight the one who killed your brother.”
“How will I be able to understand this power?” he asked, trying to  process all the information he’d been given.
“Tonight when you sleep, you will have a dream. Say the name, it shall teach you and give you any information you need.” upon saying that, the Mana Pools vanished. Nova fell back and closed his eyes, he felt completely drained. He instantly fell asleep when he had closed his eyes.
He opened his eyes to see the room darkened, a faint glow of the moon shining in. Nova slowly sat up and groaned, his entire body felt sore. He wanted to go back to sleep, but he didn't. Nova scratched his paw softly, he got out of bed and walked out of this fathers room. A couple letters stuck on his back since he had slept on them.
Nova went into the kitchen and walked to the coffee maker. His tail whipped over to the cabinet, it opened up the cabinet and wrapped around the coffee grind. His tail slowly set it down on the counter in front of him. He put the coffee grind into the coffee maker, he poured some water in and turned it on. He gently sat down and laid his head on the counter and watched the coffee slowly fill the pot.
“Allumer.” he said for some reason, he didn't even know why he  said it. One moment, he had been thinking about going back to sleep, the next moment he had an urge to say a word he didn't even understand. A light blue glow came from Nova’s chest, reminding him of the Mana Pools. He jumped back, trying to escape the glow. The glow flew off his chest and slowly formed a three tailed wolf. “You summoned me?”
“What?! I summoned you? How?”
“So they didn't tell you much I see. I am Allumer, your spirit animal. I can give you advice on almost anything, but I cannot touch or be touched by the world around me. Making me invincible… Well, that’s not entirely true. The only way for me to die, is for you to die. I reside inside your soul, so when that vanishes, as do I.
“So tell me, have you gained your first power yet?” asked Allumer.
“Um. No. I’m going to have more than one?”
“Yes, you are. Your special power is going to be enchanting.”
“Enchanting? Like, the magic is going to be so amazing it’ll be enchanting?”
“No you idiot!” he snapped, “I mean enchanting armor and equipment!”
“Oh, how will that work?”
“I’ll tell you about your first power when you get it, it’ll be confusing if I try to cram it into you simple mind all at once. I just hope your writing is horrible, and I also hope you’re not an idiot otherwise my life time is going to be spent with a moron, and that’ll piss me off.”
“I’m not an idiot, okay? Sure I ask a lot of questions, but that makes me smarter. Well, sometimes. I may ask the same question twice. So what’ll happen if I forget your name?”
“Coffee.”
“What?”
“Your coffee, it’s done.” he looked back at the pot of coffee.
“Oh!” Nova rushed over and turned off the coffee maker. He grabbed a cup and poured the coffee into it, his tail reached over and opens the fridge. It grabs vanilla coffee creamer and brought it in front of Nova, he took it and puts the creamer in it. He pulled a drawer and took a spoon, “You know. I don’t know how ponies can live without talons. Doing everything with their mouth and all. Well, they can push stuff around with their hooves, but not really grab things and keep a good grip with them.”
Allumer sighed and muttered a soft word that sounded like simpleton, but Nova wasn't too sure. Nova brought the cup to his mouth and took a sip, he winced and slowly swallowed. “Belgh.” He sat the cup back down and grabs the sugar, he poured a lot of it into the cup. Taking about a quarter of the space the cup. Again, Nova used the spoon to stir the contents of the coffee. After a little he sets the spoon down, he took another sip. “Much better.”
“Do you need anything to bring to Equestria?” asked Allumer a little impatiently.
“What? Why would I go to Equestria? Oh wait, never mind. I remember now, to protect those princesses and kill my brothers killer.”
Allumer nods, he jumped onto the table and sat down, now around Nova’s height. “That’s right. The sooner we go, the better. Glace isn't going to wait on us, he may even be attacking them right now. All he really has to do, is recover his lost spirit energy.”
“What? What happened to his spirit energy?”
“Well, Glace can tap into the power of the Mana Pools, using a bit of the powers they have collected over the millions of years. But, using that power takes a toll on the spirit energy of someone. You encountered the Mana Pool’s wisp, and it almost completely drained you, yes?”
“Yeah that’s right. I got dizzy, and I could hardly even stay awake.”
“Well, that was just a small portion of their true power. If you found and stood in front of the Mana Pools themselves, you would go into a coma. Their powers are almost the same, when one would cast them, it eats away at their spirit energy. And if he uses the spirit energy too often, he may even go into a coma. But of course he can rest and regain the energy he lost.
“Regaining the energy can consist of sleeping, drinking coffee, eating, or doing some thrilling things that would make a sleepy pony wide awake. Like, going on a roller coaster. That seems to wake ponies up.”
“Oh, yeah. I've been on one. It does wake you up, well, depending on the ride. Some of them are pretty dull. There was a lot of-” started Nova, until Allumer interrupted.
“Does it look like I care? Well, I don’t. I get your point and no longer care. Now hurry up and get ready to go to Equestria!”
“Okay okay! Geez ma.” Nova put down the cup and walked into his room and looked around. He didn't really have anything of importance, he grabbed his dad’s mail bag. The same one he had carried when he had ran into his mother. He had kept it around as a moment, or a good luck charm. He never really told Nova why he kept it around, just that it reminded him of Nova’s mother.
Nova walked back out of the room, “Alright. I have all I really need. Can I finish my coffee before I leave?” Allumer slowly nodded. Nova walked back over to the counter that had his coffee on it, he picked it up and took a sip of it. “Mmm, still warm.”
“Why is it empty?” asked Allumer.
“What? Oh you mean my bag? Well, my dad’s bag. It’s the bag I actually want to take, nothing else.”
“I see. Another question. Why do you usually begin a sentence with a question?”
“Huh?”
“Just like that. ‘Hm? What? Huh?’ Most of the times I've talked to you starts with something like that.”
“Oh, I dunno. I guess it takes a little for me to actually process what someone says, and so I guess I start a sentence with that.”
“Fantastic, just what I need. A slow processing Griffon.”
“Does being a Griffon have anything to do with this?”
“Tell me, do you know any Griffons that know anything about magic?”
“Er, no. Not really. Griffons don’t have any kind of special thing to use magic, like a horn.”
“Exactly. Griffons don’t know a single thing about magic, and so you can imagine how this makes my work harder.”
“I’m a fast learner.”
“You just said you were a slow processor!”
“And I am, but after I process it, It’s in here.” he tapped on the temple of his head. Allumer sighs and shakes his head.
“Just hurry up.”
“Okay… I guess I don’t need anymore coffee.” he sat down the cup and walked towards the door. Allumer hopped off the table and followed. Nova opened the door to see the golden horizon, “Morning time already. It was around noon when I fell asleep after that weird Mana Pool wisp showed up. At least, I think it was noon.”
“Can you stop taking in the sight and go already?”
“Oh right, okay… Um, how are you gonna follow? Can you fly?”
“Call me back.”
“Okay Back.”
“No you moron! I mean put me back into your spirit!”
“I know, I was just messing with you. And uh, how do I do that?”
“Idiot. Just say my name, nothing else.”
“Allumer,” when Nova said the name, Allumer’s body turned into a wisp like the Mana Pools had been. The wisp flew into Nova’s chest and disappeared. Nova shook where he stood, “Brr that felt weird. Anyway, I guess I better go before something happens and delays me.” He turned around and locked the door, he shut it and spreads his large wings.