Wizard Encyclopedia (Cut Edition):
Page One, History.
Magic. It appeared out of nowhere, carrying wast amount of knowledge and wisdom. Only a few had such power, even less could control it. Many young wizards died because of magical surges, bringing a lot of destruction with it. People started wiping out wizards and anyone who could use magic of any sort. People feared for their lives, feared that the magical apocalypse will come, destroying the whole world.
People burned books so that no one will ever try to use magic, they killed wizards, destroyed their houses, executed anyone who dared to help wizards. Fear ruled them all.
Page Two, Hierarchy.
There were Black, Brown, White and Gray wizards.
The Black wizards are archmages, their skill of magic and level of control is the greatest among wizards. They are able to cast powerful magic without wands or crystals, concentrating their magical energy through their hands. Only the best wizards earn the title of Black.
The Black wizards wear red and black clothes. They also bear a symbol of magic - six-pointed star with a round hole in its centre and a vertical line which cut through the material of the star. The symbol was often made of metal and attached to the left shoulder's protection.
The Brown wizards are common wizards. They do not need wands or crystals to perform simple and/or average magic, however they must use those items to cast powerful magic.
They wear brown robes similar to priests' ones.
The White wizards are students. They can use only basic spells. They study under the supervision of an archmage who teaches them how to control their magic and benefit from it.
They wear white clothes. There is also a piece of paper with a spell written that is attached to their left shoulder. The spell protects the student from hurting him- or herself, and tells the archmage of whereabouts of the student.
The Gray wizards are outcasts. They use their magic only to satisfy themselves, to gain power. They are not allowed to appear near any village. The punishment is death.
Page Three, Spells.
There are many spells that a wizard can use. Neutral spells, good spells, and evil spells.
Neutral spells can be performed by any wizard and require only some of wizard's strength to be performed.
Good spells can be used when you are filled with good emotions, such as happiness, love. Such spells can even bring dead ones back to life. They are mainly used to heal, to revive, to bring happiness and joy.
Evil spells can be used when you are filled with bad emotions, such as hatred, anger. Such spells are powerful but hard to control, and often drives their users insane. They are mainly used to hurt, to kill, to control minds, to bring destruction and pain.
Spells are cast pretty simply. Most of them require special hand gestures and verbal action, words in Latin. Some spells require only gestures or words, others don't need any action at all.
Written by Michael the Wise.
Five years after the purge started, most of magicians were gone forever. Only a few remained and hid well. One of them, Nikolay the Black, was on the run. His latest hideout was discovered.
Nikolay was a tall man, his height was at least one meter and ninety centimeters.
Nikolay had short black hair and no beard. His eyes were icy blue and glowed slightly.
He wore clothes of red and black, and brown leather boots. There was a symbol made of metal attached to his left shoulder. It represented a six-pointed star with a hole in its centre and vertical line cutting in the metal.
There was an organization that hunted down wizards and executed them for "Sins against God". All members of said organization wore white robes and carried crosses and weapons, such as swords, knives and crossbows.
Nikolay ran down the street. He prepared the teleportation spell as the last attempt to escape, his eyes were glowing solid blue. When he was about to release magic, cast a spell and teleport to his secret hideout, sharp pain shot in his right shoulder as a crossbow bolt hit it. A moment later Nikolay disappeared in a bright flash of purple light.
He felt down on his knees and hissed in pain. He turned his head and saw a crossbow bolt stuck in his right shoulder. Using his left hand, he pulled out the bolt, threw it away and applied healing magic to the wound. While it still hurt, the man didn't show any sings of being in pain. When the wound closed, Nikolay exhaled in relief.
Nikolay stood up and looked around. He was in a pretty dark forest. Strangely shaped trees stood all around him, their leaves covered almost all the sunlight.
Suddenly, the man heard a low growl behind him. He turned around and saw a timberwolf.
He has never seen such a creature before, and considered it as a creation of another wizard. However, he couldn't sense any familiar magic applied to the wolf in question. There was something entirely different to what the man remembered. Unfamiliar, untamed magic. Magic of Wild.
Growls sounded from all around him. The man looked around and saw green glowing eyes everywhere.
The man felt that the creatures were hungry. Yet, they approached him with caution. He guessed that the wolves have never seen humans before.
The man folded his index and middle fingers and thumb and pointed his hand at the biggest wolf.
"Uro." the man whispered. The wolf caught fire all of sudden. High pitched whining sounded from the wolf as he collapsed. Other wolves escaped such terrible fate and retreated back into the forest depths. The fire was soon extinguished by itself.
'Where am I?' the man asked himself in his thoughts. He looked around and saw a path that led deeper into the forest.
He walked along the path and felt that the forest itself was watching him. He often turned around but all he could see was darkness behind the trees. After the little incident with flammable wolves, other inhabitants of the forest didn't dare to attack the lone man. However, he was ready for another encounter, having a few battle spells ready to be cast upon foul beasts of the dark forest.
He walked along the path for about five minutes, and then he saw ruins of a castle just ahead of him. All he should do was to cross an old wooden bridge. However, the man didn't continue moving.
'Hm...' Nikolay thought. 'I feel something... A source of very powerful magic...
He looked down and saw a fain glow from a cave. Nikolay also saw a stairway to the bottom.
Soon enough, he stood in front of the Tree of Harmony. The majestic crystal tree was glowing and shining, its beauty stunned Nikolay. He had never seen such kind of trees.
He closed his eyes. He felt a very powerful magic which quickly overpowered his senses. He opened his eyes and exhaled, his hands were shaking and his eyes were glowing solid white.
Nikolay stepped closer to examine the tree. He noticed strangely shaped gems in them. He recognized shapes of a purple diamond, orange apple, red thunderbolt, lavender star, pink butterfly. What he didn't recognize was a cyan gem's shape.
The man walked closer and touched the lavender star. He felt the strong magic within it.
"Tell me your secrets." he whispered. But the tree pushed him away with a small gust of what seemed to be a wind. Nikolay understood that more attempts won't succeed either. He decided to head to the ruins he'd seen previously.
He exited the cave and made his way upstairs. He carefully crossed the wooden bridge, then headed to the castle.
Suddenly, a crack of thunder sounded and the pouring rain started. The man quickly ran to the old castle and entered it through the half-opened door. He had to crouch a little as the door was a little lower than the man.
He saw a strange monument with a stone ball on top. He walked to it and examined it. The monument had a faint trail of magic.
'How interesting...' the man thought. 'It has the same trail as that tree. Had those gems been stored on this monument before?'
He touched the monument. Cold, lifeless stone. And what Nikolay felt stunned him. He felt that the monument stored emotions. Desperation, regret, and sorrow. The monument was used as the last resort.
The man walked around the monument and moved further inside the castle. He opened big wooden doors and appeared in the large hall. The first thing he saw was two tapestries which pictured two alicorns.
'What are these?' Nikolay thought, moving closer to the tapestries. 'Symbol of some House? I have seen unicorns and pegasus, but I have never seen anything like these depicted creatures. A mix of both they are. Pegacorns?'
Suddenly, he heard clattering behind him. The man quickly hid in a dark passage to the left.
"Twilight, remind me, why do we have to come here, again?" a feminine, boyish voice sounded from the entrance. "I'm wet from all this rain!"
"You know as well as I do that the weather in the Everfree Forest is unpredictable." other feminine voice replied. "And we came here for the books. You could just not go with me, Rainbow."
"And leave one of my friends to this creepy old castle? No way!"
"Why are you complaining, then?"
A groan was heard.
Two ponies entered the atrium, cyan pegasus with rainbow mane and lavender alicorn with dark blue mane which had purple and pink streaks in it.
Nikolay watched the two, his mouth agape. He assumed that they were some kind of sentient tiny horses. Their heads shapes was different, they had big eyes. They were horses and at the same time they were not. Nikolay watched them from the shadow he hid himself in.
Two ponies slowly made their way to the passage where Nikolay was hiding. They passed by, not noticing him. Suddenly, something cracked under his foot. He fought the urge to curse.
Two mares turned around. However, Nikolay was still, not moving an inch. He stopped his breath and magically slowed down his heartbeat.
"Rainbow, did you hear that?"
"Scary? Nah, you said that this castle is falling apart yourself, remember?" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "There is nothing scary here."
"Better safe than sorry." Twilight Sparkle replied, her eyes fixed on a shadow. She slowly walked to it. She saw nothing but a strangely shaped pillar of dust. She touched it with her hoof and felt magic within the dust. She quickly pulled away.
"There is somepony here, I am sure. And it is a unicorn, possibly." Twilight turned her head to Rainbow Dash. "I can feel magic in this... Thing. Somepony is following us."
Unbeknownst to the two, Nikolay was already in library.
Nikolay walked among the bookshelves. Books were a little smaller than he expected, as well as the reading tables inside the library itself. He figured out that they were designed to be used by those ponies.
'This place has great knowledge, far greater than any library does.' Nikolay thought, picking up random book and looking at its cover.
'Magic for Beginners. History, Theory and Practice. Author - Star Swirl the Bearded. Hmm, I don't think I need this book, but something about it says that I should give it a chance. And I don't recognize author's name... Where did I wound up? I doubt it is the same world I've been before.'
Nikolay magically made the book smaller and put it in a pocket. He roamed around the bookshelves, randomly picking up books, reading their titles, then putting most of them in the pocket, reducing their size to one of a nail.
Then he heard familiar clatter of hooves behind him. He turned around and faced two ponies which were scared but ready to fight. He noticed that he towered above the two ponies, none of them could reach higher than his abdomen.
"Well, mister, who are you and what are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Nikolay raised his hand, folded his index finger and thumb.
"Ego sum umbra." he said and disappeared. Two ponies just stared, not noticing that the shadow of the human remained in place.
"What was it saying and where did it go?" Rainbow Dash asked, dumbfounded. The same expression was on Twilight's muzzle as well.
"I have no idea, but he said 'umbra'. It rings a bell." Twilight replied, rubbing her forehead. "And he said... Ego sum umbra. It seems it is old Equish, even older than Early Modern Equish. Maybe I will be able to translate once I get back home."
"And what does it mean?"
"That creature is, at least, three thousand years old. Not so many ponies even know that old Equish even exist! Or maybe that creature is educated really good."
'Old Equish? So... Latin is called Old Equish here. And what is Early Modern Equish? And, how can I possibly understand these ponies? It doesn't make any sense to me.' Nikolay thought while he tried to find exit, being in his shadow form. His shadow moved across the floor and to the large hole in the window at the far end of the library
"What is fun in making sense?" a sinister voice appeared in Nikolay's head, causing him to shiver. Nikolay shook off the strange feeling and, unbeknownst to the two ponies, went through the hole in the window to the outside. He quickly made his way to the wooden bridge, only there he became whole again.
'Well, to sum it up, I messed my teleportation spell and got to the odd world of colorful talking tiny horses which can be unicorns, pegasus and pegacorns. Or maybe it's just a dream? Wait, no, it's impossible, I could feel the pain. Oh, and how much knowledge I have already seen with my own eyes! I just can't leave this world without studying it. Maybe I'll find something interesting or powerful or both. Oh, so many possibilities!'
Author's Note
This chapter was rewritten! If you read it before 25th of October, you should read it again.
Chapter 1: Discovered
Three Days Later.
Nikolay discovered Ponyville, saw the crystal castle. And, of course, he saw lots of multicolored talking ponies. He noticed that all of them except some foals bear strange marks on their flanks.
He decided to stay at the edge of the forest. Using his magic, he made a dugout. Small, barely noticeable, but cozy inside. The outside of the dugout was covered with dirt and grass, making it barely noticeable from afar. There was also a small window for ventilation, as well as a view outside. Instead of a door, a small manhole was made in the wooden ceiling of the dugout.
The inside was nice and cozy. It had small table and a chair, three large bookshelves with lots of Equestrian literature, a small bed with simple white blanket and pillow, which were found by Nikolay in the Castle of Two Sisters. There was also a small stone fireplace in the corner of the house, in case there was winter. Nikolay also casted a spell to keep out any creature of entering his territory.
Nikolay, being an omnivore, had hard time finding food. He was quite sure that all, or most animals were sane and/or sentient, which made it hard for him to simply hunt the cows and such. So, the human had to become vegetarian. He made a small garden outside where he grew tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, and as well had a well and an apple tree. And, he had never known what cucumbers and tomatoes were before, he found them delicious. Shameful, Nikolay had to steal the sapling of an apple tree, as well as other seeds and some food. He hoped that he would be able to repay someday.
He was sitting at the table, light from the candle fell on the new book he has been reading. "Anatomy of Unicorns" was the title.
Nikolay, first of all, read the book about history of Equestria. He was very fascinated by it. He learned that Equestria is ruled by two princesses: Celestia of the Sun and Luna of the Night. He was also surprised by the fact that they are at least ageless, living almost as long as Equestria existed.
He learned about Discord, Nightmare Moon accident, Changelings Invasion, Tirek, Sombra. Well, all he has been doing was reading books, so the book about history took two days to be read.
First of all, Nikolay noticed that ponies were all colors of rainbow. Second, he noticed that most of them had some kind of painted marks on their flanks. He later found out that those are called 'cutie marks' and they represent a pony's special talent.
Nikolay sighed and put aside the book, then rubbed his eyes. He wasn't really sleeping for the past three days, only about two to three hours per day. And, finally, it started getting to him. The man yawned, stood up and walked to his small bed. He took off his boots, detached his cape and shoulder protection, took off his armguards, unwrapped the cloth around his feet. Finally, he unstrapped the belts around his torso and took off his upper part of clothes. His bare torso had lots of scars, and those were not just scars but words and arcane circles of protective magic. His body was covered in scars that no smooth skin was left but his neck. Nikolay unwrapped red piece of cloth which rounded his waist, then took off his baggy pants. He was left only with black underwear.
Nikolay opened the door to the outside and looked at the beautiful night. Perfect time for him to bathe in the river and then get to sleep.
Nikolay pulled himself up and closed the manhole. He slid off the roof down to the ground. He felt soft grass touching his bare feet as he walked to the river. The river was not so far from Ponyville, so Nikolay had to be quite. He took off his underwear and jumped into the clean and cold water, creating a small splash. The man sighed as felt himself cooling down. He rubbed the water from his eyes and saw that on the other side of the river a pair of eyes watched him with interest. Nikolay felt the need to get out of there as soon as he could. He swam to the bank of the river and got out of the water. He dried himself with a simple spell, walked to the underwear he left on the ground. He quickly put it on and started a run towards his dugout. He looked back and saw that someone he noticed followed him.
Nikolay quickly got back into the protective sphere around his house. He stopped to catch a breath. He shuddered as something bumped into the magical barrier. He turned around and saw a pony rubbing its muzzle. It was an orange pegasus filly with purple mane and tail.
Nikolay quickly retreated to his dugout and closed the manhole.
'Damnation! I have been discovered!' Nikolay thought, putting on his clothes. 'Better to get out of here as fast as I can. I know nothing about what would ponies do if they find me. Damn, damn, damn!'
When he had finished dressing, he shrank all the books and put them in his pockets. He opened the manhole, pulled up, stood up and looked around — no pony was in sight. Nikolay turned to the Everfree Forest and started running towards it, un-casting the barrier spell that kept his small dugout out of unwanted visitors.
He looked back at Ponyville and saw that a few ponies were quickly making way to his dugout, two of them had their horns glowing, dispelling the darkness around them.
Nikolay quickly disappeared into the thick forest.
Twilight was reading a book when somepony furiously knocked on the door to the library, almost breaking it. She quickly opened the door, and three fillies entered.
"Twilight! There is...."
"A monster!"
"From the Everfree! I saw it!"
"Now, calm down, girls." Twilight told them, covering her ears from the massive amount of loud sounds every filly was making. "Tell me what happened."
"Well, it's that," Scootaloo started, recovering her breath. "I was hanging out with my friends before we go to sleep, I heard something strange. I told my friends to wait and went to investigate. And then I saw someone... something, I dunno!
It was tall, almost as tall as Princess Celestia! It looked like a big monkey, but stood on two legs and was furless. I followed it but something prevented me from following it to its house. It saw me and quickly got inside. Then I got back to my friends and told them, then we went here."
"Well, that explains." Twilight hmmed. "Why do you think it came from Everfree? I've never seen any hairless monkey there."
"It's house... um, maybe it's called dugout... Well, it was at the edge of the Everfree. And it was surrounded by something magical, a barrier I think. Why would anypony have this kind of barrier if they are friendly? Surely it's a monster who waits, and then it's right outside our doors, ready to eat us!"
"Well, I'll call my friends to investigate. You three stay at home." Twilight replied. "If it's really a new kind of monster, I will inform Celestia about it. Nothing from the Everfree can be ignored, nothing!"
Nikolay was running through the forest, six mares followed him. It was not easy for him to run as the forest was thick. He almost fell a few times, stumbling upon roots. Thankfully, he had a very good sense of balance.
Nikolay didn't know what the six mares would do if they caught him, so he ran.
He ran and ran, and ended up near the bridge to the Castle of Royal Pony Sisters. He looked back and saw that six mares emerged from the forest and finally saw him almost completely. It was dark, all they could see was a silhouette and a pair of glowing, icy blue eyes. Nikolay stared back at the mares for what seemed like eternity, then started running across the bridge. He used a spell to cut the bridge's ropes. The bridge soon fell to the bottom of the gorge, preventing almost everypony from reaching Nikolay.
Unfortunately for him, three of them had wings.
Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took off and flew over the gorge and landed on the other side. Nikolay was fast and used paralysis spell to stop the three, then turned around and quickly ran to the castle, disappearing from other mares' sights.
"Ugh..." Twilight mumbled, falling on the ground, unable to move any of her legs and wings.
"Come back and fight like a pony, jerk!" Rainbow Dash shouted after Nikolay, unable to move as well. "No one disables me to fly, NO ONE!"
"Whatever that was, it sure knows magic." Twilight spoke. "Partial paralysis spell is quite difficult to cast, especially on unicorns!"
"I hope it's temporary." Rainbow Dash groaned. "As soon as I get my wings and hooves working, I'm gonna beat everything outta that thing!"
"Yeah, and what will you do against a wizard?" Twilight deadpanned. "None of us knows anything about that wizard, no one knows how dangerous it is. I think we must write a letter to Celestia."
"Mhm, you're probably right." Rainbow Dash replied.
"GIRLS! CAN YOU HEAR US?" Twilight yelled.
"YES, WHAT HAPPENED?" Applejack yelled back.
"NO TIME TO EXPLAIN, YOU NEED SPIKE TO WRITE A LETTER TO PRINCESS CELESTIA!"
"GOT IT!" Applejack replied and the three ponies started galloping back to Twilight's castle.
Some time later.
"Um, Twilight?" Fluttershy called. "I still can't move, even a little bit."
"Don't worry, Fluttershy, princess and our friends are probably already on their way here." Twilight turned her head to the yellow pegasus. "Everything's going to be fine."
Rainbow Dash was quietly snoring, asleep.
"Rainbow sure knows how to save energy." Twilight chuckled.
In the castle.
'Damn, I need a map of this place,' Nikolay thought, walking through the Hall of Armor. 'I better find somewhere to hide, it won't take long for them to come here, especially when they know the rulers of this lands personally.'
Nikolay evaded traps, his senses telling him where he should not step on and what he should not touch.
'I hope there's another exit somewhere...'
