A Story Never Told

Pain.

Sometimes, when I am in a lot of pain, between the intense desire to scream, and the desperate attempt to fix the problem, I marvel at the sheer amount of pain I am in. I hadn't been in this particular amount of pain since the time I had been dipped in boiling oil to test my regenerative ability. However, rather than continue to marvel, I listened to the conversation around me.

"Can you heal him, princess?"

"Yes. Although his injuries are severe, nothing appears to be permanent."

There was a flash of light, and the pain dissipated. I was on a stone floor, in a large room. The old castle, where the Elements had defeated Nightmare Moon. The bearers of the elements were all looking at me, as well as a white Alicorn, presumably Celestia.

Name: Celestia

Race: Alicorn

Age: [BLOCKED]

Intelligence: [BLOCKED]

Language: [BLOCKED]

Basic Abilities: [BLOCKED]

I got up, "Jurer'f Yhan?"

Celestia became very pale, and Twilight gave her a confused expression.

"What's wrong with him, princess? Will he be okay?"

Celestia lowered her head, "No. I recognize this curse. It is very old, and very powerful. Centuries ago, both me and Luna learned the curse in order to find a way to cure it, but were unsuccessful. I never thought..."

Twilight interjected, "The first thing you taught me about magic is that everything that can be done can be undone, but that it is merely more difficult"

"That is the same thought we had when we approached learning the curse. To avoid discussing detail longer than necessary, the curse edits reality so that any language exiting any consciousness matching a certain pattern is scrambled, preventing communication of nearly any kind. It must have taken all of Nightmare Moon's strength to cast it."

Twilight was about to respond, but Pinkie Pie interjected, "So Rekie won't be able to talk anymore?"

Celestia took her interruption in stride, "No. The curse is permanent and incurable. The curse does not actually dwell within the cursed, so magical screening and typical counter-curses do not work. Even moving your mind into another body will not cure it. I will search again, but I am not hopeful."

"DARN IT!" Pinkie Pie yelled, "Rekie told us he'd tell us who he was after the Summer Sun Celebration!"

Celestia addressed me, "I will ask Luna to visit your dreams tonight. You will be able to communicate freely with her there. She will ask you several questions about who you are, and what you know, followed by answering any questions you may have"

Twilight spoke, "Another point, princess. He called himself Recumen, a name I don't recognize. He did say he was not from any place I would have heard of, but perhaps you have?"

"I have not heard that name before. He could be from somewhere I have heard of, but is merely using a made-up name, however."

I nodded, and then waved my hoof in an uncertain gesture.

Twilight was hopeful, "So you're from somewhere the princess may have heard of?" I hesitated briefly before shaking my head, indicating I wasn't completely sure, "But your name is made up?" I nodded.

Celestia spoke next, "This is all very interesting, but I suspect the interview with Luna is likely to be much more productive. Do you have any other questions, my faithful student?"

"There is one thing. Princess, I just met all of these friends, but I'm going to return to Canterlot. I just learned the value of friendship! It's not fair to have to leave it behind."

Celestia smiled, "I though you would have noticed by now. A section of the upper study of the Ponyville library is permanently reserved as a bedroom."

Twilight's eyes widened, "Thank you princess! Thankyouthankyou—"

I stopped paying attention to Twilight as Applejack started speaking, "Do ya know where yer going to be staying tonight? If ya don't have anywhere else, we have a guest bedroom available, as long as ya earn yer keep."

I shrugged, then shook my head. Where I slept had very little effect on my quality of life, and even in my mute state, I felt my time would be better spent on things other than farm chores, although Sweet Apple Acres was probably one of the few places I could work in my current state.

"Suit yerself. But there's always space for anypony with the strength and willpower to carry their own weight"

As we began leaving, Twilight approached me, "I know you don't have a lot of experience with magic. You barely knew how to cast a spell when you fought Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy says she didn't see you do any magic at all. Anyway, if you would like, I could teach you about magic, and how to use it."

I didn't have any way of conveying that I would be a frustratingly good student, seeing as how I didn't even need to be taught something to learn it. I decided a simple nod would probably do.

***

When I got back to Ponyville, I did several things. First I bought a wallet (after cleverly disguising the fact I had been storing my money in my stomach), and then I went looking for a place to build a house. I wasn't intent on doing it immediately, of course. I was merely scouting for where to build one once I learned enough magic to construct one by myself. I decided it would be best to put it in the Everfree Forest, because, although most ponies were too superstitious to enter it at all, let alone live there, it was technically unowned land, not on Equestrian soil. As a result, I could build a house there without having to do any preliminary work other than clearing vegetation where necessary. I decided it would also be preferred to build it on top of a source of magic, although not necessarily a large one.

After several hours of searching, I found the place I was looking for. About a quarter-mile into the forest, there was a hole that went directly to an underground cave containing a large pond that radiated energy I now recognized as magic. Although I didn't know the exact nature of the pond (I wasn't stupid enough to touch it), I suspected I would figure out how to draw magic from it eventually.

The lesson with Twilight was in the late afternoon. And although I learned all types of magic quite well, I was particularly good at two types: illusions, and teleportation, though for different reasons.

My skill with illusions was merely because of greater focus. I had —through genetics, and superior brain structure— much more attention to give to things such as illusions than most people. While even a trained mage would need to concentrate fully to maintain a complicated illusion, I could hold very nearly as many illusions as I wanted without any trouble. Needless to say, there were many applications for this.

I was good with teleportation because of an improvement with the technique. The usual spell for teleportation slams two portions of space-time that are not in each others light-cone[1], and pushing themselves from one spot to the other. This causes a blast of excess energy, which needs to be redirected with a second portion of the spell, creating a bright flash and a loud bang. The consequences of not using the second portion properly include, but are not limited to: nausea, dizziness, amnesia, minor and major burns, minor and major brain trauma, and death. My version slows the impact of the two portions of space-time shortly before impact, almost completely eliminating the excess energy. My teleportation is accompanied by a light shimmer and a soft hum.

The lesson ended shortly before the time I had decided I would fall asleep, in preparation for the upcoming visit, so I ended up sleeping like a hobo.

[1] a light-cone is the concept that any point in space-time can only affect —or be affected by— a limited number of other points in space-time. For example, two points at either sides of the galaxy, even if they were hundreds of years apart, would not be in each others light-cone, because even light would not be able to cross that distance in that amount of time. The teleportation spell requires that the two points not be in each others light-cone, which, due to the immense amount of energy required to travel long distances, and the amount of excess energy produced by such a transportation, means that one cannot travel significant distances through time with this spell. Theoretically, if one were to jump across the world (quite a feat), they would be able to travel nearly half a second forward or backward through time. Due to the negligibility of this amount, most mages completely ignore the time aspect of the teleportation spell.