The Hero of Magic

Princess Luna watched over the dreams of all beings in Equestria. From her watchtower high above the Dreamscape, she could see every single dream, each one belonging to a creature of the land. She could see a Manticore chasing prey, a pony dreaming about a hunky Minotaur and many dreams she’d rather have not seen.

She was about to draw the night off as another boring one when she saw a dream coming from inside the castle. It was their new guest, Ambrós. She decided to pay him a visit, seeing as she never did get to visit his dreams, having just been born when he fought alongside Celestia.

“Woah…” Her eyes widened when she entered the dream. Few times had she seen such an… empty place. It was just a great white expanse.

“Ah, Princess Luna. Forgive me for this. I don’t really have anything worth dreaming about at the moment. Most of my memories are gone.” The Princess took his statement as a challenge, her horn lighting up as she searched his mind. Ambrós raised an eyebrow when she gave him a sad look.

“There really is nothing there…” He put his arms out, as if saying ‘I told you so’. Luna was at least able to create a bench, the two of them sitting and letting a strange silence fall over them. Luna felt as if the whiteness was anything but empty. She felt there were memories and dreams just out of her reach. It frustrated her.

“Can you feel it too?” Luna jumped, forgetting her companion for a moment. He was looking at her, meaning she’d zoned out. “My memories, I mean. They’re there, but I just can’t see them. I suppose being dead for about two thousand years does that huh?” Luna had a question form in her mind.

“How do you know how long it’s been? I don’t recall my sister or Twilight mentioning the date.”

“When I was in Whitemane, I saw a poster that was advertising a festival. Had the date on the bottom. Since it seems Celestia’s maintained the calendar format, it was easy.” Luna nodded, feeling the familiar pull of her magic.

“I must go, my friend. Morning is approaching and we both have a long day ahead of us. Celestia wants to present you to the rest of the world.” Ambrós bid Luna farewell and the Princess of Dreams left him, the man waking up immediately.

After dressing and refreshing himself in the bathroom, he stepped out his door. Only he didn’t get more than a few feet before being stopped by a guard.

“How may I help you?” Ambrós asked the guard, who had an impressive poker face plastered over his face.

“I am to escort you to Princess Celestia’s office. She wishes to speak with you.” Ambrós nodded, following the guard through the long halls of the castle. He didn’t really like the decor, the white blinding him from time to time. He also didn’t like the height and length of the halls. It seemed whoever built the castle intended it for giants, as not even Celestia made it a fourth of the way up.

They eventually reached Celestia’s office, Ambrós glad he didn’t have to look at another picture of a poodle. He’d have to ask her about that. There were too many poodle paintings. The guard knocked on the door, Celestia’s voice ringing out.

“Yes?” The guard said Ambrós name, albeit a pronunciation he’d never heard. “Uh… who?” The man chuckled.

“It’s me, Sunbutt.” The guard looked at him, shocked. The door flew open, Celestia scowling at him. She dismissed the guard, Ambrós walking in the door before it was slammed shut.

“Sunbutt?!” He could see the faint flicker of a smile on her face.

“Yes. Because your butt has a sun on it.” She raised an eyebrow, a smile working its way on to her face.

“Why are you looking at my butt?” Ambrós shrugged, raising his hands.

“Kinda hard not to.” Celestia was about to retort when he raised his hand. “Because you have a sun on your butt. It’s distracting.” She threw her arms up, sitting down in her chair. He took a seat opposite her, picking up a pencil.

“Now, what I called you here for.” He began spinning the pencil between his fingers, watching as she began writing on a piece of paper. “I want you to participate in a swordsmanship and magical training course.” Ambrós stopped spinning his pencil. “I know. You killed a dragon yesterday, but that doesn’t mean you could kill it again today.” He leaned forward, placing the pencil back in it’s place.

“Why not?” She sighed, pulling out a chart from between her papers.

“This chart represents your magical readout. Twilight was kind enough to give it to me. The one on the left is your readout yesterday, around the time of the dragon attack of Whitemane. The second one is this morning, before I sent the guard to wake you up. Both were taken while you were in a passive state.” Ambrós noticed the one on the left was much bigger than the one on the right, which he didn’t understand.

“Surely I can’t have just… lost magical power, right?” Celestia sighed, putting the chart away.

“Well, you have. I do believe it is to do with your memories. How much do you remember exactly?” Ambrós sat back in his chair, staring at ceiling as he let all the memories he had flow into his mind. They were not many.

“I… I remember less than yesterday…” This was strange. Yesterday he could clearly remember everything about Celestia. Today, however, he could only remember things that led up towards his final battle.

“Strange…” Celestia pulled out a spell tome, flicking through it quickly.

“Could it have been the seal? Maybe the seal also affected me and locked away my memories?” Celestia shushed him, finally finding the page she was looking for. The man waited patiently as she slowly read the page.

“I do believe… you’re right. Although, only in part.” She showed him the book, Ambrós taking it into his lap.

“Huh… so the seal itself is only part of the problem.” Celestia took the book back in her magic. She grabbed a quill from a golden ink pot and signed the paper she had been writing earlier.

“Whatever it is that is not letting you remember, it may be helped by being active. Report to the Captain in the Barracks with this letter. He will plan your training regimen.” Ambrós took the letter, giving Celestia a big hug before walking towards the door. Before he closed it, he turned, a curious look on his face.

“Celly?” Celestia looked up from her desk. “What would happen if I called your sister Moonbutt?” This made Celestia roll her eyes, the Princess using her magic to grab a hold of the door.

“She’d probably stab you.” With that, she closed the door. Ambrós shrugged and, with the help of a guard, made his way to the barracks. Once there, he handed the rough looking Captain the letter.

“So… a lanky guy like you gets a personal recommendation from Celestia herself huh?” The Captain put the letter away and stood, putting his armour on. “Seeing as you’re already in gear, let’s… what’s with the scarf, boy?” Ambrós touched it, his heart beating a bit stronger when he did.

“It’s… needed.” The Captain narrowed his eyes, but nodded, walking out into the training field.

“Now, newbie. My name’s Iron Knuckle. You will refer to me as Captain or sir, understand?” Ambrós nodded.

“Yes sir!” The Captain chuckled. The pony recruits already on the field looked at Ambrós curiously, wondering what a human was doing there.

“Paladin White Lance!” A white coloured pony, spear in hand, horn on his head, stepped forward. “You will spar with Ambrós here. I need to see what he’s capable of, both in swordsmanship and magic. Both of you, prepare your weapons.” The two opponents took their positions in front of the other, Ambro’s sword and shield appearing in his hands, many of the recruits gasping. White Lance was surprised, not thinking the Captain was serious when he said magic. Iron Knuckle blew a whistle, Lance charging at Ambrós, thrusting his spear forward, a ball of magic forming in his right hand. In the instant the spear hit Crescent Dusk, the ball of magic curved around the shield, having left Lance’s hand, hitting Ambrós in the side. This winded the human, knocking him sideways.

“Ouch… that tickled.” Ambrós had barely felt it through his armour, the armour resistant to magic, even if only weak spells. The man quickly closed the distance between himself and Lance, ducking beneath the spear and knocking it aside with his shield. Ambrós twirled his sword, using the pommel to hit Lance in the chin, knocking his head upwards. The man jumped, placing his shield underneath him. Lance placed his spear between them, using a spell to stop his fall. Ambrós grunted, his arms screaming at the pressure that was needed to counteract the spear and the spell. Lance was strong, physically and mentally.

“That all you got?” Lance asked, smirking. Ambrós shook his head, his visible left eye shifting from blue to gold. His scarf began to flow wildly, changing from red to green. Many of the ponies felt an intense magical surge, Lance’s knees almost giving way. Ambrós raised his sword high into the sky and kicked off Lance, the pony’s spell breaking. Ambrós landed five meters away, sticking his sword into the ground. Lance placed a shield around him, a hand made of earth erupting from the ground and punching the dome. The pony grunted, the spell barely holding. He then felt something around his hoof, seeing a smaller hand gripping it. He swore, his spell failing as the hand shook him. The bigger hand slammed into him, knocking him away. Iron Knuckle came between them, ending the fight. Ambrós’ eye and scarf returned to normal, the human falling backwards, panting heavily.

“You alright, son?” Ambrós saw Iron Knuckle and a smiling Lance enter his vision. He nodded, taking their outstretched hands. “That was impressive. Dangerous, but impressive.” They helped the tired human back to the barracks, placing him in a bed. Not even a minute later, a concerned Celestia burst in, fretting over him in an instant.

“Celly, I’m fine, really.” Ambrós finally got relief when Iron Knuckle called Celestia over. She sat with the Captain, the pony sighing.

“He is a natural with the sword and shield. His magic seems to have suffered immensely, as you specified in your letter. He seemed to tap into it when he underwent stress in the sparring match. He used some pretty heavy spells, almost knocked him out cold when I stepped. He needs a real magical teacher, not just a training regimen here at the castle.” Celestia stood, thanking the Captain for his time. She approached Ambrós, who gave her a smile.

“When you feel better, ask a guard to bring you to Sun Spot Tower, alright?” Ambrós nodded, Celestia leaving him to rest. The man wondered what he’d be doing there, finding the name quite interesting.

A few hours later, Ambrós found himself knocking on the door of the tower. The door opened with a blue magical aura around it, the man walking in. Once inside, he saw Celestia and Luna sitting in two chairs.

“Ambrós, sit. We need to talk about something.” He did as Celestia asked, the Princess turning slightly in her chair to face him. “My sister and I have decided that she will train you in magic.” Luna smiled at Ambrós, the man giving her an unsure smile.

“Do not worry, dear Ambrós. I am well trained in magic of all kinds. You will be in safe hands.” Luna’s reassurance helped him a bit. He was a bit nervous about learning magic, the only times he’d used magic being when he was under intense stress. Celestia left them alone, telling Luna to go easy on him before she did.

“So… what first?” Luna stood, fixing her dress and patting it down, some dust coming off it. She extended her hand, Ambrós taking it.

“A test.” She threw him, Ambrós planting his feet into the wall, letting gravity bring him to the ground. Luna’s horn and eyes glowed. “Show me what you’ve got.” Ambrós gulped.

He’d be sore after this!