That feeling of teleporting never gets old. Always throws my head out of whack. I'll need to get used to it I suppose, considering I use it so often.

Looking at Zecora's hut, I feel something different. A magical essence seems to be leaking into it. A familiar green aura, one that made me smile. I walk inside, seeing what I expected. Obsidian is still laying in the cot she was healing in before, except now she is on her side reading a book. Looking up at me with her glowing green eyes, she smiles peacefully.

"Hello idiot, how are you?" Obsidian says with her usual personality fueled tone.

"Nothing much ya pile of branches. I see you're doing a bit better. Finally got some pollen eh?" I say with a grin.

She covers her face immediately and waves a hoof at me shyly before speaking."Devan, that's not appropriate! Us plants have love lives too!"

"Oh dear, sorry for intruding madam, I'll just take my leave from this conversation then huh?" I respond with a dejected pout.

After a moment of us both being ridiculous we burst out in laughter.

"You really are an idiot." Obsidian says before putting the book away.

"And you really are a pile of branches, but anywho, you really do look better. All of nature's energies seem to be flowing into you well enough now." I say while running my hand through the magical essence flowing in the air towards her.

It feels kind of.. Warm.. Like the sun hitting skin.

"Yes, it appears that my innate magic is finally activated again. It seems whatever blade she used blocked nature magic from entering me in the first place. It feels as if I was being targeted specifically, though she failed... At least I hope so." Obsidian says while looking out the window.

"Well, I stopped her and she's sealed in prison. After that first battle she went on to kill two other innocents... I avenged them by capturing her and making sure she had no escape. It was actually easier than I thought it would have been. Perhaps that is because I had her blade? Or maybe that she was only prepared to deal with you." I say with a thoughtful look.

"I see... It's unfortunate that innocents had to die, but I am glad you stopped her from doing more harm. I hear you joined a little task force that the Princesses have put together. I have to guess that the group is how you were able to track her down so quickly. Anything else to tell me?" Obsidian says with a small yawn.

"Well—" I begin in my explanation.

————————————————————————————————————————

After telling her about the sword I got, as well as the others in the group and how the battle actually went down I finally stop talking. Obsidian gives me a surprised but proud look.

"Well well well... You've done quite a bit haven't ya? That sword seems really powerful, especially since it's been enchanted by Luna. She was well-known for creating and wielding powerful weapons. I'll have to try to spar with you sometime, it sounds like Luna took it easy on you very much so. Some more training is obviously required, but for now I must rest again. It was nice seeing you again but I am not well enough to move around, let alone change my looks. Be warned however... That crazed mare might have planned to be captured. Be on guard, something may happen soon in Canterlot." Obsidian says ominously before waving me off.

True... She did seem too easy to capture... But what could she do? Sealed and in prison... Nothing she can do can't be stopped by her bindings and her wardens.

"Alright Obsidian. Rest well, I'll see you sometime soon. Off to go to Fluttershy's and watch her home for a night." I say with a stretch and yawn.

"I will, farewell for now Devan." she replies, turning over and assumedly sleeping.

I nod and proceed to walk to Fluttershy's.

It's not amazingly far, not worth using a teleport and wasting needed energy. Wish I could enchant this gem... Would solve most of my problems when it comes to magical essence. Either way, it's going to be a long night. Should get some coffee or perhaps some tea? Meh, I'll crash or something and miss the Manticore.

————————————————————————————————————————

After talking with Trixie through the moon for a while, I hear a rustling in a nearby bush. Looking at the bush while applying a spell to my eyes to enhance my vision in the dark, I put my hand on Skipansverð while readying a few commands. After another moment of rustling a small rabbit jumps out of the bush. I laugh a little and rest my tense body as the rabbit hops to me.

"Hey there little one, scared me there. That was kind of rude." I say in a playfully strict tone.

"Yeah I suppose so, but seeing an idiot like you act like this to me is just... priceless!" replied the rabbit, laughing while rolling around.

My jaw drops a bit and I sit there stunned while staring at the rabbit in surprise.

Rabbits don't talk.. Unless...

I grab my sword while the sheathe is still on it and tap the 'rabbit' on the head. A half second later it gets consumed by a swirling green aura that is all to familiar, and turns back into Xirandine.

"Shoulda known it was you, ya damn bug. Have you been turning into a Manticore and scaring Fluttershy?" I say with a stern tone.

"Maybe, but only to look at her graceful actions... Hard not to be interested in spying on such a beautiful creature." Xirandine replies while gazing wistfully at Fluttershy's home.

"Nope, nope, nope, nope... Come on ya love bug, no scaring the Elements of Harmony. Or falling in love with them. Kinda makes you bothersome to ya know, the most important weapon we have against evil?" I say with a sigh, pulling him back into the forest.

At first Xirandine didn't fight back but then he let's out a small chuckle before turning into something I couldn't pull anymore. Looking behind me I see a Manticore pouting. The sight makes me groan and yet smile like an idiot.

"Awwhh, the poor baby doesn't like that he can't do what he wants? Sorry little bug, you're still coming with me." I say before channeling a simple telekinesis spell that lifts him up and carries him next to me while I walk towards Zecoras.

"You know, this isn't fair. I don't know many counters to telekinesis and I'm sure your small and weak body wouldn't be able to stop me if you didn't use it!" Xirandine replies with a huff.

Oh really.. Well, it's a good chance to test something I've wanted to know about magic.

"Alright, fine. I won't use telekinesis." I say before cutting off the spell and watching him drop five feet and slam onto the ground. "But all other magic is still a go, okay?"

Xirandine looks at me with surprise and then a grin. "Alrighty then sucker, let's see you try and force me back to Zecora's hut. I'll even only use this form, nothing else." he responds, getting into a running stance.

Let's see... If channeling magic through my fists makes my punches stronger, then....

He dashes at me, reminding me of the first time I had a small sparring session with him. I smile before channeling a large amount of magic in both of my hands and slamming them together, increasing the energy of the sound being put into the air while making sure a sort of earmuff like barrier was around my ears. Since my ears were cut off from sound for a few seconds, my eyes could only see the results. Leaves were shaken off of tree's and Xirandine instantly fell to the ground while covering his ears with the giant lion paws he currently had.

Well, seems like I was right. Air can alter the energy created by sound waves.

After Xirandine collects himself and I cancel the barrier spell on my ears, I simply laugh a little.

"Are you alright? No permanent damage right?" I ask with a smile, but with genuine concern.

"Yeah, yeah. Just a little dazed... Nice trick, but it won't work again.. Now don't worry about me, because I'll just pass you while you're staring at my nice butt." Xirandine says with a cocky tone, dashing left and right before running by me in a blur that I barely noticed.

I stand there stunned, not realizing how quickly he is.

Must've taken it easy on me the first time... How annoying. I wasn't that prepared for him to be that fast. I do have one trick I can think of though. Don't wanna show my sword, besides I think it recharges it's magical energy stored in the gems from me. Wouldn't wanna end up with no magic.

I focus for a second and channel energy into my feet before dashing towards him. I also decide to put my arms behind me in the most obnoxiously weeaboo way, and blast air from my palms. The speed at which I went afterwards surprises me, and almost makes me fly into a tree. Luckily I use my 'air palms' to direct me away from the tree at the last second. Sweating profusely from my almost-death, I catch up to Xirandine easily within the next second. I leap from behind him and land on his back, to which he stops immediately and laughs.

"Really? Alright then you moron, have fun!" he says before starting to act like a rampaging horse, kicking and leaping around in an attempt to knock me off.

I yawn while channeling an enhancement into my body, latching onto Xirandine with the strength it's giving me.

So you can just in general buff your whole body? Maybe it's cause I'm aligned with Earth, since it represents the body or the physical form. Therefore, if I use Air to boost my original enhancement spell..

I will my magic to power up the enhance spell I'm channeling on myself, and cast another spell that's completely new while hopping off the side of Xirandine. Immediately afterwards I slam into the ground but feel no pain due to the enhancement I casted earlier. Xirandine however instantly crashes to the ground under my newfound weight.

He struggles but to no avail before speaking. "Wh-what... Did you do?"

"I simply made me weigh more, a lot more. Plus I made it to where you won't be escaping my hold anytime soon. Do ya give up?" I reply with confidence.

"Yeah, I give up. Seems like you really are talented at magic. Make sure you don't do something stupid with it though. Enrage the wrong beings and no matter how strong you are, you will fall." he says with a sigh before turning back into his natural form.

Feeling a bit drained, I release my spells and let out a big sigh. "Talented maybe, but I still can't use the 'right' amount of magical essence each time I cast a spell. It's always too much." I say in a somewhat dejected tone before continuing. "But I won, so you leave Fluttershy alone alright? She's too skittish to deal with a stalker who can turn into anything."

Xirandine responds to this by waving his hoof at me and grunting before heading deeper into the forest.

Learned a few things that I wanted to know about, so tonight wasn't a waste. It's almost morning but I promised Pinkie Pie a lunch and I'm feeling horribly tired... So I think I'll get some sleep before I go.

Using part of the magical energy I have left, I teleport to my bedroom in the Carousel Boutique and realize I was put outside the door.

Strange...

I open the door and walk upstairs to see a frantic Rarity rushing out of her room.

"Oh, it's just you darling. This building is enchanted in other ways as well, you should have informed me that you could teleport and I would've given you my blessing to come in whenever you wanted. Instead you attempted to come in and were immediately moved to in front of my door, I can guess that was a surprise yes?" Rarity says, trying to fix her hair with her magic while talking to me.

"Oops, didn't know that... Well, yeah, I've grown quite a bit. I need work on a few things but your training took me far Rarity. Honestly, without you making me lift that damned string and then tie it for so many weeks, I wouldn't be able to support half of the ideas for magic that I've had." I say truthfully, fully realizing that fact.

"Well.. It's no problem at all. I did it not because the Princess asked me to, but because I felt like you needed at least a guide in this new world of ours. If I could get your magic started, then perhaps you would have a better chance in the days to come." replies Rarity while she gives a graceful smile.

"Thank you.. Now I need to rest, I have a lunch to get to tomorrow." I say before slowly making my way into my room, opening the lock that I've mastered easily.

Laying down on my bed brings a great comfort to my body, finally being able to sleep in a familiar place. Feeling the fatigue of the past few days, I almost completely fall asleep before noticing a simple fact and chuckling into the night.

Those locks would be perfect to teach me control of magic, I just need to make a stronger lock that changes it's requirement each time. That's how.. I'll..

My thoughts wash away into dreams as I fall asleep to the sound of the wind outside.

Author's Note

Might be a small while till the next one, but for now, enjoy! And yes, the chapter is a small bit shorter than my goal of 2,500. But if I kept going, then you'd just get a super long chapter that would take me longer to get out due to the next.. well.. event.