Chapter 1 - incarnation systems
Author's Note
Very experimental please post your opinion down below, also the story description helps understand our protagonist better.
This is just the beginning.
Chapter 1 - incarnation systems
"What the hell is going on? Am I dead?" A man frozen in front of a train thought, the raindrops floating in the air, birds were no longer flapping their wings and the train had stopped.
"This is getting very tiresome," said a man dressed in a brown overcoat, his voice echoed all around.
"Human's think they're all knowing, but they've lost sight on what's right and what's wrong," said a woman on her phone with the same echoing effect.
"They think the law's of the universe don't apply to them," said an older man holding an umbrella.
"What are these people saying?" The man frozen in time thought.
"Human's no longer empathize with others." said a woman in a pink dress, only then did the man notice that all the people were staring directly at him.
"And they have a renouncing faith in their almighty creator," said a pigeon in the rafters.
"Our creator?" The man questioned.
"You heard the bird," The train conductor said.
"You're asking me to believe that not only that God is a real entity, but that he stopped time the moment before my death so that he could speak to me through some random bystanders, and at least one talking pigeon?" The man questioned.
"That's correct," said the pigeon.
"Impossible, this is some kind of near-death hallucination, I'm a rational person I believe in logic and reason, not in gods existence," The man announced.
"What," all the people uttered at once.
"Besides why should I trust you, aren't god and the devil supposed to inhabit the spiritual worlds, hypothetically if God did exist I doubt he would do anything this absurd to get a point across. So you must be someone else," the man reasoned as he managed to twitch his finger.
"Like the devil?" A small girl questioned.
"Or perhaps something similar, but I think I'll call you being X," said the man.
"You really don't want to believe, even when a miracle is happening in front of you?" being X spoke through the little girl once again irritation evident in its voice.
"It's probably not the time to lecture me on my lack of faith, besides I'm a bureaucrat, you should have filed a report if you wanted me to take you seriously," answered the man sarcastically.
"As the being who controls the cycle of reincarnation there are firm rules, I abide by, that said, I shall make an exception for you." Being X spoke through a teenager sitting at the station's chair, soccer equipment near him as the boy was originally chatting with a friend.
"Hold on, Reincarnation? You mean after we die we're born again?" The man questioned.
"That's no longer your concern I'm afraid," said being X this time through the father of the boy he spoke through before.
"Wait a minute, are you not familiar with the principle of full disclosure, Also if you're really god shouldn't you abide by your own rules and avoid heat of the moment decisions." The man offered.
"I manage seven billion people on this planet, I am completely overworked as it is." said being X through an older man with square glasses who was sitting a reading a newspaper, the wrinkles on his forehead gave the order man a face forever cast in sadness.
"Honestly reincarnating people without any faith is a waste of my time." being X spoke through a balding male walking to the towards the train.
"I hate to tell you this but being overworked is the sign of a flawed business model. You fail to sufficiently analyze your customers' needs, of course there's no faith in a world full of advanced science where almost everyone's core needs are met, here you only matter to the weak and desperate who look for someone to cling to when times get hard, a smart business man like me will never need you or anyone else," The man reasoned.
"So you're saying you have no faith because of the world you're in?" Being X questioned through the body of a woman checking tickets.
"All your needs are met here through technology," Being X spoke through a child holding their parent's hand.
"You have a high social class." Being X changed back to woman in the pink dress once again.
"And you've never been in dire straits," said Being X through the body of the train conductor.
"Uh, well, technically, but hold on, you may be jumping to the wrong conclusions about me." The man frozen in time answered a hint of fear in his tone.
"What if I placed you into dire straits?" Being X changed back to the petty man who pushed him in front of the train once again.
"Do you think then, that your faith in me would be awakened?" Being X spoke through the pigeon once more.
"Let's not be hasty now, I don't want to break any rules about rebirth or whatever you said." The man frozen in front of the train pleaded.
"Go now, I will place you into dire straits and make sure you see that you will need others and then your faith in me shall be restored." Being X spoke through all the people in the station at once.
"Wait what"
Time started again, screams of all the people in the station could be heard and the last gasp made by a man being hit by a train.
"Come on Scarlet, you need to eat your food if you want to grow up and do us proud." Said a pale blue coated unicorn, her silhouette was imprinted in the low candlelight of a wooden house, creaks a and groans could be heard from the storm outside.
"You're going to do the Lulamoon family proud you hear me, I just know it." she mumbles as she uses her magic to spoon feed Scarlet
"Where am I, who is Scarlet, wait Is it me?" thought Scarlet.
Thanks to being X, I found myself in another world I was reborn as a small unicorn filly, in the land named Equestria. My new home was inhabited by pony's, three types of which are common yet royalty here are treated like gods for they have all the abilities of each race, pathetic.
In this world, there is a huge divide between the races, even though they say they have accepted each race there are still many who would disagree with them. It was obvious to me that a large scale conflict was inevitable, and I was scared that a poor little filly born into a shamed family who were once of the nobility wouldn't survive.
But fortunately in this world magic really existed and during a school class magical aptitude test my inherent talent was noted. I learned enough about this world and my new parents that they desperately wanted to get back into the nobility and would do almost anything to achieve their goal even if it meant sending me away to do so, not that I cared for them much anyway.
So I figured if I applied early went through their schooling systems and attempt to get a higher education early instead of later it would be easy to survive this world, I'm not sure why being x thought this world was a perfect spot to put me, I didn't look forward to finding out either.
But I knew that it would be looking for a way to instill faith in me, so I figured I might as well shove it in it's face as I make my way through this world.
While there were similarities between this world and the one I knew this didn't mean that this one would be the same, I studied as much as I could to eliminate potential surprises, the history of this world was riddled with powerful monsters of immense strength and magic, but it always managed to stay on top, yet I found that most of these threats have prophecies of them returning.
Knowing I wouldn't receive another reincarnation, My priority was to survive the looming threat by joining the warlock guard, an elite part of the royal guard in a place called canterlot, most would think this a bad idea but it if I managed to get a higher up position I would live a life of luxury and since I would be invaluable they wouldn't let me go to waste on front line defence. They laughed me off at first, assuming the meeting I had set up was with an adult but soon relented to the fact that I aced their entrance exam, It was easy, basic mathematics and physics are all that is needed to understand the effects of magic in this world.
Within one year I completed the warlock guard training course I was tasked with the job of correcting underperforming students there, while most thought it was a joke that an eight-year-old filly was their instructor I quickly reminded them of their place. While most of the lower ranked members of the guard were concerned I was pushing them too hard I reminded them that an eight-year-old filly was able to do it with ease, whilst being polite of course.
There were a few minor setbacks but eventually, I finished my officer's training. The only thing that stood between me and graduation was a routine field deployment in the everfree forest, the ponies of this world are terrified of it, the fact that nature manages itself to me it was child's play, we were tasked to hunt down and lower the population of timberwolves a magical entity made entirely of wood it reproduces by consuming the soul of its victims in order to activate the necessary magical power to recreate itself, I would have destroyed them all If they allowed it, apparently they need the soul consuming pieces of bark to keep Manticore populations in check, but orders are orders.
"Scarlet lulamoon reporting in," Scarlet said to her commanding officer her head held high and hooves firmly planted, unfortunately, her height has much to be desired, as the other soldiers standing at attention were at least three times her size.
But it was there I learned things don't always go as planned, for anyone.
Chapter 3 - Health insurance is tax deductible
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Chapter 3 - Health insurance is tax deductible
"Well well, look's like someone's been busy. Yet you still refuse to have faith, even after I moved you into this world, why is that?" Being X's voice rang throughout the room. Not even Scarlet was unable to tell if the being even cared about anything else, his voice seemed to hold no emotion.
"For an illusion of my damaged psyche, you really are much less intelligent then you should be. Faith is for the weak and hopeless, and as you can see I have already set myself in the good graces of royalty and the military, Considering I started out as a nobility's bastard daughter, what say you to that?" Scarlet taunted, her eyes sharper holding a smidgen of killing intent, her dark scarlet mane frazzled combined with her icy blue eyes gave a haunting appearance.
"Why. I have performed miracles in front of your eyes yet you still refuse to believe, beings bow hearing my voice and grovel after my miracles yet you do not?" The voice of being X ignored Scarlet's comment in favor of his own question.
Scarlet's response to this was simple a huff that devolved into a growl, she stood upon her broken leg, the blankets around her fell from the bed and the pain of standing on a broken limp forgotten in her moment of anger.
"Answer me!" Scarlet Yelled, her muzzle scrunched up into a snarl, her eyes sharp as knives stared at the window, the source of light shining in her eyes.
"Perhaps, yes... I shall grant you immense power but in return, you must pray and in doing so your faith in me shall be set." The haughty voice announced Scarlet's confusion didn't last long until it was replaced with anger.
"I don't need your power, I don't need anything from you." Scarlet all but screamed at the air, spittle flying from her mouth as if launched from catapults.
"Go now my child, Prove to this world the power of their mighty god and spread my faith." Being X announced to scarlet, the light shining in from the window brightening to unbearable levels.
"But nopony in the Equestria even know's what god is, Ha, your so pathetic that you don't even realize that you put me in a world deprived of faith in you, they believe that their princess is a god... which she isn't." announced a smug and slightly confused Scarlet.
"What?" The light went back to bearable levels and the confused comment from Being X took scarlet by surprise.
"You... You really are pathetic, you sent me here, to a place with no faith in you." The laughter from the former human was tremendous.
"No matter you shall be my preacher, Go Spread my faith and you shall be rewarded." Being X ranted before the light flashed and Scarlet woke up
"Graagh, That jerk." exclaimed an annoyed Scarlett, her unkempt mane sat in her eyes as she got herself up.
"I'll deal with that later, for now, I'm going to get ready, I have to give my report to captain Buffheart." Scarlett's thoughts drifted as she went through her morning routine, even hindered as she was from her broken leg, she was able to finish within fifteen minutes.
Scarlett moved through yet room to the door, admiring the plain decor of her room before moving on with a grunt of effort to push the door open.
It seemed as though the hospital was quite busy as nurse and doctor alike moved too and throw with little regard to the filly in her full uniform, excluding her cast.
Eventually, Scarlett found her way to a messenger pony at the front desk, she noticed with sudden distain that the desk was unorganized and filthy, papers strewn about with little care and the receptionist pony was too busy playing with a pen to notice the filly.
Only after Scarlett cleared her throat did the pony bother to look down, even her expression was of pure disinterested, but to her credit she did smile.
"Scarlett lulamoon second lieutenant of the advanced warlock guard, I have a report for captain Buffheart," Scarlett said with an even tone and military trained posture, her seriousness dwarfed by her age, size, and voice.
"Well aren't you just the cutest, did your mother make you that uniform? Ohhh you poor thing what happened to your horn?" The receptionist cooed at Scarlett and ignored her comment.
"Code, nineteen eleven. Password fairy 08. I am the Second lieutenant in the warlock guard and I suggest you give me the proper respect." Scarlett stated, her low tone of voice held an edge not seen in many ponies.
Needless to say, the receptionist was surprised before she pulled out a small book and flipped through the pages, her eyes widened before she started to rapidly apologize.
"Just get me a messenger to send a report to captain Buffheart." Sighed Scarlett after giving an even look to the receptionist. Her pale red mane hanged down past her shoulders, Scarlett was interrupted in her investigation by said receptionist.
"Captin Buffheart is here, he did say he was expecting a, ah, interesting guest." The mare exclaimed, the realization that she was talking to an actual warlock lieutenant was intimidating, they keep monsters from entering Equestria and there are some of the most powerful unicorns in the division.
"Really right this way, Lieutenant right. Your file did say you were young but I never thought you'd be this young.
Scarlett said nothing and followed the pony down the halls of the hospital until they reached the staff section, from there Scarlett heard the laughter of her captain come from behind the door.
"Oh, seems like he's about to leave, my name's Shinning Health by the way," Shinning replied. Unnerved at the filly's unresponsiveness, her smile wavered before she inviting her to follow her into the office.
"Ah Just the filly I'm looking for, How is injured leg holding up, young one?" Asked Captain Buffheart, His impressive stature overshadowing Scarlett, his mustache was a brilliant brown with a healthy shine, his piercing green eyes held joy and mirth. Scarlett couldn't figure out why be he always seems to have a russian accent, but there was no russian counterpart to equestria that she knew about.
"Captain, Princess Celestia has requested me to inform you that I have a meeting with her, That is all, I shall be ready to resume regular duties within the next two days," Scarlett said, her voice even and unforgiving, unbeknownst to her Captain Buffheart was inspecting her body movement and noticed she was leaning away from the cast on her leg.
"Worry not young one, you shall have leave for two weeks. No pony as young as you should be working on that leg, I have had a look at the report's, you're lucky you're alive, now about that meeting, what time did Celestia specify?" Buffheart asked, his height receded as he knelt down to Scarlett's level if it affected her she didn't show it.
"She did not specify, sir." Responded Scarlet, confusion was evident on her face to this fact. Scarlet caught a glance that her guide was leaving the room, almost missing when Buffheart continued speaking how his face darkened.
"Ah, she means for you to meet as soon as possible then, among other things." Buffheart mumbled the last part of his sentence before his face brightened up again.
"What was that last part, sir?" Scarlett questioned, slightly panic, did she mess up her plan by refusing the princess something?
"Nothing for you to worry about young one, come let us go, The Princess will be expecting us," Buffheart announced before he motioned for Scarlett to follow.
Scarlett followed Buffheart after a small moment of hesitation, whatever was coming couldn't be too bad, she is just an innocent little filly after all.
Chapter 1 - Incarnation Systems (Revised)
"What the hell is going on? Am I dead?" A man frozen in front of a train thought, the raindrops floating in the air, birds were no longer flapping their wings and the train had stopped.
"This is getting very tiresome," said a man dressed in a brown overcoat, his voice echoed all around.
"Human's think they're all-knowing, but they've lost sight on what's right and what's wrong," said a woman on her phone with the same echoing effect.
"They think the law's of the universe don't apply to them," said an older man holding an umbrella.
"What are these people saying?" The man frozen in time thought.
"Human's no longer empathize with others." said a woman in a pink dress, only then did the man notice that all the people were staring directly at him.
"And they have a renouncing faith in their almighty creator," said a pigeon in the rafters.
"Our creator?" The man questioned.
"You heard the bird," The train conductor said.
"You're asking me to believe that not only that God is a real entity, but that he stopped time the moment before my death so that he could speak to me through some random bystanders, and at least one talking pigeon?" The man questioned.
"That's correct," said the pigeon.
"Impossible, this is some kind of near-death hallucination, I'm a rational person I believe in logic and reason, not in gods existence," The man announced.
"What," all the people uttered at once.
"Besides why should I trust you, aren't God and the devil supposed to inhabit the spiritual worlds, hypothetically if God did exist I doubt he would do anything this absurd to get a point across. So you must be someone else," the man reasoned as he managed to twitch his finger.
"Like the devil?" A small girl questioned.
"Or perhaps something similar, but I think I'll call you being X," said the man.
"You really don't want to believe, even when a miracle is happening in front of you?" being X spoke through the little girl irritation more apparent in its voice.
"It's probably not the time to lecture me on my lack of faith, besides I'm a bureaucrat, you should have filed a report if you wanted me to take you seriously," answered the man sarcastically.
"As the being who controls the cycle of reincarnation there are firm rules, I abide by, that said, I shall make an exception for you." Being X spoke through a teenager sitting at the station's chair, soccer equipment near him as the boy was originally chatting with a friend.
"Hold on, Reincarnation? You mean after we die we're born again?" The man questioned.
"That's no longer your concern I'm afraid," said being X this time through the father of the boy he spoke through before.
"Wait a minute, are you not familiar with the principle of full disclosure, Also if you're really God shouldn't you abide by your own rules and avoid heat of the moment decisions." The man offered.
"I manage seven billion people on this planet, I am completely overworked as it is." said being X through an older man with square glasses who was sitting a reading a newspaper, the wrinkles on his forehead gave the older man a face forever cast in sadness.
"Honestly reincarnating people without any faith is a waste of my time." being X spoke through a balding male walking to the towards the train.
"I hate to tell you this, but being overworked is the sign of a flawed business model. You fail to sufficiently analyze your customers' needs, of course there's no faith in a world full of advanced science where almost everyone's core needs are met, here you only matter to the weak and desperate who look for someone to cling to when times get hard, a smart businessman like myself will never need you or anyone else," The man reasoned.
"So you're saying you have no faith because of the world you're in?" Being X questioned through the body of a woman checking tickets.
"All your needs are met here through technology," Being X spoke through a child holding their parent's hand.
"You have a high social class." Being X changed back to the woman in the pink dress once again.
"And you've never been in dire straits," said Being X through the body of the train conductor.
"Uh, well, technically, but hold on, you may be jumping to the wrong conclusions about me." The man frozen in time answered a hint of fear in his tone.
"What if I placed you into dire straits?" Being X changed back to the petty man who pushed him in front of the train once again.
"Do you think then, that your faith in me would be awakened?" Being X spoke through the pigeon once more.
"Let's not be hasty now, I don't want to break any rules about rebirth or whatever you said." The man frozen in front of the train pleaded.
"Go now, I will place you into dire straits and make sure you see that you will need others and then your faith in me shall be restored." Being X spoke through all the people in the station at once.
"Wait what"
Time started again, screams of the people in the station could be heard, the last gasp made by a man being hit by a train was eerily loud in comparison.
"There we go Scarlet, that's better, you need to eat your food if you want to grow up and restore our family name." A sky blue-coated unicore said, her silhouette imprinted in the low candlelight of a wooden house, creaks and groans from the storm outside ravaged their ears as the stranger continued to feed a small foal in the night.
"What's going on, who is this Scarlet... wait could it be me?" was Scarlet's first thoughts in a new world.
Thanks to Being X, I found myself in another world, reborn as a small unicorn filly one of the three new native species in a land called Equestria and much to my own annoyance that is not the only name pun in this world. A curious development I found was the fact that in the past the royalty had been thought gods given flesh, helped by the fact that they displayed traits of all three of the pony species and seem ageless, they call them Alicorns, Personally, I think they might be the common ancestor to my new species.
Unfortunately, I was born to a disgraced noble family, and while they were only a minor family in the city of canterlot, they were found accepting bribery from other nations for their vote and ignorance on some important matters regarding the Crystal Empire. Considering that Equestria is at war with the Crystal Empire and their King, they were stripped of their position and most of their money, so now, I'm stuck as a poor Unicorn Filly in a destitute family that can barely afford proper food.
It was obvious to me, that as things were I wouldn't survive in this world, however, there was one thing that this world has that my old one did not, Magic, and I seemed to be unnaturally blessed in this aspect as during a routine Magic Level survey to find students for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and due to my inherent talent I was appointed as the youngest student in history at the age of three.
It was a clear day for once, the smog from some of the factories was less apparent and allowed the sun to shine through, a small blue filly with a scarlet red mane and tail was outside, resting near a tree stump practicing levitation.
"Focus and intent, I must first see what I want and believe it to be a reality" muttered Scarlet, her concentration complete enough to miss the sound of hooves approaching from behind her.
The newcomer seeing what was happening, stopped and watched, waiting to see the result, it was not every day that he had seen a filly of two years attempt this level of magic. His eyes widened as the stone in the fillies magical grasp begun to change, a silver shine started to form, and the form of the people smoothed into a perfect sphere.
"Well done, Miss Scarlet, it is not every day that I see someone as young as you perform a third-tier spell and succeed, a stone to silver transfiguration." announced the stranger, startling the young Scarlet causing her new silver sphere to fall into the dry dirt.
"Ah, a magical potential inspector, I apologize for not noticing you," said the young filly, as she turned around and saluted.
The inspector laughed and waved off her salute before continuing, "Nonsense Miss Scarlet, I must say you have impressed me, with both your vocabulary and your magical talent, My name is Icor Quill, and I was here on my bi-annual Magical Inspection Survey. Your talent is enough to allow you to attend Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, possibly the youngest student there," Announced Icor Quill, as he filled out a sheet of paper floating in his magical grip.
"Will it allow me to join the warlock guard?" The young filly said, her fatigue forgotten as she sensed an opportunity arrive.
"Well, I'd say yes, but you must know that the warlock guard only accepts someone who is above the age of twenty, as per the rules of the Guard State, I myself once thought of becoming one you know," Icor Quill explained as he put the finishing touches on his survey form, stating a potential candidate for the Warlock Guard when she came of age.
"Oh, that's a shame Mister Quill, would you be able to get me a copy of those rules, if I'm going to become a Warlock guard I'll need to know all of those rules then won't I," Scarlet asked in the most pathetic voice she had, which had the fortunate effect of endearing her to the Inspector.
"Well, I guess you can have my own rulebook, as I won't be able to get in anyway..." Icor quill replied, a small sigh escaped his lips as he started to focus, and in a flash and a loud pop, a large and heavy book appeared from thin air, Icor appeared quite tired from the exertion and dropped the large book when his telekinetic grip failed.
Scarlet noted that the book was wider and thicker then herself and gave even Icor quill a close call when it came to height, she thanked him and levitated the large book over to herself, ignoring Icor quill gasp and cross out a line on his survey and rewriting it.
Subject Name: Scarlet Lulamoon
Subject DOB: 22nd of Winter, 1004 BN
Magical Power Rating: B+ A+
Complex Spell Rating: T3
Date of Survey: 4th of Winter, 1006 BN
Subject Notes: Hardworking and talented, desires to become a member of the warlock guard. Well-spoken and more
intelligent then her age suggests.
Surveyor Suggestions: Median Course for Talented Individuals, Advanced Course for Talented Individuals.
Additional Notes: Subject's parents appear distant, and seem to expect their talented daughter to be their catalyst to an easier life. Apparently, the subject has an older sister, who has been reported missing according to her parents.
Early in life, I managed to get a full scholarship to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, I was ecstatic, I could escape my useless parents, who couldn't think for themselves and lost their deceased parents' fortune and noble name.
During my stay at the school, I managed to eat better then what I was provided before, and with almost unlimited access to the School library, I was able to learn more about this world, the war, and magic. The world was full of dangerous creatures and other species, Dragons, Manticores even Astral Creatures.
The warlock guard has an interesting History, Celestia had formed the Warlock guard after her sister Nightmare moon returned, and uses what little of a connection she had left to a powerful artifact called the 'Elements of Harmony', she cleansed her of the dark spirit corrupting her. She managed to with the help of the guard imprison a creature of chaos known as the Draconiquis, his name was wiped from the minds and records, apparently calling his name has power, and weakens the prison.
The war against the Crystal Empire, now that's where things get bad, This King Sombra, a necromancer and dark magic user, I haven't been given access to the restricted section of the library where I'd assume the information on dark magic would be kept, so while they say dark magic, all I know is that it's said to be bad, I say it's a tool.
King Sombra, has used this to survive death and stop the aging process and created an artifact that allows him to controls the minds of those who wear it, it also seems to provide all the needs of its wearer, they become tireless zombies under his control.
Knowing I wouldn't receive another reincarnation, My priority was to survive the looming threat, Sombra has been known to acquire new recruits from rural villages, right where I used to live, so by joining the warlock guard, an elite part of the royal guard in a place called canterlot, if I managed to get a higher-up position, I would live a life of luxury and since I would be invaluable they wouldn't let me go to waste on front line defense.
"Scarlet Lulamoon, the council will meet you now," called out the shrill voice of an earth pony mare whose head was poking out of a highly decorated door.
Scarlet opened her eyes and lowered the small weights that were floating in their own separate orbits around her to slow down and stop, the other ponies in the waiting room had since grown used to the absurdities of a four-year-old filly levitating a combined weight of nine hundred and fifty kilograms, it was made more ridiculous by the fact that each weight was ten kilograms, and that there was a total of ninety-five weights and each one had its own separate telekinetic grip.
Scarlet nodded to the mare and followed her into a large circular room ninety-five small objects floating beside her leaving a small magic trail, Scarlet noted this with a grimace and with a small amount of focus the trail shrunk, but did not disappear, once, inside the room, she noted five ponies in noble attire standing on a large raised crescent section of the room, they stared down at her and the small numerous weights that trailed after her.
"Scarlet Lulamoon, for successfully casting a fifth tier spell for your annual performance check for your scholarship, we here have decided that your request for access to the restricted section granted but you will have limited access and we will have a member of our group look over what books you request to view," said a cream-colored mare, her mane a strange combination of red and purple highlights, her voice tired.
Scarlet looked up to the mare, her reflection could be seen on the mares half-moon glasses, "Thank you, Council Mare Dancer, I appreciate the privilege," Scarlet replied, her tiny and high pitched voice seemed out of place.
"We have also decided to move you to the Sixth Tier Classes, We expect to see you cast your first sixth tier spell next year an-" Dancer said, her eyes while young on the outside showed more age upon inspection, her voice, however, was cut off, by a deep and gravel voice from the heavyset unicorn stallion to her left, "I refuse to believe this dribble, this filly has obviously cheated and used some kind of one use artifact to impress the judges, I will not allow her to be moved ahead unless she casts a fifth tier spell right here and now," the heavyset stallion stomped his hoof for emphasis, before he looked toward Scarlet with doubt in his eyes, "Well then, get on with it, you may cast whatever fifth tier spell you know, if it is offensive you may cast it at me," he said, as he took off his cloak, and teleported down from the crescent platform.
"Archmage Strider, this is not in our code of practice, please do not make a fool of yourself, I admit it is-" Dancer started her hoof in the air before she was interrupted by Scarlet, something she did not expect.
"Archmage Dancer, with all due respect, I agree with Archmage Strider's conditions, it is of no trouble to me, however, in section seven, part-three of the School Handbook, it states that 'Should a teacher or staff member challenge a student said student may make one reasonable request in return for completing the said challenge', I invoke this stipulation," Scarlet said, her eyes gleaming as she turned to Archmage Strider.
"... Very well, what is your request, If you succeed the casting, I will do my best to fulfill it, if it is reasonable." Strider replied he had a grin on his face, full of confidence in himself.
Scarlet straightened her back and looked him in the eyes before she spoke, "If I am to win this challenge, you must allow me to take the Warlock Guard Entry Exam, by waving the age limit," Scarlet brushed a strand of her crimson mane out of her eyes as she moved her training weights off to the side and released them from her magical grasp.
"Hah, very well, I can do that much, but you'll never make it that far," Strider intoned, "Now, tell me, what spell will you be casting, since you seem to be eyeing a position in the Warlock Guard, you must have some kind of offensive spell then, if not, they'd be quite disappointed." Strider intoned, ignoring the whispers amongst the other council members.
"Yes, I shall be casting Maelstrom, the fifth tier Evocation spell, I suggest you ready yourself," Scarlet called out, also making a point of looking at each of the council members.
"Fine then," came Strider's reply, as he set his stance wider, his horn started to glow as a spell circle with three rings appeared underneath him runes that most couldn't understand marked its edges before a golden bubble formed around him.
Scarlet nodded at the heavyset Archmage before she let out a breath, then, her horn shone, a pale rose aura with a large circle appearing underneath her, four rings within the circle appeared a smaller one ringed circle hovered slightly above it, indicating a fifth tier spell.
Strider let out a surprised gasp before he focused back at the spell forming, soon a swirling mass of water started to surround Scarlet, large tentacles took form, swinging wildly around the area. Strider braced himself as one of them slammed down on his shield, small cracks forming on it, then another tendril slammed and another, soon his bubble no area of his bubble looked smooth, the tentacles then started to wrap around them, started to pull him closer to scarlet.
Then, his shield broke, transparent pale gold fragments of the shield floated around him small motes of gold dust near its edges. At when he saw this, he looked towards Scarlet, she looked tired, but had a large smile on his face, it unnerved him.
With a quick thought, he teleported back to his position on the Cresent Platform, he wasn't that tired from the spells he cast, but he was soaked in water and had a minor headache from his shield breaking.
"Was the spell to your satisfaction, Archmage Strider?" inquired Scarlet, a slight mocking undertone in her voice, but it was well hidden, the magical circles around her faded away along with the construct, Scarlet eyed the Archmage, her tired eyes met his own, and in response, he nodded.
"Yes, Student Lulamoon, you have passed my challenge, I will allow you to take the Warlock Guard Entry Exam you have one week to prepare," Strider knew that she would fail the exam, so why would he give her time to worry about it, now he'll have to organize this exam.
"Thank you for your kind words, Archmage, I will be ready," was Scarlet's reply, she then picked up her training weights, they shook a bit in her aura but remained stable.
"This meeting shall now be adjourned if no other member has anything to add," Announced Dancer, getting no response from the other Council members, she then cast a minor light spell, lighting the room up, "meeting adjourned, Thank you very much for the amazing display of dedication Student Lulamoon, We expect great things for you in the future," were Dancers final words as Scarlet was lead away from the meeting room.
I trained even harder after I managed to bypass the age restriction on the Warlock Guard entry exam, from what I had been able to gather, one of the requirements she had heard from the rumors was that she needed to be able to cast a sixth tier spell. It was the day before the exam was to take place that I had cast my first sixth tier spell and at age four, other ponies would try and talk to me, but those my own age never took me seriously, I don't blame them too much, but it gets on my nerves, that and the fact that my teachers constantly try to get me to 'make friends', foals my age have trouble talking, and can't hold a conversation, and my fellow students seem to have some kind of complex about speaking with me, it matters not though, while they waste there time here, trying to become researches or teachers, I'll make sure that, when the war really hits hard, I'll be safe, but for now, I can only hope I have enough time.
Scarlet coughed nervously as she was lead along by a large Unicorn with black and gold robes, the standard uniform of a Warlock Guard Captain, this was it, the exam that she had been planning on taking ever since she found out that they existed.
"Don't be surprised when you fail, many ponies more experienced then you are old have tried these tests and failed, I still can't believe the council waived the age requirement for you, well, it won't be my fault if you die, you can really only blame yourself," said the old mare as she trotted towards a large training area, "First part of the exam, practical, I need you to cast a sixth tier offensive spell of the evocation school, you can do that much can't you?" The old captain intoned, mockery heavy in her voice.
The training area was large, about one hundred foot square with many target dummies, made from some kind of metal, evidence of runic magic at play with the runes carved into the bases of the dummies, floating targets in the air zipping around faster then most ponies could run, the floor a smooth marble with large marble walls.
"your spell must eliminate fifty percent of the airborne targets and eighty percent of the ground-bound targets, good luck filly," explained the older Warlock Captain, she then moved over to a small viewing area a left Scarlet at the edge of the training room.
Scarlet looked around, and remained silent, before her horn started to glow, dimly at first, then it started to become brighter, a large circle appeared beneath her, five rings within it, two more circles appeared hovering above the larger one, one ring inside each, runes lining all inches of the rings, Scarlet's face was covered in sweat at this point before a small circle appear on her horn, the sign of a sixth tier spell, and a large beam of frozen blue energy stuck one of the flying targets in the air, freezing it solid and a split second later a large blast of frozen energy exploded from it in a large sphere, freezing all targets, airborne or not within sixty feet freeze solid, whatever shielding enhancement on the dummies was immediately bypassed as if it were not there.
Frost particles hanged in the air, all the airborne dummies fell to the ground along with an exhausted Scarlet, who had drained around ninety percent of her mana pool. She gathered up the strength to look at the old captain and said, "Captain, how did I do? was it to your satisfaction?" Scarlet looked at the Captain, her eyes were wide, the captain walked out of the viewing area, which, was not in range of the spell, as she came closer, her hooves cracked the thin layer of ice and frost on the ground.
"In all my years, I never thought I'd see a filly who just turned five years old cast the Sixth Tier spell Freezing Sphere, very well then, you have passed the practical part of the exam," intoned the old Captain, her surprise no longer evident.
I was given an hours rest after the practice, I had heard that usually, the practical part of the exam was after the written portion, I assume they hadn't actually thought I'd pass either of them and wanted me to take the shortest one first.
After some chocolate and cocoa, I was lead to a small study room with a quill and inkpot in the grasp of my magic, It was nice that the guard started to actually treat me with respect at that point.
"This exam will last one hour and thirty minutes, you must have a score of sixty percent or higher to pass, we will now give you a fifteen-minute reading time, you may now begin," came the instruction of a pink coated stallion with a white mane, he had the robes of a full warlock guard member and a look of slight awe on his face.
Scarlet ignored him and started on the exam, she noted that most questions were related on how a spell was constructed and even covered eighth tier spell theory, and while she had managed to research some of those spells, she knew her mana pool wouldn't stand up to that task.
Scarlet found it strange that some questions were so easy that she was curious if it has been rigged, one such question was to name all the branches of magic, which was quite easy she wrote down, Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy and Transmutation. Perhaps it was more of a memory test as most of the schools were only mentioned at a first-grade level, and Scarlet had not as of yet found any hint of necromancy, assuming it was some kind of access restricted school.
Once the exam had finished, she waited with bated breath for her results, and after ten minutes of waiting she was called into a fancy office, the old mare that had overseen her practical test was behind the desk, a strange look on her face, as she called out, "Scarlet Lulamoon, I am happy to say that you have passed, what's even more amazing is that you have just broken a new record, she said as she dropped the revised exam paper on the desk in front of Scarlet, who looked at the test, saw the mark on the sheet.
100%
120 / 120 correct answers
She had aced her written exam, Scarlet was overjoyed but kept herself to a small smile.
"Congratulations Miss Lulamoon, or rather Trainee Lulamoon, welcome to the Warlock Guard," the old mare said, a sad frown on her face, "I hope this is what you wanted, and that you are ready for what lies ahead, Usually Celestia would be here to give you this, however with the war, she has been at the front lines now, protecting her troops, while her sister is too busy keeping the nobles and city running, so you'll have to accept it from this old mare instead." said the Captain, in her telekinetic grip a metal pin, a horn with two pegasus wings behind it.
The Warlock Guard training course, for all those few who passed the exam, this course would weed out the weak ones, and the training was grueling, one year of this hell, before the trainee exam, failing that, and you have to go through another year of the trainee course. I knew that I'd get this course over within the year, I couldn't afford to fail, The Crystal Empire managed to take a portion of Griffonstone about a month into my training, this doesn't bode well.
With about forty percent of what was once Equestria taken it wouldn't be long before the war would come to its heart, and if the warlock guard elite has trouble with some of Sombra's Enhanced troops, I wouldn't stand a chance as of now.
At about four months into the training, my telekinetic grip was able to hold a maximum of two tons, more progress had been made in those months than I had within a year of my studies when I was still a student, and while I endured this training my strength also increased, I wasn't at the point of turning rocks to dust as was a requirement to join the Stone Troopers, but I could now crush most woods and lift one hundred kilograms on my back.
Six months in and I was able to cast two sixth tier spells one after the other, something I take great pride in, but I still wouldn't be able to cast a seventh tier spell yet, as was the requirement to pass the practical of the trainee exam, I would need to be able to cast seven sixth tier spells one after another to pass just the mana requirements of a spell that tier, I just have to work harder to pass the exam, not unexpected, but a substantial effort.
Author's Note
New Rewrite of A new Type of Evil, tell me what you think, would love a review on my grammar, as I hope it's at the appropriate level to keep your eyes intact.
Don't expect another update until around the end of this month, Exams are still a thing, I just had some lull time between the last assignment submissions and the exam dates, I should be studying but I can't focus at the moment, so writing to gather my thoughts allows me to.
