Subject: Dax, A.K.A. Daxinium Berlian
Time: 11:13 PM
Mission: Prepare for the upcoming tournament
Goals: Get on the good side of the Princess's
{Princess Luna: 1/2}
{Princess Celestia: 2/2}

I crack open an eye as I hear my alar-Wait, I don't have an alarm clock! I jolted off my little cot before seeing a comforting sight. "Sparks! Your back!"

I could almost hear her rolling her digital eyes at me, "I wasn't shut off you dolt, I was just rebooting." I chuckle before getting out of my cot and checking on where the Hell Xavier went to.

Funnily enough, he was hanging from one of the bigger tree's branches like a massive bat. I nudged him awake before checking in on Puera, who I've decided to call Jest due to his jester like appearance, and started walking towards the exit to find a more decent place to stay and to find out how to sign up for the tourney. But that got shoved out of my mind when I came chest to face with what looked like a unicorn maid. She just looked at me with what looked to be shock before resolving to anger.

She grabbed my ear with her magic and forced me to my knees and harshly whispered into my ear, "What in Tartarus were thou doing down there?!"

Pushing back my panic at being discovered, I managed to push her back into a guard, while I began running with wild abandon and started weaving through the crowds to avoid the angry "maid". I don't know how the Hell she saw me, but she managed to break the illusion without even trying to.

After a few minutes of running I found what looked like a library, if they were supposed to look like the Greek pantheons. I run inside and take a left between the main wall and a huge bookshelf. I kept taking turns till I was positive only somebody who knew everything about the library could find me. After a few minutes of looking around pensively I decided to relax and grabbed a few books and sat down.

Apparently I had been in the magic section if the impressive diagrams in the books were anything to go by. I was currently halfway through a guide to the inner workings of a ponies magic systems when I felt a familiar magic signature closing in on my position. I set the book down and looked over towards the magic sig. when I saw... Nothing? Wait, there it is, an illusion. An extremely good one, I almost couldn't detect it.

After unraveling the illusion I was greeted with a fuming pegacorn, er, Alicorn, if the book was correct. She wasn't using the guise of a little maid or cursing out loud like she was before. Instead she looked like she had calmed down a little and sat right next to me before asking, "How?" Very simple question, too bad the answer was not as simple.

"Well, I felt the illusion and decided to see what was underneath, which by the way, was incredibly big, which is kinda what gave it away really. I then came across the stairs which I took to the bottom and saw the cavern with a grove of glowing trees," She tensed up at the "grove of glowing trees", but let me continue with my explanation, "After meeting some friends down there I went to bed, woke up and came out to see an angry maid, which I'm assuming was you...?"

She gave a nod before we fell into silence. She kept fidgeting before asking, "Haveth thee heard of the competition we have set up with our sister, Celestia?"

I blinked before grabbing the poster out of my B.i.t.i.s. and showed it to her, "Y'mean this one? I was thinking about joining-"

She interrupted me with a loud, "HALT! Thou means to enter our competition!? Which side!?"

I was on the floor the entire time she was screaming questions, but after few minutes of just sitting there she realized I was in a fetal position on the floor covering my poor ears.

She lit her horn up and my headache was almost gone without a whisper. She cleared her throat before asking again, "Which side hast thou chosen?"

I merely said, "Lunar...?"

Whilst rubbing my sore head, She looked like she just won the lottery or something. After a while of rubbing my head, she had gotten up and left for a few minutes before coming back to her chair, all the while humming a familiar tune, though I couldn't place it.

She set down a heavy book with a thump before turning to me with a look that would've fit my face better. She then proceeded to push the book towards me. I looked at the books cover before raising an eyebrow. "What's this?"

The book's cover was decorated with certain landscapes like a simple garden, a barren desert, even a freaking volcanic wasteland. She chuckled before explaining, "This book is about how to magically create environments to suit your needs. I thought I could, 'help', thee."

I reeled back at she had said, change the environment to suit my needs? I frowned before asking, "What do you mean by 'assist'? I thought the competitors were not supposed to have any outside help?"

If it was even possible, her grin stretched even wider before saying, "We're not assisting a competitor, we're merely assisting Somepony that we feel could use tips and... "lessons" for future "Events"!"

I blinked before realizing what she meant. She could help me prepare for the tournament because I haven't entered yet, so the rules don't apply till after I sign up.... Smiling, I look her in the eye before sticking my hand out and said, "You better teach me something worthwhile."

She grinned and shook my hand with a much larger smile.

After studying for over eight hours I was able to learn quite a few things, such as her name, which was Luna. When I saw the light beginning to disappear from the windows, I decided it was about time to head back to the cavern, when Luna pulled me by the sleeve of my trench coat and shook her head and said, "No, we shan't have our champion resting in a cavern! We shall have thou sleep in the guest quarters of the castle! Not some hideously pungent cavern like a heathen!" I was then whisked away by the princess of the night to her looming castle.

As we stumbled through the streets of Canterlot we got a ton of looks from passing ponies. I suppose having one of your Princess's practically drag a D-Dog look-a-like through the streets isn't very common. I just went along with it just because I needed to stop by the cavern anyways to pick up Jest. Not to mention, it would be nice to sleep in an actual room for once. As we neared the bridge I told her that I needed to grab some stuff, she just nodded with a faint amount of confusion and told the guards to let me in when I come back.

I walked down the chasm-side stairs and entered the cavern, to see Jest playing with Xavier. I whistled a sharp, piercing cry to grab their attention and patted my thigh to indicate that they were to follow me. Both nodded and ran, er, trotted in Xaviers case, to my side. I grabbed Jest and sat him on Xavier's back, and we made our departure.

After we exited the cavern and got back up the stairs, we confronted the guards. The guards were apparently from a different shift and said we're not allowed in due to it being to late. I argued some more before I made a split second decision and began smacking one of the guards across the face with my rather blunt prosthetic hand before yelling, going on a rant about the entire day I've had, and the insanity that came with it. Then I proceeded to take his helmet and started striking him in the face with it repeatedly, all the while his fellow guard was staring in shock as I beat the original guard.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"

I looked over to see Luna standing on the marble bridge leading to the castle. I dropped the helmet and pointed to the guard and said, "He started it!"

...And now I look like an idiot. Luna just shook her head and grabbed my arm while muttering certain obscenities during our walk. "So, you going to patch up that guard up or what?"

She just lit her horn and briefly shot a spell in the direction of the guard and muttered, "Done."

We kept on walking for a few minutes before coming to a stop at two gigantic doors. I'm not kidding, they're literally around twenty feet tall. Luna spoke with the guards in front and waved her hands around rather dramatically, but the oddest thing was the fact that I didn't hear a thing. After a minute of her arguing with them I decided to see what was happening with magic sight and looked at the web of magic surrounding them.

As I drank in the rather complex magical structure, Luna had apparently finished with the guard and was tugging me into the room beyond the doors, but was still having issues with the guard. So you know what she did to me? She dropped me like a sack of potatoes. I rubbed my now tender side and got back up. The guard was arguing with the princess again, but this time without the silencing spell.

Luna spat, "What is the matter with us entering the court to see our own sister!?"

The Guard slammed the spear's butt onto the ground, making a noticeable 'Thump' and shouted back, "The court is in session! No pony is allowed in, especially with what you did!"

I could feel Luna's anger reaching its peak. I had to stop this before it gets worse. I took a step between the two and tried to play peacemaker, "She's your princess right? That's her sister in there and she needs to talk to her quite badly so why don't yo-" 'THWAP'

Did... Did he just fucking slap me? He just fucking slapped me!? I saw the red creeping in as I looked the guard in the eyes and lifted an eyebrow to which he replied, "I don't want to hear it Dog! That witch and her pets are not allowed here!"

...."Why does thou speak like this to your prince-" 'THWAP'

He slapped Luna.... One of my few friends here.... He's going to regret that....

---------------------Celestia's P.O.V.---------------------

Raven Felt had to take a few days off due to an illness, but the Nobles felt that she had been fired of all things, for some reason. So here I've been, listening to the dolt's that call themselves nobility try to place their own children into the position.

'Thump' I turned to see the doors shudder from the impact. 'THUMP' By my Mother's mane, what are my Guards doing!? I picked myself up and started walking towards the shuddering door as more impacts hit them. Just as I was outside the doors reach, they slammed open and a Guard was sent flying right by me. He made an interesting noise when he flew by, just short of 'EEEH!' and a bit higher than 'AAAAH!'. But what interested me more was the oddest being I've ever seen, well, besides Discord of course.

He looked like a diamond dog but he was taller, maybe a hoof's worth. His main apparel was the oddest coat, it reached all the way to his knee's, but it didn't care about its coat. He also had a top hat of the fancier kind, and his face was covered with a beautiful scarf that looked like it was made of the night sky and had emeralds woven into it.

He had several weapons strapped to him, but the most noticeable was the large cobalt staff strapped to his back. He had an interesting leather satchel that had an interesting spell matrix surrounding it on him, but the most interesting thing about him was his magic. It shifted from a familiar magic, to a completely unknown one, and then to one produced by his rather odd looking metallic hand.

Another interesting thing was Luna staring at him in an all too familiar way. "Ahem, this yours?"

I turned back to see he had one of my guards held three feet above the ground in a choking grip on his throat. I put on my best smile and said, "Please put him down, he has a family. And it wouldn't do to have you murder anyone, now would it?"

-------------------------------------------------------------Dax's P.O.V.--------------------------------------------------------------

I continued to glare at the snow white Alicorn before me before dropping the Guard onto the hard granite tiles. She smiled and lit her horn before whisking the guards away, probably to the medic bay. The Alicorn continued to smile that 'smile' before asking, "Tea?"

I went to open my mouth when Luna literally teleported to my side and said, "That would be lovely Sister!"

Luna, Celestia, and I were all sitting at a simple mahogany table with four cups of tea on it. The owner of the fourth cup hadn't entered yet, but the two royal sisters didn't seem to mind. I meanwhile was enjoying a nice cup of peppermint tea. It's a thing I've picked up from... Mom... I really need to see if I can find a way home..."So who's your friend Luna?"

Hmm? Oh, Luna and her sister, Celestia have been talking for a while. And they finally got to the topic of me, but I'm not complaining. It just meant more time for me and my delicious tea. Meanwhile Luna kept on fidgeting, barely noticing her tea.... Do you think I could grab her tea? 'No, because you can always ask for more and it's rude to steal someone's cup of tea!' True... Ooh! Luna's talking again! "Our friend is a diamond dog with a most interesting ability to perform acts of powerful magic. And his name be-ith Daxinium, dear Sister."

Celestia nodded her head before looking over to me.... "Do you like the tea? I had it 'specially' brewed for this occasion~."

Huh, wonder what she meant by that? 'I knew it! She's drugged you!' And Luna has apparently come to the same conclusion, "WHAT!? Thou spiked his tea!?"

Celestia just kept smiling her creepy little smile and said, "Yes, we both know what would happen if he gets angry again and besides, all it was some wolf's bane mixed with peppermint tea."

Luna meanwhile had decided to start imitating the weeping angels. I swear every time I blinked she was a few inches closer to Celestia. This kept going on until they were face to face and having a conversation behind a silence spell. After a few minutes of their silent yelling at each other, I decided to leave the small room we were, a tea room Celestia had called it.

The first thing to happen when I left was a shrill scream from my right. Turning I could see one of the castles maids freaking out and screaming about Diamond Dogs invading the castle. I shrugged and decided that she may want a hug, to reassure her that I wasn't going to hurt her, but it seemed that it may have reassured her too much that she fainted with relief! And because I'm such a gentleman, I carried her over to one of the adjacent rooms and placed her on one of the beds in what I assumed was a guest room. She should wake up in a few hours. ''Ahem"

I turned around and saw my blue friend, Luna, staring at me and the now unconscious maid sleeping in the bed. She just raised an eyebrow and waved her hand in one of those, 'What the heck happened here?' fashions. I smiled and simply said, "She was screaming and I'm a gentleman of the highest degree."

Lulu just shook her head and pulled my sleeve and said, "Lets get thou in a bed for now."

I pouted and said, "Do I have to? I really would like to see more!"

Lulu again shook her head and said, "No, tis final."

I sucked up my attitude and glumly nodded and said, "Fine you big, blue, moon..."

I smirked at her reaction to that. I swear she went from a blue moon to a harvest/blood moon in seconds... Geez, I'm making Moon jokes all over the place aren't I? "Get in thine bedding or we will knock thou out!"

I nod once more before stripping off my armor and clothing and dive into the admittedly large bed. I twist my head enough so that I could make one last cheeky comment, "Comin'?"

The only answer I got for my trouble was a blast of magic hitting right next to my head and a flustered, "S-shut thine mouth or the next blast hits thine head!"

I grinned at the thought-'Don't do it, I know you want to, but I want my owner to stay alive a tad bit longer if you will.' I grumble and let it go as I pulled the sheets over my body. After a minute of making sure I wasn't about to run around nude, I heard Luna clip-clop away.

I stayed there for few minutes before hearing the creaking of the door opening, again. I strain to hear the almost imperceptible sounds of leathery wings beating as whoever that was got closer to my bed. Giggling and then a silent pomf sounded before the wing beats decided to leave. Huh, guess I'll find out in the morn..."Snore"

Ooow. What in the name of Hell happened last night? I remember busting into the court room and....Shit. That fucking bitch poisoned me! 'Wow, took you long enough!', What happened? Er, besides being poisoned? 'Lets see, you scared a mare so badly she fainted and you put her on a bed, you embarrassed Luna so much she nearly took off your head, a Thestral came in last night and left something for you. That's it really....'

Alrighty...What's a Thestral? 'A Thestral is a pony with bat wings instead of regular pegasus wings. And never in any circumstances call them bat ponies.' Why? 'It's basically a racial slur, similar to redskins.' Huh...Wait, how do you know that? 'I may have gone through your memories....'

I really wanted to push the matter, but the throbbing in my head stated otherwise. I got up and walked into the huge bathroom before flinching at the state of my body in the mirror. It wasn't bad, but it was... Different, to say the least. I used to be a tall, slightly chubby kid and yet, here I am, even taller and more lean than I should be, probably from a diet of just random forest critters, casting magic half the time I'm awake, and running around for the other half. Not to mention the different genitals... No, I'm not going to even try to think about it right now. 'Y'know, the local female diamond dogs might try and seduce you into their burrows if they saw you nude...'... Shut the fuck up Sparks.

Walking up to the sink, I grabbed the knob and twisted it, and to my surprise, got cold water gushing out. Most likely a spell used to make the water cold. I then cupped my hands and drank from the sink. I know, I could've grabbed water from the kitchens, but there's a few problems with that. First, I don't want a rerun of last night, two, I don't have a fucking clue as to where they are during this time.

After watering my thirst, I decided to grab my clothes, my gloves, my hat, my scarf, and armored coat and get dressed. Now standing in front of the mirror I can see what I look like. Not bad really, though the hat kinda shades my face pretty well, though I can still see the outline of my face.... Wait... I can see shadows again!? What the Hell happened!?

'I have a theory on that.' Yea? Well then, please explain the sudden night vision loss! 'Hold your horses would'ya!? Alright, the idea is that since you're part demon, a hunter no less, you're going to have abilities that surround your 'thing', like the Succubus of lust would be able to sense lust or the lack of it.' So since I'm the Hunter of the night I've got certain abilities related to the night? 'Bingo! You just need to activate it!'

I do as said and... Voilà! No more shadows! I chuckle under my breath and muttered, "Neato..."

Turning around I could see about everything in the room. From the crevice's that were hidden by the shadows, to the parcel on the bed-wait, parcel? I slowly walk over and eyed the mundane package. Just some brown paper surrounding a thin object. What the Hell is in it? And why was it so important it needed to be delivered during the middle of the night? 'Um, it's actually midnight right now....'

What!? There's no way my natural clock just flipped like that! Where's a window!? There! I rush forward and almost yanked it off to see-'Dong~, dong~, dong~, dong~, dong~, dong~, dong~, dong~, dong~, dong~, dong~, dong~!'- The clock tower strike twelve... Holy shit... I feel like it's the middle of the afternoon! 'Calm down Dax, you're experiencing body changes-' This is not the time for the puberty talk! 'I'm not talking about puberty you idiot! I'm talking about your demonic side showing itself!' Showing itself!? Am I going to have split personalities!? 'Would you stop!? No, you're not going to go insane! You're demonic abilities are starting to show up! But if you keep this up, you're going to make me go insane!'

I grit my teeth and closed the curtains, forcefully. I started to grab my weapons when I realized something else. They're gone. Someone took my weapons... It was that bitch isn't it? 'Wouldn't put it past her...' Great, now I'm gonna have to get it from the armory.... 'We know where the armory is?' Don't you remember, this was our base at one point in time! I know that place inside and out! 'Oh, I need to update the map again don't I?'

I chuckled and said, "Don't sweat it Sparks, just use the old map. Should be good enough."

Sparks mumbled a little more before putting the map on holographic display. I nodded once and started to go before remembering the little gift on the bed. I went back and grabbed it and carefully opened it and nearly dropped it in shock at was in it. No, not a death threat, blackmail, nor a trap. It was... Nudes...? How does one respond to that? I've only been here for what? A day? And I thought they didn't have cameras now? I look over them carefully before seeing carefully made strokes of paint and lead. I shake my head and just quickly stuff them in an inside pocket of my jacket. I'll deal with them later and made to leave.

The hard part wasn't the part where I had to go. The hard part was getting in. I mean, seriously! What kind of training do these guys go through to look like statues!? And for three fucking hours! I had to sigh in impatience as a group of dark colored Thestral Guards went in to the Armory for some reason. There was an 'issue' afterwards inside the Armory, causing both of the outside Guards to head in...I really don't want to guess what the 'issue' was, but I've got to go in there.

I rush forward and grab the door before it closed and slipped inside. The inside wasn't anything special. Just a few rows of racks holding swords, spears, a couple of tower shields, and a few staffs. None of them were mine though. Where the fuck does she keep the things nobody is supposed to have? In some kind of storage most likely. Where would storage be?... The Quartermasters area! At least, I think that's where they're called. Basically they're area's made to hold the weapons and the Quartermaster, who sells the weapons to the soldiers, or in this case, Guards.

I skulked around for a few minutes before finding the objective. The only issue being, the group of thestral guards surrounding it. As I made my way to a group of shadows, I could hear something I've heard once before, slurred words, which means one or some of these idiots are drunk. As I made myself comfortable, I could hear the supposed leader of the group slur some words out, but for all my good hearing couldn't make it out, either it was so slurred it was gibberish or he was too far away. I may not have known what he said but the Quartermaster did, "Ya know tah rules Shine, no bein' drunk in here, so get tah buck out."

This time the leader, Shine, decided to be a bit clearer, "I don' neerd no rruless to stell me wha ta d-do! I jusst neerd a ssimple sspear! Sso hooof it o-over Q-quart!"

They continued arguing before one of the more coherent Guards tried dragging 'Shine' away. Then it turned into a full out fist fight. Meanwhile, I stayed back and watched the entertainment. It only took a few minutes for it to die down before the victor was revealed, and it certainly wasn't the drunkard. The drunkard had passed out and was being dragged out by one of the more coherent Guards. Soon the rest were filed out by the only actually coherent Guard on the scene. After they were all filed out, the Guard came back and began apologizing to the Quartermaster, "Sorry sir, I shouldn't have let him. That's my fault and I'll take full punishment sir!"

The Quartermaster just chuckled and said, "It's alright sonny, just make sure they stay out alright?"

The Guard nodded and saluted him before leaving. I smirked before heading over to the Quartermaster. I've got to give him credit really, didn't even flinch when I appeared. In fact, it looked like he was.... expecting me? "I'm goin' out on a limb and assuming yah're here for yer weapons?"

I.... What? "How did you....?"

The Quartermaster Just chuckled and said, "The Princess said yah'd come lookin' for yer weapons, and here yah are. A bit odder lookin' then ah expected, but still a D-dog."

Odd? Whatever, he has my weapons and possibly something from the princess if that big bag he was hauling anything to go by. After he had set down the bag he grabbed a box from the back and set it next to the bag. After a minute of him going through them to make sure they were there he slid them over to me. I nodded my appreciation and said, "Thanks sir."

The Quartermaster just chuckled and said, "No problem sonny, just keep out of trouble would'ja?"

I gave my usual response of a nod and sifted through the box and placed all my gear on me. My daggers, my trench knife, my staff, and both Lux and Umbra. After that I began opening the bag to see the mystery thingamajigs. Whelp, it wasn't a weapon, well, unless you can count 10 different books as weapons. After I opened it, I noticed an old picture on one of the books that I haven't seen in a while, a Manticore. It kinda reminded me of...Xavier?

I pack the books quickly into B.i.t.i.s. and rush out into the hallway and looked up. As I suspected, Xavier was up climbing ceilings as usual and this time, from the looks of it, Jest was riding him. I looked both ways before waving them down. As Xavier landed, I noticed that Jest wasn't lookin' very good. As I picked him up off of Xavier, I could feel him shaking. He must not like heights very well, who knew? As I started to put Jest back into my coat where he gladly started to snuggle into my chest I could hear voices. And very familiar ones at that.

If I remember correctly, they were the guards who had been the cause of my little outburst yesterday... Er, two days ago? I can't remember... 'It was a day ago Dax.'

Ah, thanks Sparks! 'No problem Dax, not like I have much to do in here...'

Rushing to a patch of shadows behind a abnormally large pot, I listened to see how close they were. Unfortunately, it sounded like they were close, so I sat my butt down and waited.

After waiting for a minute there I realized that they were talking about me. Ugly number one had said somethin bout being demoted? Good, they deserved worse, but it'll do. After that, ugly number two said, "I hope we don't ever see that damn bitch again, and her fucking pet.

The fuck did they just say!? Tonight's bout to get a bit more bloodier...

W-what!? When did I ever think like that!? Wait... The diamond dog warden! I kinda... Lost it then too... I just need to wait for them to pass...

After a minute they entered the armory and were out of sight. I signaled Xavier upwards and then took off down the hallway.

Finally! I slammed the door behind me and looked around at my new environment. Bushes, ivy, benches, a fucking fountain? I guess I've found the courtyard. Now, let's get somewhere quite, isolated, and nowhere near any pushy princess's...

Looking around, I could see a few different places to go to, but my best option seemed to be the open window, bout two stories up, and opened up to a nice warm looking area. Possibly the Royal Library? I don't know, nor do I give a flying fuck. All I care about is the warmth emanating from it.

Looking at the nearest wall, I begin to run a visualization of what I am about to do in my mind.

Taking a couple of steps back, I run full speed ahead at the closest wall, scaling several feet up the wall, and jump off it, soaring into... A maid's workroom. Holy shit. Looking back outside, I gape at the distance I just leapt. From the wall I had literally rebounded off of, to here, it was easily over twenty feet. I doubt many back home could even do a ten foot jump, much less twenty. Hell bells, even I couldn't do that before going to Sunny Town.

But here I am, leaping twenty to twenty five feet across court yards like a fucking game character. Turning back from the gigantic leap I had just made, I assessed my current surroundings. No Maids, meaning it's either too late for them to be up, or they're all out and about. There's tons of cubbies on the left wall, acting as a kind of locker for the Maids, with most of them being apparently used for pictures and the occasional memoir.

Another thing that was extremely noticeable about the room was the massive 'vats' in the adjoining room, viewable from the where I stood. The steam coming out of them was enough to keep a sauna going for hours on end. Not much else was in the room besides racks full of cleaning utensils, Maid uniforms, and the odd towel mixed in.

Sprinting towards the door, while somehow listening for more annoying Guards, I made a quick decision and began going down the left, albeit, at a slower pace. However, from the looks of the deserted halls, this wasn't going to be much of an issue. I mean, come on! You're a huge target to anybody that wants to gain control of this place, and you barely have Guards on one side of the castle, while the other side is jam packed full of them.

Though in all honesty, I probably shouldn't be complaining. This saves me the headache of avoiding them, and finding a place to stay away from them.

Turning the latest corner actually gave me some headway in my self-made castle tour. It seemed that I was correct in one way or another about the Royal Library. This was definitely the right area to find it if the massive doors with the inscriptions of "Regius Bibliotheca" above it, were what I think they are.

Walking up to it, I grasp the thick handle on the left door and decided to do multiple things to try and open it. First was the push down and pull/push, the usual way of opening doors of course. When that didn't work, I tried just pushing on it, which also prevailed to no avail.

Hmmm... Come to think of it, there's another possible issue here... It's locked... "What now, oh great and powerful Hunter~?"

"Hey! Don't act all high and mighty! I can fucking figure this out on my own!"

~~~~~~~~~~7 minutes later~~~~~~~~~~

Gritting my teeth, I finally lift up my mechanical hand and say, "Fine... What did you have in mind Sparks....?"

I can almost feel the smugness coming off of the stupid prosthetic..."Well... Remember the safe from the older version of the castle?"

"... Yes...?"

"Do you remember how you opened it?"

Fuck... "So you're saying I'm goin to have to do that again.... Fuck, that isn't going to be fun."

It took a couple minutes to prep myself for multiple things that were going to happen. First, most likely the sharp jolt through my arm when I do. That's going to be painful... Second, the rush of guards that're going to descend upon the hallway the moment this thing opens up. What? Didn't expect a door this big with a lock this difficult to have defense besides a magic shock when you touch it? Learned that one the hard way... But, we, well, I am positive I do this without getting tackled.

Taking a step back and placing my left hand, er, paw? against the door and began focusing it. Dark blue in the chest, A dull yellow from the locket, and a neon pink from the prosthetic all combining in my actual... paw, I begin slowly forcing it into the door.

The first few seconds weren't too bad, but then I started getting what I can only describe as "feedback". Basically, I could feel a magic beginning to flow back into me. And it hurt. Imagine someone threading multiple threads through your arm and then have them all settle in your chest. It hurt. A lot.

Trying to ignore the increasing feedback, I begin to shove more magic in, enough magic to power a small generator for three weeks, and yet... It still wouldn't open. Cracking open my eyes, I grit my teeth and shove as much magic as I possibly could into the damn thing.

"CRRRTHUNK"

'...Holy shit. I thought they were big... These things are actually really... Small..?'

The doors had opened alright, with enough magic to actually hurt me pretty bad. My hand was smoking a ton and my arm had what looked like burns going up it, though fortunately, they were healing pretty fast. Fun. The doors themselves actually weren't gigantic as I had thought. The doors were cut out of the "Gigantic doors" and simply stood about 9 feet tall, a few inches taller than me, which is still rather large in human terms...

Taking a step in, I can see why the doors are allowed to be so freaking large. The entire room was massive, the ceiling reaching a lot higher than the giganticus doors, the back wall was almost completely out of sight, and the side walls were about four vertical tennis fields apart.

"I'm assuming the Princess's let you in?"

"Holy shit!"

Flinging myself back out the door, I cautiously poke my head back in to see the cause of my shock, an elderly unicorn, standing there with "No nonsense" kinda face, once again asking, "Well? Did they? Or am I going to have to call the Guards on you?"

Taking what info I could, that being "Princess's", ''Guards'', and "Let you in?", I made the intelligent response of, "Umm... Yes. Totally."

Her curiosity sated, the unicorn went back to what she was doing before, organizing books apparently.

Meanwhile, I was left to my own devices. And in doing so, gave me freedom to wander freely amongst the books of magic, life, and apparently physics. Didn't realize they had physics this far back, albeit very different from the physics I'm used to.

Grabbing a couple, I situate myself in what could be considered a reading lounge with rather cushy seats, and begin reading the lore of magic and how its origins, spoiler, came from an Alicorn! Yay.

Another thirty minutes in, and I'm engrossed in it. Maybe I should stop and try to actually find Luna for once... Meh, a couple more pages never hurt anybody...

End Part 1

Author's Note

Hello! Sorry bout not updating this for such a long time, but I've managed to write bout 8 k words for the time being and I've decided that I shall split this chapter and put out the second part in a couple of days. At least 1 k per day hopefully... At least I'm getting more time for myself to write! I'll try to get at least another two chapters out by the end of spring break.

And as always, please point out any errors in spelling or any way I can improve this chapter. I'm far from perfect, so errors will most likely pop up after a while. Come morn, I'm most likely going to regret putting this up without further error checking and modifying, but for now, c'est la vie.

With coffee stains,

ShadowmancerElite