Boom!

The loud noise made Twilight jump, a softer-yet-still-loud squeak emanating from her muzzle. Her four hooves hit the floor with a clack before she spun around, glaring at the door. Ash, for his part, just grinned at the two Alicorns on the other end of the dining room. “Why are the doors in here so loud?”

“How is somepony going to rob us when every door sounds like a bomb going off?” Luna retorted with a joking smirk.

“Fair point.” Ash said, then patted Twilight on her withers. “Stop glaring at the door and go sit by your mentor.”

Twilight nodded rapidly, then trotted around the table and sat on a large red cushion next to Celestia. Ash walked around the other way, taking a seat next to Luna on yet another large red cushion. Food had already been delivered, with all four of them receiving some type of soup that Ash didn’t recognize along with some type of deep green juice that smelled sour and tasted just as it smelled, though he liked it. After trying to soup, he realized it was a vegetable stew with a few additions.

Seated at the table were two Alicorns, a Unicorn, and a human; otherwise, the room was empty of both guard and servant. Idly, Ash wondered if the dining room had ever been full before, not counting parties, but he doubted it.

“How did your magic practicing go, Ash?” Luna asked him, a curious glint clear in her eyes.

“It went rather well. I’ve decided to go down the Restoration school, which focuses on healing for the most part. I’ve got a decent grasp on Healing, which heals the caster, and Twilight helped me practice with Lesser Ward, which blocks magic up to a certain power.” Ash explained.

“Restoration, you say?” Luna asked. “Just how effective is it?”

Idly, Ash noticed Celestia and Twilight discussing something as well, though he wasn’t listening to whatever it was. “Well, right now, I only know Healing, which heals the caster at a slow but constant rate. Once I get better at Healing, I’ll be able to cast Healing Hands, which heals a target at a slow but constant rate. As I progress through Restoration, I’ll be able to learn Fast Healing, Heal Other, Close Wounds, and Grand Healing.”

Luna hummed in thought, an idea obviously coming to her. “I have a proposition for you, if you are seeking employment.”

“I’m listening.” The man replied.

“Once you learn Healing Hands, and once my sister or I certify the spell, perhaps you can work for the castle infirmary. With the training the guards go through, minor and moderate injuries are common enough to require healers to be on call.”

Ash took a moment to think, surprised at the offer. He had expected to have to attend some type of school or training course for several months or even a couple years before being allowed to provide medical assistance. Thinking it over for a moment, Ash realized it made sense, in a way. With healing magic replacing medication and treatments, a mage only needed to know enough to identify an injury rather than being able to go through proper procedure to fix it or wait for one who could. As a result, becoming a healer required almost nothing but medical magic.

“I’d appreciate it.” Ash replied after a moment. “Though I’d need to practice with the spell beforehand to become more efficient at it. As it is, it would take me hours to heal something like a broken bone, if not longer. It takes me to much Magicka and too much time to channel the Magicka to heal wounds as it is.”

Luna nodded in understanding. “I would be willing to assist you when the time comes. Should your spell be unable to heal a wound of mine, I will heal it myself.”

“I couldn’t ask you to injure yourself, Luna.”

“Then it’s a good thing that you aren’t asking me anyway.” The Alicorn replied with a small smirk. “Don’t expect me to break my leg for you to practice on. It’ll be small cuts for you to familiarize yourself with the spell. I don’t particularly enjoy pain.”

What that…? Could that have really been a sexual joke? However, before he could confirm or deny his concern, he heard Celestia speak.

“Ash, my student informs me that you seek to learn the Conjuration school, which involves necromancy and summoning.” Celestia said with an even tone.

“I hope to, yes. Twilight’s informed me that I would require a dark magic license, so I’m hoping to get one once I’m ready to undertake the Conjuration school.” Ash told her.

“You understand that, during the application process, I’ll ask you questions about your reasons for wanting a license, your mental ability to resist the corruption, and your intentions once you have the license, correct?” Celestia told him.

“I understand, however the Conjuration school doesn’t corrupt the mind like Unicorn dark magic does. For Aetherium mages, Conjuration is just another school.” Ash replied.

After a moment of thought, Celestia nodded. “I’d still like to test you on your ability to resist corruption, though.”

“I’m fine with that, but it’ll be awhile before I actually try to get one. I want to at least become an Adept so, if I do get the license, there’s less chance of me messing up a spell and having a summoned creature roam free.” Ash said.

With that, her stoic demeanor dropped and she gave him a small smile. “That’s rather good to hear. Out of curiosity, how long do you think it will take you advance?”

“As it is, I’m a Novice under the Restoration school. I know Healing and Lesser Ward, I just need to master them, and I’m hoping to learn Healing Hands within the next two weeks or so, depending on how easy it is to master Healing.”

“How does Healing Hands work?” Celestia questioned curiously.

“I’m going to assume it works like Healing, so as long as I know the injury and correctly envision the spell, I can heal any physical wound, like gashes, broken bones, and even just plain soreness.”

Her head tilted to the side, an action that looked adorable, even on a massive pony like it was. “Will it work on ponies?”

“I can only assume. The spell I know now, Healing, only works on the caster.”

Celestia hummed lightly for a moment. “If it works on ponies, would you like me to certify the spell and get you on track to becoming a healer? The guard could always use more, and it’ll be up to you if you stay in Canterlot or to another city.”

Luna just laughed before he could respond. “I’ve already made the same offer, sister.”

Ash nodded. “And I’m interested in it. If I make a job based on my magic, I’d rather it be for Restoration than any other school. Once I know Healing Hands and can cast it with ease, I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Celestia had a soft smile on her muzzle as she replied. “It’s always nice to hear somepony seeking to be a healer. I have great respect for those who practice medical skills.”

Celestia returned to her soup and when Luna and Twilight followed suit, Ash decided to eat as well rather than continue talking. As he had noticed earlier, it was some type of vegetable stew with several vegetables he didn’t recognize in it. Silence reigned for several minutes, the only noise being quiet eating and the clinking of spoons on bowls, before a thought struck Ash.

“Celestia?” Ash asked, catching the attention of all three ponies.

“Yes, Ash?” The solar diarch asked.

“What happened on Twilight’s fourth magical surge?” Ash asked. Immediately, Luna gained a curious look while turning to face Twilight, whose face had instantly shifted into a deep red as her ears folded flat. She took a keen interest in her stew, embarrassment clear on her features. Celestia, for her part, simply held a hoof in front of her muzzle and giggled.

“Where ever did you hear that?”

“My guard mentioned it and told me to ask you.” Ash answered.

Celestia said, a smile on her muzzle as her gaze drifted toward the end of the room, clearly remembering the event. “Well, in those days, summoning creatures didn’t yet require a license. Twilight was still learning some of the more basic principles I could teach her, but she had a powerful hunger for more powerful magics. See, she snuck into the Archives and took a book that detailed the summoning process for an ice golem.”

“Then she snuck into the labs by hiding in a server’s cart and waited until everypony was gone. My student moved around the room and grabbed all the materials she needed, then successfully summoned the creature… with one problem.”

“Which was?”

“Well, Twilight, what was the problem?” Celestia teased.

After a moment of silence, Twilight spoke from across the table, her cheeks burning red as she stared at the table. “My spell malfunctioned because I had grabbed a damaged crystal. When I summoned the golem, one of its limbs was almost three times the size it should have been.”

“And Twilight, being an excited young filly who was more focused on successfully summoning a golem than on examining the golem for defects, didn’t notice a thing and proceeded to order it to be an lab assistant.” Celestia explained, making Luna start giggling as she realized the point Celestia was making.

“With the golem’s extra large limb, it started to knock over equipment all over the lab, shatter glass instruments, damage and crush machines, even freeze biological samples near it. All the while, Twilight happily tried to further the experiments and didn’t notice a thing happening. My guards had heard the ruckus and gone to investigate, but the golem had froze the door shut on accident some time earlier. So they ran across the castle to wake me.”

Mirth began to tint Celestia’s voice, just a hint at how funny she thought the whole event was. “So I melt open the doors a few minutes later thinking somepony is stealing the castle’s research, and do you know what I see?”

“What?” Ash asked, a smile firm on his face.

“I see my student in the center of the lab, surrounded by thousands of bits of broken machinery and shattered equipment, humming to herself as she waved a leyline locator around. The poor golem had froze itself to one of the counters and was walking in circles around her, dragging a two ton steel countertop around with it as it banged its large arm in time to Twilight’s humming.” Celestia said, barely restraining herself from laughing loudly. "Of course, with a few quick spells, I fixed all the damage with the exception of the biological materials, so I wasn't particularly mad at her."

Luna, however, had no such restraint and began to truly laugh. The sound itself was one of pure amusement, interspersed by a rare snort. Luna’s laughter was what broke Celestia, forcing her to laugh as well. Ash chuckled along, seeing Twilight glaring lightly at the three, her face still bright red from embarrassment. After several moments, the three eventually calmed down enough for Twilight to stop pouting and for him to speak.

“What does an ice golem look like, Celestia?”

“While I don’t have a picture of the incident, I can show you from one of the spellbooks for summoners.” Celestia, her horn alighting with magic, said right before a book teleported onto the table, already open to a specific page as it slid over to him.

The moment Ash saw the creature, he coughed twice in sheer surprise. The two Alicorns gave him a worried look like Twilight just looked confused. When he started hitting his chest with a closed fist, Celestia questioned him worriedly. “Are you okay, Ash?”

After a moment, Ash was able to quell his coughing enough to speak. “Yeah… I’m fine. Celestia, that’s a Frost Atronach.”

“A what?” Three voices chorused in unison.

“One of the creatures able to be summoned by Conjuration. It’s from Oblivion. It’s a lesser Daedra.” Ash said slowly. “I easily recognize those creatures.”

“What’s Oblivion? And Daedra?” Twilight asked, making Ash realize that she wasn’t there for that discussion. Quickly, Ash gave her a rundown of Oblivion, Mundus, Aetherius, and the Void while simplifying it to save time. As he spoke, she listened with such rapt attention it made him wonder if she was mentally taking notes rather than physically. Once finished, Ash regained his breath before speaking again.

“This ‘ice golem’ is a Frost Atronach, which is a lesser Daedra that mages often conjure as defenders. There’s another two types, those being Fire and Storm, that will also protect the caster to an extent.”

“‘To an extent?’” Luna asked.

“If you attack an Atronach, if will attack back, even if you are the one to summon it. Normally, it takes quite a few hits, but if you hit a Frost with fire or a Fire with ice, they’ll attack instantly, I believe. The Storm Atronach, having no opposite element in the Destruction school, doesn’t have a weakness. For that reason, I believe, is why summoning a Storm Atronach is harder than summoning the others.” Ash explained to them, going off onto a small tangent before stopping himself.

“So…” Celestia started, trailing off as she seemed to lose the words she was going to say.

After a moment, Luna picked it up. “We’ve been summoning things from this ‘Oblivion for millennia now?”

“I believe so.” Ash said with a nod.

“How come we have no evidence of these ‘Aedra’ and ‘Daedra,’ then?” Twilight asked.

“Well, the Aedra have mostly retreated from Mundus and lost most of their power when they did so. They only really act when in opposition of the Daedra. Otherwise, their actions are almost unnoticeable, with the exception of the blessings they can give through their shrines.” Ash explained to her. “The Daedra likely haven’t interacted with the Mortal Plane because they aren’t worshipped, and therefore they have no interest in this world. If someone were to build a shrine to one, it would likely catch their attention.”

“Is it worth it?” Twilight questioned.

“For the most part, not really.” Ash told her. “Some of the Daedra are just plain evil in their entirety. Others are less evil, just not nice. Clavicus Vile, one such Daedra, will happily make a deal that benefits you as long as it benefits him, too. He’ll just as happily make a deal that ruins your entire life as long as it benefits him in some way.”

“It doesn’t seem worth it.” Twilight decided, making the two Alicorns give her an agreeing nod. Ash, after a moment, nodded as well. While the idea of becoming a Champion of a Daedra was nice, and so would the artifact be, he had quite a few things to worry about. The first major problem was that he was not the Dragonborn. If the Dragonborn made a deal with a Daedra, his soul was going to Akatosh’s realm no matter what, for he had the greatest claim on his soul. That wasn’t true for Ash. If he, say, became a Nightingale, he would have to guard Nocturnal’s realm after his death. He would belong to whatever Daedra he chose to serve.

The second was that some of the Daedra were just pure evil and would require evil things to gain their favor. While that was all well and good in a video game, it boded quite a large problem in real life. With no priests of Boethiah, he could only imagine what it was that Molag Bal would require, being the King of Rape and all. Similar problems rose for almost all of the Daedra.

Finally was the problem of drawing attention. If he made a deal with, say, Azura, things would be fine. If, however, that deal caught the attention of Molag Bal, Hermaeus Mora, or even Mehrunes Dagon, things started to get dangerous quickly. Overall, it just wasn’t worth the risk for some nice trinkets and bragging rights.

Though Mehrunes’ Razor was a great weapon when it finally decided to work.

“It’s still amazing that you managed to summon and bind a Frost Atronach, Twilight.” Ash told her, making her ears perk and a shy smile come to her muzzle. “I know you can’t use Magicka, which meant you had to do the ritual, which requires much more complex magic weaving. I know there’s an entire forge where you can summon unbound Atronachs, but the forge is what does the work.”

“It’s a simple ritual.” Twilight said sheepishly. “Just requires a charged arcane gem, frost salts, an uncut sapphire, and two specific spells.”

“That sounds like the forge recipe for summoning one, too. Just replace the arcane gem with a soul gem, the first spell with a forge, and remove the second spell. I’m going to assume the second one binds it?” Ash asked, receiving a nod. The fact that these ponies had frost salts did not go unnoticed. “That’s pretty much the same, then. What’s an arcane gem?”

“It’s a rare crystal found in places all over the world, usually a few feet underground. However, they can also be found in entire veins deep underground in caverns. While arcane gems are rather common on their own, it’s the charged ones that are very rare. As of right now, nopony knows how to charge arcane gems. They refuse to accept magic into them, so we have to hope we get lucky and find one already charged.” Twilight explained. “They actually come in different sizes, with the largest giving off the most power.”

Celestia nodded in agreement. “The demand for charged arcane gems is rising each year, but our supply isn’t increasing. I’ve taken to having mines opened for the sole purpose of finding charged gems, and a chunk of the Research department’s budget goes to discovering how to charge arcane gems.”

Ash hummed lightly for a moment. Something sounded very familiar about these arcane gems. They almost sounded like soul gems, but that couldn’t be true. The ponies didn’t know the spell to charge them, and soul gems can’t be found charged, they have to be charged by a person. “These arcane gems almost sound like soul gems.”

“Soul gems?” Twilight asked. “You mentioned them before but I didn’t get a chance to ask what they were.”

“Soul gems are just that- gems designed to house a soul.” Ash explained. The three just gave him curious looks and he realized they didn’t know he meant steal a soul by killing. “By casting Soul Trap on an animal or person, and then killing that creature, you can trap their soul inside a soul gem. Certain creatures require larger soul gems, with all sentient lifeforms requiring a black soul gem.”

There were the disgusted and horrified looks he expected. Considering necromancy was outlawed except in certain circumstances, it didn’t surprise him that stealing souls was also looked down upon, since it was technically a form of necromancy. “Soul gems are used to initially charge an enchantment on armor or weapons, or refill an enchantment on a weapon.”

“What,” Twilight forced herself to swallow. “What happens to the soul?”

“Depends.” Ash said. “All souls have a rank depending on their size and the power they give off, with each rank of souls having a soul gem able to hold the same size. Both souls and soul gems are ranked from petty, to lesser, common, greater, and grand with black soul gems at the top. A petty soul can fit inside any gem, with a lesser soul requiring a lesser or higher soul gem. If a soul is stored in a gem that’s petty through grand, when the soul gem is used, the gem shatters, the soul is drained of its energy, and then released to whatever afterlife it belongs in.”

“Black soul gems is where it changes. If any soul is stored in a black gem, then used, the soul goes to the Soul Cairn, a realm for the undead and lost souls. There they are fed upon by the rulers and possible creators of the realm, the Ideal Masters. While harvesting animals and the like for their souls is considered fine and mundane, using black soul gems for anything is looked down upon due to where the souls go.” Ash explained to them, noticing that they seemed a little less disgusted, likely because the souls aren’t destroyed.

“So the souls don’t suffer?” Luna asked.

“Only with a black soul gem. With any other type, I’d assume it’s like a sleep before being sent to their afterlife. At most, they feel tired when they get their, considering some of their energy was used.”

“What do soul gems look like?” Celestia questioned.

“Well, petty, lesser, and common soul gems are a purplish color and are somewhat similar in shape to a pillar. The color starts to change to a bluish hue with greater and grand and they begin to look like a cluster rather than a singular gem.” Ash explained, making both Alicorns and the Unicorn gain a shocked look. “Black soul gems look like common in shape but are pure black in color.

A moment later and in a flash of light, a large crystal appeared on the table in front of Ash. His eyes widened, the shape and color being very familiar to him. A blue crystal with shades of white and purple laced throughout it, shaped like several crystals fused into one larger cluster, which Ash recognized instantly. That was a grand soul gem. One that was glowing softly, a light blue light emanating from it.

“Celestia, that’s a grand soul gem.”

“It’s charged, too.” The Alicorn said, confirming his suspicions.

“With a soul, most likely. Where was this found?”

“Didn’t I say?” Twilight asked, to which Ash shook his head. “The Badlands.”

“The Badlands?”

“Mmhmm. It’s a region south of Equestria where there’s no life growing whatsoever. All of the arcane gems are found there.” Twilight told him.

That’s interesting. Very interesting. Charged soul gems were found in a region with no life? Did something happen that caused them to absorb nearby life? Or is it just chance? Were these arcane gems really soul gems or were they something else entirely? Ash honestly couldn’t say.

“Celestia, can I pick it up?”

“Of course. There’s no harm in it. Charged arcane gems, or soul gems, I guess, are very stable.” The Alicorn replied. Ash reached out and grasped the gem, lifting it up and examining it. From the moment he touched, he had some sort of feeling, like something was off.

Looking closer at the softly glowing gem, he realized something. It wasn’t ‘off,’ per se, but wrong. Something about the soul gem was just wrong, yet familiar. It brought to mind what paranormal encounters supposedly felt like, that something wasn’t right, that something was there that shouldn’t be. That’s how the gem felt.

There was something about the gem that shouldn’t be there. Something unnatural, something that made it different than an actual soul gem. The more he thought of the feeling, the more it seemed to intensify. Ash felt the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stand up and he felt goosebumps develop. The man actually had to set the crystal down before he threw it across the room. Of course, the three noticed immediately when Ash set it down with a look of intense loathing on his face.

“What’s wrong, Ash?” Luna asked him, tilting her head just as Celestia had done earlier.

“Something doesn’t feel right about that gem. I’m not sure what, but something isn’t right.” Ash answered.

“What do you mean?”

“I just said I wasn’t sure what!” Ash snapped, making Luna visibly flinch. Ash, seeing this, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Something about that gem just...isn’t right. Not to me.”

After a moment, he heard Luna speak again. “It… it’s alright. I think I understand.”

He heard a small pop as he assumed one of them teleported the soul- no, arcane gem away, back to where ever they had taken it from. After a few more moments, he opened his eyes and gave Luna an apologetic look, which she returned with a small smile that just said ‘no hard feelings.’

Silence reigned for several more seconds before, quite suddenly, he heard an amused snort come from Celestia. Looking up, he gave her a questioning look even as Luna and Twilight did the same. When she noticed them looking at her, the barest shred of a grin surfaced before she spoke. “I’m just thinking of how eventful this day has been. Ash, you’ve been here, what, nine hours? Already, you’ve proven the existence of other worlds, provided an alternate theory for the creation of the world and supported evidence by revealing that we have ‘soul gems’ and are able to access Oblivion by summoning ‘Frost Atronachs.’ More than that, you’ve shown the capability to harness a form of magic that we don’t have, which is able to charge soul gems.”

“It has been eventful.” Ash admitted quietly. “I’m not too keen on eventful days, but this one wasn’t too bad.”

“What’s wrong with eventful days?” Twilight asked curiously. “Those are the days that I usually have the most fun with my friends.”

Ash opened his mouth to speak, then closed it as he thought better of it. “Nevermind. It’s not really important anymore. If there are days like this again, I wouldn’t mind it. It hasn’t been bad, much less horrible.”

Celestia and Luna nodded in agreement, though Twilight still had a confused look. After a moment, Luna spoke. “Your arrival certainly has made today much more bearable. If not for you, today would have been nothing more than a long meeting with several nobles. While that happened anyway, at least you were a welcome distraction once we were out.”

“Do you think you could charge an arcane gem for me once you learn the spell?” Twilight asked, entirely out of the blue. Apparently, her mind had somehow drifted from eventful days to a charged arcane gem. While Ash was confused, even if understanding, and Luna was surprised, Celestia just had a small smile on her muzzle. From being Twilight’s teacher, she likely had a good deal of experience in her sudden changes in topic.

Realizing what she had done, Twilight’s muzzle shifted into a light shade of red, though the hopeful gaze she gave him did not abate. “You remember what I have to do to fill a soul gem, right?”

Her eyes instantly flattened out as she remembered. “Oh, right. I think I can hold off on that. Even if the animal doesn’t suffer from it, I don’t like the idea of killing a creature for magic.”

Ash shrugged lightly, then suggested a solution. “I eat meat so I’ll likely need to go hunting or fishing one day anyway. I can use whatever it is I catch to fill soul gems so I won’t be killing unnecessarily.”

“That’ll work.” Twilight replied, though she still looked slightly uncomfortable. To be fair, she was a peaceful herbivore that had likely never killed anything bigger than a bug, and even then it was likely on accident rather than purpose.

Celestia’s eyes seemed to light up suddenly, a wry smirk surfacing. “Twilight, why don’t you come with me to my chambers? I recently decoded one of Starswirl’s journals and I thought we could read it together, just like we used to.”

Before Ash could even fully comprehend what Celestia had said, Twilight had fully risen and moved over to her mentor’s side, a wide smile on her muzzle that clearly flashed teeth. “Of course, Princess! I’d love that.”

Celestia stood after giving her a small nuzzle, making her flush again, before turning to face Luna and Ash. “Ash, the same room you were in earlier will be available for you until further notice, in case I haven’t already said as such. Since I can’t promise that you’ll see myself or my student until tomorrow, I’d like to wish you both goodnight.”

“Goodnight, sister.” Luna replied with a soft smile.

“Goodnight, Celestia. Thank you once again for allowing me to stay in the castle.” Ash said, giving her a polite nod, one which she readily returned. Turning again, she walked out of the dining room with Twilight firmly at her side. Once the doors closed again with a massive thud, Luna turned to him with a slightly nervous smile.

“I doubt you have learned this already, but I am the Princess of the Night. As such, I have the power to enter the dreams of another being. If you are willing, perhaps you could show me some of your world tonight?” Luna asked quietly.

“Of course I will.” Ash replied. “You don’t have to ask so nervously.”

“I normally only enter a pony’s dream to help with a nightmare.” Luna told him. “And considering the nature of nightmares, I rarely have the opportunity to ask permission to enter a dream. I just do so and try to help the dreamer.”

“I think you’ll find Nirn fascinating.” Ash said, having already decided to show her Nirn rather than Earth. “If you are the Princess of the Night, I think I know at least one, or rather two, things you’ll be interested in.”

Luna gave a quick nod. “I’ll look forward to it. I’d like to return to my room and patrol the dreamscape for some time before joining you in your dreams. Is that fine?”

“You don’t have to ask permission, Luna.” Ash said. “Far be it from me to be so rude as to keep you here. In any case, it’ll likely be a few hours before I go to sleep. With my Magicka recharged, I’d like to practice Healing some more. Wait, do you happen to have a knife I could use? I think I’ve explained how Healing worked.”

“You have.” Luna said, her horn glowing for a moment. With another pop, a general kitchen knife appeared in front of him, the handle being held out to him. Taking the knife from her aura, he could tell that, while simple, it was still sharp. That was good as it would help lessen the pain from cutting his hand. To avoid the mana burn, he would likely prick his fingers.

“Goodnight, Luna.” Ash said, standing up even as Luna did the same.

“Goodnight, Ash. I’ll see you again in a few hours.” Luna said, giving him a small smile that he easily returned.

Author's Note

Yet another chapter of The Aetherium Mage. This one reveals a little more on the Terra and how it might fit into the Aurbis. Also, as you may have noticed, I've used some pictures to assist in helping anyone who hasn't played Skyrim know what I'm describing, such as the Frost Atronach and the Grand Soul Gem. Should I continue to do so, or cease?

As always, leave a comment of your opinion, whether good, bad, or neutral, or even if you just have something to say.