Devoran Chronicles: Fire of the Phoenix

Chapters

Chapter 1: When It Rains...
Chapter 2: Once Upon A Time Long Ago
Chapter 3: Kinder Kindling
Chapter 4: The Spark
Chapter 5: The Uncontrollable Blaze
Chapter 6: Cold Fire
Chapter 7: Strange Bedfellows
Chapter 8: Hell Fire
Chapter 10: Truth’s Catalyst
Chapter 11: Judgement Day
Chapter 9: Truth is in the Eye of the Beholder

Chapter 1: When It Rains...

Cold and harsh rain fell around us as we stood poised for our strike. For so long, Chrysalis and I had planned this attack and after all these years it was finally going to come to fruition. We were going to overthrow Princesses Celestia and Luna, and nopony was going to stop us. I stood staring up at the castle balcony from the entrance; the balcony adjacent to Princess Celestia’s quarters. Chrysalis, being a Changeling, took the form of a pony similar in appearance to herself, but just different enough to not arouse suspicion from the people of Canterlot or the guards. Not that it mattered too much, as it was pitch black and most ponies had long since forgotten her since her downfall. Still, better to be safe than have our whole plan foiled because one idiot yelled “Changeling!” at the top of their lungs.

As we gazed at the entrance from a short distance, I saw the night guards standing firmly in place, not moving a muscle as they were trained so well to do. Their expressionless faces and unwavering stance could have made me mistake them for statues. I looked over at Chrysalis, as she was breathing more heavily. No doubt in excited anticipation of the coming attack.

I gave her a nod and asked, “are you ready for this?”.

“I have been ready for this since the day I was thrown out of Canterlot by Celestia and her subjects. What sort of question is that?”, she said glibly.

“Hmph. Just a question, your Highness”, I said, making sure to sneer the last bit at her mockingly. She glared at me, but I didn’t mind. I was used to it. She might be the biggest pain in the flank I’ve ever met, but her and I had developed a very tart, but fruitful relationship. A Changeling and a Pegasus Unicorn weren’t exactly what you’d call ideal bedfellows, seeing as how her kind usually sought to suck us dry of our love and affections. Luckily for me, that part of my heart died long ago, along with my parents, thanks to Celestia, so there was nothing left to feed on.

We rose out from the bushes we were standing behind, just as one of the patrols went out of earshot, rounding the left corner of the entrance wall. We both simultaneously cast as illusion spell to shroud ourselves and walked right up to the guards. Then, when we were within point blank range, we fired a stun spell. Our timing was perfectly synced, and the hot stream of blue and green plasma-like aura struck the guard’s sides with such force, it knocked them straight down, as if they were a sack of apples being tossed aside, cracking slightly as it cut through the air. We quickly grabbed the guards by the neck latch of their armor and drug them behind the wall to conceal them from the guards that would undoubtedly be arriving shortly. They were heavy while wearing their gold metallic coverings, but a levitation spell helped ease the load. We walked past the metallic gate entrance and could hear the hoofsteps of other guards coming to see what the noise was from. However, we had both already concealed ourselves once again, and when they arrived, we were already fast-walking beyond the entrance. We entered the main courtyard. It was quite a sight of beautiful architecture, with a large marble water fountain in the center and marble pillars lining the boundary of the yard. As we stepped past the boundary entering the courtyard, I felt a familiar sensation. A rippling along my skin similar to a icy tickling and I knew right away that we’d made a mistake.

“Chrysalis, WAIT!”, I yelled. But it was already too late. She had crossed the same boundary of the revealing spell’s bubbled barrier and she immediately became visible. The guards must cast it to keep out sneaking enemies, but the spell was only designed to detect non-ponies. Probably something that Princess Celestia had put in place after the first changeling attack. An ear-piercing screech was let out that made me clasp my hooves over my head and a burst of light sprang out as the bubble seemed to explode into a bright flash, like oil turning into flames. Quickly, trying to react and counter this spell, I cast a charm to dismiss the light, and it quickly faded.

“Well, they know we’re here now. Let’s move!”, I said sternly.

“Indeed”, Chrysalis said, surprisingly cool after such a startling event. “We’ll need to move quickly to get to Celestia before she retreats or the guards catch up with us”.

I had already started moving before she had finished her sentence, however. There was no confusion anymore amongst the guards. They knew exactly where we were, and spells were ringing out and snapping as they whizzed by our heads. I rang out a variety of spells at every target I could see. Fire spells, turn-to-stone spells, and everything else I could think of. I used barrier spells to protect whenever I could, but this proved too hard to switch between, and I was hit in the flank by a stream of electricity. My flank burned with excruciating pain, but nothing was going to stop me. Not now.

“Chrysalis, get closer. You be on the offense”.

“With pleasure”, she said with a grin. We moved neck and neck and I cast the most powerful barrier I could muster, engulfing us both in it. Dozens of darts and blasts whipped and tested its strength, but I made sure it held. I grit my teeth and continued to re-cast it over and over, reinforcing it more and more with each wave. I had practiced this spell a great deal and I was confident in its integrity.

I looked and the castle’s entrance and saw two guards sealing the doors. Chrysalis focused her efforts on them, nailing one and putting him down quick, but the other managed to dodge at the last second, and sealed them from the inside. All of the guards in the courtyard continued to spray more and more spells at us, and we were cornered near the back left corner of the courtyard. There was nowhere to go. Even the entrance to the courtyard was sealed.

“You had to go and get detected, didn’t you?”, I said tartly as we stood holding them off, spells still bashing against my shield with furiousity.

“If I recall, it was YOUR job to make sure these sorts of safeties didn’t exist”, she retorted back.

I peered around, looking for a way to get the upper hand. I once again looked at the marble balcony and got an idea.

“Brace yourself!”, I barked as I stepped next to her, our sides in contact. With a snap, and the usual slight tingling sensation of being relocated abruptly, I teleported us directly onto the balcony platform, right next to Celestia’s chambers.

“Where did they go? Show yourself!”, I heard the guards cry out in annoyance. We kept our heads down to avoid them from seeing where we went.

“They must have gone someplace inside the castle. You! The lot of you! Get inside the castle now and make sure the princesses are safe!”, I heard them continue from below. I quickly glanced around the room, and saw the entrance door to the bedroom. I snapped out a quick sealing charm to keep the guards out.

That should buy us some time, I thought to myself. Now, all we had to do was find the princess. We slowly, and quietly walked into the room, peaking around the corner. Typical silk cloth covered most of the decor, with the occasional gold or silver trimming, well varnished wooden tables, with a spread of fresh fruits and silver plates, and across from a set of double glass doors to the right was a white silk draped bed. A completely empty bed, in fact, which worried me. Scanning the room to avoid any unwanted surprises, me and Chrysalis backed up next to each other.

“Reveal yourself, Celestia!”, barked Chrysalis, “Or are you too afraid to face me again after I defeated you last time?”.

“Who’s hiding?”, said a booming voice from the balcony. To both our surprise, Princesses Luna AND Celestia were standing there, regal in stature. Both princesses at once would prove to be quite a match-up, but we had a feeling we wouldn’t get lucky enough to only have to handle one instead of two.

“Chrysalis”, Celestia stated in that soft, soothing voice of hers, “I thought you had learned your lesson the first time you attacked Equestria with your army of Changelings so many years ago. And then there was the time you attacked Twilight Sparkle and her friends and failed there too. I see now you’re a hard learner.”

“Celestia”, Chrysalis mimicked back, “I thought you would have been more prepared after I nearly defeated you so easily last time. Especially without your prized pupil nearby or your niece here to save you again. However, I seem to have been able to get the better of your guards once again, thanks to my comrade here”.

“Yes, how rude of you not to introduce your company. Just how exactly did you trick this one into helping you?”, snapped Luna.

The anger I felt toward Celestia was boiling over now and Luna’s comment was only making it worse. These smugly superior couple of jokes were going to get everything coming to them, if I had anything to say about it. I finally couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“She didn’t trick me. I’m helping her of my own will”.

“And who might you be, exactly?” Celestia asked.

“My name is Devoran. Of course, I wouldn’t expect you to remember me, Celestia. You’re only the one responsible for the death of my parents,” I boomed rather abruptly. I couldn’t help it. It just sprung out of me. I had planned to stay cool through the entire ordeal and wait until I had defeated them to mock them, but my anger got the better of me. I had been building it up for nearly 7 years.

Celestia’s face when blank. I couldn’t really tell if she was dumbfounded by my statement, or if she suddenly knew who I was and was fearful of what retribution I might bring. From everything I’ve heard from Chrysalis, she generally never showed almost any emotional expression at all, so this expression meant that I had really disturbed her in some way.

“What do you mean?” Luna asked with a hint of worry in her eyes. And that, is a long story.

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Chapter 2: Once Upon A Time Long Ago

“Dad?” I said from across the room.

“Yes, son. What is it?” he answered as he busily worked away at his latest creation.

“How did you and mom meet?”

He sat the cloth material he was working on down for a moment and spun in his chair to look at me. My father, Ember Weaver, was one of Canterlot’s few skilled enchanters and had been concentrating very hard on his latest project.

He chuckled slightly before saying, “That, my son, is a very long story. Why do you ask?”.

“Just curious. My teacher in school was reading us a book that talked a lot about something called ‘fate’. I didn’t really understand what it meant, but she said sometimes people that fall in love find each other because of it. What is it? Did it bring you and mom together?”

I had been intrigued by the idea ever since Miss Lily, my teacher, had read us a story in class.

My father cracked a smile and chuckled a little. I had been worried I was going to bother him with the question, so I was relieved at his reaction to me interrupting his work.

“Well, son, fate is when something happens because it’s meant to happen. Sort of like how a sword or shield is meant for battle, some people believe that every person is destined to do something and they cannot change it.”

“Do you think you and mommy met because of fate?”

“Its a very distinct possibility, shortcake. Very distinct indeed. Your mother and I running into each other was a complete accident.”

This peaked my interest. I had never heard the story of how my father and mother met before.

“Can you tell me the story?”

My father let out another slight chuckle.

“Of course, shortcake.”

And with that, he smiled and began to recall to me the events of that day.

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The summer wind was filled with the scent of apple blossom trees as Ember walked down the trail to ponyville. He made this trip to Ponyville occasionally for supplies for his business. Enchanting was a good business and paid the bills, but was hard to get a seriously reliable set of clients without connections, which unfortunately he lacked. The business definitely had its ups and downs, with spurts of people rolling in, then dying down when fewer people needed enchanted objects. The number of enchanted secret message lockets, moving picture frames, and other trinkets took up too much of his merchandise for his liking. He had much bigger aspirations than making trinkets.

The trees in the Everfree forest were so eerie that emerging into the brightly lit fields near Ponyville was a welcome sight. Even if it was mid-day, travelling the Everfree forest alone was always dangerous. If it hadn’t been for an invisibility cloak he’d crafted for a client, he might have gotten gobbled up by an Ursa or frozen by a Cockatrice a few times. Being an enchanter did have its advantages.

Continuing on the path, Ember walked past Sweet Apple Acres. Ember loved farms; everything about them was peaceful, laid back, and relaxing. Even the workers working the fields seemed relaxed, bucking the fruit from the trees. Almost as if looking at life moving in slow motion. The sunset breaking through the trees were sharp like daggers, cutting between the branches and trunks, yet warm and soothing. His hooves ached and stopping to rest a while didn’t seem like a half bad idea. He sat down his saddle full of goods and leaned up against the fence, shifting from left to right to give either side a short spurt of relief from his bodies unrelenting weight. Eventually he relented to his bodies objections and slumped his hind-flank onto the fence’s wooden bars. He could have been sitting there for hours, it seemed, if he didn’t have the sun for a reference of time, soaking up the sun’s rays against his skin.

A sudden sound of thunder broke his relaxing meditation, however. Peering around, he noticed the sound came from the sky. Several pegasi were performing stunts above the orchards, some distance away. They seemed very out of place in the relaxing environment, almost as if they were moving much faster than time should allow. The noise seemed to have come from some lightning clouds they seemed to be using to practice with. One of them had dissipated in a violent burst of electricity and several Pegasi were trying to avoid the cloud’s violent bolts. Without warning, one of the flyers began to descend in his direction, struggling a great deal to stay in the air. Squinting to see what was causing the issue, Ember saw that the young Pegasi, a mareon an alarmingly fast approach, had managed to catch her wing on fire and was trying to put it out while staying up. A sudden dip and she was heading straight for the trees. She crashed through several branches, unclear of where she had entered exactly or where she would exit. Then, with a burst of leaves and apple mash, the Orange pony slammed through the outer tree, straight into Ember’s chest. He managed to lessen the blow ever-so-slightly using an impact-dampening spell, but it only partially cast before he was struck. Dazed, Ember stood up, stars shooting from his eyes. The golden-orange pony laid unconscious on the ground next to him, clearly very injured. Although torn and battered, she wore a suit that had the immediately obvious symbol of the Wonderbolts on it.

“Flicker Sprint!” called a voice from over the trees.

“She’s over here!” Ember yelled back to them. They came swooping over with skillful grace and landed directly in front of them.

“Oh my sweet Celestia!” a light-red pegasus stated. “What happened?”

“She crashed through the trees when her wing caught fire and then she ran into me, knocking me down. I managed to soften her fall, but she still looks pretty banged up. We should probably get her to Ponyville hospital. They’ll be able to treat her.”

“Right! Lets grab her and carry her”, stated the Pegasus.

“No!” Ember snapped. The Pegasus jumped at the sudden force of his words. “Moving her could be dangerous! You don’t know if she has broken bones or something that could get worse by carrying her that way. I’m skilled in Auras, so I’ll carry her in a mix between a healing Aura and a gentle lifting spell. That way she won’t shift in transit”

The pegasus nodded, acknowledging the wisdom in what he was saying. With that, Ember cast a spell that looked like a combination of a ghostly cloud and a mini-sun. The healing spell wouldn’t heal much, but it would at least hopefully keep her alive until they reached the hospital. They quickly ran to the emergency wing of the hospital. The spell deadened any possible disruptions to the pony’s unconscious state. Ember laid her to rest on a hospital bed and the doctor shoved them all out of the room before they could object. The door slammed shut and they went and sat in the waiting room for word. Hours passed by with no word. Eventually, the tiredness of Ember’s travels caught up with him, and he dozed off into one of the extremely uncomfortable, but welcoming waiting room chairs. The hard wooden armrests might be unforgivingly brutal to the elbows, but the soft, red, and thickly padded leather cushions were warm and plush.

A slight shaking of the shoulder drew Ember out of his slumber. He groggily opened his eyes to see a brown-haired, white lab coat dawning doctor holding a chart with a suspension spell.

“You were the one that found Ms......”. The Doctor flipped through several pages in his clipboard. “Ah, here we are. Ms. Flicker Sprint?”

Ember cleared his throat. “Yes. Actually, she sort of ran into me while I was traveling to Ponyville.”

“Well, she’s lucky to have had you around. Her injuries were severe. She had a broken spine in three places, several cracked ribs, and various other contusions. If anypony had moved her without taking proper care as you did, she probably wouldn’t have made it here. And, even if she had, she probably would have had nerve damage that would have permanently kept her from flying again. Quick thinking, son”.

Hero. That word was certainly something that Ember wasn’t used to hearing. Royal Guards could be heroes. The Doctor attending this young mare was a hero. However, himself, a lowly Enchanter certainly couldn’t be a hero. He had just done what had come naturally to him.

“I don’t know if I’d call myself a hero, Doc. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Something just clicked in me and I knew what to do.”

“Well, regardless of what you think of yourself, I’m sure she’ll want to thank you when she wakes up. If you have the ability, I’m sure she’d like to thank you when she’s feeling better.”

Ember nodded. It couldn’t hurt to stick around, he thought. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too grateful, though, as Ember was never quite good at accepting gratitude in excess. He found it unsettling. The hours did not pass quickly waiting in the hospital. All of the Wonderbolts besides the Captain were recalled back to Canterlot, but made Ember promise to let them know by letter the moment she woke up so that they could return with haste. He agreed and they were off. The captain felt obligated to stay regardless of her other duties, however. He found out her name was Flaming Aurora. Quite an elegant name, Ember had thought when she told him.

Several days passed. Ember made sure to take care of his business between waiting at the hospital and was all but finished in Ponyville. The only thing left was to wait on his new acquaintance to wake up. He had nothing pressing to go back to in Manehattan, so he just waited with Ms. Aurora.

One day, after returning from a business meeting with a trader in Ponyville, Ember returned to the hospital to check on her. To his surprise, he came to the room, but instead of the usual silence, he heard voices speaking to each other. Rounding the edge of the doorway, the beautiful mare he had saved was now sitting straight up in her bed, being examined by a doctor. The doctor was finishing up his exam and exited the room as Ember walked in.

“Hello,” the young mare said.

“Uhm, hello,” Ember replied, slightly sheepishly.

“Have we met before?”

Not exactly. Although we did sort of.......run into each other”.

“Oh. I see. You must be the one the doctor was telling me about,” she said, now smirking a little.

“Heh. What did he tell you?”

“Mostly just the parts about saving my life and all,” she said, her tone playful as she giggled finishing her sentence.

Ember blushed slightly.

“Thank you,” she said after a few moment of awkward silence. “I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost my ability to fly. Flying is the world to me”.

“You’re very welcome, ma’am”.

“Uhm.....Would you like to sit? I could use some company”.

“Sure”.

They spent the rest of the afternoon getting to know each other. He told her about his travels and work and she told him the story of how she became captain of the Wonderbolts. Before they knew it, it was late into the evening. Ember bid the fair lady goodbye, but before leaving she spoke up.

“Will you be coming to visit tomorrow? I’m told I will need to stay here for a while,” she said.

“Oh.....uhm.....I really do need to......well......”

Suddenly, Ember’s business ventures weren’t quite as important to him as they were a few hours ago. He took a moment, but eventually just said “Yes”.

“Good. See you tomorrow, Mr. Weaver,” she said, sounding very upbeat.

“Until tomorrow, madam,” Mr. Weaver ended with. And he was off.

Their visits spanned the next few days, talking about each other’s adventures and travels. They both found it very easy to fill the time with each other. On a Monday, about a week and a half after the accident, Ember returned to the hospital, like every other day. He’d been staying nights in a local inn, which he much preferred over the chairs in the hospital waiting area. After three days, his body would have been able to take no more of those armrests. This morning, however, there was an odd quiet in the lobby of the hospital. Many of the hospital staff, when he walked in the door, where seemingly on edge. It took him a only few seconds to realize why, however. Just past the entrance to the recovery wing a regal, very tall white mare stood at the entrance to Flicker’s room. Princess Celestia had paid a visit to the hospital.

Well, that explains the extremely on edge hospital staff, he thought to himself. I’d better keep my distance. He noted in his head. However, it didn’t take long for the doctor speaking to the Princess to notice him.

“There is our hero now!” he said brightly.

Princess Celestia turned her head, her regal, flowing mane shifting sides.

“Please, step forward kind sir. I wish to have a word, if you don’t mind,” she said in a very pleasantly cheerful tone. Even if it was cheerful, though, this was a pony that demanded respect with her very presence, and Ember approached very cautiously and with his head slightly lowered, showing his reverence. “I understand you are the one that is responsible for saving the life of one of my elite flyers. Is this true?”

Sheepishly, he replied, “Yes, Your Highness.”

“Well then, it seems I owe you a great debt. Losing one of my famous flyers certainly would have been very tragic,” she added with a slight giggling sound.

Ember blushed a deep shade of red and replied, “I appreciate your kind words, Princess, but I’m afraid I’m no hero. I simply happened to be there. I’m sure anypony else would have done the same thing, if the need arised.”

“I would certainly hope that anypony would help another in their time of need,” she replied just as warmly as before, “but, regardless of what others might have done, Mr. Weaver, the thing to remember is that you actually did it and you did it without hesitation, based on what Ms. Aurora has told me. You responded with the utmost of courage and care. Thank you.”

“I......I don’t know what to say,” he said, trembling badly in his voice.

The Princess simply laughed and said “I believe ‘You’re welcome’ will suffice, Mr. Weaver.”

“Uhm....you’re welcome, Your Majesty.”

“There. Now that that’s settled, I would very much like it if you would join me for tea. There is a wonderful place nearby called Sugarcube Corner. Have you heard of it?”

Ember knew the place well. He often had tea or coffee there, along with one of the wonderful baked goods sold. “Yes, I do. I visit there quite often.”

“Excellent. If you would follow me please.” The Princess gave a wave to her guards, which were eerily quiet during the exchange. The Doctor retreated to tend to other patients, and before Ember knew it, he was sitting having tea with Princess Celestia. Many of the customer in the bakery were rather taken aback to see the Princess sitting with a common pony such as himself.

“So, Ember......may I call you Ember?”

“Uhm......well, Princess, you are free to refer to me as whatever you wish.”

“Very well. Ember, what is it that you do exactly? I noticed that you have what appears to be some sort of magical arts Cutie Mark.”

“I’m an enchanter, Ma’am.......I mean Princess!”

Princess Celestia chuckled. “That’s quite alright. Truth be told, I wish some people would relax a little around me,” she said smiling warmly and chuckling a little, “I always feel people fear me a bit because being royalty can be intimidating. I hope that you don’t feel that way around me, Mr. Weaver.”

Actually, Ember was terrified of her. With one wisk of her hoof, she could have him banished. Anything, really. However, he felt it was better to keep that to himself and simply say “Only slightly, Princess. However, you are quite welcoming.”

“Oh good,” she said with a sigh, “I do wish I could get to know more ponies personally. Such is the way of a Princess I’m afraid, though. Anyhoof, I actually have quite a need for an enchanter in Canterlot. I could use a pony of your talents, if you are as good as I hear. And, if you are willing, of course.”

Dumbfounded would just about cover the emotion that flooded over Ember. Enchanter working for Celestia? That was one of the most coveted positions in all of Equestria. Not to mention probably the best paid. It was like a dream come true.

“I would love to, Princess. I only hope my skills are good enough to serve you.”

“Oh, nonsense. If your magical enchanting abilities are half as good as your ability to save lives, I’m sure you’ll do fine,” she said with a wink. This only made Ember blush more. “Well then, that’s settled. I must head back to Canterlot. More business to attend to. When Flicker Sprint has recovered from her injuries, I will expect you in Canterlot where I will be sure to take care of accommodations for you. There are several homes near the castle available that I will be sure to put on hold until you pick one. Until next time, Mr. Weaver!” And with that, she rose from her seat and walked out the front door, her guard paying the tab as she left.

What just happened? Ember asked himself. Did I seriously just get the best gig of my entire life? I should save people more often.

Ember bought some pastries from the store and returned to the hospital with them to give as a gift to Flicker, realizing that with him working in Canterlot, he would get to see her all the time. And that was worth far more than working for the princess, he decided.

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“And that, little one, is how your mother and I met,” my father said, ending the story for now.

“And your father still turns that same cute shade of red when I embarrass him,” said a voice from behind me. It was my mother’s voice. She had snuck into the room while I had been enthralled with my father’s tale. “I also think its some foal’s bedtime too.”

“Awwwwww......” I said out loud with a groan, “but I’m not even tired.”

“No excuses, little one. You need your sleep.”

I sighed and replied “fine”, then headed up to bed. However, before leaving the room, I turned to my father and asked “Dad, can I ask one more question?”

“Sure, little one. As long as it's a short question.”

“How did you know you wanted to be an enchanter?”

“Well, little one, I simply tried things until I found something I was good at and enjoyed. I’m sure you will do the same.”

“I want to be a wizard for Princesses Celestia and Luna one day! That would be cool!”

My father chuckled again. “If that’s what fate has in store for you, shortcake, I’m sure you’ll make a great one. It’ll take practice though.”

I pondered this a while. “I’ll start tomorrow then!”

My father laughed a little harder this time. “Then I’m sure you’ll be the best there ever was.”

And from that day forward, I told myself I’d do anything it took to be a wizard in Celestia and Luna’s royal guard.

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Chapter 3: Kinder Kindling

I levitated the three volumes on Pony History back into their sections. Libraries were such a peaceful place. It was where one’s mind could wander into various worlds and stories, both historical and fictional. Whether you were studying Pony History, like the two mares that had given me the books, reliving the triumphs and failures of those before us, or simply letting yourself become immersed in the mind of an author, weaving a tale of adventure and mystery to the reader in a fictional book, it was one of my favorite places to be. Mrs. Paperback, the librarian, had suggested I help her during one of my study periods toward the end of the day. She ran the library at Canterlot’s School for the Magical Arts of Unicorns. I spent so much time there already that she began to notice sometime ago. I would always catch her smiling a little when she’d see me walk in the door for my daily reading session. I excelled in many of my courses, so I was granted a study hall break near the end of the day. Eventually, she came up to me and introduced herself. Being a librarian, she shared my love for books and suggested I help her as a teacher’s assistant. Ever since then, I used the time outside of helping her organize and maintain the library to study and practice magic. Of course, she never let me perform magic inside of the library. Especially since I accidentally caught fire to her section on Magical Artifacts. I put it out, but my Ice Spell had the unfortunate effect of freezing water from the air on the books, so she had made me dry them all out individually the next day. Although she was not amused at the time, it became a running joke between us everytime we passed that section with quips like “Maybe I should set fire to the Encyclopedia section. Nopony ever reads those anyway”. This usually would illicit a glare from her that was both playful, yet warning, in that “if you do it, I’ll set you on fire” kind of way.

The library was fairly quiet, so I walked up to the desk to ask for dismissal.

“Mind if I hop back and do a little magic practice? There are a few spells I’d like to try out,” I asked Mrs. Paperback.

“Sure, Dev. Just don’t forgot about the movement of those shelves we talked about. The Maintenance department still hasn’t moved them, so tomorrow I was hoping you would for me,”, she replied.

“I haven’t forgotten. See you tomorrow!”

And with that, I trotted to the double doors in the back of the library, and shot out into the field. This area was a small cove behind the main complex of the school. It was under-maintained, thus overgrown by a great deal, and provided plenty of trees, rocks, and other basic objects to practice on. One of my first spells was taking a large collection of pebbles, levitating them, then raining them down upon myself, forcing myself to produce a ward powerful enough to repel them. Of course, learning didn’t come without its bumps and bruises, and I had my fair share of rocks that hit me before I got it right. I looked over to the boulder in the middle of the yard. It was pretty beaten up after all of the years of abuse. I charged up, and blasted it with an ice shard. It burst against the side, freezing the center. I quickly followed up with a fireball that melted away the collected ice and scorched the surface. I couldn’t help but grin at it. The poor thing was reduced to about ⅓ of what it was when I had started, and it got smaller and smaller each day. I was going to need to find a new rock soon.

After messing around with a few new spells I had learned, I heard the bell ring, signalling it was time to go home. Even though this meant a warm and fresh cooked meal from my mother, it still made me sad each time, because nothing made me happier than practicing my magic. And with all of the studying I had for finals, I wasn’t able to spend more than a few minutes outside today. Or the last few days. With a sigh, I turned and started walking around the brick building to the front.

“See you tomorrow, Rocky”, I said to the boulder. It was something I sort of just started doing. I’m not sure why it seemed to make sense to name a boulder, but for some reason it did. A psychiatrist probably would find it disturbing to know that I beat the tar out of inanimate objects that I had named.

The sun beat down harshly in the early summer weather. Walking through town to get back home, ponies were taking whatever cover they could muster to get out of the direct sunlight. In the end, however, the heat made it a fairly futile effort. It was days like today that made me happy I was capable of magic and could cast an aura around myself that cooled the air. I strolled up to my home and walked inside. As I crossed the barrier, I could hear my mother in the kitchen, with pots clanking together and she was undoubtedly preparing our evening’s meal.

“Hey mom.”

“Welcome home, hun!” I heard faintly from the kitchen. “Your father wanted to speak with you up in his study when you got home”.

Was I in trouble for something? No. Couldn’t be. My mother’s voice was much too cheerful for that.

“Ok. I’ll go and talk to him”. And with that, I walked up the stairs to my father’s study. I rapped lightly on the door, hoping I wouldn’t disturb his concentration too much. My father was always working on some new enchantment or spell to better fortify the things he sold and even though he was always very calm and controlled, seeing a flicker of inspiration pass from his eyes was something I’d seen all too often when I had fumbled into his private study before.

“Come on in, shortcake,” a nickname that I still somehow had not managed to shake since I was a foal. At least I had convinced them not to call me that in front of strangers.

“I want to show you something I’ve been working on, ” he stated with a hint of anticipation in his voice as he waved me over. I walked slowly over to the desk to examine what he was referring to. A small ruby red stone sat on his desk that hummed slightly. As it hummed, it flickered ever-so-slightly to the oscillations it was making with it sounds. Its humming formed a sort of soothing tune.

“What is it?” I asked quizzically.

“Well.....we’re not entirely certain what it is or where it came from, but Princess Celestia gave it to me saying it was an artifact that’s caused a bit of trouble throughout history. We’ve nicknamed it the “Desire Stone”. Everything we know about it hints back to some very quirky history. Apparently, the stone will grant a single wish to anyone. However, to grant the wish, the stone always has a consequence. A sort of penance”.

“Penance?”

“Yes. It will take something from you to give you want you want. Sort of like a trade. There have apparently been entire kingdoms changed because of this enchanted device. So, being Princess Celestia’s head enchanter, she’d tasked me with studying it”.

“It looks harmless,” I said.

“Well, it might look that way, but its very dangerous,” my father warned as he locked it in a small chest. He levitated it up high on a shelf away from reach.

“Now, on to what I really wanted to talk about,” my father stated, changing the subject abruptly. “I have a surprise for you”. He walked over and pulled a long piece of cloth off of the bed. It was a cloak. Not just any cloak, however. This one floated off the table slightly, as if it defied gravity. Constructed of a semi-transparent, black material, it glistened slightly in my father’s desk light, as if it was embedded with very tiny diamonds or some sort of precious stone. A blue Sapphire wrapped in gold made up the front pin. The rippling effect of the cloth reminded me of Princess Celestia’s hair as it waved, even though there was no wind.

“What do you think?” my father asked.

“It’s incredible,” I responded with awestruck tone. “What is it?”

“It’s something I’m calling a “Whispersilk Cloak”. I plan to sell them to mages in the royal guard. Its made of enchanted black spiders’ silk and is virtually impenetrable when it comes to magical spells. It’ll never get dirty, fray, or lose its color, as long as the enchantment holds. Of course, abuse from magic will wear it out, which is where I’ll come in for the guards that will use them. Don’t want to completely run myself out of business after all,” he said with a tiny wink, “but it take quite a hit. I’ve been working on it since before you were born”.

My father beamed with pride in his work. He had one of the biggest grins on his face I’d ever saw. “Its wonderful, dad. I’m sure it’ll sell really well”.

“Well, congratulations, my son, because you’re going to be my first customer. Family discount of course,” he said with a bit of joking tone toward the end.

“Oh.....” was all I could get out. I never was very good at accepting gifts. “You don’t have to give me your first one, dad”.

“Oh, nonsense. Besides, you have to be looking good for your test tomorrow!”

Test tomorrow? What was he going on about?

“Test? What test?”

He chuckled a little. “Well, that’s part two of my surprise for you. You see, I pulled a few strings, and you are now on the list to be tested for Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns tomorrow”.

If it were possible, my jaw would have hit the floor at that very moment. I was going to test tomorrow for the most prestigious magical arts school in all of Equestria. I couldn’t tell if I was instantly more nervous or excited.

“Wha.......WHAT?” I managed to squeak out as my voice crackled a little. “But.........but.........oh my goodness. I don’t.....”.

“Woah now, son. Don’t start hyperventilating on me!”

“But......I always.......oh THANK YOU dad!” I promptly wrapped my front legs around his neck, if only for a moment, before I stepped back and ran down the stairs screaming with excitement.

“I’m going to test for Princess Celestia’s school tomorrow! WHOOOO!”

Both my parents couldn’t help but chuckle to themselves as how much of a stupid foal I was being at that very moment, but I didn’t care. It had always been my goal of working for Princess Celestia on her Royal Guard, and the only ones that get in are the ones that go to her prestigious school. I had a chance of a lifetime to prove myself in front of Canterlot’s best. I only hope that I don’t mess it up.

“I’m going to go outside and practice!”

My mom chuckled again. “Alright, but only after dinner.”

I scarfed down my plate so fast that I caused myself to choke a few times. Nothing was more important than making sure that I was ready for tomorrow and I only had a few hours before it got dark. After yelling an abrupt “Done!”, I bolted out the back door into the yard. I performed all of my basic spells without a hitch. I had practiced them a million times and it was a long time since I’d made an error on them, but I still couldn’t shake a sense that I still wasn’t ready.

After a few hours, my mother yelled out “Time for bed, shortcake!”

“Awe......but MOM........”

“No buts from you mister. You have a big day tomorrow and you’re going to need enough rest if you’re going to perform well”.

As much as I hated it, she was right. Even if it did mean bedtime. My least favorite part of the day. I always felt like sleep just kept me from accomplishing more unfinished tasks.

“One of these days, I’m going to invent a spell that makes it so nopony ever has to sleep again”.

“Well, until you do, you still need to get some sleep”.

I nestled into my soft bed. The warm, plush pillow and the soft, silk-like blankets relinquished my lament. I closed my eyes and let it take me in.

“Good night mom”.

“Good night, my little magician”.

And with that, I closed my eyes, and began to dream of fulfilling quests, defending Canterlot, and fighting to protect and serve Princess Celestia.

Chapter 4: The Spark

The night had been a fairly restless sleep. Stress over my big day had gotten in the way of peaceful sleep. The night had started with dreams of honor, glory, and valor, but eventually took a turn for the worse as I woke up in the middle of the night with my mind racing with apprehension. Eventually falling asleep once more, I dreamed I was defending Canterlot from Changelings, but eventually they overwhelmed me. The rest of the night was full of equally startling nightmares, each some sort of disaster. When the sun began to peek through my window, I was wide awake and ready to be rid of my night.

I washed, put on my new robes, gathered any supplies I figured I’d need for the day, and walked down the stairs, heading for the kitchen. My mother, who I always have been convinced had something wrong with her for being such a morning person, was awake as usual. She was quite the morning person, always getting up a few hours before myself or my father. I preferred to sleep most of the morning away and rather enjoy the late evenings instead. It took a few seconds for her to notice I had entered the room and sat down at the table. Had it not been for the creak in the floorboards, it might have been longer.

“Oh.....you’re up awfully early. How did you sleep-OH! Heavens no! No child of mine is going to go to one of the biggest days of his life looking like that!”

I looked at myself a little, noticing that I had not brushed my hair or mane at all and I had affixed the front pendent of my cloak upside down. Normally I would just quickly fix it up in some manner using magic. I didn’t have to normally go to anything formal.

“I suppose I could brush a bit...” I replied weakly. I was far too tired to care about my appearances.

“No no no no. Come on. Back upstairs,” she replied.

For the next hour and a half, I was subjected to what was sure to be the most excruciating and annoying grooming regimen she could come up with. The hair on my coat shone so much, I thought I would go blind looking at myself in the mirror. Everything from the shining silver shield emblem in front of my cloak to the gold horseshoes I was wearing were polished and perfect. Of course, my parents weren’t rich, so the gold was fake and were chipped on the bottom. Still looked nice, though.

“There. Now you look presentable”.

Just then my father walked by and peeked into the lavatory.

“Well, don’t you look rather spiffy! That cloak suits you well”.

“Thanks dad”.

“Well, we’d best be going soon. Let me get around quickly and we’ll be off”.

And with that, my parents and I quickly finished our morning routines like clockwork, finishing breakfast and bolting out the door. Before we got far, though, my father stopped us.

“Alright. Stand closely together. We’re going to save a bit of time getting there”.

And with a glow of his horn, we all were engulfed in the black, purple, and greenish swirls of the spell. Our feet hovered for a moment until they once again touched solid ground and the world re-appeared around us with a snap-whiz-pop sound.

Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns

Main Reception Offices and Registration

The large golden plaque was adorned with the engraving of Princess Celestia’s symbol of the sun. I felt my heart start to race again as we walked through the large cherry-colored wooden doors. They opened without any intervention on our part, somehow sensing our presence and responding accordingly.

“They’re enchanted. My own work, actually,” my father said with one of those proud grins he got seeing his own work in action. “It is quite something, really, I had to enchant them with a stronger spell, because it kept wearing off, so I.....” and the rest of my dad’s conversation became a blur of technical problems he was presented with for a large automatic door. This normally would have been very fascinating to me, since I loved listening to my dad ramble about his work, but not today. My mind was racing around and around as we walked down the long hallway. The floor was a solid white-ish gray marble, with large stone pillars adorning the walls. Between each pillar was a stone representation of what appeared to be reverent school figures wearing cloaks and armor. These must have been the headmasters of the school or something equally high in importance. Each one had a plaque on it, but I didn’t stop to read any of them. The only one that I recognized was a full body sculpture of Star Swirl the Beared. He stood staring off into the distance, as if deep in thought, in a very sleek robe and wizards cap. The cap was a bit much, I thought to myself, but I suppose standing out for someone as famous as himself would have been what he was going for anyway.

As we got past the main hallway, we turned right into an office. Above the door, a bronze sign stating “REGISTRATION” was hung. Walking in, my father immediately was recognized by several of the office workers, who exchanged greetings.

“So, this is your boy, eh?” a tan colored unicorn stated.

“Sure is. He’s going to be going through his acceptance test today to get into the school. We both very excited and proud of him”. My father certainly was prideful of me, even if I hadn’t proved anything yet. He radiated it, it fact.

“Well, let’s get you registered. Lets see here....” she said as she ruffled through several piles of paperwork. “Ah! Here we are. Devoran Snapcaster, Son of Ember Weaver. If you’ll just put your hoofprint right here, Mr. Weaver, we will get him in the waiting area. He’s one of 11 that will be completing their entrance exams today. Down this hallway a bit further, make a right at the second corridor. There will be a sign guiding you to the testing hall”.

“Very good. Thank you, Ms. Noteworthy,” replied my father.

“You’re very welcome. Good luck on your test!”

We rounded the corner just past the office and walked into the testing area’s makeshift waiting room. Several other Unicorns and their parents were sitting quietly with their parents. As I entered the room, I could feel their eyes focusing in on me, eyeing the competition for the few select spots for admission into the school. All of the kids looked as if they were raised by prestigious families. My family could barely afford to live in Canterlot, let alone afford the perfectly pressed suits the colts were wearing or the diamond crusted outfits the mares wore. Everyone except me in that room was definitely a pony of privilege.

My parents and I found a spot on the left of the room, leaving plenty of space between us and the nearest family. With no conversation amongst each other, the groups filtered out one by one as their names were called by a testing officiant. The time passed as if it was nearly stopped. Even the people walking out of the room seemed to be moving in slow motion. I swear I had been there several hours, but when I looked at the clock, it had only been 30 minutes. Not even long enough to constitute one of my practice sessions behind my school. Finally, the last mare left the room to be tested, which meant I was going to be next. My heart raced with anticipation. This was single-handedly the most important moment in my life thus-far, and it all came down to it. When the officiant came back into the room and said my name, I jumped in the chair I was sitting in a little.

“You’ll do fine, sweetie,” my mother said trying to calm my nerves. It wasn’t working.

“Go in there and knock’em dead......well, ya know, not literally. You know what I mean,” said my father, in his awkwardly over-explanative manner.

“Y-yeah! I’ll try!” I replied, barely able to manage three words.

And with that, I walked through the doorway into the classroom. The room was a large lecture hall, with stadium-like seating. Four ponies sat halfway from the top of the seating, two mares and two stallions, wearing formal attire.

“Please state your name for our records,” a gray mare said that was wearing half-moon glasses.

“Uhm......Devoran S-s-snapcaster, m-ma’am”. My voice was becoming more and more useless as the nervous tension in my muscles mounted.

“Very good. You may notice that you have an egg before you”. Sure enough, a large green and white egg was sitting on a small amount of hay in the middle of the area in front of me. “Your task is to get this egg to hatch. Normally, a mother dragon would use the flame from her breath to keep the egg warm, but because you are not capable of such things normally, you will be using a spell of your choosing to hatch the egg. Any questions?”

“Uhm........” I said softly.

“Speak up, boy! We can’t hear you,” came a thundering voice from the far left officiant.

I gathered whatever emotional stability I could and simply replied “No. No questions”. Of course, that was only partly true. I didn’t have any questions now, but that was only because I had no idea which spell I wanted to use.

Think, Devoran, I told myself aloud in my head. What sort of fire spells do you know that are hot enough that won’t burn the whole place down? Well......there is a simple flame throwing spell, but that’s a little crude. Maybe a ward to contain it or......

“We’re waiting, Mr. Snapcaster,” said a third voice. It wasn’t until I snapped out of my concentration on spells that I realized I’d been standing there a good minute. A fire-spin spell contained in a ward. I had tried this one a few times before. I began to cast the fire upward, keeping it pointed upward slightly above the egg until I had it stable. Then, moving it downward, I also cast a very weak ward alongside of it. Casting two spells at once was extremely taxing in combination, but it started to work on the egg. The outside glowed red hot, but after a full minute and a half, it didn’t show any signs of cracking. It needed more heat. So, I turned up the intensity a bit more, forcing the spell to the next level. The egg started to shake a bit, but just as it did, suddenly a small bit of fire leaked out of the ward, catching the straw in the basket on fire. Soon, one whole side of the container was ablaze. If I didn’t stop it, it was going to burn the stand away, and I’d fail for sure. With my nerves already twinging, I quickly stopped casting the ward and flames to put out the fire. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of stopping the ward first. Within a split second, the whole testing area lit up with the explosive combustion of the flame that had been contained in the simple bubble. Like a bees that had been released from a container,small flames sprang forth, setting everything they touched instantly on fire. Everything from the drapes to the desk to the floor was burning. Instinctively, I cast an area of effect freezing spell. Although I wasn’t very talented with them, it did the job, putting out the blaze in a snap. Sighing relief that I had not burned down the very school I was trying to gain entry to, I look up at the test administrators. And then, my heart sank into my feet. Every single one of them had singed clothing on and looked miserably cold, complete with rosy cheeks and noses. My spells had reached them, both burning everything they were wearing slightly, and then giving them a massive chill from the outskirts of my second freezing spell. They did not look happy with my performance in the slightest.

“That will be all Mr. Snapcaster,” The far left said.

“But, I......I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to......”

“That will be ALL Mr. Snapcaster,” he repeated.

Ok. I got the hint. I rushed out of the room. My parents, who had heard the commotion had looked in at some point during the test to see what was going on. They both looked concerned as I passed them, but made no effort to stop me. They knew I was upset and stopping me would have only made it worse. When I got to the waiting room, I simply collapsed into one of the terribly uncomfortable chairs, sobbing. I had blown it.

Chapter 5: The Uncontrollable Blaze

The next couple of days were tense. Although I had most definitely done terrible at my exam, I still hoped that somehow I would be accepted. Either that, or allowed to retake the examination. Although I had been completely distraught after my experience in the testing, I still held onto that slight shimmer of hope that I might get another shot to prove myself. I had invested so much into training for Celestia’s school, I couldn’t fail. What would I do if I did? Somehow other ponies at school had learned of my failure as well, which didn’t make thing any better. Devoran the Incinerator became a sickeningly popular nickname to add insult to injury.

On the third day after my exam, I awoke, per usual, struggling to gain enough reason to climb out of bed. I walked downstairs to breakfast.

“Apple juice?” my mother asked. She had avoided engaging me in much conversation lately, but for some reason she seemed a bit more apprehensive today.

“No thank you”. It was at that moment I saw it. A white envelope, sealed in a golden film. And it had my name on it.

“It came this morning,” my mother said, nearly whispering.

My chest tightened once again with anxiety.

“I......I’m not sure I want to open it”.

“Why not, shortcake?”

“Because.......because what if I didn’t make it? What if they won’t let me retake the test? I’d almost rather not know”.

“Honey,” she said back to me, her voice laced with a soothing calm, “you can’t avoid it. No matter what happens, ignoring it isn’t going to make it go away. Sooner or later, you’d have to face it”.

Of course, she was right. I was just being stupid. If I ignored it, I might at least be able to hang onto my little hope I had, but that was all I would ever have. I reached out with a hoof, grasping the perfectly folded envelope. My mother handed me a mail cutter, and I sliced the top of the envelope with a precise cut. I pulled out the letter gingerly, as if it would fall apart from too much handling and began to read:

From the Desk of her Highest Princess Celestia

Dear Mr. Devoran Snapcaster,

We have received and processed your evaluation conducted by our testing staff and at this time we would like to inform you of the results of our decision for your acceptance. First, we would like to commend all of our applicants for their exceptional performances and very capable skills. However, your application for the Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns has been, unfortunately, denied at this time for the following reasons:

Testing applicant was unable to complete the requested task

Under normal circumstances, we would recommend that you file for a re-take of our testing examination. Unfortunately, however, we are unable to accept any re-applications at this time due to a higher than expected number of applicants this year. As such, our school is currently at capacity. We encourage you to apply again next solar cycle and we look forward to seeing you next year at our annual application period. Have a wonderful day.

Signed,

The Desk of Princess Celestia, High Princess of the Realm of Equestria

Upon reading the last sentence, my flank sank into my chair. Blinking a few more times and re-reading it in disbelief didn’t change what I had just read and with it, the flicker of foolish hope burned itself out. I laid the letter down on the table and, with my mother watching my every move, I walked upstairs to my room and shut the door, laying down on my bed and staring up at the ceiling. I had expected that if this moment had come, I would have cried, yelled, or something equally distraught. However, the truth was, I was so wrenched up inside, I couldn’t tell if I was depressed, angry, or disappointed in myself.

From downstairs, I could hear my parents talking softly to each other. Although I couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, I knew what it was anyway. Still, I was curious, and I put my ear to the floor of my room to listen.

“What are we going to do about this?” my mother asked.

“I’m not sure. I know Dev could have passed that test, but he simply got too nervous and made some mistakes. I wish we could give him another chance next year, but we spent all of our education fund for him on this. It took 5 years to put that kind of money together. It isn’t right that Celestia charges so much to get into her danged school”.

“Now, now, honey. You know that without Princess Celestia, you wouldn’t have a job. She’s done well by our family”.

“I know, sweetheart, but it doesn’t make it any easier what we have to tell Dev now. I wish I had the money to give him everything, but I just don’t”.

“I know, honey. We’ll go tell him together”.

Great. Not only had I screwed up, but there wasn’t even the possibility of taking the test next year. My parents had sacrificed for half a decade just to pay for my entrance fee. How could I possibly get into the school now? It wasn’t fair, I told myself. I had worked so hard. I deserved this.

And then, an idea hit me. A horrible, horrible idea. In a selfish fit, I hopped from my bed and walked with light steps into my father’s study. I reached out with my magic toward the small wooden chest that my father had placed up high on top of his bookshelves. Trying to pry it open, I realized it was magically sealed. So, with an angry snap, I hit the lock with a fierce and powerful spell that broke the lock. I pulled the Desire Stone out and ran back to my room after placing the broken chest back on the shelf.

Shortly afterward, I heard hoofsteps coming up the stairs, eight in total. Grabbing my pillow on my bed, I buried my head into it. I didn’t want to talk to them. The guilt was unbearable and speaking with both of them was only going to make it worse. I heard my door creak open and I could feel two pairs of eyes, staring at me from the doorway.

“Shortcake? Your father and I would like to talk to you a bit”.

“You don’t have to. I heard what you both said downstairs”.

“Dev, you really shouldn’t be listening to conversations your mother and I have like that. It’s.....”

“It doesn’t matter!” I said as I cut my father off sharply, “I already figured out what I’m going to do to fix it”.

I pulled the stone out of my pocket in my cloak. Its soft glow and relaxing hum was soothing to me. It took only a moment before my father realized what it was I had done.

“Son.......you don’t want to do this. Give me the stone”.

“No! I earned this. Its not fair! I’m going to be the greatest wizard in Equestria. One way or another”.

My father’s face grew paler and paler with each word. When he realized I had set my mind to it, he quickly tried to retrieve the stone by levitating it away from me, but I quickly countered his spell and cut them off with a small barrier between us.

“I wish to be the strongest wizard in Equestria...” I whispered to the stone.

“NO!” my father shrieked in horror.

The room began to shake and the stone whizzed into the air above my head, spinning faster and faster. It began to emit a scratching sort of sound and a small orb began to form around it.

“What’s happening? I don’t understand.....” I asked, bewildered.

As the glowing became brighter, my parents, who now looked horrified, began to back away.

“Devvie! You have to stop it!” my mother shrieked.

“I don’t know how! I don’t know what is.......” but before I could finish the sentence, my whole body was enveloped in the glow and it sprang forward in an explosive, uncontrollable wave that lifted me off the ground a few inches. I watched in horror as it expanded. Everything it touched began to turn to a sort of cobblestone and then disintegrate into dust. My parents tried to flee, but it was too late. The magical sphere enveloped the floorboards beneath me, and the floor from the second story gave away, crashing into the kitchen. Both my parents looked up, after regaining their footing from the fall, but by that time they had, the sphere had grabbed them both with bolts of energy. My mother screamed a blood chilling sound and I watched as both my parents began to slowly turn to stone, as the bubble pulsed, cracking and rippling their skin until their skin was cracked and broken into what looked like broken statues. Then, when the field collapsed, everything inside of it turned to stone dust, my parents included. I plummeted to the first floor from the floating position I had maintained, landing hard on my legs, which immediately gave away. My side slammed into the ground and I could feel a sudden surge of excruciating pain course through my whole body, knocking the wind out of my lungs. I opened my eyes as the room went from pulsating and spinning to sudden rest.

This couldn’t be happening. I had to be dreaming. The house that I lived in was scorched with burns from whatever it was that spawned from inside me. My parents laid in two neat piles on the floor, along with various other items from the home. Surely I would wake up from this nightmare and my mother would make me oatmeal and toast like she always did. No. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. I blinked several times, clenching my eyelids closed for a split second before reopening them, but no relief came. This was no dream. I killed my parents. I destroyed my home. And I was alone.

Chapter 6: Cold Fire

Grief. Contempt at myself. Guilt. All of these things burst from my throat as I exerted my pain in the form of a screaming hysteria. As I became weak, and my throat became sore and dry, I slumped into a sitting position, staring through the murky, blurred water droplets forming in my eyes at the two neat piles of stone dust that used to be the two people I cared the most about in this world. My hopes, my dreams, and now the people that I relied on for guidance and care had all been taken from me in the span of a few days. So I sat there, frozen, without purpose or guidance, and stared at what I had done. Accidentally, sure, but still something I had done nonetheless.

I wiped my eyes with my left wing.

Wait, what? Wing? I thought to myself. I snapped out of my sorrow for a moment to notice that something was very, very different. I stood up straight and instinctually extended two moderately sized, but very functional wings now attached behind my shoulders.

What in the world happened to me? I thought. Had I transformed into a Pegasus. I looked up and saw that I still had a firmly attached horn on top of my head. Nope. Definitely still got a horn. In the event that consumed my parents and my house, I had somehow been changed into a combination of both Unicorn and Pegasus together in one body.

It was then from outside the house, I could hear other ponies gathering, discussing what they had heard or saw. No doubt the magical outburst had caused quite a sight from outside of the windows of our small home.

“I think there is a monster in there,” one pony said.

Monster, I thought to myself. A fitting title for someone in my predicament. No doubt that’s what I would be labelled. I was dangerous like a monster. The other ponies outside likely wouldn’t come inside, though, I thought to myself. That was until I heard the voice of one of the Town’s Guards.

“What happened here?” the powerful voice said. This made my heart jump into my throat. What would happen to me? Would I be thrown in jail for the rest of my life? Put in some hospital to be studied? Executed by Princess Celestia herself? Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. The front door rustled as somepony was trying to open it. They were coming for me. And I needed to get away. As the door began to creak and clatter with each attempt and began to get louder and louder, I scanned the room for an escape route. And then, I saw it. A crack that had formed in the roof, just large enough for me to squeeze through. I spread my wings to take flight, but paused a minute, looking back at my parents.

“I’m sorry mom.......I’m sorry dad........I..........I’m sorry”. I grabbed my cloak from the coat rack and tested my wings out. Surprisingly, they were very easy to use, almost as if they were instinctual. In fact, it felt a little bit like I’d used them a thousand times before. After my initial hover test, I decided to give it a bigger go and swept upward. As I slipped through the break, I heard the door break down below, indicating the guard had finally been successful in gaining access to the room. I flew down behind the house, slinking closely to the walls and roof, and began to run as fast as I could to the outskirts of town. The train station was near the outside of town and that’s where I would need to go to be able to get out of town fast. I didn’t want to strain my new wings, after all, since I had them for all of 15 minutes and wasn’t sure how sturdy they were. Hopefully I would make it there before the last train left from Canterlot.

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It was near dusk when I arrived at the train station. The air was starting to chill off, and I could feel myself beginning to shiver. I tucked my wings under my cloak and to my side, hoping to hold in some bit of warmth. I walked through the gating entrance and approached the ticketing booth. I had just barely made it in time, with 15 minutes to spare on the last train leaving to Ponyville. The stallion running the ticketing booth looked thoroughly bored in his work. I tapped on the glass and his eyes met mine, realizing he had a customer.

“What’s your destination?” he asked.

“Uhm....” I said as I scanned the destination sign, “Ponyville, please”.

The booth operator raise his eyebrow slightly, scanning me up and down a bit, but eventually just said, “Very well. The fare is 15 bits for a one way and 25 bits for round trip.”

It was at that moment I realized I had, in my dazed state, forgotten to grab any money for the fare. I couldn’t go home with the guards there and get any, and even if I did manage to get in and out, I’d never make it back until tomorrow. And I was tired.

“Oh. I don’t have any money, I’m afraid.”

“Look, kid, without the money for the fare, I can’t let you on. And even if you do have the fare, you are too young to ride alone. Go and get your parents and come back”.

Excellent suggestion, I thought to myself. I only wish that it was possible.

“Oh, ok. Thanks anyway”.

I had to get out of Canterlot tonight. There simply was no two ways about it. Eventually the royal guards would catch up to me and I’d have to face the consequences of my actions. One way or another, I needed to get on that train.

The train’s horn shrilled loudly, indicating it was preparing to get underway. Slinking out of sight of the ticket booth, I wandered to the fenced area blocking entrance. The simple chain link fence wasn’t very high, and nopony was around. So, without hesitation, I took flight and sailed over the fencing. Once on the other side, I boarded the rear car of the train and entered inside. It looked like a cargo car, filled full of boxes and personal possessions, most likely from the passengers in the cars farther ahead. The car was unheated, and horribly uncomfortable, like the outside, but far from the passenger cars. Finding a hidden spot in the corner of the car, I wrapped myself in the cloak my father had made and fell asleep.

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I wandered around the living room of my house. The fireplace was warm, the carpeting was soft, and my mother and father were sitting in the living room. My mother was reading a book, holding it very closely covering her face, and my father was working at some stitching on a cloak he was apparently making, sitting in a chair facing away from me. It was a nice average evening around the house.

“Hello mum,” I said aloud. She hesitated a moment, then lowered her book.

“Hello Dev. Are you here to apologize?” Her eyes locked to mine in a blank stare.

“Apologize?” I asked.

“Yes. For killing us,” she said, her voice flat and emotionless. Suddenly, I remembered everything that had happened. In fact, none of this made any sense at all.

“You’re a terrible son, Devoran,” my father followed up.

“Terrible son......” my mother echoed.

“...and a terrible person”.

“Terrible person......”

“But......I didn’t mean to! It was an accident! I couldn’t stop it!” I responded, desperate to hear my mother comfort me, instead of accuse.

“It doesn’t matter, Dev. Whether you meant to or not, you still did it. You murdered us. And now, you’re going to burn for what you’ve done,” she replied, her voice growing dark. As I stared into her eyes, they became gray like stone. The fireplace flared up and the flames came to life, reaching out enveloping my mother and father.

“You are a failure, Devoran,” my mother said, her voice demonic and echoing. “You’re going to always fail and hurt the ones you care about”. She rose from her chair, and so did my father, hovering, and stood on either side of me, staring directly at me. Without warning, the flames that seemed to be holding them up began to catch the rest of the house on fire. Soon, the whole house was enveloped, and within less than a minute, it had almost entirely burned away. My parents screamed and the fire holding them up turned on them and began to burn them. I tried to reach out to save them, but as I touched their skin, whatever part of their bodies I came in contact crumbled like soot. I sat crying over their remains, until the cracking of the ceiling fell in on me, crushing me.

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As the burning wood touched my skin in my dream, I bolted awake just moments before being crushed, screaming. It was only then that I realized that I was still in the rear cargo car of the Friendship Express destined for Ponyville. Regardless of the fact that the cargo car was still frigid, I had somehow managed to break into a sweat. For a few moments, I sat squinting through the darkness, still trying to convince myself that I was actually here and that it was all a dream. It was just as I had finally calmed down that I heard voices coming from the next car over.

“I heard a noise back there,” somepony said.

“I’m sure its nothing. Probably just someone in the passenger cars you heard.”

“I’m telling you, Frankie, it came from back here.”

“Oh right, just like that noise you heard coming from the coal car yesterday.”

“Hey! That turned out to be a mouse!”

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t a changeling, like you thought it was.”

I could now see them in the space between the cargo cars, working to unlock the entrance door. The door swished open and a fresh gust of icy air burst into the cabin. The two individuals promptly closed it behind them.

“Hello? Anypony in here?”

Of course, I didn’t respond. I slunk back as far as I could between the various stored goods, holding my breath. A large cloth covered container on my right, and a couple of wooden crates to my left. The two of them continued to flick a flashlight around the room, looking between things until one of them finally spoke up.

“Come on, George. There isn’t anything back here and I’m freezing. Lets go to the dinner car and get some coffee.”

“Fine. I’m telling you, though, I heard something.”

“Oh, I believe you. I’ll believe anything you say. As long as you don’t make me come back to these freezing cars with you for the hundredth time to find nothing more than a mouse”

“Fine. Let’s go.”

And with that, the two began to walk toward the door. As it swished open and shut, I left out a sigh of relief and the breath I had been holding the entire time. It was then that I made the mistake of touching the cloth covered container I was standing next to. It shook slightly, but it was enough to upset whatever was inside it. Immediately, the container began to squawk and cluck. Knocking itself to the ground, it was then that I noticed it was a cage filled with three chickens. As the cage fell crashing to the floor, the opening flung open, releasing the three birds wildly into the cabin. They continued to become more and more agitated and with that, the two ponies from before came bursting back into the room.

“Who’s in here?!?!” the gray one yelled. Then, shining his light in my direction, he caught a glint of my coat.

“There! Get him!”

Panicked, I raced through the packages, trying to out-maneuver the two guards and find my way to the exit. The two ponies’ lights shone between the crates, allowing me to gauge where they were in the room, and I continued to dodge and jump on top of, around, and through packages in the car, until I finally reached the door. I jerked the door open, only to have my back right leg suddenly restrained. One of the guards had managed to get to the door and was now holding onto my hoof with all his strength.

“I’ve got you now! You can’t get away from me!” he exclaimed.

Responding quickly to his restraint, I kicked in his direction with my other leg. Missing twice, the third shot connected with its mark, sending the guard flying backwards into a stack of boxes. Pausing for a second, surprised by the force I had exerted, I saw him groggily trying to get back up, without success. I walked through the door as the other guard started at me, and slammed the door shut. Standing at the end of the car, the wind blew furiously with the speed of the moving train, causing my skin to shiver with the added chill. Peering out, the moonlight lit the dark forested area. We were almost to Ponyville, passing the Everfree forest. We were still an hour, at least, away from Ponyville, and with the two ponies chasing me, I had no choice. Spreading my wings, I lept from the car, feeling the wind immediately catch my feathers and lift me into the air. Uneasy and slightly out of control at first, I gained control of my flight and hovered softly to the ground. Turning around, the train whisked quietly out of sight.

Chapter 7: Strange Bedfellows

Cold, hungry, and exhausted, I wandered through the eerie forest. I heard my father talk about this place many times. He did travel through here far before I was born, when he was a travelling salesman, to get to Ponyville. This forest was even spookier than the stories that used to give me nightmares, though. Owls hooted in the distance, leaves rustled with what little wind made it through the dense trees, and I could swear something was watching me. As much as I didn’t like this place, my body refused to continue. After gathering up some leaves with a magic spell, I cast a sound dampening charm to drown out the sounds from the forest. I had always found that sounds through the dampening spell were soothing, sort of sounding like waves on a beach. I laid down my body on the makeshift bed, and drifted off into a restless sleep.

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Fire raining from the ceiling on me and my parents at home, Princess Celestia banishing me to the dungeon of Canterlot Castle, and much more haunted my dreams. I wondered if I’d ever get a good night sleep ever again that wasn’t plagued by distorted memories and panicked screams. However, it wasn’t until I heard a sudden sound leaves crinkling that I awoke with a start. Something had entered my bubble of sound proofing, making it sound normal. A Canterlot Guard, maybe? Perhaps the train attendants had given the tip to them and they’d come looking for me. How long had I been out anyway? Another crinkling of a footstep on the dried leaves was heard to my right. Slinking down, I peered around the tree and saw a blurry black figure in the shape of a pony. It looked up, examining the bubble and no doubt noticing its presence.

“Alright,” a cool, buzzing voice said aloud. “I know someone is here. Come out”.

Unclear as what to do, I remained still. The figure sounded like a mare, but its voice was very strange, with a hint of hissing, as if talking with a bee stuck in her throat.

“Whoever you are you’d had better reveal yourself,” the voice continued to demand. “Spells don’t just create themselves. If I have to start this forest on fire to drive you out, so be it”.

The creature’s horn began to glow and she cast a spell of revealing light. The area immediately illuminated to almost daytime levels, and the figure became clear to me. Tall, black, wearing a blue crown-like object, and filled full of holes in her legs and wings. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before. And those green eyes. They were the most startling of all. Emerald and fiery. For some reason, as the impatience on her face became more and more obvious, I decided I had nothing to lose and stood up from my hiding place.

“Hello,” I said, awkwardly and unsure of how to greet such a creature. Her eyes snapped to me immediately upon hearing my voice, locking on in a piercing stare.

“I....uhm......sorry I was hiding, but I was sleeping and.....well.....” I stammered out, trying to explain myself for some reason to this person I’d never met before.

“Who is with you?” the creature said impatiently.

“Uhm.....no one. I’m alone.”

She huffed in disbelief.

“You expect me to believe a small child, barely old enough to walk without tripping on his own feet, is out in the Everfree forest by himself?” she pressed with that same intense stare, while slowly walking closer.

“I.....well.....yes. I’m sorta on my own now.”

Her head tilted slightly in confusion as she continued to walk closer and began to circle around. It was like a lion circling its prey, and it was unnerving.

“On your own?” she mimicked with a tone that implied she wanted more of an explanation.

“Yes.....my parents are.....gone.”

“Gone?”

“Yes....they’re....” I could feel my throat tighten up before I could get out the next word, but I managed to finish the sentence with “dead”.

“I see. And why are you out here, exactly?”

“Because the Royal Guards are, well, looking for me.”

“And why would Royal Guards be after you, child?”

“Because......’cause........” I started, because my throat tightened up and my eyes began to water again. Allowing my eyes to shift down with my head, staring at the ground, I gathered myself and forced out “because I was the one that killed my parents”. Tears fell on the crunchy leaves on the ground from the corners of my eyes. I fought hard to try and keep my composure in front of this stranger, but it was with little success. Suddenly, a cold and rough hoof touched my shoulder that made me jump a little. The creature was right in front of me and her emerald eyes were looking straight into mine.

“Well, child, it looks like you and I have a bit of something in common. We both are hiding from Celestia and her guards”.

What did she mean? Was she a wanted criminal of the state? Had I just stumbled into the company of a dangerous and wanted fugitive?

“Who.....who are you?” I asked, weakly.

“Me?” She replied. “I am Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings”.

It was at the word “Changeling” that my chest jumped into my throat. I knew that name. Canterlot, my home town, had been attacked by them when My family and I had been away. I had never seen one, but I was told they were vicious creatures who fed on love until they drained you dry. For a while, Canterlot had posters up informing the public about them, but no one had seen one since the day they tried to take over, so over time they just became old news.

I couldn’t help but continue to stare in terror right into the Changeling Queen’s eyes. She continued to survey me up and down silently for a few minutes before she spoke again.

“You seem to be quite unlucky, I’m afraid, little one. You see, you are the first meal I’ve had in a long time and although I don’t need love to survive like my underlings do, my magic is fueled by it and I’m rather low at the moment, so do try and not struggle. OK?”

“Wha.....what do you mean?” I asked, my voice stammering out a rather obviously stupid question.

“I mean I’m going to have to drain you of your love, child. No hard feelings”. And with that, she lowered her head, opened her mouth, and began to cast a strange aura that misted the air around her with a hue of pale green. I felt the air growing even colder than it already was and my head hurt slightly. It was as if whatever energy that was left inside me began to wither even more than it already was. The world around me began to seem gray as a red smoke-like something seemed to drain out of me.

“No!” I shouted rather suddenly, that even startled myself. I cast a fire spell that burst forth instinctively from my horn, shooting straight at her with deadly precision. Her face went from cool collection to shocked recoil. At the last moment, she dodged, breaking her spell. The spell skimmed her left side, singeing her slightly as she fell into a pile of gathered leaves. The spell, still spiralling past, hit a tree, knocking it straight to the ground and directly on top of the Changeling Queen, pinning her to the ground.

“Gahhh!!” she left out with a sickening cry. Her legs struggled from under the branches holding her to the ground. I cautiously crept toward her, unsure what to do. Her head was sticking out of the side and she was laboring to breathe with the heavy object pressing agaist the side of her chest.

“You little.......*cough*....... cretin!” she gasped. “Why couldn’t you just let me overtake you? Oh the shame I.....*cough*....must endure already. My kingdom....*cough*....ruined. My underlings scattered and now this? Being beaten by a....*cough*.... meer filly”.

I stared at her, feeling pity on such a broken and battered soul. Not unlike myself in some ways, she had been dealt a serious blow. Somewhat self inflicted, of course, but I still couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. She looked like she had given up all hope and wished for nothing more than death. It was then that I decided what I must do.

I grabbed the tree with my mind, casting a spell of levitation on it. The tree was extremely heavy. Much heavier than anything I’d ever lifted before, and it barely shook with my weakly, sickly excuse of a spell. I gritted my teeth, dug my front hooves into the moist, spongy loam of dirt beneath me, and mustered up all of the strength I could. To my delight, the tree began to shake violently and lift slightly into the air. I could only lift one half of it reliably, however, and I began to spin it on the base of its trunk break, moving it away from Chrysalis so that it didn’t fall on her again. Once it was safely a few inches away, I released it. The resounding boom made an echoing sound throughout the forest for some time before all was once again quiet. I trotted over to Chrysalis, who was still laboring to breathe, but seemed to be able to inhale much more easily. Her eyes were shut and she seemed to be unconscious. I cast another levitation spell on her, trying to be as careful as possible, and moved her to a clearing next to the tree I had just moved. She didn’t move at all, except for the inhaling and exhaling of her breathe and an occasional shiver at the cold. I began to break off some small pieces from the tree and placed them in a pile about two feet away from her after digging out a small hole. Then, I placed rocks around the pit of sticks and twigs and cast a very small fire spell once again to light them ablaze.

My hooves hurt from the long amounts of walking and uncomfortable conditions throughout the evening. I peeled off the strapping for my cloak and laid it down for a moment. The fire provided enough heat for myself, but she seemed to still be shivering. Walking over to her, I looked over her body to see if she was seriously hurt. From the look of it, she only seemed bruised and scraped up from branches cutting at her. Of course, I was no doctor, and could only hope that the damage was as slight as it seemed. I placed the cloak around her and tucked it in. It was then that her eyes shot open and her left hoof shot up, grabbing me by the cloak.

“Just WHAT do you think you’re doing?”

“I...uhm....I’m sorry, but you seemed cold and I just wanted to make you comfortable”.

Her eyes blinked a few times and her face softened in a slightly confused-seeming manner. Her hoof released from its iron grip into a slightly less dire one. Her head turned slightly as she peered around our impromptu camp site and examined the cloak she was now wearing.

“I don’t understand. What is this?”

“Its a camp site....” I said, uncertain as to how she could be confused.

“I know *cough* what THIS is! I mean, why are you helping me? Do you plan to take me back to Canterlot as a trophy so that you can pawn me off for your redemption?”

Now I was confused. What in the world was she talking about?

“Pawn you off? What do you mean? I just felt bad because you and I are sort of.....uhm.....well, unlucky together”.

She stared at me again, but differently than before. One of her eyebrows was cocked in an inquisitive manner.

“But, I tried to kill you......why would you help me? You don’t owe me anything”.

“Well....I don’t know. I guess.......well.......my dad always said to help those in need and you needed me. Plus, I sorta, well, knocked the tree over that fell on top of you,” I admittedly stated.

“Hmph. That you did,” she said, sounding impressed. “And you lifted a tree of me probably 20 times your own size. That right there is impressive too. Makes me wonder if you won’t kill me by accident like you did your parents”.

Just as the final word slipped off her tongue, it once again felt as if someone had driven a dagger through my heart, and the memories flowed through my mind, freshened up once again. I stepped back slightly from her and looked down as my eyes once again began to overflow and blur my vision.

“I......I didn’t mean to. It was an accident. I didn’t want to hurt them! I swear! I just.....it just happened! I don’t.......” and I could speak no more. My throat began to catch and the stammering sobs destroyed any semblance of sanity. Just as I was ready to collapse from my emotional overload, I felt the Queen’s cold hoof touch my neck. Not in a harsh or violent manner, but a light grazing. The surprise made me pause for a minute and look up. She was standing again, directly in front of me, and looking hard into my eyes with her hypnotic gaze she had. They were hard as always, but somehow different this time. They seemed to be sympathetic in a way, which I had not expected. She pulled me slightly and sat me down next to her and said only a few words.

“Tell me what happened”. Her voice sounded much softer than before, and I began to recount everything to her as she locked her eyes to my face. From the failure of my testing, to the letter, to my parents death and my fleeing. The story poured out of me like a pitcher of emotional pain that had built up and was being tipped, until the story was done, and my eyes and throat could take no more crying.

When the story was done, she simply continued to lock her gaze on me. Oddly, though, her staring didn’t make me feel uncomfortable around her anymore. After all, if she had still wanted to kill me, she would have been more than capable of doing it while my emotions had been overriding my body’s ability to function. She simply shifted a little and started to speak to me in the same softer voice.

“So, Princess Celestia killed your parents”.

I looked back at her, blinking confusedly. Had she not just heard my story?

“No. I did. Weren’t you listening?”

“Oh, I was listening, child. And I heard exactly what I just said. Princess Celestia killed your parents”.

I was hearing what she was saying, but I wasn’t sure exactly what she was getting at.

“But.....Princess Celestia wasn’t even there.....”

“Exactly”.

Now I was really confused, but she continued, “Princess Celestia smashed all of your dreams. She let you spend your entire life planning and preparing to gain entry into her school with all of your waking hours and even though you performed extremely powerful, yet unrefined magic, she denied you entry and crushed your life’s dreams and drove you into a world with your dangerous magic untrained and unstable. Then, in your distraught, emotional state, you unleashed a dangerous magical artifact, which she gave your father herself, knowing full well how dangerous it was. And then, you’re parents died as a result. Something that never would have happened had she simply recognized your potential and admitted you into her school to train you properly. So, I say again, child, Celestia killed your parents”.

I sat there, processing what she was saying. Everything she was saying made sense, but seemed unfair to pin on the Princess. After all, she hadn’t conducted the test.

“But.....Princess Celestia wasn’t even at my test”.

“So? She still sent you the letter after reviewing what the testers sent her, right?”

“Well......yeah”.

“Then, not only did she not, in her royal highness, not bother to even show up to assess you herself before she wrote you off, but she also signed off on your dismissal. And that, my child, means that regardless, she was responsible for denying you. One way or another”.

And with this, her logic struck a cord inside me. All this time I thought that it was my fault alone that my parents had died. To hear that someone else was responsible for it, even though I had committed the act was, to say the least, relieving. It made me feel not so horrible inside. However, I still had more questions.

“But, why would Princess Celestia do that? Everyone says such good things about her...”

“Because, my child, you only hear the good things about her. Look at me. Princess Celestia, using her niece Princess Cadence, destroyed my entire kingdom without batting an eye”.

“But you tried to enslave everypony in Canterlot so that you could harvest their love”.

With that comment, she stomped her hoof slightly, startling me. She quickly, however, recovered from her anger and her look softened again.

“Sorry......I didn’t mean to startle you. Anyway, its not my fault that we need love to feed on. Canterlot had lots of love to give and I needed to feed my army. We were made this way and I can’t change that”.

That made sense. Even though we ponies were their source of food, I guess she didn’t really want to feed on us.

Chrysalis’ eyes stopped suddenly on something. Following her eyes, I noticed it was my wings.

“And how did you get those?” she asked, pointing at my side.

I turned my head to try and determine to what she was referring.

“What?” I asked, unable to discern the nature of her question.

“That,” she said, poking my side. Or rather, my wings.

“Oh”.

I stood up and let them spread out. Her face was awed and her jaw wide open.

“My, my. Isn’t this interesting. Wings of a Pegasus and a Horn of a Unicorn”.

“I wasn’t always like this,” I replied.

“Oh? You weren’t born this way?”

“No. It happened a few days ago when my parents died. After the accident, I had these”. I had forgotten to mention that part of the story.

“Well, it seems fate has smiled on the unfortunate”.

“Huh?” I said, unclear again what she was referring to.

“Nevermind that, child. Get some sleep. You can lay next to me. I will keep you safe”.

Safe. That was an inviting word. I didn’t hesitate to curl up next to her and lay down. Her body was cold, but it didn’t take long for my own body heat to begin to reflect back on me. She extended one of her legs to allow me to use as a pillow. It was hard and gave very little, but after such a long day, I would have taken a rock.

“Get some sleep, my child. No one will get you,” she cooed softly. Her words were like honey and I soon was slipping off into a deep sleep. As I began to drift, a thought entered my mind that began to build until I said it out loud to Chrysalis.

“Queen Chrysalis?”

“Yes, my child?”

“I think I hate Princess Celestia”.

“Good, child. Good. We will do great things together. One day, we will get back at her for all she’s done to both of us. With your help, we will fix the wrongs she’s dealt us and make things right”.

And with that, the world went dark as I drifted into a deep and restful sleep. From that day

on, I drept of how much I hated Princess Celestia and how one day I would show her how much of a mistake it was to ever have sent me that letter.

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Chapter 8: Hell Fire

“You must be mistaken, child. I’ve never killed anyone,” Celestia answered, having regained her serene appearance after her initial shock of me accusing her.

“I am not a child!” I yelled back at her. “And it was not only your actions that killed my parents, but your inactions. You crushed everything I had lived for as a child! I had dreams of becoming a great and powerful mage! I used to want nothing more than to be a protector of Equestria. And what happened? You signed my life away. It was the simple stroke of a quill for you, but it was everything to me! A denial letter to your precious school. And in my desperation, I used the artifact you gave my father, not knowing what it would do”.

“Ember Weaver’s son........” the princess said softly in disbelief.

“I’m glad that you remember him, because it was you that caused his very death,” I replied coldly.

“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t regret what happened to your parents, child, but I didn’t......”

I cut her off. “I AM NOT A CHILD!” I exclaimed. I whipped a nearby end table at her with extreme force. She artfully dodged and used a counter spell to push it away before it struck her over the head.

“How DARE you attack a Princess of Equestria!” came a booming voice, this time from Princess Luna. She picked the object back up and tossed it back in my direction. However, her aim was much worse and the table breezed past my head and struck the wall behind, breaking into several large pieces. Princess Luna’s cheeks were starting to flush red with anger, seeping through her normally cool blue skin.

“What’s the matter, Princess? Afraid you’ll get a scratch on that perfectly pampered little coat of yours?” Chrysalis taunted. Luna snorted and her head lowered as her face became glowered toward Chrysalis.

“I’m afraid your accusations and taunting will no longer be entertained. You have no place here, Chrysalis. Leave this castle now, peacefully, or suffer the consequences”.

“If she goes, I do, Princess. And I would march through the gates of Tartarus before walking out of here with my intentions unfinished, Princess. You’re going to have to kill me like you did my father and mother before I’ll leave this castle”. I tramped my front legs against the marble floor.

“Very well. I had hoped you would both be reasonable, but I’m afraid you leave me no choice”.

Princess Celestia began to charge a spell. A restriction spell, from the looks of it. Princess Luna, on the other hand, was out for blood against Chrysalis, charging a destruction-type spell. Princess Celestia blasted a containment spell at my location, attempting to restrict me into a small field of magic. However, I was well prepared, having practiced counters to such spells with Chrysalis for many months. I flash transported behind the Princess, charged up a repulsion spell, and fired. The Princess, completely caught off guard, hurled several feet through the air. She recovered by extending her wings, slowing her tumble, just before striking a bookcase and lamp stand and then teleported herself back onto her feet.

“Impressive reflexes. I must admit, I’m not accustom to combat in recent years. However, if you think beginners tricks like that are going to finish me off, you are sorely mistaken,” Princess Celestia said cooly.

“Oh, I’ve got plenty more than that, I can assure you”.

I charge and fired another spell, this time an ice beam. The Princess quickly materialized a ward to reflect the spell, and it slashed fiercely against the protective field. Ice formed into a perfectly round ball, encasing the Princess inside. She remain silent for a moment, before a glow from inside the sphere erupted and shattered it. This was enough time, however, to teleport to another location once again. This time, using an invisibility spell to cloak my approach. The Princess scanned the room, confused at the sudden change of the game. Using an illusion spell, I spawned several copied shadows of myself around the room. They dodged around and ran at my will, causing the Princess to spray spells at them. It took her only a few tries to realize what was going on. The spells shattered the illusions when struck. It was then that I made my approach. Spawning 20 or so copies, I positioned myself among them, but behind the Princess and out of her view. I commanded them all to simulate a spell charge. She began to systematically eliminate them one by one, but before she could, I struck her with another ice attack. It struck her side with such force that she gasped as air exited from her lungs by the shock of it. All of my copies de-spawned, as I was unable to continue to maintain their appearance, but they had performed their task. The Princess fell to her side, her coat frozen.

I peered over to check on Chrysalis. She was handling Luna quite gracefully, but they were stuck at a stand off. I fired a few spells at Princess Luna that she wasn’t expecting, and Chrysalis managed to pin her to the ground. Luna bucked her off, sending Chrysalis sailing into a pillar. She quickly recovered, however, and charged right back in. I attempted to assist her from afar once again, but a restriction spell struck my legs, binding them to the ground with magically formed chains. They began to grab me more and more, continuing to grow and weave around my body like Boa Constrictors wrapping around its prey. Princess Celestia was standing again, approaching me with a smug grin on her face.

“Did you think I would go down after just one hit?” she goded. “You seem a bit tied up at the moment”.

Her voice was like nails to my ears. Her slightly superior tone made me want to take a cheese grater to them. Finally, I shouted out to Chrysalis to inform her of my next move.

“Chrysalis! Get out and restrict the window!” I barked. She peered over for a second, trying to discern my intentions. Finally, it clicked after a short couple of moments, and she darted from the room, narrowly being missed by a few spells Luna spat at her. Princesses Luna and Celestia both looked back and forth between each other and me. Then, Chrysalis hovered outside while spawning a containment spell around the window and door to keep in what I was about to unleash.

“And what exactly do you plan to.....” Celestia started to say. However, I had already begun charging to perform the spell necessary. Within a few seconds, the room began to shake slightly. Fire burst from my horn, growing into a dragon-esque form, spinning into a spiralling wall. The Princesses both gasped as my Fire Spin spell took a well formed shape and began to pull everything towards it. Tables caught fire, scrolls danced around the room as they were swept up in the moving air and fire, and the Princesses braced themselves against whatever they could grab ahold of. My chains cracked and sparked as they fell away and I was once again free. I was going to burn everything in the room and if it took me with it, so be it.

Princess Luna hugged a marble pillar for dear life a few dozen feet away as the room swirled harder and harder. Princess Celestia was hanging onto a bookshelf’s inner shelves as part of her body swayed around. Finally, larger objects started to shift, and a large coffee table ripped itself from the ground it was once rooted too. Without any way of stopping it, the flaming wooden object struck Princess Celestia, breaking her free from her grip, and she began to spin with the other objects. Objects smacked her and Princess Luna repeatedly. Princess Luna looked as if she managed to get behind the marble pillar, guarding herself from the bulk of the flying objects, but Princess Celestia wasn’t so fortunate. She flew around the room like a rag doll, knocking into objects both on the ground still and in the air, all the while getting burned by the flaming tornado. She continued to try and right herself with her wings, but another object would come along just as she was almost there and strike her again, knocking her around. Finally, when I could hold the spell no longer, I gathered up my remaining strength, concentrated the spell onto myself, and let it then explode outward, sending a flaming wave throughout the room that pushed everything far away from me and into corners and walls. Princess Celestia fell in the middle of the floor, near where the coffee table had once sat. Using a spell to quell the flames, I extinguished the room and moved a few objects out of the way for a direct walking path to Celestia. I was exhausted and that spell had drained almost all of my strength from me, but it had done its job. Princess Luna looked singed around the edges and laid dazed on the floor. Princess Celestia, however, had taken a much more severe beating. Red gleamed parts of her coat and noticeably bruised and burned portions of skin were showing bright black, blue, and pinkish-red splotches. Her crown laid several feet away and her chestplate had broken into two pieces and melted. Many of her feathers had been ripped from her wings and were scattered throughout the room and one of her legs was quite obviously broken.

I heaved breathes in and out of my chest, trying to catch my breath from the over-exertion. However, I could not help but grin maniacally. Princess Celestia was down for the count. No way she could fight me in her state now. I had won against her. I walked over to her as she groaned from the pain. She seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness, with moments of consciousness resulting in wincing on her face from the pain and her drifting back out. I reached out to touch her coat when I heard a cry from the other side of the room.

“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!” Princess Luna screamed. Chrysalis was back in the room, however, and subdued her with a containment spell of her own. Luna struggled under the same kind of chains Celestia has tried to us on me and she cried out as they bore down on her, scraping against her partially singed skin.

“Not so fast, Princess Looney,” Chrysalis taunted. She looked over in my direction and gave a nod of approval. She had the biggest grin on her face I had ever seen in the several years I had known her.

“We did it, Crissy,” I said.

“As much as I hate it when you call me that, I could honestly care less right now. We did it,” she replied back. She turned and tightened the chains around Princess Luna, who was still trying to struggle her way free.

At that moment, I felt a light touch on my right hoof. I snapped my head back around to see Princess Celestia, now partly awake, charging a spell as her horn was in contact with my leg. I began to do the same, trying to ensure that whatever she was about to do, I’d be ready for. However, before I could counter it, the floor of the world fell away and I began to fall into a black hole. The light of the world shone strong from above the pit that I fell hopelessly into. It felt strangely dream-like and before long, I spun right side up very slowly as my hooves touched solid ground in the blank abyss.

Chapter 10: Truth’s Catalyst

I watched Celestia’s eyes as she stared at me, a tear running down her face, and it was unbearable. All these years she had lived with the weight of her error, allowing it to eat at her. Her mouth cracked slightly and a small, unrecognizable sound emerged. I leaned in closer.

“.......I’m........s-sorry.......” she said before allowing her eyes to close and rest and her head slumping against the cold, marble floor.

She was sorry? I’m the one that should be sorry! I thought to myself.

My mind began to race and things seemed to move more slowly around me. Looking around the room, I saw Chrysalis still tormenting Princess Luna, holding her down with chains and prodding her with magical spells. Her continued resistance had taken its toll and she appeared very weak and was showing signs of faltering. Standing there and looking at all of the damage we had done together, I no longer felt hatred and satisfaction for the culmination of my plan, but sadness.

It was time to make things right. I only hoped that I was not too late. Without thinking, my body reacted, casting a healing spell on Celestia to help with her most likely soon to be fatal wounds. Her cuts and scrapes became less severe looking and the bruising and swelling subsided a bit. When I was satisfied, I turned to Chrysalis, still binding the helpless Princess Luna, and with all of my strength, I lunged straight at her, striking her in the side and knocking her down.

“WAHH! Dev, what in the world are you doing?!?!”

“What must be done”.

Without hesitation, I began to free the chains of Princess Luna, who was panting heavily. I snapped two strands of chain before I heard Chrysalis come from behind me.

“I WON’T LET YOU RUIN THIS FOR ME, YOU LITTLE IDIOT!” she exclaimed as she charged toward me. Artfully, I lept into the air, avoiding her charge and struck her with a repelling spell. She ungracefully lost her balance and tumbled into the pillar that was directly in front of her. After spinning around and coming to a rest on the floor, I cast an ice spell at her feet before she could regroup to retaliate again. Her hooves stuck to the ground as ice blocks formed at her feet, freezing her into position.

“Release me, you fool! Have you lost your mind?!?! You’re ruining all of our plans!” She yelled as she struggled to break her legs free.

“No. From what I’ve learned, I’m afraid I’ve made a terrible mistake in helping with this endeavour. One that I cannot continue.”

“Oh yeah? And what’s that?”

“Celestia never meant for my family to come to harm. She simply made a mistake. Not unlike myself”.

Chrysalis stood there with a look on her face so sour it was if she’d eaten a whole lime and bit into the center not knowing what it would be like.

“I should have known better than to have spent all this time training you. You’re a pony and I should have never thought you could be anything else”.

“And what is that supposed to mean, exactly?” I asked because I truly had no idea what she was talking about.

“You ponies and your harmony, honesty, love, and everything. You make me sick. You must all be born this way or something. You sobbing to me about your parents to me when you were young and talking about how much you felt guilty. I thought I could turn you into something better than these weak, pathetic creatures. I mean, just look! I’ve managed to almost beat Celestia twice! Only to have some sudden change circumstance ruin it all again. I hate you ponies. I’ve always hated you all!”

She sat scowling at me for a moment and I reeled in her directed anger. She had always protected me and now it seemed it wasn’t for anything except to use me.

“You’re weak. You’ll always be weak. Just like your parents. They were saps too and they deserved what happened to them”.

At that moment my skin flushed red hot with unadulterated rage at the insult at my parent’s expense. Looking straight into her eyes, I charged with all the force I could muster. She was expecting this and after finally breaking her feet free, dodged quickly. However, her movement was a touch too slow, allowing me to slam my shoulder into her flank with full force. She spun around violently. Before recovering, I smashed my front left hoof directly into her face, knocking her to the ground. Her body gave a shudder before falling to her side. I put my right hoof on her chest and looked her straight in the face. She struggled slightly, but I gave a quick jab to force her to stop in the stomach. Now frozen in fear, she looked straight into my eyes, her expression a mixture of panic and bewilderment. I raised my left hoof slowly into the air above her head, preparing to end it all for her. It was then that I allowed my eyes to focus on Celestia’s body, still laying still a few dozen feet away. I looked back at Chrysalis, still watching in fear, knowing her end could come at any moment. And then I let her go.

I stepped back a few inches from her before saying “Go” rather anticlimactically.

Her expression changed to confusion almost immediately when she realized what was happening.

“What do you mean, go?”

“I mean GO! Get out of here!”.

“.......but, why?”

“If this experience has taught me anything, its that revenge doesn’t get you anywhere. It only leads to more pain. Not to mention you raised me and have kept me safe for all of these years. For that I owe you at least your life, even if it was for self serving purposes. Just don’t ever show yourself in Canterlot again, C, because if you do and Celestia hasn’t executed me, I won’t let you leave again”.

My warning rang cold and menacing, even to my own ears. Chrysalis’ simply nodded and leapt silently from her spot out the window, disappearing into the night’s shadowy viel. Quickly, I proceeded to destroy the restraints holding Princess Luna down still. Now that Chrysalis was out of range, their protective spell to prevent removal was weakening, and the chains broke easily and without effort. Luna was seemingly unconscious throughout the entire process. However, as the last chain link broke and the tension on her restraints fell, her eyes suddenly shot open and focused on me. Before I could react, she sprang up from her spot and pinned me to the ground, my back-side facing the ground and her above me.

“You! I’ll kill you for your crimes, you treacherous foal!” she sat as she spat from rage directly at me.

“Princess, wait!” I pleaded, trying to struggle free. The thought of using magic to repel her crossed my mind, but I didn’t want to hurt her any further.

“What’s the matter? Don’t like being on the other side of.........wait..........where did Chrysalis go?”

“I let her go,” I said.

“But….I don’t understand….”

“I broke her spells holding you down and let her go,” I said, seemingly repeating the same thing.

“Wait......you STOPPED her? Why would you do that?”

“Celestia showed me the truth of what happened. I.........couldn’t keep letting this happen. So, I freed you and did my best to heal her wounds a bit.”

I could feel the princess’ grip soften a bit, but still stand firm, ready to stop me if I continued to resist.

“Please, Princess. We need to get your sister to medical care. She’s not well”.

It was at the mention of this that she noticed her sister laying still on the floor.

“Sister!”

She released me suddenly, darting toward Celestia, wrapping her legs around her. I rolled over and got to my feet, approaching her cautiously.

“We need to get her to a doctor. She’s still alive, but she’s in bad shape,” I said calmly and she sobbed into her sister’s neck.

“Princess!” I said as I lightly shook her front right shoulder. She turned sharply and glared at me, tears running from her face.

“You did this to her……..you monster!” Luna said with a growling sound.

“I know. Words cannot express my regret for what has happened, but she’s dying! We need to get her to a doctor. Now!”

My words sparked a jolt of directional motivation as her expression subsided and she began to hoist her sister onto her back. However, her injured and weakened body wouldn’t have it and she quickly collapsed under the weight. I quickly grabbed Celestia and hoisted her onto my own back and began to cast my same healing spell from before. Celestia was heavy, but I was far more capable of bear the load than Luna.

“Help me by also casting a healing aura around her. I will carry her. Where can we take her?”

Luna stood back up and thought for a minute on this. “There is a doctor in the castle that tends to the needs of royalty. He is in one of the buildings in the center courtyard”.

“Good. Lead the way,” I commanded reverently.

Luna cast her spell as well, combined with a weak levitation spell that helped to lighten Celestia. As we exited the doorway, three guards that had been trying to open the door throughout the entire struggle abruptly stopped us.

“Stand aside!” Princess Luna commanded. The concerned guards acknowledged and followed behind. It wasn’t long before we reached the courtyard and rapped on the doctor’s door. As it opened, the grogginess from his apparently recent slumbering state was quickly overcome with immediate concern.

“Bring her inside, quickly!” he stated with earnest.

The doctor lead us into a guest bedroom where I laid Princess Celestia on a soft and plush bed with deep purple and gold cloth covering it.

“Please wait outside. I’ll take care of the rest,” the doctor stated firmly as he shuffled us out of the room. Princess Luna and I walked into the living room, where the doctor’s wife directed, now awake as well. I sat down on the floor, allowing my body a reprieve from the constant abuse.

“Guards, arrest that stallion,” Princess Luna command, directing them at me.

I looked up, surprised for a moment at her abruptness, but I suppose there was no other way this was going to play out. I might have helped carry the Princess to the doctor, but there was no guarantee she was going to make it and I was the one that inflicted the damage she received in the first place. This was likely going to be my last moment of freedom before death.

The guards approached cautiously with a magical dampening clamp and cuffing links for my legs. I lowered my head obediently as they clamped the object on my horn and placed the cuffs and chains around my legs. Princess Luna looked unsure of herself and she directed them out of the house, most likely due to the fact she didn’t have any idea of my motives or whether my sudden change of heart was genuine. Neither of which she could deal with at the moment with her sister in mortal coil.

The guards lead me into an underground passageway near the outer walls. The passageway descended into a cold and damp underground system. After several confusing and seemingly random turns around various areas, we arrived at a section that was lined with metal-barred cells. The guards lead me to the first caged cell, removed my leg restraints, and lead me inside, closing the door behind me and magically charging the bars with protection spells. I looked around at my new, likely permanent home before curling up on the hard bed to take time for some much needed sleep.

Chapter 11: Judgement Day

Several days passed, each day with 3 meals of rather unimaginative gruel for food and constant staring at the walls of my cell. If there was one thing about being locked up in a dungeon that I had not expected, it was how much time I would have to be bored. That being said, in retrospect, I probably should have. I knew there would be long expanses of time where I’d have nothing to do in this prison and I would likely get bored, but I hadn’t really known how much it scratches at the back of your mind.

On the 7th day of my incarceration, two guards approached my cell.

“Prisoner,” the first guard said starkly, “come with us”.

I simply nodded and proceeded to the doorway. The protective field on the bars dropped and the two guards placed cuffs on my legs once again. The magical restraint, which was still on my head, was left in place.

This was it, I thought to myself. The princess was going to judge me. In all likelihood I was either looking at life in prison or death by execution. Personally, after spending 6 and a half days in prison, I found the idea of dying much more appealing than being stuck in that cell for the rest of my life. If less than a weak was already starting to wear on me, several decades would drive me slowly into madness.

The guards lead me upwards once again through the same seemingly random patterns of paths until we emerged into the light of day. The irony was how much I missed the sun, seeing as how the person I tried to kill was responsible for raising it. Its warm glow felt good on my skin, which was rather accustomed to it from the darkness of the dungeons. I shivered a bit at the sudden flood of warmth.

The guards lead me up the stairway to the Princess’ quarters. As they rapped on the door, a very faint voice replied “Please enter”. It sounded very much like Celestia, but with much less power than I was used to. Entering the room, Celestia was lying in bed while Luna stood up from the seat next to the bed. Two guards were posted outside of her bedroom entrance in addition to the ones escorting me through her living room. Celestia motioned for me to enter. I walked several steps, the clanking of my dirty chains seemed oddly loud in her presence. Perhaps I simply was more conscious of them. As I looked down, I saw that I was making a mess on the carpeting in the room and had been for some time.

“I......uhm.......I’m sorry princess. My restraints are making a mess.....” I mumbled out. It was a strange thing to be concerned about, but it bothered me anyway.

“Oh, that’s quite alright,” she stated. “Guard. Please remove the cuff restraints. I don’t believe Mr. Devoran plans me or my sister any further harm. Is that correct?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied meekly. The guard quickly and efficiently removed the cuffs from my ankles.

“The magic dampener as well,” the princess clarified and the guard removed that as well. Once removed, I reached up and rubbed it a little. It had been itching for days.

“Please, join us. If you would give us a few minutes of privacy, gentlemen, I would appreciate it”.

The guards looked rather concerned and taken aback. “I beg your pardon, Princess, but I would feel neglectful leaving you alone with this criminal. Especially in your current state,” the highest ranked guard in the room stated earnestly.

“That’s quite alright, Mr. Armor. I will be just fine. I do, however, appreciate your concern”.

“As you wish, Princess. I will be outside listening for your call, should you need anything”.

With that, the guard exited the room, leading the others out as well. The princess motioned once again for me to come closer, and I did slowly until I was about a foot from the edge of the left side of her bed. Her eyes were unnervingly calm and fixed upon me. Unsure of what to do, my eyes shifted between the wooden planks on the floor and her eye.

“I’m sure you know why I summoned you here, Mr. Devoran,” the princess spoke softly and calmly.

“I assumed that you were planning on informing me of the punishment for my actions toward you and your sister, ma’am”.

“That is part of it, yes”.

“I deserve whatever punishment you deem fit, Princess. I will not resist. You would not be outside of your right to have me executed for my actions and I understand that. I made a grave mistake in judgement and I nearly killed you and your sister out of revenge for something you had never intended to do.

“Yes, you did,” she said camly.

“And I assisted Chrysalis, a sworn enemy of Equestria”.

“Very true,” she continued to echo.

“I am to blame for your injuries and I deserve to die,” I said, looking down at the floorboard again.

It was at this point that I felt a soft touch on my right shoulder of a hoof. I looked up to see Princess Celestia staring straight at me. Her eyes showed no signs of anger or malice. Only sorrow as her eyes and a misty look as if she was on the verge of tears..

“I’m afraid there is a great deal of blame to go around, Mr. Devoran. The truth is my negligence and lack of concern for some things cost your parents their lives and easily could have cost you yours as well. Even if I wasn’t the direct vehicle for the sequence of events, I certainly built it. You were forced to run into the protection of one of my mortal enemies who twisted you and sent you bent on a path of destruction that could have been avoided had I simply shown concern where it was due”.

The princess paused for a minute to let her words sink in a bit. I had not expected such a response.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Devoran, we still all must answer to our mistakes. You still choose revenge. Something your father would have been very disappointed in, I’d imagine. I still remember the day I appointed him as one of my most esteemed enchanters. I’m afraid things simply haven’t worked as well as they did when he worked here. He was very gifted and an honorable man. He always put others ahead of himself and it showed in his work and in his relationships with others”.

“Yes he was.....” I said softly.

“As a result of your decision, certain consequences must be put in place”.

“As I said, Princess, my life is yours”.

“You seem to think that death is the option I’ve chosen, Mr. Snapcaster”.

“I don’t understand.....”.

“I believe that someone of your.....particular magical talent.....would be most helpful to Canterlot and all of Equestria’s provinces. It is with that, Mr. Snapcaster, that I am sentencing you to indefinite service to the crown of Equestria. You are to serve under Princess Luna and I as a Mage of the throne. Its been quite some time since we had a head Mage for the court. I only hope that you will accept. I, too, have consequences to accept. I only hope that I can use this opportunity to atone for them”.

What the princess was saying didn’t sound like punishment at all. In fact, it sounded like everything I’d dreamed of as a foal coming true.

“You want me to work for you, Princess? On your court?” I asked.

“Precisely. If you would do me the kindness,” she said softly.

I could help but burst out in excitement.

“Oh THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Princess! I.....uhm.....thank you. I don’t deserve such charity”.

Princess Celestia chuckled a bit at my excited outburst before recomposing herself, now with a smile.

“Everyone deserves a second chance, Mr. Snapcaster. Excuse me, Arch-mage Snapcaster, as it is now. I think you’ll find that the title is a lot more work that you think,” the Princess said. I stepped away from her bed slightly and gave a very abrupt bow.

“Princess, I will follow you and your sister’s leadership until the end....ouch”. I stood up, striking my head against the end of the bed. I reached around to the back of my head to rub my injury before finishing “.....of time”.

This time, both Luna and Celestia burst into laughter at my apparent clumsiness. I, too, couldn’t help but chuckle a little at my own foolishness.

Chapter 9: Truth is in the Eye of the Beholder

The hazy world that I had been plopped into swirled and dipped in and out of focus, like fog moving around in a dark forest. The spell Celestia cast on me was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. Where was I? A magical dungeon in some sort of pseudo-reality? As I began to form ideas in my head, the smokey surroundings began to form into shapes and figures. Slowly at first, but then rushing together and filling with colorful arrangements. A large desk, a library-like office, and two ponies formed out of the smoke. Once settled, it was obvious who they were. Princess Celestia sat behind the desk, looking over various documents and notes splayed around in a rather un-orderly pattern. Princess Luna stood on the opposite side of the desk and was starting to speak.

It became clear now what this was. It was a memory spell. The sensation was rather jarring and fuzzy. The only question that remained was why Princess Celestia would have used a memory spell. What could she possibly show me that I didn’t already know about her past? Was she just trying to buy time? Surely not. From everything I’d read on memory spells, they were nearly instant. Whatever experiences that came from one did not cause any time lapse in the real world. I stepped closer and the sounds became focused.

“Sister,” Princess Luna began, “Many of these students deserve to be in your school. Most of them simply made a mistake or two in their exams. They should be allow to retake them!” As I approached the desk, it was obvious that testing results where what littered the desk’s surface. Gifted Unicorns Entrance Examinations by the look of their covers.

“I know, sister. I wish I could accept them all, but you know that we have limited space and simply don’t have the resources right now to let these fillies retake their exams. If any of them pass, we’ll be driving ever more our already over-allocated number of students this year. We already have over two dozen students that I don’t know where we’re going to put. How can we possibly accommodate more?” Princess Celestia stated candidly.

“I know.......” Luna continued, “Its just that many of their parents have sacrificed so much to get them into this school. The entrance fees and testing fees, as you know, are very high”.

“I know. I wish they didn’t have to be, but running this school is a great expense to the state and seemingly grows more and more each year. Without the testing fees, this school could never be at all”.

“Sister……...” Luna pleaded.

“No. I’m afraid this is the only way to run the school for the time being. After all, if we let everyone in it wouldn’t be for gifted Unicorns anymore. We’ll try and figure something out for next year. I promise”.

“Like that’s ever going to happen.....” Luna stated in sarcastic disbelief. “You said the same thing LAST year, Tia!”

“I’ll get to it one day, Luna. Don’t worry. We’ll figure out how to fund the school and expand it soon”.

“You’ve been saying that for almost a decade now, sister”.

“Has it really been that long?”

“I’m afraid it has...... You know, you should just put together a council to help you”.

“Maybe one day, but for now, send these applicants their rejection letters. They’ll just have to try again next year, I’m afraid”.

In the shuffling, one name stuck out. Devoran Snapcaster. Princess Celestia had seemingly stacked the applicants by most to least likely to be accepted. And mine was laying on top.

“Yes sister.......” and with that, Princess Luna walked out of the room and the smoke began to swirl once again. When the smoke began to settle, it formed into the burnt, severely damaged form of my childhood home. Princess Celestia stood outside, examining the wreckage with several Royal Guards.

“What happened here, Captain?” Princess Celestia inquired. One Unicorn turned to face the Princess. He bowed in reverence.

“Your majesty, there has been a magical accident. It appears that a few ponies were killed by some sort of magical artifact. According to our records, this was the home of Flicker Sprint and Ember Weaver. Flicker Sprint was a......” he continued before being cut off.

“I’m sorry, did you say Flicker Sprint? The former Wonderbolt?” Princess Celestia interjected.

“Uhm.....yes, Your Majesty. And Ember Weaver. According to our records, he was a chief enchanter for the Royal Guard’s armor and facilities, as well as a member to the Royal Counsel. Your own appointing,” the guard continued.

“That is terrible news, Captain. I had just met with Ember a few weeks ago,” Princess Celestia said while her composure returned, “Do we know how this occurred?”

“Not precisely, but we know that the artifact was not activated by either of the parents”.

“Parents?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m afraid there was a third that lived here. Their son who went by the name of ‘Devoran Snapcaster’. According to the neighbors, some yelling broke out over an unknown cause. We investigated further using time spells to try and look at details of the event. Unfortunately, we are unable to completely recreate the event, because the magical anomaly that caused their deaths has also fractured this area’s temporal history, occluding them from our vision. It seems the family received some sort of news today that upset them. We can’t quite piece it together, though”.

“Did anyone survive the incident?”

“Although much of the event, as I said is occluded, it seems that everyone within the home perished from the event”.

“I see,” the Princess said. “May I have a look around?”

“Yes, your majesty. We’re nearly finished with our investigations. You’ll have a full report by end of day”.

“Thank you”.

Celestia wandered into the broken mess of a home, examining the carnage.

“What have I done……” she said to herself, looking quite disturbed.

Celestia walked into the Kitchen. The room was fairly untouched from the event as it was on the opposite side of the structure. Only minor damage was sustained, with items here and there knocked over from the percussive nature of the blast. A small end table caught Celestia’s eye. A picture frame laid on its face, fallen over from the house shaking, no doubt. Lifting up the frame, it was one of my family’s portraits shrunk down. The glass face was broken and cracked, so the Princess slowly removed the photo from its frame to examine it.

“He had a son…….how did I not know that?”

At that moment, Princess Celestia stepped on a piece of paper on the floor. The crunching sound steered her attention to it and she picked it up. It was singed around the corners slightly, but remained in tact. It was my rejection letter. Celestia’s face became crestfallen and upset.

“Oh stars…….”.

With that, the scene began to change and the area once again swirled into a gray-blue fog that began to reform. As the smoke formed into new solid shapes, the figure of Princess Celestia reappeared. She sat in a room on a set of pillows, holding and reading a manilla folder near a fireplace. As I walked closer, I read the tab on the side: “Magical Incident# 32541-A - Family of Ember Weaver Incident”. The Princess, hunched over examining the picture on the folder suddenly jolted with a sob and it was clear the pages were covered in droplets of tears. It looked as if she had not slept in some time, as dark circles formed around her eyes. Pictures of the event were splayed across the floor in front of her as she sat examining them and the report in the folder, her eyes slowly shifting one to the other. After the fourth or fifth time, the large hall door to the room opened with a soft clank leading into the room. Princess Luna appeared in the doorway, checking around the room for a moment in search of her sister. When she noticed her, she spoke to her from across the room.

“Sister! Its almost time for dawn,” She stated as she walked toward her. “What are you doing up at this hour? Have you been awake all night?”

At this point she was only a few feet from Celestia when she stopped suddenly, noticing the despair on her expression.

“Tia?” she said much softer.

“.....his teachers said he was always very gifted in magic. He practiced everyday, you see........”

“What? Who?” Luna said, very confused.

“The Weaver child........Devoran.”

“Is that what has you upset, sister? I know you care very deeply for all of your subjects, but it was an accident. There was nothing you could do. No way you could have known about it to help”.

“Are you sure about that?”

“I know you hold yourself to a high standard, sister, but you couldn’t possibly expect to be in all places at all times”.

“This one, though, I’m afraid is very largely my fault, sister”.

“What do you mean?” Luna asked, her tone changing to inquisitively concerned.

“The child was upset over a letter he had received that day”.

“A letter? I seem to recall something about that from the report. What did it say?”

“It was a rejection letter.....my rejection letter”.

“Your rejection letter? To the school? But there are plenty of potential students that receive rejection letters all the time. If they cannot pass the tests, we couldn’t simply let them in anyway. Otherwise, the school would no longer be for the elite casters”.

Celestia leaned over and picked up another manilla file from next to her seat. This one has a different color coding on the label. Its label stated “Student Entry Evaluation: Devoran Snapcaster”. She opened to the first page and began to read.

“Name: Devoran Snapcaster, son of Ember Weaver

Status: ATTENTION: Pending Schoolmaster Review

Grade Level: B - See Notation

Notes: Student appears to possess a strong, potent arcane ability, although his abilities are very unrefined. Extremely nervous tendency and largely self-taught experience without proper guidance is likely attributed to issues during testing period. During testing, the student’s fire spell, which was intended to be used to complete the test objective, resulted in minor injury of proctors. Applicant is given a B level exclusively due to his inability to complete the objective, but it is the recommendation of the proctor committee that the student be accepted into the school, should space allow, as the student’s abilities could result in harmful discharge without proper training. If this is not possible, at the very least, other arrangements should be made for training. Submitting student for final review.”

The princess closed the envelope, her breathing quite shallow to the point of an almost entire lack of sound. The room hung with awkwardly chilling silence until Celestia finally spoke up.

“I never even read the file, sister. You even tried to have me go through them. I was simply too busy to be bothered with the life of one of my subjects.....and now three of them are dead because of it. They were dead the moment I filed away this folder. There were at least a dozen other promising students with special notes for my review that I completely blew off without a second thought”.

Luna stood planted to the ground as she absorbed what she was hearing.

“So.....you made a mistake. Everypony makes them. Even you and I”.

It was then that Celestia pulled out another folder. This one red with white text. Its label read “Isolated/Dangerous Magical Artifact”. Celestia handed the document to Luna.

“What’s this?” she asked as she opened the folder and began to read.

“That is what killed that family. An artifact I assigned to Ember Weaver to study called the desire stone. It seems that his son got ahold of it. It grants wishes, you see…..but at great cost”.

“Oh sister….you couldn’t have known….”

“I should have known, Luna. I should have. I didn’t even know he had a son”.

Luna walked closer, resting her hoof on her sister’s shoulder.

“Tia, you couldn’t have known. It was a great mistake, its true. But its not one you made on purpose. At least you can still look at yourself knowing that you did it by accident. I turned into a monster of the night that attempted to overthrow my very own sister. My own blood. At least you can soothe your conscience with that, Tia. I’m sure that if you had known you needed to step in, you would have. And I would help you with it”, Luna said with a weak smile as she gently lifted the chin of her older sister.

Sniffling slightly, Celestia lifted her head and peered into her younger sister’s eyes with such pain and remorse that even watching without their knowledge of your existence was painful. To stare directly into her eyes would seemingly be unbearable.

“What’s done is done, sister. The only thing we can do now is be better next time”.

“When did you become so wise, Lune?”

“Hmph. I’ve always been wise,” Luna teased, cracking a slight corner-of-the-mouth grin.

Celestia simply responded with a slight smile and an “Indeed”.

The room began to fade away and swirl with violent spirals. As it settled, I was standing in a staunch white room with no discernible walls or objects of any kind. The only thing that filled the space was a dark, cloud-like plume of smoke that swirled around and around, devoid of much form. It slowly and lazily collected until it created an exact replica of myself standing 10 feet in front of me. I began to step closer and the replica did the same, mimicking my moves and actions. Somehow, however, there was something that felt wrong about the form. I couldn’t quite put my hoof on it, but there was definitely something that didn’t match. It was like staring at two identical pictures of a forest of hundreds of trees and the artist telling you one was missing a tree. You knew they were different, but can’t figure out why.

As I got within reach of the form, I reached out to touch it. It did the same, continuing to mimic my actions. That was, until I was just about to touch it on the nose. At that instant, the form broke its perfect performance and slapped away my outstretched leg. I stepped back, slightly startled by the sudden confirmation that I was not looking in a mirror image of myself.

“Who.....or what are you?” I asked.

“I’m you. Or, to be more specific, I am the you that you’ve become,” the form responded with a cold tone.

“The me that I’ve become?”

“Cold, calculating, and precise. I am what keeps you alive and helps you complete your right to revenge. But now, you’re questioning yourself. And because of this, I am here to convince you to correct that dire mistake”.

“I only question myself because of what I’ve saw. Princess Celestia....”

“Showed you exactly what she wanted you to see,” the form interrupted. “Celestia is just trying to trick you into faltering. She killed our parents and now has created this elaborate story for you to see so that you’ll be tossed into doubt about your purpose. Don’t let her”.

“I’ve studied a lot of memory spells. That felt very real. I’ve never heard of anyone managing to fake one,” I responded, confident in my knowledge.

“You don’t think that someone as powerful as Celestia couldn’t fake a memory?”

The figure had a point. Faking a memory spell would be nearly impossible for a Unicorn, but there was never anything documented on someone as powerful as Celestia trying.

“Why would Celestia be so surprised I’m alive, then? Surely coming up with a story that elaborate would have to be planned and practiced. She seemed absolutely shocked I was even still around”.

The figure hissed in disgust. “That’s simply what she wants you to believe. She’s deceiving you”.

“I don’t even know what you are for sure. Why should I believe you? You’re awfully adamant in her guilt. If you were truly me, as you claim to be, you wouldn’t disregard evidence. You’d examine it with scrutiny. Whatever you are, you are most certainly not me”.

“Lissssssten to me, you dolt!” the figure hissed.

“I don’t think so, whatever you are. Who are you!?! Reveal yourself!”

The figure’s form dissolved violently into a cloud before reshaping itself back into a perfect shape of none other than Chrysalis.

“You should have just believed me. Now I’m going to make you wish you had,” the figure said with a hissing lisp.

Without warning, the figure leapt into the air, dispersing once again into a smoky smog. The room’s former white began to bleed and tear inky blackness all around. The figure reached out and grabbed my legs and neck, pressing me to the ground as I struggled to get free. Its tentacle-like forms only tightened harder and harder until its grip made it impossible to breathe. I could feel the blood pumping in my ears as I began to drift into unconsciousness. The world spun and blurred as my body began to fall limp to the ground. Just as the world was about to go dark and my last bit of struggle ceased, a blinding light pierced the darkness, cutting through the appendages holding me. They quickly dispersed and evaporated into nothingness with sickeningly screeching screams of pain. I fell to the ground as the blood rushed to my head, instantly snapping my brain back into action. As my eyes cleared I saw a stallion and mare standing opposite of an obviously injured figure of Chrysalis. The smoky form appeared to be struggling to hold its shape as portions of it phased from solid to smoke and back again. The stallion and mare both lowered their heads and fired a blast directly into the chest of the dark being, evaporating it from existence. The room had been restored to a pearlescent white once again and was devoid of its corrupted former state. The figures walked toward me and as they came to focus, I realized what, or more precisely who they were.

“Mom......dad......but.......you’re”

“.....dead?” my father finished with a quizzically chipper sound in his voice. “Well, I suppose in some ways, you’re completely right son. We are no longer living in the same world that you do. However, that doesn’t mean we don’t exist anymore”.

“We exist in you, son,” my mother cooed with her relaxing voice. Hearing her speak made waves of reassuring relief wash over me.

“What do...you mean?” I said.

“Well, its like everyone says, my son. Those you love never truly leave you. Some part of your heart holds on to those you’ve lost that were most dear to you. When the desire stone took our lives to make your wish come true, it left an imprint of us on you. We’ve always been with you, son. For a while there, though, it was hard to reach you. Vengeance and hatred clouded you until we couldn’t see you anymore”.

Embarrassed and guilty from what I had done, I looked away. My mother’s look didn’t feel or appear judging, but her disappointment in her voice was enough.

“I’m sorry, mom and dad. For everything. I got you both killed and I let you both down on this quest for revenge,” I said staring at the ground in front of me. Suddenly, I felt my chin being tugged upwards and as I let the hoof lift my head back up, I was met once again with my mother’s eyes.

“Oh, Devvie. You don’t have to apologize for what happened to us. We forgave you long ago. What happened was an accident and we know you didn’t mean for it to be so,” she said. My mother was now crying, which only made me do the same. She reached out and grabbed me in a powerful hug.

“I love you son. No matter what,” she said, tugging a little tighter. My father slowly walked over and joined in. The tighter their embrace, the more I felt free. Free from the weight that had burdened me for so long. When they finally let me go and I had cleared my eyes, my parents were both smiling as my father wrapped his leg around my mother’s shoulder. Their smiles faded a little, however, and somehow I knew they would have to go soon.

“You need to set things right, son. Celestia didn’t deserve your contempt and she doesn’t deserve it now. Remember, we’ll always be here with you to help you when you’re unsure of yourself or what’s the right thing to do”.

“What if Celestia and Luna decide to kill me? Or exile me?” I asked, realizing the very real possibility.

“Well, son, I’m afraid sometimes we need to live with the consequences of our actions, corrected or not. Whatever they decide, make sure you did your best before they do to set things right. That’s really all you can do,” my father replied a little somber. “That’s how I lived my life and I’d say it turned out pretty good. I ended up with you, after all,” he said with a wink.

Hearing my father say that put what I could only imagine at the stupidest grin on my face, but I didn’t care. Both my parents chuckled a bit before giving me one last hug.

“We love you son,” my mother said as the room swirled once again. “And remember.......if you ever doubt yourself again, just remember we’re always here. And if you ever doubt that for a second, you just have to look in the mirror. You have your father’s gift for magic and your mother’s wings now”.

Their figures disappeared and I once again was picked up into the air. When the room formed once again, I was standing back where I started. Standing over Celestia.