Devoran Chronicles: Fire of the Phoenix

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.