<<>>

The memory fades out, this time you gently come back to reality, and looking at the crystal that was before you, you never had thought that the Headmaster was that old, most stallions didn't last a hundred years, none of them lasted to be a hundred and ten, so for the Headmaster to be over two hundred was a shock. You were deep in thought about what else you would learn about the Headmaster through these memory crystals when you felt a hand on your shoulder, making you freeze.

“I thought you were in here for a bit too long, young one.” you hear the wise, elderly voice of the Headmaster say behind you, making you gulp in fear.

“S-sorry Headmaster, I was looking for w-what I needed when I found this room… curiosity got the b-better of me and I had to explore… as for the crystals, I o-only looked through the first two, n-no more.” you say without moving, the hand on your shoulder lifts, letting you turn around.

The Headmaster is looking at you with almost a prideful glee in his eyes, as if he had been waiting for somepony to do this, what really caught you off guard was that he started to chuckle, he then gave into a small laugh, you looked at him confused, until he stops laughing and looks at you with joy.

“Young one, I have been waiting for someone to find this room, why do you think I've let everyone who's asked into my personal library?” he asked leaning forward on the walking cane, an eyebrow raised at you as if he knew you had the answer.

“It couldn't be a coincidence that he let everypony into his library just for the heck of it… there had to be a reason, because if anypony else found this room, then there’d be whispers, and in this place, whispers go from one place to everywhere, every hall, class, room, and dorm, unless…” you think before your eyes go wide at the answer as your head shoots up to look at the Headmaster, a curious look met you.

“It was a test… you were testing everypony that came in, if they found this room, then they passed… but that's not all is it, only a certain somepony could find this door, see the Spiral and the crystals, otherwise they’d walk right past the door without even see it.” you say as the answer falls from your lips, the scenario becoming more clear as you thought about it, the headmaster simply clapped his hands at the answer.

“Congrats young one, you are correct, this very room is heavily enchanted to have only a certain individual see both the room and what's past the door, and yes this was a test, one that you alone have passed. So congrats young one, you've earned a special spot in the magic community.” the Headmaster replied before walking over to a small alcove you didn't notice before and pulled out a small box and two card holders, one was significantly smaller than the other.

“What are those Headmaster?” you ask as he brings them over to you.

“Well, this deck holder is yours, until you can find a bigger one to hold more cards in it.” he explained handing over the smaller deck holder to you, you take it carefully before the Headmaster buckles the second one around his waist, you quickly follow his example. “Now, as for this box, well, it's to help us determine what school you belong to.” he replied, getting you to look at the box curiously.

The Headmaster walked over to the Spiral and opened the box, ten small crystals came flying out and began hovering over each of the crystal orbs that held images.

“Now i'm sure you're curious as to what these places are, so I will tell you, this is the realm of the origin of Life, also known by many generations as MooShu, home of the Samoorai. It is here that those who learn the art of Life are most powerful, and the best Theurgists come from here, this place is one of the three Spirit School locations.” he started to explain as he pointed to the orb that had a green crystal floating above it, you nodded and let him continue. “Over here we have the first of the three Elemental School locations, the home of Marleybone, those who are strong Diviners come from here.” he said pointing to an orb with a purple crystal floating above the orb.

“That just looks like Manehattan.” you say getting him to look at the orb again before chuckling.

“I suppose it does, doesn't it, but sadly, Manehattan is here in Equestria, not on the other side of the universe.” he replied before continuing on with his lecture. “Now here we have Polaris, those who are like me, and are Thaumaturges are strongest here, as it's the coldest place you may find in the Spiral, this is the second location for the Elemental Schools.” he continued, pointing to the light blue crystal with an image of a frozen wasteland was seen in the orb.

“That just looks like the Frozen North, are you sure these aren't just showing different places in Equestria?” you ask the Headmaster, he chuckles a bit before smiling a sad smile.

“Yes, I am quite sure that these places exist, I've been to them myself on a grand quest, i'm sure you know of it from the first memory crystal.” he says before motioning to the first crystal that you peered into.

“Something about defeating somepony named Malistaire, right?” you ask as you look from the crystal to the headmaster, who nods his head gravely.

“I will tell you that story later, but for now, we must continue, onto the final location of the Elemental Schools, we have Dragonspyre, this place was once a haunted forest, but after a tragic event with the Dragon Titan who ruled over it, it turned into an area of fire and lava, those who are Pyromancers are strongest in this area.” he says pointing towards the red crystal that was above a red and black temple with the image of a dragon on top of it. “This doesn't look like anything from Equestria or the Dragon Lands, now does it.” he said glancing over at me, making me study the orb in question, it certainly didn't.

“It doesn't, so that’s definitely a different place.” you say before the Headmaster nods and points to another orb, this one having a black crystal above it.

“That is Khrysalis , and no, not the Changeling Queen who was imprisoned in stone, this place is the second location of the Spirit Schools, it's also where Necromancers are at their best, for the magic there is riddled with the souls of the dead.” he explains as you see a dark forest with a large graveyard.

“That place looks really creepy, do I have to go there?” you ask as you look away from the dark scene towards the Headmaster, who is currently wearing a small frown.

“No, you do not, and be lucky you do not, for unless you are a Necromancer, or plan to try the Death arts, you will be avoiding that place.” he said with a cold tone, indicating that he had some bad memories of that place.

“Of course Headmaster.” you say quickly before you notice the other crystals that were closest to you, one a light brown and the other a greenish yellow. “What are these places Headmaster?” you ask pointing to the two orbs, bringing him out of his dark reminiscing.

“Ah, yes, those are the Krokotopia and Azteca, the locations of the Balance and the final Spirit School respectively, Krokotopia is a vast desert with great pyramids and ancient magic, those who are Sorcerers come from here, and are arguably the most powerful, as it is the center-point of the schools of Spirit and Elemental.” he explains, pointing to the brown crystal first then moving towards the yellowish crystal. “Now while the area of Azteca is still fairly new to the Spiral locations, it's inhabitants are not, as within this place roam the oldest known beings to the Spiral, the Aztecosaurs, it is here that the first Conjurers were born, and magic of Myth was first introduce to the rest of the spiral.” he said looking at the lush grass and intricate buildings, but that was before you notice the other four crystals not hovering above any of the orbs.

“Headmaster, what about those four crystals on the edge of the Spiral, do they belong to anyplace?” you ask, getting the Headmaster to look at the gold, silver, dark grey and light grey crystals.

“Ah yes, those four schools, no, they do not belong to any specific place, as they are the oldest forms of magic out there in the Spiral, if any of these four were to react to you, then you will find a brand of magic that can surpass even the current princess in ability and power.” he explained, as we watched the four crystals float around the spiral.

“What are they for them to have that much power?” you ask, he chuckles before pointing to them one by one.

“In order, they are Sun, Moon, Star and Shadow, the first signs of magic came from these four, as for light to exist, shadows must be there to balance the light, the schools of Storm, Life and Death come from the Stars, Fire, Myth and Life came from the Sun, and Ice, Death and Myth come from the Moon.” he explains, it boggled your mind that there was such a deep connection between these schools of magic that tie them all together.

“Wait, but what about Balance, surely it ties into the schools somehow.” you comment, you see the Headmaster chuckle a little before pulling out an intricate staff from his robes, how he was able to fit it in them, you had no idea.

“I believe it would be better to show you what I mean, rather than explain it.” he replied waving the staff through the air, it shimmered before two interlocking triangles were within a circle that was within a square.

You could see that between the square a circle were four of the same symbols, which looked like a black spiral, on the edges of the circle, where the biggest of the two triangles touched, there were three different symbols, on the top left corner there was a storm cloud with a bolt of lightning, across from it was a flame, while on the last corner at the bottom center was a snowflake. There on the lines of the larger triangle were three more symbols, which were at the points of the smaller triangle, at the top, between the flame and storm cloud was a green leaf, between the flame and the snowflake was an eye within a triangle, and between the storm cloud and the snowflake was a skull, in the small sections between the two triangles, a sun, crescent moon, and a star was there, and finally, in the center of the smaller triangle was a set of even scales.

“These are the schools of magic we ‘Card Callers’ use, as you can see each of them are connected to another in some way, while the school of balance helps keep them from destroying each other.” he said before waving away the image, it took you a moment before you looked back at the image of the Spiral, and the crystals floating there.

“So how do we find out what school I am Headmaster?” you ask as you look at the crystals in turn.

“Well that's easy young one, just touch the diamond, and let your magic flow, the crystals will glow if they respond to your magic.” he replied guiding you to the large diamond in the center, you place a hand upon it and close your eyes, letting your natural magic flow into the gem.

You can hear the Headmaster moving around and collecting gems, you hear him say something about your magic being interesting before the sounds stopped.

“You may open your eyes, young one.” you hear him say, upon doing so, you take your hands off of the diamond to look at the Headmaster, he's holding the box in his hands again, you could see that two of the crystals were missing from it.

“Congratulations young one, you're able to learn two different schools of magic, Ice and Storm.” he said holding up two glowing crystals in his other hand.

You were shocked that it was a combination of those two, especially since you were sure that you’d only have one, the Headmaster then let the crystals spin softly in a circle above his hand.

“Now tell me young one, which school would you like to start with? As the one you choose will let you gain spells as you gain experience, while you must work hard for the other one.” he asked, bringing his hand closer to you.

It would be a tough choice, but you knew the choice would be worth it, you could choose Ice, which would probably be the easiest to master, or you could choose Storm, which can deal a lot of damage to your enemies, and that could help when the next villain or anything requiring the elements happened.

“I think I'll choose Ice Headmaster.” you say choosing the light blue crystal, the Headmaster nodded happily before putting the crystals away and stashing the box back into the small alcove.

“Very well, now I believe you had some friends to get to, shouldn't keep them waiting young one.” he says before ushering you out of the room and through the library, before you leave the Headmaster’s office, he calls out to you. “Please stop by after your classes tomorrow so we can begin your lessons in card calling young Thaumaturge.” he said , you quickly nod your head and step out, going through the halls and back to your dorm, hoping that your friends, who were all in the same dorm as you, didn't ask any questions about where you've been.

As you open the door to your dorm room, you see three of your friends sitting on the couch take notice of you, they wave.

“Hey mate, how was the search?” your hyppogrif friend asked as you walked towards them.

“Long and no results, interesting finds, but no results, now if you excuse me, i'm tired and my feet are very sore.” you say before walking past them and going to your room.

You begin to think about what the Headmaster will teach you as a ‘card caller’, and how it will affect you educationally, hopefully nothing bad will happen, but you didn't want to tempt fate…

Author's Note

Hello my little night terrors! Another chapter for your viewing pleasure and i'm sorry about not updating my stories as quickly as id hoped, i'm a bit busy as of right now and story writing isn't always able to make it into my schedule, but i will continue to bring more of both this story & Nature and Ponies as soon as i can, but know that they are still getting typed.

Until next time my little night terrors, stay safe and stay terrifying!