The Last Mage

**The Last Mage

Chapter 4: The Rest of the Equipment**

The crowd of ponies stared at him. A good many of them had their jaws hanging open. None of them said anything or even moved. It looked like some of them had even stopped breathing. This would be funny if it weren't so awkward, thought Istar. Finally the silence was broken by Twilight.

“Wha? bu- how? How did you do that? I've never seen magic do something like that before.” she managed to say.

“It wasn't magic. At least not on my part. I asked the tree for a branch for a new staff. It agreed and gave me one. Simple as that.” he answered.

“But how could a tree give you one of it's branches?” she asked, now a bit more composed.

“Because trees are aware. Their thought processes are slower than animals because they have no need to think any faster than they already do. Some however think at a level on par or even surpassing animals. Such an example would be your library. It's an Elder Oak. One of the most ancient and powerful magical lifeforms in several worlds.” he said it with such finality that she couldn't bring herself to argue. The crowd of ponies apparently found this the best explanation they were going to get seeing as they all began to leave. After a few minutes it was just Istar and the Mane 6.

“...Well... I think that we should get a move on if we want to finish my checklist before the day is over.” said Istar in an attempt to end the awkward silence that had begun. “Oh, and it's very nice to meet you four. My name is Istar Stormcrow. And you are?” he asked.

“Oh, where are my manners? Hello darling. As you seem to know, I am Rarity, owner of Carousel Boutique. It's a pleasure to meet you.” said Rarity.

“I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria, and future Wonderbolt.” said Rainbow with a smug look.

“Hi I'm Pinkie Pie!” Shouted Pinkie, now invading his personal space. “Do you like p-” He cut her off with a hand over her mouth.

“Nice to meet you Pinkie. Yes I like parties and cupcakes. But I'm afraid that we can't have a welcome party right now, I still have some things that I need to pick up. Later will be fine though.” he said. The others were looking on with surprised faces. Apparently they had not believed him to be prepared for the natural disaster known as Pinkie Pie.

“YAY! I'll go get my party cannon!” she shouted. Istar stopped her.

“No need. It's right here.” he then proceeded to pull said cannon out from behind one of her ears. Pinkie's eyes shined and grew wider than they already were. The others once again looked dumbstruck.

“Wha-?” was Twilight's ever so intelligent response.

“I'm the only one that even remotely understands how Pinkie works. That's how I did it.” he said.

“Um... I'm Fluttershy...” said everyone's favorite timid yellow pegasus.

“Hello Fluttershy, nice to meet you.” he said with a warm smile. She continued to hide behind her mane and even began to shake. His smile became a concerned frown.

“Oh, don't mind her, she's just, well, shy.” said Twilight. He ignored her and walked over to the cowering Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy. Look at me. Please.” he said. After a few moments she complied. He locked his gaze with hers and spoke in a voice that sounded both ancient and kind. “Fluttershy, no matter what, be yourself and people will like you for who you are. You have no reason to fear them or their judgments. Stand proud and let them judge. All that matters is how you see yourself and that your friends love you.” By now she had stopped shaking and was looking, wide(er) eyed at him.

“You have nice eyes.” were the next words out of the butter-colored pegasus' mouth. He grinned as she blushed.

“Why thank you Fluttershy. Now I should get back to my checklist. Oh, Rarity, could I bother you to make me some clothing? I only have one change in my bag, and I've been wanting to get a new cloak as well.” he said, completely changing subjects.

“Oh, uh, of course dear. Just come to the Boutique and I'll get your measurements.” said Rarity as she snapped out of the trance he had accidentally put her in. As a matter of fact, all of the Mane 6 except Fluttershy had been in a type of trance while he had spoken.

“Well we can do that now, if you're not too busy. And I know you all have questions, so just come by the library later and I'll try to answer them. Yes, I'm staying with Twilight.” he told them. “After that I just need to see if there's a wood-worker in town.”

“Oh, you could go and see Mr. Whittler. He makes all of my birdhouses.” suggested Fluttershy.

“I'll do just that Fluttershy.” he said with another kindly smile.

One trip to Carousel Boutique later in which the most eventful thing was when Istar answered why humans wear clothes all the time;

'To be honest, it's because humans have no natural way to hide our genitals.' This prompted severe blushing from both Rarity and Twilight.

“Thank you for the new cloak Rarity!” called Istar as they left. It was as exact a copy as possible of Gandalf the Grey's cloak. “Well now I just need to speak to this Whittler about getting a Light Pipe made.”

“He lives over that way. Come on, I'll show you.” said Twilight. Not a minute later they arrived at a rather normal – by pony standards – house. Istar knocked three times then waited. A few moments later the door was opened by an old unicorn with a rust red coat and mane.

“Hello, I take it you're Whittler?” asked Istar. The unicorn just nodded. “I came to see about getting a special type of pipe made. Think you could do it?”

“Son, there isn't a single thing I can't make given enough time.” replied Whittler. “So, you got a design for this pipe in mind?”

“Yes, the design is right here.” Istar replied, pulling a binder out of his backpack, snapping open the rings, and removing an old piece of paper with various angles of a pipe, paragraphs, and strings of arcane symbols.

“Seems like this pipe is supposed to do something magical.” said Whittler after looking over the designs.

“Indeed. It projects light to tell stories.” replied Istar.

“Hmm. Seems useful. How'll you pay?” Asked Whittler.

“Would the design for the pipe itself suffice? I don't have need of it beyond making myself one.” queried the human.

“It'll work.” grunted the old unicorn.

Two and a half hours later...

“Finally!” exclaimed Istar. “It's been too long since I've had a Light Pipe.” he then placed the tip of the ornate pipe to his lips and, rather than inhale, he blew into it, and out of the bowl came a stream of lights. It seemed like the aurora borealis in smoke form. The light shaped into an exact replica of the pipe itself – a long stemmed piece of brown polished wood, worked to look like a legless dragon was holding the bowl with it's wings, while a sting or arcane symbols ran up the stem – before dissipating into nothingness.

“It works!” He happily shouted. “Now ponies will like my stories! Well, thank you Whittler. C'mon Twi, let's get going.”

I already like his stories... Thought Twilight as they left.