Season 10: Dawn of a new generation of Harmony

"You best be careful who you call an oaf, munchkin." This admonishment, however, didn't do much to deter a now angered Hero as he leaped towards Rockhoof, ready to fight.

"Okay, you two. Before this gets too out of hoof, I don't want my room in shambles. Take this fight of yours outside the tower!"

"Yes, ma'am." Both Hero and Rockhoof said in unison. They then made their way out of Starswirl's Tower and into the courtyard to spar.

"Okay then. You've got spunk, Hero. I'll give you that much. But it would help if you also had the strength to back up your words. I've already managed to rough you up, and you haven't even landed one attack on me yet."

"Oh yeah? I'll show you." Whether out of determination, anger, or perhaps both, Hero shot out a blast of magic from his horn and grazed Rockhoof on his side, knocking him back as he steadied himself.

"W-Well.. that was unexpected, coming from you. I'll admit, I'm impressed. But it'll take more than that to affect me. Try using your healing magic. Think of happy and healthy thoughts. Trust me. It helps with channeling positive magic."

"Alright then. think.. happy.. thoughts." Hero's mind then pictured a grassy field from his home, or what used to be his home, before it was consumed by darkness for whatever solace that had brought him. It was working, and he was feeling happier.

He then tried to channel his magic and produced a lime-green orb of light as he directed it toward Rockhoof. Once it touched him, the spell began to soothe his burn from the blast that grazed him. "There. How was that?"

"Hmm. Thanks for that, but you realize you were supposed to heal yourself, right?"

"Yeah, I know. But I'd rather heal my allies first."

"As noble as that statement is, think of me right now as you would your enemy." Rockhoof unleashed a warcry as he stomped his hoof down to create a tremor of such magnitude that it caused the very earth below them both to part and blast out boulders towards Hero as he jumped out of the way to dodge as many as he could.

"If I had used my shovel, this fight would have been over back in Mistmane's Room."

"Gah! Y-Yeah. I believe it." Hero nearly got hit by one of them as he barely dodged the last one. "Phew. That was close." Rockhoof then stomped his hoof again, raising a rock barrier as it acted as a shield for him. "What's he doing over there?" Hero muttered under his breath as he pondered his next move.

"I'll have you know; just standing there and waiting for your enemy is not a good strategy."

"If you're not moving, I'm coming over there!" Hero rushed his barrier and channeled his magic over to his blade as he cut right through Rockhoof's wall, surprising him briefly.

"Hmm!? What on Earth?!" Then Hero slashed out a wave of harmony magic to send him flying back. Then Rockhoof lay sprawled onto the ground as Hero closed their distance, then pointed his blade to his throat.

"I win."

He sighed as he accepted defeat. "Yes, you do, Hero. That is strength, no questioning that." Hero got up off of him as he helped Rockhoof up. "Thanks for that. How exactly did you do that? Very few ponies and creatures could ever break through my rocks as you have."

"I-I didn't overdo it, did I?"

"Nonsense, that was incredible. You're capable of holding your own in a physical skirmish." He then continued, "However, your magic still needs work. Let's see that healing spell performed on you now. I'm a tough stallion. A cup of Meadowbrook's tea would fix me right up."

"If you say so, then." Hero channeled happy thoughts again as he cast healing onto himself, restoring his body to peak condition, feeling much better than before their fight began. "Yeah. That feels better." Then, he had a sudden thought that needed to be answered. "Wait a minute, that tea I drank.. came from her?"

"What, you didn't know that?"

"No. I drank it in Mistmane's room, so I thought that she was the one that made it."

"Well, yes, she knows how to make tea, but Meadowbrook knows how to make a healing tea."

"Well, it tastes fantastic. I have to say, that stuff works."

"It had better. After all, she only uses the purest ingredients in her brews."

"Yeah. I can tell. So, is that good enough for sparring?"

"Yes, it is, Hero." They both shook their hooves in a manner of respect as equals. "Well, you know how to use healing magic. You best report back to Starswirl. And be quick about it. He doesn't like to be kept waiting." Hero nodded as he went back into the tower to report to Starswirl.

Hero made his way up the winding and rounded stairs, approaching the top floor, where Starswirl's Study awaited. Once he entered his quarters, he was patiently waiting for him. "You have returned. So then, Mistmane had informed me while you and Rockhoof were trading blows outside."

"It would seem to me that you're ready to advance to your next lesson." Starswirl still had that spellbook turned to the right page of elemental combat spells he wanted to show Hero. "These spells are meant for offense, so don't use them for defense unless you know what you're doing with them."

"Understood, sir. So where will I be training for this?"

"Inside this spell book. I'm not having you light up any fire magic in my study. No, no. You'll be training in this void, on this page, specifically."

"W-What!? I'm supposed to go inside this book?! How in Equestria are you going to manage that?" To this, he gave back a wily smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Hero, I'm the most powerful unicorn amongst many. Are you sure you want to ask a question like that?"

"Right, I keep forgetting that you're one the founders of fundamental magic." Once Hero touched the book on the correct page, he and Starswirl channeled their magic into it. Hero's body then dissolved into light as he traveled into the book.

Hero's body had reformed from that light into a grassy field. "This is no ordinary book. I'll have you know, Hero." He could hear Starswirl's voice telepathically communicating with him.

"Yeah. I kinda figured that out after it ate me into it." Then, a Tainted Pawn was right before Hero in the center of the field. "So you want some of this too, huh? Alright."

"This book also can reach into the heart and mind of anypony that gets caught within its pages. I confess this one is one of my personal favorites."

"Gee, how nice to be you right now."

"Isn't it, though? I'd stay focused now if I were you." Then, two more Pawns showed up; One was glowing red and the other blue. "Now, this might come to you as a shock, but the Tainted can also use magic in a fight."

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." The red one threw a fireball at Hero, while the blue threw an iceball. Hero quickly dodged them and got onto a nearby plateau to look down at them. He then got the home-front advantage: height.

"Alright, guys. It's time to get sent packing." Hero said as he lit his horn and then blasted a fire spell at the red one, doing... nothing. "What gives? Shouldn't that be hurting it?"

"What gives? You're using fire magic on an enemy specializing in it and asking me what gives?"

"Well, I thought that it'd hurt him."

"You've got a long way to go yet, Hero."

"Then how about this!" Hero lit his horn again and hit the Red Tainted with an ice blast, slowing it down as ice crystals grew onto its body. "Oh yeah! I'm the best! Eat it!"

"Now you're getting it, but don't get too cocky, Hero." Then the Blue Tainted launched another iceball at Hero as he jumped over it and shot a fire spell, making the Blue Tainted melt.

"So elemental magic works like rock, paper, scissors, huh? Good to know." Both Tainted were starting to feel defeated; One was melting, and the other was too cold to light itself up, rendering them both to that of your standard Pawn, perfect for finishing. "Alright then, time to say goodbye. Tainted!"

Hero lunged towards the red Pawn and ran his blade through it, impaling it as it shrieked and vanished into a shadowy mist. He swung his sword around to slice the other two Tainted Pawns in half as they faded into black smoke and disappeared.

"Hmm. You're adapting to this rather quickly. Not too shabby, Hero. But these were just magical constructs. The real ones aren't easy to beat, especially in larger groups."

"It's never easy with you, is it?"

"It's the truth. Do you seriously believe that they're going to go easy on you? Especially now that you've been marked and are the newest element of harmony?"

"Well, when you put it like that, no."

"Alright. So stop asking stupid questions then, and pay attention!" Starswirl curtly replied as he created two new Tainted creatures with the book's magic. "Now, you must be able to tell the difference between Pureblood and an Emblem Tainted. Here's the difference between the two: The Purebloods are Tainted and have not yet captured someone's heart."

"They're both the most abundant and the easiest to defeat. Then there's the Emblem Tainted, which has captured at least one heart or more. Depending on how strong the heart is and how many of them they collect, this can make them much stronger to fight against."

"Yeesh. That's not fair."

"You're expecting the forces of evil to fight fair, huh? Too bad. They won't." One Tainted looked like it was your standard Pawn, and the second one looked like that soldier that nearly stole Yona's heart.

"That's the one that I saw at the academy. What's that one called?"

"A Tainted Soldier is the backbone of the dark army where the Pawns are expendable. Do you see that symbol on its chest? That's what makes him an Emblem Tainted. This means that he already had taken a heart from someone to gain this form."

Upon close inspection, Hero saw it. It looked like a decaying, glowing, dark-purple heart, a testament to their wickedness. "They're nimble on their feet but rather clumsy and can be put off guard if your attacks hit the right spots on them."

"Alright then, bring it on!" Hero charged at it and fired an iceball to slow him down. "Take this!" The blast hit the soldier square on its chest as ice crystals formed onto him, making him move slower as he glared at Hero with his yellow, beady eyes.

The soldier kicked the crystals off and away from its body as he leaped up to deliver a flying kick at Hero. Seeing this, he dodged its attack as he rolled behind the slowed-down soldier and gave a swift backward slash on its back to knock him to the ground.

Then Hero jumped onto him to stab him clean into his chest where the emblem was, completely impaling it from its chest and out its back as it kicked and wailed before vanishing and releasing its captured heart, a fake one, yes, but a heart, nonetheless.

"That's right. I win. Now, to wrap this up. Get over here!" Hero ran up to the last Pawn as it was readying up its attack, and he then delivered a swift three-hit combo on it to knock it over. Then Hero blasted it with a fireball spell to finish it, and it disappeared into nothingness.

"Very nice. Your training is coming along very well indeed. Alright then, this session is adjourned." Everything inside the book faded to black as Hero emerged from the book and reformed from the light, back into Starswirl's Study.