Author's Note

Good Morning!

At least for some of you. I hope this Sunday finds you well. Today's chapter submission is a fair bit more technically heavy then some of the others have been, so I am hoping I didn't botch it up too badly.

Some important announcements that I have already blogged about, but not everyone sees that.

First off the bat. Orion has an Official reference sheet. So now all y'all can see what I see when I think about him. With the reference done, I can now start to commissioning scenes from the story as images within the pages. Things such as his arrival in Equis.

Its all very exciting.

Secondly, I have a Kofi. It is where all announcements will be made as I am going to be publishing these chapters to other sites next week. FimFiction will still get priority as I am loyal to this site for giving me the chance to learn and grow as a writer.

The commissions I get, will be hosted on Kofi. Just easier that way. They will not be hidden behind a paywall. I will be working on tips only and only for specific goals involving the story. The reason for this, is my hours have been reduced so I will be having trouble commissioning artists to create the scenes I have written on paper, a little help is appreciated if ya got a couple bucks to spare.

Okay went on for far too long, and I know you all are eager to get to the story, for those who haven't just skipped this.

Thanks for reading, leave a comment.

Peace!

Kofi

My Twitter if anyone would like to add me

Discoveries

"You stab me like that again, buddy boy, and that needle will become a permanent fixture inside you." Orion hissed out. The nurse's face paled. He would never understand how their fur, his own as well, could change color like that.

He hated needles. It's why he never did heroin. Hated hospitals, for that matter, as well. Everything just felt so dead despite the cheery colors they attempted to mask the halls of death with, it frightened him as a kid. Thank God he was not in the latter. Instead, the doctors had magically come to him.

They came to the school for a physical that wasn’t supposed to happen for another two years.

The first week of school had passed with the blur that most first weeks often do. But on Friday, it was announced that medical professionals would do a physical exam on Monday. Rumors of several people, mostly the young, getting sick had been at the top of the gossip charts he had heard in the lunchroom, so he supposed it was a good enough reason for the early check-up.

So here he sat in a very unflattering pair of underwear, practically a loincloth as this world's tailors had no idea what boxers were, with a nurse who couldn't find a vein to save his life. The earth pony's hands had fumbled that syringe more than once, and he bore the holes to prove it.

"Of course, I'd net the newbie." He sighed as the stallion jerked away from his glare once again. He likely wasn't helping the poor bastard's nerves any.

"Alright!" Chimed in an all too cheery voice. In stepped a unicorn stallion. Tan fur and brown maned, he wore scrubs under a lab coat, and a stethoscope draped around his neck. "Good morning Mr. Falls, I am Doctor Horse, and I will be your examiner for the day! What's wrong?"

It was too much.

The attitude. The name. The voice! Orion's cheeks bulged as he clenched his teeth and desperately tried not to drum his hooves against the chair's legs that he sat in. Squeezing his eyes closed, he shook his head back and forth rapidly as he fought the mirth bubbling in his throat. It sounded like he was strangling.

Suddenly his shoulders were seized by a pair of surprisingly strong hands, and he looked into the concerned blue eyes of Dr. Horse.

"Are you okay, young colt?!" The blue glow of his magic forced Orion's jaws open, and the poor physician was pelted in the face by his laughter. He fell out of the chair.

"Are you sure you won't tell me what is so funny?"

Once he had recovered and settled into the chair again, still stifling some chuckles here and there, he did his best to deflect the good doctor's questions. He was being as gentle as he could. Mr. Ed would be proud of the representation.

The stallion would not have understood, and telling would have given away secrets of the past best left buried.

"But dear God, it’s funny as hell!"

"I'm afraid you wouldn't understand it if I explained, and I'm not sure I could. Let's just leave it as a Marussia thing." He giggled. "Let's just get on with this. I got class to get to."

It was about the only thing he could get to. When he got back to the orphanage, he was back on lockdown.

For the next month and a half, he was to be grounded. Luckily, he was confined to his room and the library on the fourth floor. He supposed it was fair. It was his due, he figured. Between getting involved with Bright and that asshole, Mr. Cottonridge, and what Celestia had told Mrs. Evergarden about what he said and did in the hall of that guard station, it was the only outcome to be expected.

She had demanded to know what he was thinking, and the lizard brain defense was not working with her. Marshmallow Tits didn't even try to defend him; she just watched him with a calculated eye. Why had she felt the need to come to the orphanage to relay that personally?

Well, it wasn't all bad. Except maybe Pilate was even more pissed at him than usual. He wasn't allowed back at the gym till his time in the kiddie timeout was over as well. She promised him that she would work him till he wept; honestly, he believed it.

It was all a mess, but at least he wouldn't have to put up with Twilight's twice-weekly visits. Instead, he got letters. Lots of letters.

Twilight had moved up to the advanced classes, putting her on a different lunch schedule, which suited him just fine. The usual gambit of jackasses who tried to make life difficult for him seemed to have thinned with her absence. Apparently, being friends with the Princess's favorite is frowned upon.

All in all, some peace for a change, which he welcomed.

Though those letters were getting a little scary, promises of resumed studies brought a whole new level of fear to the word horror. Just what would be enjoyable about learning the reproductive practices of the Chakla Tribe? Why was that a subject in which she wanted to discuss with him?

"I suppose so. Okay, Mr. Falls, we shall start with a proper blood draw as I see my assistant was unable to get one from you before my arrival." He chided the earth pony gently, who only blushed more in embarrassment.

The stallion did everything with magic, from taking his blood to listening to his heart. The only time he touched him was when he was feeling places on his body.

"Am I gonna have to turn my head and cough for you, doc?" He asked with a grin on his face.

"What would that do?" Asked Horse in puzzlement.

"Oh right, there was no such thing as cancer here." It had been a surprise when he began making comparisons between this world and his former one. Many things were the same, a large amount that seemed pun-driven more than anything else, but cancer was not one of them.

"Nevermind. So what's next?"

"Let's see…." the good doctor perused through his notes briefly, his eyebrows arching up. "Ah yes. A thaumometer reading…"

There was a hint of puzzlement in his voice, and Orion's hackles rose. From the tone, this wasn't a standard procedure for a physical exam.

"I had one of those when I arrived in Manehattan. As understood it and was told you only get it twice. Once at birth and another before entering secondary school. I'm a few years away from my second examination, I would think."

That had been what he had been told, at least.

Usually, every foal, earth, pegasus, or unicorn all got the first examination on the day of their birth. It was a procedure meant to assure their alignment with the magical forces of the world was secure. Only unicorns got a second examination in secondary school to determine their strength and aptitude.

That test was the one he was dreading the most.

"Says here it's because of your status as an...orphan." The brown-manned physician gave him a pained look. "I am so sorry." Dr. Horse frowned sadly.

"Ah, don't worry about that. It doesn't bother me nearly as much as everyone thinks it does. I could honestly care less about it at this point." He waved his hand in disinterest. Perhaps he should make cards to hand out whenever this topic popped up, spare him having to repeat himself at least. "But what does being an orphan have anything to do with it?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I suppose it could be because you have been transferred about too many times since you were found in… Stalliongrad, Marussia?" His eyebrows were certainly getting an exercise. "My, my, you have come a long way, haven’t you? That explains the accent, I suppose."

"Accent? I was in Stalliongrad for about a year. How the hell do I still have a freakin’ accent?!"

The sound of squeaky wheels pulled him from his thoughts. Pushed by a Royal Guard no less, what rolled in was an old monstrosity made of stained wood, metal, and spit.

The presence of the Guard was enough for him to lay heavy suspicion on Celestia. But the "thaumometer" was another thing altogether.

His testing back in Manehattan had been a tiny unit wrapped in metal and clean. This thing had been dredged up from an archive somewhere and dusted off. Much of the paneling's stain was peeling up in places.

There was no evidence of wires, which was expected as pony society had never developed basic wiring and lighting. Instead, they manufacture crystals in batches and infuse them with the same resonance in order for them to work together.

Say you wanted to turn on a light, place your hand on a panel with a crystal inside, and it activates the hall light to illuminate—very cool and efficient stuff.

The unit was taller than him by more than a foot, paneled in unadorned wood that looked to have initially been stained dark, now bleached in areas where it might have sat in the sun. The old-timey knobs were still there. One looked new and out of place, and the original screen had been replaced with something a bit more modern though it looked like one of those dial machines, all hastily assembled with all the scratches around where it was installed.

There was more than meets the eye here, and he did not expect the ancient machine to transform and roll out.

"Okay. So bare with me a little bit Mr. Falls. I haven't worked on one of the old models since my graduate courses. We should be done in no time." Despite his words, Dr. Horse did not look confident as he fiddled with the knobs, charging the machine with magic.

As they moved the device in position, Orion noticed two things; first and foremost, there was far more than the one Royal Guard in the room with him. Out in the hall stood at least three others. Secondly, on the back of the thaumometer was a crystal clear ball filled with some type of black and red liquid that sloshed sluggishly as the device was jerked about.

Weighing his options, he wondered if he shouldn't try to escape, whatever the hell this was. Too many oddities were making his lizard brain go into overdrive, screaming warning sounds like the Enterprise.

The examination was taking place on the third floor of the auxiliary building behind the main hall. A white stone wall ran the entire height of the building behind. Not a chance in hell he was scaling that at his current age and ability. This, whatever it was, had been well thought out.

"Okay, we are ready! Mr. Falls, if you would take hold of the handles and embrace your magic, we will begin the testing."

He reached out and took hold of the little wooden and crystal handles with a sigh, the crystal portion securely against his palms. They felt surprisingly warm. He heard the creak of metal and the rustle of cloth as the Guards seemed to ready themselves. He wondered if he could lie his way out of this if something went very wrong.

Did Celestia suspect he wasn't a pony?

His horn lit up, and the machine began to hum. Well, rattle. One minute went by, then two, three. After ten minutes, Dr. Horse nodded and shut it all down. Taking back the handles, he nodded with a smile of relief judging by the expression.

"Annnd that is it. You may get dressed now, and thank you for your patience. I don't know where they got this old-timer, but I will be sure to bring mine the next time for the entry exams in a few years." He smiled pleasantly.

The good doctor may have been relieved, but the Guard in the room just stood there, confused as hell. She had been hefting a giant hammer of all things before the end. Now she stood, tapping at the ball on the back of the machine with a thick finger, a frown twisting her face.

Dressing quickly, he gave his goodbyes and slipped out the door and through more than twenty members of the Royal Guard. "What in the hell!?" Big mares, welding big weapons and watching him with suspicion. As he got to the end of the hall before the stairs, he gave a smirking grin, likely not wise, to the last mare in the line.

Silver Bell gave him a rueful grimace and slowly put away her two-handed sword. They did not like each other.

They had not gotten along during their first meeting as she guided him through the halls, searching for his class. Insults were made, and feelings were hurt. She didn't like how casual he treated Celestia and made it known by shouting shortly after leaving the monarch behind. Orion had responded in a less than acceptable manner.

He sauntered past without a word, though. Smiling was one thing. He would not provoke her further by commenting. As he skipped down the stairs, he couldn't help but wonder what bullet he had seemingly dodged and why it had been aimed at him to begin with. But he definitely knew the source.

Wiggling in her seat inside the carriage, Twilight barely contained a squeal of glee as she looked over at the other occupant.

Orion had finally accepted her invitation. She had asked often enough, but he always made excuses such as the castle being intimidating or he was too busy with his after-school activities. The latter, she had found out, was more than true.

It was coming close to winter now. The trees had been cleared a week earlier, and all that was left were for the pegasi to finish prepping the clouds for a healthy snowfall on the first of December.

Looking from the sky back to her fellow student of learning, her smile slackened as she noticed his less than enthusiastic expression.

Orion sat there with a frown, staring at the couch across from him. He seemed to be still nervous.

"Orion?" His head jerked up in startlement. "It's okay! You'll love the castle library! There is so much knowledge there. I'm sure you can find something there that'll help your...um...issue." She finished sheepishly.

He looked at her in confusion before laughing and shaking his head.

"I hope to, but I'm not really bothered about that, Twilly Billy. More concerned about that mentor of yours."

She hated when he mixed her name up like that, but her concern was suddenly for the latter. What could he possibly mean by that?

For whatever reason, Princess Celestia scared him or at least worried him. She couldn't understand why his refusal to take her at her word about her Teacher and her kindness and patience actually upset her.

"She is supposed to be busy with a few meetings with Ambassador Stone and others. You don't need to worry. Princess Celestia is an amazing ruler, and she is kind. I don't understand why you don't like her." She grumbled that last, only to receive a stern look from him.

He truly seemed not to like her.

Suddenly the carriage came to a jerking stop, and the door popped open. Silver Bell stood on the other side with her hand on the handle. The smile on her face quickly morphed into one of cold fury as her gaze fell on Orion.

"Hello to you too, Frosty. Thank you for getting the door." The instant amusement was plain in his voice, though she had no idea why. What had happened between the two of them?

She had overheard the Guardsmare speaking rather poorly with her fellow guards about him. It was rude to just up and ask after eavesdropping, accidental or not. Twilight had asked him instead when she had finally been allowed to visit him once more, and he had rebuffed her solidly.

"What are you doing here?" It was not a shout. But she winced all the same at the heat in her voice.

He just smiled blithely.

"Two mutual acquaintances of ours. One insistent," he stabbed a thumb in her direction as he slid out of the cab, " the other likes to send very pointed letters." He pointed a finger toward the castle. "Between the pair, I could hardly say no. If you think you can argue against them and win, by all means. But I think ice in a desert has a better chance of lasting than you."

Twilight's ears flattened against her mane. He had pretty much given voice to a worrying fear. He had been pressured into coming and did not really wish to be here. That…hurt.

"Thank you, Guardsmare Bell." She said as she slid out. She did her best to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

The mutual acquaintances part had stung.

"You're welcome, Lady Sparkle. I was instructed to inform you the Library's first three floors are open to you and your...study companion. If you need anything, a Calling Stone has been provided. I am to escort you there and stand by the door." Silver Bell spoke resignedly.

Nothing else was said as the trio headed inside, the Guardsmare leading.

Shame. Not a feeling Orion often felt till he started living in happy horse world. But as they walked through what he no doubt would usually be awe-inspiring vaulted castle halls, he couldn't really notice them.

Twilight's head was down, and so were her ears.

"That….that was really stupid, you jackass." He berated himself in a whisper.

Truth be told, that wasn't what he meant to say, but he was so pissed at seeing Silver Bell that he said the first thing that came to mind. Why, of all the guards in this den of abused power, had she been chosen for the role of babysitter. It was bad enough the mare seemed to be wherever Celestia was. But couple that with several times he had spotted her at school, once on the street heading home, all the while giving him the death glare from the grave, and he was at his wit's end about it. It was seriously freaking him out.

All because he was a bit rude to the ruling monarch.

He nudged Twilight.

She jerked and looked at him, hurt evident in her eyes. Shooting a look at their escort, he weighed his choices.

"Fuck it."

"Sorry, Squiggles. You are my friend. I'm just so annoyed at seeing Iron-rod-up-my-ass First Class here that I said something hurtful that wasn't true."

The Guardsmare's back quivered.

"It's okay," she said morosely, "but I understand you did not really want to come."

He sighed heavily.

"No, I suppose I should be honest. I didn't. No offense, little lady, but as I have said, I don't like your mentor. She's rude and scares the hell out of me."

Twilight's eyes grew wide. "Wh….what?"

So he told her. Told her how Celestia had pulled him aside and all but applied Royal pressure on him to be more engaging with her. He said how he felt about her and that, in a way, he did actually like being around her. But he wished she'd chill out with the Starswirl sperging.

He also spoke about his encounter with Silver Bell and all the times he spotted her hovering about. By the time they got to the Great Library, Twilight was smiling and doing her best not to laugh. Chiding him that he wasn't being nice but with little success considering her humor. She also admitted that her obsession with the long-dead stallion might just be a bit too much. It amazed him how quickly the young could bounce back from heartbreak.

Silver Bell was, surprisingly, looking crushed. He had expected fury. Instead, the mare looked defeated.

"Aw shit, this guilt bullshit sucks." He may have been going a little too hard with the insults. He mentally threw up his hands in resignation.

"Hey Twiggle, gimme a minute, would ya?" He shooed her toward the door.

"Are you sure?" She looked between the pair of them, worry more than plain on her face.

"Yeah, I am. Go on. I won't be long, I promise. There will be no bloodshed. I'm sure you want to find a dozen or so books you think I need to look at anyways. Get 'em together. I'll be just a minute."

"Okay!" She said brightly and hustled into the Library proper.

He looked around the hall for the first time and noticed that he was standing in a multi-leveled indoor courtyard. No plants were in evidence, of course, but there was plenty of polished marble and statues of various styles and designs.

A glance above showed at least two more levels, square with small balconies standing out from the rails.

Turning back to the Guardsmare, he noted that some heat had returned to her eyes.

"Why the hell are you so angry with me?"

She started. "What?"

"I said, "why are you so angry with me?" I don't get why this has carried on so long. So why?" He took a step back. He didn't want to crane his neck just to look at her. Bitch was tall, after all.

For a long moment, she didn't say anything. Her eyes had drifted above as if searching for an answer. Finally, she looked at him. The smolder now only barely an ember.

"You showed complete disrespect to the Princess when she went out of her way to invite you in, discussed helping Twilight, and argued with her as if...as if she...were somehow a…common merchant!" She began. "You demanded leeway to treat her how you would. Thank Faust ye did not get yur way ‘nterily."

He just gave her a look. “What in the hell was that?” Her sudden speech change caught him momentarily off guard till he shook his head and got back on track.

"Let me paint you a picture. If you were suddenly pulled aside and someone demanded you be friends with someone simply for that person's sake rather than your own. Thus interrupting your life and forcing you on a path you did not want…well, how would you regard it?"

"That is not what happened!" She hissed.

"Essentially, that is exactly what happened. If anyone else in the world had done what Celestia had done or tried to do, I am positive there would be a law or two that she just shattered." Her eyes bulged. "Think about it."

Surprise, surprise, she did or at least seemed to, judging by how her face contorted.

"I can...see where you are coming from… But the Princess just wants what's best for Twilight." She had relaxed a little. Before, her back had been ramrod straight. Now she had a knee bent, a hand behind a belt, gesturing with the other.

"So that gives her absolute rights to enforce her will and desires on others? To uproot the whole of their lives and goals for her own designs? Under that metric, I could have gone and murdered White for his money for the orphanage. It certainly would have saved Mrs. Evergarden pain and anguish in trying to figure out where to get money from." He snorted. "The simple fact is that her reasoning, while compassionate, put me out. What makes me so special that she has to go out of her way to ask me to be buddies with Twilight but also pull out an archaic thaumometer that likely hasn't seen use in hundreds of years?"

The mare's eyes widened in surprise, and she took a step back.

"Who told you that?!"

"Who told me that?" He mocked back. "Lady, I'm not blind, and I can read. There had to have been two dozen of you guys outside that examination room. Not to mention no one else was being examined on that floor—just me. I can do the math. Celestia had suspicions about me, of what I have no idea. Enough to put a contingent of troops in place to apprehend or kill me if her suspicions are proven true."

After that event, he had gone down to the school's library and had found that very thaumometer in a book on the history of devices made for use by the nation to measure power and ability. The model he could best compare to was over six hundred years old. It was a miracle the damn thing even worked at all.

However, the chapter did not have a section detailing what the globe filled with black and red liquid was supposed to be. It was clear that the Princess was looking for something within him that wasn’t there. But what?

He took a step back. He had not realized he was essentially chasing the Guardsmare, who had been backing away from him. Her face had a hunted cast, narrowed eyes, and a worried frown.

"Sorry. We got off-topic, and that wasn't a subject for you. Listen, I treat everyone equally. Everyone. I don't give a flying fuck on a rolling donut whether they have a title in front of their name or if they are some muckraker in the middle of nowhere, they all get the same treatment. It's not an attack on the Princess, but neither is it a green light for her actions. You all see her as an entity that can do no wrong, but I did not grow up with her. And I am prone to distrust those in authority. Do you understand where I am going with this?"

He really hoped she did, he was not about to wake up one night a year from now with her sword at his neck because she can't rationalize why he didn't like the supposed Avatar of The Sun.

"...yes...I think I do." She frowned and looked down at him. "It's out of your distrust of anypony with power that you hold her in the regard that you do." A little upturn of her lips made him blink. "Considering the nobles often come and go from here, I suppose your view is not altogether incorrect." She laughed. "The Princess keeps telling me that if I ever stop and thought things through, my evaluation reviews wouldn't be so awfy."

Her accent had suddenly taken on a very Scottish tone. That had been what was so jarring earlier.

"No way...Scotts...mare?!" The idea of a horse that gets drunk and insults everyone around them made him chuckle.

"What you laffin' about now?" There it was again. It was as if something had relaxed in the mare, and the real her was peeking out.

"Nothing, just surprised by the real you, is all. I would have never guessed you were…" He trailed off, unsure of what precisely the Scottish version of a pony was called.

"The words ya be looking for is Isles Pony, and I am surprised ta learn ya know what I am. Where'd ya pick up that wee bit of knowledge?" She smirked. Her accent was thick now, though she could be forcing it a bit to be friendly, a welcome change in either case.

A ready lie quickly reached his lips.

"I lived in Manehattan for a couple of years, and the port there gets all kinds of visitors." He congratulated his brain for its swift thinking.

"Aye, that would do et." She frowned, and suddenly she squatted down to his level. "I'm awfy sorry. I forget meself and made a real big…mess of things." She had almost said arse, he was sure. "And 'm sorry. Shouldn't 'ave been so testy. Ya gave me a valuable lesson today. To quote the Princess: “One can find wisdom in the most extraordinary of places, from the most surprising of sources”. A wise mare she be."

He had heard something similar, but if she was as old as they claim she might just have been the source of that saying here in this world.

Twilight's head popped up, dust was on her left ear. He suddenly found himself questioning where she had gotten that peculiar mark.

"Are….are you done yet?" She inquired.

The duo looked at each other. A small smile came to Silver's lips, a smirk on his.

"Yeah, I'd say we buried the hatchet. The only way I can see of burying it any further would be over a mug of something strong, and I can't have that just yet." They both chuckled.

"Aye, maybe when yur older we can sit down for a pint or two. In ya git. No sense in makin' the lass wait." She playfully swatted his rear, which earned her a glare that she only laughed at.

She had a strong arm.

Rubbing his ass, he stalked into the library after Twilight and stopped.

Big was not the word for it. The place was humongous! From where he stood, he could barely see the end, where a rough stone wall with braziers sat in hollowed-out spots in the rock wall at regular intervals. From what Twilight had told him, the place had been primarily carved out of the side of the mountain itself. And they only had access to the first three floors?

Canterlot Castle had been constructed in the center of the first plate. Known as the Royal Plate, it was the smallest of the three giant structures stuck to the side of the mountain through magic and talented builders.

While not small in any way other than by comparison to the other two, the Royal Plate was in a way the least crowded in terms of buildings, but still held not much else but mansions of the upper caste and the facilities of the castle itself.

The Great Canterlonian Library was said to hold the most extensive collection of literature and relics in the known world. Its collection, having grown from the meager gatherings at the nation's founding, had spurred on more than one expansion and had begun to burrow through the mountain some eight hundred years ago, which explained its current setup.

Meaning much of the walls and ceilings had become unadorned gray mountain rock, save for the tapestries of various scenes. Scenes showcasing more than just the history of Equestria, but of a time before when things were far less civilized.

A surprising number showcased battles of all things, a stark contrast to the population's current pacifistic nature. There were also statues and reliefs, with plaques detailing the events of their carving and when they were made.

From the large crystal chandeliers lit with gems crafted in the shape of yellow and orange flames. To the tables, chairs, and couches in rich dark woods and cloth of subdued colors, the tall arched windows of clear glass letting in the afternoon light painted a serene portrait of a place of learning.

The only detractor from the well-set-up furniture and ornate decorations was the very bookshelves themselves.

Order may have been first considered in their construction, but the four-story tall shelves with islands of chairs and tables set amongst them were a labyrinth of corridors and passageways. Some were so narrow it could be considered that children operated the library instead of the occasional black-clothed librarian that seemed to pop in and out of the corridors several yards away.

The construction of the bookcases themselves seemed to change slightly, a record of the different styles through the centuries of expansion that surely was the reason for the seemingly haphazard way they had been thrown together.

"What….the fuck, Twilight. How in the absolute hell do you find anything in here?" Orion's voice, barely above a whisper, spoke of the awe he felt.

He couldn't help but draw comparisons to the great libraries of earth. He had seen pictures if not been to them himself, but he felt they would have pissed themselves in jealousy at the sheer volume of documents and books that this place likely possessed.

With its rabbit's warren of passages, it made him think of the internet if it could have been given physical form. Maybe he would even find porn in here.

That drew a chuckle from him.

Coming over to stand with him. The purple filly could only laugh with him, if not for the same reason.

"I had the same look on my face when the Princess brought me here. But please watch your language. The librarians here don't like that." She had tried to moderate his language before, with little success, but here she would very likely succeed.

"Still, my question stands. How do you find anything?! This place is huge, and I can't imagine the tangle those aisleways are."

Her smile grew wider, and she held up a finger, adopting a lecturing tone.

"Oh, they have an amazing way of cataloging each book using crystals. Each book has a crystal embedded into the spine, which is harmonized with the crystal that is in the bookcase that they are assigned. When somepony needs a particular book, a third crystal that is in tune with the bookcase and spine crystals themselves is used to locate them. That crystal sits in a box marked for the subject to which they are assigned."

They had a Dewey Decimal System without the math. Simple if he thought about it, but a library this size would require a room with shelves full of crystals marked appropriately.

When she finished her little lecture, she grabbed his hand and dragged him to a room that looked to have expanded like the library. Its back half or so looked to be dug into the rock of the mountain as well.

Small lamps with carved crystals of red and orange were here, giving a warm quality to the light that illuminated the entire thing.

Sure enough, they stepped into an office with rows upon rows of drawers. Each one having a number at its head. From what he could see of the first few, titles of subjects on the front placards that had been pasted to the individual drawers were on display.

"This is the Office of Directory. Here we can search for a subject that we wish to find. It's one of eight. This, and those like it, is the only section of the library that is actually kept in alphabetical order. Attempting to do so of the Library proper would take a century or more; by then, it would have to be reorganized again before it came close to completion. Just from the sheer amount of literary works written during that century would have to be cataloged and put in their proper place once more." A frown creased her features. "It's not right, and if I ever learn enough, I will organize this place if it's the last thing I ever do!" She spoke with conviction.

"Whoa, tell me how ya really feel!" He kept that thought to himself, however. If he poked her in this mood, she would likely go on a tirade that would not stop till she exhausted herself. Twilight had done it before, and his brain had wanted to melt from being forced to listen to the merits of tram travel to walking. She hated walking. It took time away from reading.

How were they friends again?

"Okay, so where are the librarians?" The office itself stood empty. In fact, he hadn't seen a single soul since they entered the smaller chamber. There weren't even guards posted inside.

"Likely putting books away and documenting new entries, or they could even be pulling books for orders from the nobility or an inquiring researcher from the university here in the city." She tapped her hoof a moment. "Oh! And I suppose other cities with universities as well! Maybe even-"

"Yeah yeah, I get it. Smart people needing to make themselves smarter got it." He interrupted quickly. No need for more of that.

"Sorry, I got a little ahead of myself there." She giggled. "Okay. Let's go pick out our subjects!" She dashed off into rows, likely already knowing what she was looking for and leaving him with the questions he had, dying on his lips. The mystery of the dusted ear grew. Where had it come from if she had not been looking for some obscure tome?

"Well, shit…." Orion hadn't come here with a plan. Mostly he had come only to get the mildly threatening letters Celestia had been sending the past month to stop.

They weren't overtly threatening in the way anyone else would have read them as, but he got the hint.

Picking an aisle, he began to scan titles.

"Why would anyone want to know the best way to boil rocks? For eating?!"

Celestia had chosen the Hall of Terraces for two reasons.

First and foremost, its open pathways on the second floor with arched crystalline windows let in the warm afternoon sun on this rather chilly day. Her guests, some from Saddle Arabia itself, would appreciate that, as well as the works of art, pulled from the Library's archives just yesterday for this event. Those statues and paintings were sourced from older times in their home country.

The Saddle Arabians were not the only ones in attendance. The usual sycophants and snooty elite were there as well, necessary in only softening her visitors' expectations, and she did not wish to deal with their whining later when they found they had been excluded. She had learned that particular lesson long ago.

Besides, an opponent with their back up was hard to negotiate with, and she would have the mining rights to Northern Alsakhria. The ore there was too valuable to pass up, and she had spent far too long as it was attempting a trade deal.

The second, arguably less important to most, was that it overlooked the Great Canterlonian Library doors. The very room that Orion Falls was expected to be in.

She had grown tired of his continued excuses to Twilight and had set about, gently, to force his compliance. He would not ruin her student's progress in any way. A great many plans rested on that filly's shoulders, and she would burn if that colt ruined them by being recalcitrant.

The foal in question had been an enigma. His test had come back clean. There wasn't a trace of Umbrum contamination or blood to be found within him. So he was neither a product of that cult nor a descendant.

The guilt she felt now for her overreaction to the possibility was regrettable. Twenty-seven Royal Guards may have been a bit much for a juvenile. But she and her long-absent sister worked too hard destroying that old order that she wasn't about to risk a return, no matter how innocent he may have seemed.

He would never know how close to death he had come that day.

Still, his examination brought forth a number of other questions—his heritage, for one.

It was clear from the original blood work that he wasn't wholly a pony, though his appearance was predominantly just that. While her technicians had more resources available to them than the original examiners, they had not brought anything else to light. That should not have been possible. They still had on file several races that had long since died out, at least their blood samples, including the Kirin.

That race's existence had been brief. Their disappearance is still a matter of discussion for some of the older philosophers.

The idea of an openly omnivorous pony was a foreign idea to many, especially in this era, but one she had seen before. However, that was long in the past, before even the Founding. To have one beginning the practice again would indeed send ripples of shock through the current society. Shattering accepted belief. Not to mention, while the ponies of the past did it out of necessity, Orion’s need was wholly different from just survival.

He needed the essential protein found in the meat of animals. He could make do with specific plants that carried similar components, just in larger quantities. But this wasn't the only problem with his needed diet.

Most flowers, hay, and grasses were shown to be incompatible with him. That was beyond odd, and the first in history that she knew of, though she had found out that he somehow already knew of that. It was all very bizarre.

She shook her head. Her mind should be on this soiree and not on a troublesome colt too world-wise to be expected.

The noblemare Willow Switch, a severe and tight-faced mare with a mouth set in a constant frown, gave her greetings in a low curtsey.

She gave her usual motherly smile, inclined her head in acknowledgment, and then tolerated the empty platitudes and thinly veiled inquiries. Which, of course, would be only used to give the mare leverage in whatever inane thing she wanted.

She imagined crushing the pony's head in with a fist. Several centuries ago, that would have alarmed her. But she had long since grown used to the idle daydreams. Because that's all they would ever be, as disturbing as they were. She supposed it was natural given her lengthy tenure ruling.

Barely keeping the conversation, an inquiry about luxury taxes, she managed to spot Twilight and Orion arriving at the entrance of the Library. The smile she normally wore took on an honest air, growing slightly wider than before.

"I win."

Thoughts of how the crystal network that seemed to track every book in the place had ended up drawing him to the subject of crystal magic itself.

He found the appropriate placard and pulled the drawer open. Inside were three misshapen crystals set in recesses of felt cloth.

There were others that also held information on his desired subject of study. However, they were more advanced, and he only wanted an introductory course to begin with. So he chose “Sharp Eye's Introductions to Crystal Theory”.

Seemed a safe enough start.

Picking up the crystal that was under the name, what had looked like a misshapen lump turned out to be a curved teardrop, he headed back to the front to wait on Twilight. As he walked, he examined the carved gem in his hand.

In the darkness of the drawer, it had looked like one solid precious stone, but in the light, he could see three distinct types of crystal. Two embedded in the larger end, and one in the skinner tail end. All three looked like green balls set in the clear teardrop.

There were no signs of cutting.

"How in the hell did they mix them together like that?" He muttered to himself, flipping the thing over to eye the single ball at the tail end.

"Oh, that used a displac-" Orion nearly climbed into the air.

"Fuckin' hell, you terror! Ya nearly made my heart stop!" He had not heard Twilight approaching, and with a second glance, he should have.

The filly's arms were loaded down with a good dozen of the teardrop crystals. All were clinking together in discordant sounds as she walked. Her giggles only increased the clinks.

"I'm sorry, Orion…" She snorted. "I didn't think to call out to you." She looked at what he held, the snickers slowly leaving. "Only one?"

"Some of us can't absorb information like a sponge, Bob. Sometimes folks have to take their time learning and can't focus on more than one subject." He grumbled.

Twilight had to be one in a million, and while he had heard of folks with the ability to multitask, he didn't think any of them could compete with her.

Not only could she cover more than one subject, but she was also gifted with the ability to think and analyze in the same way, which allowed her to learn about a subject faster than anyone else—coupled with the fact that she was already far stronger than your average unicorn, made the filly downright terrifying.

"Who's Bob?” Her face scrunched up in thought. “By the Sun, Orion, you sometimes say the weirdest things." Shaking her head, she fixed him with a rueful look. "Sorry, I forget about that sometimes." She likely meant her study habits.

"It's fine. You were saying?" He might as well learn as much as he can from the walking encyclopedia herself.

"Oh yes, the Seeker Stones, as they are called, are made when a Crystagrapher grows them through crystallization. A Crystagrapher is a class of spell crafters, as you no doubt know." He didn't know, but he wasn't about to stop her.

"One of the few magical arts not regulated to only unicorns, Crystagraphers can come from all known races, some of the most powerful from earth ponies themselves! There are even legends from long ago about an entire nation whose citizens were inherently capable of doing so at birth!"

She had begun to get off track.

"Twilight. Stick to the original subject, please. We only have so much time in the day." He interrupted just as she took a large breath, likely about to lead into a tangent that would leave him old and gray.

"Sorry," she smiled apologetically, "as I was saying. Crystagraphers grow their crystals from their own mana by infusing the right minerals with subdermal spells. You know, the spells designed to manipulate stone and earth?" He must have had a blank look on his face cause she had halted her explanation.

"Uh…no. No, I didn't know that. I do now, thank you. My education does not compare to yours, Purple Smart." He hoped he had not been slack-jawed.

"Oh. That's true. Sorry I'll try and explain better without going "off the rails”." she air quoted somehow with her armful of Seeker Stones.

"Anyway, Subdermal spells are spells designed to work beneath the dirt or on hard surfaces like gems. Crystagraphers make great use of these spells when crafting crystals for specific functions.

"In the case of Seeker Stones, the green crystals known as Malachite are grown first. An attune spell is cast on them during their formation." She paused for a moment. "Kind of like…"

"A magical frequency? Like a radio?" It was a guess, but he felt that was what she was looking for. Radios in this world were a relatively new invention, the tech only being about thirty years old.

"Yes! Great comparison, Orion! But the radio is only a new invention. How did you know about it?" He only grunted and kept quiet on the fact that Manehattan had been the location in which they were first developed. Twilight looked like she wanted to pet his head and pepper him with questions simultaneously.

"As I was saying, a harmonic frequency called a “Tune Spell” is cast during their growth phase. It also acts as a kind of binding to make it last. Once grown, it is then sealed inside a Seeker Stone using a displacement spell, which is one of the Subdermal spells. It implants the gem into the crystal, removing a part in the size and shape of the stone being put in. The Seeker Stone itself will act as a...power source that will need charging occasionally."

He was getting a headache. This was a very long-winded explanation for a simple system.

"So it's safe to assume that the other crystals in this network are given a similar harmonic spell with slight variations to allow for directing. With the book or document having the fully matching spell frequency." It was like a thumbprint, but for books, only not quite more like an address.

"Exactly! Wow, you might have a talent for it! Crystagraphy, I mean." She beamed.

Hardly. It just sounded like an address code for emails in a company. One emailer from another company could have his email sent to a different company using the correct address.

That was his understanding of it, at least. He had hardly paid attention in Computer Lab, but it sounded right to him.

"So, how do these find what we are looking for?" He hefted his Stone up.

"Once we leave the Directory, the Malachite will glow blue, and the nearest bookcase to the destination will also light up, but green, indicating the start of your path. When you approach another, that too will light up as a guide to the right case. Once you reach your destination, you will see a blue glow marking the correct bookshelf. That will be the section where you will look for the green gem shining in the spine of the correct book."

It was exactly like an email. Only you were the one carrying the message rather than relying on the system to do it for you.

"Okay, I get it. So how do we get out of that mess once we find what we need?"

"Turning the Seeker Stone upside down will activate the gem in the bottom. Like when searching for the document or book you have been looking for, it will guide you to the quickest path back out."

Convenient.

He thought for a moment about what she said and made some guesses.

"So I can assume by coming back here once I am done, the third gem will guide me back to where I got the Seeker Stone originally?" Her excited grin was answer enough. "And I can also assume that most of the librarians here at least have a passing grade in Crystagraphy in order to work here?"

"Yes! Wow, Orion, you're three for three. This really might be your talent!" She practically quivered with excitement.

"Naw. It's like the postal system if ya think about it." She wouldn't know what the hell an email was. "Just a return address stamped at the top."

She frowned thoughtfully, "Very true." Then she smiled. "Anyway! Ready to go?"

True to what she had explained, the moment he walked out of the office, a blueish glow emanated from the crystal in his hand. Another crystal on a bookcase nearest him glowed softly green in response.

His path set, he followed after them as they lit the way through the crazy turns inside the labyrinth.

It didn't take long, though the twists and turns made him fear he had gotten lost somehow, and before he knew it, he sat before a set of shelves deep inside the complex's first floor.

The gem on the case was now showing that lovely cerulean color.

As his gaze traveled up, he could see the fabric on one of the many book spines, glowing an answering green to the crystal in his hand.

"Well, thank God there's a fucking ladder built into the damn thing…" 'Introductions to Crystal Theory sat far outside his magical influence. "Stupid fucking limitations…"

An old argument to himself at this point. The new teacher replacing Mr. Cottonridge seemed to agree and had begun a mission to break him of what he was calling a block.

The thought of Mr. Cloverleaf and his exercises made him want to cry. The dude was determined to see him improve and absolutely ruthless in his application of ideas. The guy had heart, he just wished the stallion was nicer about it.

Climbing to the fifth from the last shelf, he reached out to grab the still glowing book and realized too late he had made a terrible mistake.

His right hand still held the Seeker Stone. That very hand was also being used to hold onto the carved-out rung of the bookcase. Just as he had managed to pull the book out of its slot, he lost his grip and was sent plummeting to the bottom with a yelp.

"OOOHHHH SHHIIIIIITTTTTTTT!!"

Orion's world spun as he struck a shelf and reversed spin as he hit another. He was going to be sick.

The sudden and very hard stop drove all thoughts of throwing up from his head. Air too.

"Uuuhhhh….the fuck happened…" He blinked and squinted at the harsh light assaulting his eyes as he slowly remembered where he was.

His head pounded in agony. He shifted. "Oh, please don't let me have broken anything…."

Gingerly he worked his arms first, stretching and twisting to ensure that he hadn't shattered them. He was not surprised to be pushing books away from himself in the process. Considering his fall, it's a sheer miracle that either bookcase hadn't fallen on him in his descent.

Once he ensured his arms were in good working order, he moved on to his legs and then his back. Amazingly enough, he hadn't broken a damn thing, but he certainly got a few lumps for his troubles. Likely from the books that followed his plummet to the ground, they had left quite a few welts on him.

Putting both hands down to push himself up, he paused as his right hand came to rest on an old cloth-bound tome. What gave him pause was the title he caught as he moved to push it away.

"Enchanting and You, A Beginners Guide."

A rather lame title, but he had heard about the skill in school. A lost art, it was said, in that no one currently living, including the Princess herself, was capable of using it.

To date, it hasn't been discovered why that was, or at least no one is telling.

Sharp Eye's instructional was momentarily forgotten; as his curiosity got the better of him, he remained sitting as he cracked open the first few pages.

The book was old, ancient.

Brass corner caps, tarnished with age, held together with the cloth that likely had been glued to the wood board of what was like more of a handbook rather than a primer. Inside there were actual cloth hinges reinforcing the cover and holding in the bindings of the pages themselves.

Instead of printed words, a blocky, angular script in old Equestrian had been written in. This book had been constructed old-fashioned in every way it seemed.

"Enchanting and You, A Beginners Guide." He read once more on the cover page.

"It is with great hope that you, a pursuer of knowledge, will find the following passages enlightening in your efforts to learn and grow in the marvelous field of Artification.

"Be advised to be tested before beginning. Many, including the scribe of this instruction, cannot understand the complex formulas and structures that lie within.

"It is not a mark against you as a pony—only an effort to keep you from striving for a thing that may never be.

"The passages herein are transcribed in the new style, as recommended by the original author, to reach a wider audience.

"It is this scribe's hope to foster a new generation of intrepid creators to further our growth and knowledge for the future of not just the Glorious Nation of Equestria, but the world as a whole.

"Thank you, and good luck.

"Scribe Clover

“Original work by Bearded Star."

"Well….that's certainly an introduction. New style? It must be the modern language now. Wonder who Bearded Star or this Clover guy was." He muttered to himself.

He flipped to the next page and blinked for a moment before his mouth fell open.

It was circuitry. Enchanting, or Artification as the book officially called it, was based on magical circuitry. Resistors, transistors, and logic gate symbols stood out bold to him on the left-hand side of the first page.

Attached to those symbols were spell formulas. What were the odds?

However, instead of the same terms, they had their own terminology.

Resistors were Controllers. Direction Control for the logic gates. His eighth and ninth-grade computer science lab courses rose from the murk in his mind.

"I could do this…" He mused to himself.

He could. As he flipped through the pages, more memories crept to the forefront of his thoughts. Mr. Blinky, a simple circuit board, set up for the LEDs to blink, had been his first foray into the field before he had found he liked blowing stumps up more with chemicals. Otherwise, he would have likely gone into computers instead.

He was taking this home with him.

Standing up after shutting the book, he went to find his bag to slip it in, only to stop with a frown on his face. "If I try to take this, what will happen?" No one alive could make use of this type of magic currently. If he could... "I'd never get a moment's peace." The ramifications we're beginning to come clear to him.

Celestia, first and foremost, would be all over him. The first possible enchanter in however many years would be too valuable of a resource just to let go their own way. He shuddered at a memory of black-suited agents kicking in his door all those years ago in the middle of the night. He should have run the moment they let him go after he had done what they wanted.

This would be worse. He could see it now, nice apartments, all the food he could want as well. But he wouldn't be able to step out the door without a retinue of guards up his ass at any given time.

A gilded cage.

He would never get to take a chance or see anything for himself—life in a proverbial bubble that was no life.

“Nope. Nu-uh. Ain't no way.”

Then there was anyone with any ounce of power and money. They would hound him day and night even if Celestia never bothered to chain him to her.

There would be no end, for he could already see the benefits such an ability would give the world.

What was he to do? He really did want to try this out.

Taking the book was absolutely out of the question. The moment it left this library, the crystal in the spine might alert the staff that a book had been checked out through theft, and he was not about to risk that!

It was an automated system as each book had a thumbprint-like magical signature. The librarians would make a note of it, and if the Big White Marshmallow ever thought to check precisely what he and Twilight had looked into, he would be pegged immediately.

There would be questions he could not answer. Especially if it turned out, he could actually make something work.

That left him with no options.

"Think Orion, think! There has to be a way!" The back of his head thumped against the bookcase he had come to lean on, looking down with a frown.

His satchel he had brought with him laid half-buried in the scattered debris. That got him thinking about what he had brought with him. His eyes narrowed in furious thought. He had lugged four books with him, and only one was a geography book. He was having trouble remembering where certain nations were and their climates. There were also three notebooks, one partially filled with class notes.

"Wait…" An idea took shape within him.

Digging into the hip pack, he pulled out the empty notebook and two of the three inkwells he usually carried with him to school. He skipped the quill and nibs. If what he planned worked as well as he hoped, he wouldn't need it.

There was a spell, “Liquid Control”, that was of everyday household use in most unicorn homes. It was low level and was one of the first Twilight had shown him when she had decided to bombard him with spells in hopes of raising his ability through practice.

Liquid Control was a newer charm, most often used to either refill water basins, pitchers, or even water a garden when a bucket wasn't available.

The spell manipulated the target liquid. By itself, it would never be enough, and it wasn't precise enough to control moving fluid in more than a lump. But if he slaved a spell inside the liquid that would be subject to “Mirror Image”, an illusionary magic spell, he may just get the results he was looking for.

Between waiting for the pages to dry, a simple warming spell helped with that, it still took an hour to do. There were some mistakes, the first nine pages of his notebook were covered in black ink, but now he had the entirety of "Enchanting and You" within its pages.

Not a moment too soon either, Twilight's voice arose not too far away, calling for him. Another voice he did not know also mirrored the call.

Thinking quickly, he jammed the original under the fallen books, slammed everything else back into his bag, and laid down again after ensuring the air-tight seal for the inside inkwells. He made sure to spread books on himself in a haphazard fashion.

Hopefully, this would look like he fell and hadn't yet gotten up.

He closed his eyes and waited.

"Are you sure he went this way, Lady Sparkle?" An older, yet deferential voice, spoke out.

A surprising number of people regarded Twilight in that manner. He supposed being the apprentice or student of Celestias' came with a few perks.

"I'm positive he had said he was looking for a book by Sharp Eye. On Crystal Theory, I believe. He had decided on it when I told him how finding a book in this library works." Her voice sounded strained, worried.

Now he felt terrible. He knew she cared about him, but it was another thing to hear the concern for him coming from her. That made him feel like an even worse friend when he remembered his earlier actions.

However, he remained where he was, patiently waiting for them to discover his body. Slow, deep breaths.

"ORION!?"

He was bowled into with seventy something pounds of panicky purple pony. He acted accordingly.

"AHHH Christ, Twilight! The hell is wrong with you?!" He groaned as he pulled himself up from the puddle she had forced him into.

"I'm sorry!" She squeaked out. Her hands had not stopped checking him, and her horn was passing a pretty heavy scan spell over him.

In hindsight, he may have been too hasty making that copy of the book after all. He had used three spells repeatedly in his efforts. That was a lot of magical residues disrupting the ambient magic in the local space. Someone would notice if they sensed it, even as weak as he was.

It was either by grace or good fortune that Twilight always seemed to use so much power when she cast. With that much magic, his subtle flows were no doubt washed out by her much more powerful hammer blows of mana as she swapped from scanning to healing.

"What has happened here?" It was barely a question and more of a demand.

The startlingly gorgeous mare at the end of the aisle was as black as he was. Garbed neck to hoof in what could only be described as a cassock of bright white, with the emblem of Equestria on her left breast, she glared down at the pair in firm disapproval. A purple tabard draped around her shoulders completed the look.

She was beautiful, but the set of her mouth detracted from her looks a bit. She likely was madder than hell about the scattered pile of books that had journeyed down with him.

"What happened is simple. I am an idiot. Couldn't reach a book from down here, so I climbed the ladder on the side. I did not pocket the Seeker Stone. In my brilliance, instead, I carried it in my hand, so when I reached for the book I wanted, I slipped and fell. I can only assume I knocked my ass out." He started moving his arms again, bending slightly for the act. "I seem to be fine other than I hurt like hell."

The glare in response was about what he would expect from one who didn't want to pick up a bunch of books for no reason other than him knocking them down.

"I see." She said coldly. Blue eyes suited the icy tone nicely.

Getting up, he adjusted his clothes as best he could and fixed a smile on his face. He hated apologizing.

"Listen, pretty lady, I didn't mean to do this. I wasn't thinking, and I was more than a little irritated with the fact that I couldn't reach the book with my magic. I do apologize for the mess." He made a little bow and noticed that the mare was now blushing, blue eyes wide in surprise.

For that matter, a quick inquiring eye at Twilight only showed the filly's face unchanged, yet it seemed darker somehow.

"I said something wrong. But what?" He wouldn't ask, though. The black colt knew better than that. “Time to change the subject.” He coughed in his hand before speaking.

"How long was out?"

The purple filly gave a start and muttered, "...about two hours."

Well, it's no wonder she's upset. That was the entirety of their agreed-upon study time for the day. He had begged off on it being longer, wanting to get at least some gym time in that evening.

"Well, shit. There goes a wasted afternoon. I'm sorry, Purp Derp. I didn't mean to make ya worried." He sighed. This had not gone well.

"It's okay. You couldn't help what happened." Oh, this had to be fixed.

"How about I come back tomorrow. Since today was a bust, now I am fully aware of the hazards I should be able to not bash my face in with more books." He eyed the librarian, who was looking everywhere but at them. Curious. "Unless you guys have some beast wandering the aisles hunting the unwary."

That got a snort of laughter from Twilight and an alarmed look from the pink-maned mare.

"Of course not! We would not allow...oh." She frowned at his, no doubt, wicked grin. "Can I expect this behavior every time you come here?"

"Of course." He immediately responded. "Though I will do my best not to be such a localized disaster next time." He gestured to the scattered books. "This, as I said before, was not intended. I didn't even get to read what I wanted." A not complete and total lie.

The black-furred mare sighed. "I'll begin straightening this up. Where is the Seeker Stone you brought with you?"

That was a good question. When he had woken up, he had not bothered to search for it being too distracted by the now buried enchanting book.

"I…. actually have no clue. I've been out of it for a while." The amount of fallen literature on the ground made the task of sifting through it a bit daunting.

Another heavier sigh. "I will find it. You must go if what you had said was a fact. But please, do not do this again." She was poise and grace, and Orion got the feeling she wanted to hang her head in defeat despite the unbothered tone she tried to convey.

He pulled his satchel with its now precious cargo from the floor and slid around the librarian, trying to effect a shamed expression. He and Twilight followed her own Stone back to the entrance with little said between them.

It wasn't till after she had put away the many crystals she had picked, and they had left the library proper with Silver Bell once more leading the way, that Twilight had finally said something.

"I am sorry about today." He nearly jumped out of his skin. She really needed to stop that. Orion's mind had been more and more focused on what he carried in his satchel than on the day's events.

"Oh...uh yeah, I guess it didn't go as well as anyone would have liked." He chuckled. "But it wasn't all bad. You taught me a lot about how crystals worked, if not how to make use of them."

"That is true…" a finger pressed to her lips, "if you would like, I can find more about it and check out some books for you to study?" There was a very hopeful look in her eye.

"Yeah, that sounds good." It was best he humor her, and it might be good to learn another skill in any case. "Just keep it to ten to start. I can't read like you, remember?" They both laughed. A cough came from the pony walking in front of them. "Yeah?"

“You ‘avin’ a brawl wif the books in there, laddy?” She smirked.

“Well, Lady Bench-a-cart. I think I managed to tame the books on aisle forty-two. But I was blindsided by reserve forces from aisle seventy-eight.” He joked.

“Bench-a-cart?!” Both females fairly bleated. It must be ponies. There was just no way anyone else would miss a good joke like that. He sighed heavily.

"Have you seen her arms?" He gestured to the heavy set of her shoulders, "the good guardsmare here could likely bench a cart load full of shit!" The mirrored, disgusted looks did nothing to ease the laughter claiming him.

He was starting to have a hard time breathing.

Getting himself under control took the rest of the journey to the castle courtyard, the other two giving him revolted looks, a carriage already sitting at the foot of the palace stairs.

"This will take you back to your home." Ah, the Scottsmare was gone. Stick-in-the-butt had returned. "Just tell them the desired location, and you will be on your way." She finished, all very official.

"Awesome. Need to get my gym clothes anyway." He tossed his satchel in carelessly. The lids on his ink bottles were secured by a vacuum seal he had created with a simple wind spell, so he was not concerned with spillage.

He might be overdoing the act. But he wanted to drive it home that there was nothing of importance in that bag. He was worried if he didn't, he would be seen as treating it as a precious package instead. People would remember that.

"Careful there, you make light of my arms, but you keep at it the way you are, and no mare will be interested in you then. We tend to like our stallions soft and gentle." Her grin soon morphed to mild outrage.

"Lady, I don't give a rat's ass about anyone's interest. I'm doing this for me, and my arms will be bigger than yours." He snickered.

Brushing his pants off from dust he had ignored earlier, he noticed a disturbed look on Twilight's face.

"What?"

"You….you don't want a wife one day?" She asked tentatively, eyes downcasted. Silver Bell looked elsewhere, doing a terrible job of looking like she wasn't listening.

He frowned at the pair of them.

"No, I don't. At least not right after I graduate." If ever. "I don't know if you've noticed Purple Smart, but when a stallion gets into a relationship around here, they end up being forced to the mare's whims for the rest of their lives. Oh, sure, they can have their interests, as long as they are safe. I want my freedom, and there is a great big world out there to see. I aim to see as much of it as possible. Not languish away in a lovely home taking care of foals day in and day out." He stepped forward, hoof on the bottom step. "To tell you the truth, I'm not daddy material anyway. Despite me being one, I don't like kids, with few exceptions, of course."

"But you would be alone…" She almost sounded like she was wailing.

"Heh, maybe. But I'm fine with that." Of course, now she looked like she was about to cry. "Oh, come on. It isn't like it's all bad. I'll be sure to keep a journal of my journey and have it delivered to you when I can't travel anywhere anymore. Well, a copy at least." He smirked.

That did absolutely nothing for the trail of tears now descending her face or the sob that wracked her body.

"What in the absolute hell is wrong with her?" He couldn't understand it. Why was she sad when he wasn't?

Silver Bell's own face had taken on a war of emotion, from anger to incredulity, as her gaze shifted back and forth between them. Her head swung to him again, and she seized him by the arm and hauled him a few yards away.

"Are ye daft, laddy? You kent jus say that to anypony. You'd crush 'er heart like that?!" She hissed in his ear.

"What?" He was confused. Crush her heart? How? Then it clicked.

He wanted to laugh. This mare was the daft one. Twilight crushing on him? He half expected to walk in on her in the school library with a book halfway up her skirt than another person swapping spit with her.

Instead, he shoved his thumb under the bracer on her arm and drove it between the tender spots of her forearm.

She yelped in alarm and maybe surprised pain, hand springing away.

"Listen, Twilight is what, ten, eleven? She's not in love with me. I'd fear for the books in the library before anything else. So look for pages that stick together." He waved his hands back and forth. " Getting off topic here." Gesturing subtly at the still crying filly, he spoke low and quick. "She's a sweetheart, but we have known each other barely over a year. We are nine and eleven, and there is no reason to see something that's not there. She has a very big heart. Likely what you think is love is actually worry. No one wants a friend to suffer, and she would be the type to get upset over my supposed self-isolation."

Rubbing her forearm, the Guardsmare nodded thoughtfully. "Aye, you might just be right about that. But to be so harsh...it's not right." He shrugged in response.

"Not my problem. Best to keep her from trying to be a matchmaker now rather than later." He looked up, noting the sky growing dark. "Listen, I gotta go. I hate to dump her on ya, but…" He left the rest unfinished.

"I understand, but you will have to soothe her yourself once she settles down." They turned around, and Twilight was gone.

Looking to his right, he raised an eyebrow at one of the members of the coach team.

"She ran back inside." The closest one said with a glare directed at him. He just rolled his eyes before turning back to Silver.

"Again, sorry. Just….fuck. Just tell her I apologize if I hurt her feelings and that we can talk about it later when she's ready." The mare decked in shining royal armor just sighed and patted his shoulder, pushing him toward the carriage.

Getting in, he called for the team to take him to the orphanage. It was the absolute worst ride he had ever experienced.

Watching Twilight run weeping to her apartments in the Solar Quarter with a frown, Celestia glided in the opposite direction to the library.

"Best to give her some time. Something must have happened to give her such distress." In truth, she wanted to rush to the little filly and comfort her immediately, to learn what troubled her. However, as bad as she wanted to, hardship is what made a pony grow.

Instead, she made her way to the Great Library. There had been an incident and she wondered if there was a correlation between her student's tears and the commotion that occurred within the library's aisles.

Her path ended up taking her right into a brooding Silver Bell, who saluted rather smartly once she noticed the monarch.

"Princess."

"How was Orion's visit with little Twilight today?" The small smile she wore as her mask barely held as her lieutenant relayed the events of the afternoon.

She was delighted in the fact that the Guardsmare and he had settled the differences between them. It was good for both to understand each other, and she feared she might have had to set up a forced mediation between the pair.

Apparently, from what the mare could gather, there was indeed an incident within the library. An accident that cost the majority of the time he had to spend with Twilight this day. She tsked in frustration.

Not what she wanted at all. But at least he had made an attempt. There would be more.

But her irritation over it became compounded when Silver mentioned how he had departed. She was pleased and angry at the same time. On the one hand, she had not wanted there to be a connection of romance between the two. It was good that he only seemed to regard her as a friend.

The problem was that she wasn't pleased with how it came about. Orion’s blunt attitude, carried in his usual caustic manner, had somewhat crushed the little filly's heart.

His flat disbelief and dismissal of her potential feelings reminded her of the "Pretty Stallions" some three hundred years ago.

They preyed on the fact that most mares would do almost anything to have a stallion in their lives and ended up leaving a wake of broken hearts behind them. It made her sick just remembering how they pitted ponies against each other, all hoping to win their affection.

Not just mares had been caught in that debacle.

She had to remind herself that Orion was not being selfish or trying to emulate the pathetic stallions of the past. He just remained his aloof self, but something needed to be done about his callousness and indifference to societal norms. It was one thing to be a little eccentric, another entirely to buck all social custom.

From what her lieutenant said, a romantic life seemed to hold no interest for him. Which was decidedly odd as colts she had spoken to dreamed of being in a loving herd. To learn, that he not only rejected the idea but saw it as some sort of trap was more than a little alarming.

His focus on traveling the world was also concerning.

There were always young foals who sought adventure in every generation. Male or female, it did not matter. They all wished for something to define them, usually in pursuit of their cutie marks.

He might just become another Long Stride, or Star Gazer. Another name crept up with the first pair, a painful one, from the confines of her past. Starswirl the Bearded. He had just vanished one day after sealing up his wing of the ancient castle. With him went several prominent members of her inner court. No pony had even seen them leave.

"What happened to you, my old friend?"

Arriving at the library's double doors, she instructed Silver to be on call should she have need of the guardsmare. Stepping inside, she was greeted by a flushing Book Song. Sitting at a table, she was bent over. The black-furred librarian was pushing around a cracked Seeker Stone, her magic gently probing in what could be determined easily as an attempt to see if it could be repaired.

But her normal fastidiousness seemed listless. As Celestia approached, the mare had performed the same exam at least three times by the time she stood by the table.

"Miss Song? What is wrong?" After today's events, she had little patience to put in much for small talk, and her librarian's mood filled her with unease.

She hoped that there had been no permanent damage done to her facility.

"Wha-? Oh, Princess!" She rose to greet her, but the monarch just waved her back down. "I am so sorry, Your Highness, but what did you say?"

"I asked what was wrong. You seem pensive today." She gently responded. She may not want small talk, but she would not be rude.

"Oh, nothing. Other than this broken Seeker, I don't believe I will be able to get it working again, and the mess down aisle thirty-one D section, of which Script and Stencil are currently taking care of, everything else is fine." She trailed off. "...just fine…"

Celestia wanted to snort in sour humor. Light Script and Stencil Hearts were like rabbits in a sack. They had often been caught in a forgotten, or so they believed, corner of one of the aisles in the throes of passion. She couldn't blame Stencil, Light was a very handsome stallion, after all. But if those two were together, whatever mess had been made would take longer than it should in getting straightened out. Book Song knew this but was obviously distracted.

"What happened, my little pony?"

It was a brief story, told through a small smile.

It was about what she had expected and better than she had hoped. Orion had fallen while attempting to reach a book on Crystal Theory. When Twilight arrived, she cast an examination spell to see if anything was broken.

Despite the hard knock to the head, the colt didn't even get a concussion. Other than bruises, which her student had taken care of immediately, he turned out fine.

When Book Song reached the end of her retelling, the reason for her smile became clear.

He had called her a "Pretty Lady".

For many, that would be a normal if pleasant remark. For Song, however, it meant so much more.

Forty years ago, the mare had not been a librarian but an elite agent in her service. The black unicorn specialized in infiltration and sabotage. She was quite good at it.

Until she was captured, a mistake in the information received led her into a trap that cost her dignity and more. The white cassock she wore covered terrible scars that now disfigured her. Only her face had remained untouched.

Of course, they had rescued her, but she was never the same. She was offered a position here and had not left the library since. Most in the castle knew what had happened to her, which kept her at a distance from others. So for forty years, she had remained quiet, in humble service to the throne, never letting anypony get close.

Till today it seemed.

She left the still flustered mare with instructions to file a report should anything besides a Seeker Stone having been destroyed. Old books were more challenging to replace than a magical crystal that was grown by hand.

Leaving the library, she dismissed Silver Bell for the night. As she turned and made her way to her own apartments, she contemplated what to say to Twilight. Her rooms were not far from her own, and the route she was taking would take her by her student's dorm.

A rueful smile spread across her face. Considering how much of a bookworm her student is and her utter lack of interest in most ponies, she had never thought she might actually have to have this conversation. At least, not this soon.

Maybe in a few decades when the filly had exhausted the stock of books and manuscripts in the kingdom. But certainly not now.

Celestia stopped in front of a door painted purple with a starburst cutie mark emblazoned upon it. She adjusted her dress. It always pays to look calm and collected when comforting others.

With a turn of the knob and a push, the muffled cries of her student made her heartache. As she shut the door behind her and took her first steps toward Twilight's bed, a daydream began to unfold in her head of kicking Orion so hard he sailed over the castle parapet.

"Okay, that might be a little much."

He wasn't disappointed when he had gotten out of class and not seen a carriage or Twilight waiting for him, saddened to his surprise but not disappointed. After that night, he suspected it might be a good while before he saw the filly again other than in passing in the school halls.

Those were very brief.

What he hadn't expected was for there to be weeks of this behavior. He wondered if Silver Bell had been right. If she was, he felt dirty, not that he could help it.

He was, in fact, a thirty-one-year-old man stuck in a child's body. Well, thirty-five now, if he added his age in his horse body. The very concept of a child being in love with him, or even crushing on him, made him shiver in disgust. He couldn't blame them as only he knew what he was under all the fur. But he knew and felt all the dirtier for it.

Sadly, he couldn't go running around claiming an age like that while looking like he is.

So with the temporary loss of a friend and access to an incredible library, he fell back into his old habits. With the addition of his pilfered study material, of course.

It was certainly a very interesting reading. According to Scribe Clover, as told by Bearded Star, it was possible to imbue metal and other hard substances such as stone with spells.

At first, it sounded exactly like what one would do with crystals. In fact, crystals were often used in the crafting of certain enchantments. The difference, however, was the power source and capacity. Crystal magic, he had found a book at the school library covering the subject, had the issue of unexpected losses in power. For the Great Canterlonian Library, someone would have to charge the entire library with their own magic once a month.

According to Twilight later, the Princess herself would often do it as she had more than enough power for the job. Though lately, someone else had been undertaking the task themselves, and no one but Celestia knew who.

Then there was capacity.

While crystals could handle up to four gems embedded within a larger one, they could not intermix. Nor derive energy from the same power source. Each individual crystal, gem, or stone had to be powered separately, hence the constant need for recharging.

The Seeker Stone was a perfect example. Only one gem could be active at any time within the crystalline structure. If someone were to try and activate more than one spell, the harmonic energies between the two or more would synchronize and shatter the entire thing.

According to Bearded Star's writings, enchantments didn't suffer that no matter how many spells you placed on the very same object. On top of that, you only needed one power supply for all of them.

Enchantments themselves derived their power from the ambient magic in the thaumatic field that enveloped the natural world. There was never a need for charging. The energy was always there. However, that was not to say it didn't come with its own problems. Mana surges were a thing much like an electrical surge and could completely fracture the circuit. This would force you to remake the spell and item it was attached to, as the original would be mana poisoned, rendering the material too weak to rework.

The harmonic effect would also affect the enchantment. Eventually, it too would fall out of alignment with the thaumatic field with constant use, something about the thrum of power rattling the insides. The only plus side to that is that it would take literal years for it to happen, and using a gem as the regulator would prolong that to decades. Maybe even centuries depending on the size of the crystal and how it was set up inside a unit. There were overload issues as well, but they were often extreme.

But the benefits, dear God, the benefits!

Items were not limited by spell but by the amount of space available on that object and what the resonances of similar spell structures might do to each other. Though Bearded indicated, there was a way to buffer against that. A staff could potentially hold hundreds of enchantments. However, you wouldn't want to do that merely because then the spell effect of each enchantment would be reduced. The size of the script, or wiring as he would called it, was crucial in this case.

He was sure there was a way around it, but he had no idea how a cellphone operated back in his world, having only the basic understanding of circuitry that he had. So miniaturization would likely be a trial and error kind of deal.

One of the other significant benefits was that separate enchantments could be slaved together, or linked in tandem, might be a better phrase, from individual items. Orion could build an engine without combustion. Car companies the world over back on earth would kill for that capability. And oil companies would assassinate whoever came up with it and bury the knowledge just as readily.

His imagination was literally the limit on what he could do with this. But he had to be careful. Very careful. Orion’s past experience with government bodies weighed heavily on him. Considering what he had been put through, he could not bring himself to act so openly.

Not with this.

For whatever reason, Artification was a legendary skill that no one alive today had the knowledge and ability to do. If he suddenly started showing off, he would likely be snatched up so fast his head would fall off.

He would never be able to live free again. Yet he had to know. He still had no idea if he could make an enchantment or not.

It was an easier decision than he realized.

Weeks of hunting scrap metal at night from the manufacturing section on the third plate produced enough material he believed would work for both practice and final development.

He had decided to go small, very small. Something he could easily hide in his mane and it not be seen or just dismissed as a trinket while still big enough not to require all the effort to miniaturize it.

In truth, he could have made it out of wood, but the gold script that was to be put in likely would fall out, or the wood would rot, rendering it useless when the support fell away.

Mages in the past had tried to make enchantments out of solid gold, and while it did work, no one could hold onto them because of the magical surge and heat.

"Don't do that", had been written several times in the book about making that attempt. Scribe Clover was insistent that Bearded Star had wanted to make it very clear, thus the repeats. Never use pure gold.

It was likely more than just superficial burns that happened to those poor unfortunates who had tried that route. His copy didn't detail what, though, and he was happy not to know.

Instead, one was recommended to use iron or stone as the frame for durability, which led to him having to study metallurgy. That had been an eye-opener. It seemed in this culture, the concept of steel was a carefully guarded secret only taught to approved metal workers. Even then, there was a considerable amount of red tape in approving just apprenticeships. Fortunately, his grandfather had taught him how to make simple carbon steel, not that he would need it at the moment. All the scrap metal he had managed to scrounge up had already been pre-forged. Orion mostly needed heat values and rework techniques to make any of them useful.

Now in the corner of the basement under the orphanage and inside an old musty wooden box, sat twelve rough ingots of steel. To call them ingots was a bit generous. Without proper forging equipment, he had been forced to make half-an-inch long metal bars. Any larger, and his telekinesis had trouble holding them during the heating process. It was the first time he had learned that there were more than just distance limits to that simple spell.

But he figured it was for the best. The smaller pieces looked innocuous. Considering their sooty appearance, they actually fit in with the jumble of junk down there.

Gold had been easy, having only to ask for more than the usual allowance. With the low heat requirements, it was easy to remove the dross and purify. Getting gold and steel was a simple trick compared to acquiring gems. Had he not gotten lucky one afternoon in broad daylight no less, he might never have gotten the chance. He didn't even feel guilty about it.

Spring had long since come. It was the middle of May, in fact. It was particularly hot, and he was miserable.

Coming back from the gym, the long way as he had drifted to the jewelry shops on thirty-second street to sift through their trash for what felt like the thousandth time. He still had yet to find even one serviceable gem. There had been a few, but like any jewel maker, he couldn't use one with blemishes inside.

An accident between two carriage teams and their passengers ended up being the boon he needed.

Coming to the corner of Oak Leaf and Ginger, he came upon a scene of pony-drawn ambulances and crying. The stallions sitting by the overturned and twisted coaches wept for all they were worth.

They hadn't been hurt, from what he could tell, but the pair were lamenting over missing jewelry. That got Orion's attention quick, fast, and in a hurry.

The crowd, primarily mares offering comfort to the duo in increasingly lurid sentences, was too distracted to notice a black colt of unusual size, frantically looking for what the stallions were bawling their eyes about. Someone had to have been smiling down on him that day.

In a sewer grate, several feet away from the scene of the accident, glittering light from the afternoon sun drew him. Glancing about to ensure no one was watching him, he ducked down, horn already lighting up. It looked like something a queen would wear. Just inside, he could have reached it with his hand instead of telekinesis, was a bejeweled necklace of amethyst and sapphires, with one large sapphire in the shape of a rounded triangle as a pendant.

He snatched it up and jammed it into his pants before he could think. Looking at the crowd again, it seemed everyone was still too focused on the scene before them, thus not noticing his theft. Nervous, he tried to walk normally away. But with each step, his pace quickened, nerves getting to him. He had not realized he had gotten home till he shut the door of his room, his back resting against the door.

There were, of course, newspaper articles from one of the stallions. Mr. Hornwrite was offering ten thousand bits for the return of his grandfather's necklace. Which made Orion feel kind of bad until he noticed the forge date on one of the gold links.

It was made last year.

Guilt gone, he broke the necklace down into its basic materials. A surprising amount of diamonds, small as they were, ended up in his little box of collectibles. Plus, he got more gold to go with his current stash. Diamonds for enchanting had some uses but weren't very necessary, so he was likely to just flush them later. It was a shock to learn that colorless gems tended to be the least compatible or valuable in crafting.

Finally, he had everything.

He would, unfortunately, have to wait until summer. Because likely, this would exhaust what meager magical ability he had quickly. No sense in trying this tired from school exercise by an over-eager Mr. Cloverleaf.

Sweat poured from his body. Other than Orion's labored breathing, the only other sound's were the steady flow of water in the underground waterway he had decided at the last minute to move to and the distant muffled clop of several pairs of hooves muffled as they were from above.

The realization of how hot the little storage room was going to get made him scout out another location. There was no sense in risking fire and alerting all of Canterlot that he was up to something suspicious as the orphanage burned down around him.

With that in mind, he had initially sought out abandoned buildings in his area. That ended up being a bust as Canterlot did not seem to have the same struggle as Stalliongrad. This cut down his limited options, as he mused his decisions, which there was only one, the third plate. At that moment, he kicked a stone that made a “sprong” sound as it bounced off a metal grate leading into the sewer system below.

Curious, he peered in.

The sun had fallen to near dusk, but what rays were available gave pretty good illumination to the dry passageways that bordered canals flowing with water. As he looked around, another idea took root in his mind. It was isolated, with plenty of water if things went wrong, and if a fire did start, no one would see it. He didn't wait very long. When the rest of the orphanage's residents bedded down that night, he crept out of his window on the second floor and down the sturdy wooden lattice where Mrs. Evergarden's tomato plants were just beginning to climb up.

There, just behind the garden hedge that blocked off the view of the alley, was a sizeable ponyhole cover. Unfortunately, it took almost an hour of effort before he loosened the bolts holding the cover in place. When horse people want something to stay, it stays.

Soon enough, he had the thing off, him down, and the cover back on again. He had somehow forgotten that there would be a smell. Gagging, he proceeded to explore the tunnel system that had always been underneath him.

It didn't take him long to discover an old storage chamber of sorts. The door, constructed of iron and brass, had the remnants of a lock corroding on the carved stone ground in front of it. That was promising.

Pushing the door open with an earth-rending groan from the hinges that left him wincing, he lit up a ball of flame above his horn and stepped down the three steps of stairs to briefly explore the relatively empty room.

It was surprisingly dry inside, the odor reduced, or he could just be getting used to it. The one long stone table built into the wall itself and a wooden chair that still seemed to be in excellent repair. There were also two crates that looked to be a little worse for wear yet still serviceable. They were both empty save for the mound of dust inside.

However, none of that truly mattered to him, for the one thing he was looking for had been found. Aside from the unoiled hinges, a layer of dust and detritus an inch or so thick had greeted his hooves the moment he stepped inside. No one had been here in what was likely years. It was perfect. Or as close to as he was hoping for. There was even a vent at the top.

It didn't take him long, and over the course of three days at the tail end of June, he slowly moved all of his equipment to a dry, if cold and unused, section of the sewer system near the orphanage.

Orion supposed that the chamber had been meant as a staging ground for supplies and planning during the founding. There were several spots on the walls that held evidence that something once hung there. Now it was decorated with a corkboard, a small shelf full of books, and a calendar he would have instead thrown away for its flowery appearance alone but now needed it to plan out his days.

So, he sat on an old rickety chair over the stone table. The storeroom was a lucky find for sure, but it held heat far too well, sweat-drenched as he carefully let the gold drip into the center of two pieces of metal he had made. All while weaving the simple spell he had chosen for his first attempt.

Orion had decided to go with a spell used by blind unicorns, either from birth or accident, that allowed them to see the world in some manner.

"Presence" was not his first choice, but "Detect Life" would only track living movement rather than everything. Thus, Presence would have to suffice for this first foray into a school of study long since given up on by others.

From tests using average unicorn casting methods, he was given a not quite three-dimensional image of his environment about ten feet around him was projected in his mind’s eye. Not bad. Honestly, the spell was cool as hell on its own and made him think of himself as Daredevil for a little bit. Low in mana draining, even he could maintain it all day if he wanted to. He could see why it was a popular one. The only downside to him was the fact that everyone knew what you were casting. Because it was so weak in terms of power and complexity, you couldn't invert the spell and hide it.

Should this enchantment work, no one would see a damn thing nor detect it unless they were using a very powerful sensor spell. Even then, the power draw would be so small it would likely pass notice.

Not to mention the menace known as Twilight would no longer startle him with her sneaky ways.

Setting the final pieces, two thin steel rods that acted as pins to hold it all in place, it was done.

Sagging in relief as he released all the spells he had been holding, mopping sweat from his brow with a worn rag, he stared down at his creation in triumph: seven, a new spell holding record for him.

It was small. More petite than he had planned for, but it was perfect. It was a small cylindrical metal hair bead about an inch and a half long. A little Phoenix had been etched into it for shits and giggles. He did a relatively decent job of it.

Inside was where the magic was. Trapped between the two metal tubes, in carefully carved grooves, was the coil of gold, shaped more like a circuit that he was familiar with. With it was attached a sliver of amethyst; it had been the slimmest piece on the necklace. It looked seamless, and if not for the now unseen pins, it would fall apart the moment anyone poked it, but those little rods had been fused with a little application of heat.

Taking a deep breath, his unsteady hand reached out and took it from the stone tabletop. It was warm, but not hot. Slipping it onto a few strands of hair deep in the crest of his mane, he fasted it with two small knots. One above and one below, he gave it a few shakes to make sure it would stay.

Satisfied, he took another breath, then another. This was nerve-racking, to say the least. "Fuck it." His horn lit up, and he connected the gem to the local thaumatic field.

Pain wracked his mind in a tidal force of fury, turning his stomach in knots and making his veins feel like they were on fire. In his panic and pain, he had momentarily forgotten how to separate the connection and attacked the bead instinctively.

Finally ripping it free, he collapsed in agony on the dirty stone floor of the old storeroom. His ragged breaths could not be heard due to the force of his blood pounding in his ears.

Minutes went by before he attempted to stand, even to try and sit on the overturned chair he had been balanced precariously on, but before he could even rise, he began to laugh. Deep chuckles turned into almost manic jubilation as they echoed back at him.

It had worked!

For one brief moment, he was aware of the movements of every single soul within hundreds of yards of him—even the very structures of buildings and standing walls in a vague static way.

But his mind could not handle that much information for longer than that single moment.

He touched his face near his nose, and in the low illumination of candlelight, blood glistened wetly on his fingertips as his hand came away. He could feel wetness in his ears as well.

"Oh boy…" he croaked. He did some real damage there. "Hope that's not permanent."

He would have to scale it back. That would be easier than the initial effort of actually crafting. It was nothing to reduce the power of a spell.

A grin began to grow on his face.

Orion Falls, the first pony, human, thing, in over a thousand years to enchant. His gaze fell onto the copied notes of Bearded Star, scribed by one named Clover.

"I wonder what else you got…" His grin grew wider, teeth flashing in the candlelight.