Every swing of the hammer met the orange hot metal with an audible clang. It was the only noise inside the forge besides the wood popping within its fire. Romulus was out running some errands, leaving me to work on the orders still piled up. I usually would have some music or something playing in the background to make this smithing process less mentally taxing. But Romulus was my speaker system, and he wasn't here. So I had to hum some songs to make do.

I met hammer to steel when distant gunfire rang out shortly after. I stopped and looked around franticly to double-check I had heard what I just heard. Just quiet popping of the fire. I shrugged, thinking it was nothing, and resumed my work. Then It happened louder, And it sounded right outside my door. I set the hammer and metal down, rushed to the door, gripped the hand, and began opening it. When the door erupted in fire and wood shrapnel as I was blown backward thirty feet. Landing face-first in what felt like and tasted like mud.

When I Looked up, I was no longer in any forge. I was instead amidst an all too familiar battlefield. Men and women of my kind rushed past me with advanced rifles at the ready. Giant mechs stopped past, covering fire with their oversized machine guns and shoulder-mounted rockets. At the same time, putting up a large energy shield to protect the more minor soldiers that accompanied it. I heard and saw artillery shells detonated nearby and in the distance in bright flashes of yellow. Tanks drove past and fired their large cannons with loud booms that made my ears ring.

I got to my feet and looked around. I found myself wearing my old combat armor with a rifle in hand. My radio inside my helmet was abuzz with chatter and words I couldn't make out. I looked straight ahead and saw Jackson. His cleanly shaven face and short blonde hair were coated with mud, debris, and blood. He was walking towards me, ever so slowly. It was unnerving.

"Why didn't you save us?" I heard him say as he got close. I tried to speak, but sirens and gunfire drowned out the sound.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU DIE WITH US!" He yelled as my other friends appeared out of a black fog behind him. A detonation that rumbled the Earth rose from the ground in a violent white flash that rapidly approached from miles behind them. I was filled with terror and dread as the flash hit my friends, stripped them of skin, and turned their bones to ash. I saw it happen as if the world slowed to a crawl. I tried to run, but my legs wouldn't move, as I was consumed in the white flash.

"JACKSON!" I screamed as I sat up violently in bed. My head throbbed and pounded, and I instantly felt winded. I grabbed at my aching chest as I couldn't get down any air. I fell to my side, rolled off the bed, and hit the floor with a loud thud. I sat writhing on the ground for what felt like an eternity.

I heard a door slam open, and a blurry figure came into view. It knelt down, and I saw myself Staring at the face of Romulus.

"Sir! Sir! Come on, stay with me!" He said frantically as he slapped my face lightly with his metal hands. "Elements dammit, you're having a Heart attack! Hold on, sir." He rubbed his hands together and slowly pulled them apart to see electricity sparking between them. He planted them onto my chest with great force, and I went stiff as electricity coursed through my body and stretched out as straight as possible. Romulus repeated this twice before I felt air flow into my lungs. I sat up, breathing and sweating hard. Romulus held a hand on my back and sat on the floor with me. I suddenly started just throwing up, a lot. I cupped my mouth as the horrid taste filled my mouth, and the burning that came with it made me wanna throw up even more. Romulus Scooped me up in his arms and rushed me into the bathroom. When I let loose into the toilet, I could only imagine how sad this looked from Romulus's perspective. This great prince of a dead empire just vomiting his intestines out into a toilet.

Once I had 'finished,' I rolled over on the floor and propped myself up against the bathtub's edge. My head hung back as I stared up at the ceiling, feeling miserable.

"I don't get why people drink. This shit sucks." I groaned, my stomach aching.

"Yeah, this is about how it goes for everyone's first night of alcohol," Romulus said, sitting down beside me. His body made a metal clank as it hit the floor. "So, what was your choice of poison tonight, sir?" He asked.

"Mainly whisky, with a few glasses of ale mixed in here and there," I responded.

"hm, haven't seen a king drink whisky since your great grandfather. Your grandfather King Dramos had a fair share of vodka, and Your father was a fan of bourbon." He remarked. Seeming to dive into his memory drive. "heh, I remember carrying Dramos up to the royal chambers one night when he downed a whole bottle of northeastern vodka from the kingdom of Verales. You should have seen him that night, oh boy! The maids spent the whole night cleaning those puke stains out of the carpet!" Romulus started giggling, which was rare for him. I giggled with him as much as I could without vomiting.

"And your father, he was..." I raised a hand to stop him. "Please, don't. It's already bad enough thinking about Dad. Hearing you talk about him would just..." I stopped, already feeling tears swell in my eyes. I wrapped my arms around my knees and curled up into a ball. Placing my forehead on the tops of my knees.

"I understand, sir. Take your time. I'll be here when you need me," He said, putting a hand on my back. I remember the nightmare that woke me from my slumber and shoved it into a deep dark pit in my mind and filled it with concrete. I didn't need that shit bugging me right now. I was already fucked up enough as it was.

"Okay, I think im good now," I said, slowly, getting to my feet as the aching pain in my stomach eased. "I now realize what my dad meant when he said, 'We'll see' when I told everyone I swore off beer. But I went a good while, didn't I?"

"Longer than most kings and queens of your age. Almost every single king before you made that same promise in some way, shape, or form. Most started drinking when they reached twenty. But you lasted till thirty-seven. That's a new record." Romulus stated. Helping me out of the bathroom and into the main forge room. Sitting me down on a chair.

"Wait, you said 'almost.' What did that mean?" I asked, curious.

"Oh, the First King Merlin never drank in his life." He quickly stated as if he knew it by heart. For once, I was dumbfounded.

"Bullshit, no way! He dealt with dragons and the discovery of magic. The great unbounding, the founding of a kingdom, and setting it up to last generations. Hell, He unified the world under a single world treaty!" I remarked.

"All true, all very true. And he was never more stressed in his life during those times. But he never resulted to the bottle to cope with that stress. Instead, he channeled that stress back into his work, which caused him to have quite the temper, im afraid. And also lost quite a lot of friends save for the table of twelve, his close family, such as his wife and son, and me. He was a man of focus and study. His willpower inspired so many from then to today. He was truly the best of humanity."

"Damn, Wish I could channel my stress into my work. I got too fucking much of it," I commented. Picking up a hammer and a piece of paper that had one of the many orders on it. I looked over to see the forge lit, and Romulus was putting together a halberd handle at a desk. So I grabbed some metal and got to work. Shoving some coal into the fire and setting the metal on top of it.

"He did it through song weirdly enough," Romulus said out of nowhere after about fifteen minutes.

"Wha-huh? What did you say?" I asked while poking the coals of the fire with a metal rod.

"Merlin, whenever he worked, used to sing in ancient Elemental when he was stressed. At first, it was harmonic mumbling and humming, but it developed into a soft song, like how you did when you sat in the royal Library and read books on magic. Both his mood and the quality of his work improved when he did. Pretty soon, he did it all the time, save for when he gave one of his rigorous speeches or closed-door meetings with the table of twelve or the riders."

"Huh," I said. "I never took Merlin as the singing type."

"Neither did I. But he did. I assure you, though, he never put on concerts or anything of that sort. Never even sang around his wife, if possible. It was a more personal form of comfort for him." Romulus responded. I heard an audible click from the workbench he was working at as he stood up. And turned to me, holding what seemed to be a completed halberd. "Just finished the handle on order number 47. I'll be sure to mark it down in the catalog. I gotta take over to the grindstone for one final sharpening."

"Were nearly halfway done with orders already?" I asked, surprised, not thinking we could have gotten that much done in two and a half days of work.

"Well, not all the way finished." He said, walking over to the grindstone and pressing his foot against a peddle on the floor as the stone wheel began to spin. "All the metal has been worked into the proper forms, but I have yet to put the padding into the armor or finish all the handles. That's what I will be focusing on for the majority of today."

"Ah, I see. Get the hard part done and do the follow-up work afterward. I gotcha." I stopped for a second as a thought popped into my head as I looked around the room for a clock. "Do you know what time it is? I really need to get a clock in here."

"Just barely six in the morning, sir," Romulus responded, not skipping a beat.

"Really?! Damn, I thought it was way later in the day. Means I got plenty of time to work, I guess." I said, taking the melted steel out of the forge with a pair of forging tongs and setting it on the anvil. I grabbed the hammer hanging off the side of the anvil in one hand, held the tongs steady in the other, and began hammering away at the hot yellow metal. Small sets of sparks shot off the metal ingot each time the hammer made contact.

Romulus and I worked for around three hours in silence. Soon I had the rough outline of a sword from the ingot I had been hammering at. I took the still red hot metal to a tall thin box of mineral-rich oil to do the first of three quenches. I slowly dipped the blade into the oil with a hiss of cooling metal and a small flame that drowned itself just as soon as it started. Once the bubbling settled, I slowly pulled the blade out, the metal emanating steam as I examined it for faults. The metal now had a bright, shining, pure white color as Element Steel typically had when it neared peak purity and primal magic attunement. I took the blade back to the anvil to flatten out the edges so they could be sharpened and more defined.

As I hammered away, my mind drifted into the details of the forging of Element Steel and its forging process. Mainly the fact that you needed to use a hammer or some forging tool that was enchanted with a link to the primal Realm. So what with each swing of a hammer, for example, would imbue the metal with raw magical energy that hadn't been assigned to one of the four Elemental focuses. I was thankful I had a hammer with such an enchantment on my jet that laid in a ruined state outside. I moved a lot of the tools I did have on it into the stall's back storage room. Espisccaly the guns and such in some of the armory lockers and the twelve Unbound Arcanums as well. I glanced up at a nearby bookcase with all twelve magically glowing books sitting side by side on one of the shelves. The spines of the books stick out over the lip of the shelf by several inches due to their massive size.

My train of thought was interrupted by a knock at the door. Romulus waved me down and began walking over to the door. Telling me that he would get it. Setting the halberd blade down on a table as he walked over. I continued hammering but kept an eye on him at the door out of curiosity.

"Ah, good morning, miss Twilight!" Romulus said with his butler-like charm and a slight bow. "What can I do for you this day?" I was even more curious now. Twilight was one of the six ponies I met during my first interaction with Celestia that piqued my interest. Mainly because of how highly Celestia spoke of her academically and the fact she was Shining armors sister. And I was rather quite fond of him.

"Oh, I wanted to see if Riley was available. Shining wrote me last night asking if I could take him to Rarity for some new clothes. From what he said, Riley needs a whole new wardrobe, and I was happy to oblige." I heard Twilight say from the other side of the doorway. From my angle, I couldn't see her. Did Shining Armor really call in a favor with his sister to get me new clothes? I mean, that's nice of him, but I haven't known him that long to earn that sort of kindness or respect. Or maybe he just took some pity on me from last night after telling him and his buddies that I lost my old squad.

"Oh well, isn't that thoughtful," Romulus said as he turned his head to look at me and then back to Twilight. "I'll go fetch him right now. Please, come in if you'd like." He turned and began walking over to me. It just then clicked that id actually get pulled away from my work AGAIN at Romulus's encouragement.

"No. We're not doing this again. Last night was enough out and about for me." I said, centering my focus on my work.

"Sir, we both know you need more than one set of clothes if you plan to live here for the foreseeable future. Just go and see what it will cost and go from there. Who knows, Twilight might be able to get you a discount since she and Rarity are good friends." He said, putting his metal hand on my shoulder.

"Pft, how do you know that they're good friends? For all you know, it's just Twilight's fashion designer or something." I scoffed.

"Because Rarity was the white unicorn with the purple main back at your first meeting with the Princesses. I Beleive they all introduced themselves as very good friends." He retorted.

I remember the unicorn from memory and agree with Romulus in that they were introduced that way. But then I also remembered that Romulus wasn't there for that meeting and was still in the Everfree forest. I sat the hammer down across the blade on the anvil and turned to face Romulus. "How do you know about that? You weren't even there!" I demanded.

Romulus chuckled and shook his head. "Did you forget that your wrist-mounted device dormantly records your surroundings since it was never taken off of its wartime protocols?" He said, still chuckling slightly.

I immediately opened my wristpad and started checking its settings and protocols. Sure enough, it was still on the wartime protocols and had several terabytes of recordings and simulations from over the last eight to nine months.

"I had remotely accessed it while you were sleeping to get caught up on events that had happened while I was 'asleep.'" Romulus said as I turned off the protocols and such.

"Well, We still have a lot of work to do here. We only have a few days to get all of these orders done and ready to present by Sunday. Yet, you still keep sending me out to go on random and rather pointless errands for my mental health, even though I keep telling you that im FINE." I asserted, letting out some of my pent frustration.

"Might I inform you that the constant reuse of dirty clothes leads to severe illness and poor bodily hygiene? I think the last thing we need is for you to be sick and not be able to do ANY work and have to have me take care of you sick in bed." Romulus said smugly and logically

"Fuck, you gotta point," I admitted. I hate it when he appeals to my logical side. "well, what do you want me to wear? My current clothes are filthy and smell like a Sorgons ass flap."

"I could cast a smell-muffling spell." I heard Twilight say. I turned my head to see her head peaking in through the doorway with a hoof covering her nose. "Sorry, I would come in, but it smells horrible here. No offense." her voice sounded funky with her nose covered.

I sighed loudly, moved towards the door, and slipped on my armored combat boots since they were my only pair of shoes. Twilight backed out of the doorway to let me walk through, but then I turned back to Romulus. "Finish up the halberd and the edge of that sword. Then try and clean his place up so it doesn't smell like hot garbage. Capeesh?"

Romulus gave me a salute. "10-4, sir!"

Halfway through the door, I stepped back into the machine's view. "Drop the military speak, Im fucking over it." I walked out and closed the door behind me. Twilight wasted no time, and a ball of magic erupted from her horn and hit my clothes. I felt a rankness in the air lift as my lungs filled with air that didn't smell like shit.

"Yeesh, these really do smell bad. I can't believe I went nose blind to that nastiness," I said, pinching my shirt to look at it.

"Well, thankfully, we're gonna go see if Rarity can make you some fresh clothes," Twilight said as she finally uncovered her nose and began walking away. I noticed that she was wearing saddlebags for some unknown purpose. I followed next to her as we walked through Canterlot.

"If you don't mind me asking, What are those things you put on your... um... the things you walk on?" She asked, looking down at my feet.

"You mean my feet?" I asked for clarification. Gesturing towards my feet.

"Yes, So that's what they're called." She said as a notebook floated beside her and she wrote something down with a pen.

I was confused for a second and realized that Ponys didn't really wear shoes, at least not ones like mine. "Well, these are boots, a tougher form of footwear to protect my feet since they are rather sensitive and can puncture easily."

"Interesting. I thought for sure that such walking extremities would be tough enough not to need such protective footwear, as you call it." I could tell at this point she was prodding for information about human anatomy. She seemed rather fascinated about me and my biology. So I decided to humor her and kept this going for a bit. I did get an odd satisfaction from teaching others things I know a lot about and have a passion for. Unfortunately, Biology and things to do with living beings was my last versed subject. But I knew what evolution was

"Well, my primal ancestors would undoubtedly have tougher feet. Since they didn't have shoes back then since they weren't invented. But once they were, the genes that made our feet so tough weren't needed so-"

"They were slowly removed throughout generations due to evolution?" Twilight said, finishing my sentence.

"Correct."

"That's a similar trend with certain racing ponies on rare occasions. Although most times, it toughens their hooves. The rare few have degradation in their hooves when they don't remove their horseshoes enough."

"I suppose that could happen, but such degradation that would be THAT noticeable would have to be caused if the ponies in question were wearing horseshoes all the time and didn't even change them out for fresh ones." I thought aloud. Twilight agreeing with me. She continued to prod me with a few more questions about humans.

"You are very curious about me. May I ask why?" I asked after we had finished another discussion.

"Oh, sorry. Was I bugging you? My apologies. I'll stop if you want me to." She asked sincerely.

"No, it's not annoying at all. I'm curious as to why you've taken such an interest in me suddenly." I clarified.

"Well, honestly, I've just been itching to learn more about you and your people. I've lost sleep just thinking about it. We thought we had all our views on the world and we were learning about other cultures and such. But then, out of nowhere, you show up and start almost preaching these ideals about the Elementals and other dimensions with whole different races and cultures. And you use magic runes and symbols that I've never seen before to do some rather creative magic. You cannot admit that it sounds completely fascinating." she explained.

"Huh, I never thought about it like that. Recently I just thought you all thought I was batshit crazy. Celestia seemed rather interested in what I had to say when I talked to her about my culture. But I felt like she thought I was spewing utter bullshit." I stated. "But it is somewhat reassuring that someone takes some interest in my beliefs in a place where I feel alien." I felt relieved after saying that.

"Well, im glad I could offer some comfort to you in some way, even if unintentionally. That feeling of being alien to your surroundings I can relate to, if only somewhat. When I first arrived in ponyville. I had a bit of culture shock myself as I spent most of my filly and teenage life in canterlot studying in Celestia's school for gifted unicorns as Celestias's protégé. Not to mention I wasn't the most social pony if you couldn't tell." She explained.

"No, hey, I get it. I had good relations with most adults in the royal castle growing up but had like two friends my age during those years. I had a knack for becoming friends with people that were older than me. But on top of that, I spent most of my time in the Compendium of Merlin."

"What's that?" She asked curiously.

"It was essentially the Royal library of my kingdom. But it was one of a kind. It was the combined Knowledge of Merlin's collective Knowledge into one infinite Library that existed in a place between reality and the primal Realm. Its size was infinite to compensate for future generations' discoveries and books they would write. Legends and old texts say that the Library was created upon Merlin's death as he used magic to transform his collective wisdom and Knowledge into a library that would expand itself infinitely." I explained excitedly. Remembering the countless hours and days I spent in the Library trying to get a jump on my magical studies before I became unbound.

"Wow! That sounds Incredible!" Twilight shared my excitement.

"It was! It really was! The Compendium of Merlin housed books and Knowledge of the twelve combined kingdoms of the Table of Twelve. It was structured like a giant hollow cylinder stretching infinitely upward. So far, upward, you couldn't see the top. And since it was between realms. It took no space in the royal castle except the entrance doorway. Each floor had been dedicated to a specific topic, subject, or genre. You name it! Each floor had its own focus and was filled to the brim with an infinite amount of books. Even so, the Compendium didn't have a set-in-stone organization system. It would always cater to a person's personal taste as it wasn't bound to the laws of reality. You only have to go to a catalog pedestal and say or write what you were looking for, and a magical platform will take you there instantly! It was Merlin's Greatest personal achievement! A lifelong goal filled with his passing, it has an irony to it that moves your mind in ways that make you feel a certain way that nothing else could!" The passion, in my words, could not be understated.

Twilight was in awe and looking like a toddler, ready to pounce on a bag of candy. "THIS IS INCREDIBLE! I have so many questions! So would the Compendium present itself to each individual differently? And how would that work if so? Would you see others phasing through walls and floors at random?" Twilight giddily asked.

"Well, the ground floor stayed the same all the time since it was the common room. It had food, drinks, tables, and a hub of catalogs to take people wherever they needed or bring books to an individual if the lifts were busy. But if you stood on the ground floor and looked up. It would be like looking at the inside of a constantly shifting tower that was continually changing shape yet held a cylindrical shape going upward. Pillars and walls were moving in ways reality couldn't explain. It was hypnotizing. I got caught by it multiple times and eventually passed out because of it. One day I gotta show it to y-"

I stopped myself before I promised something I couldn't keep. I was so excited about something I loved so much that I forgot that it was long gone. I felt a sense of sadness and dread envelop me. Twilight could see the shift on my face. But I felt my sadness shift to raw anger. I began to walk faster and faster. My breath increased in ferocity, with each breath feeling like a growling lion in my chest. I got a few odd looks from ponies I walked past, but I couldn't give less of a shit. Twilight had to pick up the pace to a slow trot to keep up with me. It was only then realized she had been talking to me the whole time I was having my inner fit of rage.

"What's Wrong?! Did I say something?! Im sorry if I upset you. I-" I put my hand over her mouth. Holding back my tongue to not tell her to shut the fuck up. I took deep breaths to try and calm myself.

"No, it's not you. Just gimme a minute." I managed to say in between breaths. We walked around a corner I found myself staring at a train station.

"Um, why are we at a train station?" I asked, my anger suppressing itself in the back of my mind for the moment in place of confusion.

"Oh, Rarity's boutique is in ponyville. So we have to take the train back to Ponyvile to meet up with her." Twilight responded nervously.

"I thought she was here in Canterlot! I have too much work to do to go down to ponyville just to get new clothes!" I said stated loudly. I was just about ready to turn around and head home before Twilight stopped me.

"Look, I know you are a busy individual, but taking care of yourself is more important than work. I had my friends there to help teach me that a long time ago. Plus, Rarity is the best at what she does. She just takes a much more personal approach to her customers, which makes her quality just better than the alternatives. Just come and give it a chance. I promise you won't regret it." Twilight said passionately. I could see in her eyes that she meant every word and wasn't just pulling my leg, despite how annoying it seemed to me. Why did it bug me so much to listen to other people's advice? First, it was Romulus, then it was Shining Armor, And now It was Twilight. It's like I only trust myself, and even that was a stretch. What the fuck is wrong with me?

"Okay, fine, just show me the way."

Soon after, I was sitting across from Twilight on a train bound for Ponyville. She had paid for my ticket, which bugged me immensely, even though I was as broke as can be. I hated the feeling of not being able to pay my own way. Another reason I want to ensure I get all my blacksmithing work done. So I could get paid, but that was a few days off still. At least, that's what I kept trying to tell myself so I could commit to this trip.

At this point, my anger had subsided to a low bubble in my chest. So I felt obligated to speak again since Twilight still wanted to talk despite her best efforts to contain herself. She kept fidgeting with her hooves and looking around the train car, trying to keep herself occupied. I did the same thing when my Dad tried to put me in school but ended up homeschooling me via Romulus instead.

"Hey, Sorry about earlier. I couldn't say what I wanted to since I can't really show The Compendium of Merlin." I said, looking up at Twilight.

"Not until you find a way back home?" She responded. I almost immediately said I didn't want to. But quickly swallowed those words when I recognized how innocent Twilight looked. That caused a cascade that made me realize how innocent this world was. Nobody knew about my people's war and our end except for Romulus, and I made him bind himself by his code not to tell anyone about it, no matter what. And I would like to keep things that way. I don't wanna taint this place's innocence. Plus, telling a whole kingdom, 'Hey, I was a general in a war and slaughtered thousands of my own kind,' wouldn't go over well.

"Yeah, let's go with that," I responded. "But until I get some money to get the resources and equipment necessary to figure out the variables that caused me to cross dimensions in the first place. That goal is impossible."

"Well, I've studied several books about other realms and planes of reality. Im sure I could provide some input on the matter." She assured. I couldn't help but laugh. She looked at me confused and asked me what was so funny.

"Realms and dimensions are two VERY different things back home. Realms break off from our Plane but aren't separate dimensions. But rather small micro worlds that hold a lot of power. And it's not called a plane of reality. It's called the Plane of existence, and there's only one which all of us and all that is physical exist upon. But that's only one side of the coin. The other side is the Primal Plane, but we call it the Primal Realm since it lays over all of reality. It is the complete opposite of our Plane. A Plane of pure potential energy and infinite resources that the Elementals can shape into whatever they want. All everything made into a physical entity ends up in our Plane. Which, at its most foundational levels, are the four Primal elements or "ingredients" according to the elementals. The Sky, the Sea, the Earth, and the fire that binds it all. We call it the Quadrinty." I held up my hand and conjured the Elements runes that made up the Quadrinty. The four runes appeared in the air above my open palm. Magical energy lines Intricately linked all as they formed a triangle in the air.

The symbol for the Sky sat at the top. Visible air currents swirled around the rune, and tiny bolts of lightning flickered with them. The bottom left point held the rune for Earth. The lines that defined it were covered in dirt and stone, with small plants growing from it. The bottom right side had the rune for water. The rune was enveloped in a bubble of water that shifted and changed and sometimes cascaded into a wave, like those on the beach. And at the center of the triangle was the rune for fire. Its rune was ablaze with a burning orange fire. Tendrils sprouted from it and reached outward to the three other runes and wrapped around them once. And thus, the Quadtrinity was complete.

Twilight was in awe, frantically writing in her notebook as she looked at the floating masterpiece.

"This is as pure as one could get the four primal energy sources without gazing upon an Elemental itself. These runes also signify my connection to those energies by being unbound from reality because I couldn't summon these runes if I wasn't unbound." I explained.

"Unbound? What does that mean?" Twilight asked, eagerly anticipating my answer. I felt a spark of joy ignite within me. I felt overjoyed that someone seemed so interested in something I loved and strived to master. I loved talking about magic and runes so much since it was such a vast and still developing field, even after 5,000 years. I decided I would explain it how my father explained it to me right before he granted me the gift of being unbound. I closed my hand and rested it on my leg as I leaned forward into a more serious sitting stance. The runes sat still, floating in the air. I felt a wide grin spread across my face.

"Everyone's imagination is great and grand in their own regard. But it can only express itself so much through your hands. It's as if your mind can fly but is chained to reality. Your body can do very little compared to your mind, which does so much. Being unbound severs that chain to reality and lets your imagination tap into the creative resources of the Primal Realm directly. Doing this allows your mind to manifest whatever you imagine into reality from the potential infinity of the Primal Realm. And the power of your mind becomes infinite WITH practice and training. As your mind is still in the vessel of your body, which still has its limitations. You will perceive Elemental energy within all of reality and detect things others cannot. And you will be able to form pacts with the Elements to give your mind an incredible boost in power IF you pass their tests. You could move mountains, split the seas, ride the lightning of a hurricane, and tame the wrath of a volcano, all with time. This is the power of the Unbound."

We went back and forth, talking for the rest of the train ride. When the train stopped at the ponyville station, we stepped off. I felt me and her had a deeper connection. Not only that, I saw the potential for a great mage within her. Albeit, she was already impressed with her own magic. But to think, if she was Unbound and learned to use Elemental magic, that could be something worth living to see. But I feel giving out such a very close but also very powerful magic that could be abused to a race I haven't seen the full extent of would be a very unwise decision.

"Hey, you know, I could do more than tell you what my people do. I could teach you IF you could prove yourself." I said to her as we left the station. Walking side by side into ponyville.

She turned her head to me with a big smile, then I think she recognized the second half of what I said and got confused. "What do you mean, 'Prove yourself?'" She asked.

"Well, you gotta understand how im thinking. On one end, this magic is very powerful, and if put into irresponsible hands, or in your case, hooves. It could be used very easily used to hurt others. And I could never live that down. So I need to understand more about the ponies here if im certain I wanna start handing out primal magic." I started.

Twilight pondered that for a moment and then nodded her head. "Yeah, okay, I see where you're coming from."

"BUT, at the same time. I've never been so eager to teach someone something. Especially something I've spent my whole life studying and practicing. This is an opportunity I want to take advantage of. So I have an idea for you to prove yourself while I figure out how the people of the world work." I added. At this point, we were just arriving at what seemed like the town square. There was a large fountain with a pony statue sitting atop it, spewing water out of its mouth. Classy.

"Okay then! What do you got for me teach?" Twilight joked, causing a shiver of cringe to go down my back and making a groan of cringe escape from my mouth.

"Please, just please, call me by my name still. As for the task, Im in need of four items to regain contact with the Elementals via a unique brew that allows me to see into the Primal Realm." I told her. Remembering how Celestia said she would've sent for that rainbow liquid, I asked for. And had yet to receive it.

"Okay, what would you need? Im sure that I could find the ingredients fairly easily. And if not, I have a friend who lives in the everfree forest that specializes in potions." She responded confidently.

I gave a soft chuckle. "We'll see about that. As there are only four of these Items in the world at a time, one for each Elemental aspect. So they are exceptionally rare. I already have an idea of where one of the hard ones could be, but considering your kind and the dragons aren't on good terms. That will be one for me to tackle alone."

"You still haven't told me exactly what Im looking for." She pointed out.

"Well, I'm not sure either, as it's different for each world. But each of the primal Elements has an item that essentially is raw primal energy that exists in our Plane of existence. I know what the ones of my world were since I saw very detailed descriptions in books in my world and after the great unbinding. We learned out to make them. You could use my worlds items as a basepoint. But for all I know, it could be drastically different."

"Well, tell me, and I can get started! I already have a surplus of Knowledge on magical and nonmagical herbs and ingredients." She demanded excitedly.

"Okay, okay, sheesh. Well, the Earth one was found in the center of the largest mountain in my world. It was a glowing white gemstone that sparkled a rainbow of colors called the 'Earth's heart.' The Sky one was the most tricky. It was called liquid lightning, found during a very intense lightning storm. I have to double-check my Unbound Arcanum for how exactly Merlin got a hold of it the first time. But it was something to do with a super-conductive liquid, a jar, and a cube of iron. Water was probably the easiest guess, But it was a unique pearl at the bottom of the ocean inside a one-of-a-kind clam. You would crack the pearl open like an egg, and a rainbow, oily liquid would emerge. But deep-sea pressure was a unique challenge. Lastly, was the Molten Flame found inside a very active volcano." I explained.

Twilight looked very concerned, staring ahead of her. I could tell she thought she may have bit off more than she could chew.

"Do not tell me you thought finding the four Primal ingredients to make contact with pretty much the GODS would be a walk in the park?" I asked. Leaning in front of her to get in her view.

"Well, kinda..." She said, drooping her head.

"Hmm, I thought, for one who was talking about how devoted to her studies she was just a little while ago. She would've tackled such a challenge head-on. I guess ill have to find someone else..."

She jumped in front of me with a look of fierce determination. "Hey! I can handle it! I've faced Nightmare Moon with friends at my side. Im sure I could find a few ingredients for a potion." She stated adamantly.

"I hope so since your gonna learn about what each of the Elements represents on Monday," I said, walking past her. She quickly came up beside me.

"Monday?" She asked, making sure.

"Yes, That's after my completion date for all my blacksmithing orders. So I will be free to teach, at the very least, what each of the Elements represents. And it should narrow down where these Elemental ingredients could be if you understand what each element represents." I explained. Turning the corner onto another street to see a very different and larger-looking building. Lots of windows and a picture of a pony in some sort of dress above the door. And the whole place looked just way fancier than any of the others I'd seen.

"Okay, I'll be there! Oh, and look, we're here! The Carousel Boutique!

Author's Note

Im gonna be honest I wanted to keep this chapter going. It was already way longer than I intended it to be. So the next one will have the Interaction with rarity, I assure you.