Agni sighed inwardly, rubbing his temples gingerly as if to dispel a mounting headache. He was crossing a bridge that led into a tower similar to Twilight Sparkle's. Next to him was the source of his annoyance: Flare Brimstone, agent of Princess Celestia, best friend, and current irritant.
After the two bat ponies' adventure inside The Veil had come to an end, they returned to their respective responsibilities, and have been meeting up more and more whenever Agni would allow himself to be torn away from his job, often going on flights together or meeting up for a picnic which was Agni's favorite activity.
Flare Brimstone trotted jovially while letting out a low trill of excitement, every other step a skip in the air. Agni knew why the mare was so happy. He had agreed to show her a certain type of old magic very few possess called Incantation Magic. Agni had shown off three incantation spells during his and Flare's venture inside The Veil: The spell of Sharpness, the spell of Protection, and the spell of Traversal, all of which had been quite useful.
"Ground your hooves," Agni told Flare with a small groan, his deep, gelid-sounding voice rumbling. "When you enter, you are not allowed to run amuck; stay near me and try not to stray."
Agni didn't look back, but he could feel Flare Brimstone's vibrant pink-slitted eyes burning his ash-colored coat. Then he felt Flare's coat brush his and stifled a complaint.
"Getting a mare all alone in a secluded tower to show her your secrets is quite sensual, Agni," she cooed with lust, bumping Agni's flank playfully with her own.
Agni ignored Flare's frivolous act of flirting. "It's not secluded," he began tersely, "no pony but myself go there, and I would appreciate it if you ceased your poor attempt to flirt with me. You understand I do not participate in those activities."
Flare Brimstone huffed and Agni glanced at her and saw the mare puffing out her cheeks as if annoyed by his chilling words.
"You don't have to be so cold," she mumbled, pointing her nose in the air, feigning offense.
A puny pang of guilt struck Agni; he felt a little bad. Flare was only trying to fill the dead air he was contented to breathe. Agni rolled his eyes and cracked a small grin, bumping his flank into Flare Brimstone's. The mare almost staggered and glared mischievously at the stallion, but before she could do anything to return the favor, Agni lifted a hoof to stop her. They had arrived at the tower.
"There's not much in here but be mindful of where your hooves trot. Understand?" Agni warned with a side-eye glance at his friend. Flare nodded silently. "Good. Let us head inside."
Opening the door and leading Flare Brimstone inside, Agni smelled the familiar pleasant scent of nutmeg linger in the cool air. The room was smaller than Twilight Sparkle's tower, but it felt spacious enough for a small group of ponies. Large bookcases lined the black-gray walls, and a large window filtered sunlight.
Agni felt calm and comforted; this was his space where the bat pony could be alone with his thoughts, focusing on battle moves or perfecting the unique magic. Not even Princess Celestia had entered this domain often, not that she was welcome. And now he had let Flare Brimstone enter this homely abode.
Agni had thought about showing Flare his tower eventually but after the mare's incessant curiosity to learn about his magic, Agni found that he had let the mare inside before he was ready.
Ready for what exactly? he grumbled inwardly, casting a sharp glance at his visitor. Flare was taking in the space with a suppressed squeal of awe and excitement, showing her sharp fangs with an infectious smile.
Agni's gaze softened. He watched Flare Brimstone trying to contain her mounting excitement. In a way, he was glad Flare liked his quarters, not that he was worried she wouldn't like it before of course. He sighed and flicked his tail playfully across Flare's face to catch her attention, but as she gazed at him with her cheeks turned to a rosy color, Agni noticed what he had just done.
What am I doing? You stone-faced bat, you don't act like a frivolous stallion! he admonished, shaking his head as if to clear any impishness from his coat. Well, it's only with Flare, though I should know better, especially after I scolded her mere moments before.
"Come with me," Agni uttered, leading Flare Brimstone to a pedestal with a peculiar-looking white-gold book with a unicorn-shaped crest emblazoned on the cover resting atop the pedestal next to the giant window. Agni pointed to it. "There it is."
Flare gave a bemused look, tilting her head to one side. "A book," she said, but then her eyes narrowed with interest. "It looks old."
Agni nodded. "It is. This is the Tome of Utterance or the Tome of Ulthor, the book's writer. He was an earth pony from a time in Equestria's past dating back before the construction of Canterlot Castle," he announced. "It contains an ancient magic called Incantation. Do you remember what I said about them?"
Flare nodded firmly, a serious yet intrigued look strewn across her face. "If I remember correctly, incantations are a series of words and phrases spoken aloud to conjure magic."
"Nearly correct." Agni was pleased that Flare Brimstone had remembered most of it; at least she was paying attention. "They are spoken in reverse," he reminded, "and not every creature can learn from it."
Flare Brimstone bobbed her head up and down vigorously, her crimson tail swishing behind her like an excited dog as she gazed at the book with undisclosed awe. "Who's the Ulthor pony?" she asked. "And how was he able to write down words that could be used to conjure magic spells? That's sooooo odd!"
Agni agreed. "Cease your fidgeting and I will elucidate you," he told her, giving the mare his signature cold stare. Flare was unaffected but she gave Agni her full attention as he began to explain.
A long time ago, there once lived a stallion named Ulthor, a knowledge seeker. He was an earth pony who couldn't tap into magic as the unicorns did, however, he had vowed to possess the most amount of knowledge a pony could have about magic.
Ulthor's travels for magic took him far and wide across the globe for many years, but it wasn't until one night he had gotten what he so desperately wished for, deep below the earth where the story says he met a glowing, crystalline tree. Suddenly, without warning, the tree exploded into a tsunami of magic. This wave struck Ulthor and imbued him with all of its magic, bestowing him an untold amount of power.
"Hold on," Flare said, interrupting Agni. "You're telling me that Ulthor found the Tree of Harmony?"
Agni nodded solemnly; his orange eyes were piercing and unblinking. "I'm assuming you know about the tree from Princess Celestia."
"Yes," Flare Brimstone affirmed.
Agni huffed. "There are more than one Tree of Harmony, others that represent different values and aspects; there are few that are situated in certain regions with their own versions of ponies and creatures akin to Twilight Sparkle and her friends," Agni explained. "It is unclear where and which Tree of Harmony Ulthor was exposed to, but I know from Princess Celestia that Ulthor had indeed come across a Tree of Harmony when it was on the verge of perishing."
Flare Brimstone stared in amused silence as Agni finished his explanation, merely using her hooves to urge him to continue the story. Agni obliged.
Though Ulthor was empowered by all of the tree's magic, there was a catch. Shortly after being imbued, Ulthor had been cursed as a defense mechanism by the tree in case he had thoughts of using the magic for ill intent at any point in the future: He could not cast magic through any normal means.
Soon after he acquired the magic, Ulthor was plagued by intense, unknown dreams that slowly began to gnaw away at his sanity, driving him dangerously close to madness and causing the stallion to develop insomnia. The magic from the crystal tree was a constant companion, whispering Ulthor untold magics, unveiling the ailing stallion many shadowed secrets.
Even with all the magic he now possessed, there was not a practical way for Ulthor to draw out and use the magic to his will normally, casting the stallion into a deep depression until he had an epiphany: What if there was another way to channel the magic by utilizing a certain catalyst?
Putting his idea into fruition, Ulthor created a book and wrote down every single spell that laced his troubled mind, filling page after page; every word and every sentence, phrase, everything, was each a magic spell. The magic within the stallion spoke to Ulthor and told him how a non-unicorn could cast magic through unexpected means and taught him how to use its magic once it knew of his good intentions.
To cast the magic in the book, Ulthor made a very difficult process of steps other creatures possessing the book would have to follow; there were no shortcuts or any other secret ways of doing it differently. There was only one way.
To ensure that not every creature in existence could learn from the book, Ulthor used a magic spell that made it so that only creatures intertwined with magic will be able to attempt to use the book, like ponies since all the races are magical in nature, and other creatures with inherent connections to magic.
For one to cast the magic that is written in the book, the individual had to learn how to speak backwards as every single spell Ulthor wrote in the book was written in reverse. Then, one would have to recite each spell they wanted to learn by committing that spell to memory and speaking it aloud, not just by reading the words out the book. This was extremely difficult since the text is written in a language that predates modern equestrian called Old Ponish.
For one to correctly learn the language in present time, the possessor of the book would have to seek out a pony that is proficient in the old tongue, and those ponies that currently exist are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who were born in a time period where Old Ponish was the common vernacular.
"Wow, so cool!" Flare interrupted again much to Agni's annoyance. "You had to learn a lot to be able to use a spell."
"Correct," Agni said coldly. "Princess Celestia helped me learn Old Ponish and guided my hooves for many moons, but once she couldn't teach me anymore, she left me to learn from the ancient text alone. I can speak many of these spells, but not all as I am still learning. Now be quiet and listen; we are almost done."
Before Agni could start again, Flare asks quickly, "How many spells can you perform?"
Sighing, Agni says, "I know 58 spells. Now let me finish."
With the magic spells Ulthor inscribed in the book, he needed a way for it to not be replicated, so he placed an unbreakable binding spell on the book that ensured the text couldn't be copied or manipulated in any way.
Ulthor's book would be the only book to have the magic spells be written inside of. Any attempt to copy the text would result in failure, even if it was written on the earth, it would merely cease to exist, and new spells could not be added within the book, nor could new spells be written using Ulthor's method in another book. This made Ulthor's book the sole source of his newfound magic he eventually called Incantation Magic.
Although Ulthor made it so that non-unicorn ponies and creatures with ties to magic could indeed attempt to use the book, it was not available for everyone to learn left and right. At a point in Ulthor's life, just before his death, he gave the book away to Celestia's mother and father for safekeeping. The book was to be preserved and passed down to Celestia who then passed it down to Agni, making the bat pony the current owner of Ulthor's book.
"And that's the story as I was told," Agni concluded. He gazed at his friend. "What do you think?"
"It's so, so, awesome!" Flare Brimstone squealed, causing Agni to rear his head back. "Ulthor created something amazing, and now you have it! I never knew that the book had such a wild history."
Agni cracked a smile at Flare's excitement. "I agree," he murmured, casting a glance at the book. "This book holds many powerful spells just waiting to be cast, and I am fortunate to be chosen to learn the text." He gazed back at his friend. "I am... glad you like it."
Flare Brimstone headbutted Agni playfully. "I am an adventure and treasure hunter, duh! Of course, I would be interested in the book's history, and I'm happy to have spent time with you." She chuckled. "What could be better?"
"You truly like spending time with me, huh?"
Flare nodded. "I love it! Also... I was hoping you could teach me."
Well, that was a surprise. Agni never thought Flare Brimstone would be interested so much as to want to learn how to use Incantation Magic, but deep within him, he was overjoyed Flare took such a graft to the magic.
Was I secretly hoping she would? Agni thought silently, watching Flare Brimstone rambling on and on about the book. I could teach her; I know enough to start her edification, and that would mean spending even more time with her than I do now. We could learn. Together. Perhaps...that's okay with me.
"If I teach you, will you have the patience to learn?" he asked, cutting into Flare's rambling.
Flare Brimstone bobbed her head vehemently. "I know it seems I wouldn't make a good student, but I have more than enough patience!" she assured him. "Come on, come on! Please!"
Agni had to suppress a laugh at Flare's desperate need to learn some incantations. "Alright, alright," he said, scooching next to Flare until their coats brushed up against one another. "I will edify you in the ways of Incantation Magic. We'll start off slow first; you need to know how to speak Old Ponish and how to speak it in reverse, but fret not. You seem to be a pony who gives it her all."
Flare Brimstone embraced Agni, squeezing him with her supernatural strength. "Thank you!"
"You're...welcome," he rasped, struggling to break free of Flare's hold. "But you have to let me go!"
"Oh. Sorry," she said, releasing the stallion. "When do we start?"
Able to breathe again, Agni says, "In three days' time. We have our duties to attend to first. Does that suffice?"
"Yep!" Flare Brimstone agreed. "Oh, Agni, I can't wait to learn!"
"And I can't wait to teach you," he replied warmly, leaning against Flare. "It is sure to be a wild experience."
