The Third and forgotten ruler of Equestria

Two months later

It's been a couple of months since I started learning rune mastery, and along with that, learning how to create artifacts, and fencing. Surprisingly, fencing is working for me easy, all these striking movements, weapon blocks, etc. No doubts that I have a harsh fencing teacher, my teacher's name is Estoc Walker, he is a unicorn with gray fur, has slightly dark blue mane with already visible gray strands and yellow eyes. He is the commander of the royal guard, and, as it turned out, he was a teacher for my father! Wow, I'm going to be taught by the one who taught my dad! He’s also strict, that's for sure — for any little thing, he gives me a slap on the back of the head, and not slight one, damn it! I had a headache a couple of times after training, but it was worth it, I guess now I can at least handle a sword normally. I'm going to have a little sparring session with one of the guards today, as he told me, in order to test my skills over the past couple of months. Even my father will be watching this, it's amazing that he will come.

I have not progressed so far in teaching runes and artifacts, tomorrow I will study how to create an artifact - an ordinary magic lantern, in other words. Miss Angela said we'll just practice making it, but it's possible that I might accidentally make a full-fledged lantern. If I do manage to make it, then, as she said, she won't be surprised, because I’ll have the potential to create them. I don't know why she thinks I do, but okay, if so, then so be it. She also said that she decided to look at my sparring. Aw, so it turns out, not only my dad will be watching this, but also my teacher, I will try not to screw up there.

Also, now I have only one day off a week — the Sunday, and I've already been able to take a little walk with my sisters. We all always have fun, but most of the time it's just me and Luna walking, because Tia, damn it, got carried away with this book on magic from Starswirl. And what did she find in this book that she should already sit, read, and even reread this book in her free time? Who knows what's on her mind, I hope Lulu won't do the same? Right? It would be a shame that I would have to spend my day off alone, one thing I know for sure is that she, like Seli, has a magical gift. How did I understand that? Thanks to the rune of epiphany, you can use it to see the magical power and everything related to it, and mana. This rune is often used on the monocles of teachers who evaluate efforts on tests. Interestingly, Roger Sutton does not use such monocles, maybe he can just see it all without it? Perhaps this cannot be ruled out. Also, Miss Angela had two of such monocles, and she kindly gave me one, but what about me? I didn't mind such a cool gift. So, when I looked at Seli through it, one very distinguishing thing was visible — her magical aura was simply indescribably large! Compared to the maids and guards, it was too big, and even I myself am was only slightly bigger than an ordinary unicorn! And she have it twenty times larger, same for Luna, damn it! I almost fainted the moment I saw it. Yes, I have one and a half times more than the others, and only a small advantage over the rest, so I can say that I do not stand out in magic in any way.

Quite a long time has passed, however, and the cold autumn has already arrived, which means that winter is near, the day of the Hearth’s Warming is also coming soon, one of the holidays in this world, similar to those from my world. It's already spring there, where Luna's birthday will be, then Tia's. Time flies so fast.

Another slap on the head from Estoc Walker brought me out of my thoughts. At the moment, I was partially preparing for sparring, so it's clear why he did it.

"Stop flying in the clouds!" he began to speak sternly. "You definitely won't win this sparring if you do so!"

I just rolled my eyes slightly and continued training on the wooden dummy. I've been honing the skills I've learned. Raising my sword again, I made a cut across the cross section, and after I made it, the mannequin was cut into two parts. I was already surprised that I had mastered this technique, no matter how much I had not done it up to this point, it did not work out in any way! And then bam — and it worked! Unexpectedly, though.

"There you go! You can do it if you have a wish to!" Estoc praised me slightly, coming up to me and putting a hoof on my shoulder. "Look at me, if you don't live up to expectations, your training will become even stricter! So don't let me down!"

"Of course, we get it, Coach," I said in a calm voice and sheathed my sword.

"Go on, get some rest, we'll meet at your sparring," he said and walked towards the warrior part of the castle.

When he disappeared from my field of vision, I sighed with relief and lay down on the grass. «I'm a little tired of it, but I can't relax, I'm sparring in a couple of hours.» Getting up from the grass, I went to the castle to wash and tidy myself up a little.

After a while, I was already approaching my chambers, when Tia immediately attacked me and began to hug me, not allowing me to walk.

"Luci, that was amazing!" She said very happily. She was wearing her crown with a necklace and greaves.

"What are you talking about, Tia?" I asked her, breaking the hug.

"I'm talking about the trick that you were finally able to do!"

"Wait, you saw how I trained?" I looked at her in surprise.

"Yeah, I decided to walk around the castle a little bit, then I saw through the window that you were training on the field, so I watched you," she told everything with a satisfied smile.

"Of course, I was thinking, why did it seem to me that someone else was watching me besides the coach." I said, rubbing the back of my head with my hoof.

"By the way, I persuaded our father so that I could go with him and watch your sparring!"

And then I just opened my mouth in surprise. «What?! No, are you kidding me, Lady Fate?! Make sure that my mother and Luna come too then, if so! That's when it will finally kill me! Ugh, why?! Why did you become interested in this? Why is she suddenly interested in it?»

"Tia, tell me for mercy's sake, why did you persuade him? You weren't interested in these fights."

"Well, yes, I was not, but now they have become interesting for me!" She said and turned away. "You'd better be glad your sister is coming," she continued, sounding slightly offended.

"I'm glad of that, Sister! It's just that I'm kind of a little tired, and I still have to prepare for it, so I'm sorry that I reacted so wrongly to it," I said in my loving voice, indicating that I wasn't particularly clean, and because of this, Tia herself got a little dirty.

"Oh! I hadn't thought about it," she said, looking at her snow-white fur, which was now dirty. "Now I have to wash again, and I just recently washed!" Lifting her head up, she said in a not particularly cheerful tone.

"Okay, Tia, I'll see you at the sparring then." I said with a smile on my face and started walking towards my chambers.

"Yes, bye, Luci!" Having said that, Tia quickly headed towards her own quarters.

A couple of hours later

So, here I am now standing in front of the guard. Of course, the unicorn is in golden armor, but I was in a small silver armor, and I can't understand these guards all the time. Why do they have the same damn faces? No matter who you look at, they all look the same! My gut tells me that rune magic is involved, most likely their helmets, like their armor, are enchanted for something, but I don't know what. We must definitely find out later! It's not for nothing that I decided to study rune mastery and not only! Okay, I got trailed off a bit. So, I'm standing in front of him, looking at each other and waiting for Estoc Walker to start the fight. Of course, not without an audience, my father is sitting on a small podium, next to him is, of course, Tia with a joyful face. He, of course, was wearing his dark-colored crown, as well as a necklace with a crescent moon painted on it. Also, not far from them sat Miss Angela, who still came to watch. Also, just in case, the castle's healers were here, because we suddenly, without knowing it, can greatly harm each other, and this is natural! I'm only eleven years old, damn it! And how old is this guard? Twenty? Twenty-five? It's clear that we can!

Okay, now is not the time to start whining, I need to be focused now, because my opponent is a guard. I decided to evaluate him slightly, well, more precisely, try to evaluate his strength, dexterity, etc. I recently studied the "Evaluation" spell, and I also did not use it, so now it is possible. I lit my horn slightly and started using a spell: «So, what do we have here? Hmm, so now it's clear to me.» My opponent is most likely a beginner, just like me. How did I understand that? I decided to cast a spell on another guard, and his stats are higher, so are the others. So, he was recently accepted into the guard, and he, like me, is a beginner and is just learning more about it.

A familiar slap on the head brought me out of my thoughts.

"What are you doing, huh?" Estoc Walker asked me. "You cheating?"

"Ouch, no! We just used the Evaluation, and that's it!" I said in a very confident voice.

"Alriiiight," he said, and went to his spot.

"As if we look like some kind of crook," I muttered to myself.

"So," Estoc began to speak, "you are going to fight now, so I ask you not to harm anyone on purpose, you just have to show what you have learned during this time, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" I said at the same time as that guard.

"Great, when I say «three», you will start. One," he began, and we tensed slightly, "two," he said, and our horns were already glowing, "three!" He shouted.

I immediately drew my sword from its scabbard, as did the guard, and when he did, he immediately attacked me. Swinging the sword at me, I put a block, and our swords crossed. Then I pushed his sword aside, causing him to take a couple of steps back. «Why don't I use spells?» Because we can't use them, he knows powerful combat spells for sure, but I don't know any! Which is a bit insulting, even Tia, damn it, has already reached combat, and I'm still stuck on regular ones. I'm jealous, that's what I want to say.

I quickly moved into reality, because he was coming again. I already wanted to deflect the blow as well, but my gut told me that he would strike in a different way. Deciding to listen to it, I began to bide my time. And it happened: he swung his sword from the right side and quickly began to approach, and when the sword was already very close, I was able to react quickly and deflect his blow, which suddenly sent his sword flying a couple of meters and hit the ground with its blade, stuck in the ground. He was very surprised, and I quickly began to hold my sword near his neck, which meant that he was in a disadvantageous position. He looked at me in surprise, then smiled slightly and then said:

"I give up."

"The match is over, Prince Lucius has won," Estoc Walker announced, causing my father, Tia, and Miss Angela to clap their hooves at me. Dad had a joyful smile, I didn't expect myself to be able to win.

"You fight well for your young age, Mr. Lucius," this guard said to me and held out a hoof.

"Thanks, the best one trains me," I said and also held out a hoof, which made us give each other a hoof.

"Your sword, cadet," Estoc Walker said, coming up to us with the guard's sword.

"Thank you," he replied, taking the sword and sheathing it. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that I hadn't been wrong after all.

The cadet and Walker left, and then my father and Tia came up to me. She immediately started hugging me, as always, she likes to do it when she has the opportunity.

"You did great, brother!" She said happily with a smile.

"Yes, it was impressive," my father said.

"Thank you," I replied and hugged my sister. It remains to be hoped that tomorrow everything will go as smoothly as today.

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The next day

In the workshop

The day has come when I can create a magic lantern. As I learned, it is used in mines, in houses, on the streets, in general, it is used for ordinary purposes, for convenience, it was made so that it would not be so dark. Now I was sitting at my desk and studying the scheme for its creation, Miss Angela left for a while, she had to go somewhere urgently. So, the diagram describes and paints a plan for creating a magic lantern, from the beginning of the making the case to the full lantern. After studying the scheme and realizing that perhaps Miss Angela might not come soon, I decided to collect all the necessary materials in advance so that I would not be distracted by it later. Getting up from my desk and taking the diagram with me, I headed to a small warehouse with the materials we had. I was wearing a special uniform for such jobs. When I got to the warehouse, I unfolded the diagram and began to read what I would need.

1. Iron plates with iron parts: to create an external housing.

2. Magic parts: to create an inner case.

3. Magic Stone: the heart of the whole structure.

Having studied everything, I began to open the necessary boxes of materials, take them by telekinesis and place them at my desktop.

Thirty minutes later

I was sitting at a desk with prepared materials and details. As soon as I thought about it, she immediately appeared in the hallway of the workshop, slightly battered and out of breath. She closed the door behind her and began to catch her breath. Realizing that something had happened, I decided to ask her.

"Teacher, are you all right?" I asked her. "You don't look very well," she immediately started looking at me.

"It's alright," she said, catching her breath, "I had to go check on someone, and I accidentally bumped into old acquaintances."

"In a good way or bad way?" I decided to clarify.

"In a bad way..." she said and immediately looked at the desktop, then, walking up to it, was slightly surprised. "Did you put it all together yourself?"

"Yes, so that we don't have to do this with you later, we didn't know when you would come, teacher," I said a little proudly.

"Wow, that makes it pretty easy for us," she said, smiling.

Then she went to her bedroom and went in there, a minute later she came out and came up to me.

"So, let's start the creation of the artifact, are you ready?"

"Always ready, Teacher!" I said happily.

Two hours later

"Now, carefully insert the crystal and slowly power it with your magic," Angela told me when I took the magic crystal.

During this time, she and I were able to make a body for the lantern and its inner part. Now we had to test it, if we did everything right, then we successfully made a magic lantern, if not, then... it won't be very good, as Miss Angela said. But I think that everything turned out fine, we followed the instructions of this one, so I don't think that something can go wrong, right? Taking the crystal, I carefully inserted it inside the lantern and began to power it with magic.

"Yes, here, go on," she encouraged me, and I continued. "That's it, stop!" She said it again, and I stopped, then put my hoof away.

"Well, did everything go well?" Turning his head to her, he asked.

"Well, it seems..." she did not have time to finish, as immediately the lantern that we made began to glow red. "Oh, Tartarus!"

"Eh? What's wrong with it?" I asked a little scared.

"Under the table, quickly!" She said and quickly grabbed me and dragged me down.

And then there was an explosion. Metal parts flew out from the place where the lantern was, and we stuck our heads out from under the table and began to look at the place where the lantern was. It was no longer there, only metal remainings and fragments, and a black spot on its former place.

"Ugh, why it always happens the first time!" Angela exclaimed sadly.

"So it's always the first time?"

"Yes, all the times I tried, it exploded!" She rested her head on the table. "And I have no idea why, I've already changed a lot of materials to create it..."

"Oh, I see," I said, a little sadly. "But we are sure that next time we will succeed!"

"Are you so sure of that?" raising her head, she asked me.

"yes!"

"Okay, then promise me this little incident will stay between us, okay?"

"Yes, of course, teacher!"