The Apprentice

   It was dark and the air smelled of smoke with the decaying essence of rotten flesh. The air's cold cut to the bone as it began to suck at life's energies.

   A dark cloud hung over the frozen waste like a pulsing canker, threatening to devour any innocence that remained. One massive force comprised of every pony race stood In defiance to it. Their numbers shook the frosted planes as they marched away from the crystal mountains, towards the final epic.

   War drums and chants could be heard throughout the wastes. Even the howling winds of the Cold Nurth could not keep the fires of hope from extinguishing.

   Mutated ponies of every race began stepping out of their dark plain. Exposure to the Darkness colored them a void black. Their eyes glowed a crimson red and their forms oozed a pitch black slime from every orifice. The hellish army marched forward to ensure their Void God's wrath upon the land.

   The countless monsters loomed across the land like a sea of black putrescent abbess that burst from a boil.

   Both titans reached the first line of battle. War instruments, coupled with chants that sung of their mortal foes impending trip to pandemonium, echoed across the frozen mountains.

   The other side grunted and snarled, then every beast sung a hellish tune as one.

   It sounded as if every negative emotion ever felt, every amount of suffering and pain ever dealt, poured out with the cries and shrills of all the fallen that returned home only to be trapped inside a monsters body.

  The dirge was one of utter madness and pure reckless hatred, all mixed further with the craving gnawing need to destroy all that was good in the world.

   Once the alicorn forces gave the order the ponies of the Four Kingdoms charged at once, an ocean of countless warriors charged down the snow laden mountain side with one eardrum bursting cry. It was like an embodiment of all the hope and love in that world made manifest, focused into the purist righteous fury.

  The ground shook and the sound of rolling thunder echoed, as hundreds of thousands sprinted as one force.

  When the other side followed suit a wave of black rushed over the frigid plane. A soul sucking cry shrilled from the dark forces corrupted ranks as they charged to ram the final nail in ponydom's coffen.

    From the Four Kingdoms side of the charge one type of war cry howled over the rest, as the two sides converged.

   "Fram, fram! Ragnarok venter! Var dod venter!"

   Both sides were seconds away from the bloody beginning to this final battle, when one last cry sounded once again over the rest.

   "Fram, fram! Med lyn gud vi ri! Til stor hall opp hoy!"

   The two armies clashed into one another like two waves constantly reforming and shifting. As thousands of bodies fell like leaves, a landslide of black and crimson stained the land.

   The frigid sky bled as countless waves of both alicorns and pegasus clashed, with bloody effectiveness, against the Void God's numerous hazes of both corrupted and dark flyers. Corpses and crimson ice crystals fell from the carnage above.

   The fallen dead, dismembered and mutilated alike, froze solid shortly after the warmth inside left them.

   The final expressions of death and horrified agony froze upon the faces of every warrior that fell.

   The Cold Nurth was soon a hellish graveyard in a matter of minutes.

   "No! Don't go yet Akaiem!" A middle aged unicorn with a light blue coat and a light purple and pink mane shouted out.

   "The final Aegis is not yet ready! If you go now-" his pleas were cut off by a man wearing what looked like a cross between a steel plated black coat and a mages robe. He stood near the hill side. It was too dark to fully see anything else besides his outline.

   "There is no time Starswirl! Xerxus will consume everything if I don't use the spell now!"

   He turned, then pointed his fist at the unicorn's direction. Electric arcs shot down his arm and formed a ball of energy in his fist.

   He shouted at the blue unicorn. "Starswirl, behind you!"

   A dark creature that looked like a malformed earth pony was charging at Starswirl. The unicorn turned with his horn charging with violent energy.

   "Retched beast! Back to your master!" He let off a vicious bolt of thunder that tore the creature into a cloud of dark gore.

   More creatures each with a unique deformity poured out of the void like haze, then charged towards the two mages screaming for their souls.

   A flash of blinding light arced across the darkness of the sky as the creatures that formed the horde flew apart into clouds of severed limbs and ash.

   A light green unicorn with a light and dark purple and pink striped mane stood next to Starswirl.

   "Clover, you're alright! Thank the Queen's sun." Starswirl ran to his side of the hill and took a defensive stance.

   "What, and let you have all the fun?" Clover took her side of the hill top as well.

   "Clover, your timing is impeccable as always." Akaiem flashported between both his friends sides, forming a triangle formation on the hill top.

   "What is the situation with the Aegis Akaiem? Is it ready yet?" The green unicorn started to charge her horn, as more creatures were gathering to charge up the hill to them. "Flank, more beasts are coming and it wont take long for that cloud of dark flyers to join in."

  "The Aegis has yet to activate Clover." Akaiem began throwing flurrys of fireballs and lightning bolts down his hill side. Each exploding with such heat and force that the ground started to glass over.

   "That's just great." She huffed disapprovingly. "This plan just gets better by the second."

   "Our friends can't hold long against attacks from both the earth and the sky." Starswirl let a few bolts fly to keep the evil spawn down hill.

   "We are running out of time friends, our window to hit Xerxus at his black heart is dwindling fast!" Clover cast a water spell that sent a massive wave to knock back the dark hordes below, she then cast an electrical storm into the water to keep them at bay. "We better hurry the hay up!"

   Starswirl yelled as he cast a fire spell with his horn, "Just keep at them! They have to end at some point."  He snapped a tindril of fire like a wip at the horde below, slicing heads clean off and torsos apart spilling the half cooked insides out.

   Akaiem jumped then punched the ground, sending a wave of earth downhill towards the dark hordes, crushing any who could not dodge it into a mutilated paste. He looked downhill then sighed heavily, as hundreds more broke from the dark cloud.

  Akaiem shook his head. "It's no use! I have to cast it, we are out of time!"

   Starswirl shot a desperate look at Clover.  "Clover, please, tell Akaiem that if he uses that spell before the final Aegis is ready he could die!"

    His pleas of desperation were cut short by Clover's expression, one of sadness and regret. "I am sorry Starswirl, but even I can't see any other way."

   "But-" Starswirl caught Akaiem's gaze.

   "I am a guardian of this world! My life is nothing in comparison to the thousands that hang in the balance! Pray that I do die, as Xerxus and his darkness will die with me."

   The blue unicorn's eyes started tearing. "I have so few friends left as it stands... Please, I can't choose losing another!"

   Akaiem stood upright, and watched as the hordes below clambered over each other just to get up the muddy hillside. "We are mages Starswirl. Hard choices are our lives. Even harder choices lay before you and Clover. Will you have the strength to deside the path for this world after this madness ends?"

   "If it ends." Starswirl looked down at the ground. His eyes were shut. "So, I have little choice other than to lose another good friend to this evil?"

   Akaiem gave Starswirl what looked like a smile.

"Don't worry about me Star. I do not plan on letting a little dark cloud ruin my day. Besides, you have Clover the Clever to keep you out of trouble."

   Clover rolled her eyes. "Why you are so insistent on calling me that is beyond me."

   He gave his two old friends a quick hug. After they finished, the hordes below howled. They were over half way up the hill top, nearly ready to storm towards them. Starswirl and Clover both charged their horns to respond, but Akaiem stepped in front of them with his left hand blocking their line of sight.

    "Let me handle this friends." He said, then he ran to the edge of the hill.

   Akaiem took a bent stance while ripping off his armoured mage coat. He unlatched two scrolls while muttering some words. Runes danced from the paper into the air. They burned white hot as each one etched into the bare skin of his upper torso, head and arms. The ground began to shake around him as large balls of swirling energy formed in his shoulders, forearms and in the palms of his hands.

   The runes, as well as his eyes, glowed white hot as he bent forward. The monsters had just cleared the climb, and howled at him in one cry. With a grunt he threw his arms out towards the dark hordes below sending a hurricane of wind mixed with a maelstorm of lightening and thunder. The wave sweeped hundreds of Darklings into the air obliterating them into nothing.

   Akaiem managed to clear the hill side and a path to the center of the dark sky. He looked back for a final farewell.

  "The New Land's future now belongs to you my friends. Guide her well! And don't forget what we talked about, or the final Incantation, Starswirl!"

   "I promise Akaiem the Tearfire, never, even if death should take me!" Starswirl said in a trembling voice while sobbing lightly.

   "We will take care of our end, just you be sure to make that monster pay, Akaiem!" Clover shot Akaiem a serious look then nodded to him.

   So much was said in that nod. Everything Clover did not have the time to say to her old friend, was put into that simple gesture. Even her eyes glistened slightly through her angry expression.

   Akaiem returned Clover's gesture. He looked down to his left and saw his coat laying on the hill side. He held his hand out, then the coat levitated to him.

   "Oh yeah. Here, Starswirl." Akaiem walked over to the blue mage, then he handed him his black coat. "Please, take care of Coat. He will need the company. They all will need someone to watch over them. Oh, and tell Gala goodbye for me, wont you?"

   "Of course I will." Starswirl took the coat from Akaiem, then put it on his back. "I will keep everything safe."

   "We all will." Clover added. "You had best get going, before more beasts turn up."

   "Right." Akaiem turned, then ran off down the path he made earlier while shouting."Good luck my friends! May the warm light of Solstice's sun shine upon you always!"

   Both unicorns spoke while bowing their heads in reverance to an old friend.

"Erebus speed, Librarian."

   Both unicorns turned to cast their gaze at the gruesome epic below, a few miles away.

   Starswirl, took one last look behind him. His old friend was gone. He knew he might never see him again and it tore at his wounded heart. His friend's old coat shifted on his back.

   "Head up high Mage! We haven't won this war yet!"

   Starswirl shook his head hard clearing his foggy mind.

"Yes, of course! We must return to the King and Queen's side! Let us go Clover!"

   A voice shouted from down the hillside. "Hey guys!"

   Both unicorns looked to see who it was. A white unicorn with a dark blue mane, in detailed armour with a mud stained and bloodied light blue scarf on, stood down the hillside.

   "Gala!" Clover shouted, "Where have you been!?"

   Gala huffed, then flashed, and was standing in front of both her friends. "Well, fighting obviously. Just look at my scarf, its all ... soiled." She pointed at it with her hoof.

   Starswirl and Clover gaped a little at Gala.

   "But the hordes of hundreds-" Starswirl was saying, but was cut off by Gala.

   "Oh, those Creatons?" She smiled and held her head high with her hoof on her chest. "Such filth hardly stood little chance against a lady." The unicorn frowned and pointed at her scarf. "But, it was all sport until they ruined my blue scarfy."

   "Ugh, we don't have time for this." Clover turned to Starswirl. "Come on, let's go."

   Gala asked looking around, "Wait, where is Akaiem?"

   Clover answered, "Gone."

   "What!? What do you mean gone?" Gala looked at her two friends in sudden panic. "He ... he's dead?"

   "He said goodbye." Starswirl answered in a low tone, "He is going to fight Xerxus."

"Then we must go to him!" Gala yelled in frustration, He is our friend!"

    Clover yelled, "Don't turn around!" She muttered with a shaking voice, "Just keep walking."

   "Clover!" Gala stomped her hoof down with a icy crunch of the frozen mud. "How in solstice could you be so cold!?"

   "This is something he must do on his own. We must respect his wishes." Starswirl let his head down. "Some other time maybe..."

   "Don't be delusional. There will not be another time." Clover turned so the others could not see her cry. "He is gone."

   Gala whimpered in sudden pain, "But ... I never got to say goodbye."

   The words his old friend said echoed in Starswirl's mind. A new fire lit under him, and his purpose found its resolve. He lifted his head high and told his friends. "This land is ours to protect and guide now. We must insure its future, no matter what befalls after this victory."

   The others walked to his side. They held their heads high as well, despite the tears.

   Gala said, "It's what he would have wanted."

   Starswirl yelled, "To the King and Queen!" Then with a flash they all returned to what remaind of the Four Kingdom's last stand, in the war's final moments.

   Akaiem was sprinting with the speed of a Pegasus right towards the black eye of the darkness cloud. Xerxus was waiting for him and he would not keep him wanting, as he reached his destination without fault or delay.

   With loud manic laughter sounding suddenly, dark abominations spawned from both the ground as well as the sky. He knew one by one attacks would be useless against those kind of numbers.

   As the horde of monsters charged him he jumped into the air then started spinning in a cyclone. He threw his arms out then cast a whirlwind of ice spikes that pelt the ground and cleared the sky. He killed the horde of hundreds faster then it could respawn.

   He landed after the numbers thin to about a hand full. Three charged at him. He let one of the malformed earth ponies impact against his left open palm, stopping it on a dime. He let out a massive bolt of thunder that tore through its head and out its backside, decapitating the one behind it and eviscerating the other.

  Two more bared down on him this time from the sky. He channeled force inside his throat then let out a brutal sonic boom that popped their eye balls out of their sockets and caused their brains to hemorrhage and die. They fell from the sky like rocks. Their broken deformed bodies laying dead soon froze solid.

   The last one roared with anger while charging with a tooth ridden tentacle like mutation flailing wildly towards him. Akaiem flashported, headlocking the beast and knocking it off its hooves while snapping its neck with one clean motion.

   "Xerxus!" Akaiem shouted as loud as he could. "You dare think to test me with this garbage?!"

   "Bwahahahaha! Don't be silly, of course not." His voice boomed like a giants.

   "It just never fails to amuse me how well you kill my puppets! You should have felt the pain you caused them Akaiem, it was glorious!"

   "You are a sick demented being Xerxus! Prepare yourself, for I have come to end you!"

    "Oh? And you plan to do that without your little Aegises being complete?" Xerxus began manifesting himself in front of Akaiem, his voice transitioning from booming to normal.

   "And how, pray tell, do you plan to do that? Look around Akaiem, I have won. Your precious Four Kingdoms and all the little dandelion suckers will now become as I see fit-"

   Akaiem hit his hands together with a mighty clap. As his right fist was being clasped by his left palm, a maelstrom of energy welled up from the ground and from inside himself.

   "What are you doing, Librarian?" Xerxus crossed his arms while laughing lightly.

"Surely your not seriously thinking that will work on me."

   The runes blazing white on Akaiem's skin. They arced and disappeared, causing lightening to dance and trail off his well toned body. His eyes burned with white flames as hot globs of plasma began to drip from them, like tears of fire.

  "This is your end monster!" He screamed out, then began to rite incantations of power.

  "You fool! You really are thinking that parlor trick will work on me! You are a moron!"

   "To all that is good and light, I call upon thee! To balance all that is evil and dark, I call upon thee! And to renew what was once death back to life, I command thee bent!"

   "How dare you underestimate me! I am the void! I am hate incarnate! You will never even touch me with such a pathetic spell!"

   Xerxus sent bolts of dark lightening-fire at Akaiem, but the hurricane of white energy was already too powerful as it just adsorbed his power growing stronger by it.

   "You're now boring me boy. Come on then if you really think it will work." His voice began to crack with rage.

   Akaiem only needed to speak the final incantation to cast the spell. He gave the angry Xerxus a grinning stare.

   He whispered to Xerxus, "Time to die."

   With a loud shriek of rage Xerxus lost his cool and with it the control over his appearance. He looked like a half man-beast abomination that was constantly shifting into uglier malformed shapes. His mouth was a maw of twisted black and yellow teeth which looked like something had filed them sharp. A violent storm of dark energy swirled around him in a masking cloud disintegrating everything around him and Akaiem.

   The Void God's voice boomed with power.

"You just don't get it do you? I am malice eternal! You can kill me no more than you can kill the hate in your own heart!"

   "This is for my friends you abomination!" Akaiem inhaled and with one ear shattering cry he let go of the immense amount of energy he had collected within.

"Avra cadavra!"

   "YES! TEST MY HATRED THEN!" Xerxus started laughing manically.

   An explosion of white burst forth engulfing all of the land in light so bright you could have seen your bones through your hands. A sky high wave of positive energy incinerated all that the darkness had corrupted.

   "Wake up."

   The light continued to burn away any taint that remained.

   "Wake up."

    When the light cleared, Akaiem was gone along with the encompassing void.

   "Wake up, Argyle!"

                                                                                      ***

   Twilight was shaking me hard trying to wake me from my nightmare. "Wake up, wake up!"

   I shot up from bed wide eyed, and panting. "HUH?! What's going on? Is she here?!"

   Twilight looked confused. "Is who here? "

   "Uh, no one." I looked side to side, completely caught off guard.

  Twilight pointed at me with her hoof.

"You were having a nightmare. A pretty bad one too, from the way you were moaning and thrashing around."

   She gave me a look full of concern. "Are you alright?"

   "Um, yeah, just a rough night I suppose." My head was pounding.

   "A rough night?" She laughed. "It sounded like you were fighting a war." She walked towards my room's door. "Well, it's a good thing dreams aren't real. Anyway, come on and get up, I am making breakfast!"

"That felt like a vision more then a dream. That one guy ... Akaiem was it?  I feel like I know him somehow. This roller coaster of fuck is getting old fast."

   I rose from bed grumbling and made up the covers, then walked out of my room to see what Twilight had up for the menu.

   I had too much of a head ache, and was too hungery to think right at the time.

   As I went out of my room and into the main library hall, I heard Twilight. "Spike, what is that in your ears?"

   Spike looked at her in shock. "What?! A Manticore is eating a Deer?! Where?!" He looked at the window behind Twilight.

   She hoof faced, "No Spike! What are those in your ears!"

   Spike took the ear buds out.

"Oh you mean these? I don't know, but they sound awesome! When I press on this white box here ... see? It makes music through these bud things! Here Twi, you try it out."

   My eyes widened in reaction to what spike was holding.

"Hey that's my ipod! Spike must have found it on the floor, I bet it fell out of my pocket when I came here."

   "What is this? It sounds like somepony is very upset." Twilight took out the ear buds.

"Spike you should put that noisy thing back where you got it, it can't be healthy for your head."

   Spike looked disappointed. "Aww man, and I just found this thing too."

   "That is an ipod" I said. "And it's mine, but I don't mind if Spike listens to it."

   Spike Jumped up in excitement. "Alright! Thanks!" He took a seat at the table.

   "You humans sure are strange." Twilight looked at me puzzled. "What do you get out of that noise anyway?"

   "It's emotional music, we listen to it if we feel sad, happy, or angry. Really I have any kind of music in there, even ones you would like."

   "I doubt that." She waved a hoof in the air dismissing the thought.

   "Spike, may I see my ipod for a second?" I asked with my extended hand open and waiting.

   "Sure Argyle here."

   I chuckled when I saw what he was listening to.

   "Amon Amarth huh? No fear for the setting sun? You have good taste Spike."

   The purple dragon looked surprised. "I do? I just pressed on it by accident."

   I looked in my library of music, then I started flipping through the classical folder.

   "Ah, here you go Twilight, this one is called "Air on a G string." it's by a very famous composer by the name of Bach."

   She put them in reluctantly at first, expecting more of that angry noise, but she was in for a pleasant surprise.

   "Argyle, this is amazing!"

   I smiled. "Yeah, I thought you would appreciate that."

   She took them out halfway into the song. "Thanks, now what do you guys feel like for breakfast?"

   Thinking with my stomach I spoke, "Egg's, bacon, and do you have coff-" I froze in mid sentence, as my head was racing in protest to what I had just said.

"Oh right, ponies don't eat meat. Damn!"

   Spike just looked at both Twilight and me.

   While Twilight had just a little bit of a worried look on her face.

"You eat eggs? And isn't bacon ... Pig? Wait you eat meat?!" Her eyes got wider as she began to gape.

"Ah great, looks like I said something I should not have, again! Now how am I going to get myself out of this mess? I hate having to use my last resort when I say something stupid."

   "Kidding! I was kidding! Hahaha-" "Kill me please, just smite me you unmerciful bastard!"

   Twilight started laughing "Oh? I was the one joking. Anyway, it's alright, but we don't eat meat here."

"Holy Christ on a pogostick! But I thought... Did Twilight just pull a fast one on me?"

   "Damn, nice one Twilight. So what's available then?"

   "Thanks. Well how does Alfalfa sprouts, fruit, and carrots sound?"

"I would rather eat the robber off my shoe." "Sounds great! Have any coffee?"

   She put a hoof to her chin in contemplation. "Um, I think so. Let me check"

   The alfalfa sprouts were actually surprisingly good, they were tender, juicey, and earthy. Like the bean sprouts you would get at a hibachi grill, but way better.

    I remember how the food made me feel great. Like when I was in the sun light there, It energized me. I thought it might have something to do with the sun giving off healing energy, and the food absorbing it while growing. While the coffee? If you could digest high octane gas and live? Yeah, I was ready to fricken go.

   Twilight was reading some kind of book at the table. "What are you reading Twilight?"

   She answered me without taking her eyes off the book.

   "It's a tome on magical travel. I am doing research on the advanced Flashport."

   Flashport was the word that hit my attention, as I thought I knew what it meant. "What is a Flashport?" I wanted to see if I was right.

   "Its a type of teleportation, that allows its caster to go from one place to another close to instantly."

"I saw something like that in my dream."

   "Who is the book by?"

   She looked away from the tome to look at me. "It's by Starswirl the bearded, why? It's just a copy of the original."

   "Oh, no reason." I knew that name, since it was from one of the ponies in that dream. At the time, I had no clue how it was possible to dream about someone I never knew existed, until after the dream had happened.

"And, the weirdness thickens." I scratched the side of my head, thinking of whether I should ask or not. I desided to ask anyway. "So, how hard is a flashport? Could I do one?"

   She put the tome down, then told me. "Well first you would have to be magically gifted."

"Does once being able to make level 50s in halo shit themselves count as magic?" I joked inwardly.

   She shrugged.

"But only unicorns, or alicorns, are magically gifted to my knowledge. Of course, that is excluding Dragons, and other non pony species."

   She got up from the table, then went for a book in the main hall.

"But, I think I read in one of these that a test existed... Ah here it is!" The purple unicorn brought over a small white book that said on its cover "The Mages Handbook."

   Twilight pointed at the tome.

"This book contains everything about the basics of magic. It tells you how to start using it and it just so happens to contain a spell that senses magical energies. In theory, I could use it and see if you have any magic in you."

   "Go for it." I just wanted to see what would happen, I had no idea it would actually work.

   I watched as her horn glowed making the pages turn.

"Oh, which page was it again?" She bit her lower lip. "Ah, here it is! Alright, sit still and you might feel a slight tingle."

   I was not to happy by the sound of that.

   Her horn started to glow, as a feeling of static rushed over my skin, making my hairs stand up. Twilight then gasped in surprise, "I don't believe it, you have magic!"

   "What? really?" I too was hardly able to believe that possible. "How is that even possible?"

   "Well, I thought if you did have some it would be a little amount, but not this much."

   I was unsure of what I should do, or say. "Uh, just how much are we talking here?"

   Twilight looked shocked.

"You have more then what most unicorns start out with. Why, with some work, you could be casting spells in a week."

"Just what the hell is going on here? Yesterday I was just a teen, now I'm an aspiring mage? Just who wrote this story? If I ever find him, I'm gunna kick his door down, pet his cat, hug him, then say how nice his mother is!"

   "So ... what now?"

   Twilight put her hoof to her mouth in thought. "Well, we do have a week before the Princess returns to Canterlot." She gave me a smile. "So, I could teach you some tricks."

   Though I had a straight face, I was very excited inside. I remember thinking, "Who gets to be a damned wizard?!"

   "Well hell, when do we start?" I tried to keep a cool tone. I failed.

   She had her hoof on her chin thinking. "How about today?"

   "Now I'm going to show you the four basics of magic." Spike was taking notes as she continued.

"You already have the first one down, magical affinity. The other three are focus, visualization, and concentration."

   "Doesn't focus mean the same thing as concentration?" I was thinking in word tense.

   "By Definition, but not by practice. I hardly think you can concentrate something you can't focus."

   "That makes a lot of sense actually. Alright, how do I put these into practice then?"

   Twilight's horn glowed, soon after, an apple floated from the kitchen, then landed gracefully on the table in front of me.

   "Here try to levitate this apple on the table, like this." Her horn glowed once more, the apple levitated up and held its place, then was placed back down flawlessly.

   "Now you try."

   I shrugged, "Well ... I just focus right?"

   She nodded. "Visualize, then concentrate."

   "Alright." I half expected I would blow something up, since I had no idea what I was doing.

   I held my hand up, then focused on the apple. While visualizing it floating, I imagined my hand had a hold on it. I then felt a rush of static as my hand began to glow. A euphoria washed over me as the dormant energy inside awoke, releasing like a flood gate. The apple shot up from the table, hovered in the air for a heart beat, then exploded pelting Spike, Twilight, and myself in apple matter.

   "Whoa that was cool!" Spike cheered out. "I guess that means he needs some work though, huh Twi?"

"Well, that's to be expected." I laughed lightly.

   It was pretty cool blowing up that apple I have to admit.

   The unicorn, covered with the brunt of that explosion, had a hoof on her chin while staring at me with a look of serious thought. "He actually got the apple off the table on his first try?"

   Her eye brows then shrugged with confusion.

"The only common thing about what just happened was the apple exploding, but getting the apple in the air on the first try however, is beyond rare."

  While picking apple off of myself, I asked Twilight, "Alright then... What now?"

  Twilight pointed her hoof at me. "Now, we have a lot of work to do."