Of Magic and Power

Chapters

The Summoning
The Return
Friends and Foes
The Preparations
The Guild

The Summoning

Maximilian Wolf entered the meeting. He didn‘t want to participate. He never liked the old farts, which called themselves the Council of Elders. But it was important, so he decided to waste his time with them -- if only for the sake of keeping up appearances.

“How great of you to join us, Master Mage, Maximilian Wolf. It wouldn’t be the same without you,“ said Arminas Anwamanë, the head of the council and the elvish elder with the stern face and the brown shoulder long hair, to the brown haired and blue eyed human. Still, Arminas Amemanë was the oldest member of the council with 1546 years. He stood before them in official elvish custom with decorated cloth above his with leafs garnishing his white shirt.

“Oh, don‘t you lie to me. I know all of you would love that the stupid human wouldn‘t come to the meeting, especially you elves. Now could we get this done?“ Maximilian snapped with annoyance.

Tesur Firestaff, the dwarven representative of the council, stood up and explained the situation. “The dragonics have requested the support of the Mage’s Guild. They are currently at war with the nymphs on their planet.“ The short dwarf just reached up to Maximilian’s chest. He had three long beards, which were white like the rest of his hair. Maximilian could tell his age from appearence, which was eight-hundred and sixty-seven years, since dwarfs were not as used to life-spells than elves or humans. Still, Tesur was covered in shoulder and arm armour, with a purple coat coming from his pauldrons. His green robe covered the rest of his body.

“So where is the problem? We granted them the support.“ Maximilian scoffed with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“The dragonic have proven themselves not as loyal as they promised us during the second great war.“ Prinai Gokar, the orcish elder proclaimed, a disdainful edge to his voice. He looked like many orcs Maximilian encountered, brutish and unclean. As the youngest member of the council with six-hundred and thirty-seven years, the orc provided Maximilian with the most problems, since he thought his position as the youngest meant that he was entitled to annoy the Master Mage as much as possible. But in his brownish torn cloak, Prinai looked like someone who just came from the battlefield, which wouldn‘t be something new, since orcs tend to beat eachother up.

“During the last great war not even the elven have given us support.“ Maximilian pointed out.

“That is not true. The elven had problems of their own at the time of the great war.“ Arminas said in defence of his race.

“Oh, so when my mentor called on your help, you weren‘t busy washing your hair, as I remember?“ Maximilian sarcastically responded.

“And the humans didn‘t answer the call as well,“ said Moth Cornfly, the elder of the fairies and second oldest of the council with one-thousand three-hundred and eighty-six years. She always looked beautiful, like the elvish; it was their unique magical aura. It just made them like this, which always pissed Maximilian off, but he learned to ignore the gleam and see the real her. Even without the gleam, Moth Cornfly look stunning in her green dress with her transpired wings. The long white hair around her shoulder would have made every man fall, but Maximilian had grown used to it. It wasn‘t like the first time when he had attempted a meeting with the council.

“Most of the human race can‘t even use magic. How would they be any help in a magical war? The decision is made. We are sending them support.“ Maximilian said. He hardly got angered, but in his three-hundred and sixty-five years, also being the youngest of the group, he never heard an insult like this towards his race. Maximilian himself was dressed in blue jeans and a yellow t-shirt, because he was heading to teach his student, as he was called by the council.

“But we as the council of elders veto your decision.“ Arminas answered.

The human stared with barely veiled contempt at the elf for a few seconds before sighing in defeat. “Fine by me. I will send them my personal Wolfguard; they should be enough.” And with that, he got up to leave without even bothering to make the usual signs of courtesy, to the shocked murmurs of a few and a grunt of admiration from the orc.

As Maximilian stepped out of the meeting room, he sent a telepathic message to the head of his guards with instructions. Just as he was finished with the message, Maximilian disappeared.

Celestia and Luna were going to try out an old spell, which they found in a book about an old legend. A legend that was already ancient, when they were young. They didn‘t know what the spell did, but from what they read, it was supposed to summon a powerful creature which would help them defeat an old evil, like the demonic overlord Lanhanre, who had recently risen from the underworld to take over Equestria and spread terror.

So far the spell was going well, so they decided to put a little more power into it. Suddenly a wave of magic exploded from the centre of the summoning area, creating a large smoke cloud and pushing Celestia and Luna against the wall. A second after that they heard some words, which they couldn‘t make out. As the words finished, chains appeared, which then shackled Celestia and Luna, making them unable to move. They tried to use magic, but it appeared the chains sealed that as well. As the smoke left, they could see a being, which stood on two hooves and which held one hoof out front. The being seemed to be slightly bigger as Celestia was.

Celestia was the first to speak. “Who are you and where did you come from?“

The being began to laugh and said, “Whoa, you summoned me to this world and didn‘t even know that. Foolish alicorns. I am the Master Mage Maximilian Wolf, the fourteenth head of the Mage’s Guild and I‘m the one asking questions. Why was I summoned?“

Luna then replied, “We are not pleased with the way thou speak with us. We are the rulers of this country.”

Maximilian interrupted her to say, “And I am the one with the binding spell. I don‘t care who or what you are. You‘ll answer my question or you‘ll die.“ After this, Maximilian made the chains around Luna‘s body narrow themselves, making it harder for her to breathe.

Celestia now spoke up, trying to get the attention away from her sister, “We summoned you, because there is a great evil threatening our country and the most powerful magical tool, as well as my sister and I are too weak to slay it. So we hoped to summon a kind hearted and powerful creature that could defeat this evil.“

“Your problems are not mine.“ He released Celestia and Luna from their chains, then continued “I hope you find some other being, but you summoned the wrong person. I have problems of my own, which I need to take care of. Goodbye.“ Maximilian turned around, then said, ”I summon thee, branch of Yggdrasil.“ a staff appeared in front of him, then he began to chant a spell.

”Magic coursing through my vein, power, that through you I gain, bring me home, where I should be, from this place, that I now see.“

Nothing happened. Maximilian leaned on the staff for a moment in thought. “That‘s strange. That normally works... Maybe this one...“

”From the home, I was taken by foreign spell, Which I will now repel, Back I now go from this plane, Breaking free it‘s bane.“

Again nothing happened.

Maximilian now says “That should have worked. Why is it not working?“

“Maybe because you‘re not as good as you think you are.“ Luna said mockingly, which she immediately regretted, as Maximilian just waved with his staff and ice spikes appeared, just a centimetre away from Luna‘s neck.

“Maybe the summoning spell, Luna and I used, is interfering with yours. So it won‘t work until you finish what you were brought here for.“ Celestia suggest.

Maximilian just sighed and said, “Where is this so-called evil?“

“Towards the south of this castle in which we now stand, is a place called the Everfree Forest. The evil is there, coming towards Canterlot as we speak. The name of the demon is Lanhanre, the Terror-Bringer.“ Celestia explains.

“An arch-demon, or lower? I have never heard of this ‘Lanhanre.’“ Maximilian asked simply.

“We believe the rank of this particular demon to be at least equal to an Overlord.“ Luna answered.

“Give me half an hour, and the demon is gone. This is a problem for lesser mages...“ Max muttered as if it were nothing, to the surprise of the two alicorns. He then headed towards the balcony and said, ”I summon thee, Frostwing.“ On the balcony, a gigantic dragon with dark-blue scales appeared, turning it‘s head towards Maximilian and roared.

“I know, I wasn‘t supposed to summon you, but it won‘t take long.“ Maximilian said to the dragon. Celestia and Luna stared in disbelief, that this being just summoned an ice dragon like that and was now speaking to it like a friend.

“Ok, Frostwing, let‘s head south. Some demon needs a beating.“ Maximilian says, as he climbs on the dragon‘s back.

About ten minutes later, Frostwing and Maximilian reach the Everfree Forest. They now began looking for the demon and his army. After a short time, Frostwing found them and flew toward the group. They were just about to reach the group, as Maximilian said to Frostwing, “I will go on alone. You can go back to your world now. I can take them myself.“ Frostwing give a annoyed grunt, because Maximilian summoned him only so he could ride him.

“Ok, next time I summon you, we go fight and kill something. Agreed?“ Maximilian suggested conversationally. Frostwing nodded slightly and Maximilian released him from his summoning in midair, sending the dragon back to its home plane.

While Maximilian fell, he summoned Kōri no Musume, his weapons of choice; twin katanas imbued with the powers of ice and frost. As he was heading towards the ground, he prepared himself for landing by summoning a shield that would soften the crash. As he hit the ground, the shield did it‘s purpose, though the crash landing still created a sizable cloud of dust. Maximilian himself was unharmed, though the two demon soldiers which he landed on weren‘t. Both of them had one of his blades stuck in their heads, instantly killing them.

Lanhanre turned around to see what had crashed into his army. Though unable to see through the thick dust cloud, he decided to speak to the intruder.

“Who are you and what is your business with me, Lanhanre, the Bringer of Terror?“

“Before I answer your questions, my dear Lanhanre, do you think you‘re able to slay an arch-demon?“ the intruder asked simply.

“Of course not; I am just a higher demon, still a long way from being a arch-demon.“ Lanhanre answered.

As the dust cleared up, the intruder called out; “Then run now or fall in the will of Grinning Face!“

Maximilian had a lot of secrets. One of them was that his bloodline, which existed since the first human mage, was mixed with demonic and angelic blood; so every now and then a Wolf is born who can become a demon or an angel, though in some special cases both, like Maximilian. Even though Maximilian himself was a special case, in a lot of ways for a Wolf; since not only he was a powerful mage, but an arch-demon and arch-angel as well, which had a lot of downsides to it. Both the demon and angel had their own unique personality, which was nice when there was no one to talk to, but extremely annoying, especially when in battle like at this very moment. Against Maximilian‘s will did Grinning Face, the demon part of him, force himself to the surface and took control. Maximilian didn‘t really have a problem with it, he just felt sorry for his enemy.

Lanhanre was speechless. This monster just wiped out his entire five-hundred strong demon army with a few attacks. The clearing where his army was was now covered in a thick ice, painted red with the blood of his soldiers. For the first time, Lanhanre was scared. He, a demon overlord, was sacred, because the monster he faced was undoubtedly an arch-demon. He heard they were powerful, but he couldn‘t imagine, that they were this powerful. The arch-demon now walked towards him, raising his blade, ready to give the killing blow.

Maximilian didn‘t want to kill him. So he took his body over again, forcing Grinning Face back into Maximilian‘s mind. He slowly walked towards the demon, raising his blade. As he stood before Lanhanre, Maximilian says “I will spare your life, if you never return to this world. Do you understand?“ The demon nodded frantically.

“You will promise this with your life.“ Maximilian continued; the demon was still nodding.

“If you break your promise, I, Maximilian Wolf, will find you; and I banish you back to the hell whence you came. Do you understand?“ The demon nodded.

“Now go!“ Maximilian commanded, and the demon disappeared in a plume of smoke and swirling chaotic energies. Maximilian sighed as he turned around to look at the mess Grinning Face had made.

”You know, you could have gone easy on them, Grin?“ Maximilian thought.

Grinning Face responded gutturally ”Where is the fun in that?” Maximilian sighed again, then teleported himself to Canterlot.

Back in Canterlot, Maximilian teleported himself into the room, where he first was summoned to. Celestia and Luna were surprised as the mage just appeared in the middle of the room.

Celestia spoke first and greeted Maximilian, “Hello again, I see you are unharmed. Did you slay the demon?“

Maximilian answered “I did not slay him.“

Luna blinked at him in surprise. “What do you mean? Did you fail in your task?“

The human smirked in response. “Fail? No. Recall that the terms of your contract were merely to drive off the demon, not slay him.”

The lunar alicorn’s eyes narrowed dangerously, yet she sighed in resignation. “So you banished him, then? Why not simply end his miserable existence? A threat is all he is and all he will ever be.”

“As a matter of fact, he wasn‘t. He and his tiny army would never be able to overrun a trained squadron of mages. I believe this proves that your race is too weak and too secured in it‘s position in this world.“ Maximilian calmly explained to the shocked Diarchs before him.

“I will now go, as I have met the summoning agreement. I wish you a good day, and suggest you start training a proper army.“ The master mage said with finality, as he started muttering the incantation for his Planar Travel spell.

Back in the mage guild, Maximilian first went to meet with his student. As he was walking, he checked with his guard captain to see if his orders were fulfilled. True to his instructions, his entire elite guard had been dispatched to the aid of the Dragon country. Still, Maximilian wondered just why he had been summoned today. There were a lot of powerful mages out there, though he was one of the most powerful. He couldn‘t get rid of the feeling that there was more behind this then just some weak demon. But he ignored it as he reached his student‘s chamber, preparing himself to teach her.

The Return

A hundred years had passed since Maximilian was brought to Equestria. A lot had happened during this time. Maximilian had made the right decision when he sent his guard to aid the dragonics. The nymphs had help from a group of rogue mages, who disliked the Guild and attacked the dragon nation. The nymphs were allies with enemies of the Guild and they used the weakened position of the Guild, since Maximilian‘s personal guard was gone, to attack directly. This caused the third great war of magic, leading to the death of thousands and thousands of people on both sides. The Council of Elders used the war to frame Maximilian for treason. Maximilian, unable to prove innocence, was then exiled from the Guild, after handing the position of head of the Guild and the title of Master Mage to his student, who became the first female human leader of the Guild.

Maximilian returned during his exile to Earth, his home planet and continued his studies there. He already had a masters in physics, but he wanted to broaden his horizon, so he began studying chemistry. Both subjects had some importance in magical theory, as Maximilian used physics to improve certain spells he worked on. Chemistry was nothing else than alchemy, which up until then Maximilian mostly ignored, since he never saw a real use in it. After finishing his masters in chemistry, Maximilian began to travel through the worlds he knew. He never returned on own will to Equestria, because he didn‘t want to. He meet many old friends and many new ones.

After his travel, he received a message from his former student, asking him to become a teacher at the mage school. Maximilian agreed and returned to the Guild. To his surprise, his student did a excellent job at leading the Guild. She was loved by it‘s citizen as well as the council. Maximilian himself was during his time by his subject, though hated by the council. He began working as a teacher for offensive magic in the last years of the school, where a student could decide, in which subject he wanted to deepen his knowledge. Maximilian was happy with his work, since his student respected him, as they knew that Maximilian was the leading authority, when came to offensive spells. That was until he disappeared again.

Maximilian was just leaving the empty classroom, heading towards his apartment, as he notice a magical pull on his body. Before it could gain complete hold of his body, Maximilian realised the origin of the spell and teleported there.

Twilight Sparkle used the spell, Celestia taught her, after the last major crisis about a thousand years ago. The spell was supposed to summon a powerful creature, which you would help them in times of need. Twilight asked her friend to help her with the spell, since they were the elements of harmony. They were concentrated on the spell, they didn‘t notice the being appearing in the middle of the room, which as it appear, said “WHAT THE FUCK, CELESTIA! I thought I made myself clear that I do not care about your problems. So before you could summon me with that annoying spell, I better come on my own will.“

Twilight and her friends were dumbfounded. They never seen a creature like this before and this creature was insulting their princess. Also it knew that is was supposed to be summoned.

Maximilian turn around to look at the room, wondering where he was and why he could teleport there. As he continued scanning the room, he notices the six ponies, two normal ponies, two pegasis and two unicorn. There were no alicorns like the last time he was here.

He noticed, that the purple unicorn stood up and asks “Who are you and why did you insult the princess?“, then the pony with the cowboy hat now said “Yeah, tell us why ya insulted our princess or ya‘ll be sorry.“

“My name is Maximilian Wolf and I am a human Master Mage. Sometime ago, our Princesses summoned me to defeat a demon. I then told them to never summon me again. If you would excuse me, I have to go now, unless the reason you summoned me is important.“ Maximilian said, turning heading for the door to leave.

“Oh no, you don‘t just leave after insulting the princess.“ says the pegasus with the rainbow mane.

Maximilian just raised a brow and asks “And what will you do?“

The rainbow one responded “Applejack and I will beat the crap out of you until you say sorry, won‘t we?“ “We‘ll sure do, Rainbow Dash.“ answered the cowgirl pony named Applejack as she was preparing her attack.

Maximilian just shook his head and said “Shadow blades“ and from his shadow blade like figures appeared, which stop just the necks of his attackers.

“I don‘t want to hurt anyone. Whether I insult your princess or not, would be a problem between me and her. So is someone here, who isn‘t a hothead like these two? Just tell me the problem.“ Maximilian said.

The purple one now step forward and introduced herself “Hello mister Wolf, my name is Twilight Sparkle and I am the personal student of Celestia, who disappeared about two days ago along with her sister. We think, something evil has alicorn-napped them. The two, who attack you, are Applejack and Rainbow Dash and the three next to me are Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. We mean no harm, so if would please undo the spell?“

Maximilian removed the blades from their necks and sat down.

“So Celestia and Luna disappeared, sure they didn’t just miscast some spell?“ Maximilian says.

Applejack narrowed her eyes and said “Watch your tone, fella. Ya‘re talking about the two most powerful beings in Equestria.“

“Really, they‘re the two most powerful beings in this place? I see something nearly as powerful right before me.“ Maximilian said, as his eyes turned into demonic eyes.

Maximilian had time during his travel, so he took sometime meditating and find peace with the two other personalities inside him, which was good for all of them. They were allowed more control and Maximilian got demonic eyes and angel wings. Both extremely useful, especially the eyes, since arch-demon are able to see the flow of energy or magic. So Maximilian uses the ability to check the power of the beings around him, the only problem with it, that the living being with demonic eyes was really scary to most people, so Maximilian has a seal on them most of the time, which hides them.

Twilight backed away from Maximilian. His eyes just became like the eyes of Nightmare Moon. Maybe they did something wrong with the spell and brought the evil to them. She wasn‘t sure what to do. He seemed friendly, but he could be faking it. Twilight didn‘t want to take any risks, so she summon an attack spell, she found in one of Celestia‘s book.

“Light, that gives us day,come and burn my foe away.Protect those, which I hold dear,till the enemy is gone and the room is clear.“

Maximilian knew the spell, Light Arrows. It itself wasn‘t something special, but in the way she chanted it, it was. It would protect her and her friends, while attacking him. Several beams of light appeared and headed towards Maximilian. He now just said two things, first “Yggdrasil“ and his staff appeared then “Consuming Darkness“. The light was sucked into Maximilian‘s spell, as he was much stronger and experience than Twilight, though she already for her age above average was.

As the light return, Maximilian said “Amazing spell for a girl your age. Many of my students would have problems, making up a chant like this. I must say, that Celestia did good work. But could we return to the problem at hand.“

Pinkie now said “THAT WAS AMAZING! First your eyes became all evil and then Twilight made those awesome light thingies and then your staff thingie appeared out of thin air and then everything was dark. OHMYGOD! YOU NEED TO DO THAT AT ONE OF MY PARTIES!“

Rainbow now mentioned “Yeah, that was pretty cool, but you are still a evil person.“

Twilight interrupted them now, saying “Girls, please calm down. I am sorry, that I attack you. It just surprised me, that your eyes changed like that. But we should possible go to Canterlot, where they were last seen.“

“I like that idea. Let‘s go“ Maximilian agrees and takes his staff and touched the ground with it‘s bottom end. Suddenly a circle of light appears and after a second they are all standing in the throne hall of the princesses, where Maximilian first was in Equestria. The ponies were confused at how fast they got here and Twilight was surprised at how easy he made it look.

“Now come on, you never mass-teleported somewhere?“ Maximilian asks, as Rarity replies “Well, we never did it in such fashion. Or with such ease. I mean Canterlot is a three hour train ride from Ponyville.“

“Now tell me what has the last thing, you know, happened here?“ Maximilian asked, as he turned around in the room, using his demonic eyes to check for abnormalities in the flow of magic.

As Maximilian examined the room, Twilight told him what happened. “The princesses were holding court, as they usually do. Listening to the problems of common ponies, so they could be taken care of and everypony could live in happiness. Then they took a break. The guards left the room and Celestia and Luna remind in it. The guards, which stood in front of the door, said that the princesses had a heated discussion, but this wasn‘t something unusual after holding court. As the guards enter, after their lunch break, the princesses were nowhere to be found. The guards then proceeded to check the entirety of Canterlot and still nothing and that was about it.“

Maximilian turn to the ponies and said “I can‘t find anything in this room. Maybe we should split up and you girls check the private rooms, while I check the rest of the castle.“ The girls agreed, though Applejack wasn‘t sure if he was telling the truth. It might just that she didn‘t like him from the entrance he made, when they summoned him, so she decided to ignore the feeling.

Maximilian felt bad for lying to them. He did notice something, something he didn‘t like. Something he only saw once, while travelling with a friend. Something he couldn‘t fix on his own. And this something was a crack.

Friends and Foes

Applejack could ignore the feeling of Maximilian lying at them. So after they split up, she waited for a bit and returned to the throne hall. There she saw him looking worried at something, but she couldn’t make out what. Suddenly Maximilian turned and headed to the balcony. Applejack had to blink for a second, but when she looked again she saw that Maximilian grew wings, not like the ones pegasis have, but they looked more majestic and powerful. As Maximilian reach the balcony, he started flapping with his wings and flew into the sky. Applejack raced to the balcony, thinking he is going the leave them.

Maximilian really didn‘t like seeing that crack, because he knew that to get rid of it and to find the princesses, he had to talk to a old friend, a friend he didn‘t really like. He had to talk to the Doctor. Not that Maximilian had a problem with the Doctor, they just didn‘t fit together. The Doctor tries to solve problems peacefully and Maximilian was more the hands-on type. The real problem wasn’t fixing the crack or finding the princesses. The problem was finding the Doctor. So he decided the best way of solving that problem, is to use the search spell, he came up with to find exactly that guy. So he headed for the balcony to fly above Canterlot, because he needed lots of free space. For his luck, Crimson Wing, his angelic personality, agreed to let him use his wings. Maximilian always enjoyed the times, when he could use the wings of a angel. As he began to fly, he heard galloping beneath him and as he look down, he saw Applejack running on the balcony. Maximilian wondered for a second, why she was there, but then continued flying higher.

As Maximilian reached the centre of Canterlot, he was very high in the sky. It didn‘t bother him, that the pony below him could see him and started to wonder, what strange being was up there. He just began to concentrate on the spell and help his staff out in front of him and began to chant.

”Old being of before time,friend and foe of mine,let me find, where you are,no matter, what time or space you were,energy, that courses through very being‘s vein,show me the Doctor‘s plane!“

Rarity look up into the sky, wondering if the person up there was Maximilian or not. It only could be him since there were no other bipedal beings around, but Maximilian didn‘t have wings before. Maybe he is that powerful, that he can summon real wings, Twilight did it once. Rarity was especially by the look and movement of the wings. It look majestic and other worldly. Combined with the lights surrounding him, he just looked divine, like, Rarity couldn‘t find a word to described what she saw. Suddenly she winched, as a loud boom and a circular wave came from Maximilian. It looked like a sonicrainboom, but without the colour and that he wasn‘t moving. As she noticed, that Maximilian was flying down again towards the throne hall, Rarity turned and headed there.

Maximilian knew that there was no way that anybody in Canterlot could have missed the sudden release of a large amount of magic. It caused a large boom. No one could have overheard that. As he returned to the throne hall, he saw the six girls already gathered and talking about what they so. He began walking towards them, while his wings turned into light particles and disappeared.

Twilight step forward and began to talk “What did you do up there? I though you check the rest of Canterlot.“

Maximilian started to explain his actions by saying “I was checking but not for the princesses. I lied to you about something…“

As he was interrupted by Applejack saying “Ah knew ya were lying. What did ya really do there? Did ya call your lying friends or did ya cast some strange attack spell?“

“I assure you, that I don‘t have the intention of attacking Canterlot or Equestria. And if I had, you all be dead. I was looking for a “friend“, because of that.“ As he pointed at the crack.

The six couldn‘t make out at first what Maximilian was pointing at, then they started to see a crack in the wall. Rainbow Dash turned back to Maximilian and said “So, big deal. There‘s a crack in the wall. It‘s not like that could have taken our princesses.“

“That isn‘t just a crack. That‘s a crack in space and time and that has taken your princesses and I can‘t fix that.“

Twilight look at him in disbelieve. “A crack in space and time? How could there be a crack in space and time here? Isn‘t that dangerous? And why did you use that insane amount of magic before then, if you knew about this?“ she utter, trying to remain calm.

“Look the crack isn‘t a problem, as long there is no energy directly put into it. I need that much magic for a search spell. It isn‘t easy to look for a timetravilling idiot.“

Rarity said then “Couldn‘t you have searched for the princesses directly? With that amount of magic it would surely be no problem then.“

“I would have, if the crack wouldn‘t be interfering, since there is still some of the princesses’ energy left here.“ Maximilian explained.

Twilight finally snaps out of thinking with the help of Fluttershy, that Equestria will be sucked into a wormhole, and picked up the last think she heard. “I know a time-traveller. Doctor Whooves in Ponyville.“

Maximilian now said “Well, I don‘t know, if he is the one, that I am looking for, because I am looking for the Doctor. As long as this Whooves guy lives in Ponyville, it isn‘t a problem since the Doctor is there as well, which is for some reason not really surprising. Back to Ponyville!“

Maximilian took his staff, tapped the floor again, the circle appeared and there was enough time left for the six to scream “No.“

Back in the library, the six ponies started to feel sick. Maximilian, who was used to teleporting a lot, wasn‘t affected at all. The two first to recover were Twilight and Pinkie, which was for some reason strange for Maximilian, since he knew, that only Unicorns in this world had a strong enough connections with magic to use it. He wondered about it for some time, but dismissed it shortly with the decision, that she had a strong stomach.

Pinkie now started saying “You should show Twilight all those light thingie, you do all the time. Those are so awesome. Especially that with the wings.“

“Uhh, I could teach Twilight some spells, but I can’t teach her how to summon angel wings, because I don‘t summon them. They are a part of me. I just don‘t have them on my back all the time, since they get in the way a lot and they need a lot of space.“ Maximilian said, still wondering about the pink one and why she was so strange.

“I would like to learn some new spells and EVERYTHING about your world. Once this all is over, of course“ Twilight said with glee, which Maximilian found even more disturbing as Pinkie.

The rest need more time to recover, so Applejack suggested, that the three of them should go ahead. As they leaved the building, Maximilian noticed that the library was in a tree, which was nice, since he was used to see something like this in the mage guild.

Twilight now asked “So, how do you know, where this Doctor is?“. Maximilian replied, as they left the library and they were headed for the center of Ponyvile.

“The spell, I used, send out a large amount of magic, check for a person with certain energy pattern, which every person has a unique one. Then if the person is found, the energy gathers around the person, close enough for me to find him and not close enough for them to notice. Then I just use my demon eyes and look for them. It is quite easy.“

“That isn‘t a easy spell. You could check through time and space for a single person and find them with that spell. You would need to be as good of a magical being as Celestia, in experience and power.“ Twilight said, while trying to figure out how powerful Maximilian was.

“Well, I am kind of old and I do have a lot of experience and I am a Master Mage and I am know to be the strongest mage in the Guild. So it wasn‘t that hard and it wasn‘t the first time I did that.“ Maximilian praised himself, then stop and looked around, saying “This should be it.“

Pinkie now said “That‘s the house of Doctor Whooves over there. We could check, if he‘s home.“ As they knocked on the door, they heard someone saying “Hang on for a second. I ran into uh complications. I will be there right away.“ then there was a humming sound and somepony trotted to the door. A brown pony with a brown mane and a sand clock mark on his behind opened the door and said “Ah Hello, Twilight and Pinkie, what brings you her“, he stops as he notices Maximilian, who just raised a brow and said “So a pony this time?“

“What are you doing here? Everywhere you go, violence follows.“ “Oh, you‘re the one to talk. Every time you show up, something bad happens.“ “Well, at least I don‘t solve my problem with violence.“

“Oh the Doctor and his high standards of solving problems with talking, which HE COMPLETELY NEGLECTED AFTER AMY‘S CHILD WAS KIDNAPPED!“

“SO THEN YOU DIDN‘T HELP ME FIND HER THEN, DID YOU? AND HOW ABOUT YOUR GIRLFRIEND? DIDN‘T YOU WANT TO WIPE OUT AN ENTIRE RACE?“ argued Maximilian and Doctor Whooves.

But after the last remark, Maximilian said something in a foreign language, which sounded like, when Celestia and Luna scream at each other in private, which Twilight heard by chance once.

Pinkie then asked “What did Maxi say?“, guessing it was something hurtful from the looks on Maximilian‘s and Doctor Whooves‘ face, but before she could get a answer, Maximilian already turned around and said “I‘ll just solve this problem on my own. I don‘t need help from this asshole. Good bye!“ and disappeared. Twilight guessed that he went back to Canterlot, figure out what happened to Celestia and Luna. So she turned to Doctor Whooves and asked him, what just happened.

“Maximilian and I have met in the past. We are “kind“ of friends. We first met during the time Maximilian was exiled from his Guild and he went on a journey to learn to “Ancient Language“.“ Doctor Whooves explained, on which Twilight asked “The “Ancient Language“?“

“It is a language, the mages think of, as one of the first languages there were, aside gallifrian, my mother tongue. This language is supposed to be created, when the first magical beings came into existence, but I myself don‘t know that much about it. I just speak by bit, because of Maximilian, as well as he speaks gallifrian.“

“So, Maxi just called you mean names in a old language, right? What a meany pants.“ Pinkie said, frowning.

“Well yes, like I said, we aren‘t really friends. We did travel sometime together, but we had our differences. And I kind of hit a sore point in our heated discussion. But that‘s a story for a other time, now what brings you here?“ Doctor Whooves asks, recovering from a sudden sad look in his eyes. Twilight now explains the situation and Doctor Whooves jaw drops.

Maximilian teleported himself back to Canterlot. It is a bad habit of him, to slip into the “Ancient Language“, when he was angry. He should learn to control himself. The language was dangerous, since it is filled with magic. He could have killed them all, because he said those words, which loosely translated into “Go to hell.“. He needed to focus on the matter at hand, not on what happened in Manhattan in 1938.

“Why did the Doctor had bring her up?“, Maximilian thought, “Well I kind of challenged it.“ He didn‘t want to think about his dead girlfriend. It brings up bad memories and feelings and it reminds him of what he did back then.

“No, you need to focus. Don‘t think about the past.“ Maximilian thought.

“We know, you miss her“, mentioned Crimson Wings, Maximilian‘s angelic personality.

”Yeah, what the moron said. We should wiped out some species again. That was fun.“ Grinning Face agreed.

Before they could start a fight in his mind, Maximilian cut them both off and said out loud “Both of you, SHUT UP. Yes, I miss her. I was in love, Crim. You were too, remember? You‘re part of me. And Grin, we won‘t wipe out some species for fun. Remember the last time, when she died. Remember, what happened?“

Luckily the guards were all gone, looking for their rulers, so nobody noticed Maximilian talking to himself.

”Yes, I do remember, what happened. We went berserk. We lost control of our magic and we killed all the weeping angels in Manhattan and I don‘t regret it. We had to do it.“ Grinning Face mentioned and Crimson Wing agreed with him

”As sad as it is, but Grin is right in this case. We had to. If we didn‘t, humanity, your race, would have suffered. Despite the Doctor suffered as well from that day. It‘s not your fault. You just were at the wrong time in the wrong place.“

“You‘re right. It had to happen. Well do any of the two of you idiots know, how to close that crack?“ Maximilian asks, as Grinning Face and Crimson Wing answered in sync ”NOPE!“.

“Great, why was I born with two more fucking personalities? ‘Cause the two of you are utterly useless, expect the eyes and wing part, of course.“ Maximilian asks, slightly annoyed.

”Well, you could just asked the Doctor, since he‘s about to enter.“ said Crimson Wing, as Doctor Whooves walked into the throne room, followed by the six girls. Maximilian muttered to himself “Great“, then turned and asked “So how did you get here so fast?“.

Doctor Whooves answered now “Ah, we came here in the TARDIS.“

“And I didn’t hear it? Did you stop leaving the brakes on?“ Maximilian replied.

“Well, I‘m guessing you were busy talking to Grin and Crim. But let‘s crack this problem“ Doctor Whooves suggested.

“Rainbow, slap the Doctor in the face for this awful joke. So how to you usually fix these crack?“ Maximilian asks.

“The last time, I‘ve let the TARDIS explode along with a perfect prison, causing the universe and the timeline to reset, then erasing myself from existence, then being restored to existence by Amy remembering me.“ Doctor Whooves told Maximilian.

“Ok, fuck that. We can‘t reset the universe. Is there another way to do it?“ Maximilian continued asking Doctor Whooves, as Crimson Wing mentioned ”Like he is a big help either.“. Maximilian faceplamed, letting Twilight and her friends wonder, what was going on.

Fluttershy now said quietly “Could somepony explain what is happening, if that wouldn‘t be a problem, of course?“

“Ok, first of I have multiplied personalities. To be exact, there is a demon and a angel personality, because some of my ancestors were angels and demons. That‘s also the reason, why I have demon eyes and angel wings. Also my personalities can communicate with you by telepathy.“ Maximilian says.

”Hello, my name is Crimson Wing and I am the angelic part of that guy.“ Crimson Wing introduced himself, being followed by Grinning Face ”And I am Grinning Face. I‘m the demonic part of Max or Maxi as Pinkie calls him. I like you. You‘re all random and stuff.“

“Thank you. You sound like fun, too.“ Pinkie replies.

“Ok, enough of that. Uhh telepathy gives me the creeps. The big problem is, that to close the crack, we have three options. First: We reset this universe. Second: We widen the crack and hope it will reveres the effect. Third: Somepony jumps into the crack and gets erased from existence, which is bad, so no. And we can’t do the first one, since we are missing some stuff. So we are stuck with the second option.“ Doctor Whooves continues the explanation of the current things.

“How are the odds by the second option, dear?“ Rarity asks and Doctor Whooves answers “About 51% of success.“

Maximilian now grins and says “Well, those are good odds. Let‘s get started. So how are we going to do it?“

“I need to get closer to the crack.“ Doctor Whooves says, as Max taps with his staff the ground, a circles appears, it solidifies and begins moving upwards with all of them on top. As they head towards the crack, Doctor Whooves continues “I will now widen the crack with my sonic-screw-driver and hope, that the two timelines, which are connected by the crack, will snap apart, letting the crack close.“

As they reach the crack, Maximilian brings up a protective shield to guard them from whatever is going to happen. Doctor Whooves steps forwards, turns his sonic-screw-driver and then points it at the crack. It makes it usual humming sound, the crack widens and something comes out of it, just as the crack snaps shut. Maximilian looks in disbelief at Doctor Whooves and then back to the statue standing in front of them all.

“Ok, everypony, don‘t blink.“ Doctor Whooves says, as Maximilian slowly lowers them back to the grounds. In front of them, out of the crack, came a weeping angel, or weeping pegasus, as it had the form of one.

As they reach the ground, Maximilian asks “Twilight, can you teleport all of you outside of the room?“

“Yes, why“ Twilight responds, wondering why Maximilian asked that and why Doctor Whooves was sacred of a statue.

“Do it now. Get you off you all into the TARDIS. It can‘t follow there. At least if it get past me.“ Maximilian orders.

“Are you insane? You can‘t take on a weeping pegasus alone.“ Doctor Whooves shouts.

Maximilian just says calmly “Remember Manhattan?“, on that Doctor Whooves responds “Ok, I see your point. Twilight, get us out of here. I will explain later.“

Twilight tries to demand a answer, but realises that it would be useless to asks, as she sees that Maximilian was focused on some kind of spell and Doctor Whooves tried to keep staring at the statue. So Twilight focused her magic and teleported them into the TARDIS. As she leaves the teleportation, she feel like something isn‘t right, like time was moving slower. As she looked around, she saw Doctor Whooves smiling and say “What a brilliant idea.“

Maximilian, ever since they touched the grounds, was concentrating on a spell. This one of the few times Maximilian actually appreciate it to be a genius. A long time ago, he came up with a spell, which slowed his surroundings‘ time down. The last time he used that spell, was in Manhattan. He was able to take care of the most weeping angels, but they were just too many. So he got unfocused for a second and they got his girlfriend. Even worse, the two of them were escaping by crossing a cemetery, which was when they got her. When she disappeared, the angel, who got her, pointed at a grave with a evil grin. The grave, it pointed at was hers and he read it, which means it can‘t be change. After that, Maximilian went berserk. He doesn’t remember what happened, just that after that, nearly all the angels were gone. He noticed, that Twilight finally teleported, so he could finally cast the spell. Something, Maximilian always found funny was, slowing down time counts as not looking, which means you can see the angel or pegasus‘s true form. They look terrifying. They have pitch-black fur, but white eyes. They‘re wings are as sharp as a razor and had the colour of blood. Their teeth are sharp and long and even if the time is slow down by a hundred percent, they still moved unbelievable fast. Maximilian had just enough time to deflect to first strike of the pegasus and send it flying into the wall, then he took his staff and turn to face the pegasus and began to chant:

”Fire, that burns a bright as the day,come and burn my enemy away,cleans the evil before my eyes,until it loses it‘s disguise,showing the soul, where the evil truly lies,take it‘s soul, then burn the ties,that contacts it to the world‘s skins,it‘s painful death will now begin.“

Maximilian‘s eyes began to glow during the chant, as the pegasus tried to attack him again, but just before reaching him, it suddenly set on fire, screaming on pain. The fire wasn‘t a normal fire, it had a deep blue tone to it and when ever a bit of the fire drop on the floor, it didn‘t go out. It continued burn until Maximilian stop the spell. He waited three minutes till the cries of the pegasus died out, then he stopped the spell and let time return to it normal flow. He then teleported the pegasus, somewhere no one would ever reach it and began chanting a spell to find Celestia and Luna.

”Being that move the son and the moon,lost in time and space to be found soon,energy, that contacts us three,show me, where they‘ll been“

A burst of magic erupts from, where Maximilian stands and it takes a few second and Maximilian knows, where they are. He teleports to the location and immediately find the two, trying franticly to get out off their prison. Maximilian just stands there and starts laughing, as he noticed that they were send to a closed prison of the Mage Guild, which activated as two powerful being suddenly appear inside it. Celestia and Luna now notices Maximilian standing there, they gallop over to him, tackle him and start to crying, since they are happy to see a living being, since they were trapped for 3 days. Maximilian then teleports them all back to Equestria into the library, where the other were waiting. They cheer as, they see the two princesses.

Maximilian walks over to Doctor Whooves and asks “So, as I know you, you told them about, what happened in Manhattan, right?“

“Yes, I did.“ Doctor Whooves, replied.

“So, are we good again? I mean, no grudges or anything between us?“ Maximilian asks, hoping for the best.

“Well, no grudges, if you admit, that I‘m the best time-travel ever.“ Doctor Whooves says.

“Until you stop leaving the brakes on, when you travel, you can kiss my ass.“ Maximilian replies jokingly.

Now Celestia stands up and says “I must thank you, Maximilian Wolf and Doctor Whooves, for saving us from this dreadful place. I don‘t know, how I ever could repay you.“

Doctor Whooves says now “Ahh, there is anything to repay, just doing our job.“

Maximilian now nervously smiling, says “Actually, there is something. When I looked for the Doctor, I noticed some powerful tool in Canterlot, not counting the elements. I would like to have look at them.“

Luna now says “Anything for our saviours. You shall have permission to look at our collection of magical artifacts.“

Later that day, they celebrated to return of the princesses, Maximilian check the artifacts and found some, he was allowed to take with him to the Guild. He then said good-bye to everyone and returned to the Mage Guild. There he was hardly gone half a day, as he returned the sun was just beginning to raise. Happy to see that, he headed to his apartment to begin some research on the artifacts, he got.

The Preparations

Twilight has a little pissed, that Maximilian just disappeared all of the sudden. She was really hoping, that he would teach her some new spell, since Celestia more or less stopped teaching her. She was writing her weekly report to Celestia, as she had an idea. Celestia was the one, who first summoned Maximilian, so maybe she knew a way to contact him without summoning. She wrote it into the letter as a postscript and then went to sleep.

The next day Spike handed her Celestia’s response, which she read eagerly. To Twilight‘s surprise Celestia did know a way to contact Maximilian. It was a simple spell, which could send a object to another world. The only problem was, that a requirement for the spell was a object from that world to serve as a connection. For Twilight‘s luck Maximilian left a book about the history of the Mage Guild with Celestia, as a thank you for the artifacts. Twilight really wanted to read the book, since it sounded interesting, but she really wanted to learn more about magic, so she decided on writing a letter.

Maximilian was correcting his students‘ tasks, which they handed in today. He hated correcting. On the one hand, because he never was good in theoretical tasks, on the other hand, he didn‘t want to look like a asshole for giving a student a bad grade. He was halfway through the papers, as a letter appeared on his desk, which was nothing new for him, since it has been the way for delivering letters and packages since he first came to the Guild. Maximilian happily opened the letter, since it gave him a excuse for being distracted from the papers. Maximilian began to read the letter:

“Dear Maximilian Wolf,

I was hoping to know, if there would be any chance, that I could come to the Mage Guild for a while. I would like to broaden my knowledge on magic and learn some new spell.

I would greatly appreciate a fast response.

With great respect,

Twilight Sparkle“

Maximilian was dumbfounded. How was Twilight able to send a letter to the Mage Guild, not to speak of directly into his room. Maximilian began to ponder about it, then realised, that Twilight just showed the magical talent of a higher mage, at least on the level of a High Mage or Great Mage. Maximilian would have great fun, teaching Twilight some of his knowledge. He always liked teaching, well at least the teaching part, not the correcting part. He decided to pay Twilight a visit, when he was finished correcting.

It was the day after Twilight send the letter to Maximilian. She was getting nervous about the possibility, that the letter didn‘t arrive. She was pacing around in the library, as somepony knocked on the door. As she opened it, she saw Maximilian standing there in his official mage robe. It had a dark blue colour and reached over his knee, nearly to the ground. Distributed on the robes were white snowflakes.

Maximilian then asks “After you have stopped admiring my robe, could I please enter?“

“Oh, of course, you can enter. I was just surprised to see you in such clothing. The last time you were wearing something to completely different.“ Twilight said.

“Well, the last time I wasn‘t on official business here, which brings me to the point. I have convinced the current Master Mage and the principal of the school to allow you to studying the art of magic at our institute. I have also arranged for housing, so you could bring some of you friends, so you won‘t be alone.“

Twilight couldn’t say anything, she had never been so happy in her life. She read the book on their history last night and has completely hyped to go there and it was even better that she could bring her friends. “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou. I am so happy, I have to go tell the others and I have to pack. When are we going to leave?“ Twilight asked gleefully, as Maximilian responds “First, I have to talk to Celestia, which I will do, while you go tell your friends.“

Before Maximilian was finished, Twilight already leaved through the door. Youth, Maximilian thought and teleported to Canterlot.

After he arrived there, he went to ask for an audition with the princesses. The receptionist answered without looking at him “The Princesses are currently busy. They are not taking any visitors today.“

As he finished, Maximilian could hear a cheerful laughter coming from down the hall. “I am sure, that no matter what they are doing, they will have time for me.“ said Maximilian with a smile, as the receptionist look up, seeing a strange being in front of him.

“I shall ask. Who should I tell them is looking to speak with them?“ the pony then asked.

“Maximilian Wolf“ the receptionist then left, walked down the hall towards the laughter, then Maximilian couldn‘t hear anything, until suddenly multiplied pairs of hooves came galloping towards him.

The receptionist was the first to arrive, being followed by the princesses. He then started to apologizes “I am truly sorry for not knowing, that such a strange being would be a friend of the princesses.“

“You don‘t have to, Book Keeper. How could you have known?“ Celestia comfort him and Luna now said “Shall we talk in our private chambers with a cup of tea, Maximilian?“

“That would be nice, though I prefer coffee, if you have that. I‘m actually here on official business.“ Maximilian explained, as the three walk towards their private living room.

Celestia now asked “Has this to do with Twilight? She did asked me for a way to contact you.“

“Partly, yes. She actually asked me, if she could come to the Mage Guild and study magic there for some time.“ Maximilian told them.

Celestia stopped at looked at him and started wondering why Twilight would ask him, if she could study magic. Twilight was her personal student. Celestia then asked “Why would Twilight study magic in your world? She could study it here in Canterlot.“

Maximilian, completely oblivious to the implication, said “It is understandable why Twilight wants to study in a mage environment. Also the Guild is one of the oldest gatherings of mages and their shared knowledge. No offense, but the Guild is certainly more advanced then your world about magical science.“

As they arrived in the dining room, they sat down and Maximilian continues “There is also something else, we need to talk about. I would like one of you or both to come to the Guild to discuss some things.“

Luna then asks “Some things? Like what?“ “Treaties and the magical education of your magical gifted ones“ Maximilian answers as he took a sip from his coffee.

Celestia now asks worried “How is the education of the magical gifted ones a problem of the Mage Guild?“

Maximilian then replies “The Guild always was anxious about the education of young mages, which they didn‘t have control over. It dates back to the beginning of the Guild and now it has become more or less a tradition. The actual point of it is, that your children could come to the Guild and deepen their studies on magic, if they wanted. Like I said, we are the most advanced society in existence.“

“Oh, I thought you meant, that you would force the children of the unicorns to send them to a Guild school.“ Luna mentioned.

“What, Unicorns? I said any magical talented could come. That means earth ponies and pegasi could came to, if able to use magic.“ Maximilian says surprised.

Celestia then explains “The only beings, aside us alicorns, that can use magic are unicorns.“

“That can‘t be right. Anything and everything can use magic. Magic is everywhere. The only difference between a mage and a non-mage is the strength of their connections to the raw energy, which means that beings without internal help, unlike you horned magical users, could in theory learn magic.“ Maximilian ponders. “How cares? Anyway, we need to come to the Guild to talk about this stuff. The current Master Mage will explain things in more detail.“ he continues.

Luna now asks confused “Did you say that the Master Mage is the leader of the Mage Guild? How could someone else be the Master Mage?“

Maximilian begins to explain “First of the title Master Mage is nothing more than a rank, describing a mage, who mastered all aspects of magic. Second, the leader of the Guild often will be called a Master Mage, therefore it became a tradition as to refer to the leader as Master Mage. Third, I am no longer the leader of the Guild. I was exiled for accused betrayal, so my student took the role as the leader, which she was trained for.“

“You‘re a traitor?“ Celestia asks in disbelief.

“Well, there was a war and there were some spies, which I killed and the council used that to get rid of me.“ As Maximilian finished, a letter appeared out of a flame next to Celestia, who then takes hold of it with her magic.

She said “Twilight informed me that they are ready to leave.“

“Good, so would you come along, please?“ Maximilian then asked.

Luna answers “My sister is very busy with things here in Equestria, but I have time to spare. So I shall come along.“

“Great, well then let’s go. See you soon Celestia“ Maximilian says, calling on his staff and teleported Luna and him to the library.

After arriving there, Maximilian sees all the girls gathered there. He then realises a mountain of suitcases, building up behind them. He now asks “To who belongs the mountain of bags over there?“

Rarity now speaks up “Well, to me of course. I need to be prepared for everything.“

“No you don‘t. because with such a load, you won‘t get into the Guild. There are limits on how much you can take inside, even for a former Master Mage of the Guild. So reduce it to two bags or you can‘t go.“ Maximilian tells her.

Rarity was shocked. She had to reduce the amount of clothes to TWO BAGS. “That is impossible. How could anypony with style only go with two bags of dresses?“ she says outraged.

“Hey, I only have one backpack with stuff. I don‘t need clothes to be awesome.“ Rainbow Dash now says. Before the situation could get out of hand, Luna says “I am sure, Rarity, that there are clothing store over there.“

“Yes, there. Also I will allow you all to have access to my savings, while you are there. Please don‘t waste it all. I need it for research material. And, Rarity, there is no limit on how much you can take FROM the Guild.“ Maximilian continues with Luna‘s suggestion.

Rarity nods and says “Then I shall take to bare minimum of TWO bags.“ and starts repacking. Applejack shacks her head in silent, while Twilight wonders, what the problem is.

After Rarity finished, Maximilian took his staff and touched the ground with it. The room lit up and a portal appeared next to him. “If you may please step through the portal. It will cause you no harm.“ They all proceeded through it and after Maximilian passes through, it closed.

On the other side, they appear in a big city. Maximilian walks in front of the group and says “I welcome you, to the Mage Guild.“

The Guild

Rarity had never seen something this majestic and beautiful before. The entire city was glittering and shining. She couldn‘t believe the gleam she saw, until Maximilian snapped her out of it.

“You shouldn‘t look too long into the lights. They are tourist-traps for the few who come here. They have certain enchantments on them, which makes them more appealing and desirable… Wait… Didn‘t I ban those a few decades ago?“ Maximilian said.

Rainbow was surprised, as she heard Maximilian says a few decades, and asked “What do you mean by a “few decades“?“

“Ahh, I haven‘t I told you my age yet?“ Maximilian asked, surprised.

“No, you haven‘t, which now actually makes me curious. How old are you?“ Twilight asked.

“I am 466 years old. Looking quite young, aren’t I?“ Maximilian said with a smile.

The girls‘ jaws dropped and Luna looked surprised, then says: “How is it, that you are so old and still look so young?“

"Ahh, magic stuff. Various age-spells and body enhancements. Most of the beings with a shorter lifespan use them.“ Maximilian replied.

Rarity was fascinated by the idea of prolong one's youth, so she asked "So, would you be willing to teach these spells?“

"Not really, but if you want to learn them, you could go to class together with Twilight. They get taught there in the final years. You really don‘t want me to teach you something like that. But we should get moving. We have to meet someone.“ Maximilian replied and went down one of the streets.

The ponies were fascinated by the variety of housing there were in the Guild as they passed by. They had all kinds of forms. Some were tall like they would reach into the sky. Some stuck to the ground like a rabbit hole. They even saw buildings like they had them in Equestria. They also saw a lot of shops. They were hairdressers, designers, bakeries, pubs, markets and some they had no idea what it sold. They continued walking until they reached a plaza, when Maximilian stretched out his arms to greet someone. Two girls walked towards him and gave him hugs. The older was a little smaller than Maximilian and had long, blond hair and green eyes. Unlike Maximilian she looked more grown up and serious. The younger reached Maximilian to the chest and short, blue hair and yellow eyes. She seemed to be very cheerful and energetic. They both wore matching robes, which showed off their body.

He then turned around to the group and said "This is my former student Risa Springwhite, the current Master mage of the Guild, and her student Elilean Moonhaze. And these are the ponies I told you about. The big one with horns and wings is the alicorn Luna, who is one of the co-rulers of Equestria and will act as a representative of their country. The others’ names are Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.“ He pointed each of them out, as he said their names.

Risa said "I welcome you to the Mage Guild. My student will give you all a tour of the main part of the city, though this isn‘t all of the Guild. It actually covers the entire planet. As for you, Queen Luna“ she was interrupted by Luna "It‘s Princess Luna, actually“ "Pardon me, Princess Luna, you will come with Maximilian and me to discuss some political thing, as Maximilian has informed you.“

"Very well, let‘s get to it then.“ Luna replied "The sooner the meeting is over, the sooner we can all enjoy the wonders of this place.“

"Indeed, after the meeting, we shall meet at my place. Right, Elilean?“ Risa agreed.

Elilean nodded happily, then turned to the girls and said "I will show you all the great things in the Guild. Come on, let‘s go.“

After a while, they reached a building at which they stopped. Maximilian turned to Luna and said, "Luna, we are about to enter the inner sanctuary of the Guild. So if you have any weapons on you, please remove them now.“

"You‘re the one to talk, Max. If I remember correctly, wasn‘t it some Master Mage I served, who always broke that rule.“ said a guard, as he walked towards them. He had a heavy armour and a sword to his side. His face had a scar running over his left eye, which was still intact. He was grinning as he reached Maximilian and they grabbed each other’s arms at the elbows.

"Dunmar Winterhunter. Last time I saw you, you were made the head of the sanctuary guard. You sure have come a long way from being the head of my personal guard. We should go drink. The Drunken Mage, maybe?“ Maximilian replied.

"That sounds like a good idea. But, what is your business here?“ Dunmar asks.

"We are here to meet with the Council. There are political things to discuss.“ Risa explained.

As they entered the building, Luna was amazed by the beauty of the main building of the Mage Guild. There were many talented architects in Equestria, but this was simply stunning.

As they walked down the hallway, which had perfect symmetry, Risa said "The building has enchantments on it, so foreigners are trapped by it‘s beauty. It is used to make negotiations easier for us. So don‘t stare at it for too long.“

Luna replies surprised "Your people use a lot of enchantments to fool foreigners. Why is that?“

"One of the Master Mages in the past began to use a enchantment to form a treaty with an enemy nation. The idea then spiraled into what we have today. But this building has always had the enchantments on it. It was built that way, so it would be forever new.“ Maximilian explained.

The group reached the meeting room and they enter. The council was already inside and has taken place. They still were the same elders, since Maximilian last entered this room, just before his banishment. For the elves there was Arminas Anwamanë, the dwarven were represented by Tesur Firestaff, the fairies by Moth Cornfly and the orcs by Prinai Gokar. Maximilian hoped at least one of them had finally passed away, giving a chance for new blood in the Council. The Council didn‘t change it‘s members, unless one of them dies or the people voted them out for treason. Maximilian tried it multiple times to vote them out, but a Council member gets voted by the people into the Council as well, which means they were chosen by the people to be the Council. Unlike the Master Mage, who is trained and taught by the former Master Mage, to become the leader of the Guild. The system was good and it worked for many years, but Maximilian and the Council just didn‘t agree with each other.

The Council of Elders‘ job was to think for the best of the Guild, while the job for the Master Mage was to protect the Guild. Basically it was the same goal, but both tried to achieve it with different methods. Maximilian wanted to expand the Guild, form trade routes and treaties with other nations and races, making the Guild more visible. The Council on the other hand wanted to contain the Guild, make it self sustaining, so in case of a crisis the Guild would be ok.

The meeting was about to begin. Maximilian and Luna sat next to each other facing the Council, while Risa took the head of the table. Arminas sat at the other end and the rest of his colleagues on the left and right of him.

Arminas said "Hello, Princess Luna. I am Arminas Anwamanë, the head of the Council of Elders, and these are my fellow Council members, Tesur Firestaff, Moth Cornfly and Prinai Gokar.“ As he pointed each of them out. "To my knowledge, your world was discovered by Maximilian, the FORMER master mage, during his reign. Am I correct?“

"Yes, you are. We, my sister and I, summoned him to protect our country from a demon, which tried to invade it. But I don‘t see how this is important for what I am here for.“ Luna replied confused.

Tesur said "Then why didn‘t your former leader inform us, that he found a land with magical beings?“

Maximilian now answered "Because it is a peaceful land. We would have brought war to them and they were too weak to fight it. And by the way, I have found many things during my reign you don‘t know about.“

Risa now interrupted the two parties to say "This is all beside the point. We have gathered here to discuss a treaty with Equestria, not to talk about what my mentor told you elders and what he didn‘t. I am sure, he did the right thing at the time.“ She then took a good look at the member of the Council and Maximilian, turning towards Luna and continued "Equestria has magically talented inhabitants. The Guild is offering magical education for those who chose to accept it. There will be military support for Equestria, when needed. Also the Guild interested to trade goods with your citizens.“

Luna replied "There already is an institute for teach higher magic, though it seems it isn‘t as advanced as yours. So we would accept it, but only as an extension for those who want to deepen their knowledge. Though I don‘t see how the Guild would benefit of trade with our citizens?“

Prinai responded to the question "Fear not, we are not interested in farming goods. Our farmers are doing quite well. We are more interested in luxury and higher goods.“

"This sounds too good to be true. There has to be a catch in this. What are your terms?“ Luna replied suspiciously.

"In case of a crisis, military support and refuge in your lands.“ Maximilian says bluntly.

The room fell silent for a moment, until Luna said in her royal canterlot voice "This is outrageous. We shall not accept this terms. We will not let any harm come to Equestria.“

Risa replied, trying to calm Luna down "From what I have heard, Equestria is a rather dangerous place, where demons popping up every now and then. So the terms are quite beneficial for you. Also there are hardly any crises in the Magic Guild.“

Suddenly Arminas, Moth Cornfly and Maximilian start laughing.

"She said, HARDLY any crises.“ Maximilian said, while trying to catch his breath.

"That is so adorable. She thinks that the Guild is a safe place. It just shows, how young she still is.“ Moth Cornfly replied, between her giggles.

"Moth, do you remember the demon invasion 600 years ago? That was nothing compared to what happened, since Mafan and Wolf became Master Mages. Those two tore the Guild apart.“ Arminas said..

"Woah, it‘s true that I have a hang for experimental spells, but my mentor didn‘t do anything to harm the Guild. Well, except when he and I were training…… Oh, I see what you getting at. Yeah, you‘re right. We did tear the Guild apart once.“ Maximilian agrees.

"Could you please stop making this a laughing matter? You‘re making this even harder.“ Risa screamed at them.

"I have to agree with Risa. You all are making my decision even easier.“ Luna said.

Tesur and Prinai both stayed quiet, because they had done their share of damage to the Guild a long time ago, so Tesur said to Luna "Princess, please consider, that most of the problems those three have mentioned, are all Guild internal occurrences. They are most times resolved in a matter of days. The last big crisis was the third great war of magic, which happened over 100 years ago. Even then we didn’t call on our allies, since we did not need them. Since then the Guild was a peaceful place. You would do good accepting our proposal. Most other nations, which did accepted, prospered into great civilizations.”

Luna became quiet for a moment to think about what the dwarf said. She thought about the pros and the cons of this deal. A big pro was that Equestria’s knowledge of magic would improve greatly. But a contra is the military support. Though the dwarf and Risa did claim, that the Guild almost never faces any crises, unless it was caused by them. Luna couldn’t process this much information at once. She needed time to think and she needed to talk with Celestia about it.

“I will consider accepting the treaty. But first I need to discuss this with my sister Celestia.” Luna told the council and the two master mages.

“We understand your request. You will be handed the papers containing more detailed information on the treaty and you can discuss the matter with your sister. That would mean the end of this meeting. I will hope you enjoy the rest of the day and see some of the sights the Guild has to offer.” Arminas said, standing up together with the rest of the council, heading towards the exit.

Risa, Luna and Maximilian were left in the room, as Maximilian leaned back in his chair and said “Glad that is over.”

As they left the sanctuary, they noticed that the sun was setting.

“I bet you, that Elilean gave the girls the long tour and still isn’t at the main plaza.” Risa now told Maximilian.

“There is no way, that they haven’t reached the plaza yet. We were in there for hours. Even with the long tour, they should be at your place.” Maximilian disagreed.

“May I ask, how long is this long tour of the Guild?” Luna now asked.

“Roughly, three to four hours, deepening on the interest of the group, taking the tour.” Maximilian replied.

“I say Risa is right, if I know my sister’s student correct.” Luna said.

“You people are on. What’s the bet?” Maximilian now answered.

“We going to get a coffee at the expensive cafe on the plaza and the loser pays. Is that fair?” Risa suggests and Maximilian nods to agree.

Elilean took the girls around the Guild’s famous sightseeing place. They were now headed to the main plaza to get something to eat, as they noticed the two humans and the alicorns already sitting in a cafe and drinking coffee.

“Look, I told you they come here last.” Risa said to Maximilian.

“Fine, I lost the bet. I’ll pay.” Maximilian sighed in response. Luna just sat there and chucked.

“You two have a rather close relationship.” Luna says.

“Well, we did spend nearly 30 years together during her training to become a Master Mage and then the third great war happened and I got exiled.” Maximilian explains.

“But it isn’t normal for a master and student to develop a friendship like we have. Maximilian for an example hated his master” Risa told Luna, while Maximilian muttered “Fucking bastard”.

The group of six ponies and a human now reached the trio and joined them.

As they sat down, Risa asked “Did you enjoy the tour?”

Twilight was just about to speak up, as Rarity interrupted her and said “It was simply marvelous. Such beauty and perfection. The entire city was simply magnificent in the way it all fit together.”

“Yeah, it was cool and stuff, but nothing impressive. Is there something with lots of speed and action?” Rainbow then asked.

“Well, in a few days, the new school year starts and I’m teaching battle magic, so once we reach the practical stage of things, it going to be awesome. Also I am going to proof the final years in practical combat magic. Somebody else want to come along?” Maximilian suggests.

“UHH, are we going to more awesome light action, like when Twilight shot you with those awesome light arrows? Then I wanna come too.” Pinkie Pie said eagerly.

“I would love to, so I could make a picture of how powerful the Guild is. But I have to get back to Equestria and discuss the treaty with my sister.” Luna replied.

“I would never go to such barbarian lessons. That is not a place for ladies.” Rarity huffed.

“Elilean is going to take white magic lesson this year, so you join her and learn something.” Risa said.

“Uhm, I don’t want to interrupt, but is there a zoo or a animal shelter somewhere? Because I would like to see some foreign creature.” Fluttershy quietly said.

“Ah would be interested in that too. So I would come along.” Applejack added.

“We can go to all of that, since the school year starts in three days. So we have enough time to show you all the animal shelter, if you want to call it that, and you could also go shopping and have fun, though I won’t join you for the shopping part. I need to prepare my school lesson. But I think, we should bring your princess back to Equestria first.” Maximilian said.

They all nodded in agreement and headed for the portal area. Maximilian paid for the food and drinks they had at the cafe and then followed them. After arriving at the portal area, the six girls said goodbye to Luna, while Risa and Maximilian gave a formal handshake, then proceed to open the portal for her. Luna passed through it, saying once more goodbye, then vanished from their sights.

Risa now turned to the girls and said “Today was a long day. I am guessing, you are all tired?”

They all nodded and then followed Elilean, who was instructed to show them the place, where they will be staying. Maximilian headed, unlike the rest, for the Drunken Mage, where he met Dunmar for a drink.

The girls settled in their apartment, Maximilian arranged for them, which was big enough for 4 more ponies. They divided the rooms and then got to bed. Twilight and Rarity were staying together and discussed, which subjects they wanted to take, since Risa gave them a paper with all the subjects and a short description. Applejack and Fluttershy shared a room, talking about what kind of new and strange creatures, they would see tomorrow. Pinkie and Rainbow were sleeping in one room, thinking about what they read in the paper, Twilight was given, saying that in theory, any being could learn magic. They decided, that they would ask Maximilian the next day about more details.

Soon they all slowly fell asleep, wondering what their time in the Mage Guild will bring. Everyone slept well, expect the two Master Mages, who had an uneasy feeling.