Sirraf, Redmage of Equestria

Chapters

Road to runeation
I'm alive?!
The locals
Meeting the mares
In the dark of the night princess
Morning rituals.
Redmage unmasked.
Now that's a welcoming!
Still more fighting

Road to runeation

Sirraf Anderhal sat in his dorm room within the Mage University going over his latest project. He had been up for the last 48 hours trying to get ready for his presentation, a final assignment given to him by his instructors before he could officially graduate as a licensed mage.

"I don’t know why they even bother making me come up with something when they insist on beating their supposed 'rules of magic' into my skull," sighed Sirraf, "I mean telling me to do a project related to magical theory after telling me that the rules of magic are set in stone? Freaking hypocrites...still... it’s not like I wasn't working on this for a month before the assignment anyway, all they did was give me a deadline to shoot for."

Sirraf's project was based on the limited magical capabilities of the red mage community. While red mages are well respected for their versatility in magic and combat, it is also well known that the potency of their spells was nowhere near the level of power compared to those that specialized.

"Man... I've been pouring my magic into this thing for two weeks now. I just hope that the book I found on magical rune stone creation was reliable," he muttered under his breath, "the last thing I need is for this to screw up and blast off my right arm or something."

The young mage hoped that by pouring his magic into an object designed to hold it he can then use it later to advance his own spells to the level of the black white and time mages, allowing him to cast spells well beyond his normal limitations.

"Versatility is great and all but nothing quite compares to a specialized mage's power. Hell,I might even be able to cast Flare or Ultima after this." he chuckled to himself as he finished the last minute touches on the homemade magic enhancer.

"Now the only thing that remains is coming up with the right spell to use to show that my project works...let’s see now. It can’t be a healing spell because that would require someone to be injured or dead for the effects to be evident, and it can’t be an offensive spell because then I would get into trouble for damage it would cause to the academy."

Suddenly there was a knock outside of Sirraf's door. "Hey! R.M.232, you have 10 minutes to present your project before you will be considered absent and fail the test!" a voice shouted from beyond the barrier that is his door.

"SHIT! I thought I had more time!" The mage cursed as he ran about gathering his rune stone, notes, and of course his hat. Bitches dig the hat.

Sirraf bolted out of his room and dove out of the hallways third story window. One quick Protect spell later (and a Cure spell to get rid of the damage that wasn't absorbed) and Sirraf was making his way to the practice room where his presentation was scheduled to take place.

Reaching the door, he quickly yanked it open and rushed inside. He was met by the faces of his three instructors; Alex the Red, Lady Triana of the White Cloth, and Malick of the Black Robes, one instructor for each primary magic school.

"HA!" bellowed Alex as he held his hand towards Malick. "Three seconds left, I told you he would make it on time. Pay up Malick!" He was a large man, it wasn’t that he was fat, but Alex stood a good foot taller than anyone else in the room. He wore a red shirt and black leather leggings, while his bearskin coat only served to enhance the already impressive build of the instructor. His face was chiseled and strong. His eyes... er eye was a vibrant blue while the other was stuck permanently closed due to an injury he suffered on one of his adventures in his younger years. What was most noticeable though was the large grin on his face coupled with a mischievous look within that one eye.

The black mage reached a hand into his robes and pulled out ten gold coins as he grumbled to himself at his loss. He let the money drop from his pasty white hand into Alex's palm, scowling under his enchanted hat that most black mages wore to keep people from getting a clear view of his face. All they could really make out where the two yellow orbs that the spell produced to give an illusion of eyes on the otherwise blank black face.

"Would you two please at least try to act professional about this? I'm sure that this young man doesn't appreciate his hard work being turned into some kind of game," scolded the sweet, yet commanding voice of the aged healer.

She slowly stood up to address Sirraf. Her age was evident in her movements as she reached for the staff that was once the standard weapon of choice of the white mage, now merely a walking stick. As she moved forward one could almost hear her very bones creak from the passage of time. If one were to look at the poor robed woman they would assume that she could do little for herself, but as all mages know looks can be deceiving. There was a time in which Triana was considered the most powerful member of the white cloth in both terms of healing and staff combat and though age had rusted her joints and slowed her reflexes, her magic was still just as powerful as ever.

"Now then, I do believe that we have kept you waiting long enough, R.M.232. If you are ready my associates and I would like you to begin."

Sirraf quickly began setting up his experiment. After the rune stone was placed into the center of the room and a practice dummy was placed across from it, he handed each of his instructors a copy of his notes.

"Okay, as we all know there are many types of mages," he began as the instructors look on expectantly. "Each one with their own strengths and weaknesses. Black mages with the power of destruction, white with healing and protection, time mages with their mastery of the time/space magic, blue mages capable of learning attacks used on them by the verious monsters they fight against, and finally the red mages who embody the balance between of the primary spell schools. Now as we all know each school has a flaw." Sirraf stated wagging his finger back and forth. "For most this flaw lies in their restriction from the other schools of magic. For example, the fact that black mages can only restore their health through spells like drain, white mages with restrictions on offensive spells, so on and so forth."

"Then there are the red mages like myself. Their weakness is altogether different. Instead of a restriction on spell schools, they have a restriction on spell potential!" He said with a smirk under his face mask. "Even though the red mage is indeed versatile they will never be able to use their magic to its fullest extent. Now then, what would happen to the magic school system if we found a way to get around this flaw? What is there was a way to allow a red mage to heal as well as a white mage, to cast offensive magic with the full impact of the black mage or to even use the time mages most useful of spells, Stop?" he paused for a second letting his words sink in."This is what my experiment is about. I have crafted a rune stone that should allow a red mage or even a merely inexperienced mage from any other school to temporarily access the higher levels of the magical spells."

"Now hold on here," Malick said darkly. "In order for you do cast such spells from a rune stone wouldn't you need to have had its maker cast the higher level spell into it in the first place? If that's the case then you would be using another casters magic and would then be in violation of the premises of this entire assignment! I would like to move that we call for immediate dismissal of the project and expulsion of Sirraf!"

"Hey!" yelled Alex. "Don't take your losing our bet out on him! We have all spent time teaching young Sirraf here about magic and I'm sure we all are aware that though he loses track of time, he is nothing if not thorough with his research!"

"Yes Malick, I have to agree with Alex," the venerable Triana stated. "Sirraf doesn't seem like one to overlook such a detail. Especially when using anothers magic to pass a test is the most frowned upon form of cheating in our academy. I'm sure that Sirraf was going somewhere with this."

"Humph!" was Malick’s only retort as he sat back down.

"Now then young one, please continue." Triana said with an expectant smile.

"Yes thank you. Now first of all, this is my rune stone that I crafted after conducting some research in the archives. If you will look in the index you will also get a list of research sources. In there you should see the books, Rudimentary Rune Stones, and magic items theory and practice. Using these I devised a way to not only craft my rune stone, but also alter the way that it takes in magical energy. Instead of grasping at and trapping a spell that is tuned to the maker of the rune like a cage around a wild beast, I was able to make more of a magical energy sponge. Instead of just holding the spell, it absorbs pure unaltered magic for later use that can just be 'squeezed out' at a later date."

The room became quiet for a while after his explanation. "Well...” began Alex for the first time seeming serious during this entire procedure. “If this is true then why would it allow you to cast higher level spells? If anything you should only be able to cast more often."

"Aah, see that's the thing!" exclaimed Sirraf excitedly. "That was merely stage one of my project! I was also able to obtain a gem that would be perfect as a focal point that should allow more control over the excess magic from the rune, which was crafted into the rune itself. With this,I should be able to cast the spells that red mages lack the natural instincts for due to their duel class natures."

"Well then, if all this is true you may have come up with something truly revolutionary, young one," praised the kindly old healer. "Though in order to give you a passing grade we will still need to see a demonstration. Now then, you claim that with this you would be able to cast spells that would normally be beyond your reach. According to your latest school transcripts that most advanced spells you can cast from the three basic schools are as follows; Haste for time magic, the second tier elemental spells such as Fira for black, and the elemental nullification spells for the white. These all being considered Level Four spells we will need you to cast something at least two levels higher in order to confirm the effectiveness of your research. It can’t be one level higher because you might have just recently gained access to them."

"Yes ma'am," Sirraf quickly bowed once more. “The spell I plan on attempting with my lovely assistant here," he said happily pointing to the practice dummy "Will be the level six time spell warp!"He quickly walked to the middle of the room and placed his hands on the rune stone. As things became hushed in the room, Sirraf began to recall all the information he researched on for the Warp spell took in order to be cast. The air started to crackle with energy as he redirected and focused the magic of the rune into the focal point.Then, with a burst of sound a void opened up around the target dummy pulling it deep within the spells grasp, taking it to who knows where.

Sirraf turned his face to his teachers, joy apparent on both his and their faces. Suddenly that joy turned to horror. The warp rip that had been produced hadn't closed. The rune was still pulling more and more of the room’s contents into itself. Sirraf desperately grasped the grooves etched into the ground as the force of the void struggled to take him into it, all the while the instructors where doing their best to try and seal the rift, but to no avail.

Why? Why wasn't it closing? A simple dispel from the master healer should have put an end to the threat in an instant? Sudden realization hit Sirraf, interrupting his frantic thoughts. Dispel attacks the magical energy of a spell, not its shape, and that thing had several weeks’ worth of raw magical energy powering it! Snapping his neck to the side, Sirraf saw that the rune stone had become wedged in the grooves of the practice room’s floor. If he could get rid of that they might just stand a chance!

He removed one hand from the grooves and started reaching for the rune stone. He knew that since it was crafted to absorb magic that any spell he cast would be useless and he couldn't cast dispel even at his full potential. Not without the rune stone at least. Thinking fast he reached over and grabbed the stone, and pulled with all his might freeing it from the ground. Unfortunately this action also shook his hand free from the ground as well. Suddenly he was in a horizontal free fall with the product of his efforts. With one last look at the horrified faces of his teachers he and the power source were lost to the deepest reaches of the universe.

I'm alive?!

Blackness. Blackness, pain, and cold surrounded Sirraf as he began to awaken from his slumber. Every joint and muscle in his body ached and he was bleeding from several spots across his body.

"Ouch... what happened?" he spoke aloud. Suddenly it all started to rush back to him, the experiment, the test, the warp, and then nothing...

"Wait... the warp spell i cast was suppose to drop an enemy into a random point in the universe... with so much dead space that thing should have killed me. So... why am i not dead?"

Painfully he placed his hands on the wet cold surface he was face down on. After pushing himself high enough to see clearly he began to open his eyes only to be greeted by what looked like about four inches of snow. "Huh... guess that explains the cold wetness around me... and is that?... yep that's my blood," he sighed as he realized he would already be working to deplete his mana reserves.

"Well no point waiting around for this kind of thing i guess. Lets see what the damage is," he slowly pushed himself into a sitting position and removed the outer layers of his clothes and his trademark red mage hat. "Hmm... would probably be easier with a mirror or reflective surface of some kind..."

He looked around him to see that the landscape was pretty clear with obvious signs of civilization, but no houses close enough to risk hurting himself further just to get a mirror. " I guess ill just have to improvise. Heh wait a minute. I'm not at the school anymore. I don't have to follow their stupid rules for spell casting," A small smirk pulling on the sides of his lips as he decides to do one of his favorite activities that was frowned upon in the academy.

While he was a talented mage, Sirraf loved using incantations for his spells. This was frowned upon however because mages don't really need them to use their magic and as his instructors told him, all an incantation does in battle is let your opponent know just what you intend to do.

"Let's see now... if i cast an ice spell i can probably make a decent mirror, though I'll need something to form a basic shape from... ahh i know! I'll just use the snow from my face plant as a cast for the spell!" he chuckled to himself at the thought of such a thing.

Raising his hands he began to draw upon his magic reserves to weave his will upon the world around him. "Scatter your chilly sharp blades...Blizzard!" Cold energy started to form inside the indentation within the snowbank, forming into a reflective almost polished looking frozen surface.

"Ah there we go, this should make things much easier for me," looking down at his reflection he saw that he had several lacerations across his chest, arms, and face. There was obvious bruising to his torso and his nose was twisted off to the side indicating that it was broken.

"You know... considering what i just went through, this isn't all that bad!... hmm that bruising on my ribs may be trouble," he reached up to his chest and applied some pressure."hssss... ok that was kinda painful, but i don't think i broke any of my ribs...that nose is gonna need to be put back in place though,"

He pulled off his brown leather glove and placed it between his teeth as he prepared for even more pain. Gripping the sides of his nose he pulled it from left to right in an effort to realign the damaged cartilage. With a loud crack, several tears, and a sharp muffled cry of pain it was more or less back in place.

"There that should be close enough for my white magic to mend it without any kind of unexpected messed up complications," He cracked his knuckles and prepared for a completely different kind of magic this time. Calling upon the holy energies within all that was good he poured that power into his hands and began to seal and repair each damaged area. "OK these injuries are a bit above average so this should do it. Life's refreshing breeze, heal from the sky... CURA!" a burst of light flowed through the dark cold night and bathed his body in its healing glow. Slowly it faded and mage was able to clearly see himself in the surface of the ice again.

"Ah much better. Now all i need to do is get out of the cold dark night. With all this snow around it probably wouldn't be wise to stay out here..."

He looked around himself to properly view the landscape. It was clear for the most part. peaceful, colorful, and void of any obvious dangers. In the distance he saw there was a small village of some kind with colorful buildings. Some ways beyond that he saw what might have been a farm near a forest or wooded area and the small shape near the trees gave him the impression that there might be someone living just outside of the forest.

Standing up he started placing his gear back onto his body. He had finally placed his mouth mask and trademark hat back onto his face and head when he noticed some things missing. "Hmm the rune stone isn't with me. I could have sworn i grabbed it before being pulled through...Hey! My sword is missing too!" his sword, the blade his father crafted for him and gave to him after being accepted into the academy, was vacant from his belt. The strap of leather that helped hold the scabbard in placed had been violently torn apart from the apparent impact he made during his arrival into this land.

"Crap!... as much as i would like to get them i don't have time to go trudging through this freezing snow looking for them. The sword was nice but shouldn't cause to much trouble. It's not even magic so most people would leave it alone. I can come back for it later, and the rune stone should be unusable to anyone but me since i attuned it to myself when i crafted it. Not to mention that little event should have drained it of all its magic after i passed through."

Turning back towards the town he decided that he could come back here later when time permitted. "Hmm that town is a little ways off... i don't want to keep casting spells in case i need the magic but if i freeze out here it kinda defeats the purpose... oh well i guess there's no choice," pulling upon his energies once more he began to change the flow of time around his own body. "This should get me there faster... Layer upon layer make your mark now... Haste!" After the green glow receded he began to run much faster than any human should be able to, leaving an afterimage and streak behind him as he rushed towards the little town.

The locals

Panting and worn out Sirraf had finally reached the outskirts of the small village. It was a quaint little place covered in freshly fallen snow. With the exception of a few places however most of the buildings and homes were actually pretty small. As he approached he notice something that looked like it may have been a sign of some kind. Foreign unknown markings covered it that resembled writing though he couldn't quite identify the language.

"Hmm... this looks like no alphabet i am familiar with, and I've at least dabbled in every written language i know of... well at the very least this proves that i am in fact not on my world anymore, where am i anyway? It looks like a moogle village or something!" he stood staring at the panel of wood for a few moments still searching for anything familiar about the strange characters. "Well lets just hope this spell works on this language, it's not really a combat spell so i never really got the chance to practice it but I guess I could give it a shot. Now lets see here how did it go?...understanding is universal, toss out the barriers of language... COMPREHEND LANGUAGE!" with a small flash of cool blue light the letters on the sign seemed to shift and bend, though only to the mages eyes, until it was altered into a familiar form. The new letters themselves simply spelt 'Welcome to Ponyville'..."Huh...that is definitely not what i expected."

Moving silently in the night he made his way into the town looking for clues and possibly shelter, as he walked he kept looking at signs for the establishments. Making use of his current translation spell while it was still active he noticed several works of business including a quill store, a fashion boutique and something called sugar cube corner. "Hmm... well this place seems peaceful enough. Perhaps being trapped in a completely different world wont be as bad as I thought it would."

Finally he noticed a very large structure within the city. It was an impressive building that seemed to be carved into a still living tree. The sign outside gave the impression that it was a library of some kind. "Wow a tree house. maybe there are elves in this world as well. I guess there is only one way to find out!" he shuffled through the snow towards the oh so literal definition of tree house with new hope in his eyes. As he move closer he noticed that there was a soft light glowing though the windows. He finally reached the structure and pressed his ear against the wood in order to hear clearer.

"all right girls. its time for a new slumber party game!" a female voice said as it reached the mages ears.

"OH, a game! what game! Is it twister, or truth or dare, or a cupcake eating contest, or pin the tail on mfffmfhfmfhfmghfm!?" another voice loudly exclaimed and was cut off by something else.

"Easy there sugar cube. We need to give twilight here a chance to tell us before we start losing our heads" came a heavily accented voice.

"Bring it on! I can take on any game, anywhere, anytime, against anypony!" came a brash almost overwhelmingly arrogant voice.

"Any...pony? Hmm i guess its not that far fetched for there to be sentient ponies in charge here, i mean maybe its the home world of Ixion or something. Wait... do gods have home worlds?" Sirraf mumbled to himself as he listened into the conversation happening just beyond the window. "Hmm maybe i should get to a higher window. I don't want to be caught by some late night stroller listening in on someones private conversation."

Turning away from the window he reached up and grasped one of the lower hanging branches and pulled himself into a better vantage point. "There, now i am hidden from the main roads. Hopefully they didn't notice me making my way up here. I don't know how good these tiny equines hearing is but i hope its not to far above my own."

Pressing his ear to the surface of his new window buddy he began listening once more. At the sound of laughter Sirraf developed a confused look on his face.

"Oh come on! This is embarrassing!" the first male voice that Sirraf had heard come from the house cried out."I don't wanna do this!

"Now now my little spikey wikey, you look absolutely adorable," a high class voice stated. "Besides you were the one that decided to join our little slumber party."

"That's only because i couldn't get to sleep over you girls talking!" the young male stated. "I would rather be dreaming right now then getting dolled up by you girls."

Then there was a voice so quiet that Sirraf was almost unsure whether or not anything was actually said.

"Fluttershy is right spike. Ya were the one that chose dare instead of truth. We cant have ya breakin the rules now can we?" the strongly accented voice stated.

Having the general idea of what was going on Sirraf decided that enough was enough. "It is to damn cold out here to be wasting any more time. I have to make contact with the locals at some point and these beings seem to be the only ones up and about!" backing up he readied for the trip back to the ground. Grasping the branch he gave two quick swings of his body and threw himself forward onto the snow covered surface below him with a thud.

"Did you girls hear that?" one of the voices rang out from the library. "What do you think it is?"

Sirraf, wasting no time for him to be mistaken as an intruder, hurries to the door and gives it four clear knocks. Now away from the door and unable to clearly hear the inhabitants he could only hear a collection of muffled voices beyond the door. After a long pause the door started to open as he brought himself down to what he would guess is about their height level by crouching down and placing his hands onto his knees.

"It is very late and the library is currently clo....." when the door finally opened Sirraf was met with the sight of a small purple and green lizard that was wearing eyeliner, lipstick, a blue dress, and a little red bow on his head. From the voice Sirraf could tell that this was the male inhabitant of the house.

"Hello there young man, can i speak to the operator of this establishment?" Sirraf said in an authoritative but kind voice.

"Uh...um...I... could you hang on a minute?" the small reptile asked nervously.

"Of course," the red clad being said with a glint in his eyes and a mask covered smirk.

"TWILIGHT! YOU MIGHT WANT TO SEE THIS!" the voice yelled out after slamming the door in Sirrafs face.

As the door began to open again he heard another voice."Spike you shouldn't slam the door in someponies face, its very rude! Now then how can i help you......." her voice trailed off as her eyes finally landed on the late night visitor.

It was a large creature, though not quite bulky. It was crouched down low but the things superior height was evident. As she tried to see it through the darkness an obviously male voice spoke. "Oh right! The night, here let me get that! Life's refreshing breeze, blow in energy... Cure!" A strong light began to emanate from one of his front limbs. Its pure white glow revealed all the hidden details as he held the spell within his claw like digits. He was a figure dressed almost entirely is light and dark reds, parts of it were also a bright white in color. As he raised his head so that she could get a good view of his face she noticed that his eyes were a steely grey and his mane was a shade of purest white. His clothes were obviously of high quality and his hat seemed to add to that statement. It was a large wide rimmed fedora. Placed carefully in it was a large white feather that seemed to stay attached to the hat despite what wind would blow. What few parts of his body that were visible were a light almost pasty color with absolutely no coat to speak of. His face however was confusing. His eyes were small but shone with intelligence and kindness, though he also wore a red face mask as though he was hiding something. His face was kinda flat without any muzzle to speak of. There was however a slight ridge under the cloth that may have been a nose of some kind.

Twilight sparkle stood there stunned for several long moments as the mage watched her take in his features with amusement. Finally he spoke again. "You know, its hard to hold a healing spell for this long. Seeing as its not really made to be used as a light source. Do you think maybe i can come inside and we can perhaps do this thing in a much warmer environment?"

Finally snapping out of her trance like state, Twilight thought for a moment before saying. "I'm not sure. I've never seen anything like you around before, not even in my books, but i also learned not to judge a pony by their cover not too long ago. Then again you don't seem like a pony either, you could be dangerous."

"Well i can understand that seeing as i don't think I'm actually from this world. I was taking a finals test in my home magic academy and i kinda made a miscalculation. Long story short I ended up here. If you want i will subject myself to a search and questioning should that make you feel any better about it." He said with a shiver hoping to finally get in out of this cold.

"Oh my! I didn't realize how cold you must be without anything over those bald patches of skin! Um... yeah i guess we can allow you to come in under those circumstances!" she said finally realizing his plight.

"Ah thank you very much my small equine friend," he said as she turned around and allowed him inside. As he stepped in he closed the door and settled back down into a crouch so as not to scare any of the denizens.

"Girls we have a bit of a situation over here!" She said as she turned on the lighting of the room.

Sirraf blinked as his eyes tried to focus, the first thing he noticed was that the room was filled with brightly colored pillows and even more brightly colored equine creatures. Two of them had horns, one a pure white with a deep purple mane wearing what seemed to be eyeshadow, the other being the lavender colored equine that allowed him refuge away from the storm. Her mane was a shade of purple with a pink stripe running through it. The next two had wings on them. One was what he could only describe as a butter yellow with a solid pink mane and tail. She seemed to be hiding behind said mane, while the other one had a cyan coat with a mane and tail combo that seemed to be made of solidified rainbow. The last two had neither horns nor tails. One was bright pink with a poofy dark pink mane and seemed to be grinning almost manically, where as the other was orange with small freckles and a blonde mane in a pony tail. Sirraf couldn't help but snicker to himself at that. This last one was wearing a rather fitting stetson hat.

"Ah hello there ladies I'd like to say thank yo....." he was quickly cut off by the orange one jumping up and with a frown on her face rushing in his direction. Quickly taking up a low gravity battle stance he called upon his magic to keep him safe. He refused to use any offensive magic against these creatures unless it was absolutely necessary. "Oh crap ... uh ...Precious light, be our armor to protect us...Protect!" right before the orange pony could turn and buck him with all her might, a three dimensional diamond shaped barrier formed around his body, then faded away. As her hooves struck she noticed that a lot of her force seemed to be absorbed, but not stopped, by the field. it sent him sliding back a short distance but he was for the most part fine.

"Ow that actually kinda hurt there. I hate to imagine what that would have felt like full force." the mage said rubbing the forearm that absorbed the impact. "Look I'm not looking for trouble. I just want to..."

At this moment the cyan one shot up and yelled "Oh yeah? Well you just found it buster!" She quickly flew across the room and began to perform fly by attacks to his arms and torso. The protect spell reduced these but they were adding up fast.

"Ah a speed user i see! Well lets cool your jets for a moment so we can talk. Time, rest and give your kindness to the worthy...Slow!" at this his hands emitted a bright red energy as what looked like a large clock of the same color began to wrap around the cyan speed demon. The hands on its face started to run in reverse until it disappeared.

"Ah! What the buck!?" She cried suddenly. Her speaking and moving much slower than before. At this chance he plucked her out of the air and set her back onto the ground.

"Now can we please talk without getting into another confrontation?" he pleaded with the small equine creatures. He was starting to wonder if these things were less peaceful then the village made him believe.

"Forget about me sugar cube?" a thickly accented voice said behind him. Thinking quickly he lept forward and jumped halfway up the stairs across the room.

"Dang it! I really don't have the energy or patience for this! Layer upon layer make your mark now... Haste!" After this exclamation a green glow emitted from his hands and ran into the air around him. It took a familiar clock like shape, only this time the hands on its face seemed to speed up out of control. After it vanished his breathing seemed to speed up and every move he made was nearly faster than the eye could follow. His limbs even seemed to leave a kind of after image or trail behind them.

The orange mare rushed forward with the cyan one flying slowly to assist her friend. However, with his enhanced speed, the red being seemed to avoid every attempt to connect with him, not to mention the after image from the spell seemed to confuse them as to where exactly he was.

Twilight was watching all this with fascination. This creature was obviously talented with magic and more than familiar with combat, but he made absolutely to attempts to harm her friends. Finally she realized that the situation had escalated far beyond what it should have and stepped in. Using her magic she wrapped a field around both her friends and pulled them away from the brawl.

"Hey! Twilight we almost had him!" yelled the rainbow maned mare.

"Yeah sugar cube what the hay are yah doin? the orange one angrily asked.

"Think girls! This guy has taken control of this fight from the very beginning, after a few spells he has managed to make it impossible for you to even touch him, not to mention he has made absolutely no attempts to harm you himself. If he really wanted to fight, you two would probably be seriously hurt by now!" Twilight lectured the girls.

"Ah guess you're right sugar cube we kinda jumped the gun on that one didn't we?" the stetson wearing pony said finally listening to logic.

"Are you kidding me?!" yelled the flyer irrationally. "I had him on the ropes and for all we know he plans on eating us!"

At this moment she didn't notice that the creature had moved up behind her. " I don't think shes gonna listen to logic. So i guess ill just have to calm her down for a moment. Lose conscious, wash away into the silent sea... Sleep!" a deep cloud like energy wrapped his hands as he places them gently on top of her head. Slowly she loses focus and her eyes droop until finally she is out cold.

Sirraf finally sits back down, hoping that his little magic display didn't freak out the room full of multicolored equines. He had been going for far to long after sleeping far to little as it was, and that rapid chain of spells had left him feeling drained. "Now then if its not to much trouble why don't we get back to what i was saying before. Thank you for letting me in out of the cold snowy night. I was just about ready to freeze out there heh."

The entire room stood silent as he looked into the faces of his hosts. The awkward silence was quickly evolving from a few seconds to several minutes. "Um ladies? Are you in there?" he asked quickly snapping his right hand fingers to get their attention.

Finally the blank unbelieving stares shattered as they all started to huddle and interact with each other through whispers and quick glances. "Sigh... i hope i didn't leave a bad first impression. I wouldn't want there to be some kind of alien lynching on my first day here." deeply lost in his thoughts, he leaned his head back against the wall as he waited for them to finish. Mentally going over the events of the last twenty four hours, he didn't realize that one of the ponies had moved closer to his side. Hearing a quiet squeak he turned his head down to see that the shy winged pony that had avoided eye contact with him for the entire event was now staring up at him with big curious eyes.

"Um, excuse me?" the poor little pony asked in a meek quiet voice as she looked upon this new creature.

It was almost to much for him to bear. Sure the others were cute in their own ways, but this one was on a whole other level. She was so cute that it made a moogle look horrendous in comparison. "Yes little one? How may i help you?" he said almost as quietly as she did.

"Um... i would... um... just ... like to .. say..... thanks for not hurting my friends... if that's ok with you," she stammered out hiding behind her mane again.

"No problem. I understand that they were mostly just attacking out of fear. After all I'm something that i assume your kind has never seen before and it is normal to fear that which we do not understand," he said smiling as he rubbed his sore forearm.

"Oh my! Are you hurt?" the small yellow pony quickly rushed over, any nervousness about the creature before her vanishing as she started trying to remove the large glove that covered his injury.

"This? Nah its ok, I've had a lot worse during magic classes back at the academy." he said with a reassuring smile.

"Regardless, if you are hurt you are going to need some treatment." the voice of Twilight called over to him. He picked his head up as he noticed that the others, excluding the sleeping blue one, had gathered over to where he was leaned up against the wall.

"Heheh, while it is nice of you to show such concern, I assure you that..." he trailed off for a second before getting an idea. "Hey ... wait a minute. Would you girls like to see something cool?" he asked with a grin under his mask.

All of them looked at each other for a moment then seemed to agree."Well all right. Just don't try anything funny ok?"

"No worries on that one i don't really have enough energy left in me after today's events to do any real damage even if i wanted to," he said with a chuckle. Standing up to full height he centered his gravity and began to once again call up his white magic. "This may sound familiar to you Twilight, though i don't intend to use it as a light source this time" he said as he removed his coat, chest armor, and gloves, showing the mares the bruising from the repeated attacks from earlier.

"Oh my darling, are you sure you don't need any treatment?" the upscale white pony asked as she saw the damage to the rather impressive build of the creatures toned muscles.

"Well now i didn't quite say that. You see, I'm about to treat these wounds myself," he said with a glint in his eye."Life's refreshing breeze, blow in energy...Cure!" a strong glow of holy energy grew in the palm of his outstretched hand, on display for all to see, then he directed the energy unto himself and they watched in amazement as the light seemed to take away all the bruises and minor cuts from the previous battle.

After opening his eyes he looked at the amazed stares on all the faces of the mares around him. "Well then, i guess we should start with introductions now." He said as he placed his gear back onto his newly healed body.

Meeting the mares

Sirraf now sat in the Ponyville library surrounded by six mares and one small lizard like creature. All of which had curious faces on as he placed his back against the wall and removed his hat to reveal his pure white hair. Twilight had gathered together some note taking materials and after being restrained the cyan mare had finally been made to act without open hostility towards the strange red clad being, though she was still obviously suspicious of him.

"Now then, I do believe i promised you some answers in exchange for refuge from the bitter cold." Sirraf calmly said as he got comfortable.

"Oh yes of course! I have so many questions about you and that magic you used!" Twilight was obviously excited at the prospect of researching the new life form.

"All right then. how about this, lets start with introductions shall we? my name is Sirraf Anderhal." He said with pride. "what are your names if you please?"

"Sirraf Anderhal? That's a rather unusual name," the cultured white one responded. "What does it mean?"

"Actually it doesn't really mean anything. its just a name that i was given by my parents. There isn't any real reference to it." he said confused. "Now then if you would kindly reciprocate."

"Oh of course darling! My name is Rarity." she said raising a hoof and placing it upon her chest. "and these are my friends, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and of course you have already learned of Twilight Sparkle." She went down the row of mares pointing to each one as she said the name.

"Wow, very descriptive names. I kind of understand why you asked that question now. Are all you..." he trailed off trying to hint that he wanted an actual classification of their species.

"Ponies darling" she responded with a smile.

"Ah, ponies then, are all ponies given such names?"

"Most of them yes." Twilight said looking up from her notes before jotting done more observations.

"Okay then i guess its your turn to ask a question!" he said as he placed his hands behind his head.

"All right then mac!" the one called Rainbow Dash exclaimed, getting right in his face. Obviously full of aggression again. "What exactly are you!?"

"Well in the simplest of terms you could call me a human. A race of beings that evolved over several thousands of years from a form of primitive ape into what you see before you now." he stated nonchalantly as he heard the scribbles of Twilights quill continue to record the information.

"Oh yeah, and what are you doing here!?" She said almost pressing her snout against his nose ridge.

"Other than trying not to freeze, I got here when a experiment on theoretical magical enhancement went wrong and sent me plummeting through space and possibly time until I landed with a rather harsh impact against your worlds snow covered surface." he was starting to get a little irritated, and though his voice was still calm, his eyes showed it." Also i would appreciate it if you pulled your face back from mine a little. After all we don't know each other well enough for this kind of intimacy."

At this Dash pulled away with a blush as her friends giggled behind her. He grinned under his mask with a chuckle at the sudden personality change in the rainbow maned pony. Suddenly his view was filled with a pink mass and bright blue eyes. "Oh! I have a question!" she happily yelled the words in rapid fire. "Do you like parties and cupcakes and streamers and games and making new friends and gummy anmphphph" Sirraf placed his gloved hand over her mouth to allow him to get a word in edgewise with the pink ball of pure energy.

"Hey there, easy now, first of all that was easily more than one question. Heck it was easily more than four. Now then, lets try this again. Slowly if you don't mind, and bear in mind if you cant slow down i can do it for you," he said as his hand glowed red slightly.

"Okie, dokie, lokie!" Pinkie said hopping up and down after the glove was removed from her face. "Do you like parties?"

"yes"

"cupcakes?"

"yeah"

"streamers?"

"I certainly have nothing against them."

"games?"

"of course, many games help train ones mental focus or physical abilities."

"Friends?"

"Who doesn't?"

"Gummy?"

"Uh...Gummy?"

"Gummy."

"Honestly not sure what you're talking about. Whats a gummy?" he said as he reached the final question.

"Gummy is Pinkies pet baby alligator." Applejack said finally ending the pink onslaught.

Grateful for the voice of another being Sirraf responded to this new information. "I don't know. I've never met your pet so i cant say for sure, though as long as he doesn't try to hurt me I'm pretty sure I'll like him just fine. Now then how about we move on to another topic shall we?" he said as he motioned his hand to the other mares in the room.

Nodding Pinkie went back to her seat. After the others raised their hooves (Pinkie raised hers even though she knew she wouldn't be picked) Sirraf finally pointed to the orange mare named Applejack. "Ok then you can ask next."

"Sure thang partner, where are ya from anyhow?" she asked as she looked him dead in the eye. As he stared back he developed the feeling that lying to this mare would be nearly impossible. He didn't intend to lie anyway but the feeling was still there.

"I come from a world called Ivalice, though i can't really tell you where in the universe that is. My land is populated with many amazing creatures and incredible technologies. It's not always safe though. There are some things out there that would make your skin crawl if you were to run into one," he said with a shiver as he recalled his first encounter with the mage academies Molboro.

Deciding that was as good a place to start as any to give them the idea of where he came from he started to share what he knew of the creature. "One such monster is known as the dreaded Molboro." He knew that he had their attention. even the normally suspicious Rainbow Dash had leaned in with interest in her eyes. " It is a large, green creature that resembled some kind of tentacled plant. It has a large gaping maw with many rows of teeth so big that it could easily swallow a man my size whole. From the end of several protrusions from its head it can fire a kind of corrosive acid at its prey that could melt your skin in a second, but that's not the worst part." at this the girls gasped, what could possibly be worse than that? "The worst part is its breath" At this the girls started to giggle and laugh... until they realized that Sirraf wasn't. In fact the look on his face was dead serious.

"Wait... what could be so bad about its breath?" Twilight asked in confusion. "Does it breath fire or something like a dragon?"

"Something like that, but at the same time its so much worse," At this the girls became much quieter, his words gave the girls shivers. "Its breath is more dangerous not because of how deadly it is, but rather what it does to a person that its used on. What happens is the Molboro emits a toxic gas cloud that can take away your ability to speak, Blinds you, Slows your movements, Poisons you, makes you unable to differentiate friend from foe, and finally throws you into a unstoppable rage. This usually makes it impossible to pick out the Molboro from your friends and has actually led to groups of travelers killing their closest allies." As he let this sink in he saw the horrified looks on their faces. Apparently there was nothing so evil and gruesome in this world. "From your looks of horror i take it that they don't exist in this world then?"

"N... no, nothing like that exists in Equestria" Fluttershy muttered in a quiet voice.

"Ah well then lets forget about it then. To be completely honest they are some of the most dangerous creatures from my world. I don't blame you girls for being terrified, the bastards scare me too. Luckily there are defenses against such things." he said attempting to cheer them up.

"Like what?" Applejack asked tilting her head to the side in confusion.

"Well, like this!" He said as he reached into his shirt and produced a red ribbon of some kind.

"That's it? A ribbon?" Dash said in disbelief. "How is a piece of cloth suppose to help against something like that?"

"Oh this is no ordinary ribbon. This ribbon has been enchanted to protect the wearer from any status effect from my world. A Molboros breath would do nothing but make my outfit stink," he said as they got a good look at it. A magic field suddenly wrapped around the ribbon and pulled it into the air. As it floated closer to rarity and twilight, the two took a good long look at it.

"My word darling, this is some truly exquisite craftsmanship!" Rarity said nearly breathless. "Who did you get this from?"

"Actually its an old family heirloom so i don't know who made it. As for where i got it, the ribbon was passed down to me by my mother when i was accepted to the mage academy in the city of Renthoria at the age of ten. Along with a sword that my father made me... though i seem to have lost track of that since coming here," he said as he pointed to the snapped strap that was hanging from his belt.

"Wait... sword? So you're some kind of soldier or something?" Dash said with curiosity.

"No Rainbow Dash. He already said he was a student at a mages academy." Twilight corrected her friend.

"Oh right a mage... by the way whats a mage?" she asked obliviously.

"Well Dash, a mage is someone who studies and practices one or more schools of magic in my world. For example there is a mage for each basic school as well as some side specializations. I, as an example, am referred to as a red mage," Sirraf explained.

"So... its like a unicorn here?" Twilight brought up the comparison.

"I suppose it is more or less. We study the art of magic to learn how to defend our homelands from monsters and villains. With the many different types of magic out there we need large academies to teach promising new students." he said with his eyes closed while nodding his head.

"So... what exactly is a red mage darling?" Rarity asked after returning his ribbon.

"Well essentially a red mage is a side specialization of the mages. Essentially there are three basic forms of magic, though there are many ways to use them." Sirraf said as he readied his demonstration. "First there is white magic, Which is primarily used to cure wounds and defend from damage. You saw me use this when i healed myself and put up that barrier to protect me from Applejacks kick." as he said this he funneled white magic to his right hand. "Then there is time magic which deals in the manipulation of time/space energy. A good example of this was my haste spell that allowed me to avoid all of your attacks, as well as my slow spell that took most of Dash's speed." at this he made a green glow form in his left hand, before dispelling both. "Finally there is what we call black magic," as he says this he channels his magic into his hand to form a small fire ball. " this school involves just about any offensive or status inducing spell. I actually used some to put Dash here to sleep when she wouldn't calm down." he said before dispelling that final spell.

"Wait! You used black magic on me?! I knew you were evil!" Rainbow Dash yelled, getting ready to attack him again.

"Calm down Dash, in my world black magic is not inherently evil. It is just a way to classify most offensive types of magic. Besides you already saw me use white magic as well. If black magic is evil then white must be good right?" he reasoned with the pegasus.

"I suppose so" she said calming down slightly.

"And by that logic then at most i am neutral right?" he said as she finally dropped her hooves back to the floor.

"Well ok then, but wait you said that mages learn from different schools, so what exactly is a red mage?" she asked tilting her head.

"I was getting to that. There are many kinds of mages, most choose to specialize. White mages cast white magic, Black mages cast black magic, and time mages cast time magic," he said building the tension. "Red mages however, cast all three. They are the most versitile of all mages. Able to adapt to just about any situation, but there is a cost. Our bodies can only handle so much magic, and since our powers are divided between schools of magic we can never truly master any type. Thus the term inspired from the first red mage, Jack the red, was born. We are Jacks of all trades, masters of none." he finished as the others looked on in wonder.

"So you learn every type of magic but you can never ever master any of them?" Pinkie asked with a sad look on her face.

"Nope, in fact there are 9 basic legal levels of magic in each category. At best red mages can only reach the seventh spell level and even then we cant quite compare with the specialists. Though our jack of all trades title is more then just for magic." he said with a smile. "We are also the only mages that can efficiently wield any weapon as well as preform just about any task acceptably. We are the battle mages. Able to assist others while surviving on our own."

It was time for Twilight to ask a question again. "You said there were 9 legal spell level... what did you mean by that?"

Sirraf frowned for a moment, recalling the words of his teachers when they explained the horrors of the forbidden spells. "There is one more level. It is the theoretical tenth spell level. These spells are not to be used unless the fate of very important people or even the world hangs in the balance, and luckily i will never have access to these. Now I'm not sure what the white mage forbidden spell is. frankly they didn't stress it in school because white magic is made to heal and protect. I'm not even sure if there is one, but the two most forbidden spells to my knowledge are known as Meteor for the time mages, and Ultima for the black mages. These spells are beyond devastating and should never be used except as a last resort." he said with every bit of seriousness he could muster.

"Well... what do they do?" this question came surprisingly enough from Fluttershy who had been quietly listening by Sirrafs side.

"Now I've never really seen them so mind you this is all based on theory, rumors, and of course lessons by my teachers who had not cast such things themselves." he paused as the others nodded. "Essentially Meteor, as the name suggests, controls time and space to pull a very large random chuck of space debris and hurl it at the target. There are rumors that say if the mage was strong enough the spell could threaten the very planet itself." the girls cringed at his new information.

"And Ultima?" Twilight asked with a look of worry upon her face.

"Well basically the mage focuses his will and somehow splits an atom with his magic. Now I'm not sure exactly how this happens but the result is a massive explosion that covers everything in view, or at least that's how i understand it." by this time Twilights jaw has literally hit the floor. "Remember they are forbidden spells for a reason."

"Oh right, back on topic. you said that there were several types of side specializations for mages. What are the others?" Twilight asked gripping her quill in her magic once more.

"Well that is always changing but i do know of a few others. There are the blue mages that somehow learn to use the abilities of monsters after its been used on them. These guys, for example, could use the Molboros bad breath if they survived an encounter with them. Then there are mimics which are able to imitate any and all actions they observe so long as they do it immediately after they see it. Frankly they kinda creep me out." he said with a chuckle. " Then there are those that are considered the chosen mages, blessed by the gods themselves. The Summoners. These are by far the scariest mages i know of. These chosen few are actually able to contact and call upon the gods themselves to help in their fights. It is not something that can simply be taught."

"Wow... that's so... AWESOME!" Sirraf was taken off guard by Rainbows sudden outburst. "That's amazing! What kinds of gods can they summon?"

"Well i wont go to deeply into it, but there are many gods in my world. Some are embodiments of the elemental forces, like the ice goddess Shiva, while others are much more devastating, like the King of dragons Bahamut."

At this statement the eyes of spike who had been drifting off suddenly shot open. "Did he say the king of dragons?"

"Yep, i sure did little guy. Bahamut is the number one, strongest dragon in my home world. When summoned he uses his signature attack Megaflare to wipe the battlefield of hostile threats. Where most dragons simply breath out fire, Bahamut instead focuses the life energy from the surrounding air and forms it into a small concentrated ball within his mouth. Finally he releases it upon the target causing a rather large blast. Needless to say, very few beings can survive an attack from this mighty creature. Why do you ask Spike?

"That's because I'm a dragon!" he says proudly.

"Really? Well then you have quite a legacy to live up to don't you Spike. Now remember when you get older only use your powers to protect others, just like the mighty king of dragons himself, ok?" he said as he rubbed the top of Spikes head.

"Of course i will! I'll protect everypony!" Spike said striking a valiant pose.

"Well, I'm getting tired from all this.. time/space travel, running, fighting, and question answering. Would you girls mind if i turned in for the night? i would really like to get some sleep" he said with a yawn.

Before he even finished his yawn a pillow was kicked over to him, hitting him in the head and knocking his hat off. "Sure thang sugar cube. Ah think we all need a good night sleep after all that," Applejack said as she made her way over to her side of the room, now missing one pillow.

"Okay, but remember I need you to answer more questions tomorrow morning ok? So you need to be up bright and early." Twilight said as she put away her notes and made her way to her bed. As everyone got comfortable Sirraf shifted in his corner of the room until he was moderately comfortable himself.

After replacing his hat on his head he began to weave one last spell. "Well then I should get a full, solid nights rest then," he said with a rather large yawn. "Now then, Lose conscious, wash away into the silent sea... Sleep! As his spell washed over himself he began to lose himself in the dreamworld of his subconscious.

In the dark of the night princess

Luna floated above an open plain. A lone figure covered in red clothes stood poised against the horizon. This creature was unfamiliar to the Princess of the Night. "So this is the being we felt enter the dream scape. Such a strangely dashing looking creature," she said as she watched him gaze into the star covered sky. "Odd... we don't recognize any of these constellations. We made the night sky ourselves, why would they be so different in this creatures mind?"

"You know, it's kind of rude to intrude upon anothers private thoughts and memories," he suddenly said without so much as turning around to look at her. "Might i ask just what you are doing in here?"

"WE ARE LUNA! THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT! IT IS OUR DUTY TO SAFEGUARD THE DREAMS OF OUR SUBJECTS!" Luna roared in her royal Canterlot voice.

Suddenly the beasts hands rose covered in a orange glow. "Talk is cheap, silence is golden so shut up and get rich... Silence!" a wave of energy shot forth from the being and wrapped around the mouth of the princess. After fading away she found herself unable to speak. "I apologize for that, but if you are going to scream at me for no good reason i will have to take away your ability to do so. You are a guest in my mind, and as such you will follow my rules. Now then, if you promise to speak at a normal level i will allow you to have your power of voice back. Do we have an accord?"

Luna was fuming. Never had she been faced by such insolence as what this thing was showing her now. Summoning her powers she fired several bolts of energy at the lone figure, certain that she would eliminate the beast here and now. Before the energy could connect she saw the creature slowly shake his head back and forth in disappointment, followed by an explosion that would have taken out a dragon from the force of the blast alone. The smoke cleared, only to reveal nothing.

"Now that wasn't very nice." a voice stated from a few feet behind her. Wide eyed she spun around and fired another bolt, only to see nothing yet again. "Nope not there." She spun around only to meet with empty space once more. "I'll give you a hint. Where would you find your symbol, oh princess of the night?" Realization struck her as she sharply looked up to see the creature floating above her with a strange mask on his face. It was black and white with the colors separated by a red line in the middle. The left white half was pulled into the shape of a smiling face, while the black right half was in the shape of a tragic frown. Pulling it off to reveal his humored eyes he waved his hand and chuckled. "There we go, now then shall we speak of this like sane civil beings?"

She was dumbfounded. This creature was treating her like some kind of joke. Her patience was at its limit as her mane began to flail wildly and her eyes glowed pure white. She opened her mouth in a silent scream as her magic burst forth in every direction. With wide eyed amazement Sirraf pulled away and weaved his hands as he began to speak once more. "Be careful of your power for it may destroy you... REFLECT!" at the last moment the energy connected with a green field of some kind and was redirected back at the princess of the night. The blast hit her full force and sent her spiraling down out of the sky onto the grass covered dream scape below.

Her vision blurred as she picked up her head to see the creature walking slowly towards her position. He looked upon her in disappointment once more, like a parent that caught their child with their hand in the cookie jar. "I don't think it would be good to leave someone beaten by their own magic in my mind. Who knows what that could result in. His hands rose, glowing white as he poured his power into a blessed spell. "You must have a lot of power to do this kind of damage to yourself. If i was awake i don't think i could help you right now. Curaga!" He skipped the incantation this time. This moment was far to serious to be joking around.

She closed her eyes as she prepared to be ejected from the creatures dream scape. Suddenly all of Luna's pain was gone. Waiting for a moment she opened her eyes and saw that the creature was now sitting beside her in the grass. " You know, i really didn't want to have to do that, but you kinda didn't leave me much of a choice in the matter." His hat and face mask was now off and next to him in the grass. "I think you might have a bit of an anger control problem princess." He said with a smile on his lips.

She stared at him in disbelief. This being had in mere moments challenged, defeated, and healed her as though it was an every day thing. As though he had faced great dangers on a regular basis. "So..." he began to speak again. "About that agreement, you know, the not screaming in my head one." Slowly she realized what he had meant and finally nodded in agreement.

"Great! Well then i guess the first part would be to give you your voice back!" rolling onto his back, he placed his hands on the ground over his shoulders and threw himself to his feet. " Purge the body, mind, and spirit, your taint shall be pushed away... Esuna!" White energy flowed across her body as she saw the restraints around her mouth flash, and then disappear. "There, that's better now isn't it? So as i was saying before, to what do i owe this visit into my mind?" he said as he picked up his hat and placed it on his head, though he left his mask on the ground as if to say that he had nothing he wanted to hide from the equestrian princess.

"We are Luna, and we were checking a disturbance in our dream scape. As the princess of the night it is our duty to make sure that nothing harms the dreams of our precious subjects," she said in a much more acceptable volume, though the caution was still in her voice.

"Well I can understand that, but to be honest you really chose the wrong time to attack me." he said with a sigh.

"How so strange creature?" the princess asked narrowing her eyes.

"Well if I wasn't having a lucid dream caused by my own sleep spell, I don't think I could have defended myself from you" he said with a chuckle. "To be honest I used a lot of spells I'm not suppose to have access to when we fought, but as I said before. This is my mind and therefor it's got my rules running it. It's actually one of the reasons I was at the top of my class in the mage academy. When everyone else was resting, I was usually practicing my magic and combat skills in my own dream scape." he was now full on laughing. "Up until the day that I ended up here, it still baffled my instructors to see how quickly I progressed through lessons. In fact its also why I always got a bit ticked when they went on and on about the rules and methods of magic being set in stone and never changing." he said as he suddenly became serious. "Its thinking like that which keeps us from ever improving, ever getting better.Its as if they were saying my fate was set in stone. I don't like the idea of something or someone else determining where i am going in life."

After about two minutes his frown suddenly lifted, and he smiled to the princess of the night. "Ah but where are my manners. You gave me your name but here you are unknowing of mine. I am Sirraf, though from the descriptive names of your subjects you can refer to me as Red mage, or R.M. if you so wish!" he said as he took off his hat and made a deep bow.

It had been a long time since anyone had treated Luna with such open feelings and trust. She giggled to herself at Sirrafs antics and returned the bow with a kind of pony curtsy. "As thou wishes Sir R.M." she paused for a moment, confused by his statements. "What, may we ask, is a red mage though?"

"Do you know of a pony named Twilght Sparkle?" he responded as he lifted himself back to an upright state.

"Of course! She is the student of our dear beloved sister!" Luna said with a smile.

"Well, we met last night before i went to sleep. If you want any details about me or my world, she would be the one to talk to. Frankly i don't want to keep explaining it over and over again, "he said with a hearty laugh. "Wait, you mentioned a sister?"

"Yes, our sister is the princess of the sun and we rule Equestria together," she explained to him. "Though, being the princess of the night, we don't get to interact with our subjects much."

"Hmm. I see what you mean. I cant imagine too many of these ponies being nocturnal," he said with a sigh. "Must get lonely pretty fast huh?"

"Not as bad as it once was, eep!" Luna suddenly went quiet, realizing that she may have let to much about her slip.

"what are... you know what? It's none of my business, but remember, if you want to open up to someone or just talk. I'll be happy to listen." he said realizing that whatever she was hiding was either private or a touchy subject.

"We thank thou Sir R.M. We shall also inform our sister Celestia of thy presence and that you don't seem to be hostile to any of our kind. Though we must ask. thou seemed very familiar of combat from our meeting earlier... thou even managed to disable me without any form of offensive action. What did thou do before coming here?" She said, once again attempting to sate her curiosity.

"Let's just say that there are many dangers in my world, and i was learning to defend myself and those i cared about from those threats." he responded with an air of mystery. "Once again I'm sure Twilight would be happy to share her notes with you on the subject." he finished with a warm smile. "Now then, I think we should part our ways. It was already rather late when i went to sleep last night and i promised Twilight i would be up bright and early to answer more questions and possibly help her in whatever she needs."

"Of course, and thank thou for taking thy situation and our invasion of privacy so well. our meeting was... fun. We do hope we can do this again sometime." she said with hope in her voice.

"My mind is always open to my friends. Just announce yourself next time okay?" after this they both broke out into laughter.

"Well then, we suppose we should take our leave. Goodbye Sirraf the red mage," she began to fade from the dream scape.

"Goodbye princess." he said as he picked up his mask and returned it to his face. "and sleep well."

Morning rituals.

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Redmage unmasked.

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Now that's a welcoming!

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Still more fighting

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