“Okay so, basically what you are saying is that runes are letters that form commands?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, I suppose that is one way to look at it,” Trace confirmed.

“You say that like its not what you do,” Twilight replied, slightly irked by Trace’s unwillingness to explain fully.

“Well no not exactly. To me I see it more as the runes are pieces in a puzzle, and when we put all the right pieces together we get a picture.”

“What kind of picture?” Twilight asked, not entirely understanding the analogy.

“That depends on what you are trying to accomplish.”

“Okay so the runes are small pieces that fit together to make a bigger whole, and this whole is what performs the magic?” Twilight asked still trying to grasp the concept.

“No, the first part of what you said is right. The runes fit together to make a bigger whole, but it’s not the puzzle pieces or the picture that does the magic. It’s the unicorn,” answered Trace.

“Wait a minute, I thought your runes circles are what let you teleport books and things, now you are saying that they don’t?” Twilight was now thoroughly confused.

“No the runes help me to focus my magic, it’s like...” Trace paused to try to find an analogy. “Like a magnifying glass. Yes it is exactly like a magnifying glass.” Trace smiled having found the perfect analogy.

“A magnifying glass?”

“Okay so for example, if we put a pan outside in the sun it would warm up right?” Trace replied stepping onto his soapbox.

“Yes I suppose the pan would get hot after a little while,” Twilight said, prompting him to continue.

“But if it was really cold outside and we put the pan out there it wouldn’t get any hotter,” Trace continued, “That is why we need a magnifying glass.”

Twilight was beginning to understand “So you use the magnifying glass to focus the suns rays together to heat the pan.”

“Exactly, each unicorn has a different radiance like the sun, but some are stronger or weaker than other. Using runic circles we can magnify a unicorns magic exponentially to accomplish a certain task. But make no mistake, it is still the unicorn doing the magic. That is why a pegasus or earth pony cannot use magic runes,” Trace finished.

“I think I get it now, so you put the runes together to make a certain picture then apply magic to carry out the task,” Twilight summated.

“Absolutely correct,” Trace replied, giving a slight applause with his hooves on the table.

“Okay now that I think I have the basic theory down could you show me some runes, and what their meanings are?” Twilight pleaded.

Trace stood from the cushion he was sitting on and turned to retrieve his bag, which was lying against the wall near the door. The library was an absolute wreck; books covered the ground and made maneuverability difficult. Trace suspected that when the snoring dragon upstairs awoke he would not be in a good mood seeing the library’s current state. Twilight had apparently pulled every book from the bookcases lining the walls in an attempt to learn everything she could about runes before Trace had arrived, only to later realize Trace had taken the books she might use.

Trace reached his bags and levitated out a thin journal. The grey journal had no title on the front page, and instead had a green rune circle. Trace then turned back to where Twilight was sitting and began to make his way back through the book labyrinth, levitating the journal and bag behind him. When he once again reached the table he placed the journal before Twilight, and let her study it a moment.

“What is this?” she asked.

“This is all the research I have compiled over the years in my research of runes,” Trace answered simply.

Twilight gazed back at the journal. It only appeared to be twenty pages thick. How could this be all the Trace knew?

“Are you playing a joke on me?” she asked after a moment.

“Kind of.” Trace chuckled.

“So what is this then?” she asked again.

“Exactly what I said it was.” Trace placed a hoof on the cover and poured a little magic into the runes on the surface. The book shuddered for a moment, and then exploded in a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared a three thousand-page tome sat in front of the two unicorns.

“Could you imagine me dragging this around with me everywhere?” Trace asked laughing again.

“No, I imagine that would be difficult,” Twilight replied not getting the joke.

“In this tome I have written everything I know on runes, you can borrow it if you would like.”

Twilight’s eyes shot wide with the realization of what he was offering. All of Trace’s magic was in this book, and he was willing to let her borrow it. This was an amazing opportunity to learn about an area of magic that wasn’t normally taught. Then a thought occurred to her Doesn’t he need this to do his research?

“It would be amazing to learn everything this had to offer, but don’t you need it Trace?”

“Not at all, I already know every single word of this,” Trace added tapping a hoof to his temple. “I have perfect a memory I’ll have you know.”

“Perfect memory? Then why write a book like this?” Twilight inquired.

“It is always a good idea to have a back up, who knows one day I might lose my memory. Or perhaps when I am old I wont be able to recall things as clearly. Maybe one day these notes will help another become a great user of runes. In the end I think it is always a good idea to catalog whatever we learn, so that we can pass the knowledge on to other,” Trace replied taking on a note of his aristocratic heritage.

Twilight realized that at times Trace reminded her of the stuck of aristocrats that could be found throughout Canterlot. But, something was very different about him. He didn’t have the sense of entitlement that seemed to seep from those other ponies. He seemed to be a noble pony who worked hard for everything he had and didn’t expect to get any handouts. He didn’t seem to push this philosophy on others, which made Twilight admire him, even though he was the younger of the two. He seemed like a pony that would make a really good friend.

“I still don’t know Trace this is a lot that you are giving me here. I don’t know if I can accept it,” Twilight said breaking the silence.

“Don’t worry about that at all, I will be getting plenty in return. Here I am swapping secrets with the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, what could be more valuable than that?” Trace replied, a smile creeping back to his lips.

“Well I wouldn’t say that.” Twilight blushed and looked away.

“Oh trust me the only other pony I have seen with more magical power than you was Celestia herself,” Trace praised, causing Twilight to turn a darker shade of red.

“Anyways,” he continued, “I think we should have a little experiment.”

“An experiment.”

“Yes, it is a simple one.” Trace said pulling his sunglasses from his bag. “But I think I need to adjust these a little bit.”

“Adjust your sunglasses?” Twilight asked.

An idea struck Trace and he once again found himself smiling. He didn’t know why but being around Twilight made him smile and he was hard pressed to stop. It had been a while since he talked with somepony who wished to learn magic as passionately as he did. He feared the Twilight’s curiosity might even surpass his own. A little prank was a good thing for friends to share, or so he recalled being told so.

“Would you like to wear these?” Trace asked, “They are very special sunglasses of my own design.” Trace levitated the glasses to Twilight who took them in her own magic hold.

“I guess,” She replied.

Twilight slipped the glasses on, and noticed that they didn’t really seem to keep light out well at all. She turned to Trace to comment on this, and stopped as she saw a white aura around him. It was odd, she could see veins of dark blue running through the aura and then disappearing to be replaced by the white once again. Then it dawned on her that she was seeing his magic through the glasses.

“Wow, these are amazing"

“They are probably my greatest creation,” he agreed. “But, would you like to see something really amazing?”

She quickly nodded wondering what else he would show her. She had already learned and seen so much from Trace already, could he really want to show her more?

“Why don’t you go take a look in a mirror,” he suggested.

Twilight immediately jumped from where she was sitting and galloped to the closest mirror. She was desperate to see what the glasses would show her about her own magic. She was not prepared when she reached the mirror and was blinded by a bright magenta light. She let out a scream, and turned away from the mirror, only to hear Trace laughing his head off behind her.

“That wasn’t funny,” she growled at him. This however did little to stop his laughing.

“Yes it is,” he howled, “do you know how many times I have been on the other end of this? Was it really this funny every time?”

Trace fell over and continued to laugh on the floor. Tears began to stream from his eyes. He knew that he was laughing a bit to hard at the situation, but he didn’t really care at the moment. Twilight couldn’t help but find Trace’s display humorous also and joined in the laughing. After a long fit of laughter it was Trace to first speak.

“I’m sorry. At least now you know why I reacted the way I did the first time we met,” Trace said, to Twilight while wiping a tear from his eye.

“I guess so, but why was it so bright?” Twilight asked handing the glasses back to Trace.

“That would be because you have so much raw power. So if I am going to use them in here at all I will need to calibrate them,” he replied before he sat back down at the table and began to tweak the glasses.

Twilight watched Trace work in rapt attention, noting how exactly he changed the runes inscribed on the inside of the glasses with his horn. A specific rune would begin to glow white and float away to be replaced by a completely new one. Twilight didn’t understand what any of the runes meant at all, but it was obvious by the way that Trace worked that he knew exactly what each one was for, and how it worked in concert with all the others.

“There I think I have it.”

Twilight broke from her stupor “What did you do exactly?” she asked.

“Well seeing as how both you and Celestia have caused me permanent eye damage,” he chided. “I have changed the glasses to show raw power in numbers rather than in brightness.”

“Numbers huh. What number do I have then?”

“Well…” Trace replaced the glasses on his head and looked Twilight over. “I don’t really have anything to compare this against, but the glasses tell me your magical power is just under ten thousand.”

“That sounds good I guess,” Twilight replied, uncertain of exactly what to say.

“I would hope so. Anyways lets get on to the experiment shall we?” he said turning the conversation back to the matter at hand.

“Okay. So what kind of experiment are you wanting to do?”

“It’s quite simple really,” he replied retrieving a pair of rocks from his bag and placing them on the table in front of Twilight. “I have never really had a chance to use these glasses for an experiment with a powerful unicorn before, so I thought we could start with something simple. Can you levitate this rock for me?”

“Sure that sounds easy enough.” Twilight said, and with a flick of her horn the rock floated into the air in front of her.

“Okay good. Now can you crush the rock please?” Trace asked.

Twilight froze. “You want me to crush the rock. Like with a different spell or something?” she asked.

“No I would like you to use your telekinetic grasp to crush the rock into pieces. I know you can do it all you have to do is try,” Trace said, attempting to get her to continue.

“Well okay I’ll try.” Twilight scrunched her face in concentration and poured her magical strength into it. Trace stared at the rock through his glasses carefully taking mental notes on what he was seeing. After a moment the rock split into several different pieces, and after another moment later was crushed into sand.

What Trace saw was completely different however. He watched as the magic streamed from Twilight’s horn and touched the field surrounding the rock. The field didn’t seem to change at all, but more power continued to be poured into it until the rock was crushed.

“Amazing.” Trace said awed at the amount of power Twilight had. Even though she kept pouring more and more magic into the field surrounding the rock the field itself never got bigger or smaller. I have never had an opportunity like this before or I would have noticed this earlier. Does this mean that the size and thickness of the field has no bearing on its strength?

“Okay that was very good,” Trace said, after collecting himself. “Now can you lift this other rock please?”

Twilight released the sand that she had in her telekinetic grasp, and watched as it fell onto the table. She then cast her gaze on the other rock that sat on the table before she lifted it into the air.

“Now we are going to try to do the opposite of what we just did,” he instructed. “Try to weaken the hold you have on the rock while holding it still.”

This task was harder for Twilight than crushing the rock had been. She tried to not hold onto he rock as hard, but it was hard to do this and keep it in the air at the same time. Trace watched as magic flowed away from the field and back into Twilight’s horn. A smile began to spread across his face as the implications of what he was seeing struck him.

This serves to strengthen my previous hypothesis. The field is not shrinking it is just being weakened. If the size of the field can be manipulated, levitating large object could be possible for a unicorn like me. If I were to change the thickness of the telekinetic field would I be able to grab larger objects easily? The ringing of the clock behind Trace broke him from his musings as well as causing Twilight to lose concentration. The rock fell back onto the table, and a moment later Trace stood from the table.

“Well this has been incredibly informative.” Trace began collecting his saddlebags and placing them on his back.

“Wait you are leaving?” Twilight asked getting up to follow him.

“I have some shopping I need to do today, and I think it is the best idea to get to the market before it gets to late,” he stated trotting to the door.

“What about the experiment. Did you learn anything?” Twilight asked still following him.

“You have an insatiable curiosity you know.” Trace said stopping to look back at her. “However, I cannot share my theories at the moment until I can verify them. I will tell you as soon as I do though so don’t worry. In the meantime why don’t you take a look through those notes and see what you can learn.” Trace then turned, and opened the door with a glow of his horn.

“I guess I will see you later, Trace.” Twilight called as he left the library.

“Yea see you later.” Trace called back momentarily dropping his Canterlot accent.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rarity walked through the streets of Ponyville heading to her good friend Twilight’s library. On her head sat a spectacular purple hat of her own design. The fashionista greeted ponies she recognized along the way. She would also stop to thank them for their compliments, but tried to maintain a decent pace, as the matter she needed to discuss with Twilight was urgent. Love always was of the top priority.

Rarity arrived that the Ponyville library, and trotted to the door. She raised her hoof, and knocked on the door a couple times. She knew that it was a public library and anypony could enter whenever they pleased, but a lady always announced her arrival. So Rarity waited until she heard a familiar lavender unicorn grant her entry from the other side of the door. Rarity then quickly opened the door and entered the library.

“Hello Rarity. How are you doing today?” Twilight asked from behind a massive book she was reading. Rarity wondered how the table even supported the monstrous tome, but trotted over to Twilight to pose an even more important question.

“I am doing very well dear. Thank you for asking.” Rarity paused so that she could pose her question perfectly. “Twilight I heard that you seem to be the only pony in Ponyville to know Cornelius, and I was wondering, is he your coltfriend?” Rarity asked keeping a very ladylike poker face.

Twilight however, was a pony to wear her heart on her sleeve. Pages of the journal were torn out as Twilight momentarily lost control of her magic. She shot up from her seat and stared at Rarity.

“What? He um… NO! I mean. No he isn’t my coltfriend he is just a friend.” Twilight was blushing madly.

Rarity let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “Oh thank goodness. I don’t know what I would have done if you told me he was,” Rarity said, as a smile spread across her face.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“Well the two of us talked for a long time at his welcome party yesterday. He is such an interesting stallion. Did you know that his sister is Margaret Trace. He is so smart, and did you see how gorgeous his mane is? He even has a very good sense of style and fashion,” Rarity gushed.

“Are you telling me that you like Trace?” Twilight couldn't help from rolling here eyes.

Rarity thought for a moment on the question. When she considered it, she did seem to have feelings of attraction for Cornelius. It was not passionate love, but she wanted to know him a lot better and maybe even be his marefriend. Rarity blushed slightly at the thought.

“Yes darling I believe that he is a perfect gentlecolt, and not stuck up at all like Blueblood was,” she confirmed. “I had heard around town that you were the first one to be seen with him and that he came over here earlier today. So I came to clear my intentions with you first.”

“Well thanks I guess.” Twilight deadpanned.

“It is no problem at all. Now that this business is done with I just need to wait for him to make a move.” Rarity took a seat at the table, and began to read a magazine.

“Wait. You are going to wait for him to make a move on you? Why would you do that?” Twilight asked, taking a seat opposite her friend.

“A lady does not announce her feelings to a stallion. She uses her allure to have him make the first move.” Rarity pointed out.

“Are you sure about that Rarity? It seems kind of risky with all of the single mares in Ponyville,” Twilight countered.

Twilight’s comment struck Rarity like a brick. She was absolutely right, there were many single mares in Ponyville and not enough stallions for all of them. It was not uncommon for a stallion to be scooped up by sompony the second that he became single. Trace was the first real gentlecolt to ever come and settle down in Ponyville. Not only that but he was a Canterlot native, and a member of the aristocracy. He was her dream stallion, and she was just going to let him sit out in front of all the love hungry mares in the town, and hope that he would come up to her.

“Oh my gosh Twilight, you are absolutely right. I wouldn’t be surprised if Berry Punch was hitting on him this second. I need to move on this now,” Rarity said, standing from the table and allowing a small amount of her anxiety show.

“That’s the idea, Rarity, go get your stallion.”

“Oh dear. How do I look? Is my mane all right? Do I have anything in my teeth?” Rarity asked, giving Twilight a big smile so that she could inspect her teeth.

“You look beautiful as always, Rarity.” Twilight replied to her unusually flustered friend.

“Well I better hurry if I want to reel in this fish before anypony else can get to him.” With that Rarity turned and exited the library. After a moment the door opened again and the fashionista poked her head back inside. “You don’t happen to know where Cornelius is right now would you?”

“I think he said he was going to the market. That was about an hour ago so you should hurry if you want to catch him.” Twilight replied, turning back to Trace’s journal so that she could continue her studies.

“Thank you, Twilight.”

Twilight gave a small chuckle at the situation. It was not often that Rarity was so nervous about something. This will be good for her I think. Trace seems like an excellent pony to be with.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Here ya go mister, a bushel of apples. That will be twelve bits,” Applejack informed passing the apples to Trace who stood on the other side of the apple stand.

“Twelve bits? That seems kind of steep doesn’t it?” Trace replied.

In all actuality twelve bits was a fair price for a bushel of apples, and both Trace and Applejack knew this. Trace had decided that since he was going to be shopping at the farmers market from now on he would need to get into the hang of haggling. He had tried the other stands with zero success so far. His latest attempt at haggling would be at the Apple Family apple stand.

“Now ‘ah will have you know that twelve bits is the goin’ rate for a bushel ‘round here,” Applejack said knowing exactly where this conversation was headed.

“I don’t know twelve seems kind of high to me. I would compare the going rate to another apple stand, but unfortunately there doesn’t happen to be one. It would seem that you have a monopoly on apples around here wouldn’t it?” Trace stated, hoping to steer the conversation into his favor.

“Hey now you shouldn’t be throwin’ words like monopoly around here. Isn’t my fault nopony else sells apples here.” she countered.

“You are certainly right it isn’t your fault that you can set whatever price you want. I have to buy from you seeing as there is no one else.”

Applejack furrowed her brow attempting to figure out where this new stallion in town was trying to take this conversation. He is probably tryin to make me say somthin ah’ll regret. But ‘ah wont.

“I suppose you are right. Now that ‘ah think about it prices were supposed to have gone up. This here bushel of apples will actually be fourteen bits,” she said after a moment, thwarting any attempts the stallion might have at negotiating down the price.

This is stupid. I am so bad at this I cant believe that I actually made the price go up. With a sigh he hung his head and retrieved a bag from his saddlebags containing his money.

“Hang on a moment there, Applejack. I can’t believe that you were going to extort this kind stallion.” Came a voice from behind Trace.

He turned to see a beautiful white mare with a perfect purple mane standing behind him glaring at the farmer. Trace was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the mare he had a crush on coming to his aid.

“I will have you know that Cornelius is new in town and hustling him over the price of apples is just plain rude,” Rarity continued.

“It taint hustlin it’s called hagglin,’” Applejack retorted.

“Haggling is what you call this? All I saw was a poor stallion wandering around the market ready to purchase a bushel of apples to only have the price go up on him when he was ready to pay.”

“Now don’t go getting your mane in a fuss. He is the one that tried to make me lower my prices first,” Applejack stated, pointing a hoof at Trace.

It was then that Trace caught on to what Rarity was doing.

“I wasn’t trying to back you down. I was merely commenting on the price of the apples. If you say that I need to pay fourteen bits though I suppose I have to,” Trace said, trying to look as pathetic as possible. At the same time he began to place bits on the counter.

“Now hold up a second. ‘Ah suppose it wasn’t very neighborly of me to try to get y’all to pay fourteen bits. Here take the apples, and it will only be ten bits,” The orange earth pony said, pushing the apples forward.

Trace finished paying the farmer pony. “Thank you for your generosity,” he added before placing the apples into his saddlebags.

Trace then turned and left the orange mare where she stood at the apple stand. He noticed after a moment that Rarity was walking along side him. Is she following me? Rarity looked straight ahead seeming not to notice the Trace was staring at her as they walked down the street.

“Thank you for the help,” he said after a little while.

“Oh think nothing of it. Applejack can be a little stubborn sometimes. It just takes some getting used to.”

“So may I ask to where you are headed?”

“Well I do not really know,” she replied truthfully. “I don’t have much anything else to do today so I believe a walk around town might be in order.”

“A walk around town you say. Well I am still new, so I don’t really know many of the buildings here in Ponyville. If it wouldn’t be to much trouble, could I ask you for a tour of the town?”

Oh my gosh he is asking me for a tour of Ponyville. Could this mean that he feels the same way? Wait Rarity asking for a tour of the town is an innocent request you cannot jump to conclusions so quickly.

“I don’t have anything else to do so I suppose that I could help you out, and show you around town,” she replied.

Great you managed to get her to carry out a chore on your behalf. You idiot. How could you reduce such a beautiful mare such as this to be a mere tour guide? She is probably taking pity on you to agree to such a thing. Trace mentally slapped himself.

“That would be wonderful Miss Rarity. Please lead on,” he said.

The two continued down the street passing several buildings as they walked. Rarity pointed out to Trace various shops such as Quills and Sofas and Sugercube Corner. Trace nodded committing each to memory as they passed. He however, was only paying half attention as he attempted to think of something that would broach the subject of courtship.

This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I mean I don’t know how I could possibly have a chance with a mare like Rarity. No! I can’t think like that. I need to be confident. There is no way that anypony could get a mare like Rarity to go out with them without being completely confident.

Rarity continued to point out the buildings that they passed as they continued down the street, but she too was lost in thought. I don’t know what to say. Look at me boring him. He seems to not be paying any attention to me. Oh my look at his chest swell he must be really strong. No I cant think of how gorgeous he is right now I need to get him to notice me. She flicked her mane and gave Trace a very alluring look.

Did she just do that? Yes she did. The confidence is working keep it up Trace. She just flicked her mane, and that is code for interest. I think it is. Either way I’m taking that as a sign that the confidence is working. Okay I need to do something else now. The ball is in my court. Now what. Trace held out a hoof to stop Rarity where she was walking besides him, while at the same time flexing.

“Miss Rarity there seems to be a puddle, and I would hate for you to get your hooves muddy,” he said, before he removed a cloak from his saddlebags with a flick of his horn, and laid it over the puddle so that the two could cross. In actuality the puddle had been very small and the two could have easily gone around it.

“Thank you, Cornelius,” Rarity said, stepping across the offered safe passage.

“Please, call me Trace.”

“Then I would insist that you call me Rarity.”

Rarity stopped and looked back at Trace once she was over the small obstacle. He just offered me his cloak to keep me from getting wet. That is straight out of the gentlecolt handbook, and I cant believe how toned he is. Was he trying to flex to show off for me? Maybe he was, but if he did then that means… Yes Rarity you did it. You managed to get him interested in you. Now you have to make him yours.

“You truly are a gentlecolt aren’t you Trace?” she asked.

“I was raised to be a chivalrous pony. I suppose that it just stuck with me,” he replied.

“I was wondering if you would like to come by the boutique later and….” Whatever else Rarity was going to say was cut off by three fillies running towards her yelling hellos.

“Rarity, Rarity,” a small white unicorn filly with a purple and pink mane called. “Applebloom and Scootaloo wanted to know if they could come over for a slumber party tonight.” Sweetie Bell said once the three had finally made their way to the fashionista.

Rarity stopped to look back to Trace. “Sweetie Bell why don’t you be polite and introduce yourself to Mister Trace here before you go making demands.” Rarity motioned towards the stallion standing next to her.

Sweetie Bell turned to look up at Trace. “Hello my name is Sweetie Bell and I’m Rarity’s little sister,” Sweetie Bell said, giving a small curtsy.

“It is a pleasure to meet you lady Sweetie Bell.” Trace said giving a bow.

“Sweetie Bell isn’t a lady she is still a filly,” Scootaloo chimed in.

“Well Rarity can we have a sleepover tonight?” Sweetie Bell asked, turning her attention back to her sister.

“I don’t think so Sweetie Bell I have a lot of work I need to do later on today, and I wont be able to keep and eye on the three of you,” she replied and watched as the three fillies began to look at her with puppy dog eyes pleading for her to reconsider.

“Please, big sis, we won’t be trouble I promise.”

“Yea we will be on our best behavior.” Applebloom added.

“I am sorry you three, but I simply cannot tonight. Perhaps you three can spend the night tomorrow night. Don’t you have crusading to do today anyways?” Rarity said, attempting to change the subject.

At this Applebloom looked to Scootaloo. “What was next on the list, Scoots?”

“I think the next thing we were going to try was beast taming,” Scootaloo replied.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS BEAST TAMERS YAY!” The three shouted in unison before running off.

Once they were out of sight Trace dared to speak. “That was… interesting.”

“Yes fillies at that age do seem to have a lot of energy don’t they?” Rarity replied. “Anyways I was going to ask if you would like to come over later tonight around perhaps nine. I feel like I could make an excellent suit that would be perfect for you. Yes, you simply must come we will make a dinner out of it since it will be so late.”

Didn’t she just tell her sister that she had a lot of work to do? And she wants to make dinner for me too at her boutique. That sounds a little unprofessional. Trace's eyes widened as he realized what Rarity was actually asking him over for.

“Yes I think I would like that very much, Rarity. Now would you please excuse me I have much work I need to complete. I will make my way to your boutique at around nine.”

“I will see you there Trace.” He heard Rarity call to him as he trotted away.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Celestia stood in the dark hallway waiting on her sister. Luna had been secretive about something ever since she had returned to Equestria, but Celestia had respected her sister’s privacy and not pestered her about it. Celestia’s patience was wearing thin however. Luna had been back in the world for nearly two years now and still she kept this secret from her older sister. In the past there had been nothing that the two didn’t share, but ever since Luna stopped being Nightmare Moon many things had changed between the sisters.

The stone blocks in the wall of the hallway rumbled for a moment before they began to slide apart. When their movement finally ceased a dark entry way had appeared. Beyond the threshold dim torchlight could be seen as the new passageway descended into the darkness. Hoofsteps were heard ascending the stairs. Moments later a dark blue alicorns appeared in the entryway.

“Hello Luna. A beautiful night we are having, isn’t it?” Celestia said, startling the other princess who had not seen her standing in the hallway.

“Celestia, what are you doing here?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing dear sister,” Celestia countered.

Luna looked back down the stairway, and into the darkness. Her horn lit and the passageway began to seal itself back up again. After a moment all that was left was an unblemished wall.

“Tia, I know that you have an insatiable curiosity, but you must promise me that you will never go down there,” Luna said, turning back to her older sister.

Celestia looked taken aback at the request. “Luna what exactly do you have hidden away down there?”

“Please, Tia, Promise me,” Luna pleaded to the Reagent of the Sun. It was clear to Celestia that Luna wanted to desperately tell her what was going on, but she would not.

This must be unimaginably important for Luna to ask me to promise this. She cast her gaze at the wall where the entryway had been, and then back to her sister.

“Okay Luna. I promise that as long as we are both in Equestria to rule that I will not enter this hidden passageway. I just hope that one day you will tell me what you are doing down there each night.” Celestia finally relented.

“Oh thank you, Tia,” Luna said, approaching her sister to give her a nuzzle. “I promise that one day I will tell you everything. Just not now.”

With that the matter was dropped for now and the two sister walked together down the hallway towards the throne room. It didn’t take them too long to reach the end, and part ways. Luna trotted off towards the throne room so that she may hold her night court and Celestia turned to head back to her room.

What is it that Luna has down there? Could it be some ancient weapon? Perhaps a torture chamber. What if it’s a room where she meets her secret lover? Random thoughts about what Luna was hiding continued to come to the forefront of Celestia’s mind, but none of them seemed to fit. Either way I will find out eventually. All I need to do is wait for Luna to leave Equestria.

Celestia smiled to herself at her clever wordplay.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Trace was hard at work at the desk in his study. The room was dark as usual with only the light of his horn allowing him to see what he was doing. He had been working for a couple of hours now trying to apply his new theory practically. As he had initially sumized, by changing the thickness of the magical field used for levitation he was able to pick up much larger object than he had ever dreamed of before.

Unfortunately, Trace had very little control. He was only able to lift any large object for a few seconds before his magic would give out and it came crashing back to the ground. There was a small hole in the floor of his living room where the couch had hit the ground after being suspended in the air for a mere five seconds.

“I have to make something to help me stabilize my magic,” he muttered to himself. It was not uncommon for him to do so while working on a particularly hard problem.

His quill flew across the paper before him as he inscribed onto it runes that he hopped would yield the desired results. The quill stopped, and Trace inspected his work. He frowned and crumpled up the paper with his magic and tossed it into the trash. He then retrieved a fresh piece of paper from a stack he had on the desk and began the procedure again.

“No no the markings have to be just so. I can’t use the lines of Sanzu and expect still bind perimeter to a focal.” He cried out in frustration. Another paper flew into the trash.

After a moment of introspection, inspiration finally dawned on Trace, and he retrieved a new piece of paper. The quill moved with new purpose across the paper. When its movement ceased a work of art was left on the paper. Trace lifted the paper admiring it this time rather than tossing it to the side.

“How could I not see this before? A duel ring. The central, to focus the power, and the outer to collect the magic that gets away from me and refocus it back through the central focus” Trace said, literally patting himself on the back.

How will I implement this though? I don’t have any room left on my hooves. He raised one hoof to inspect it in order to confirm this. This is a powerful rune circle I cannot use paper to bear the magic, or it would be incinerated. Frustration returned to Trace once again.

Trace closed his eyes to pray that inspiration would strike him twice in the same night. Moments passed as Trace sat in the room beneath the light of his horn. He brushed a lock of hair from his face as it started to annoy him. His prayers were answered inspiration struck him for the second time that night.

“My mane, that’s it,” he exclaimed.

This is going to be tricky. He walked to a full-length mirror he had against the wall. I know that runes are my special talent, but I am going to have to inscribe this backwards. Trace then lifted a brush he had sitting on his desk with his magic and levitated it towards his face. He then brushed his forelock back over his face to be the canvas of a new rune.

Trace’s horn glowed even brighter as white runes materialized in the air and then settled onto the black lock of hair Trace was concentrating on. Trace continued to inscribe runes onto his mane for several minutes making sure that everything was exactly in the right position. A mistake, no matter how minor could have dire consequences. When the process was complete Trace stepped back from the mirror to admire his work. On the lock of hair that covered up the left side of his face now glowed a purple rune circle.

“It’s perfect,” he said, pleased at his long days worth of work. “But it might look a bit creepy if I go walking around town with a rune glowing on my face.”

Trace then lifted the brush to his face again in order to brush the lock of hair back into the rest of his mane. He did not usually wear his hair back so the new look seemed a little odd, but not in a bad way.

“Now I suppose the only thing to do is to try this bad boy out,” he said, to his reflection before he turned and headed downstairs to the living room.

Trace turned on the light as he entered the room so that he did not have to multitask while trying out new magic. His horn began to glow as he concentrated on the rune that was now hidden inside the rest of his mane. The black of his mane began to give off a purple overglow as the rune came to life. The yellow couch that sat in the room lifted into the air with ease.

“This is still difficult,” Trace said to himself, straining a little against the weight of the couch. “I can’t even see the magic surrounding it though. Do I really have the field stretched that thin?”

After a few moments of holding the couch up with his magic Trace was satisfied that the rune was working properly and would not give out under the strain. He then gently set the couch back down onto the rug and smiled.

Now this is truly my greatest work yet. I was able to lift something as big as a couch, and would be able to hold it in the air for hours. I was barely able to lift a large book just yesterday and now look what I have accomplished.

The clock upstairs chimed nine times bringing Trace out of his stupor of self-satisfaction, and back to the world. Panic began to take hold of Trace as he realized the importance of the hour, and he galloped back upstairs to his room.

“I can’t believe that I forgot. How dumb can I be?” Trace chastised, as he hurried to the bathroom that was adjoined to the bedroom.

Trace raced to the sink and levitated his toothbrush out of the cup it sat in. He turned on the sink and wetted the brush before he applied the toothpaste, and began to violently clean his teeth. Once finished he smiled into the mirror to make sure that he had gotten everything. He then began to closely inspect his face to find any blemishes. When he couldn’t find any he replaced the toothbrush and toothpaste and hurried back downstairs.

He made his way across the house to the front door. He was not expecting to be stopped by Rarity when he opened the door however. She stood at the entryway to the house about to knock on the door. Trace could tell from a glance that the mare was distraught.

“Rarity what’s wrong,” he asked.

“It’s Sweetie Bell. She hasn’t come back home all of today. Applejack told me that they just found her wagon near the Everfree Forest. What if she and her friends went in there and got lost. I don’t know what I would do.” Rarity was talking almost to quickly to follow. The fashionista looked on the verge of tears.

Trace could see that she really needed some help, and he would be the pony to give it to her.

“Rarity,” he said, “don’t worry we will find them. Now where is this forest?”

Rarity turned and galloped off, and Trace followed her without a word. The two made their way through the town until they came to the town square. Most of the residents of Ponyville were already in the square. At the head of the crowd Pinkie Pie stood holding a megaphone.

“Everypony listen up,” she beckoned through the megaphone. “This is a search party. We are here to find three fillies that are lost in the Everfree Forest. There are glow sticks over here for everypony. Now lets move out ponies there are fillies that need our help.” She began leading the crowd through the square and out of town towards the Everfree Forest.

Trace followed the crowd, and looked back to see that Rarity was behind him. He slowed his pace so that he could continue along side her. He then looked around the crowd to see that everypony in the crowd wore the same disturbed expression on their face.

“I have never been to the Everfree Forest before. What exactly is in there?” he asked Rarity.

“Nopony really knows. The Everfree Forest is a very dangerous and mysterious place,” she replied wearing the same expression he saw everypony else wearing.

“Don’t worry, Rarity. We will find them no matter what. I promise.” He turned to her to make sure she could see how serious he was.

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“I am never going to find them,” Trace sighed, as he walked through the dark foreboding forest.

He had separated from the group with Rarity in hopes that the two of them could cover more ground. They had then proceeded to split up again after a few minutes of searching. Trace deeply regretted that decision.

“I have no idea where I am!” he yelled into the night.

There came no answer from among the trees. The forest was as silent as it had been all night. Trace sighed, and continued to search through the seemingly endless forest by the light of his horn. Trace wandered aimlessly knowing full well that he had very little hope of stumbling onto the missing fillies, and even less hope of finding his way out of the Everfree Forest once he located the missing children.

“Not in here,” Trace said, to himself as he pulled back a bush.

“Not in here,” He said, inspecting a hole in a tree.

“Not in here!” He called, into a dark tunnel causing bats to stream out of it past him.

“I am never going to find them,” Trace reaffirmed with another sigh.

A moment later the scream of a young filly pierced through the silence of the night. Trace didn’t even think as he raced through the trees towards the origin of the sound. He could no longer hear it but he knew which direction it had come from. He dashed through thorn bushes, which left superficial cuts on his skin, as he made his way to the clearing the scream had come from.

As he broke through the perimeter of trees he saw Rarity and three fillies cowering in the middle of the clearing. All of them were looking off to the edge of the clearing with pure terror on their face. Trace followed their gaze to the trees where a massive lizard made its way into the clearing.

The lizard stood at least nine feet tall, and was roughly twenty-five feet long. Its legs were adorned with claws the length of a ponies leg. Its tongue flicked out of its mouth as it tasted the air. Its eyes glowed red as it looked across the clearing to the four ponies that stood frozen in fear.

Oh no, a Basilisk.

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Rarity had been wandering through the forest alone now for well over an hour. She had split up from Trace a while back in the hopes of being able to search more ground by herself. The forest was beginning to get to her though. In every shadow she saw a monstrous figure, and every rustle of the bushes she heard a ponyeating monster stalking her.

I can’t afford to be afraid right now. Sweetie Bell needs me. Rarity redoubled her determination and continued forwards through the dark forest.

Unlike the first time that she had been in the Everfree Forest Rarity did not have a map, or her friends to guide her. She knew that there were very dangerous things that lived in this Celestia forsaken place, and that time was of the essence. She continued her march forwards through the thick underbrush.

Rarity stepped through a patch of mud without breaking stride, showing just how determined she was. Up ahead she could see a clearing in the forest where she might be able to reassess the direction she was taking. As she entered the clearing she was able to make out three fillies huddled together. Rarity immediately broke into a gallop and hurried towards the three.

“Sweetie Bell is that you?” she called.

Upon hearing her name the unicorn in question turned to see her sister racing across the clearing. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she galloped towards her big sister, the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders following behind her. The two siblings embraced in a tear filled hug.

“I was so worried. What are you doing here?” Rarity asked, through tears of relief.

“I’m so sorry, Rarity, we got lost and couldn’t find our way out. I was so scared,” Sweetie Bell cried into Rarity’s mane.

Applebloom and Scootaloo joined the hug. All three of the fillies were quaking in fear, which did not go unnoticed by Rarity. She slowly released Sweetie Bell and stood before the three of them.

“You should never have come in here,” she scolded, and saw how ashamed and afraid the three truly were for the first time. She then embraced her sister again “Don’t worry everything is going to be okay now.”

“Rarity how are we going to get out of here?” Sweetie Bell asked.

“Don’t worry about that I know…” Rarity was cut off as Scootaloo let out an ear-piercing scream. Rarity turned to the orange Pegasus to see her eyes wide in terror as she looked to the edge of the clearing. Rarity also looked to the treeline to see a massive form moving amongst the trees towards them, its red eyes glowing in the darkness.

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Trace galloped as fast as his hooves could carry him into the clearing, where he stood between the basilisk and the four mares. He turned to the monster and tried to make himself look as intimidating as possible. The basilisk however was undeterred and slowly made its way into the clearing to claim its midnight snack.

“That’s a basilisk,” Trace called back to the ponies behind him. “Don’t look into its eyes. If you look directly at them you could die.”

Fortunately Trace’s glasses prevented him from looking directly into he creature’s eyes. He realized that the basilisk was not going to simply leave the ponies alone and that he would have to stop it somehow. He pressed his hoof into the ground and poured power into the rune on the bottom of his hoof. There was a very large flash of light as a sword was transmuted from the ground. Trace’s mane then began to glow purple as the sword was levitated into the air and leveled at the incoming reptile.

“Rarity stay back. Keep those three safe,” he ordered.

“Trace, what are you going to do. You can’t possibly hope to stop that thing,” she shouted back to him.

“What choice do I have? Let him eat you four? I would rather die first,” he replied, levelly turning his attention back to the basilisk.

“No matter what happens. Stay back!” he shouted as he raced to intercept the monster.

Rarity yelled something back to him, but he didn’t hear it. He made it twenty feet before the basilisk was close enough to take a swing at him with its massive claw. Trace deftly rolled to the side and slashed at the air where the creature had been. He missed, and the creature began to focus on him.

Yes I have its attention. Trace rolled again to dodge another swipe.

Trace swung again with the sword, this time he landed a hit on the basilisk’s side. The cut was shallow but managed to draw a few drops of blood. The basilisk let out a cry of frustration and swung at Trace again. Trace had now grown accustom to these attacks and easily dodged once again. He countered with his sword once more, and cut a vertical line in the basilisk’s side through the pervious one, carving an cross into its side. This cut was much deeper, and this time the basilisk howled in pain.

Then the beast lunged at Trace attempting to catch him in its mouth. This was much faster than the previous attacks had been and Trace had to dive to the side in order to avoid being eaten. Trace rolled on the ground a moment before jumping to his hooves. The basilisk quickly turned and swung at him with its powerful tail. Trace was not fast enough to dodge this attack.

The strike from the creature’s tail felt like being hit with a tree trunk. Trace was sent flying fifteen feet through the air, and crashed into a tree at the edge of the clearing, hard. He could hear a snap from his front fore-hoof as he hit the tree, and let out a cry of pain. He fell to the ground with a now fractured hoof, and attempted to get back to his hooves only to fall back to the ground from the overwhelming pain.

He looked across the clearing to see the monster charging Rarity and the three fillies. Rarity attempted to stop the basilisk’s approach, but was unable to even slow the creature. It brushed past her to go for the weaker and smaller prey. The three fillies immediately began to run in different directions to try and get away from the predator, but it was much faster than they were.

The basilisk turned and began to chase Sweetie Bell, and Trace once again tried to make it to his hooves. He succeeded in standing, and tried to limp across the clearing to save the young filly, picking up the sword once again in his telekinetic grasp as he did so. He was not fast enough however; with a swipe of its claw the basilisk lifted young unicorn into the air and hurled her across the clearing.

Sweetie Bell hit the ground with a thud, and bounced several feet before coming to a rest. She lay there unmoving, and time stopped as Trace stared at her still body. A crimson ichor began to seep from a deep cut in her side. Trace was unaware of the pain that raced through his body as he put his full weight on his injured leg and charged at the beast, sword raised. Rarity’s cry was heard for miles around drawing the attention of a particular cyan pegasus.

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Luna slowly descended the staircase into a pitch-black room. With a flick of her horn torches around her sprung to life illuminating the space. In the center of the room floating on a pedestal was a book. Luna could not see or sense it, but she knew that there was an unimaginable evil that dwelled within its pages.

The Princess of the Night slowly made her way across the dark room towards the evil tome. She came to a stop a few feet away from it, unable to will herself to step any closer. She simply stared at it, and by doing so felt anger begin to well up in her. She quickly broke her gaze and the anger began to recede. This book was very dangerous.

Luna had come here every single night since her return to the world. She was thankful that this secret room had gone unnoticed over the millennia of her banishment. She could not even fathom the destruction that might have been caused if somepony had stumbled onto it during her absence.

The dark room was completely silent. The sound proofing spells have seemed to hold strong over the years.

She would not speak in this room. Words are what gave the evil in the book its power. She had been lucky that not even a single sound had made its way into the chamber so far. She turned her back to the black tome and made her way to the wall so that she could recheck the spell that kept the room hidden. She had done so every night, but was a naturally cautious pony and would continue to check them every night. Everything was in order, and she returned to her place a few feet away from the book.

Luna stared at the book attempting to unravel its secrets by merely staring at the cover. She knew that the point was moot, but continued to leer at it all the same. The black book remained where it had been for more than a thousand years, floating above the pedestal suspended by magic. Once again Luna could feel anger begin to take hold of her, and she looked away.

She sighed. Everything is exactly how it was last night. Luna then turned to leave the chamber. Her horn glowed again putting out the many torches that lined the wall, sending the room once again into complete darkness. The Princess began to make her way up the spiraling stone staircase pausing halfway up to open the entryway at the top. When she reached the top she was startled by an unexpected voice addressing her.

“Hello Luna. A beautiful night we are having, isn’t it?” Celestia said.

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The basilisk screamed in pain as Trace slashed its leg with his sword. It swung at him again and Trace rolled under it in order to stab its underbelly. The monster jumped away before it could be injured again. After landing it swiped at him again causing Trace to roll to the side. Pain from his injured leg attempted to make itself known, but Trace ignored it, he was completely enraged and not thinking at this point.

He once again charged the beast. This time he dropped the sword and turned to deliver a buck to the basilisk’s injured side. Trace poured magic into the runes on his back hooves as he bucked the monster. When he connected a magical explosion threw the two away from each other. The basilisk was lifted from the ground for a few feet before it fell back to the earth with a thud. Trace helplessly rolled over himself several times eliciting another crack from his injured leg. The leg was now broken in two places and no matter how hard he tried to push through the pain he would be unable to stand on it.

The basilisk had fared even worse. Trace had landed his blows on the cuts the he had inflicted earlier. Blood poured from a gaping hole in the creatures side. The basilisk had suffered four broken ribs and a punctured lung from the explosion. It slowly climbed to its feet and tried to limp out of the clearing. Its injuries didn’t allow it to move much faster than a tortoise, but even the unthinking creature knew that if it stayed much longer it would not survive. Trace noticed that basilisk was trying to leave the battlefield, and slowly made his way onto his three uninjured hooves.

“No, you don’t get to leave!” he screamed at the retreating monster.

Trace found his sword laying on the ground ten feet away and cast out his magic to envelope the blade. It levitated into the air, and he glared back at the basilisk. He poured all of his energy into the blade and threw it across the clearing. The sword cut the air as it soared towards the beast. It struck home in the back of the giant lizard’s skull. The basilisk shuttered for a moment before falling to the ground, finally vanquished.

Trace desperately looked around the clearing to find where Sweetie Bell had fallen. Rarity sat next to the filly, crying. Trace began to limp to her side when he was stopped by the sound of a pegasus landing in the clearing.

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Rainbow Dash looked around the clearing not knowing what to think. Near the tree line a massive lizard lay slain with a sword protruding from its skull. In the middle of the clearing she could see her friend crying over the still body of her sister, Scootaloo and Applbloom were also with her. In front of her was a white unicorn standing on three legs barking orders at her.

“GET A DOCTOR NOW!!!” Trace screamed at the stunned Pegasus. He had been trying to snap the cyan pegasus out of her confusion for several seconds and could no longer control the volume of his voice.

Rainbow Dash looked to the clearly broken leg of the unicorn in front of her, and then back to his face.

“NOT FOR ME YOU FOAL!” Trace screamed, prodding the mare with his horn hoping to get her to take flight.

Rainbow Dash looked back to where Sweetie Bell was laying and came to fully realize the situation. She gave Trace a salute and rocketed into the air in search for Nurse Tenderheart. After Dash’s rainbow trail disappeared over the trees Trace turned and limped as fast as he could to where Rarity sat over the still body of her sister. It took him a while to reach her.

Trace looked down at Sweetie Bell and saw the filly was still breathing, but was seriously hurt and needed medical attention immediately. He pressed his hoof into the ground, and poured the last of his magical reserves into completing a final transfiguration. After a moment a flash of white light came from the ground and a few bandages manifested where Trace’s hoof had been.

“Here Rarity use…” Trace was unable to complete his sentence as his eyes rolled back and his body gave into exhaustion. Trace fell to the ground as the sweet darkness of unconsciousness took hold of him.