Gladiator - Extras
by Not_A_Hat
Chapters
The Mechanics of Magic
"Rainbow?" I stepped into the Golden Oaks library, diligently searching town for my chromatic friend. "Rainbow, are you here? I waited an hour, and if you’re napping somewhere - " I stopped. An excited voice filled the normal stillness.
The library was quite small, but it did have a few alcoves, nooks, and crannies. I carefully walked around the room, until I found the source of the lecture. Twilight was pacing determinedly in front of a blackboard, scrawling symbol after symbol, talking non-stop. Sweetie Belle, eyes glazed in incomprehension, stared at the raving unicorn with a slack jaw.
"So you see, if the entrapment vector is rotated entirely through the matrix, the net delta is zero. This means the klein field is fully re-directing the energy, and - "
"Twilight."
" - also, the crystalline structure is cubic, but with skew edges, so for every fifth set, the entire loop is shifted one step - "
"Twilight!"
" - so, flat fields bent through space have much higher deflection coefficient! Any questions?"
"TWILIGHT!"
"Yes, in the back! Wesley Kilmer!"
"Twilight, what are you doing?"
"Teaching Sweetie Bell magic." Twilight gave me an innocent stare. I glanced back and forth, from the chalk-dusted teacher to the nearly comatose student.
"Uh - huh. Why, if I may ask?"
"She asked!" Twilight gave me a grin. "She's interested in magic! Isn't the joy of learning wonderful?"
"Um, Sweetie?" I nudged the filly. "You awake?"
No response.
"Well, um." I turned back to Twilight. "Couldn't you have started with the basics?"
"This is basic, Wes." Twilight frowned pedantically. "I need to challenge my students, or they'll get bored. Learning shouldn't be boring!"
"Twilight, this is advanced field theory! There's nothing 'basic' about it!"
"Nuh - uh!" Twilight levitated a textbook off the table. "It is so! Look at the cover! Basic magical theory!"
" - for thaumic defense engineers! Twilight, this is college material!" I facepalmed. "Seriously, this is the same as when I 'helped' you with Cherilee's class! You need to be more aware of your audience!"
"This is nothing like that!" Twilight looked nervously at Sweetie, the glassy expression of her student seeming to register. "…is it?"
"It totally is. Look, Twilight, you're a great lecturer. But this is just way, waaaay, beyond Sweetie's level. And you're not even explaining! You're just working proofs!"
"But…" Twilight gave me a lost look. "Isn't the rest self-study? This is usually enough for Spike."
"Spike is immature, not un-educated! He's referenced this book enough, he could recite it in his sleep." I sighed. "Look, how about you go… make some tea, or something, and I'll take a shot at teaching Sweetie Belle. Then, when I've covered the basics, maybe she'll want a little advanced explanation?"
"Oh." Twilight's mane and tail drooped. "Okay." She trudged out of the room. I rubbed my eyes, and thought for a second.
"Right, that’ll work," I mumbled. "Look, Sweetie! Your cutie mark!"
"Huh?!" Sweetie leaped into the air, turning to look at her flank. Her face fell when it was still blank. "Oh, it was a dream." She looked down, dejected. "I guess I couldn't learn anything from Twilight, after all. Am I a really bad learner?"
"No, hey, cheer up, Sweetie." I leaned down to give her a hug. "Don't fret about not understanding Twilight. She's a great lecturer, but not much for actual explanations. What did you ask her to teach you?"
"I just wanted to know a little more about unicorn magic. You know, how it works and stuff." She sighed, hugging me back. "I'm not very good at it, but Twilight is. I thought maybe if I learned a bit more, I'd be better."
"Not a bad idea." I released her and pulled up a cushion, sweeping books and paper off the table and flipping the chalkboard so a clean slate was available. "Maybe I can help."
"You?" Sweetie gave me a blank stare. "You're not a unicorn."
"Sure." I shrugged, and pulled out my wand. "But I do have this."
"What's that?" Sweetie poked it.
"It's called a wand." I spun it around a finger, drawing crackling trails in the air. "I can use it for magic. Just a little bit; probably even less than you."
"So… you know magic?" She gave me an unconvinced look.
"Yup." I levitated a sheet of paper, carefully folding it into a paper crane and flying it around her head. "Unicorn style. I'm not too bad, if I do say so myself."
"You can teach me magic?" Her expression lightened a little.
"Not spells." I shrugged. "But maybe I could teach you something else."
"Huh?" Her expression was intrigued, now. "What else is there?"
"A very good question." I grinned, just as Twilight came back with tea. She poured three cups, before slumping quietly by the window and picking up a book. "Let's explore it." I blew the steam off my cup, and tasted it. "This is too hot. Can you chill things yet, Sweetie?"
"I'm not very good." She looked at the cup nervously.
"Give it a try." I grinned encouragement. She nodded slowly, and concentrated. A dim green mist flowed off her horn, settling across the tea. I sipped, and nodded. "It's definitely cooler. Not bad." She smiled. "Now watch." I raised my wand, and pushed just the barest hint of magic through it, waving it over her cup.
Ice crackled across the surface.
"Woah!" She looked at the cup, and then at me, and back at the cup. "You… what… I could barely feel that! How did you do it?"
"Simple. Vision. In school, have you talked about the basics of magic yet?"
"Some." She frowned. "But I'm not sure I really understand them."
"Can you repeat them for me?"
"Miss Cheerilee says magic is made up of two things; the energy to create, and will to direct." She looked at me uncertainly, and I nodded. "She said harder spells take more energy, and more complicated a spells are trickier to imagine."
"That's a good start." I smiled at her. "Those are the basics. Energy and will. So, tell me, Sweetie, when you cast a spell, what do you do?"
"Um." She gave me an uncertain look. "I… think about it, really hard, and I sort of push…"
"Alright." I nodded. "That sounds correct. When you do that, you're engaging both of those basics. The thinking is your will, and the pushing is your energy. If you do something complicated, is it trickier to think the right things?" She nodded. "And if you're doing something hard, you have to push more?" She nodded again, more firmly. "There you go. Will and energy. Those are the basics."
"So how…" She looked at the tea, and then back at me.
"Well, like most things, there are tricks." I waved my wand over her cup, and it started steaming again. "Magic is no exception. Think about this. When you willed your spell, what did you imagine?"
"I just.. .thought about colder tea."
"Well, that's not bad." I shrugged. "In fact, it's definitely enough, if you've got lots of energy." I bit my lip. "I'm going to try and be a bit more technical here, so if you get confused, let me know, alright?" She nodded. "Okay. Will and energy are the basis of all magic. But, both will and energy are actually pretty complex." I pointed at the tea. "When you think about 'colder', you're taking a concept, 'cold', and applying it to the tea, which is hot. You then add energy, and the energy makes your will happen. With me so far?"
"I think so."
"Okay, next step. Cold is a word that defines a concept. But, do you really understand what that concept means? Think about it for a moment."
I sipped my tea, watching her mull it over.
"Cold is what happens in winter." Her voice was quiet, reflective. "I feel it in the air. Cold is the opposite of hot. Miss Cherilee says cold is… temperature is…" She paused. "This is hard."
"Yeah, lots of things are." I shrugged. "Okay, let me explain a bit. Cold and hot are opposites, but they're both caused by the same thing; movement of molecules. Everything is made up of tiny, tiny pieces called molecules, even the water and this cup." I tapped the cup. "The hotter those pieces are, the faster they move. The colder they are, the slower they move. So, instead of just thinking about 'cold - the opposite of hot, the feeling that happens in winter,' I thought about 'cold - the molecules of tea are moving slower.' More than that, I didn't think about 'change cold to hot', I thought about 'take the movement away from the tea molecules, and give it to the air molecules'. This is vision, the first step to using will more effectively." I sipped my tea again. Sweetie sat, thinking, for a good minute, before nodding slowly.
"Okay." She gave me a serious stare. "I think I understand, at least a little. You're saying that the more I know about something, the better I can will it to happen."
"Basically." I grinned. "And the better you can will something to happen, the less energy it takes." I waved my wand. "Remember, magic can do just about anything. You're limited by only those two things; will and energy. If you've got enough energy, and you really, really know what you're doing, you can do things like this." I focused, and an illusory flower grew from my wand, sprouting from a twig into a bud, and blossoming into a profusion of blooms.
"Coooool." She gazed at the flower in awe. "How are you doing that?"
"Illusion magic is complicated." I grimaced. "I can't give insight here until you've done a few more years of school." Her face fell. "But, maybe…"
"Yeah?"
"Just a second." I stepped into the library proper. Scanning the shelves, I spotted the one I wanted. I flipped it open, and showed it to Sweetie. "Have you seen these?"
"Magic Eye?" She gave it a dubious glance. "What is it?"
"It's an illusion grimoire."
"Huh?"
"It's a spellbook, filled with rune-circles for casting illusions."
"But it's a picture book!"
"Well, that too." I smiled. "Look, it's supposed to be fun. But it basically does what I just did. All you need to learn is spell-circles."
"Is it hard?" She looked up, green eyes wide.
"Not at all." I pointed to the page; it had a background of trees, painted with lush green foliage. Runes and circles were cunningly concealed in the illustration. "Can you see this marking, here?"
"The star?"
"Yeah. That's the key for the spell-circle. They can be anything, but this book uses stars. All you need to do is will your energy into the star. Like this." I tapped my wand to the key, and pushed power through. It didn't take much, but I gasped as I let up; even a children's book was a challenge for my meager reserves.
The runes slowly lit, tracing the circle with my crackling orange aura, before fading. For a second, multicolored birds peeked from the foliage, jewel - like feathers shimmering, before they faded.
"Woah." Sweetie gave the book a look of innocent wonder. "That's cool! How does it work?"
"Ah, you're curious about runes, now?" I grinned. "That sounds like advanced instruction." Twilight's ears pricked. "Maybe our local librarian would oblige?"
"Um…" Sweetie gave her a cautious glance.
"It'll be fine. Twilight's not a bad teacher; she just gets carried away. Use small words, Twilight, and talk slowly."
"Right!" Twilight bounced to her feet, enthusiasm for learning restored. "Okay, Sweetie, do you know what a rune does?"
"Um… something for spells?"
"Yes! Runes are precisely a means of storing a vision." She pointed to the book. "The reason you can cast an illusion using this grimoire is because the runes hidden in the page contain the will for your energy. You push, and the circle does the rest."
"Oooooo." Sweetie looked at the book again. "So, if I learn to write in runes, could I cast spells like that?"
"Yes!" Twilight nodded eagerly.
"Okay! Teach me about runes!"
"Okay! Runes, or as they're technically called, phenomenotation, are an ancient art. We've expanded and refined the science several times! First, you need to memorize this!" She levitated the basic rune dictionary onto the table with a thump. It was the size of a small encyclopedia. "Then, when you've got a grounding in all the different schools, we can move on to simple circle construction!" She added another textbook with a thwap. "Once you can make basic circles, we'll expand in the direction that interests you, by picking a single school and focusing on that, while continuing to study the mechanics of construction!" She grinned, adding another two books. By now, the pile was almost as tall as Sweetie. "If you study this in your own time, you should be writing rune circles in a few months!"
"Um…" Sweetie peeked hesitantly around the column.
"Oh." Twilight glanced at the books, and wilted slightly at the look on her student's face. "Too much?"
"Maybe a little." I shoved the books to the side. "Sweetie, runes are really, really useful. But writing your own rune circles is an advanced topic, and normally the sort of thing only experts do. And there's a very good reason for that."
"Okay?"
"See, it comes down to something Twilight mentioned before; schools."
"Blech." Sweetie stuck her tongue out. "School."
"Not like that, silly filly!" Twilight giggled. "No, schools are categories for spells. Different runes are for different spells. They go in groups, like fish! So, runes for spells that move things around go into Kinesthism, and spells that change the way things in the world work end up in Bizzanarchy. Sound magic falls into Echonarchy, and the chilling spell you and Wes practiced earlier is part of Entropology!"
"I'm with Sweetie Belle on this, though." I crossed my arms. "Schools are dumb."
"Oh, come on, Wes! We can't just throw the whole system out the window!"
"I don’t' see why not." I pouted. "They barely make sense!"
"Um…" Sweetie glanced inquiringly at me. "What do you mean?"
"Okay, the idea behind schools is this." I tapped the rune dictionary. "This book has several different sets of runes, all invented by different researchers. Each set reflects their 'vision'. If you arrange them in different patterns, you can use that pony's vision to help your spellcasting. So, say I made up a set of runes to reflect my vision of heat." I pointed to the tea. "You could use it to cast the chilling spell using a lot less energy, even if you didn't understand how I imagine heat."
"Oh." Sweetie sipped her tea. "That sounds useful, though."
"It is. It's not until the next step that things start getting complicated." I grimaced. "The problem is, that various researchers don't always understand the same things in the same way. What if I imagined cold as something that happened in winter… and only in winter? That would affect my spellcasting. I might not even be able to cast chilling spells in summer, and if you used my runes, you couldn’t either."
"That's dumb." Sweetie gave me a wide-eyed stare.
"Right! And that's what happens with schools. The divisions are completely arbitrary, based on what the ponies who invented the runes actually understand. So, some runes that work together shouldn't, and some runes that don't work together should. On any spell using more than fifteen runes or one school, reliably calculating energy requirements is impossible, and unwanted interactions play merry hay with the intended effects!"
"Language, Wes." Twilight gave me a reproving glare. I gulped guiltily. "And the effects of most runes are well researched. You wouldn't have those problems if you used them in a traditional manner."
"Tradition is great, Twilight, but there's no reason to keep it if it doesn't help." I frowned. "Look, Sweetie, here's the thing about runes. They're really useful. Really, really useful, in all sorts of ways. The thing is, they don't actually make spell-casting any less work. Actually, they usually make it more work, because you end up with these strange problems, where your circle doesn’t do what it should, and you need to figure out what the runes are really doing, and then change it so they stop." I sighed. "Remember that floating spell Twilight and I worked on?"
"Yeah?"
"Lots of ponies thought it was pretty cool. And not just because it lets you float in the air. The reason it got lots of attention was because it combined runes from different schools; runes that ponies thought didn't work together. The reason we could make that work, was because we understood what was really happening better than the ponies who wrote those runes. Our vision was better than theirs, so we could do things they didn't understand. It was a lot of painstaking research, though, because before we could modify the spells, we had to really understand the vision behind the runes, so we could see what the magic was really doing."
"So, can you make up your own?"
"That's… tricky." I tried to give an explanation that would fit. "The thing is, I don't know runes like Twilight. And Twilight doesn't know my vision of the world. We could… at least a little, if we could mix those two bits of us together." I thought of Arglefraster, and some of the effects we'd managed. "It would be pretty useful. Unfortunately, there's no simple way to do that, and besides… some of the things runes do, I don't have any vision for at all. The school system is stupid, but it's a very, very well developed stupid. Sometimes it's better to stick with an inefficient tool you understand than switch to a new tool you don't. I don’t actually plan to re-write the system. I just like to complain."
“Oh.” Sweetie Belle grinned at that. "But… how do they know?"
"Hmm?"
"How does the magic know what the runes mean?"
"That…" I grimaced. "Ponies have debated that for years. There's a field of study called subthaumology where all they do is argue about it. Nopony can agree."
"Although there are many fascinating theories!" Twilight interjected, with a grin.
"Yes." I gave her a flat stare. "Maybe you can read about them later, Sweetie. But in short, the magic knows what the runes mean the same way it knows what your thoughts mean; because it's magic." I shrugged. "If we knew more about that, we might understand how cutie marks work, and other interesting things about this world."
"Cutie marks!" Sweetie gasped. "We don't know how they work?"
"Not at all." I shrugged. "We know a lot about them, but mostly what they do, not how."
"They give you your special talent!" She struck a hoof on the table.
"Right… sort of." I shrugged. "They give you some boosts, too. They're sort of… a vision magnifier?"
"Huh?"
"Like… you know, will and energy. Vision boosts will. Well, cutie marks boost vision. Lyra, for example, has a cutie mark that uses music. Because of that, she can cast sound spells - echonarchy - a lot more easily."
"Like my sister, and her gem finding spell?"
"Exactly. We don't know why she gets a boost there, but she can locate gems much more easily because of her mark. Actually, cutie marks are more flexible than most ponies realize. Rarity could probably cast spells to locate anything more easily, although the boost would be less. Lyra can do some pretty surprising things, because she spent several years exploring all the stuff she could use her cutie mark for."
"Cooool."
"Yeah, it's definitely an under-researched field." I shrugged. "Okay, to wrap up runes, there's only two more things to know. The first one is artifacts."
"Like the Elements?"
"Yes, exactly." I grinned. "All artifacts are based on runes. If you take a whole spell, with everything needed to cast it and write it into a thing, it becomes an artifact. Grimoires are the most basic." I tapped the Magic Eye book. "It's a thing that's magic. If you put energy in, stuff happens. They can be as simple as a chalk circle, or as complicated as a flying carpet. They're all based on runes, and they all follow the same rules. Somepony did the research, built a spell that worked, and then attached it to a thing to make a useful tool. Even the Elements are made things."
"Although we don't know if a pony made them." Twilight added.
"The other thing to know about is runecasting."
"Rune… casting." Sweetie Belle sounded out the word. "What's that?"
"Another simple idea that's tricky to get right." I grinned. "Okay. You wanted to cast illusions like I did?"
"Uh-huh."
"Well, if you like the illusions in this book, you might be able to cast them." I pushed the Magic Eye book a little closer to her.
"But I thought you said…"
"Yeah, illusion magic is complicated." I shrugged. "That's why runecasting is useful. If you're really motivated, check this book out, take it home, and memorize it."
"Memorize?" She gave the book a dubious look.
"Not just the pictures; memorize the runes. Go over every square inch of the page until you can picture the whole thing in your mind, clearly. Until you can read it in your mind. Then you can try runecasting."
"How?"
"Kinda like casting using the grimoire." I shrugged. "You imagine the runes, and pretend they're appearing somewhere. Then, you push your magic into the key, and the spell will work."
"Hmmm." Sweetie looked at the book again.
"Would you like me to show you?" Twilight flipped the book open, and glanced at the page.
"Yeah, but - " Sweetie cut off as Twilight touched the table. A small rune-circle appeared under her hoof, glowing magenta. She lifted her foot, and multicolored birds winked into view. They looked a little odd without the illustration, but it was undoubtedly the same.
"She's got unfair advantages." I gave the stunned filly a shrug. "Twilight has practiced magic so thoroughly, she can memorize a tiny circle like that with just a glance."
"Oh."
"The disadvantage to runes and runecasting, is that they actually take more energy than casting from your mind." I tapped my head. "If you have the concepts in here, the spell works better. The thing is, it's sometimes easier, or at least more stable, to use runes or rune-casting. If you write a spell in runes, you can 'compile' it into concepts, using special rules. Most spellbooks have both types of spells. But casting from spellbooks is even trickier than runecasting, so we won't talk about it. Other than that..." I finished my tea. "Will, energy, vision, runes, cutie marks, runecasting and artifacts…I think we covered the basics." I grinned. "Does that answer your questions?"
"Huh?" Sweetie gave me a confused stare. "That's all?"
"That's all." I shrugged. "The rest is application, which might be a little much for you. But maybe in a few years, if you want more help, Twilight can give you a little - "
Snnnnerrrk.
“What was that?” I turned my head, searching for the source of the sudden snore.
“Rainbow.” Twilight shrugged.
“She is sleeping here!” I sprang to my feet, pacing around to look for her. I spotted her quickly; she was collapsed messily on a beanbag, behind a shelf, a few rows over. “She promised to meet me at one!”
“She’s been reading all morning.” Sweetie Belle trotted up behind me. Twilight nodded.
“Hmm.” I glanced at the sleeping pegasus. “The rest is application, Sweetie, but maybe a demonstration would help.” A wicked smirk spread across my face. “Twilight, want to help me glue Rainbow Dash to the ceiling, as payback?”
“Hmm.” Twilight glanced at Sweetie, and smiled. “Well. If it’s for learning.”
Rainbow snored on, oblivious, as we exchanged conspiratorial grins.
Addendum
The schools of magic Wesley knows about (not all there are):
Aporiasis - magical discipline that can 'translate' between phenomenotions. (Rune-concepts.) Less useful than it sounds.
Bizzanarchy - magical discipline that re-writes basic laws of reality. The anti-gravity spell falls here.
Iconarcana - magical discipline for passive magic in icons. A specialized type of artifice.
Echonarchy - magic of sound. Lyra uses metamancy to align her intrinsic magic to this school, so she can apply her cutie mark to it.
Somnology - for magics related to sleep and dreaming. One of Luna's specialties.
Numancy - for magics and research related to the soul. Wes is not a fan. Currently on Equestria's 'black' list, due to it's dangerous nature.
Arcanology - the magic of 'spending secrets'. Used for communication, not divining.
Resography - the study of multiple realities. Poorly understood, even more than the rest.
Entropology - spells for heat manipulation. Easy to use, hard to master.
Kinesthism - spells for movement, a superset of telekinesis. Too many contributors to this school means it has blurry boundaries.
Minarchy - a system for allocating degradation and chaos. Helpful for optimizing large systems.
Metamancy - school for magic that affects magic. Lyra is one of the few experts.
Geromancy - Age - related magic. Complex interactions and abstract concepts make this incredibly hard to master.
These aren't schools, exactly, but they may be of interest:
Phenomenotions or Phenomenotation - The concepts used to cast spells or write runes. Can be very abstract.
Thaumotricians - doctors that examine innate magic.
Numismatrix - An arcanology tool. Can be used to exchange a 'known' secret with an 'unknown' one under certain conditions.
Subthaumology - A philosophical study of magic, usually discussing why it does what it does. Tends to be polarized between 'practical' thaumaturgists, who don't care, and 'armchair' magicians, who can't cast anyways... or so the other group says. Comparable to metaphysics.
That's the entirety of the list in my notes. However, I make these up on the spot, so if you find one not listed and want a definition, I'll make one up - ahem, I mean, I'll try and remember what I was thinking.
Dreaming Sunset
"And that one?" I raised a hoof, pointing at another cloud.
"Pinkie Pie's mane. Gotta be." Beside me, Wes concentrated a moment; an outline traced the cloud. His dream powers were still much stronger than mine.
"Pfff." I imagined another cloud into being, but interrupted before he could interpret it. "Do you and Luna do this?"
"Not with clouds. We've done constellations, though."
"Huh." I looked over at him. We were lying on the grass in one of his childhood memories. His thin arms were crossed behind his head, and he looked slightly less raggedy than usual. His scruffy brown hair was adorably messed up, and his hazel eyes met mine as I stared.
I turned my gaze back to the clouds.
"Uhh… Gummy."
"Didn't you make that cloud?" He sounded bemused.
"Oh, hush!" I summoned another, and another; in a moment, the sky was overcast.
"Want to try stars?" He wiped the clouds away with a wave. "Or were you going for paper there, sis?"
"Hmph."
He grinned at me, his infuriating little grin showing the corners of his sharp teeth. If I didn't know better, I'd swear he smiled like that just to make chills run down my spine.
"Wes…"
"Yeah?"
"How do you feel about being my brother?" I rolled over, resting my head on a hoof so I could watch him. He rubbed his jaw, thinking.
"I'm thankful." He looked at me. "Grateful you gave me the chance."
"Really?"
"Totally. Family is important to me, you know?" He turned back to the sky. "I don't miss much about Earth. I mean, I do, but it's all stuff I can do without. I've never been a particularly needy person, or extremely tied to my 'stuff'. But family… that's different." He sighed. "Did I ever tell you about when Celestia first mentioned I might be able to return?"
"No." I watched intently as his gaze went distant.
"It wasn't even a big thing. She just said something like 'oh, and by the way, maybe we can get you home,' and I broke down. I turned into an absolute mess, weeping and sobbing on her couch. That wasn't because of any 'thing' on Earth. It was the thought of my family."
"Sorry."
"Nah, it's cool." He waved a hand. "This is what family's for, right? I can tell you this stuff, and you've got to accept me, because you can't get rid of me." He smirked, showing his canines again. I swear, those teeth… "But why the sudden question?"
"Well, um." I stopped, suddenly unsure of myself. I'd been meaning to say this for a while, but every time I tried, the butterflies in my stomach tried to carry me away.
"Hey, hey, Sunny." He fixed me a piercing glance.
"Yes?" My voice was small.
"It works both ways, you know."
"Huh?"
"You're my family too. I mean, that's how I consider you. If you've got something to say, say it. I'll listen, and afterwards, I'll still be here for you."
"Right. Um. Okay. Well, what I was going to say, was…" I trailed off. "Was…" I drew a deep breath. "Was if you don't want to be my brother, you don't have to."
"Huh?" He gave me a genuinely puzzled look. "Why would you - "
"I'm not done!" I tapped a hoof on the ground for emphasis. His mouth shut with a click. "Wes, I really appreciate you. For a long time, it was just… me. Alone. All day, every day. I had nopony to rely on, nopony for backup or reassurance. I'd cut away everypony who mattered to me, knowing full well what I was doing. I'd told myself I couldn't go back, I convinced myself those bridges were burned. So I just kept moving forward, one hoof at a time, because I thought return was impossible and changing that was hard." I laughed wryly. "Then you came along. I was in a bad way, Wes, when you declared yourself my brother."
I thought back to Tweed's cell, re-living the despair and pain with a shudder.
"You just looked at me, and said 'tell me'. So I did. You elbowed your way into my life, my heart, picked me up and carried me back into the light." I sighed. "You gave me an opportunity to regain some of what I'd lost, and I jumped at it. When I came to Ponyville, I told you 'be my brother', because I was pretty sure you'd say yes." The butterflies in my stomach jumped and jerked, but I forced myself to continue. "The truth is, Wes, I just want to be close to you." His gaze had gone intent; every speck of his attention focused on me. "I want to be your family. But I don't have to be your sister. I love you, Wes. Sometimes I wish we could be… closer."
His expression turned thoughtful, and it was all I could do to hold my peace. I wanted to laugh it off, pretend it was a joke; I wanted to run and hide, wake up, anything to keep from hearing his rejection. But his eyes held me.
"Sunset, I…" He stopped, and his eyes darkened, gaze intensifying. "Maybe telling me this in a dream was a bad idea."
"Huh?" I paused, confused. What was he talking about?
"See…" He stopped, breathing deeply, his calming exercise. "Right now, you're in my mind." He locked his stare on me again. "In here, I am in control." The world whirled around me, and suddenly, we were upright, standing under a radiant tree. Stars spread above us in a bowl. "I'm not sure what to say, Sunset. I'm really not. I appreciate your feelings. Maybe we could make something out of them. I don't feel that way about ponies, really… I mean, I’m all for friendship, family, intimacy, love… but that sort of relationship? I'd honestly never considered it." My heart sank at his words. Here it comes…. "Here, though…" His gaze pierced me again, and my heart shuddered at the almost predatory look in his eyes. "That's not a problem." Suddenly, I found myself upright. I stumbled, waving a hand for balance, before I realized what had happened.
Hand.
I was… a human again? I glanced down. Yeah, definitely a human. Boots, skirt, earrings and all. I pushed my fiery bangs out of my face, and doffed the black denim jacket that came with this form, already feeling warm. I calmed my breathing. I honestly hadn't considered a reply like this, but it wasn't a negation.
"Well." I straightened up, returning his gaze with matching intensity. "Maybe we can make something of them." I gave a secret smile. "It's a place to start, right? How about… Hmm. I have an idea. Maybe."
"Interesting..." His smirk was predatory. "What are you thinking?"
"Perhaps a game?" I started to pace slow circles around him, musing and kicking my heels. He followed me with his eyes only. I leaned in close, to whisper in his ear. "There could be prizes."
"Hmmm." He pretended to consider it. "Go on, go on."
"We'll have a match. If I win, you go on a date with me. If you win…?"
"A kiss." He seized my chin before I could withdraw. "Just one." He looked deep into my eyes, and I shivered delightfully.
"Wel~l." I drew the word out, anticipating. "Maybe that could work." I slipped out of his grasp, stepping backwards. "Then, you pick."
"Tag." The response was immediate. "Run, Sun." The predator in him grinned. The prey in me quivered. "I'll catch you. But!" A swirl of snow spun in, obscuring everything. "If I don't find you in five minutes, you win! I'll give you half a minute head start! Also, I won't teleport or fly. Check your watch. Sound fair?"
"No." I smiled. "But I'll take it." The snow cleared; he was sitting in the branches of the cypress. I grabbed my jacket in the sudden chill, shrugging it back on, and glanced at my wristwatch. I shot a look back over my shoulder; he had his hands over his eyes. I jogged off, pulling on the fabric of the dream as I did.
Shared dreaming was tricky. With practice and concentration, you could adjust your surroundings, but it wasn't always simple or easy. I focused intently, and the landscape behind me shattered into boulders. It wouldn’t stop him, but it was a start.
The biggest difference between shared dreams and single dreams was that since two minds were involved, everything was much more stable. In a single dream, anything could change on a whim. In a shared dream, things tended to stay the same unless they were acted upon.
I was running now, my breath puffing frost into the air. The cool breeze was pleasant on my face.
I was getting better at manipulating dreams, but I'd never practiced on my own. Wes had told me about exploring something called 'lucid dreaming', and taught me a few of the techniques useful for that. Most of them centered around visualization; like a strange, malleable form of magic.
I looked behind. A tiny figure was leaping from boulder to boulder, gaining distance on me. That wouldn't do. I frowned, and tried again.
With a fierce motion, I pulled a forest from the ground. It took visualization and concentration, certainty and imagination. Tall trees surrounded me, yard-thick boles yawning upwards into a cathedral of green. This should obscure my trail, at least a little. I hadn't lost him yet, though. He'd promised not to teleport, but he was still plenty fast, even without flying.
A grin slowly crossed my face at that. He promised not to fly. I had no such restriction. I closed my eyes, and focused my dream powers as hard as I could. This would be tricky to do; I didn't want to change back into a pony just yet. All I wanted, was -
Click.
My horn! A familiar pressure settled just above my eyes. I tried to focus on it, but couldn't see anything. I ran a hand over my forehead; a strange pattern of raised skin, something like my cutie mark, had appeared on my head. I shrugged. It wasn't the same, but as long as I believed it would work, I could use it here. I focused again, reaching for my more familiar magic in place of the odd dream-shaping.
A cyan aura streamed up my body, rippling and running like living flame. I'd always enjoyed the feeling; it was like hugging yourself, or wrapping up in a comforting blanket. I flexed my power, and lifted off the ground.
A twig cracked behind me.
"Horsefeathers!" I glanced back. Just how long had I taken to make this work? A hazel eye winked in the underbrush. I kicked off a nearby tree, and zipped away, dodging and jinking through the trees.
For a moment, I thought I'd escaped. But behind me, swishing and crackling told me he was still in pursuit. Desperate, I turned upwards, quickly jetting out of the canopy and soaring high into the sky. He couldn't get me here, right?
Wrong. I looked down, only to see one of my trees start expanding. A small figure, laughing wildly, rode the crest. The forest giant swelled, growing impossibly quick, stretching and reaching for me nearly faster than I could fly.
Nearly wasn't enough. I needed to change tactics.
With a wrench, I changed the orientation of the world. Sideways was now 'up.' I summoned a series of floating disks, and placed myself in the middle. Passively running away wouldn't work, here. I needed to be proactive; actually block him.
If I wanted my prize. I imagined going on a date. There would be candles, and fancy food. We could talk about where to go from here. Maybe something serious would start.
I weighed that against one passionate kiss. The way his eyes had changed, looking at me…
I shook the thoughts away. I would win this. Giving up like that; that wasn't me. Not by a long shot. Besides. Maybe there'd be time for that later.
He leaped from the tree, landing lithely on the first disc. He jumped, nearly in a flat arc, to the next. My eyes widened, and I moved another disc to block. He shattered it casually, and I summoned three more. He looked up and laughed, carelessly, almost contemptuously. He was certain.
I shivered.
With renewed ferocity, I threw everything I could imagine in his way. He vaulted from the spires of Canterlot onto the Ponyville train; he bounced from car-to-car before diving into a huge ball of water and powering to the other side. I used panels of steel, but he melted through, panels of glass, but he shattered them. His small figure steadily grew larger as he bypassed or broke every single obstacle.
Maybe I couldn't win this.
I tried again, this time with less tangible things. I summoned fog to confuse him, and wind to knock him off course. I tried dazzling him with lights, and even a few fireballs.
He kept coming.
His smile was insouciant, his gait confident. He didn't even pause as he marched through a thousand spinning knives, finally nearing my platform. I could see the whites of his teeth as he chuckled.
My watch went off.
"Hah!" I leaped into the air, turning a complete backflip. "Hah, hah, hah! Time's up, Wesley Kilmer! Hah! I win! I'm the queen of the castle, and you're the dirty rascal! You owe me!"
"Hmm." He gave a knowing grin, and evaporated. I paused; his voice had come from behind me. "Not quite, my dear Sunset." His breath tickled my ear.
"Hwah?" I gave a small shriek, and spun… but there was nothing. "Where are you?" I stomped a foot. "Teleporting is cheating!"
"Well, yes." Suddenly, strong arms wrapped me from behind, pulling me snugly against his chest. "But I didn't." He rested his chin on my shoulder. "The wise man wins first, and then fights. Controlling the decoy wasn't even that hard. You shouldn't have let me pick the game, Sunny."
"Huh?" My knees went weak, as he nibbled my ear. "How… what… My jacket!" Feeling the chill on my arms, I looked down. The black cloth was gone.
"Teleportation wasn't an option." He shrugged; I could feel it. "But I never said anything about transformation. You're a snug fit, dear, and it was a pleasant ride." I shivered as he ran a hand up my side. "Now, I believe you owe me a kiss. But, I never said where." I shivered again, as he touched my skin. He wouldn't, would he?
"But…" My voice quavered.
"No buts." I quaked at the growl in his tone. "Unless…" He spun me around, and smiled softly. "No, I'm only teasing." He pulled me in close, and planted a gentle kiss on my forehead. "Just a little fun, Sunset. Please don't be mad?"
"I'm not mad!" I gave him a glare. I wasn't. And definitely not because…. I squelched the thought.
"Good." He wrapped his arms around me again, and we stood for a moment, enjoying each others closeness. "Sunset?"
"Yeah?"
"Would you like to go out to eat? Maybe this Friday?" His voice got a little nervous. "I mean, I know you said, but - "
"Yeah." My voice was soft, and he stopped. "Yeah, let's do that."
"Oh. Ok. Good." He smiled tenderly down at me, and I grinned back.
Maybe we could make something out of this.
Ponies on Earth
Was it really magic?
I turned the key over and over in my hand.
It was small, unassuming, a tiny silver trinket. It had the distinctive shape of a skeleton key, a post with plain teeth and an ornate, heart-shaped loop on the end. A thin red ribbon, tattered and thin, was strung through it.
Then again, what did I have to lose?
I glanced again at the box it had come in and thought of my grandmother. I'd always wanted to believe there was magic about her, a little left the of the Old Country clinging about her, visible in the sheen of her hair and the brush of her clothes. Even as she lay dying, her Irish accent had been strong, even as she faded the power of her character, her light and life, had shone clearly through.
She had given each of her grandchildren a token. She laughed and smiled, telling us that the noticeable things had gone to our parents, but the important things, she'd left to us. A heritage, a touch of what she'd instilled in her sons and daughters, passed along in hopes we could see the world around us more clearly.
I flipped the box open, running a hesitant finger over the letter, the only other thing inside. I unfolded it again, skimming the short paragraphs again.
…the Old Country was filled with the doorways to other worlds if you only knew how to look, Rose. This key is magic, a small thing to unlock a little wonder. If you place something in this box, lock and open it, you may pull a fragment through from Elsewhere. Be careful! Magic is reflective, and not easily tamed. Use only innocent things, and be sure you never place anything hated or feared in the box. If you look with the eyes of a child, searching only for joy, it will serve you well.
Remember I love you, and…
I let the paper fall. Besides that, the letter was sentimental and private, a small package of love. I smiled nostalgically for a moment, remembering Gran's embrace, but my attention slowly shifted back to the key.
Well… I could always just try it out.
Struck by a sudden fey mood, I whirled to my feet, spinning to survey my room. It was comfortably messy, the small, busy room of an average college girl. My eyes danced across the textbooks on the desk, sliding away from impressions of responsibility and homework. I wanted something enjoyable to try this on. I skimmed the bookshelf, dismissing novels and biographies alike. Too complicated. I turned again, ignoring the fern by the window and my backpack, only pausing when my gaze lit upon the plushies piled on my bed.
Innocent, happy, the eyes of a child… those might do. I swooped down, scooping up an armful to sort through them. Nothing too large, nothing too worn. After a moment of shuffling, I ended up holding a small purple unicorn, with wings and star-shaped marking on her flank.
"Twilight!" I tossed her in the air, catching her as she fell. "You're magic, right? No-one hates or fears you. You want to be friends with everypony!" Grinning, I stepped back to the box and set her in the bottom. The toy was about the size of a beanie baby, and it fit easily in the shoe-box sized chest. I flipped the lid closed with a clack, and slotted the key in the lock.
I paused.
Really? Was I really about to do this? Did I really think something magic would happen here, just because of an old woman's letter?
Then again, it hadn't been sold to me. It hadn't been hidden, or guarded. It had come privately, and there was nothing mysterious here. Just a letter, from my Gran, telling me magic.
The key clicked over easily, clicked back smoothly. I withdrew it and placed a hand on the lid, about to flip it open, but paused.
A tingle of anticipation walked down my spine.
I wanted magic to be real. I really did. But my childish self had been exactly that; childish. She'd been enamored with the strangeness of my Gran, a vibrant old woman who was so very familiar, but also so very, very alien. I'd pretended, when I was small, because when you're small, pretend is almost as good as reality. When I grew up, I'd abandoned that wonder, lost a little of the magic… not the magic in Gran, but the magic in me. I let my hand linger on the lid of the box. I knew magic wasn't real, but for a moment, for just this moment, I could believe again. And that, in and of itself, was a wonderful gift. I sighed, preparing to throw back the lid and see my plushie.
Thump.
I jerked my hand back in shock, as something bumped the box. I glanced around, wondering what had happened. Had something fallen?
Thump.
This time the lid jerked. I stepped back again as something inside said, quietly:
"Ow."
Suddenly, my heart was thumping. The box was moving. The box was speaking. This… this wasn't normal. This wasn't what I'd expected. This was… magic?
I stilled my heart as best I could with slow, deep breaths. I reached forward carefully, silently, unsure. I froze for a second, caught in indecision, before thrusting my hand forward and flipping the lid back.
Inside, a tiny purple pony was nursing her head.
"Woah…" I couldn't stop the wondering breath.
She was, obviously, not my plushie. She was, just as obviously, here, real, and very much alive.
She glanced up, freezing as the light fell across her. Both of us remained like that, locked in place, for a good thirty seconds. She broke eye contact first, as her gaze flickered from my face, to the ceiling, to the letter, and back to my face. Her brows narrowed, and she shakily moved to stand. I leaned back as she turned a complete circle, reared up to put her hooves on the edge of the box, and stare around my room.
After a complete examination, she turned back to me. She flicked her wings wide, and a with a few lazy flaps, floated into the air.
"Thwible? Flumble nac sneegle qip?" Her voice was quiet and light, but carried her incomprehensible words clearly. She seemed to speak with a combination of sharp consonants and more breathy, horselike vowels.
"Huh?" I frowned. "Sorry, I don't…"
"Oh!" Realization dawned on her face. "Of course, English." She zipped forward, zooming around my head. I saw a blur of purple as she circled me completely. "Well, at least I ended up somewhere I could communicate."
"T-Twilight?"
"You know my name?" She flitted back a second in surprise. "Of course… to call me here, you must have… Ah!" She saw the key and the box, immediately gliding over and landing to trot around it. "Hmm, hmm! Fascinating! This looks Tuathan… So, so!" She turned back, fluttering up to eye level. "Tell me, teach me! How did you do it? Do you have notes? Instructions?" She spun, searching. She zipped over to my desk, and started nosing through my homework.
"I don't… I'm not… I got it from my Gran." I shrugged helplessly, following. "I wasn't even sure it would work at all. I had no idea what would happen."
"Experimenting?" She gave me a disapproving look.
"It seemed safe." I suddenly felt defensive. "I didn't think it was real."
"Oh, right." She nodded. "Magic isn't a thing here."
"Huh?" This time I was perplexed. "How do you know that?"
"A friend of mine studies resography." She wave a hoof in an offhand manner. "Most human-ish worlds are fairly science-y."
"Really? You've been to— Oh, right! The Mirror, in Equestria Girls?"
"And you know about that?" She flitted up to perch on my shoulder. I turned my head to look at her. "Hmmm… so, what's the connection?"
"Connection?"
"From my world to yours." She shrugged. "Miss…?"
"Rose. Rose Fairfield."
"What's the connection, Miss Fairfield?"
"Please, call me Rose." I sunk onto my bed, nearly dislodging her. "You're a story here. A cartoon; television show for children. They chronicle your friendship reports and adventures."
"Ooo! Really? Can I see?" She bounced excitedly off my shoulder, landing in my lap.
"Well… yeah." I grinned. "Yeah, that could be fun." I reached for my desk, snagging my laptop and flipping the lid open. "I'll just—"
"Diane?"
"Eeeep!" I flinched, nearly jostling the laptop onto the floor as called out from the living room. "Quick, Twilight, hide!" I scooped her up with one hand, thrusting her into the pocket on my hoodie.
"What's up? Who's that?" She shuffled herself around, tickling my stomach. Her voice was a little muffled, but she kept it low.
"My suitemate Diane— one of her friends. I'll just—"
"Diane? Rose?" He called again.
"In here!" I called back.
"Hey, Rose." He stepped into the doorframe, a thin, scruffy guy with messy brown hair and warm brown eyes. "Have you seen Diane? We were going to do something this weekend, maybe with Joel. Get a game together, maybe." He shoved his hands in his pockets, trying to look casual. It almost worked.
I hadn't known him for long; he'd joined our circle at the beginning of the semester, one of the few people on the hall that wandered through the perpetually open door of our suite. He'd seemed nice enough then, but now… now I wasn't sure what to make of him. He'd disappeared for a week over spring break, falling completely off the grid; no phone, no email, no nothing. When he came back, he'd looked a year older, and his motorbike had gone. All he ever said about it was that there'd been 'trouble', but every so often I saw his eyes shift strangely when he entered the room or met someone new; assessing and measuring, the way someone who'd lived with danger did. Still, he didn't act any less friendly or polite.
"She's gone shopping," I answered uncomfortably.
"Hmm." His reply seemed distracted. His eyes flitted around the room, distracted, almost like he was tracing some unseen pattern.
"Hey! You okay?" I tried to draw him back to reality.
"Rose…" His gaze locked on the box, sharp and intent. He stepped forward, raising a hand slowly. "Where did you get that?"
"Huh?" I gave him a look of blank incomprehension. "From my Gran. It's—"
"Magic," he said decisively. Suddenly, Twilight started squirming in my pocket. I surreptitiously tried to cover the movement, crossing my arms.
"No, I don't know what— Ah!" I jumped as Twilight gave a sudden lurch, squeezing out of my grasp and leaping into the air. I froze, trying to think of something to say, something do, as the two saw each other. "Stop! Don't—"
"Twilight Sparkle?" His voice went soft as he saw the miniature alicorn.
"Wesley!" I was even more surprised when she zipped forward, throwing herself at him in a tiny hug. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again!"
Sick Day
*Hack* *Cough*
"Mmmm…"
I curled a little tighter under the covers, rolling slightly away from the sound.
*Koff*
"Ack."
Another cough and a small gasp near my ear finally pulled me from the arms of slumber.
"Wes?" I said quietly. I could feel his head on my side, pillowed right where it should be, but his breathing was a little labored. He sighed gently in reply and coughed again.
I raised my head, leaning back to look at him. His face was slightly flushed, and he was huddling under the covers. Was he… shivering?
"Sir?" I said, a little louder. His eyes opened slowly, and he blinked blearily.
"Bit?"
"Mmm."
"I have a headache. I feel… gross."
We lay in silence for a few moments.
"I think I have a fever."
I carefully uncurled, snagging a pillow and slipping it under his head as I slid off the bed. He pulled the covers closer and balled himself up under them.
Once my hooves were on the floor, I concentrated slightly and shifted form, feeling the familiar twitch and flow as my shape changed from insectoid-pony to insectoid-human, plain cotton pajamas appearing for modesty. He watched me with dull eyes. I caressed his forehead, trying to gauge his body temperature.
"Could be." I frowned slightly. "I'll get you a thermometer."
"And a glass of water?"
"Of course." I gave him a nod and turned to the door.
I was back a moment later with cold water, a thermometer, and his day planner. He drank the water listlessly, and while the thermometer sat in his mouth, I read his schedule for the day.
"Pencil?" he asked, reading the thermometer and handing it to me. I passed him one, along with the planner. I watched, slightly confused, as he carelessly scratched out my careful schedule. "Thanks for your work."
"But, um…" I stared at the now-empty planner, perplexed.
"I'm taking the day off."
"Then what…?"
He paused, looking at the planner again, and carefully wrote 'rest' in, filling the entire day. He looked at that for a moment, and then added 'Hug Bit'.
"That's all?"
"That's all." He closed the planner slowly, placing it on the nightstand. He lay back with a sigh, patting the bed beside him. I almost climbed up, but remembered his rule about the bed. I was about to change back, but he stopped me with a touch. "This time—" He paused, coughing. "This time it's okay. A little… human comfort would be nice."
I looked at him for a long moment, but he just patted the bed again. I silently pulled back the covers, slipping under them. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, resting his chin atop my head.
I could feel his heartbeat.
His breathing slowed, gradually returning to calm sleep.
I sighed deeply and let myself relax. It was warm and quiet in the dim room. There was nothing in the planner except spending time with my favorite person in the whole world. The snow was falling outside, and the small wood stove would keep the house warm for hours yet.
Days like this were nice, too.
I let myself drift off to sleep, barely feeling the tiny smile that formed on my lips.