I follow Twilight down the street with my stone armour still on, not only for protection but to at least cover myself up a bit. I'm getting a lot of stares my way from the residents of the town.

"So what are you? I've never seen anypony like you before," Twilight asks me.

Anypony? "I'm a human, what are you?" I reply.

"I'm a pony, a unicorn to be exact. I've never heard of a human before, where did you come from?" she asks again.

"I come from the Kingdom of Reymorah on the continent of Hedonia." I tell her.

She stops and looks back at me. "Reymorah? Hedonia? I've never heard of such a place and we've explored the entire world," she says.

I frown at that. "Where am I right now?" I ask.

"You're in Ponyville on the continent of Equestria," she replies.

Equestria? I've never heard of such a place before as well, or seen any people like these. "I've not heard of this place either," I tell her.

"Then how did you get here?" she asks as we continue walking, I look behind me and notice the guards following us, I look forward again and answer.

"I was given that book by a stranger and was told to only read it alone. I was then attacked by some bandits after we departed and I killed them," I tell her, to which she gasps at the news of me killing. "I sat down on a boulder and opened the book, a bright flash blinded me and I then found myself in a dark forest where a strange looking manticore attacked me. I got stung in the leg before I killed it, I then limped out of the forest and into this town where I collapsed," I finish saying.

"So that book brought you here? I must admit, I did feel some sort of magic in it, but when I tried to read it, the pages were blank," she says.

Blank? I'll have to look at it myself. We stop at a building in front of us, it's a tall cylindrical building with two long balconies, tall pink stained windows, and a pointed roof with flags around it.

"The guards Barracks are located behind the town hall," Twilight tells me. We walk around the tall building to see a smaller one that looks more like an apartment complex.

We walk inside where a guard behind a desk looks up at us, he nods to Twilight but raises an eye brow at me.

"Hello, Stalwart," Twilight says.

"Good morning, Miss Sparkle. What can I do for you?" he replies and asks.

"I'd like to get a few of Mr Stormsword's possessions back for him," she says.

"Oh, so he's been deemed not a threat then?" he asks.

"Erm, sort of? He just wants his clothes and money back for now," Twilight replies.

He stares at me for a few seconds. "Alright, wait here please," he says and walks into a back room. A couple of minutes later he returns with my torn black leggings and belt, an olive green long sleeve shirt, my iron boots and my money pouch. "Here you go," he says and hands them over to me. I cancel my armour spell and the chunks of stone fall to the floor. "You better clean that up," Stalwart says unamused.

I remove the bandages on my thigh and put my clothes back on and look inside my pouch, two of my gold coins are missing. "Where's the rest of my money?" I ask.

"What's the matter?" Twilight asks.

"I arrived with five gold, ten silver and twenty-two copper coins, there's only three gold coins in here," I reply and turn to Stalwart. "Where's the other two?" I ask him.

He just shrugs. "I don't know, I just store and retrieve whatever is put into the lockers," he replies.

"May I have a look at one of your gold coins?" Twilight asks me.

I pull out a coin and hand it to her. Her horn glows and the coin starts floating. It starts moving towards one of the beds in the back and lands on the third bed's pillow. Twilight walks over to it and lifts the pillow, revealing my missing two coins.

Stalwart frowns. "That's Crimson Blade's bed, I'll have a talk with him when he comes back from his shift," Stalwart says as Twilight levitates all three coins to me.

"Please do," Twilight says and then looks to me. "Now then, shall we head back to the Library so I can ask some more questions?" she asks me as she levitates the stone chunks off the floor.

I look with awe at the display in front of me. "Seems you have some questions as well," Twilight says with a giggle.

I nodded my head and look at Stalwart. "You better make sure my gear stays in good condition, it belonged to my father and if any of it is damaged, I'll kick your ass, got it?" I tell him.

He nodded un-fazed. "Don't you worry, I'll place it in a locker only I have the key to," he replies and heads back into the back room.

I turn around and follow Twilight out. The guards from the Hospital are out here glaring at me, I glare back and they back off. Twilight dumps the stones to the side of the Barracks and looks back at me. "Follow me, I can't wait to get started!" she says and pulls on my hand.

I stumble slightly as I follow behind her, I'm still getting some odd looks from the residents but now they're more curious than disgusted.

Not too long after we left the Barracks, we arrive at a large tree with a door, windows, and balconies built into it. I look from it to Twilight. "What?" she says.

"You live in a tree?" I ask.

"Yes, why? Something wrong?" she replies.

"No, just, unexpected," I say.

She opens the door and invites me in. "SPIKE! I'm home! And we have a guest!" she shouts into the house.

I look around and see bookshelves carved into the walls, a small table sits in the middle of the room with a couch and two arm chairs next to it, there's two doors to the left and a stair case in front of me.

"Be there in a sec, Twilight!" a voice replies.

A few seconds later a small lizard like person starts walking down the stairs, he spots me and gasps. "Wow! He's tall!" he says and walks up to me, he only reaches up to my thighs. "What are you?" he then asks.

"A human," I reply. "What are you?" I ask him back.

"Never heard of a human before... oh and I'm a dragon!" he says, before heading into what looks like a kitchen. "You guys want anything to drink!?" he yells.

"No thank you, I'm fine," Twilight replies and levitates some sheets of paper, a quill and walks over to the couch.

"I'd like a glass of water please," I reply as I walk over and sit next to Twilight.

"Okay! Be right back," Spike says and brings me a glass of cool water.

"So, let's get to those questions!" the purple girl says.

"So what would you like to know?" I ask her and start drinking.

"What was that magic you were using called?" she asks.

I put the empty glass on the table in front of me. "We just call it magic. We use eight elements to cast our spells and we can combine up to five elements at a time or mix elements to gain a different effect, I could give you a decent demonstration if I had my stave back. The spell you saw back there was a shield and earth element combined, then cast as a wall. It can also be cast as an area of effect spell which will surround the caster in a complete wall, or it can be self cast on the caster to give them a makeshift suit of armour, like the one you saw me wearing," I tell her.

"That's amazing! What are the other elements?" she asks me while writing.

"Water, cold, arcane, fire, life, lightning and two others that are made by combining two elements together, like fire and water make the steam element while water and cold make the ice element," I reply.

She writes everything I tell her down on the paper. "And what effects do these elements have?" Twilight asks.

"It depends on the manner of the spell. Target spells, which attacks a foe in front of you. Area of effect spells that attacks the area around you and self cast spells that effects the Caster."

"There's also different types of spells. Storm spells that leave a storm of fire, lightning, cold, water, and steam in an targeted area. Mines that leave small spheres on the ground that can deal damage or heal when stepped on. Quakes that cause the ground to shake and with other elements cause additional effects. Sprays that attack the area directly in front of the caster. Novas that blasts the area around you. Beams that attack a single target at a long range. Projectiles that launch a rock or ice shards on its own or with another element combined with it. Shields that reflect beams and sprays but are weak to physical attacks. Wards that reduce certain types of elemental damage against you and finally, walls that create defensive cover, blockades or unstable walls that will deal damage to those that break them," I tell her.

She's writing very quickly.

"Fire for instance, can have multiple effects. On its own it can spray out like a dragon's fire breath or blast a wave of fire all around the caster. Combine it with an Arcane element, it will turn into a beam of fire. With the Earth element, it will become a rock or boulder covered in fire that not only deals heavy physical damage, but also explodes on impact, or cast it as an area to cause a quake that also spouts fire out through the cracks in the ground. With the Shield element, it coats the caster in a fire proof ward preventing them from being burnt, or it can create a ring of fire around the caster or a wall in front of them. Elements can also be infused with weapons like swords or arrows to give them an added effect. Adding more of the same element only increases that element's effect," I explain to her.

"This is so fascinating! Our magic works so differently, we gather the magic we need from the atmosphere and store it within our horns, we then use our imagination and will power to form the spell we wish to cast and release the magic with the thought of what we want it to do," she tells me as she continues to write on the paper.

"Ah, we gather the mana within us to cast our spells. Our bodies contain two types of energies, mana is the energy allowing us to cast spells and Ki energy that allows us to perform feats of great strength or agility... If you gather it from around you, does that mean you can cast spell after spell continuously?" I say and ask.

"No we can't, our horns are like a muscle, constant use will strain it and make casting harder and more dangerous. The stronger the spell, the more strain is placed on our horn," she replies. "Can you give me some demonstrations out back of the Library?" she asks.

"Sure, as I said, they'd be a lot stronger if I had my stave though," I reply.

"That's alright, I just want to see your magic at work," she tells me. "Spike! I'll be out back if you need me!" she calls out to the young dragon.

"Alright! Just don't forget that Rainbow is coming soon for the latest Daring Do book!" he yells back.

With that said, we head out the front door and walk around the tree, there's plenty of space here for me to cast with.

"Okay, so what would you like to see first?" I ask her, moving at least six metres away from her.

"Can you show me each element on their own in all three forms?" she asks back.

"Sure, these are classed as spray spells," I reply and hold out my left hand. I channel a fire element and release the spell as a small cone of flame sprays out about two metres in front of me, I look back to Twilight and see her writing down what she saw. I channel another fire element and use it as an area of effect causing a small wave of fire moving away from me for a couple of metres, the grass was slightly burnt away.

"I can't cast a self fire spell as it would set me on fire," I tell her. "but the effect of doing that would dry me off if I was wet or defrost me if I was hit with a cold spell," I explain.

"Alright!" she says from the safety of her tree and starts writing.

I then channel a lightning element and cast it in front of me, short bolts of electricity spray out in random directions in a cone like manner. I then cast it again as an area of effect and an electrical discharge surrounds me.

"I can't cast this one on my self as it would only zap me instead, but this spell can jump from one target to another and deal more damage to those wet or wearing metal armour," I tell her to which she scribbles some more.

I then channel a cold element and cast it, a frozen mist sprays in front of me and the burnt ground is lightly coated in a thin sheet of ice. I cast it again as an area of effect, freezing the area around me.

"Again, should I cast it on myself, I would only freeze myself, but should my target be wet it would solidify the water on them and encase them in ice," I say and prepare the next element.

I channel a water element which creates a spray of cool water ahead of me. "This spell doesn't do any damage, but it makes a target wet to increase the effects of other elements like cold and lightning. It's also good for putting out fires and pushing light weight enemies or objects away as well," I tell her and recast the spell around me, soaking the area.

"Casting the spell on myself will just get me wet but also puts me out should I be on fire," I explain.

I then channel a fire and water element and release a spray of hot steam in front of me. "This would not only scald my target, but also soak them like a normal water element would," I tell her. I then cast the area version and a gust of hot steam fills the area around me.

"The self cast of this spell is pointless as it would just hurt me and get me wet," I finish. "These next two elements are classed as beam spells," I tell her. All this constant casting is starting to wear me out, but I try to continue as I did say I would show her.

I was about to channel an arcane element, but a cry of distress distracts me. "AAAAAAAAAH! LOOK OUT!" it says. I look up to see a sky blue woman with feathered wings wearing white shorts, a white shirt that exposes her toned stomach, a brown leather like sleeveless vest, and rainbow coloured wristbands. Speaking of rainbows, her hair and tail are the colours of the rainbow as well.

"OH BUCK!" she yells and crashes through one of the tree's windows. Twilight rushes in to see if she's alright and I follow.

"Rainbow Dash! Are you alright!?" Twilight asks as this Rainbow Dash is sprawled out on the floor groaning in pain, as Twilight tries to get her to come around, I notice her left wing is bending the wrong way with a lump sticking out from the middle. My guess would be it's broken.

Spike looks in from the Kitchen area with a worried expression. "Rainbow? Are you alright? Say something!" Twilight says with concern.

"Ooooh, that bucking hurt!" Rainbow says with a groan. She tries to sit up but yelps in pain as she tries to move her broken wing. "Aw horseapples! Not again..." she says with a frown and gritted teeth.

I walk over to her and kneel down. "Maybe I can help?" I say.

Rainbow looks up at me with a glare. "It's your fault this happened! I got distracted by what you were doing and lost control!" she replies.

"Then if that's the case, would you let me heal it?" I offer.

"Yeah right, even unicorn magic ain't that good... No offence Twi," Rainbow says.

"None taken," Twilight replies to her.

I chuckle which makes Rainbow glare at me again. "This isn't unicorn magic," I tell her. "So, would you like me to heal you or not?" I offer again.

She grumbles for a few seconds. "Fine, but no funny stuff!" she warns me.

I channel two life elements into my right hand and point my palm at her, Rainbow's eyes widen as she sees the two green orbs floating around my hand. I cast the spell and a green beam of soothing light hits her square in the chest, she gasps and clenches her teeth as the bone resets itself and repairs the damaged muscle and tissue around it. The small cuts, bumps, and bruises on her also heal, this would be so much easier if I had my stave.

After a few seconds I stop the spell and lie down on my back panting slightly, I think I used a bit too much mana from that and the demonstration. She extends and retracts her wing, her jaw drops and then she stares at me. "Dude... I... bu... how? You even removed the ache from when I last broke it!" she says with a grin.

Twilight is also staring at Rainbows wing with her jaw agape. "That... that was amazing! What would have taken a week to heal you do in seconds!" Twilight says and then looks at me. "Adrian, are you alright?" she asks seeing me panting.

I weakly wave an arm at her and let it flop back to my side. "Yeah I'm fine, just used too much mana from that and the demonstration," I reply. I feel a tingle as I glow slightly purple, I look at Twilight and see her frown a bit and then gasp.

"Why can't I lift you up?" she asks confused.

I chuckle a bit. "The Doctor at the Hospital said I was very resistant to unicorn magic," I tell her. "Now if you don't mind, I think I'll take a nap," I say and fall asleep.

Next Chapter: Chapter 3: Confrontation Estimated time remaining: 21 Hours, 2 Minutes