Solid Script Equestria
Chapter 22: Chapter 20: A Wizard Sets Seals and Helps a Princess
Previous Chapter Next Chapter“Alright Azure, one more time. Remember, if you have any residual magic in your mouth, spit it out immediately or you will get burned.” I instruct the thestral mare, who nods and take a deep breath, dark fire flaring out the sides of her mouth.
“Alright. Here goes. Roar of Darkness!” The mare successfully breaths out the thin torrent of flames and it grows as it flies farther away from us, the target being caught up and turned to ash like the last three. I nod with a smile as Azure finishes the spell before spitting out another glob of the black fire. Luckily this one was smaller than the last couple attempts.
“Nice job Azure. Looks like you are getting the hang of summoning the fire and not getting burned in the process. I have to say I am impressed, it took quite a while for me to get it right.” I compliment, handing the slightly drained thestral a water bottle. It has been just over three weeks since the members have been given access to Fiore magic, and already we have quite a few standout protégées.
As I suspected when I was choosing their magic, Rainbow Dash and Zecora took to their respective magics like fish to water. The pegasus learned to summon and dispel different storm clouds within days of gaining her magic, though she has been forced to get some lessons from Twilight in magical restraint and conservation. She nearly passed out twice when summoning some thunder clouds, and nearly snowed in the guild when testing which elements she could use. Zecora on the other hand was able to use her magic on day two, the mare being able to summon the plant for defence and offence without much issue, and has even begun to use her Green magic recreationally for her potion making. She has also become the unofficial nurse for the guild alongside Fluttershy.
Aside from that, most of the guild members have gotten the basics of their magic, though the unicorns and Cadence took a little longer than the others since they had to relearn how to spellcast, especially without their horns. Speaking of Cadence, she and her husband were only able to stay for a couple of days, but before they left I gave them a long-distance hologram lacrima so I could still teach them when they have time off from ruling the empire. They also said they would be creating a request station in the empire before the next MPF score exam in a couple months.
I spent almost all my free time helping and teaching members of the guild the ins and outs of their new magic, so I haven’t been able to go out on any jobs. Not that it has been a problem. Now that everyone has their own magic, the requests have been flying off the board as the members get more confidence in themselves. Some have even made teams like Rainbow, Fluttershy and Gilda forming Team Sky Call, or Trace, Flora and Zen forming Team Lost Templar. Not sure where they thought of their names, but whatever.
So far we haven’t had anyone come by with prospects of becoming a new member, but with the current numbers I don’t think that will be an issue. Of course there have been some questioning the idea of giving non-unicorns magic, but most of them are noble bigots that think magic should only belong to their species. Dumbasses.
I release another sigh and look to the sky out the window, seeing it is maybe an hour before Celestia sets the sun and Luna raises the moon. I turn to the magically drained thestral and smile.
“I think that is enough for the day Azure. I have to say I am impressed by the progress you and some of the others have been making. A little bit longer and you should be able to use your magic on jobs without too much worry.” I say, helping the mare to her hooves.
“Thanks Faekage, but I still think I have a ways to go.” She says with a smile while I roll my eyes. Because of her guard training, she and the other two guards have taken to calling me Faekage instead of Lex. It was annoying for a while, but I have already gotten used to it.
I smile and the two of use leave the wood target range, and pass by the iron range where Sonbā is going over Maker magic with Gilda. The hen nods to something he said and gets into her stance while hovering a couple feet in the air.
“Ice Make Eagle!” She launches a dozen or so ice eagles to the target, striking it from several angles. As I expected, Gilda is mostly an Active Ice Maker wizard. So far she has been using things like eagle, dragonfly and tiger. Unlike Lyon, she didn’t seem to wish to try and use single handed spellcasting, even when I told her it was a possibility. She said that she could tell that single handed probably had a bunch of drawbacks, so she is sticking to double handed, or I guess double clawed spellcasting.
While there have been plenty of wizards who have been trying their magic out first hand, some like Raine, Twilight, Trixie and Trace have spent their first week or two in the archives, reading and learning about their own magics. Trixie in particular has been extremely attentive when I went over how to use her Memory Make magic. As expected from the magical download, Trixie began to remember things from her past they she forgot simply because of how long ago it was, like the name of her first pet when she was four, a parakeet named Blue.
Aside from that, most members have decided to take some time to practice their new magic before going on any quests, and I am glad for it. The last thing I want is to get a letter from the mayor of Manehatten and find out Spark burned down a building or something. So far that hasn’t happened, but knowing this guild, even if it is in a different world, I should expect at least one letter about property damage eventually.
Arriving at the guild hall, I wave goodbye to Azure, who was heading to SugarCube corner to get a bite before it gets dark. I look around and spot a familiar grey pegasus waiting by the bar.
“Hey Ditzy! We got more mail?” I ask the mare. Since the guild opened, Ditzy Doo, or Derby as some refer to her as, has become the unofficial mail carrier for our quests. She goes all over Equestria, so she is the one who picks up the quests for the guild most of the time.
“Hi Lex. Yup, you got quite a few from some of the farming towns. Some of them have gotten some early harvest so they are asking for help. There have also been some bandit sightings near the towns by the edge of the badlands, so they are asking for some backup.” She says, handing me a small stack of paper as well as a delivery form. I nod and sign the form before grabbing the stack.
“Alright, thanks Ditzy. Be sure to tell Dinky I say hi when you get home.” I say as the mare head out.
I smile to myself and go to my office, dropping off the quest forms for me to sign later. But first, I needed a bite to eat. Heading back to the main floor, I see Flora in the kitchen using her Air magic to dry off the plates she just cleaned. Smart move, changing the density of the air to increase the heat and dry off the dishes.
“Hey Flora? When you got a sec, mind making me a salmon caesar wrap?” I request, the hen looking to me and nodding. I smile and head back out, sitting by the bar again. Since it was getting dark most have begun to head back to their homes for the day. The only ones not here in Ponyville right now are Spark and Silk whom have taken some jobs in Manehatten which should last a couple days.
I sigh and think about how tonight is going to go. For nearly two months now, whenever I am able to, I have been putting myself into a sort of meditative sleep that allows me to use my mind like a training ground. It is how I have gotten so good at using my magic. I seriously doubt I could have become half as good with my spells without the extra training. And the best part is my body still gets the necessary rest it needs while I mentally get stronger. Though from what I could tell, the ‘dream training’ doesn’t affect my magical core, the amount of magic I can hold and spend.
I wonder though, could I interact with others in the dream realm? I know that Luna has a dreamwalking spell that only she could use, but could I use my Mimic magic or Magical Drain to copy it? I shake my head and put that thought on the back burner for the time being. Right now I wanted to figure out which magic I should practice with tonight. Or....maybe I should focus on my seals.
“Hey boss, foods ready!” I look up from my spot at the bar and see as Flora brings out my food and places it in front of me.
“Arigato Flora-Chan.” I say with a smile. I am not sure why, but lately I have been switching to Japanese whenever talking to anyone from the guild. I am really glad I added the basics of Japanese with the magic info for the members, so they could uderstand me. The hen nods before heading back to the kitchen to make herself something to eat. I am really glad my guild has access to meat products, I think I would go nuts if I had to only eat vegetables.
After I ate and signed and posted the quests, it was already dark out so I decided to call it an early night. Making sure to lock the doors and set the alert spell for members, I head to my room and get ready for another night of training.
“Alright, maybe I’ll focus on my seals tonight. I still need to set the release phrases.” I mutter to myself, covering myself up and raising my arm.
‘Sleep magic: Dream Teller.’ I smile as I cast the spell on myself, the entrance to Luna’s domain appearing for me.
I felt as the spell was finished, and open my eyes, appearing in what looks like an old castle. I knew this place was actually my mind, with each room holding different memories as well as rooms I use for practicing my spells. But there was one room I have only been to a couple of times that I knew I needed to go.
To me to only felt like two minutes to walk the mental halls of my mind before arriving at a door in the lower levels. It was a large, rainbow coloured door with several magic matrixes on it. I sigh to myself as I get ready to open it, before pausing as I sense something. Something that shouldn’t be here.
Looking behind me, I scan the halls before closing my eyes, and forcing the sensation to the forefront of my mind, also known as right in front of me. It took a second, but I hear a familiar voice yelping followed by something falling to the floor. Opening my eyes, I am greeted by a certain member of the guild.
“Luna, what are you doing here?” I question the night princess as she rights herself.
“Oh, good night Lex, I was just curious about what was going on in here. I had seen your dreams turn into this castle before, but I never had the time to investigate. Truthfully I was worried.” She says. I just shake my head.
“Well, you don’t need to worry about me Luna. This is just the result of a spell of mine. I have been using it to train myself and to develop some new spells of mine. That is how I have learned so much over the past few months.” I turn to the door again. “Anyways, I have some work to do, so can you please leave.” I flinch slightly as I see Luna flinch. “Sorry, that was harsh.”
“A little, but its ok. I can tell that whatever it is you are doing, it is very important.” She say with slight disappointment. I try to resist, but eventually sigh.
“Come on Luna. Honestly I doubt your presence will make that much of a difference.” I say, heading to the door with the night princess directly behind me. Opening it up, there is a large amount of light shining though, before it dies down, revealing a circular room with ten large doors on the walls, all connect at the bottom to a trap door on the floor.
“What is this place?” Luna questions.
“This is a part of my mind that connects to my magical core. More accurately it is a visual and intractable part that connects to my seals.” I explain like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Seals?” I turn to the confused princess.
“Indeed. Basically, when I gained all that knowledge and magical power, my body wasn’t strong enough to hold it all on my own. So to compensate, the magic I gained created these magical seals to hold back most of my Grand and Forbidden spells, as well as some of my more destructive magics. If it didn’t, I have little doubt I either would have died from magical overloading, or I would have gone insane to the point Sombra and Nightmare Moon would look merciful.” I explain, walking up to the red door with several fire patterns on it.
“Really. Wow. So then, what are you doing here?” She asks as I check the plaque on the side of the door. Right now it was blank, but I knew how to change that.
“I am going to add release phrases to the seals, this way I can unlock the seals one at a time. I think I should be able to control unlocking one seal at a time now, any more than that and I will end up becoming more destructive and prone to instinct than reason.” I explain before taking a breath and focusing on the first seal. It didn’t take a genius to know that this seal is the seal of fire. Of course, I knew what I wanted the release phrase to be for the seal.
“Rirīsu! Reijinguinferuno no fūin! (Release! Seal of the Raging Inferno!)” I feel warmer and warmer as the door begins to open, rainbow coloured fire pouring out of the door and onto me. I try and relax my body, both mental and physical, as the seal is unlocked and I feel the magical power flowing through me. I could barely hear as Luna gasps and steps back. I am not sure how long I was allowing the magic to flow, before I sensed it was beginning to slow. I take a deep breath and open my eyes, seeing the door is opened, the fire remaining inside the sealed ‘room’. I look to my hands and concentrate, before black fire erupted from them. I knew this was different then the dark flames from Dark Regulus, these were more powerful and far more dangerous.
“Divine Flames. So that was the magic sealed within the seal of fire.” I mutter to myself, extinguishing my hands and closing the door before me. I sigh and stretch. One down, nine to go.
“What was that?!” I turn to Luna, who is sitting on the ground in shock.
“That was the seal of fire, within it is some of my most powerful flame spells, one style in particular being far stronger than the rest.” I explain, walking to the next door, this one being blue and white and having the imagery of waves and glaciers.
“I could sense the magical surge in the real world, so I have to request you don’t release those seals unless absolutely necessary Lex. I am going to have a hell of a time explaining this to Tia. Though I ask, what is that magic style sealed within your seal of fire?” She questions.
I look to her with a poker face before walking over and placing a on her shoulder. Unknown to her, I used my Mimic magic and managed to copy some of her magic, including her dream walking spell. I just smirk to her and prepare to push her out of my head. But first, I answered her question.
“Flame God Slayer magic.” With that and the satisfaction of seeing Luna’s dumbfounded face, I push the mare out of my mind and back to the dream realm. I sigh and head back to the next seal, the seal of water and ice. “Alright, here we go.”
For the next nine seals, I do the same as the seal of fire, creating the release phrases and letting the sealed magic within to flow through me. I am sure the others could sense my magical surges in the real world, so I am sure I will have to answer some question when I wake up.
Though, there was something I was curious about. When Luna was here, I could swear I could sense another being with her, but Luna was alone. So who else was here?
I fall onto my back with an exhausted sigh as I finish with the last seal. That took way more mental power than I thought it would. I had a feeling I was going to have the magic equivalent to a major hangover when I wake up. But still, it was worth it if I can access my sealed magic powers.
“Oh boy, I am going to regret this when I wake up.” I mutter to myself as I sense my physical body beginning to come back to consciousness. I look over the seals again, before laying my eyes on the trap door in the center of the room. I knew what was down there, and with any luck, I will never have to use that magic.
‘Zeref, Mavis, I hope to gods I don’t ever have to use what you two did.’
Waking up in my bed, as expected, I feel like Pinkie took a jackhammer to my skull before blasting both party cannons into my ears. I want to groan, but barely the quietest noise makes my head beat like a bass drum.
‘Whhhyyyyyy?’ I barely manage to think, even my own thoughts causing pain.
I don’t get to suffer alone for long before my bedroom door bursts open, a certain group of mares barging in.
“LEX!” The element bearers yell, and I swear my hearing broke for a second. I barley manage to clutch my head and grit my teeth, tears pouring down my face.
“Please, not so loud. It hurts.” I whimper quietly. I can hear somepony gasp, and then the beating of wings before me. I manage to pry my eyes open and see Fluttershy looking me over in worry. It was then that I remember that I went to bed naked. Ordinary I would be freaking out about it, but right now I couldn’t care less.
“Lex look at me, what happened?” Fluttershy says, her voice barely quiet enough to not cause me pain.
“Mental magic training. Overdid it.” I say.
“Magic hangover?” Rainbow questions with worry. I barely nod to her, that was one of the best ways of describing it. I try to ignore the pain in my head even as Fluttershy grabs my arm and helps me sit up, Rarity running into my closet and grabbing my original outfit. Time seemed to flow by as the girls helped me into my clothes, but I needed AJ to straight up carry me out of my room.
“Hold on, I’ll go grab Zecora and see if she has a potion for this.” Rainbow says, about to fly out the guild before I stop her.
“Wait, just...take me outside.” I manage to say, the others looking to me like I turned into Achnologia. Before the others could scream though, I hear the telltale sound of a Teleportation spell. Turning to the source, we see Luna and Celestia, the former of whom looks to me with some pity.
“Can somepony tell me what my sister means when she said that the magical surges this morning were from the leader of this wizards guild?” Celestia asks with what I think is her practiced poker face, but I couldn’t tell right now.
“W-well, Princess....” Twilight tries to think of a way to get us out of this, before I sigh and tap AJ and barely motion to the window.
“Look, princess, I think Lex here will answer yer questions after she is better.” AJ says, walking to the door with the others behind her, Celestia seeming to notice my state.
“Magical hangover?” I barely manage to hear the sun princess question, and I guess the others nodded. It didn’t take long for us to get outside, and I motion to AJ to help me to my feet. She nods with a very worried frown. I take a breath, the mere act causing my head to pound. After a second though, I manage to focus on what I need to unlock.
“Rirīsu! Hateshinai sora no fūin! (Release! Seal of the Endless Sky!)” There is a sudden burst of magic and wind as I finish my sentence, my seal of wind being released. AJ lets me go and steps back as the magic from the seal flows through me. My hair that I have been letting grow out a bit begins to shift, before beginning to flow in an unseen breeze much like the two Alicorns behind me. I take a breath, and the air goes down, not to my lungs, but to my stomach and immediately I feel the hangover begin to lessen.
I exhale, then begin to breath in an increadble about of air, the oxygen and particles becoming visible to the others as it is sucked down my gullet and into my stomach.
“What in tarnations?” AJ questions.
“Is she....eating the air?!” I hear who I think is Trixie question, but I am too preoccupied in getting myself better and filling my magic. After about thirty seconds, I stop inhaling and audibly gulp the last of the air down my throat before sighing.
“Much better.” I say with a smile, strething my slightly sore muscles. I could see some pinkish white glow from my peripherals, and recognize it as my Sky God Slayer magic natural healing effect visibly healing my migraine and hangover.
“Um, Lex?” I turn and freeze slightly as I see that almost all the members are present and presumably saw me gorge myself on the air.
“Um, hi?”
“What the Tartarus was that?! You have never shown that magic style before!” Spike yells, the other flinching slightly from his volume.
“Uh, well....let’s head back into the guild. This is something to be shared in private.” I say, walking back to the guild hall with the crowd behind me. As soon as everyone entered the guild I locked the door and then cast a soundproofing spell on the building to stop anyone outside from overhearing. I take my seat at the bar and turn to look at the members, who are looking to me expectantly.
I sigh and began to explain what I was doing last night, the others shocked that I had far more power than I have shown before. I then began to explain how each seal allows me to access certain spells or magic style, including my God Slayer magics. Needless to say the others, Celestia especially, were looking to me, and oddly my hair, with slight awe.
“So, let me get this straight. You have magical seals in your core, that hold back some very powerful magical abilities, including some known as God Slayer magic. Do I have that right?” Celestia question. I just nod.
“I’m sorry I never told anyone. It wasn’t really important since I wasn’t strong enough to access even one of my seals before. I only recently decided to try and set the release seals just in case. And as we can see, I can control one seal at a time for right now.” I say, playing with my hair as it continues to flow.
“Remarkable.” Luna says as she looks to my hair more closely, comparing it to her own.
“Tojiru. Hateshinai sora no fūin. (Close. Seal of the Endless Sky.)” The others can sense my magic power begin to decrease as my seal of wind in reactivated, my hair falling along my back as the unseen breeze stops.
“Anyways, now that that is out of the way, whos ready to work? We just got a fresh batch of quests in last night.” I say, pointing to the board. The crowd all seperate, some members going to the board, some to the archives, and the employees going to their stations. Though, Celestia motions me over.
“Lex, there is something else I would like to speak with you about.” She says. I look to the others who are going about their business. I motion for the princess to follow and the two of us head into my office.
“So, what’s up princess?” I ask, taking a seat at my desk.
“Well, I have been worried about my sister. Lately she seems sluggish when she wakes up, like she hasn’t been getting a good days sleep.” She explains.
“Hmm, now that I think about it, she has been pretty tired whenever she is here at the guild. Maybe this has to do with that other presence last night.” I mutter, Celestia looking to me with a raised brow. “Basically, when I was setting the release seals on my magic last night, Luna popped in since I was technically asleep. She stayed for a bit, but while she was here, it felt like there was....something else. Like there was another being with her, but I know Luna was alone.”
“Indeed, I have noticed that as well. At first I was worried that Nightmare Moon was returning, but whatever the presence is, its magical signature, what little I was able to grab, is different than the darkness that took over my sister.” She explains. I lean back into my chair in thought before digging into a draw and grabbing a long-range communication card.
“Here, contact me an hour after Luna goes to sleep, so I can use her dreamwalking spell and see what is going on in her mind.” I say, the solar princess nodding and taking the card and hiding in between her bra.
“Thank you Lex. I am truly worried about her.”
“As am I. I may not know her too well, but as the Faekage it is my duty to take care of all the members as though they are my family.” I say seriously, the mare stopping for a second before nodding and turning to the door. I walk her back to the entrance where Luna was waiting for her sister.
“Alright, remember if either of you need anything, just pop by and any of the members or I will help out however we can.” The royal sisters nod before teleporting away. I sigh a bit before walking back to my office and taking out a list of spells.
I spent the next couple hours going over some spells with some of the members, as well as hanging out with the CMC and Echo. I was still pulling a blank and what to teach the fillies, but I have begun to teach Echo about Transformation magic to see if she can essentially turn herself into a neko like Carla.
I was just grabbing the Animal Takeover spell booklet for Fluttershy and Angel, when I sensed the alert from Celestia’s card. I quickly fly down and hand the mare and bunny the spell booklet, before going to my office and locking the door and taking out the communication card.
‘She asleep?’ I question.
‘Indeed. I double checked earlier, and she appears to be out of it.’ I hear the reply before the faint sound of doors opening and then the connection is cut. I nod to myself and pull up Archive, going through my spells before finding the dreamwalking spell I copied from Luna.
‘Well, here goes nothing.’ I close my eyes and cast the spell, earning the feeling of slowly being submerged before appearing in what looks like a cloudy landscape similar to the place I met Master Mavis. I smile to myself and begin to look around before finding what I am looking for. It appeared to be a doorway, with the night design all over it.
Walking into the dream, I appeared in what looks like the throne room of the Canterlot castle. I quickly cast a self invisibility spell, and hide behind a pillar as Luna walks in with a determined look on her face. I wondered what she was up to, before spotting some kind of dark blue mist ball hovering behind her. I had a very bad feeling about this.
“Alright Tantabus, do your worst.” She says, before the ball seems to send energy into her, Luna’s body beginning to crack and grow as her coat darkens, her teeth sharpening to a point and her mane becoming darker and more chaotic. I watch with wide eyes at her transformation before the doors burst open and, not just the Element’s, but several members of the guild run in.
“Oh no, Princess Luna is turning back to Nightmare moon!” Dream Twilight yells in worry as Luna turns to them with a mad smile.
“Not if we can help it!” dream Rainbow says in confidence, sparking her magic along with the others. The battle begins, and it looks like Nightmare Moon is making beating the guild look easy.
I understand now. That thing, the Tantabus, it is forcing Luna into having nightmares. And judging by the slight, almost unnoticeable increase in the Tantabus magic power, its feeding off of her. But where did it come from? Why is it feeding off Luna? And why did Luna say for it to do its worse like she was inviting this nightmare?
I shake my head after hearing some of the members yelling in pain, seeing almost everyone on the ground, clearly beaten. I watch in shock as Nightmare laughs in victory before looking to the door with a grin. I look to the doors with worry as I see myself, the dream me looking over the guild members with sadness before looking to Nightmare with rage.
“You....YOU’RE DEAD!” I watch as magic bursts around the dream me as what she thinks would happen if I removed all my seals. The dream me looked like a being of living magic, her body glowing with an outline of darkness. I gulp and see even Nightmare looks worried. The other me roars before sending a large beam of pure magic towards Nightmare, who is too stunned to do anything.
“THATS ENOUGH!” I roar and surge my magic, causing the dream to fall apart and bring Luna into my mind while I am in the trance. Before she can even process what is going on, I lock eyes with her and rip out the Tantabus with my Seith magic, before securing it in an orb of magic within my own mind.
“W-what just....happened?” She questions before seeing me with my arms crossed, the Tantabus floating beside me, trying to get out of the magic container and gulps.
“You want to explain to me what the hell has been going on with this thing?” I demand while motioning to the dream eater thing. She looks between me and the Tantabus a few times with a slightly sheepish expression.
“Um, w-well....” she tries to think of an excuse, but I stop her with a sigh.
“When you wake up, you and your sister are to come to the guild and talk. Am I understood?” I lean towards the mares face, who nods quickly before I use my magic and send her back into her own mind.
I sign and turn to the trapped Tantabus, the creatures trying to get out of the orb I placed it in. I sigh and retreat the two of us into my own mind before walking the mental halls and arriving in a type of containment room, just a room over from where my seals are.
“Alright then. I am going to let you out now. Don’t bother trying to take me over or escaping, I have complete control of this place and my mind.” I tell the Tantabus before popping the bubble it is in. The thing floats around before stopping and I guess staring at me.
“....so, can you talk?” I ask awkwardly. The thing turns this way and that, emulating a shaking head. “Well, from what I can tell your form seems malleable, so counldn’t you just, I dunno, shift your form to make letters?”
The Tantabus freezes, even the wispy effect of it stopping before it begins to shake and creating letters. ”I had not thought of that.”
“Yeah well I doubt Luna is very good for conversation and ideas when you are forcing her into having nightmares.”
”I am merely doing what I was created to do. Lady Luna made me to give her nightmares as a form of self punishment after her banishment.”
“Are you joking. Why is this a thing with former villains not thinking they have had enough punishment?”
”Don’t ask me. I have only existed for about a year and a half now. I do not know much about the outside world aside form what lady Luna’s nightmares have shown me.” I look to the thing for a moment before focusing on the halls of my mind, a door appearing before the two of us. Opening it up, we arrive at what looks like a small study.
“Here. This is part of my memory warehouse. You can spend some time here to learn about the outside world from my memories, but don’t get too comfortable. I will be keeping a magical eye on you to make sure you can’t do something dangerous or stupid or both.” The ball turns to me and I guess is confused.
”Why allow me to learn this? As Lady Luna put it, I am essentially a parasite, whatever that is.
“Well, I am not really sure myself. If this were to happen when I was younger, I am sure I would have destroyed you instantly. Maybe it is my magic, but I can sense that you aren’t a real threat to me. If anything, I am a major threat to you since with one spell, I can erase you from existence since you are a being made of magic. Also, maybe it is naive, but I think you could help me and grow to be something more than what you were created for.”
The Tantabus just floats there for a minute before hovering over to one of the shelves and taking out a book that I saw was my memories of basic cooking. I nod before leaving and locking the ‘doors’ making sure the Tantabus can’t go anywhere else in my head without me.
I cast another spell and break myself out of my trance, opening my eyes and appearing in my office. Looking to the clock on the wall, I see I was in that trance for about four hours. I guess time flows differently when under the effects of the dreamwalking spell.
“Oh boy, I hope nothing happened while I was under the trance.” I mutter to myself before heading out of my office and to the main floor. Getting a quick update from Zen, the only thing that happened was Fluttershy scheduling a training session tomorrow. I nod to myself and order a salad from Flora while waiting for Luna and Celestia.
I am not sure how long I was waiting and eating for before the royal sisters walk in the door. The members look to the royals with raised brow and worry at Luna’s slightly ashamed face. I look to them with a neutral face and motion for them to follow, the three of us heading to my office for the second time today.
“Take a seat, both of you.” I say, sitting behind my desk. I am sure I sounded like a disappointed teacher or something. And the sisters expressions just reflect this as Luna looks ashamed while Celestia looks confused and worried.
“So, what did you find?” Celestia questions, Luna looking to her sister with confused shock. I turn to Luna with slight disappointment.
“The Tantabus. Apparently it is an entity Luna created not long after her return to give her nightmares every day as punishment for her crimes as Nightmare Moon.” Celestia looks down to her sister with worry, pain, disappointment and more while Luna looks shocked.
“How-“
“How did I figure it out? Simple, I asked the Tantabus. Turns out is can change its form to make letters and communicate that way. One would think you would know since you created it.” I say, leaning in my chair with my arms crossed.
“Wait, the Tantabus is in your head now?!” Luna says in slight outrage, standing up.
“Yup. What, did you think I would just destory it? No, that entity is interesting to me. Also, even if it is parasitic in nature, it is still technically a living being. And as one, it has the potential to grow into more than what it was made for.” I explain.
“Are you nuts?! As you just said, the Tantabus is a parasite! It feeds off negative emotions to survive, but I can produce just enough for it to live. You are far stronger than me Lex, if you don’t get rid of it, it might absorb enough energy to enter the real world!”
“No, it won’t. Like you just said, I am stronger than you, meaning at any moment, I can cast one of my spells and erase it. Right now, that thing is secured into a single section of my mind with only access to a small portion of my memories, most of which, are mere facts and things I have learned over the past 20 years of my life. Right now there is next to zero percent of that thing absorbing any more magic than what I am allowing it to so it can survive.” I say seriously. The duo look to me with neutral masks, masks much better than mine, before sighing.
“Very well, we will leave it in your supervision. But know if it somehow escapes-“
“That I will be the one to deal with it. Trust me I am already thinking of contingency plans for it.” I finish for the solar mare. She nods before turning to her sister. “I can tell you two have much to talk about, however I think it would be best for the two of us to speak to one another alone first. You can do that here, or you can return to the castle, it make little difference to me. However, I will need to know about what you plan on doing afterwards. Like it or not Luna, you are technically under my watch, not just as a friend or a member, but as family.”
The lunar mare nods before standing from her chair. Before she can mover very far, I speed walk around my desk and bring the slightly taller mare in for a hug, letting her rest her muzzle on my shoulder.
“We’re not just friends Luna. We’re family, and that goes for everypony else in the guild. Please, if you have a problem, come to one of us.” I whisper to her, Luna nodding as a few stray tears escape her eyes. I smile up to her as I escort the duo to the front doors for the second time today.
“Lex, thank you.” Celestia and Luna say before teleporting away. I smile to myself and head to my room, intent on ‘unwinding’ for a bit. Been a while, even before I was sent away from earth.
Unfortunately, I didn’t even make it to the door to my washroom before a loud buzzing echoed through my room. Confused, I look around before looking in my Token drawer and see the Alchemist watch I got from Ed is buzzing like my phone.
Picking it up, I pop the lid open and watch as the clock begins to spin rapidly, before fading into the image of a familiar, yet different looking man.
“Edward? What’s up? And what’s with the new look?” I question, sitting on my bed.
“Hey Lex. Um, so I guess it is a good thing you are sitting on something, there is something we need to talk about. It’s about your sisters.” He says. I look to him with a very serious glare.
I had a feeling this will be a long conversation.