Orion was having a shitty ass day.

It started out so nice to. Which was good. But as always as of late, magic classes had become the bane of his existence. The class itself was fine. Even the other students were not that bad, some even supportive. You know, only after the original mockery was done. Whatever. But his own inability to harness magic in any truly significant way, was starting to drag his spirits down.

His teacher, Mr Cloverleaf, was a decent fellow. Dues ex Douchebag, was 'let go'. Turned out he was having some impropriety with an older male student, on school grounds. Someone may have discovered and reported this elicit behavior. Your welcome Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. He was here to serve. Kinda satisfying to see him escorted off grounds. Idiot.

Mr Cloverleaf ended up replacing him and he turned out to be a decent person all around. Though Orion did feel the man may have started to take his lack magical strength, personally. It seemed he was determined to improve his student's ability, come hell or high water. Both hell and high water seemed to be taking their turns killing him.

The exercises, if you wanted to call those lessons as such, were grueling. Separate from the rest of the class Orion would go through his personalized lessons with ease. The sheer volume is what killed him, by the end of each day, he was a sweaty mess. He hurt like he ran a mile with a bag of rocks on his back. And the headaches had became a constant companion.

Leaving class. Grateful of the weekend that had finally arrived, Orion headed to the students showers to clean up and change into a spare set of clothes. Closing the locker and putting a magical lock, which only seemed to incite more pain in his head, he stepped up to one of the shower stalls and peaked in. No one. Good.

Claiming the shower as his own he brought his cleaning kit in to do the usual thing. He was never going to get used to this horse body. Looking down was always so weird for him. Washing his balls wasn't hard, but when it came to the penis however, horse hygiene is weird. One quick shower later, he stepped out, and felt so much better. Only a hint of a headache remained. The mirror caught his eye and he went to it to examine himself. The little vanity he had when he came here seemed to be getting bigger. A small vice in his book.

Staring at his horn, it had gotten longer again. It was black, really black, with those same swirling patterns he had stepped into this world with. His mane was getting long again as well, might have to get it cut soon, if nothing else then to keep the the schools Health and Standards committee at bay. Those guys were ruthless when it came to appearances.

The biggest change over the last five years was his height and muscle mass. He was tall for a colt of thirteen, coming in at what he guessed was nearing five and half feet. He thought maybe it was because of him being originally an older man when he came to this world. His own body just playing catch up with his soul or something. The one to two hours he spent at the gym, now on a daily basis, had gone far into putting lean muscle on his frame. He was no Adonis. Not with his face. But he certainly wasn't like the rest of the student body of his school. Still some baby fat here and there. Not a big deal.

Pleased with his progress, he dressed, grabbed his things and headed out the door.

His plan was to go straight home and then to the gym afterwards, but he decided to make a detour. Figuring a hundredth look through the academy's library might finally yield some answers, though not betting on it, he began to meander around the aisles looking for, well anything at this point. Most of the books he perused was clean and organized, and absolutely useless to his on going problem.

His magic had actually improved. He was now capable of holding four times the magic he wielded when he first started. The problem, was the rest of the class also had improved by similar metrics. So he was stuck in the same position. He wasn't so vain that he believed he deserved to have more then the others, but he wanted to be able to at least match the standard.

His wanderings took him to what appeared to be a rarely used section of the library. It was dusty as hell. Why had no one cleaned this area up. Looking at the books on the shelves he had his own chuckle and knew why no one bothered with this section. This was priceless, it was the catch-all aisle.

'Clean Living for the Soul, how you can go from living in squalor to a warm home.' What in the shit was all this. Self help books? Picking up another, 'Finding That Special Sompony, six steps that will blow his mind.' Laughing his ass off he placed the book back on the shelf. Not really believing what he was seeing. "The horse version of chicken noodle soup for the soul right here, dear God."

Ready for another laugh he pulled out another book from the shelf, already his day was improving. The dusty old book gave him pause however, 'Enchantments, and How They can Benefit You'. "Enchantments? Think we went over that in a lesson though we never covered it fully. Something about it being too rare and ability to bother try teaching." Finding a table, he cracked open the book Orion began to read.

Orion lifted his head back, the muscles stiff from holding the same position for over four hours. The book was fascinating, to say the least. What he thought was going to be nothing but beauty enhancements, turned out to be a bit of an advanced primer on learning how to craft, engrave, and magically imbue spells into objects.

It was brilliant in a lot of ways. He could see how fast he a society could advance with equipment magically forge to function like his world's technology. Many of the common spells could be used by all instead of just unicorns with it.

One of these spells he learned from this book, expanded ones connection to magic. Could it really be done? Could he actually do it? The idea of cheating never bothered him, but at the rate he was going he would die of old age before he was ever equal to others. Why not take a chance and try?

It was then that Orion noticed Mrs Evergarden. Oh shit, how long had he been here.

"Um...Hey Mrs Evergar-" Orion was cut off.

"DON"T, you hey me, Orion! Do you know how worried I was for you?! No one knew where you were. No one seen you leave the school. I didn't know if you were foalnapped, or run over by a cart. You had me worried sick!" By this point she had grabbed him by his ear and dragged him out of his seat. He barely had time to grab the book.

He was getting absolutely no chance to tell her what had happened and why he was tardy. No she was raging. Like a little oddly colored volcano.

He stood over her, not that it mattered to the fired up short mare, she was mad. Did he just think of her as a mare? Great the place was rubbing off on him worse then he thought. A sharp tug on his poor ear brought him back to the present.

"You are grounded Orion, do you hear me? Grounded. You will not go off without telling SOMEPONY what you are doing." She was starting to shriek a little. Orion tuned her out. Focusing just enough to keep from falling over as she tugged him along by the ear. His thoughts drifted back to what he read in the book tightly tucked up under his arm, he started to plan.
This could work. This had to work.

It took 6 days for Orion to be released from prison, a.k.a. his room. Being locked in and not allowed to even read drove him nuts. He couldn't understand it. Punishments never bothered him. Hell, he even got used to Miss Sapphire's useless chore punishments. But Mrs Evergarden always seemed to find a punishment that made him either embarrassed, or bored to tears. Learn something new every day he supposed.

He had to wait till the weekend to enact his plan. Orion had poured over that book relentlessly. Finding two more in the library, 'Enchantments, First Edition' and 'Safety Tips for Beginning Artificers.' All three books had the same author. A Bearded Star. What a name, it brought a funny image to his mind anytime he saw the name.

Those books and the bits he saved were, hopefully, his ticket out of all those exercises. Those lessons were misery incarnate and he was damned if he wouldn't be finally getting out of them. Going to Forager's Smithy was easy. Getting the old Minotaur to sell him anything was hard.

This was his sixth attempt. It had been weeks since he started this mad quest. But the other smithies rejected him outright.

"And what do you need this metal for my young friend. This is your sixth attempt to buy this steel and you have yet to give me an answer that is satisfactory. I will not have you making a weapon to hurt anypony with." His cultured voice always seemed odd coming from what is a mountain of literal flesh. He took up a great majority of the room in his workshop, Orion barely fit in the rest.

Forager was a Minotaur. He was a middle age old man that swung that fifty pound hammer like it was a five ounce toy. His blacken head, horns and forearms, paired well with the rest of the tan fur on his body. The leather apron over his bare chest gave him a savage butcher's look. But the kind set of his face seemed to belay that.

He had been trying to get this old bull to sell him scrap steel for the past two weeks. He had been his first stop, and the man had laughed him away, But Orion wasn't giving up. Two weeks of continued pain from Mr Cloverleaf. He couldn't put up with that for too much longer, it had been three years.

Opening his mouth several times to answer, he stopped. He had been concocting lie after lie to get this lump of muscle to sell him the steel he needed in order to make the band he had read about in the book. And he saw through every single one of them. The less who knew what he was doing the better. But he was going to have to do something, fuck it.

"Well lad seeing as how-" He never finished that sentence.

"My magic connection sucks. Oh I can do most things others unicorns can do but on a much smaller scale. My plan is to make a band that will improve my connection. This would get me the hell outta remedial courses. Nothing has worked in improving my connection or strength, so this is my last shot."

Forager eyed him. Suspicion being pushed away with a smile. "Finally you tell me the truth lad. I had been wondering why you had been so adamant about it. But I didn't realize you were going to attempting making an enchanted item, what a surprise."

Surprised flashed over Orion's face, "You know what Enchantments are?"

"Oh yes, Minos was home to Masterforgers, but we lost the skill somewhere along the way. No one lives that can actually do it anymore. You'd be the first I've heard in a long, long time that has been willing to try. Most consider it an art lost forever. Some seem to think it was a legend at this point." Thinking slowly, nodding. "Lad I'm willing to make you a deal. You can use the metal. Won't even charge you a bit for it. But if you succeed, you must work with me on a project, that has long been overdue. Do we have a deal?"

Orion was slow to respond back. His mind was in overdrive trying to see any downfall to it. Learning that there was no one in the world that could do what he was about to attempt put him in a tricky position.

If the Princess found out he could actually make enchantments, even shitty ones, she would have him on lock down fast. Rulers did that kinda crap. He knew she was not gonna be any different. He would learn how to make enchantments, but at what cost? On the other hand the old minotaur was the only one willing to give him the time of day. He had been to four other smithies in the city, and he was laughed out of them all. Pricks.

"If I agree, can you agree to keep my name out of who helped you? I'm not really comfortable with royalty knowing what I might be able to do." He was looking back, hope in his heart, a frown on his face.

"Aye, I think I can agree to those terms." Relief flooded Orion's face. "The Princess will be upset, of course. But its one project and I won't ask for another anytime in the near future. So your secret will be safe with me. Lad, if you pull this off you'll be the first in...oh eight hundred years to be able to do this. Your secret won't be secret for long. My lips may be sealed but a skill of this sort is hard to hide. And I won't lie and claim it was all myself that fixed it."

Shit. 800 years? Oh boy, the Princess would be thirstin' like a man in hell wanted ice water. Nope stay the course. No more fucking lessons.

"I am willing to take the risk. When can we start?" A smile growing on Orion's face. A smile that would only grow wider into the night.

The first one quite literally blew up in their faces. They had a moments notice before dodging out the way. The damage was superficial. But neither were discouraged, for Orion had managed to get some of his magic into the band, no one had come that close in centuries.

That was more then enough proof to both that it could work. To Forager, it was like watching history being rewritten. The lad had talent shaping the metal. Though, in the old bull's opinion, he cheated. Using magic to heat and form the metal, without ever touching it with tong or hammer. The lad never seemed to want to make anything fancy, just to get it to work was his goal. A smart calf. Dispense with the frivolities until you had your craft down. Even if this didn't work he might just offer him an apprenticeship. He was damn good at keeping the heat just right.

The second attempt melted the band, and somehow the small anvil they were working on. Forager was less then pleased. "What in Tartarus do you think your doing lad!? That was my second best anvil!" Placating the giant was not easy. But the offer of the bits Orion has been offering him earlier did mollify the minotaur somewhat.

They moved onto the better anvil, much to Forager's grumbling. He was starting to think the lad would blow up his whole forge, a prospect that was growing with each failure. The rejected, were left sitting on the table. One had turned to powder.

It wasn't till the 8th time that Orion forged and made a band, the runes were etched slowly into the metal and infused them with his own mana. He was growing tired. The old minotaur could see it. He certainly held out longer then he thought he would. Tough little pony. He was about to call it quits for the lad, when he noticed a smile bloom on his face.

No, a grin. He really did have canines, Forager had not believed him when he told him during the idle conversation they had while waiting for the metal to heat.

The band did not explode. There was a hum, followed by a blinding flash. The band clattered to the floor of the shop. The minotaur and the colt, looked at each other, then Orion leaned over and picked it up.

"It's warm but not unbearable." Slipping it on, by pushing it up until it wrapped around his left bicep, his eyes widened. Then his horn exploded into life. Bright did not describe it. His horn blazed like the Sun itself. "For Celestia's sake lad! Turn it down!" Forager was covering his eyes.

"Oh shit sorry boss!" The blaze went out. Dropping his hand's from his face, Forger could only stare. "Well I'll be Celestia's Uncle. The lad did it. He actually did it!"

There Orion stood. Twenty four balls of flame surrounding him. His face was filled with shock, awe, and joy. Pure joy.

Orion was trying not to panic. He never meant to make it THIS strong. The runes he carved in were a last second whim. A level above what was recommended for beginners. But he had been getting mad, and tired. Mostly mad. Choosing to go a tier higher was something he shouldn't have done. But holy fuck! He would have to be careful and not over do it. The power scared him a little. He could do more then twenty four he was sure of it. He laughed. The balls of flame had dissipated but the glow of the horn never wavered.

His horn was fully lit up. The gold color had a dark cast, but still bright. The black shine that seemed to be apart of his magic surrounded the golden glow. "Finally."

It was thrilling. To hold so much, was humbling. Is this what it felt like to be the rest of the class? Is this what it is like for Twilight?

A hand settled onto his shoulder, "Lad, you made history tonight. There has not been a Forgemaster in eight hundred years. And yet here you stand, I-I am humbled to be here." Odd for the big man to sound so quiet.

"Thank you for giving me the chance , my dude! You were my last hope in trying this." He couldn't keep the excitement from his voice. Or his eyes.

"Aye, but now the real work can begin." Walking over to a work table on the far side of the room he pulled a dusty as hell tarp off a platform, the runes etched into it were of ancient design. Similar to the ones now adorning the metal band around his arm. Orion recognized it immediately for what it truly was from skimming through the book towards the end.

"That's....holy hell, a Teleportation platform....what's wrong with it and why did the Princess give it to you to fix it?"

"Well Orion, this once connected to the old castle in the Everfree from what my Grandfather told me. Princess Celestia wishes it restored so she can visit home again. Or so she told him. Personally, I can see her sending troops through it to secure and explore the land in that cursed forest better myself. But she still wants to see it restored. Problem is I, nor my father and grandfather, can figure it out."

Orion, walked closer and examined every rune. It was largely complicated, but he began to see a pattern. This gate as it was called only let certain individuals use it. As he paced around the object he realized he could read it. The runes seemed to order themselves to his eyes. He began to realize what was wrong as he read further. It was dead. Dead in the sense it had no power. All it needed was a recharge, but it seemed in order to do so there had to be an enchanter on hand to do it.

"It needs a charge, a strong one. Heh, this is actually pretty amazing, the device seems to tell the repairman all he needs to know to fix it. This device is designed to stay powered for roughly two or three hundred years, and then needs to be serviced. Hah! It even has a service tag on it with the company who made it. That's strange. The name of the company matches the name who wrote my books, 'Bearded Star Inc.', huh guy sure got around."

The old minotaur just stared. "You can fix it, lad? Truly!?" Excitement had entered the old bulls heavy voice.

"Well its not like its broke, as I had said before, it just needs a recharge. Or more like a re-connection in this case. Yeah. See the thing about this gate, teleporter, whatever you want to call it, is that it has a connection to the ambient magic in the world. That ambient magic is whats used to power most enchantments. After too many uses or just too much time, that connection gets severed. And a link just needs to reestablish itself. All I have to do is make the connection. And it will charge itself. It'll only work for certain people though. Not you or I."

Thinking back on what he had read from the book, he thought about other enchantment items. They only needed a re-connection. That means any old artifices he might come across he might be able to make work again. This also made him realize an unexplored section of magic. Harmonic frequencies. Something to look into.

Forager was shaking, a smile on his face. "Finally! Lad, me and my family have had this 'gate' for three generations. My grandfather received it. My pa inherited it. Now I am going to be able to give it back. I was sure I was going to have to pass it on to my daughter at some point. Orion, you can come use my shop anytime you please. In fact I would be honored to help you develop this skill further. If you wish to."

"Oh you can bet your ass I want to keep going. I was able to expand my magic tonight by a huge margin. With what I have in my head there is no telling what I might create. Oh and I'll get started on reestablishing the connection. The instructions are printed right inside-" A push to lift up the panel, "here. There it is. Oh this while be easy, a child could do it."

Day Court. Is always dull. Nothing exciting happens. Not since two or three hundred years ago at least. A small scuffle broke out between two mares over a stallion that was, in Celestia's opinion, rather worthless. Looking out at the sea of petitioners, she spotted somepony that surprised her.

She hadn't expected to see Forager today. Or any day for that matter. He was carting in something under a tarp."I wonder what he's found." She straightened and had him approach with a graceful nod. "Note, change the cushion out on the throne. This one has finally given up the fight." Turning her full attention to Forager she notice his happy expression.

Forager had a grin, a big one. Truth be told he had not stopped smiling since last night. His cheeks hurt. A good problem to have he believed. Coming to a stop, he spun the cart around, letting down the kick stand down and gently placed the cart down on it.

"Princess Celestia. It is a pleasure to see you this wonderfully fine day."

"Well someone is having a good morning, tell me Master Forager, what has you in such a good mood today?" Her smile held warmth. As it always did. His enthusiasm was infectious, what had he brought her that had him so happy? Her inquisitive eyes kept shifting to the covered object on the cart. She wondered what it was.

Grinning, Forager spoke the words he had been practicing since last night. " Princess two generations ago you entrusted my family with an object of great importance to you, in the hope that we might get it working again. As the third generation I am proud to give it back. Fully functioning, and in good repair." Stepping aside he grabbed the tarp and pulled it off the gate. A gate she has not seen in more then 200 years. A gate she had sadly forgotten about.

The gasps of the of the older Nobles in the court echoed around the vast room. Celestia's eyes were glued to the gate. She could not believe it. Forager had managed to repair it. She could sense the connection of the gate to the ether. And trace it to its mate deep in the Everfree.

"Master Forager, h-how did you do it?" She could hardly speak. This was one of the last great gifts from Starswirl. Repaired. In front of her. Shining like new. She had approached it, almost in a trance. Running her hands across the cool smooth metal.

"Sadly Princess, I did not repair it." Her eyes darted sharply to him. Swallowing he continued, "A pony, repaired it your Highness. A pony who has the ability to forge enchantments." He had spoken that last quietly. He knew even mentioning it was a pony was risk enough.

The court was a ruckus before, but now it was a circus. Many nobles were hollering to know the name of the pony, others were shouting that it was impossible. Princess Celestia stared into his eyes, eyes that spoke pure truth. Trying to will the information on who this mysterious pony was out of his own mouth, she thought furiously. "An ACTUAL enchanter?! In Canterlot no less, and Right under my nose, the first in so long. I have to secure them immediately!"

"SILENCE." Boomed across the room. The Nobles stopping mid rant. Composing herself, she spoke to the old bull, "Ahem, Master Forager. Who helped you with this? I really do want to know the pony's name that did this. You understand the ramifications of such an individual correct? You have to understand the importance of what they have done." She was in full Princess mode now. She would have her answers. She needed to find this pony.

Forager was sweating, hard. He knew this was coming and knew she would not be pleased. "I'm afraid I cannot tell you, your highness. I swore an oath to them and I am a Minotaur of my word if nothing else."

Gasps. Celestia ignored them. "You promised? Why? Does this pony not know how valuable their ability is?!" She was getting loud, not that she cared. She needed to find this pony.

"They asked me not to. Begged in fact. Something along the lines of 'not wanting to be locked into a gilded cage.' I cannot betray them after they did so much for me and my blood. It would be unfair. And it would break the trust they put into me. I get the feeling they do not trust easily. And to betray them so readily..."

Celestia was not deterred, if respect for her and her throne was not enough perhaps money would be the key to this stallion's lips. "Master Forager, I would pay an obscene amounts of bits to know this pony's name. Name your price."

His eyes bulged in their sockets. He knew with the amount of bits he could ask for, his family for several generations would never have to lift a hammer again. It was all so tempting. "You made an oath, Forager. Don't let greed break your honor."

"I am afraid I cannot, though the offer was sorely tempting. My honor would be nothing if I took such a deal. I am sorry, your Highness. But I will not reveal the name of the pony who assisted me in the restoration of the gate."

Celestia's eyes flash red, to briefly for any to notice. She wanted to howl with rage and rip the knowledge from his head. She almost did it to. But her image would be damaged far to badly. It would take centuries for her ponies to forget this. And she would never truly suppress this piece of history. Somepony somewhere would know. "Damn you, you old bull." She fumed.

Composing herself she looked to Forager, all rage hidden. The mask firmly back in place. " I understand Master Forager. I commend you on your honor to keep such a secret. Thank you for bringing me back my gate. A boon of two hundred thousand bits will be deposited in your account by days end tomorrow. Thank you for your service."

Jet Set, a brash noble, clambered down from the seats, "Princess! This cannot go. He has a duty to you, to tell you who this pony is!" Voices of agreement echoed about the court. "He must tell you. This mystery pony must be found and hired on as the court Enchanter. They must serve royalty." She knew they believed they would have access to this pony. No, no they would not. Once found all requests would go through her personally. Many if not all would be rejected.

Celestia gave Jet Set a practiced exasperated look. " Sir Set, I can no more force him to tell then you can. It is illegal. Master Forager has the same rights as all others of Equestria's citizens, even you. If he was asked to keep it a secret I will not infringe, nor allow any other, on his rights. Though I too yearn to know. In time I expect this pony to come out of the shadows on their own. Patience must be appreciated. And you and others must not hound Master Forager. Leave him to his own work."

Turning back to Forager she spoke, " You have done me, a great service. I thought this ancient artifact would never work again. You have given it new life. Though you had help, that help would never have come had you not found it yourself. Thank you Master Forager. Words cannot be enough."

Forager bowed. and Dismissed himself leaving the cart where it was. Celestia stared at it for a time, her thoughts roiling with her own desires, then resumed Day Court. Her thoughts though, were not on the petitions. But on plans of a future. A future with an enchanter in them. One to power the air fleets of Equestria once more.

Orion was nervous. He suspected Celestia may have some way of pulling his name from the old minotaur's head. She was, apparently, and ancient being with untold levels of magic and knowledge at her disposal. Who knows what the woman could do. No one actually knew how old she was.

He was so happy to hear the news that he would not be pursued by her, at least not openly. Orion suspected going back to the forge might be a bad idea. So he and Forager devised drop off points for when they needed to talk to each other. No names. No identifications to who the messages were for. A good thing to.

Two weeks after the drop off of good news, a band of unidentified guards were seen, tailing poor Forager. Orion thought it might be a good idea to start laying low. Let the old bull get back to business as normal. Besides. Orion had plenty of material to practice with. Forager had practically loaded him down with enough steel to make a suit out of.

In school, he was smart enough not to just go full bore with the magic show. He suffered through another 3 weeks of remedial lessons with Mr Cloverleaf. He was overall happy with the improvements and Orion was just glad it was over. It had been exhausting.

He had two new bands. one made of leather wrapped around his left wrist. The other was similar to the one on his left bicep, only on his right bicep instead. The second band on his arm served the same purpose as the first. A bigger connection to magic. The one on his left wrist however, helped detect approaching bodies. Namely tagged ones. So he knew who was who. It was so much easier to avoid Twilight Sparkle with it.

Twilight, oh surprise of surprises, kept seeking him out over the past 5 years. She occasionally caught him and tied him up in conversations most foul. Meaning his was bored. Such conversations made him wanted to die. Who cared about understanding Starswirl's Fourth Principal of Magic. She could never have a normal talk. Always with the impromptu study session. With the bracelet. It was all the easier to avoid her, school bullies, even carts on the road. He knew when they were coming. Convenient. No more dirty clothes. Fuckos.

This was working grandly till Twilight learned to teleport.

It was a fine March morning. Having just turn fourteen Orion was in good spirits. The students were all filing out of the school. Little cliques were forming up to march home together. Heh, herd mentality. The looks he had been getting lately had unnerved him. At first he thought it was because he chose to walk alone.

Lately, he realize that it was the girls in the halls and in his class, that were beginning to stare at him more. It had been happening over the past year, after he seemed to improve his magic naturally. There was a hunger in those eyes he did not like. He would beat himself later for not realizing what was happening. To be fair he hadn't had a relationship in well over eight years before he turned into a human guinea pig.

But soon he wouldn't have to worry about that. Or so he believed. Apparently him and other colts would be dismissed from classes for a whole month. Something about estrus being upon them. He didn't know, or remember what that was, he had stopped paying attention to most of his classes because he knew all and more then most of his teachers.

Either way. Vacation! A good time to craft uninterrupted. And he had an Idea.

Making his way home, dodging various foot traffic and carts he got in and greeted Mrs Evergarden. She seemed a little jittery. And what the hell was that smell? He had started to smell it at school too.

It was then that she informed him the guard would be taking over for a month for the orphanage. That was normal around this time of year. Orion suspected it was the only way she could get a vacation. Starting to get dizzy, "Seriously what is that smell", Orion dismissed himself to the basement wishing Mrs Evergarden well.

His head cleared as he walked into his little room in the basement. Mrs Evergarden was suspicious, but allowed him to have a private work room down here. It was quiet and full of his books. And the materials that Forager had supplied. He had made all kinds of things. One item, a tube with a hole in the end lit up. The first two times it hadn't worked, but the third produced the flashlight he had been trying to make. He also figured out how to make pens while he was at it.

He used those personally for class. Many questions were asked. None were answered. They could buy them when he had patented them. Quick trip to riches for him bitches.

He was working on trying to make a board float when he heard a very loud pop. Turning around very slowly he saw Twilight Sparkle. In his workroom. Staring at all the items scattered about, eyes getting wider and wider.

Without thinking Orion, pulled magic through both of his bands wrapping his own magic around her horn and trapping her arms and legs together. He put a lot into holding her horn. She was powerful. He knew it. She knew it. He wasn't taking any chances.

"Orion, wha-what are you doing?! What is this? Are those what I think they are?!" Each question made him growl. He was pissed. What in the hell was she thinking? Teleporting here with no prior warning.

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up!" That got her attention. Her mouth agape she stared at him. Tears leaking from her eyes. He was holding her rather tightly. Shit. Loosening the bonds he spoke slowly, trying to think as fast as possible. "Y-you can't tell anyone. Not even your precious Princess. No one can know." She wasn't dumb. He knew she had figured it out, what she was seeing, after seeing the runes on the various objects in the room anyone would.

The tears had stopped. "But this is incredible Orion! Your an enchanter. An Artificer! You have a skill thought lost to the ages! No pony has been able to do this in eight hundred years!" She was getting loud. Fortunately, the guard was a heavy napper.

"Oh I thought about it. But that way lies a gilded cage. I would have no freedom. I would be at the whim of the Princess. The nobles would be clamoring for my skills. Sounds wonderful to some but I want to be able to live my life without someone telling me what to do! You see it as a boon. I see it as a trap. One I will never get away from. No. Thank you but no."

She was staring. Goddamnit if that wasn't the most annoying thing she could do. And that look, aw crap she's got the bit in her teeth and she not going to let this go.

"You fixed Princess Celestia's gate didn't you?" A nod. "You have been doing this awhile?" Another, cautious nod." Do you not understand the dangers of doing all this unsupervised?" That last question went up a few octaves. Might have decent singing voice.

"And who would you propose to teach me? Last I heard the last Artificer died some eight hundred years ago." She opened her mouth, paused, shut it, opened it again, then shut for a final time in a huff. " Exactly. I am very careful in my experiments. I never try anything to big, and I never go for the dangerous spells. Yet. I don't have the confidence to imbue them into anything, and the idea that they might fall into someone's hands that may misuse them makes me nervous. So I won't be dabbling there anytime soon. Besides I am loathed to take risks with my resources. I don't have the money to pony up for the loss if something goes wrong. Its an expensive hobby."

She nodded slowly, mouthing the word hobby with an incredulous look on her face. "Okay. I can understand that. But why not at least tell the Princess? She has offered a huge reward if you came forward. And would you please let me go? I promise I won't run."

Orion did so reluctantly. "I've already told you why Twidle Diddle." She hated that."She would never let me go. Deep down you know it as well as I. So don't pretend otherwise." She did the fish thing again. Then sighed.

"Would it really be so bad?" She gazed around the room. The various things she saw captured her imagination of what they might be. Orion could see the curiosity growing in her eyes.

"I know it would be, I'm to valuable. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but would you really let a resource go? One no other country has? Not to mention the potential for assassinations? No country in this world wants to see Equestria gain more power. I guarantee it." Twilight was looking at him again, bewildered this time.

"What do you mean other countries would try and kill you? Why would they care if Equestria had an enchanter? They may try to bargain for your services if anything." Laughing she added, "and no offense to you Orion, but your not that great, yet."

"For someone so smart you certainly can be dumb, you know that?" Raising a hand to forestall her angry retort, she never did like to be called that. He continued, " You do realize that enchantments can be put into weapons right? I have already figured that out."

Shifting a little he reached behind him and held up a crudely crafted holster, a knife handle sticking out the top. The knife had gold lacing though the steel blade. But not through the handle. A handy loophole he had found out allowed for the safe discharge of the weapon. The it did cost him a lot of the gold bits he had saved up.

"I made this, and enchanted it with a paralytic effect. Do you realize what would happen if the enemy's arrows all had the same effect? Equestria would be fucked. Now put yourself in another sovereign's shoes. They already know how powerful and old Celestia is. Is it really that much of a stretch for them to believe she might conquer more territory for her little ponies if she had this ability at hand? I'd be dead within side a month."

Twilight just stared at him. She was doing a lot of that today. Suddenly there was that smell again. A little different this time but its still there. Lilac? "I'm gonna be so pissed if there is gas leak somewhere and no one told me."

Blinking and coming back to herself, Twilight blushed her ears turning a dark pink. That confused the hell out of Orion. What part of this conversation was embarrassing. Was it because he called her dumb? Now she was stepping closer. And that smell is getting stronger. What the hell.

"Your might be right, I never really thought about it to be honest. I didn't think what Equestria did inside it's own borders effected the world at large." The blush was growing. He was getting concerned because so was the smell. He was starting to get foggy headed. His eyes went very wide. "Oh shit. Estrus. Breeding season." It had clicked. Oh this was bad, very very bad.

"Twilight, I think you need to promise me not to tell anyone and leave."

"Why, its good to have conversations like this. I'm learning so much" She was nearly on top of him now. Her voice was getting husky. Not good. Hesitantly lifting her left arm. He caught it, slowly but firmly pushing it down.

"Not now it isn't. I just realized what I have been smelling and you need to leave. Now. Please?" The pleading look from his eye seemed to snap her out of whatever state she was in and grew very wide.

"I'm a-a I'm, oh buck I am so sorry, Orion I didn't realize what I was....." With a bright flash, she was gone. The smell instantly lessened in the room. Casting a small ventilation spell, Orion shook his head and placed the knife down. He thought he may have had to actually use it. There was no way he was ever going to win a fair fight with that monstrosity of a girl. Last week she performed over 200 spells casts in the span of 3 mins. It was a sight to behold. And terrified him. If she was that strong, how strong was Celestia?

Well that killed his desire to try and make anything from home. His pants were uncomfortably tight. Though he did consider making a gun. He put that thought on the back burner. Pushing his stool back in he walked out and closed the door, locking the room in darkness.

"And I called Twilight dumb...."

Sitting behind two trash cans, Orion peaked out down both sides of the alleyway. It had been almost 2 weeks since Orion's encounter with Twilight in his 'office' and no guards had come to collect him. It was safe to assume he was in the clear. So he had stayed bottled up in his room or in the basement. Working on making walkie talkies. No way to really test them since he couldn't get to Forager's place. That place was buttoned up like Fort Knox. So he had gone out to put one of the walkie talkies, with instructions, into a drop location. He managed, but that's when things started to go, wrong.

The streets were oddly barren. He had asked the guard that was on duty, an older Stallion named Chip, about how bad this was going to get. Chip had informed him dutifully that by the second week the streets would be abandon for the most part. Most mares would lock themselves up. Either with toys or there hands, a lover if they were lucky. The man was a bit perverse all things told. Not that he could fault him none. Orion decided it was worth the risk.

On his was back a wo-, mare, approached him, she was blue furred with a pink mane. She was jittery. Like a crackwhore coming down off a bad high. This was not good sign. That's when he spotted the second and third one. This was really not good.

"Hey there little colt, what are you doing out here. D-don't you know its dangerous to be out during this time of day..week?" She was biting her lip. Hard enough to make her bleed. The second one, a champagne colored mare, spoke up behind him. "Maybe he wanted to learn what grown ups do in the bedroom. Though he is certainly tall for a colt I'll give you that. Might be able to help like a real stallion. Legs look strong enough...." She sounded like she had already considered the ramifications and given them the middle finger.

The third one, a purple mare, just licked her lips. Joy, she seems to have forgotten how to speak. Likely rationalize too.

Orion had been backing himself away into an alley. He knew were it led. So he had no worry about running away from them. The cramps, he hoped, would slow them enough for him to get home.

"Listen ladies, I don't think I am ready for that kinda lesson just yet. I just wanted to drop of a letter and go home. Consider the following actions your about to commit. This would be rape. Under the law. Rape. Of a minor. Let that sink in would you?"

They didn't let it sink in. The chase had been going well on two hours now. He had been caught once and lost his jacket getting away again. So much for cramps slowing these nags down. That and the number had grown from three, to ten. He had a rainbow chasing after him. A zombie, horny rainbow.

The only thing that saved him was the constant infighting among them. But this could not go on forever. Orion couldn't go on forever. Not a single fucking guard had helped him. In fact one of the ones chasing him was a guard. Fuck.

He was getting tired. His legs hurt, he had never ran so much as he did today. Or so fast. He couldn't teleport. That purple bitch could and she was the reason he was almost caught the first time. Oh but Twilight could teleport. And he was just now realizing she was afflicted with the same problem. His blood ran cold. A worry for another time he told himself. Peaking out again for what felt like the twentieth time, Orion made a decision to go for it. He was two blocks from home. Just two blocks he could make it.

Stepping out of the alley, he began to have serious doubts on his ability to make it there. Someone had spread the word about him he was sure. He didn't bother to count. Because they had seen him, and now he was running the opposite way he wanted to go.

Celestia had long ago learned how to tame the desires in her loins. She hadn't been with anypony in centuries. So she had developed a spell that would drastically reduce the effects of her estrus. "Maybe I should teach Twilight this spell. She seems to been having a hard time with it lately. Poor filly."

Two weeks ago, or near enough, Twilight had come back in crying, running right to her room. She wouldn't answer her door and Celestia had thought it best not to bother her for the time being. Let her get through her first true estrus. Then discuss the spell. No sense in letting her student suffer like this another year.

As it was, Celestia's day was quite boring. With Day Court on hiatus for the season there was not much for her to do but read the reports from her agents across her land. She had no worries about invaders. The griffons made that mistake once. They hadn't tried again. Now the species known as hippogriffs lived on the cliffs near the Celestial Sea.

Her musings were broken when a guard ran up to her, a little out of breath likely due to the distance and her own heat cycle going, "Princess w-we have a situation!"

"Somepony actually tried to invade. Unbelievable."

"Speak, tell me what is the emergency?"

Swallowing, Errant Strike looked up, " A colt is being chased through the city. He has managed to avoid the....horde of mares chasing him but that can't last forever. And I do not trust anypony in city patrol to save him. The heat is bad this year, your Highness."

Celestia stomach tried to flip. A colt? Out on his own? Where was his parents, his herd?!

"I understand. I will deal with this personally. You may withdraw, try and knock some sense back into your troops."

A quick salute and Errant was off at a dead run. Good mare that one.

Shaking her head to clear it, Celestia teleported above the city. It did not take her long to spot the mob of mares, nor the lone colt doing remarkably well considering his situation. The colt was all black, with a brown mane and a black horn. Plain looking from this angle. "Did he just punch that mare?"

He had from the look of it. Knocked her out cold to. The poor purple mare was soon trampled by the gaggle of mares still pursuing him. "Time to put a stop to all of this."

She swooped down and nabbed up the colt. She didn't get that far in the air before she received a short punched into the ribs, hard. Dropping her would be passenger he landed on the ground again at a dead sprint. By my mothers mane, that actually hurt!" Trying again she caught him up using magic to restrain his arms. She had gotten well off the ground by the time he chose to plant both feet into her abdomen and kick off. She was stunned. He landed on the roof of a building and skidded off to another before leaping over a chimney pipe.

"The colt doesn't quit. Well that's quite enough of that." Still having a hold of his arms she simply lifted him up, this time through her magic. His language was, pungent. Till he was turned around. Then he was just staring. The pink in his ears beginning to pale.

"OH SHIT!"

He just had to ask if this day was going to get worse. He had finally caught that teleporting bitch on the chin the moment she popped in. A large victory for him considering his situation. When he first got swept up from the ground he didn't think, just punched for the ribs.

He didn't know he had aerial pursuers, and counted himself lucky to be let go so fast. When magic wrapped around his arms he utterly panicked and just kicked as hard as he could. Instinct was driving him. The moment he was picked up again he just started swearing. He was fucked. Literally.

He stopped swearing soon enough. Apparently Celestia wanted a piece of the the boy meat too. There was no way he was escaping her.

She stared at him. Likely for his swearing. Though she didn't seem like the rest now that he was really looking at her. She was friggin' tall. Easily a foot or more taller then Mr Cloverleaf. And he was a big dude. Orion hated to say it, she was gorgeous for a horse queen.

Her hair caught his eyes first. Flowing with an ethereal quality, the colors were, he could only think of the dawn when looking at them. Her magenta eyes were warm and kind. Though they were being overridden by the glare he was receiving. Her hips and breasts would have every man on earth come running. Coupled with her snow white fur, that almost seemed to glow in the sun, and her hour glass figure, she was a stunner for sure.

He couldn't see at his current angel but she likely had an ass to crush the souls and hearts of men. And the white dress that draped her frame did very little to hide her curves. Man she was obsessed with white.

He spoke before thinking, "Holy shit your beautiful..." She blushed, he blushed. And he wanted to hit himself.

"Well thank you my little pony, But I do have questions not pertaining to what you may think of me."

"Aw shit."

He had complimented her. Crudely but he did it. She knew who he was now. She had requested his records sometime ago. And though he has grown considerably since she last looked at his record's pictures, he was still the slightly handsome colt she remembered. But bigger.

He had grown much. He was actually larger then she was expecting. Certainly bigger then most Unicorn colts his age. Her magic around his arms and legs let her know just how heavy he was. The reports on him attending the gym were proven true. No wonder he was able to knock out that mare.

He was still lean, he just had dense muscle from her initial scans of his body. She dismissed the bands around his arms, it was obvious of what they were. Weight lifter bands. Old school to be sure but it was a fashion statement and a practical way of measuring ones grown without trying.

Taking her eyes away from him and noticing the mob was quickly scattering. No pony wanted to be implicated in the attempted rape of a minor. Sighing to herself she resolved to put stricter lock down measures in the future. This kind of thing shouldn't be going on. There was a guardsmare for buck's sake.

"You will come with me, Orion." They teleported.

Lovely, she knew his name, he was fucked.

The teleport blanked his mind a moment, And as he came to find himself seated in the most lavish room he had ever seen. The room was not overly large. But the solid white marble walls, regularly interrupted by equally white pillars with golden scroll work done on them, encased in a room of white only off set by the red carpets with a sun pattern on them. This lady and white. Obsessed is a gentle way of putting it.

He sat on a sofa that was so soft he thought it might have been a cloud. The sofa itself was wood and white. The wood carrying similar gold work that the pillars had. The cushions held gold fringes.

Celestia sat before him, in a chair that shared similarities with the sofa. To be honest she nearly dwarf that seat. Her hands steepled in front of her, her horn alight. Tea cups were being placed before them in a brilliant golden glow. Once everything was set and the tea poured. A basket of biscuits were placed between them.

"Now then, lets talk, Orion."

Author's Notes:

And with that final read and correction, it is ready for your viewing pleasure.

Celestia stans, please don't kill me.

If you liked it thank ya, if you got a comment, by all means drop it below.

11-7-2020

Thanks to Foxsevent for point out a massive amount of grammatical errors I had inadvertently missed. So like what will likely happen to many chapter in this story, the edits hath been completed! Ugh.

Thank you for taking the time to read my little story.