PyroBlaze

"Very well, elemental magic it is. The easiest way to learn these spells is to attune yourself to the element you wish to learn. Of course the process of attuning is easier for some than others, not everyone can change their body to better match the situation." Dox shrugged, a floating notebook and pen working away in the background to make the requested list of things he was confident in teaching others from memory. "Of course, it's not necessary, but I've found it brings better results."

“Well, it would take quite a while to demonstrate all the magic I know, so maybe it would be best to be a bit more specific about what kind of magic you want to learn.” Dox shrugged, though his horns glowed as he started up a demonstration anyways. Various frozen orbs began forming around him, floating there as they finished. Each contained different elements inside them, one a fire, one some water, and another a rock formation. “As you can see, I am adept at using multiple forms of elemental magic, but that is by no means the extent of my abilities.” He smiled a bit, leaving it off there for now.

“Yes, I am aware, but those sounded like the most promising subjects.” Dox sighed slightly, falling silent as Sombra moved on and kept talking. He smirked a bit at the talk about the dangers of dark magic. “Well, I don’t have this extended life due to what I was born as, I know the dangers. As for what I can tell you in return, I am sure I have multiple fields of magic I could assist your growth in. One benefit of living so long, I have had plenty of time to amass a large store of knowledge. I would be more than happy to share some with you in return, broaden your magical arsenal and make you stronger.” Dox said, debating wether he should return to changeling form so Sombra had a better idea of what he was capable of. Then again, he didn’t want to put all his cards on the table.

Tehengu looked over the opposing team, taking note of their weaponry. One long-range fighter, it seemed, he’d have to focus on her first. And bonus, there was little to no cover on the beach side for her to hide behind. He glanced back towards the trees behind his team, appreciating all the cover from that rifle. “Agreed. I’ll focus on her to start. It might be a good idea to draw them closer by hanging back, hiding amongst the trees.” He said, doing his best to assess the situation. ————————— “Matching flowers? Sounds fun, Kat. I’d be down for that.” Terry smiled at the girl before moving his focus onto the fight ahead again. All this open space on their side might be a better arena for melee combat, but that bowman might cause a problem with all those trees to hide in.

“Hmm, crystals and curses, you say? That sounds like as good a place as any to start out. While it would be intriguing to learn about your innate abilities, perhaps we should start with something I know I can make use of.” Dox nodded to him, floating out a notepad and quill to write down the specifics. He also had to figure out how much he could give in return, especially without getting on Hou’s bad side should things lead back to him.

“What do I want to know... Well, that largely depends on what you have to teach, so perhaps we should start with the field you’re the most knowledgeable in. Or any that you have made discoveries in that are not recorded anywhere.” Dox hummed slightly, rubbing his chin as he tried to figure out where to start. Sombra likely knew many types of magic, so it might be hard to find something that he knew but Dox didn’t. After all, a jack of all trades tended to be a master of none. Unless they had as much time as he did to master them.

“Actually, perhaps you know me better as Hei Xue. Being a villain did seem to bring more fame than being a hero.” He shrugged, watching Sombra for the moment. “It certainly helps that I am probably one of the few she considers an equal, and I’ve been around for a very long time, just like her. Like you, except for that long stretch where you were sealed away. She is welcome to try, I could do with a good fight, but she is not likely to succeed. As for what knowledge I seek, I am primarily looking for magical knowledge. You can keep your plans and such to yourself, I am a scholar, not a spy. At least right now.”

Magnus rolled his eyes at the joke, but didn’t really say anything about it. For now he watched the dot get closer, offering no argument to the statement about her foolish crew. There wasn’t much more for him to say at the moment, so he figured he’d simply be here in her time of need.

“Well, I would guess they want you regardless, that crew of yours looked like they cared for you.” He sighed slightly, his tone perhaps hinting that he did too on some level. Why else would he be here, after all? “As far as this Felix, it sounds like you just need to move on then. Forget him, he’s not worth dwelling on if all it brings is pain.” Magnus said, staring out at the view. “You can’t change the past, no one can. All you can do is decide how to spend the present and future. By all means, learn from the past, but there is no point in dwelling on ‘what if’.”

Dox nodded to Blizzard’s words, watching as he formed the wall of snow and reinforced it. He was a bit skeptical of launching attacks after that last bit of reinforcing that didn’t seem to do anything, but he moved off to do as the unicorn said. Dox was confident he could defend himself if it reflected somehow, so once he got into position, he called upon some fire magic and launched a fireball of the suggested level at the wall, prepared to shield himself or teleport as needed.

“When you live for thousands of years, you tend to run into a lot of interesting individuals. We were bound to find each other eventually.” Dox shrugged, not really appreciating Sombra underestimating him like that. Oh well, it wasn’t like Sombra had all that much to go on. “Lackey? I haven’t been anyone’s lackey for a few thousand years, at least.” His eyes narrowed slightly before continuing. “As for your concerns, that is a valid one. However, even though I am a scholar, I can keep a secret if it benefits me.”

"No, I suppose you wouldn't. That is just what happens when history knows you by a different name though." Dox sighed with a small shrug, not intimidated at all by Sombra's display. "I am a... colleague of Hou Shuren. I have been seeking you out so that I may add your knowledge to my own. I know many things, including that there will always be something else to learn, so we shall see what I can learn from you, hmm?" He added, the smile showing up again and showing off his fangs. "You can learn from me in return, if you wish. I don't expect anything for free." He finished, looking Sombra over a bit.

Dox kept following the trail, soon enough emerging into the area where Sombra had hid. He looked around briefly, trying to figure out where the trail had gone. “Come now, Sombra, is this any way to treat a fellow ancient? I know we have not met, but I have heard a lot about you. You may call me Dox.” He said, introducing himself as he zeroed in on where the stallion was. When he found the trail again, his eyes moved over to Sombra’s hiding spot and a smile spread across his face.

Magnus’ eyes narrowed briefly at her calling him Boy, but he made no comment on it. He had been called worse, and he could endure it to get what he wanted out of her. The reason for the delay was a pleasant surprise though. Between light magic and knowing how to move silently, one of the few good things to come from his time as a thief, he was already invisible to almost everyone if he wanted to be. Shrinking the pool of things that could discover him was good though, so he was more than willing to learn what she had to say about that topic. “Very well, training it is. I am already adept at avoiding detection from most means, but there is always room for improvement.” He nodded, wondering where this training would take him in terms of ability. He was actually looking forward to it.

I mean, yeah. As long as you're up for it, I say go ahead.

Dox hummed as he watched the display of snow manipulation, taking in what he could and reading over what was then written in the snow. Interesting, overall, and it could prove to be quite useful in some situations. He read it over a few more times to make sure he got it before starting to carefully feel his way through it with his magic. He wanted to avoid these consequences, after all. After a bit more, some pieces of snow began floating without any trace of the levitation field, and that amount slowly increased over time until he felt he couldn’t do any more until he got more used to it.

“Well, those shouldn’t be too much of a problem.” Tiger hummed as he looked at the small fires. Luckily for Iggy, the earth pony didn’t know much of anything about the kirin, so they weren’t in his mind as suspects. Not that he was all that worried about who started them while they were still burning. Before he could do anything though, Blueblood joined them again and said something about missing students. “They probably just snuck off somewhere to have fun, but we can look for them if you want.” He nodded to Blueblood before giving a whistle to get the attention of one of the maids as they walked past the door. “Why don’t you get some others and take care of this while we track down some missing students. I’ll reward you later if you want.” Tiger said, winking at that last part before turning back towards Blueblood. “Where do you think we should search first, boss? You know them better than I do, especially since I’ve probably never met them.” He chuckled, shrugging to Cloudy and Blueblood. ———————— Kireina looked over at the bag that was placed nearby, reaching over to grab one of the treats before she kept going. It gave her a distraction to not think too much about how Chipper was supposedly talking to birds, or how he just admitted to learning dark magic. “No, I am not from around here. My home is in Kyoma, a city in Neighpon. You are also correct that I am currently enrolled in the School of Friendship, so I suppose that means we shall be seeing more of each other.” She nodded to Chipper, stopping her work for a moment to examine it before eating another chocolate and getting to work on that tail. It was somewhat interesting to meet a pony that lived among the caribou, given their history with her home.

“Yes, unless you wanted to look like that, I’d call that part a failure. And yes, trial and error can be an effective teaching tool, but if you want to have your students avoid the mistakes of the past, you must tell them what to avoid.” Dox sighed, looking over at Blizzard. The ancient changeling had taught others in the past, he likely knew much more about teaching than this unicorn. When the discussion turned to ice magic though, he tuned in more and nodded along. The body temperature thing was particularly interesting, he would have to look into that more. As Blizzard went outside, he followed, watching him form the block of ice. “Right. I suppose I should have mentioned that I am not a novice in most fields of magic.” He shrugged, looking to the side of the ice Blizzard had formed. After his horns began glowing again, another chunk of ice formed, though it formed as a simple ice sculpture of a swan. He could do better, but he had to keep some cards to himself.

“Sorry to disappoint, but there is no word for what you see here. No word that I have found, at any rate. Regardless, I am Hei Xue.” He said, taking another sip of his drink. As the picture was presented, he looked it over, humming slightly to himself. “That is one big advantage of learning from someone else, you can build on their successes while avoiding their failures.” He said in response to the talk about how the unicorn looked now. That was why he was doing this, partially. He had no doubt he could figure out the magic himself, but this way he could avoid the same fate as Blizzard.

“Well, yes, voice is part of it. I have this strange ability to ‘see’ the energy of living things, and everyone looks different. It may not be all that different, but I have learned to pick up on the differences that are there.” She chuckled slightly, trying to explain her unique situation. Or at least unique as far as she knew. “I suppose it is just one of the benefits of being a unicorn, I don’t think I would be able to do this if I were a pegasus.” Following Fluttershy over towards the snakes, she giggled at the last question. “I am sure Sunny will behave himself, he’s a good bird. As for feed, he seems to like it, so I suppose it is good in his opinion. I am sure he has made plenty of friends, I watch him play sometimes, but I have not noticed anything I would call romantic behavior. Of course, I am not always around him, so maybe he does and I just don’t know about her.” She giggled again at the thought of Sunny having a girlfriend, hoping that if he did, she was good to him. “As long as I am here though, is there anything I can help you with? I am quite good with healing magic, or just diagnosing the problem.” Solar offered, smiling over at Fluttershy.

Hopefully this is a good start.

Dox had been quite the busy bug recently in his efforts to gather knowledge. First that zebra near Ponyville, then that unicorn in the frozen north, and now he found himself in a stretch of uninhabited land in a corner of Equestria. His network of agents had tracked Sombra to this area, and he could hardly wait to see what Sombra could share with him knowledge-wise. It wasn’t very often he got to speak with any form of immortal being outside the group he was in with Hou. He couldn’t exactly approach the alicorns, and Discord didn’t seem the type for academic discussions, on top of his ‘reformation’. That left Sombra, even if part of the reason he was around for so long being that he got himself sealed away for a while. Speaking of ancient creatures though, maybe he should find some of those yokai. They could live for quite a long time, from what he had heard. For now though, the vampiric changeling was in his Hei Xue form in all it’s glory, trying to pick up Sombra’s trail while wandering through the countryside.

Dox gazed around at the inside of the structure, taking it all in for a few moments before taking the offered seat and gesturing for the pony to eat his meal. Made him glad he didn’t have to eat food, as it were. He barely had to feed at all anymore, actually, it left plenty of time for the pursuit of knowledge. His horns glowed softly as he took the offered cup in his magic, taking a moment to identify the liquid before taking a sip as well. “Thank you for the drink, much appreciated.” He nodded before answering the questions. “The how was rather simple once I locked on to your magical energy, but as for why, I already told you I am a scholar, so I am here to see what you have to add to what I already know, perhaps starting in magic. Ice magic, if you want a more specific starting point.” He smiled again, taking another sip. “Of course, I would not expect to receive something for nothing, so you could gain knowledge from me as well, on many different topics. I could also provide other forms of repayment, though as to when you would receive them, that would depend on what you want.”

Dox looked at the pony that answered the door, a grin spreading across his face when he confirmed that the unicorn was the source of the magic he had been tracking. Said grin also showed off his fangs. Quite the interesting location for a base, but he supposed it was fine for an ice mage. “Yes, coming inside would be preferable to staying out here.” He responded, entering as the pony stepped out of the way. “No need to worry, as a scholar myself, I understand how one’s workspace can become messy.”

Pyro gave a small snort at the proposed reasons for his problem, figuring it was probably the second one. He learned from the best, as they say. When the portal opened up, he focused again, watching the scene play out as he listened to Luna speak. “I do have a brother, but he tends to be pretty busy with the guard, and we don’t live together anymore, so I don’t get to see him much.” Pyro sighed, his thoughts drifting back to his brother. It had been a while since the last time they had met up... maybe it was time to set up another visit.