Canterlot Spellbound Open House Extravaganza & Princess Twilight Honoring Ceremony (Open)

[Bellosh]

 

Moondancer's reaction to Tia's joking was about what she expected. "Do you mean to say stories of Twilight's exploits at school would be unwanted?" Celestia said jokingly . . . 

 

Yet again, Princess Celestia proved that she was a master at making anypony else sound like they were two steps behind. Moondancer guessed that a thousand years helped a lot when cultivating one’s verbal bantering abilities. Faced with this playful accusation from her boss, Moony demonstrated her innocent nature by glancing away from Celestia and whistling a tune of Absolute Innocence. Once the Princess finished asking her questions, the young mare activated a light bulb in her brain; “You knowwww Boss, that’s actually an interesting speech idea about Twi-”

 

Sudden events on the stage distracted Moondancer from finishing her sentence. Apparently, Nocturne lacked the patience to wait a few moments for the star Spellbound members to assemble, so he shoved Pocket Change up there prematurely. Moony sighed in defeat; several more seconds was all she needed to introduce the magic presenters to the crowd, but it looked like the Magic Guild would keep on doing things tonight using the react-to-whatever-happens model.

 

As Pocket started showing off his spells, Moondancer whispered to Celestia; “I gotta run; enjoy the show!” With that done, the girl made her way to the side of the stage as she looked to see which Spellbound pony appeared ready to head on up after Mr. Change.

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

 

"Why thank you, your highness." Said the duchess in her humblest tone, although to anyone who was used to her mannerisms (such as a the princess) they could easily tell she had a hint of pride in her voice. Her daughter beside her blushed deeply and laughed awkwardly, "Hehe! Thanks, Princess! If ya liked that I think yer gonna love the show I've got planned!" The young painter grinned as she watched Pocket finish hi sshow and soon she  galloped over and asked him if he'd mind getting the lights for when she did her own little display...

 

In the meantime Belle returned to her seat beside where the princess was and smiled, "Presteza has come quite a ways from a filly who couldn't levitate a feather, don't you think, Princess?"

 

 

 

The mare blinked slowly and looked at her hooves before addressing the two, "My magic works different. Need to try not to use it if something is in my way." The normally monotoned mare's voice shifted a moment to place some emphasis on the word 'try'. While it may not seem obvious, Rose was deeply ashamed of what happened to the stallion. She stepped up to him and placed a hoof on his forehead to monitor his temperature... the full extent of her medical knowledge more or less,"I'm Rubble rose... I'm sorry about hurting you."

 

 

Back on the stage, Presteza tugged along a large portrait covered in a cloth. The mare soon yanked the covering off the picture, exposing a large painting of a dragon. It bore a small signature on the corner of the frame, belonged to the freckled mare who had brought it in. The painter took a deep breath and grinned, "Okay pocket! Hit the lights!" Soon enough, the lighting in the  hall dimmed to it's darkest without bathing everyone in pitch black...ness. There was a glow in the darkness, the distinctive aura belonging to Presteza as a glowing image began to trace over the artwork before her. The image she had painted shined for a few moments before stirring and then pulling away from the canvas. The living image flew around he crowd a few times, then settled behind the pony who casted it, "Spellbound also offers chances to learn more unique and unconventional magic. Such as this!" The dragon image flew up into the air and spread its wings before, Presteza's  horn flared up and there were multiple magical circle patterns appearing around it before it separated into multiple smaller more infantile dragons that flew into the audience and began to randomly nuzzle and circle the attendee harmlessly before the painter on stage whistled. All the smaller conjurations flew over to the stage and with a a few motions from the paintbrush held aloft by her magical aura and soon all the magical conjurations joined in a pattern that shaped out the Guild's name and then faded slowly out only for the magic to mimic a magnificent fireworks display to the audience as Presteza walked offstage.

 

anyone who inspects the spell will find it's not illusory magic but lifelike conjurations made of paint

[IceStorm]

Ice Storm huffed as she walked away from the doctor. She'd seen more than enough to not want to have to deal with him any more tonight. Although seeing Java start to deteriorate made her feel a little bad, but at the same time it only accented the points that she made, and for all she knew the time they had spent arguing could have been the deciding factor in the deterioration of his mental state for the time being. She probably shouldn't have been so quick to jump the doctor and had gone along with it and saved her own barrage for him until after they had Java stabilized, but hindsight is twenty/twenty.

 

She got herself a little bit of punch and then turned to the stage to watch everypony else that was going to perform there acts do so. She watched pocked to a little bit with his wind and a few other spells. Pressy was the next one to take the stage an the way she was using her art magic was awe inspiring. She knew that Pressy had a thing for Art but she never knew just how extremely talented she truly was at it. Watching the ink transform through so many different shapes was amazing, and when she finished everything faded away.

 

With that she supposed that it was now her turn to do something. With a soft smile her horn lit up and the floor under herself began to freeze. She continued to push the ice in front of her as she made her way towards the stage, making a path of ice from where she once stood and use the ice to make her own stairway onto the stage. As soon as her hoof made contact on the stage, she began to spread her ice in a somewhat thin, but dense layer of ice over the stage floor so that it would support her. She then levitated a hoof-set of ice skates out of her saddle bag as well as a bottle of water, to which she used a hoof tack to poke a hole in the top. She then held it in place and forcefully ejected the water from the bottle to create a fine mist in the air to which she used her Icy magic to freeze as she began to go through a small figure skating routine on the stage. She didn't have too much room to work with so she had to be mindful of what she was able to do, but as she did, she started using what little space that she had, and the misting water to start solidifying and expanding.

 

As soon as the recently froze water started to settle, she began to compact and solidify it, starting at the hooves and going up, taking her time as she made a crystal clear ice statue of Celestia that was about as tall as she herself was. "Ice is a very delicate magic, one that can be difficult, but rewarding in the end. There is very little that can't be done with it, and is practical in nearly all forms of it's use, depending on situation. Most of the time I use my magic," she said spreading around paper cones to every pony in the room and then borrowing the punch to create a swirling cloud of flavored frozen snow that she began to divide up into each cone. "To run my snow cone shop and ice cream parlor called Frozen Delights. It's actually quite effective because the product is always fresh when magic is used to create it," she smiled as her horn lit up ones more and slowly the path of ice that she had made, as well as the ice on the stage with exception of the statue began to disappear. She levitated the statue itself over to Celestia. "Despite it being as clear as it is, it's actually quite dense and won't start melting for a while, so if you have a rather chilled spot you can keep this, by all means you're more than welcome to princess," she finished with a smile. 

[Bellosh]

 

After Ice Storm completed her ice replica of Princess Celestia, Moondancer’s time to shine on the stage came. Well, Moony actually had to wait a little bit for her friend to clear the ice away. Sadly, not everypony was comfortable with trotting on ice, and it’d be super embarrassing if the moon-flanked unicorn slipped and fell on it.

 

Moondancer’s upcoming display of magic would be a fun one indeed, as she hardly used the spell required for it. At least not for its own sake; the unicorn mare actually used the spell all the time as an essential component of her teleportation magic. It was this important consciousness-preserving ability that ensured a unicorn could disintegrate and replicate their physical body at will without, well... having to worry about any grave philosophical concerns. As Moony’s audience would shortly see however, this handy-dandy spell had other uses as well.

 

“As you saw from our three distinguished presenters,” Moondancer pointed out the three unicorns who already went up on stage; “Spellbound’s members know a wide variety of practical and aesthetically pleasing spells, and we’re prepared to offer our knowledge and skills to every fabulous pony here in Equestria.” The young mare gave her crowd a playful wink. “But just to show you fillies and gentlecolts that we’re really, you know, the real deal..... watch this.”

 

On cue, a bright magenta light shined forth from Moondancer’s horn. The girl manically grinned; Pocket, Pressy, and Icy knew of Moony’s routine and so wouldn’t be surprised by what was about to happen. Everypony else though would soon get a horrifying taste of stage fright. Not Celestia though; she ought to be up-to-date on every spell that Moondancer has mastered so far, but maybe she’d be cool enough to play along.

 

“I-I think,” Moondancer’s grin suddenly vanished, replaced by strained breathing. But she kept charging up her horn; “I think some- something’s- wrr-wrrron.....” And just like that, the unicorn mysteriously collapsed. Moony’s motionless body laid sideways on the stage, her eyes lifeless as if struck by Death.

 

Yet the mare’s horn continued glowing with magic, and would keep on doing so thanks to an “autocharge spell”. What Moondancer intended to do now depended on her horn staying active without input from her mind.....

[Zeig]

 

Rough start, but handled with aplomb. He hadn't had any doubts.

Nocturne Wisp remained silent as the crowd oohed and awwed in all the appropriate places, pale gaze narrowed and covering his intrigue as the illusionary Alicorn hovered near the ceiling. The casting of multiple, low stress level spells to create a desired effect was not a commonly used tactic, though it seemed to be something Pocket Change was proficient at. Personally, he didn't believe such a combination could be worth the effort. After all, each spell was unique and required focus, and casting multiple at once could cause just as large a strain as using a more powerful spell.

Nocturne supposed that each Unicorn could handle such a combination differently - was the cost of using multiple spells at once more or less damaging than using a single, more intensive spell?

For Pocket Change, the answer was rather clear, and the dark colored Unicorn beat his hooves against the floor along with the rest of the crowd as the other stallion eventually settled back towards the ground. He supposed that was his cue to say something supportive and encouraging, such as Good job! or, Way to not destroy the guild hall! And other such reassurances of a job well done, and theoretically inducing performance.

He didn't have a chance to do anything, however, as the lights suddenly dimmed down, causing an annoyed frown to appear on Nocturne's face as a cream colored Unicorn took up the vacated stage. Why exactly did she need to lower the lighting level to near blackness, again? Nocturne didn't know, especially when her magic of choice involved pulling a painting from its canvas, bringing to life a dragon to swirl around the room. Intriguing, but the darkness actually made the painting itself more difficult to see thanks to the Unicorn's magical glow blinding everything else.

Still, the unusual - and quite useless, at least for himself - brand of magic was not something he'd been expecting tonight, and Nocturne beat his hooves more sedately against the floor, silver eyes squinting as the lights came back on. If he remembered Pocket's preview of the night's events correctly, one more Spellbound member was due to perform some -

Ah, there.

…Oh. There.

A scowl reflexively fell over Nocturne's face as a familiar pale blue Unicorn made her way to the stage, seeming fit to make her own icy path. It was the same presumptuous Unicorn who'd felt she'd known more about medicine and health than a medically trained doctor - and she was a senior member of the guild? The dark colored Unicorn let his pale gaze narrow as the blue Unicorn began to show off her magic - unsurprisingly, ice was her speciality, though why she felt the need to skate around while manipulating it seemed very odd, and not conducive to the actual magic casting at all.

…Still.

While the painting magic held little value to him - pretty, but useless, the same accomplished through illusionary magic - Nocturne couldn't devalue any elemental magic, even one as…particular as ice. Considering his affinity for fire-based magics, he'd never really had much luck with ice. The material was too half-flanked rigid for his tastes. Despite her obnoxiousness, Nocturne wasn't above learning from any available source.

Disappointingly however, the pale blue Unicorn gave no actual commentary on the nature of ice, or its properties, or tips on manipulation - simply whipped up some flurries for an ice sculpture. Nocturne quickly and effectively burned the paper cone that levitated its way towards him, ignoring the other ponies around him that began to enthusiastically enjoy their frozen treats. He supposed the magical show was intended to be just that - only a show - rather than a lecture or seminar, so he shouldn't be too surprised.

Still. A little more explanation outside of, 'I use ice to make snow cones' would have been welcomed. As it stood, only Pocket Change's display had held any real value as a magical teaser for the guild's talents, and in that Nocturne was not surprised.

Moondancer was the last to perform, it seemed, wrapping up with a conclusion of the other three Unicorns. Magic soon encompassed the white Unicorn's horn, and Nocturne felt something in his chest tighten, ever so slightly, at the familiar glow. When was the last time he'd actually seen Dani perform some magic? Or her teleportation dance? Not since university?

Somewhat nostalgic wonderings were abruptly pulled to a stop, however, as Moondancer suddenly - collapsed, right on the stage, fallen over like a sapling under a strong storm. Nocturne couldn't help the startled instinct of his ears falling backwards in alarm, though he paused before charging up onto the stage. Her magic hadn't dissipated…it was still glowing through her horn. She obviously had not fainted or passed out.

What in Celestia was she doing?

If this was a joke intended to lead to a magical performance, it was in poor taste. Nocturne forced himself to keep all four hooves on the ground as he shot his gaze towards Pocket Change, glare demanding an answer even as the other stallion was not the focus of his ire.

 

[tacobob]

(OOC: If the crowd claps and or stomps their hooves, Pocket Change will do the same..)

 

Once Pocket was finished with his little presentation, he cantered off stage and waited for the next pony to start her performance. This time, it was the always resourceful and plucky mare, Presteza! He nodded his head as she asked to 'hit the lights'. His horn briefly lit up its usually green color as the dimmers were slowly cranked down to off. Just before her little show started, the unicorn smiled as he caught sight of the wall-destroying Rubble Rose apparently talking and/or hopefully apologizing to the bonked-Javasun. Considering how cute she was, the gal probably could have gotten away with murder.

 

The stallion watched her presentation with great interest, trying his best to see how she was doing it all. He first assumed it was a simple illusion spell, but things looked a little odd. He had heard about the more advanced spells that gave its illusions actual weight. Need to stop someone from running away? A hard-light wall would do the trick. Take down a foe and you don't have a weapon? A hard light hammer would be right for the job. But was she skilled enough to handle magic such as that? Then it made sense. It had something with conjuration magic. Paint magic? She would have to show him how that works. If only he had any artistic talents. He could barely do a stick figure!

 

"Very impressive Miss Presteza.", the stallion whispered to her as she left the stage.

 

The pretty blue mare who specialized in ice magic was the next one to show off her skills. Predictably, she based her presentation off her speciation in Cryomancy. However, she went beyond what was normally expectable and did something rather spectacular with her magic. And a show she did create! "Hmmm.", the stallion was quite impressed my his guildies. He glanced over at his old friend who was making very good use of his 'Nocturne Wisp' face. Ugh. He one was pony that was very hard to impress! Seeing all that ice made him thirsty! Again, his horn turned a bright green, as a full glass of 'party punch' made his way over to the pony. Hurray for the most beloved of spells, telekinesis!

 

Once she was finished, the stallion nodded his head respectfully at the mare as she walked by, "I have seen impressive elemental magic in my time, but you've just blown those other mages away! Great show!".....Then it was time for...Moondancer! Again with the hearts!

 

 

 

Looking like a zomb-pony who just discovered an all-night-brain-buffet, Pocket Change could only stare as his beloved mare started on her own 'showing. And while he managed to shut off the usual heart-parade, there were a few little illusionary hearts that found their way into the crowd. He was informed ahead of time on what the presentation would be like, he still needed to act surprised. Unfortunately the stallion never attended acting school....

 

He watched the mare tumble over and for just a moment he just watched, until he realized it was time to 'join' the show. "Oh no!", the stallion gasped rather unconvincingly, "Please don't interfere with Moondancer! She needs to finish her spell before.", he took a sip from his cup, "She can awaken!". After taking another sip from his cup, the unicorn glanced over at his friend who had now passed through the realm of 'Nocturne Wisp face' and well into the realm of Crankyland. "What?", he caught the stallion's eye before switching back to his previous 'surprised' look. "I mean, oh-no!"

[Bellosh]

 

Despite Pocket Change flubbing the routine (perhaps it was a bad idea telling him not to bother rehearsing), Moondancer’s little “accident” accomplished its purpose. Since naturally everypony would be dead-focused on the event transpiring on the stage, they won’t think to focus their attention anywhere else. Really, it was one of the oldest illusionist tricks in the book. Except that Moondancer was no mere magician, and now she would prove it by showing off one of the hardest spells possible to show off.

 

“Hey guys,” Moony’s voice rang out from above and behind the audience, although it now seemed a little... distorted somehow; “Shouldn’t you be paying attention to me?” Those ponies who turned their gazes to the voice would have found a young unicorn mare who looked almost like Moondancer... floating..... in the air. And completely bathed in a magenta light, the same light that came from the body of the actual pony. For all intents and purposes, the glowing equine hovering up above was a product of pure magical energy.

 

“Isn’t out-of-body projection fun?” the glowing mare asked her spellbound audience as she repeatedly circled Princess Celestia without touching the ground; “Basically, you use this spell to transfer your entire consciousness to a bunch of magic energy, while an autopilot spell maintains that energy without requiring you to provide mental input. Everypony who learns teleportation has to learn this skill first; you kinda need it so your soul doesn’t get, well, destroyed by bodily disintegration. But if you’re a prankster like me, you can also use out-of-body projection to make others think that you’re a ghostie! Like THIS, MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!”

 

Moondancer’s maniacal laugh didn’t sound threatening in the least, but hopefully it drove the point home as the unicorn’s magic projection dived into the floor and vanished. After a few seconds, the horn on her physical body stopped glowing, and Moony opened her eyes and shot straight up on all fours as if nothing ever happened. “If you join Spellbound, you’ll be able to connect with some of the finest magic users Equestria has to offer! And with our help... maybe we can help you unlock a cool spell or two you never thought possible.” Her presentation over, Moondancer gave her audience a bow, hoping they all got a kick out of the mini-show.

 

After her bow (and audience applause if any), Moony asked the crowd; "Any questions for the four of us?", referring to herself along with Pocket, Pressy, and Ice Storm.

[moonshineTheleocat]

The world continued to spin around the stallion. His eyes shifted here and there, trying to focus onto something… only to watch it disappear a moment later. If Java wasn’t so dizzy, he’d get up and chace after what ever it was! But wait! There were bits of twinkiling light? Stars? Oh beautiful! They were so close… so very close. Java’s hooves reached out to grab hold of them… only to watch as they too faded away, and reappear teasingly somewhere else.

 

But… he eventually stopped when he felt some odd wave of euphoria wash over him. His eyes glanced down lazily to his hooves, and noticed a bit of a glow around them. He flexed his hooves with a curious gaze as his vision began to slowly settle it’s way down from a violent washing, to a gentle sway. Heck! Even his thoughts were beginning to clear up and realign themselves one more. And now, he was feeling a lot better! He could barely feel the five-hooved death punch from a wall anymore! Ok, that was a lie. He still felt it, just not as bad.

 

“I already have a doctor…” The stallion drawled out as he tried to slowly sit up. His body leaned here and there, but he quickly rectified that by planting his fore hooves on the ground to hold himself steady. “But… yeah… I think a check up now would be wise.”

 

And then came a familiar voice. The stallion’s ear flicked, and his gaze rose to a large mare. She looked… familiar. Some pony he remembered as a foal. Curious… curiouser. Or maybe that knock on the head is making him believe false assumptions? Oh well…

 

“No worries. I’ve been in worse shape…. Fell down mountains… crashed into grounds… blown up… on fire…” He droned. A hoof moving to his head as a headache settled into a severe migraine. But eventually, he glanced up when he caught sight of a Dragon image. Wait...

 

His ears perked up when his gaze followed the various spells down to it’s caster. Pressy! Wow she’s grown quite well as a spell caster! Better than she was way back then!

[SteelEagle]

 

 Twilight was one of the most punctual mares in all of Equestria except for those rare instances when she absolutely failed to be punctual. She had known of the ceremony in her honor for months. MONTHS. She had it in her planner. She had it penciled in between a thousand different items but it was important to her. Not only were some close friends involved, but it was a great organization and one she loved to support. All in all, basically the perfect way for Twilight to spend an evening. Well, beyond getting on stage. She had grown increasingly comfortable with the idea of being honored but it was never something that would be entirely natural for her. So she was excited and wanted nothing more than to show up on time and with something great to show for her involvement.

But something had to go astray. Weeks ahead of time she learned of a strange solar phenomenon, an alignment of planets that would cast a unique shadow on the moon. Consultation with Luna revealed this as the Centennial Umbra Luna. Curiosity led Twilight to a disconcerting discovery: The Centennial Umbra Luna coincided with an increased aetheral penetration of the dark magical arts, leading to a great amount of black magic to be used by those who trafficked in it. Dangerous stuff. Her specialists in that realm magic, ponies she used to track black magic items and groups, also told her at least one device they had been monitoring was behaving strangely. Connecting it to a group who was becoming more active- well, yeah. It all lead to one conclusion, and it all took place the night of the ceremony. That was...unfortunate, to say the least. So she asked Applejack to go in her stead and hoped she would be able to finish it fast enough to get to the ceremony before it ended.

And she did, though as she popped into existence at the ceremony, on the stage, it was clear things could have gone cleaner. Soot covered her hooves and what looked like scorch marks along her flank, her horn a dull, deep purple and smoking before it started to die out. She shook her head, discombobulated and obviously so to everyone. She regained her composure and took a deep breath, trying to make sure nopony left before she had done whatever it was she was supposed to do. She looked around and smiled, not a little awkwardly because of her entrance. “Sorry! Sorry I'm late. I wanted things to go differently but something came up. Thank you for coming for me, Applejack, and thank you for having me, Moondancer.”

[starswirlthebearded]

Celestia looked upon the various demonstrations with care, not failing to notice another, more private demonstration of magical prowess. Naturally when the situation called, she clapped her hooves in approval, not wishing to alienate anypony, and considering that some were students of her own school, she saw the improvement and was rather proud. This guild, to Celestia, was only beneficial. It would serve to push ponies to achieve great things and even use their magical abilties to help others, something she was rather proud of her former pupil for doing quite often, which is why to her knowledge she was unable to make it. Luna had mentioned the alignment and how it would impact dark magic. Without even a second thought Twilight took it upon herself, since she was apparently studying it in her spare time. However that did not impact Celestia's decision to attend this event, quite the contrary, as she decided to attend this regardless.

 

Belle came over to her when her daughter was lining up to give her own demonstration she mentioned how far she had come. "She has indeed, and without my help. Were you not worried about her progress without attending my school?" Celestia said playfully. "Even though it seems she still has that same sneezing affliction that you have had." Celestia said with a bit of a wink and grin. She knew that it was not something that Belle liked discussing. Celestia smiled at the conclusion of Presteza's magic, though Celestia thought it curious that she needed her paint brush... Still it was an impressive feat of magic, worthy of the unicorn family's prestige.

 

Ice Storm had created an ice sculpture of Celestia and offered it to her as a gift. "It is quite a lovely sculpture, but in a castle already full of vestiges of myself I do not think yet another is needed." Celestia replied to the ice mare humbly. "I much rather add ponies whom do great things for Equestria to the art of the Castle." she said with a smile. 

 

After that was Moondancer. Whose act was more akin to a prank than anything. Even when it had first started it did not take the Princess long to figure out what spell was being cast. Still... Celestia knew what was happening so she played along, looking surprised. After Moondancer finished Celestia couldn't help but trot over. "You know Moondancer... I seem to recall you pulling that same prank on a teacher some years ago..." Celestia paused for a moment. "And it is still funny" Celestia said with a wink.

 

Not too soon after a familiar purple light appeared. Her wayward pupil showed up by way of teleportation. She was obviously worn from the night's activities, and slightly charred. Celestia trotted over to Twilight and whispered in her ear "I trust you were successful in your endeavor" Celestia said knowingly, though she seemed slightly worse for wear. 

[Pretzelparty]

 

When Presteza left the stage she smiled brightly at Pocket and gave him a look that said, "Thanks!" The mare soon began to return to her seat next to AJ, but stopped before looking up to stage as her friend Ice Storm took the stage and began a truly wonderful display of elemental magic. The marvelous display earned a round of applause from the young painter. Then came Moondancer, who decided to pull one her favoured pranks by pretending to keel over on stage and then using one of the cooler spells she'd seen. She'd seen her Mother demonstrate the spell to her once or twice when she was a filly... the freckled mare wasn't too proud of her attempts at mimicking it back then. 

 

Soon a bright purple flash hit the stage and a matching mare accompanied it. A grin spread over presteza's face and almost as soon as Twilight finished talking she found herself tackled and promtly pulled into a hug as a motormouthed, trottingham accent babbled in excitement at her and then planted a kiss on the alicorn in her excitement,"Twilight,I'msogladyafinallymadeit... *gaaaaasp* thankssomuchferhelpin'mehonemyskillsandgetpassedmymagicalproblemsandstuff!" that first statement was almost impossible to decipher if you didn't have a mind that went a mile a second. The painter hugged Twilight and then eventually set the alicorn down again when her excitement died down. "Oh um... ya missed my show by the way! I'm gonna have to show off my talents to ya some other time now." she said with a playful huffy tone to her voice. 

 

"By the way, loved the entrance!"

 

Roses's response to Java's own was another blank stare broken by a slow blink before she nodded, "Okay. Is there something I can do to make it up?" She asked, her monotonous voice betraying the slightest sound of curiosity to it as she asked. "I can... um..." The redmaned mare started to space out as she tried to think of things she could do besides break things well...

 

 

The duchess blushed, her ears lowering a bit as she forced out  a laugh, "Must we talk about my past nasal ails, your highness? But yes, I still am. I see potential in her and I just don't wish to have her think she's wasting it in the future... I think it's a bit late to ask her to enroll now though." she looked back up to the stage and chuckled nostalgically at an all too familar scene that Celestia seemed to recognize as well. Young Moondancer will always have that mischievous streak it seemed. 

 

After the performance, and almost as if on cue, the princess had finally arrived. Apparently having been held up in some important event that required her attention from the looks of her. She was thinking of headin up stage but Belle realized that it was better for her to stay in her seat as she had never really met Twilight before and would never wish to act overly familiar... her daughter on the other hand seemed to embrace the notion of over-familiarity.

 

The color seemed to drain from her face as she witnessed her daughter plant a kiss on the newly crowned princess of friendship and then laid her head in her hooves. AS celestia took the stage she decided she may as well head out now. The silver-coated mare's horn lit up and then a certain white stallion in the room would hear a voice in his head, belonging to the duchess. "I think I'll be leaving now, Mister Change..." The owner of the voice stood up from her haybale seat and brushed some of it off of her, "Tell Moondancer I loved her show and the princess that I had things to attend to, if you don't mind." Soon Belle's horn lit up and a faint blue magic aura surrounded her before she poofed away with a teleport spell.

 

---Exit Silver Belle--

[Zeig]

 

Nocturne felt strange.

More, bemused, than anything else, really. In fact, so unfamiliar was the sensation that it wasn't until Moondancer had finished her performance that Nocturne was able to identify it as irritation.

Had Dani always been so…silly?

Bubbly, yes, enthusiastic almost to a fault, sweet Celestia yes. She had put on a show, obviously, and to great effect, given the stampede of hooves pounding against the flooring - but the theatrical and maniacal laughter had bordered further along the realms of absurd then Nocturne could ever remember associating with the white Unicorn. And add to the fact that he had seriously suffered a brief moment of panic when his friend had collapsed onto the stage -

Poor taste indeed.

Pocket Change was, unsurprisingly, being incredibly unhelpful given his current proximity to Moondancer, so Nocturne simply settled a glare onto the white stallion, as if burning a hole through his skull could drive his displeasure through. His attempts to do so, however, were momentarily stymied by a sudden flash of purple, quickly clearing to produce a figure so prominent that Nocturne would assume even a foal would be able to recognize her.

Which, he supposed was a good thing - even if it meant Pocket Change was no longer liable to brood in a corner with him.

The darkly colored Unicorn sent a deferential nod towards Princess Twilight Sparkle, though in the midst of dozens of ponies all gazing at the relatively new princess with adoration and respect, he highly doubted a quick nod could be singled out. In the end it didn't really matter, as the cream color Unicorn immediately launched into a stream of nonsensical words while Princess Celestia herself cantered forward to greet the purple Alicorn. Already the magical - demonstrations, they were, not much of a lecture or lesson at all - seemed to be falling into forgotten memory, as the assembled ponies now had two Alicorn glows to bask within.

Hn.

"What," Nocturne Wisp spoke up clearly and briskly, above the low din of ponies whispering excitedly towards one another, "is the benefit of using a highly intensive spell limited by available sources, when illusory magic can accomplish the same, and for a reduced magical cost." Moondancer had opened the floor for questions, after all, and seeing how no other ponies seemed at all interested in taking up the offer, Nocturne felt completely at ease speaking his turn, sharp gaze set on the cream colored pony that had performed her sharp but useless ink magic.

 

[Hippo]

Applejack had gotten comfortable, sitting on a pillow observing as the large group of collegiate unicorns gathered to share their magical performances. Some of them were very fascinating, some of them were dangerous. Applejack tried not to get jaded, but seeing as how one of her best friends is an alicorn princess who's element of harmony IS magic, it's not like much of what Applejack is seeing wasn't something she had never seen before. Many of them were very artistic, however. It was like visiting an impromptu art museum.

And just when Applejack didn't think this unicorn assembly could get any strange, who walks in but Twilight Sparkle herself. Applejack jumped up. "Twilight!? Barrels of barley, what are you doin' here? I mean, it's great you came. But I thought you couldn't come because," Applejack whispered, "You know that thing. With the stuff. At the place." Applejack wasn't being awfully inconspicuous, but with how distracted everypony might be with the magical spells everywhere, sparks flying freely and objects floating around, she was sure not too many would notice her trying to be secret. The more Applejack stayed, the more she felt like this was a grand unicorn joke being played on an earth pony.

​
 

[tacobob]

 

Pocket Change followed the voice to its source, and while he knew what was going to happen, he was still rather surprised to see the mare’s plans unfold. Just when he thought he was getting close to Moondancer’s magical abilities, he simply realized he was nowhere near her class, or even in the same school building as she. Astral freaking projection. He needed to learn –this- as well? Holy Smokes!

 

He did cringe –just a little- as the mare went into ‘spooky ghost mode’. Apparently he was not the only pony here that needed to take a few acting classes. She still made an adorable ghost.

 

Once the spell was over, the white unicorn made sure to move out of the way as his mare promptly hopped on all four to finish her presentation. He did glanced over at the rest of the guildies and guild members to be as he waited for their questions.  He did notice his friend, Javasun, while looking a rather woozy, did appear to be alright. It even appeared that the wall-wrecking mare was trying her best to make up for her near maiming of said stallion....The another pony entered the hall....Who could it be?

 

Nice to see Twilight, er Princess Twilight Sparkle ended up going to event that was the ‘Princess Twilight Honoring Ceremony'. Yup! Said it right after the 'Open House Extravaganza'. Pocket would permit himself to remove the recently accessed Alicorn from the top of the 'worst ever' list. Now who would go on the top? There were a few of his professors that would fit the spot, or even that crazy mare that went mad during a silly little vent at Sweet Apple Acres.

 

He watched his friend Presteza as she fan-girled away while in the presence of the purple princess. Hopefully the painter would take a few moments to catch her breath, or she might just tumble over. He would want to tease her about this later on, but he generally felt the same way when he was standing near Moondancer or Princess Celestia. Total brain-slush. So wrapped up with his many thoughts, the stallion nearly fell over as Silver Belle's little 'message' found its way into the unicorn's noggin. He would have reponded in kind, but the older mare was long gone before he could muster up the spell. He would have to relay the message to Moony later on.

And then there was Nocturne who did not seem to be too pleased about what had happened. Good-gravy, maybe a horde of illusionary puppies should be sent his way? Or maybe even an hard-light illusion of Pinky Pie? Maybe he could get the -real- element of laughter to visit his old friend. Would the perky pink pony be able to bounce his friend out of his years long funk? He still managed to ask a good question though....And Pocket glanced over at Presteza, curious to hear what she would have to say...

[Pretzelparty]

 

Pressy soon released the princess from her hug and looked back to the audience, eventually zeroing in on the pony who raised the question. In all fairness he raised a good point... at least from the point of a pony who didn't know the details of the wonder's of the magic in paint and art. She looked back to twilight and smiled, "looks like yer in time fer an encore." she whispered to the purple alicorn. The mare then spoke up while looking at Nocturne, "Well, you see... Illusory magic is just that, an illusion if not empowered by a hard light spell. Paint magic conjurations are supplied with their own mass as soon as they are conjured." 

 

The cream colored painter's horn soon lit up as she lifted up several brushes from her saddle bag and quickly drew a small portrait of nocturne at his seat  in front of her, "However, this style of magic isn't just for summoning living artwork it can also be used to..." The portrait was soon surrounded by a glowing aura on all side and the mare stepped forward as if walking through a trapdoor before appearing behind Nocturne as her work dissipated from the stage. "Transport ponies or object fairly long distances and with practice can make portals to other regions or even bring a pony into a fictional world altogether." The mare walked pas the slightly bitter looking stallion and down the aisle, her horn lighting up once more as all her brushes traveled a distance away from her and painted what looked like claws grasping the side of the stage and the top of a dragon's head below the front. 

 

Soon the image of the claws that were flatly painted on the sides of the stage began to rise up as if from a pool until glowing hands gripped the sides of the stage and the entire setup was lifted from the ground by a simulacrum of a familiar looking dragon to a few members of spellbound.

 

"To further elaborate on my statement of my conjurings having mass as opposed to just being another moving image. While summoning it itself is still taxing on me it's less taxing that it would be if I had tried illusory spells or a hardlight construct thanks to the use of paint as a catalyst. While some of mechanics behind the magic remain unclear, it requires the one using it to have cutie mark based affinity for art and magic. This type of magic supposedly has applications as well for writers, sculptors and other walks of life as well!"

 

The painter then looked back to the image and sparked up her horn once, the spell deactivating and the dragon lowering back down into the two dimensional image it started as. 

[Bellosh]

 

After Moondancer finished Celestia couldn't help but trot over. "You know Moondancer... I seem to recall you pulling that same prank on a teacher some years ago..." Celestia paused for a moment. "And it is still funny" Celestia said with a wink.

 

Heh heh; Princess Celestia could always be counted upon to appreciate the fine art of practical jokes. While Moony kept her ear out for potential questions, she replied to her boss with an overly formal bow; “I live only to serve you, Your Majesty.” As usual, the young mare didn’t bother disguising the throat movements indicating her suppressed laughter. All the meanwhile, Moony figured that it’s been long past time that she pranked the Boss herse-

 

“Sorry! Sorry I'm late. I wanted things to go differently but something came up. Thank you for coming for me, Applejack, and thank you for having me, Moondancer.”

 

By Starswirl’s beard, was that dear ole’ Twilight Sparkle??? Didn’t Applejack alert Moony not too long ago that the lavender princess wouldn’t be able to make it tonight due to business? No matter; Pocket Change will definately be happy to have Twilight around for the night.

 

“No prob, Twi!” Moony shouted back to the special guest of the evening, despite only moving a short distance away from Celestia. “If you’re thirsty, we’ve got punch over on that table there,” the moon-flanked unicorn pointed at the punch table; “Give Icy a shout, and she’ll put an ice cube in your drink for ya!” Assuming that Twilight had toiled to finish whatever she had to do to make an appearance here before it was too late, Moony figured that the Ponyville mare was in dire need of a refreshment by now.

 

By now, things inside Spellbound were pretty much returning to their pre-ceremony state, with groups of ponies assembling here and there to discuss magic stuff. Maybe most of the others will try sticking around for a while yet, if only to get some quality time with the current most popular princess in Equestria (the polls say so!). Aside from a few hiccups, Moony thought this night went very well indeed.....

 

 

OOC 1: I'll respond to the conjured dragon thingy next post.

 

OOC 2: Other than that, things are starting to wrap up in this thread. This RP isn’t officially over yet, but I feel we’re swiftly reaching a conclusive end point. But feel free to continue hanging out here, if that is your desire.

[Zeig]

 

Nocturne was stunned.

Throughout the entire demonstration sequel, the darkly colored Unicorn had remained silent and attentive, observing like any half-decent researcher would do as the paintings spiraled through the air - with the added benefits of the lights actually staying on, he wasn't actually half-blinded by the mare's magical aura as she cast her spells, resulting in a much clearer picture. Or painting, rather.

Though he didn't appreciate standing around waiting as the mare sketched out pictures to demonstrate her spells. Clearly, his question on needing viable resources to even be able to use this type of magic remained unanswered.

He hadn't even spoken as the cream colored Unicorn began listing off numerous uses of this particular brand of magic that had seemingly no connection to said magic at all. Portals, fictional worlds - all because she believed paint acted as a magical catalyst that could cut down the cost of a casting? Was he suppose to believe that ink was a catalyst as well, or perhaps even colored crayons? There were multiple magics being used in her demonstration, of that Nocturne was sure - citing paint as a catch-all to performing several different types of spells was nonsensical.

But even then, what grabbed Nocturne's attention and left him stunned and reeling, was her statement at the very end of her demonstration. Grabbed it hard enough, in fact, to cause the Unicorn's ears to fall backwards onto his head, pale eyes narrowing onto the mare with no small amount of incredibility. To be honest, even that small bit of reaction was abnormal for the dark-colored Unicorn, but who could blame him when the demonstrator had basically admitted that she had no idea what she was doing?

Not in so many words, no. But the point remained. She had no idea exactly how this art of magic worked, but insisted it was both more effective and something others should learn as well?

'Yes, of course. We don't know how something works but let's use it anyways.'

She had mentioned that only those with artistic talents were able to use this particular brand of magic - so talented, in fact, that their cutie marks reflected this. Which narrowed down potential users to a bare minimum. Perhaps her affinity for art was what provided the magical catalyst, rather than manufactured, factory-made paint itself. That, would make much more sense. Her magical core resonated in tune with her special talent, which in turn was what made paintings an effective medium for her…but if that were the case, this magic was entirely selective to particular magic users.

Which, again, brought his question about the viability and practicalness of this magic back to full circle.

"Mass affects the ability to control and and govern magic," Nocturne stated, tone confident in the way one would be when citing a well-known and documented fact. "This magic requires a user talented enough to magically affect whichever mass they are conjuring, a special talent directly related to an artistic medium, sources that may or may not be readily available to artists of differing abilities -" this with a quick nod to the mare's sketchbook, holding a picture of himself that was presumably detailed enough to not cause the mare to open a portal to any random stallion, "- and its working are, at the present, an unknown variable."

Those were the facts he had gathered from her demonstration. Powerful but selective, unique but inefficient.

"This magic, then, is beneficial only to that select group of ponies whose special talents are artistically destined, and furthermore to those of said group that have a specific affinity to the artwork that is needed to make the physical mediums required?"

That was the alternate hypothesis he had accepted from the facts. Whether or not she agreed with this conclusion was irrelevant at this point - he'd made his observations from the mare's very own demonstration and explanation. Unless said explanation was simply lacking due to ignorance on the magic used, or more observations were discerned further down the line that contradicted the ones he'd just made, Nocturne was vaguely satisfied with the answers he had received.

 

[Bellosh]

 

Whatever Moony was doing came to a sudden halt when she heard something really massive slam down on something. Jolting, the young mare just caught a glimmering glimpse of what looked like that dragon Craven before it vanished, over by a visibly shaken (but not too terribly broken) stage. Gosh, them magic guildies really should be more careful with that rent-a-stage thought Moony. If that thing actually got broken.....

 

“Hey guys,” the unicorn shouted in Pressy’s direction; “Try to be more careful around our stuff, mkay?” Once again, Moony found herself imitating the mannerisms of her former guidance counselor, who by the way was off helping herself to a cup of punch. With the event more or less wrapping up, Moony decided that she might as well get a cup for herself as well.

 

*EXIT MOONY*

 

 

OOC: You guys are still free to post here as you like, but I think we’ve reached an appropriate place to finally wind things down. I’ll have to think about what the next public Spellbound thread shall be.

[tacobob]

 

Pocket Change could not help but be pleased on how everything turned out. Nopony was maimed or killed during their very first real open house. Javasun may have been slightly brained during this whole event, but those things can be fixed, right? He also got to see, learn from and later perform in front of some of the older masters of magic like Professor Hoofcourt, the good Duchess Silver Belle, Master Gray Lexis and Princess Celestia! And while he would never be performing at Las Pegasus anytime soon, his contemporaries that had also showed their stuff at the event were all very impressive. He had hoped they would gain even more members after this event!

 

And while he had a most deviously and very fiendish of pranks planned, the stallion regretfully had to pull the plug, since the purple princess of friendship did manage to show up..Even if it was the last two seconds of the event. She still showed up. Hmmph. The sudden appearance and disappearance of a dragon did startle him just a moment. But he had other things to do beyond surprises!

 

And while the white unicorn had considered getting as many of the ponies that were still at the guildhall and taking them for a few rounds of barhopping, he quickly realized that he needed to be grown up about this. VIPs like Celestia and Twilight needed to be politely escorted out, followed by the others. He also needed to make sure the hall was tidied up before leaving. And while he was not very comfortable asking Moondancer considering she worked her flank off during the event, there was always Nocturne and Presteza who could lend a helping hoof.

 

He smiled as the mare helped herself to the last bit of punch...This was going to be a long night!

 

OOC: This will probably be Pocket's last post for this..He needs to: 1. Give his thanks and goodbyes to all those attended. 2. Escort them out. 3. Clean up the hall. (Hopefully with a few others). 4. Pass out and spend his night on one of the comfortable reading chairs...Zzzzz.

 

[Zeig]

 

A productive evening at the Spellbound Guild Hall, this had been.

Not.

In all honesty, Nocturne wasn't sure what to make of the Spellbound's Opening Night - and what to make of Spellbound, to be more precise. There had been little evidence to support his joining up with the guild - never mind that he already had, thanks to a certain white stallion - but that didn't mean he wouldn't trot out these gilded doors the moment he thought his time was being wasted. There was simply too much to do to tarry with cutie mark-specific magics or elemental demonstrations that taught nothing, and Nocturne certainly was not going to sit through a saddlebag full of useless knowledge and practices to participate in the hoofful that would actually be useful to him.

Assuming that Spellbound members all learned in one large group. Perhaps the guild split itself up into different sections, allowing members to pick and choose which magics they wished to study and practice, with a veteran member leading each group. That would work out perfectly for him, and if that truly were the case, then Nocturne would not allow anything to stop his conquest of knowledge.

Even obnoxiousness.

As it was, things were winding down in the hall, causing the darkly colored Unicorn to cast his gaze away from the stage and towards the sides, pale gaze automatically searching out a familiar white coat. He found it in due time, and with hardly a word, Nocturne Wisp weaved his way through the crowd, coming to stand directly next to his friend. A wry glance was all he gave Change, but it was enough as Nocturne silently offered his support and help in officially wrapping up the end of the open house.

 

 

 

[[ Exit ]]