The Hunter Approaches [PRIVATE]

[NeilWacaster]

The unicorn just smiled. "Nay, Partheus. Now that you are on your guard, there is nothing more for me to teach from these games. You should just be praying to Celestia that your foes use a trick as simple as that to break your concentration."

"Now," he continued, "I am going to show you one of my favorite magic spells. Twilight said you already know basic levitation, so you should pick this up quickly." He picked up about a dozen daggers, arranging them into a spinning formation around himself. "Attraction spells are especially effective, because they serve as both shield and weapon. They can be performed with a small amount of medium sized objects, as you see here, or a large amount of small items, such as grains of sand or shards of glass."

He floated a spear toward himself with a separate spell, acting as if he was an attacker. He blocked and parried with some of the daggers, stabbing the imaginary foe.

The daggers broke formation and floated over to Partheus' feet. "Give it a try."

[Partheus]

Partheus focused on his inner power, and levitated the daggers off the ground. He made the daggers float around him in a circular fashion, each one pointing upwards as if they were in a weapon rack. He walked around with the items still orbiting around him, getting used to the sensation of concentrating while moving and making sure they were in perfect orbit. Once he was satisfied, with a gesture of his hand, he made two of the daggers fly forwards into an archery target on the opposite side of the room, scoring a bullseye. He then waved his hands around himself, pretending to block imaginary attacks with the remaining daggers from all angles. He then stepped forwards and pushed with his hand, causing the daggers to lock together and push forwards with considerable force, enough to blow out some of the candles on the wall near him.

He then pointed them outwards from himself, and spun them around his body incredibly fast. He then made a gesture with his hand, as if he were throwing playing cards on to a table, and one by one, the remaining daggers zipped forwards and struck the archery target. By the time he launched the last dagger, the daggers had formed the shape of a smiley face on the archery target. He walked back to his position on the arena and readied himself. "So, something like that?"

[NeilWacaster]

Shining Armor looked genuinely impressed. "Ah ... yes. Something like that, indeed."

He was looking at Partheus curiously. Something had clearly changed since the last time they had met, but what? Before he was an angry, unstable magic user who could barely keep a shield around himself. And now ... but soon enough it would all be clear.

"We shall come back and practice all of these different spells, but since you have already mastered that one, lets move on to the next lesson."

His horn glowing, he cast a thick pink sphere around himself and Partheus. "Area effect spells, a variant of the shield I taught you last time, are my specialty. The main difference is that area effect spells are relatively permanent and stationary, whereas shields are very short-lived and move with you."

He looked at Partheus gravely. "Many times in battle, I have used one of these spells to protect an injured comrade. Unlike a basic shield, it is impervious to almost any ordinary attack, and there are several different types depending on what type of magical energy is being used against you. They are extremely powerful, but come with their cost. It takes a great deal of mental effort to maintain one, making it exceptionally difficult to use other spells simultaneously."

He released the spell, and the shield shattered, drifting away in wisps of fog. Shining Armor went on to explain special incantations for different types of area effect spells, depending on what type of energy you were blocking, if you needed to block light or sound with the spell, and if you were inside or outside of the perimeter.

"Now, I know that's a lot to take in all at once," the unicorn said as he finished, "but trust me, in time it'll be as natural to you as breathing. Now, cast one around yourself, and I will try to break through."

[Partheus]

Partheus focused on his inner power once more, and recited the appropriate incantations in his head. A white sphere appeared around him, much more defined than the half-shell from before, about fifteen feet in diameter. He found it hard to concentrate on anything else while casting this particular spell, and he immediately saw why this spell was only to be used sparingly. He could feel his inner power diminishing slowly as he maintained the sphere around himself.

[NeilWacaster]

Shining Armor picked up a huge oak table from across the room and flung it at Partheus. His eyes narrowed. This would be a real test of not only his concentration, but also of his raw power. Few magic users would be strong enough to stop such a projectile.

[Partheus]

Partheus concentrated as the oak table came towards him. He trusted in his abilities as a magic user, and in the spell he was casting. The table collided with a mighty thud, shattering into tiny splinters, littering the floor around Partheus' sphere. Just as the table smashed, Partheus ceased the spell and fell on his hands and knees, panting heavily. The spell had taken the wind out of him, and was exhausted purely from using the spell. This was a strange sensation for Partheus, as he was the first human to successfully cast magic in over 2000 years, so he had no idea what magic felt like on the inside. After a few minutes, Partheus slowly picked himself up, and noticed he was physically weaker than before. That's strange, he thought. This doesn't happen with Twilight when she overdoes it with magic. Perhaps humans are set up differently to ponies, and we only have one power source to power everything? I'll have to ask Celestia about this. She's bound to know more than Twilight when it comes to the human anatomy...

He walked back to his position, and tried to ready himself, but was showing signs of fatigue. "Okay, one more round, and we'll call it a day for magic. Let's do this!"

[NeilWacaster]

Shining Armor looked concerned. "If you're sure you're alright, then yes, there's one more type of magic that I wanted to teach you today. It's by far the most intricate, and takes a lifetime to master. The counterspell."

Shining Armor went on to explain that there were four basic types of magical energy attacks, corresponding to the elements of water, air, earth and fire. He continued that each one of these types of energy had a specific incantation to counter it, and explained what parts of the incantation were to be modified depending on the size of the attack and what variant of the type of element being used.

"Now, I know that it will take time for you to memorize all four spells, so we'll just concentrate on one of them today. Sagittarius uses balefire, so lets start by countering basic fire attacks. Celestia told me that she has sent Twilight to find a spell to counter the specific type of spell The Hunter uses, but we'll just work on the basics until she returns."

He pulled a lever, and three balls of fire shot from a magical energy cannon mounted on the wall. His horn glowed brightly, and a few feet from him the spells exploded in a small, harmless fireworks display.

"Alright, now it's your turn," the captain grinned. He shot a large jet of flame toward Partheus.

[Partheus]

As the flames sped towards him, Partheus focused, recited the approprite incantations, and pushed towards the fireball with both hands. The flames only got so far as four feet from Partheus before exploding into harmless fireworks like before. But, some of the smaller fragments of the fireball were still heading towards Partheus. He had no time to think; without enough power left to cast another counter-spell, he raised his arms to protect his face. The flames hit Partheus, tearing through the sleeves of his shirt, and leaving marks on his forearms. His shirt didn't catch fire, though he suffered third degree burns as a result. He crumpled to the floor and nursed his sore arms, trying not to scream out in pain. "I'm... fine... don't... worry..."

Partheus stood up, both wrists singed, body exhausted, and walked back to his position on the arena, arms hanging limply by his side. "Nothing some healing lotion won't fix. I'll be fine. Is that all for today, Shining Armour?"

[NeilWacaster]

Shining Armor rushed over to look at Partheus' burns. "I guess I got a little carried away," he said, sheepishly. "I shouldn't have cast something so powerful for your first counterspell practice. You were doing so well with the other new skills that I overestimated your ability. And yes, that will be all for this day."

He pulled a medical kit from the wall and opened a package which contained glowing white bandages. He quickly rolled up Partheus' sleeves with a spell and wrapped his arms with the cloths.

"There now," he said, smiling kindly. "Firebane bandages. That should make you feel much better. Now, before you come back to see me again, I want you to practice what you have learned. Perhaps you should ask Twilight or one of the other mages to work with you. I'm taking a contingent of soldiers to Appleoosa and checking on their wartime preparations, so I'll be gone until tomorrow night."

He glanced down at Partheus' side. "By the way," the unicorn said, "what have you learned about your sword? I'm sure that Celestia's enchantment makes it a very powerful weapon."

[Partheus]

Partheus looked at the bandages covering his forearms. They were glowing with some strange energy, and he could feel them soothing the burns already. "Thanks. I'll be sure to practise all I've learned today in my own training hall tomorrow." He rolled down his tattered sleeves, partially covering the bandages. "My sword can channel my inner power, bolstering it's strength and cutting power. I'll have to get used to pouring in my energy into a weapon, but with some practise, I should be fine." He looked suspiciously at Shining Armour. "Why do you ask, anyway? Are you interested in sparring with me some time? I'd be more than happy to oblige if that's what you're after."

[NeilWacaster]

Shining Armor's eyes sparked. "I never turn down an opportunity for swordplay, so consider your challenge accepted." Grinning, he slapped Partheus on the shoulder. "But be forewarned, I won't take it easy on you just because you're a human."

Shining Armor and Partheus walked down out of the tower together, and parted ways at the foot of the staircase.

---

By midafternoon, Newsworthy had eaten a hearty breakfast and lunch, and had slept soundly for several more hours. His body now just ached all over, and any movement that jostled his wings was painful. The doctor had wrapped his torso so that his wings couldn't move, but even so, he had to walk slowly and carefully.

After he signed yet another piece of paperwork, they finally let him free from the hospital. He strolled out into the late afternoon air, and took the route that Twilight had told him about.

In about half an hour, he reached a small potion shop on the outskirts of town. The sorceress had had a small apartment just above, and Newsworthy climbed the stairs wearily. Just walking the dozen or so blocks from the hospital had been taxing.

He knocked half-heartedly on the door.

"Who's there?" Twilight called from inside.

"It's me."

The door was immediately enveloped in pink magic and swung inward. Twilight sat on the floor, hundreds of books stacked around her in a half moon. She wasn't kidding about the mountain of scrolls, he thought, seeing the enormous stack behind her. The thick dust in the air made it look like she was sitting in a pillar of sunlight, streaming in from a large round window overhead.

She looked up at him, smiling. Several dark lines under her eyes showed that she still hadn't slept.

"You look almost as tired as I feel," she said, yawning cavernously.

"No kidding, although with me it's mostly just soreness, rather than lack of sleep," Newsworthy said, carefully lowering himself to the floor beside her. "So, what did you find?"

Reverently, she opened a huge book nearby and searched for the appropriate page.

"Aha, here we are." The book was hoof written in a decorative script. It had to be at least several hundred years old to have been made before the advent of the printing press. At the top of the page, the chapter name read, "Advanced Spells for Dragon Hunting." She pointed with a hoof to a mess of notes in the margins. "Look, here. This is the spell that will save Equestria."

He squinted at the tiny scrawl. It was barely even readable, and it looked like it had been started and crossed out about a dozen times before the sorceress had gotten it right. Twilight explained that it was an ingenious modification of the classic balefire counterspell, with obscure bits of dissolution and hydrolytics thrown in to deal with the special properties of Sagittarius' magic.

"That's ... great," Newsworthy said, mixed emotions churning through him. On the one hoof, she had found the spell that could stop Sagittarius. On the other hoof, if she used it, it was almost certain to end her life.

"Now that I have the spell that she used, I've been trying to figure out how to modify it to counter the spell remnants ravaging Manehattan," she said, floating a scroll over. "Of course, I don't need the full effect, and I need it to be dispersed over an extremely wide area. That's going to be difficult, but I think that I've almost got it. I may need Professor Deathwish's help to get it precisely right."

"Does that mean we're headed back to Manehattan today?" Newsworthy asked.

"Yes, as soon as I finish. It may take another hour or two." she replied.

"Alright then. I passed by a chariot station on my way here. I'll go order one to be ready and waiting for us."

---

Having nothing better to do while he waited for Twilight to finish her work, Newsworthy took a look inside the potion shop. The walls were packed with shelves holding vials of liquid in every color imaginable.

He spent over an hour just going through the wares. There were potions to cure warts, to be able to see through walls, and to clean laundry instantly. There were vials which claimed they could make you forget, make you remember, make you handsome, and make you fall in love.

He was standing in front of a rack of protection potions when Twilight popped her head in the door. "The charioteers said I could find you in here. They're helping me carry down the books I need, and then I'm ready to leave."

"I'll be right there."

He turned back to the vials. One in particular caught his eye. "Stealthy Hooves: Potion renders one pony completely invisible for several minutes." That sounds like it could be useful if I have to run away from Sagittarius, he said to himself, dropping it into his bag. It's not like the unicorn will miss it, poor girl.

He walked outside and clambered into the chariot. Soon, Twilight and the two pegasi returned, each laden with a large stack of books and scrolls. They loaded them in the trunk, and the charioteers strapped themselves in. Soon, they were in the air.

Almost immediately, Twilight and Newsworthy fell asleep.

[Partheus]

Partheus returned to his living quarters, changed into his pyjamas, and sat on his bedside. He reached for his sword, unsheathed it, and observed it admirably. I wonder how I channel my energy into this thing, he thought. He focused on his inner energy, and tried to shift it all into the hand that was holding the sword. It pooled together in his hand, but for some reason, was not travelling up through the sword. He tried concentrating it in different points, different spreads, and different hands, but the sword would simply not absorb any of the energy from his hand. Wait a moment, he thought. What did Celestia say about the sword's properties? "It is an extension of yourself, like a good sword should be..."

Realising where he had gone wrong, he tried the unthinkable; he stood up from his bed, envisioned the sword as if it were an extension of his arm, and held it outwards from himself. He then focused his energy not in his hand, but the imaginary limb beyond his hand. Although tricky to understand at first, he soon grasped the concept, fully believing that the sword was a part of his body. Suddenly, energy surged into the blade, lighting up his living quarters with a bright white glow. Excellent, he thought. This sword will surely add the edge I need to defe-

Without warning, Partheus collapsed in a heap onto his bed, sword in hand, and everything faded to black...