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1>Awaken
2>But, no, don't awaken...
3>Your bed is very, very nice and soft right now
4>Wait
5>Your eye flutters open, and a blur of lavender and white
6>Blinking, trying to see anything without your glasses, you sit up and look around
7>Soft oranges and pinks fill the room, where framed somethings don't...
8>Oh, this is Sugar's room
9>You slowly nod and run a hand through your hair
10>It's pleasantly cool in here, and light filters in through curtains, falling on you
11>Squinting, you glance around
12>To one side, you find a lavender and snowy white blob
13>D-daw
14>Lil Sugarcoat curled up in bed is a cute image
15>On your other side is a big, big blob of yellow and maroon
16>Sour, probably?
17>Why are the three of you in bed together?
18>Putting a hand to your chin, you close your eyes and ponder
19>Last night, you went to bed a bit earlier than the others
20>Sugar offered you hers
21>You figured she'd climb in with you later
22>Why is Sour here?
23>Before you can ponder this quandry further, the door to Sugar's room cracks open and a quiet Indy chuckles as she enters
24>"Still gotcha beat at runnin, dude."
25>Lem snorted back and whispered as they entered, "With arms like those, ya gotta be good at somethin'."
26>They both snicker together as they continue, then pause
27>You smile and lift a hand to wave
28>They both look like they wave back
29>You slowly whisper, "Have you... Seen... My glasses?"
30>Indy snaps her fingers into an okay, you think, and after a moment of movement, she slides you your glasses
31>With a sigh, the world is right again
32>You grin to the girls- "Whoa."
33>Lem and Indy are matted with sweat, and the sight of their clothes clinging to them was not expected
34>You shake your head and take a breath
35>But Lem snickers. "Like what ya see, Twifam?"
36>You blush and climb out of bed
37>Glancing around, you grab your skirt from where you left it, sliding it back on
38>Indy snaps her fingers, "Hey, bae."
39>You look over at her and Lemfam, both at the door
40>"We gonna shower up real quick. Sunny and Mr. Tea said when you three are ready to come get breakfast."
41>A smile spreads across your cheeks and you nod. "S-sounds n-nice."
42>Indy and Lem leave you to redress
43>You peer over at Sugar and Sour
44>Such a mismatched-
45>Sour's sleeping naked
46"B-by Odin's beard..." Your cheeks flash hot and you spin around, turning away from Sour and her huge...
47>Your heart skips a beat
48"S-sour... Sour!"
49>She mumbles and you hear movement
50>"What is it...?"
51"U-um... D-do you always s-sleep naked?"
52>"Mhm..." You think you hear her sitting up
53>Shc clears her throat. "Oh, what, you don't like my big titties, huh?"
54>You wiggle and look around, grabbing up a large bra. "N-no, th-they're nice..."
55>The bra says Size J, but no initials
56>But honestly, it's probably hers, so you hand it back to her, where it's snatched up
57>"Jeeze, be cool, Twi."
58>You take a deep breath and sigh
59>"It's not Twilight's fault that she is a-"
60>"Holy shit!" Sour jumps off the bed when Sugar starts monloguing, but Sugar continues, to which you smile.
61>"That she is a person who prefers modesty over overt and frankly unnecessary impudence. Perhaps instead of criticiz-"
62>Sugar is muffled but continues talking for a few seconds
63>You turn when she stops fully and your heart skipped again when you are met with a full view of Sour's Sweet Cheeks
64>She's kneeling on Sugar's bed, with her hand on Sugar's mouth, and her gigantic ass hanging in the air as she does so
65>Everyone's quiet as your heart accelerates
66>Sugar slowly furrows her brow and reaches under her pillow
67>She pulls out a long barrled revolver and glares at Sour
68>Sour snorts at her. "What're you gonna do, shoot me= ACK."
69>Sour falls back onto the bed and rubs her hand into the sheets. "You fuckin licked my hand!"
70>"Don't touch my face, you big titty bimbo." Sugar pokes her revolver at Sour's soft belly
71>You can't help but giggle to the side as your friends argue
72"H-heh, S-Sunny's making us b-breakfast, by the w-way."
73>They both stop and Sour lets out an approving hum
74>"I am actually quite hungry after last night's rancorous movie night. Breakfast sounds nice, and I'm sure whatever Sunny cooks will balance all the chips and candy that we consumed last night. Or at the least settle this stomach ache I feel forming."
75>While Sugar's talking, Sour managed to jump out of bed and dress up in her undershirt and shorts
76>Why didn't she wear all that to sleep?
77>Sugar gives you a look, and you think she's wondering the same thing
78>But then, "Come on!"
79>Sour looks between you both and gets close to put her arms around each of your shoulders
80>"Let's get some breakfast, I'm starving!"
81>The height difference and her pure fat content means her tits are pressed right against you and Sugar's faces, but she doesn't seem to care as she leads both of you out the bedroom
82>You and Sugar get led like that for a solid five minutes before Sugar tries running off
83>But Sour just scoops her up and carries her tiny body like a toddler
84>You give Sugar a sorry frown and reach up to pat her, while Sour coos down at her and does the same
85>Sugar huffs and crosses her arms, laying her head against Sugar's chest
86>Giggling, you follow the scent of food down the stairs, across the foyer, and through the back of the ground floor
87>At the end of you three's journey, you are rewarded with a dining table stacked with
88>Stacks
89>At least fifty pancakes around the center of the single table in the giant dining room
90>"Holy shit." Sour mutters your thoughts
91>Sugar shifts in Sour's grip and looks around
92>"Welcome to the dining room, Sour Sweet. We have the room to host parties reaching and exceeding one hundred twenty people, but we typically only have two tables set up. One for my father, myself, and Twiley, and one set up for the house staff."
93>Sour gazes around the decorated dining room. "I forgot you were actually fucking rich..."
94>It's hard for you to forget, since you just saw this place last week, but the dining room is really over the top. It looks more like a movie set from a spy movie than a lived in room
95>"Where's Sunny?"
96>Sugar hums and points to a door. "I don't know for certain, but our eccentric Prench friend may actually be cooking breakfast for us instead of just directing the cooking staff like I initially thought."
97>You and Sour stare at the door for a moment
98>"That's the kitchen. Go there. Please."
99>Sour looks down at Sugar
100>Sugar slaps Sour's tit
101"Ack!" 
102>...and snaps to point at the kitchen door
103>Sour instead drops Sugar, who lands better than you'd think you could, and walks to the table
104>"I'm gonna enjoy some breakfast." There, Sour grabs up a plate, and some pancakes
105>You and Sugar look at each other
106>You smile and shrug
107>She unfolds her arms and grabs up her meters-long hair and heads for the table, too
108>This is nice
109>You and Sugar sit down and Sour immediately shoves some plats in front of you both
110>You smile at her and grab some pancakes
111>Just last month things were really bad, but now, in this...
112>Your smile falters
113>This other world
114>You snort and grab a fork
115>You've got friends
116>You look over at Sugar, who's curled over weaving together her hair into her weird twin tails
117>And at Sour, who's spread out and contently stuffing her face
118>"Yo!"
119>Twisting back, you see Indy and Lem marching in, all grins
120>Indy's carrying her bat with a swagger
121>Lem's got her headphones and player in one hand
122>"Sorry we're late, erryone." Lem's deep voice booms out, not quite yelling or shouting
123>"Yo, where's Sunny?" Indy asks around as she takes her seat, followed by Lem, who looks at the only empty chair
124>Maybe waiting on the cue, the kitchen door opens up
125>Everyone looks up and to the door...
126>"Did someone call my name~?"
127>Sunny skates out onto the dining room, pushing a cart with a huge stack of plates and bowls 
128>Behind her is what you guess is the kichen staff, who have more stuff
129>By DIO's golden locks, what is all this food
130>Sour, Indy and Lem seem just as surprised as you
131>"Oh fuck yeah..."
132>"Shit I'm hungry."
133>"This looks great!"
134>But they seem very fine with it all coming out and stacking onto the table, taking space
135>Sunny brings out berries, juice, jams, jellies, butter, fruits, meats, cheeses
136>Some cereals, oatmeal, more pancakes, tea, coffee, sugar, milk and cream
137>Finally toast, waffles, sausage, bacon, hash browns, fucking grits of all things
138>A mother fucking pie.
139>It finally ends, and the plates are stacked high on top of each other with special stands
140>All the food is just up to your chin, and the hungry girls are already tearing into it
141>You smile to Sunny
142>She smiles back, showing off her almost perfect pearly grin
143>"Please, no need for formalities~ Eat, eat~!"
144>You giggle at your rumbling belly and reach
145>And pause
146>Your fork darts back and forth with your gaze
147>"...Eh, is something the matter~? Ma petite Twilight~?"
148>You pull back a bit and give her a nervous smile
149"W-where's the e-eggs?"
150>Sunny blinnks
151>She slaps her forehead, "Zut~!"
152>You titter a little, hands raised to dismiss the thought that she made any kind of mistake
153"N-no, it's okay! Y-you m-made all th-th-this, it's great! Th-thank you."
154>Sunny peeks out from under her hand and smiles
155>"It is so sweet to hear you say that, ma cherie~"
156>You smile back and pile on not-egg breakfast stuff
157>You aren't that disappointed that there's no eggs, just confused that this all got made without them
158>Oh well
159>The rest of this is banging
160>And everyone else must agree, because no one says anything as they wolf it all down
161>You can't help but notice Sunny's big smile as she watches everyone enjoy
162>You make sure to give her a grin when you make eye contact
163>She giggles and blushes as her smile broadens
164
165>What feels like an eternity of good stuff passes, Sour is the last to set down her utensils
166>She grabs a napkin and rudely burps into it, tossing it down onto one of her plates
167>You check your phone again
168>She took a full extra ten minutes of eating on everyone else
169>You've all just been watching with fascination as she put it all away
170>Lem's got her music, Indy's enjoying a coffee, tea for you and Sugar, and Sunny has a wide eyed gaze fixed on Sour's eating skills
171>It explains why she's got so much fat on her, but still
172>She ate maybe half the table
173>Indy smirks from her coffee
174>"You done?"
175>Sour rolls her head forward and glares at Indy >Indy snickers and sips her coffee. "Just checking. We can go get the rest of the fridge, ya know."
176>Sour raises a middle finger away from her gut with one hand and with the other, pulls her shirt down further to cover up
177>After chuckling, Indy adds, "I'm just fuckin with ya."
178>Indy sighs and lowers her empty cup. "You know we love your fat ass, Sour Patch."
179>Sour sneers and pats her belly. "It ain't fat, it's graceful curvature."
180>"Whatever it is, if we go out to eat, you're fotting the bill."
181>"Naturally! I'd of course insist on going somewhere that fits my taste."
182>Sugar smacks her lips and looks into her teacup. "...So that would limit our options to KFC, Burger King, Taco Bell, McDonalds or perhaps the nearest White Castle, if Sour Sweet were to decide upon where we take our..."
183>She looks at Sour. "Dining experience."
184>"Blegh." Lem grunted, apparently able to hear over her music
185>"Oh, but I am a vegetarian~"
186>Sour groans, "Those places have salads- I mean. We wouldn't be going there!"
187>Sour's face turns red and she balls her fists. "You guys suck!"
188>Indy chuckles and walks around to give Sour a hug. "Just busting your balls."
189>Sour grumbles back at her
190>"Wassat?"
191>"Don't bully me! I'm very delicate!" Then she burps
192>Everyone cracks up
193>Sour crosses her arms and pouts, blushing in embarrassment
194>In the middle of giggling, Sunny reaches over and takes one of Sour's hands in her own
195>"Hehe~ Sour, you are not truly bothered, no~?"
196>Sour grunts and looks away, to which Sunny edges closer and rests her head on her shoulder, joining Indy in Hugging her
197>Sour grumbles and raises her hands, "Aight, get off! I'm fine!"
198>She looks over at you and bobs her head toward the others
199>You smile and stand as well, slowly speaking, "Okay... Okay..."
200>You step closer, putting your hands on Indy and Sunny's shoulders. "Group hug..."
201>And you giggle, easing down into Sour too, who starts howling
202>A chuckling Lem and a smirking Sugar come closer as Sour stands, lifting you and Sunny
203>But she's not fast enough to avoid their hugs
204>Sour begins angrily howling like an animal
205>"What in the hell's goin on in here?"
206>Everyone stops
207>Sour turns so we can all see Mr. Tea at the entrance to the dining room
208>There's a collective, "Uh..."
209>Mr. Tea crosses his arms
210>And smiles
211>"Now idn't that cute. Mah lil Sugarcube's got herself a big ol mess a friends now, don't she?"
212>Mr. Tea chuckles as he walks over and pats Sugar and grab a cup of tea
213>"Ya'll feel free ta stay long as like. Tis winter vacation, after all."
214>Oh
215"I-it is."
216>He chuckles and walks off with his tea. "Ya have fun for the mornin, but keep it down at night."
217>You all untangle a moment later
218>"Winter break..." Lem grabs her seat again and lounges "Whatcha'll wanna do?"
219>You and the girls take your seats again as the servants come around and refill cups and clean up the table
220"W-well..."
221>Everyone casually looks at you, and you shrug
222"I-I have an a-appointment."
223>Indy throws out her hand and Sour grunts
224>"Boring."
225>"Eh."
226>Indy shrugs at your deflation, "I can drive ya, but..."
227>She shrugs to Sour and Sour nods. "We mean stuff for us to do."
228>You purse your lips and smile. "W-well... I-it's a magic a-appointment."
229>That gets their attention
230>You smirk and clear your throat
231>You... Don't know how to do it
232>Looking down at your hands, you recall how it felt to use magic, to make it so you can talk fluidly
233>But the Dark Mana's not there
234>("My apologies, try now.")
235>You grin and raise a finger, feeling the dark magic coat your larynx
236"My magical mentor, the most marvelous Scorpan, has agreed to advise me."
237>The girls eye you, and share looks
238>"The heck was that?"
239>You lower your finger and feel your smug grin falter
240"That would be my..." You feel a stutter come back, but take a breath and stand, feeling your cheeks warm as you proclaim:
241"This is... Dark Speech!"
242>You look around at the girls
243>It's hard to read them exactly...
244>So you all stare at each other as your cheeks start to flame up
245"Um."
246>"That's..." Lem blinks and looks at Indy, and they share a nod
247>Indy looks at you and puts up a thumbs up. "Fuckin rad, bae."
248>You feel warm inside and smile as you look at your impressed friends. "Th-thanks."
249>"Yo, Scorpan? Ya mean like that dude who we wen' an' met with that zebrican lady?"
250>"Lemon!" Sour shouts and Sunny gasps
251>But Sour continues, "You can't just call her a zebrican lady!"
252>Lem splays her hands and sputters, "W-well what am Ah supposed'ta call her?"
253>"Don't call her anything, it's racist!"
254>Lem throws her hand and crosses her arms. "You and your social justice."
255>Sugar leans closer to you and mutters so she doesn't interrupt
256>"Perhaps ask Indigo to take you to this Scorpan man, I don't think these two will be coming with us this time, but perhaps at a later date."
257>("Oh, tell her I've invited each of you!")
258>You nod and clear your throat, drumming up more Dark mana
259>And accidentally start shouting at Sugar "Each of you have been invited to come see Scorpan, regardless of..."
260>You pause your shouting, trailing off and look at the girls, and then at Sugar
261"Er..." You clear your throat as the magic fades. "I-I guess for now th-the Dark Speech isn't a-a inside voice k-kinda thing."
262>Everyone has a chuckle at your minor spell snare, and you have to admit that laughing with them feels weird
263>Kind of how Indy was just making fun of Sour, it's your turn, and you feel like it should hurt, but it doesn't
264>It's hard to explain, and you don't fully get it
265>So it's probably to do with this human disease called friendship
266>Er anyways, enough with phasing out, you all pile into Blue Lightning and Indy races off
267>It's comfy back here with Sugar and Sunny and Lem
268>Up front, Sour's still going on about SJW stuff
269>"Oh, oh! And that reminds me, you should also be sensitive of the Z-Questrian's plight given that you are friends with Twilight!"
270>You and Lem both scoff and you smile out the window
271>The snow is falling once more
272>It gives the early afternoon city a foggy presense that never fails to make you feel good
273>"Twilight, stop, stop Twilight."
274>Blinking back to reality again, you look and find Sugar struggling against your arm
275>You were hugging her as you relaxed back
276"O-oops!" releasing her, she wedges herself to the side, between you and Sunny
277"D-didn't mean to h-hug you so close."
278>Sugar shrugs and straightens out her scarf. "It's okay, I like hugs. I was just slipping off of your lap."
279>"This the place, bae?"
280>You look around and nod, and Sour answers
281>"Yeah, this is it..."
282>("Ah, welcome back, Twilight, Lemon, Sour.")
283>Everyone collectively flinches, jumps or starts at the telepathy
284"Th-that's Scorpan."
285>("Indeed, I am!")
286>You can loudly hear him laughing from outside
287>He's standing on the steps leading into his house
288>Dressed like a granpa
289>You snort
290>"Oh shit." Indy chuckles and kills the engine. "I knew the name was familiar..."
291>Everyone pulls out of Blue Lightning and you make a bee line for Scorpan
292"W-we're here."
293>"I can see that!" Scorpan smiles and steps aside, opening his door. "Please, come in, we have much to discuss!"
294>You and your friends each enter into the big boarding house Scorpan and his brother use
295>Lem hums, and when you look at what she's looking at, you notice a finger line across a dusty shelf
296"F-from you?"
297>"Last time, yeah." She mutters back, and following her gaze, you both look back at Scorpan
298>He's smiling, talking to Sugar
299>"A wonderful question, young Sugar. But one that I'd rather answer after I've had a chance to formally meet you and your friends."
300>Sugar hums and nods. "Very well."
301>Scorpan taps his cane against the hard wood of the sort of foyer of his boarding house
302>Just the first hallway with the stairs, really
303>"Right then! All six of you are here, so let us begin by..." He motions for you all to follow
304>"Heading to my library!"
305>You follow closely as Scorpan limps through the house and toward a door with more than a few locks
306>He opens it up and sets a stopper down, letting you all enter
307>His library's quite similar to any other library. Bookshelves along the walls, and a pair of tables in the center. It doesn't even look like this room belongs in a house
308>Looking at the threshold, you can actually see a difference in the wood of the floorboards
309>You and your friends take seats at one of the tables, and Scorpan walks over to sit at the end of it
310>He puts his cane down upon it and with a smile, begins
311>"Welcome, again, to my home. It's been quite a while since I've had so many visitors, but I must say I adore the company."
312>You smile at that and glance at your friends, then back at him
313>They seem cool so far
314>"Now... Something important I've noticed in Twilight..."
315>He tents his fingers and his beard shifts as he slowly smiles
316>Wait, he's not going to tell them-
317>"She seems to have quite a bit of magic within her. Latent mana which could pin her as a proficient mage."
318>Sugar glances at you and takes a breath into a sigh toward Scorpan
319>He wags a finger at her, his nail cutting out a stream of blue white light
320>Scorpan smiles as Sugar's eyes widen
321>"A powerful mage like myself can't cast outside without attracting undue attention." He spins his finger around the light and it becomes a glassy marble
322>Catching it, he rolls it over to Sugar
323>She plucks it up and stares in shock
324>Sugarcoat looks up at him
325>"D-do it a-a-again. P-please."
326>Scorpan unleashes a hearty laugh and holds a ball of light. This ball turns into a mound of marbles, overflowing from his hand and bouncing across the table and onto the hardwood below
327>When they land, some of them evaporate, others pop, a few land and splash like drops of water
328>But the rest act as perfectly normal, suddenly existential marbles
329>You notice yourself and Sour leaning away from any that roll towards you both
330>Sunny happily watches the show as it transpires
331>Lem and Indy also watch, but they seem a lot more aloof about it than Sunny does
332>And then there's Sugar
333>Sugar snatches up whatever marbles she can reach, until her small hands are filled with the tiny glass orbs
334>"Y-you're magic." She holds out her handfulls of magic toys to Scorpan
335>"How, what, can-" She takes a few deep breaths and you reach out to hold her shoulder
336>Sugar looks at you, and you notice sweat forming on her brow
337>She takes another deep breath and gulps
338>"Is it... Within your capacity and agenda to teach... My friends and I how to cast spells? Magic has been something I have been very interested in for a little under a decade now, and the concept of knowing a wizard is one that shakes me to my core."
339>Sugar takes a moment to remove her glasses and nervously wipe them with her sleeve
340>Scorpan chukles
341>"Cleric. I am a cleric, but I believe I can teach you magic, yes!"
342>Sour, who has been quiet with her arms crossed across her fat chest, grunts
343>"What if we don't all wanna be wizards?"
344>"Hm." Scorpan taps a finger and holds his chin as he looks to the side
345>Scorpan carefully shakes his head and slowly responds, 
346>"I won't force you, of course."
347>Sour harumphs and relaxes again in her seat
348>"However..." You look back at Scorpan
349>And smile at his coy smile and the mischevious glint in his eye
350>"You wouldn't want young Indigo or Lemon to surpass you, would you?"
351>Looking back, you smile wider as Sour's eyes widen and fill with anger
352>"What'd you say?"
353>Scorpan raises both hands and shrugs as he lowly chuckles
354>He fans his hands out to you and your friends
355>"Each of you possesses a latent talent for magic!"
356>You look back at your friends, briefly glimpsing at each
357>None of them seem any more impressed than they would be at class
358>You really
359>Really 
360>Hope that they're just being cool and you can do this with them
361>"I am none too good at getting my point across, so I'll be honest and nothing more."
362>When you look back, he's holding out one finger and looking down it with a smile. "I care what happens to you each. You are young, and while I do not see any evil in you, I see Dark mana. Dark children are swayed by Dark forces, and Dark forces are not generally good."
363>"Are you a 'Dark force'?" Sour cuts him off with air quotes
364>"No." Scorpan snaps his fingers. "I will explain further, but I am primarily of the earth. Though I have dabbled in all fields."
365>He rolls his wrist and nods. "Comes with age."
366>"So... We're dark and you're earth."
367>Scorpan slowly collects his thoughts and nods to Sour. "Effectively, ignoring some minutae of vernacular."
368>Sour shakes her head and raises an incredulous hand from her crossed arms
369>"Whatever."
370>After a short chuckle, Scorpan again drums his fingers across the table as he scans you and your friends
371>You make sure to smile and he does in return
372>"Now... For the million dollar question."
373>He rolls his hand to point up
374>"How many of you would like to learn magic with me?"
375>Sugar puts her hand up and leans forward. "Me, please. I would love to, Mr. Scorpan, sir."
376>With a giggle, you pat her
377>Sugar blushes and you turn to raise your own hand
378>You look around and Sunny's broad smile catches your eye as she hums and raises her hand
379>"It has been quite some time~ Hmhm, since I have required a tutor~"
380>You grin at her, and look between Indy, Lem and Sour
381>Indy's response is drowned out by Scorpan, ("Young Twilight?")
382>You smile at Indy as the sudden telepathy sinks your stomach
383("Yes?")
384>The proclamations and exclamations of your friends are drowned out by the telepathy
385>("I'm sorry, you won't be able to focus while we speak, but I felt you would want to know... The results of my research.")
386>You gulp but manage to deafly follow the flow of conversation
387("Yeah? What did you find out?")
388>("Something terrible, but very managable.")
389>You inwardly gasp
390>Your hands find each other under the table and your icy digits start wringing themselves
391>("Twilight?")
392>You quietly listen to your friends as they echo in, until they fade out again
393>("Young Twilight?")
394("Just tell me what it is, please.")
395>You look over at Scorpan, who's managing to talk while telepathically speaking
396>("Your curse... If unchecked, would be lethal. Somebody wanted you dead, so they made it so you'd absorb dark mana until you burst.")
397>Shiver
398>You feel breakfast coming up
399>("But hope is not lost!")
400>You take a short breath and slowly speak
401"Mm... W-where is the b-bathroom?"
402>"Ah..." Scorpan hums, "Just through the kitchen, you remember where that is?"
403>You nod and walk, waving off to your excited friends
404>Walking again, you scream
405>[Screaming Internally]
406>("Twilight, please.")
407("Please tell me you have a solution.")
408>("I do!")
409>You sigh, smiling down at the sink
410>("You see, whoever crafted the curse was an amatuer... There were dozens of corners cut in the form of unintended side effects.")
411>As Scorpan speaks, you sit atop the toilet and hold your chin
412>("One such side effect being... Well, there's an upper limit of mana held described by the curse.")
413>("If you can safely house all the mana you, among other things, will be fine!")
414>You snort
415("Who designed this curse?")
416>("Hard to say. There's one of two reasons curses are so dangerous. They're untracable and don't require much skill to cast. The more side effects you allow, the easier it is to cast. Put enough downsides in and you can cast them at will without being caught.")
417>You have a lot of supernatural enemies...
418>("Er, true. As a silver lining, you have me for an ally.")
419>You feel Scorpan smile through the link, and you mirror him
420>("And, eh, well, it seems like this curse was earned by the other you. So at least you can take solace in knowing you haven't earned the scorn of anyone on your own merit.")
421>You smirk as you lean forward
422>Staring at the thick wood of the bathroom floor, you recall Trixie
423>Her Trick Curses were dastardly, true
424>But just like this one, Scorpan's proven your snarky, min-maxy ideology to be true
425>A curse can work for you if you figure it out
426("Thanks to this curse, I'll always be soaking up Dark mana?")
427>("Seems so!")
428("And this is a talent other... Spellcasters don't have?")
429>("It's rare and difficult to master with conventional means...")
430>You chuckle and Scorpan chuckles in the back of your head
431>You draw up some Dark mana into your throat and rear your head
432"An excellent response."
433>("Huh?")
434>Er
435>You clear your throat and stand, straightening out your winter skirt and socks
436("Just a JoJo reference...")
437>("Jo... Jo? What is that, another game you like to play?")
438>You take a deep breath to prevent yourself from cringing
439>Even leaning back with the inhalation
440("JoJo is...")
441>You grunt out a long breath and nod into the mirror, posing as you point at yourself
442>Hoping Scorpan can see
443"An experience...!"
444>"Twifam, you yelling in the bathroom?" Lem's voice shocks you out of your pose
445>Your cheeks heat up and you shakily reply, "N-no!"
446>After a moment, you hear her chuckle in the library
447>You sigh and hear Scorpan chuckling as you walk back
448>Sighing, you take a seat next to Sugar once more
449>Seems Scorpan is giving a lecture
450>Or seems like it
451>("This is mostly the topics I've already described to you last night, as well as some questions your friends have.")
452>You smile and weave your fingers together as you listen
453>"Magic terms and phrases vary much from person to person, with even the largest communities having some variance in linguistic from person to person. True academics try to maintain a coherent way of speaking, but since it is not required for all forms of spellcasting, younger spellcasters often don't bother..."
454>Scorpan strokes his beard and looks across you and your friends
455>"So, to answer your question, Young Sugarcoat: no, no you do not have to learn a new language or exact spell phrases."
456>Sugar looks relieved as she smiles. "Foreign languages isn't my strongest area of study, so that is a relief."
457>Scorpan smirks. "However, part of my kind of spellcasting requires you to speak the vernacular. It will be plain Equestrian, but you'll have to mentally remember certain words have magical meaning."
458>Sour slowly raises a hand
459>"Yes, Young Sour?"
460>"Uh." Sour grimaces and holds her hand out for a second before folding her arm again. "You have... Text books? Or... Something?"
461>"Textbooks?" Scorpan looks across his library and pulls out a pad of paper. 
462>"Yes, yes..." He flips through it as he stands, approaching the bookcases
463>Indy and Lem both stand and join him
464>"Yo, lemme help..."
465>"Yeah, same old man."
466>Scorpan chuckles and points across the bookcases, letting Lem and Indy grab the books
467>"Yes, I have some materials I can share with you all." He motions down to the small pile of books as Lem and Indy grab them
468>"I know Young Twilight appreciates a good book to read, so I assembled these from my private collection."
469>He raises a hand and motions to the whole library. "Feel free to study anything in this room!"
470
471>Later
472>You flinch and look up from the book you're reading
473>"Young Twilight... Indigo was speaking to you."
474>You smile up at Scorpan and nervously chuckle to Indy
475"S-sorry."
476>She shrugs from her seat
477>"Wanna come with us to get a bite? Gonna get some McDicks."
478>You clear your throat and look around
479>Everyone's gone. You adjust your glasses and nod as you stand
480"W-was it Sour's i-idea?"
481>"Shut up!" She shouts from outside
482>You giggle while Indy chuckles
483>"It totes was."
484>Before you and Indy can leave, Scorpan holds out a small ring of keys
485>He pats your head as you take them. "Six keys for six girls. Come by any time for private lessons."
486>He smiles up to Indy as he holds his cane in both hands. "I'll be calling for group lessons on the essentials, but you can each come by at your leisure."
487>Indy gives him a thumbs up
488
489>Later (again)
490>Slurp
491>Slurp
492>"Augh, fuck..." 
493>You look over at Sour as she pops the top off of her milk shake and glares into it
494>"They never fill it to the top..."
495>She rears back and gulps down the bit of milkshake her straw couldn't get
496>You snicker and look back at the others
497>They're inside, still waiting on their food
498>You hold out your orange soda to Sour
499>She smiles down and takes it, "Thanks, Twi~" Her smile is huge as she sucks down your soda
500>As she does so, she leans over and looks over your shoulder
501>"Does any of that make sense?"
502>You shrug. "D-did HSHW make s-sense at first?"
503>Sour scoffs and realigns herself
504>"So it's readable, at least?"
505>Nodding, you frown. "Y-yeah, totes."
506>"Totes..." Sour quietly sips your soda again. "...Waddya think we can do with magic?"
507>You turn your head toward her to listen while you read, but she doesn't continue
508>Finishing this line of reading, you look up at her
509>Sour's staring down at your soda
510>She drags her nails across the cardboard cup, scratching little lines into the surface
511>Her thumbs carefully hold the cup and support it as her other digits dig into the surface
512>You smile
513>You take a breath and cast Dark Speech
514"What do you want to do with magic, Sour?"
515>She locks up and flicks her gaze to you
516>"Well, I don't know. You can turn your stutter off."
517>Sour raises her hand up and looks into it
518>"Mr. Scorpan could make marbles and lightshows."
519>She stares into her palm for a moment and looks over to the back of her hand while drawing her fingers into a fist
520>"I dunno."
521>You frown and pap her arm
522>She looks down at you and you give her a smile
523>Sour smiles back, "You know, remember my dad?"
524>Her dad
525>Sour's dad
526>You slowly nod
527>She looks over to you, lips tight and with an expression of discomfort and something else
528>"I dunno. I mean... I dunno." She sighs
529>You don't know either
530>Fuck, this is another thing you should know because you're Sour's friend
531>But you don't
532>So... You pat her arm again
533>Reach around and hug her from the side
534>"If he really could do magic, then I dunno."
535>Sour reaches out and wraps her arm around your side
536>Her head tilts and she lays her cheek on your head
537>'He had magic'?
538>Your breath catches
539>"Maybe we shouldn't have sent him away."
540>Regardless of how much magic there is, you're still in a world where relatively normal people are the norm
541>You take a deep breath and resist clearing your throat
542"Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't. But I do, and soon you will too.."
543>Sour nods
544>You take a step back and grab her by the arm
545>She gasps at the sudden movement
546>Sour confusedly blinks down at you
547>You pocket your book and raise a finger to wag it
548"We have to keep our magic a secret, learn from your dad."
549>Sour bites her lip and you wag a finger again and point over at your head, winking as you do so
550"Time will tell if we can help him, but until then, we have to make sure we can-"
551>You cough and clear your throat
552>You nod and take a breath, patting at Sour as she tries to support you
553"J-just ran o-out of m-mana." You guess, and take a deep breath
554"We... Have to... Keep our magic... A secret." With that, you nod to Sour
555>She slowly nods back
556>As soon as you get home, you dig through your other self's old stuff
557>Taking care to keep today's magic books seperate from the other things here, you continue digging
558>You're sure she had a few journals or diaries
559>Yes
560>Tucked away in the back of your closet is a shoebox called memories
561>Blegh
562>What a normie thing to have
563>You pop the top off
564>...Maybe being a normie isn't that bad
565>You scoop up the mementos and polaroids and smile
566>Memories you don't have wash over you as you look
567>Anemoia
568>You smile and dig around some more
569>In the same corner is a few diaries, in a neat pile
570>By the year
571>You put everything else aside and start scanning
572>Sour's dad
573>Pages are missing from these diaries...
574>Sour's dad
575>Sour Sweet's father
576>2001
577>Sour's dad
578>You continue scanning past that brief mention
579>2006
580>This is the earliest book you have
581>Sour's dad...
582>You stop scanning and closely read
583>Through the years, Sour's dad always seemed strange to other you
584>But things came to a head when he had to be put into a mental hospital for assaulting an officer
585>You look away from the book and over at 2010
586>Ten years ago, he was put away
587>What happened six years ago...?
588>You grab 2010 and crack to that page and scan around
589>...Sour's dad was released when he was found to be no longer a danger
590>He currently lives out of state with a caretaker
591>At age fifty five, he was deemed unable to care for himself
592>But you don't have his name
593>This was all so you could research the earliest known signs of magic in Canterlot...
594>With a grunt, you close the diary
595>It's enough to go off of, at least
596>You have dates and some times, too
597>You look to your side
598>Was that the door
599>Knock knock
600>It was
601>Glancing at your discarded phone, you see a few messages and the time
602>3:23 AM
603>Whomst
604>Leaving behind memories, you walk out of your room and to the front door
605>Without thinking, you open up
606>There's no one out there
607>Glancing around, you don't see anyone
608>Shutting the door again, you immediately hear another knock
609>From behind you
610>In the kitchen
611>Some one knocked on the dining table, and a shiver runs down your spine
612>Knock knock
613>You slowly turn and look
614>There's a man sitting at your table
615>Shaved head
616>Thin, flowing black shirt and skinny jeans
617>Studded boots, colar, bracelets, ears and nose
618>The knife he draws as you look over him softly reflects the low light of the kitchen
619>That knife is the only warm part of this picture
620>He doesn't look at you as he stands, tapping the knife into your table
621>He lurches forward, knuckles dragging along the table, and knocks
622"Wh-who are y-you?"
623>His movements mirror a marianette or a cheap string doll as he slowly jerks toward you
624>"Cough Drop." He speaks clearly, at least
625>You step back from him as he steps to you
626>"You must be Twilight Sparkle."
627>Cough Drop swings out his knife in front of himself and narrows it down to point at you
628>Great
629>More death
630>Are you seeing this, Scorpan?
631>("Yes...")
632>"You can't yet control the Darkness, can you?"
633>You glare down at him, and clear your throat, casting Dark Speech
634>But you make sure to whisper
635"I can, actually..." 
636>It comes out in a normal indoor voice... That works too
637>Cough Drop's head rears back as he smugly grins
638>When he speaks again, he has a layer of dark
639>Rather
640>A layer of Dark
641>To his voice
642>"Cute. You have mastered one of the most simple spells. My mentor taught me that spell years ago. I managed it within a month."
643>You cross your arms and grab your chin
644"I mastered it in a day."
645>Cough Drop seems agitated by your response, but Scorpan chuckles at your lie
646>Hush, Scorpan
647>"As if!" The exclamation seems to unlock his joints as he stands more naturaly now
648"I bet all you know how to do is use the Dark Speech to talk..."
649>You grimace
650"I can do far more..." You squeeze your arms close around your chest and smirk
651"But... Why bother wasting any mana on a peon like you?"
652>Cough Drop snarls and steps closer
653>He's visibly stomping forward, and the studs across his boots are jiggling, but he makes no noise as he walks
654>"You're bluffing. You have no way to stop me from snuffing you out."
655>Cough Drop raises his knife and flips it so he's holding it under handed
656>Aiming for your gut, or under your chin
657>Watch this Scorpan, you're gonna trick him
658>You whip out a hand and raise a finger
659"Next you're gonna say, What!?"
660>Cough drop pauses, and looks like he's about to defy you
661>But the front door, which he was standing only ten feet from, starts opening
662>"What!?" Cough Drop obeys your trick
663>A confused Gleaming opens the door wide and looks between you and Cough Drop
664>Her eyes settle on the knife
665>Her eyes slowly widen as you shout
666>You imagine you shouting, "G-gleamy! Burglar!" Made her push faster
667>But regardless, a fierce scowl flared across Gleaming's face as she tossed aside her backpack of work materials, took off her jacket, and charged Cough Drop
668>"You FUCKER!"
669>Cough Drop tried to fight her, but Gleaming caught his knife in her jacket covered hand
670>With a swift jerk, she turned him around, pinning his arm to his back
671>("Clever!")
672("Thanks!")
673>You inwardly chuckle
674>But halt when Cough Drop wriggles out of Gleaming's pin
675>She tosses her jacket and his knife aside and chases as he sprints through your house
676>You hear a slam
677>Stepping closer, you see Gleaming standing on the back porch, with the back door flung wide open
678>She turns back and forth once more and looks back at you
679>Stepping inside, she carefully looks at the backdoor, then shuts it, locking it
680>Gleaming steps closer and puts her hands on your shoulders
681>Then collapses into a sigh and hug
682>You hug her back as she whimpers, murmurs and rubs your back
683>When Gleamy pulls away from you, you feel a strange coldness
684>No... You're over analyzing
685>You're just literally cold, because the front door's open and your big sister stopped hugging you
686>Gleaming walks away, sighing, and closes the front door as she grabs her stuff
687>"Are you okay, Twiley?" Gleaming slowly asks
688>Her hand's on the front door, and you sigh
689"Y-yeah."
690>Her head lowers and thuds against the door
691>"Maybe it's time we moved..."
692>Flinch
693"W-wha?"
694>"Cadence never liked it here, and things are getting bad again."
695>Gleaming's fingers drum against the door and her shoulders sag
696>"I was waiting till you graduated, but... But maybe we might have to leave sooner."
697>You step closer and shake your head
698"N-no."
699>"I've been thinking about this for a wh-"
700>Dark Speech
701"No."
702>Gleaming pauses and slowly looks back at you
703>You take a deep breath, and try to will your heart to stop beating as hard
704>Don't use magic
705"I... H-have friends here!"
706>Gleaming visibly processes your excuse, then sighs into a sad smile
707>"Twiley, I'm sure Sugarcoat can come visit wherever we go."
708"B-but the o-others!"
709>Knock knock knock
710>Gleaming arches a brow at the door and looks through the peephole
711>"Hunh."
712>The door opens and you see Indy and Lem
713>Indy's got her bat propped against her shoulder, and Lem's missing her headphones
714>They both look between you and Gleamy
715>"We uh, we interuptin somethin?"
716>Indy bobs her head at Lem's question
717>Gleaming shakes her head, "What are you two doing here so late?"
718>Indy fixes her eyes on you and gives you a quick scan, then answers
719>"Did anyone bust in here?"
720>"Excuse me?"
721>Lem pulls a bit of fabric out of her pocket
722>She unwraps the AC/DC t-shirt and shows off a knife
723>Lem and Indy point down at the blade Cough Drop discarded
724>They look exactly the same
725>Gleaming looks confusedly between the pair of knives and then the girls
726>"What is happening?"
727>Don't meme me like that, Gleaming
728>"The police said they're gonna look into it. I just wanted to make sure bae was okay."
729>She gives you a smirk, but Gleaming arches a brow
730>Indy adds, "I had a feeling she'd recognize this..."
731>She hands the knife over to Lem, who wraps it back up
732>"I doubt the cops will come, but if they do, don't tell them we were here."
733>As Indy tries to walk out, Gleaming steps up and calls her out
734>"Wait a damn second. What are you doing exactly? What in the hell is going on here?"
735>Indy tsks
736>Lem smiles at Gleaming and shrugs
737>"We're doin our best, miss."
738>Indy smugly tosses up an okay sign
739>"Seeya tomorrow, bae?"
740>You flinch into a nod, and glance at Gleaming
741>Gleaming gives you a confused look then moves to get the door
742>Indy whips out her keys and gives you a nod, "Cool."
743>As they walk back to Blue Lightning, Gleaming sighs
744>"Lem got big, huh?"
745"H-huh, oh, y-yeah."
746>Gleaming releases a short chuckle and closes the door
747>Sighing again, she looks back at you with a smile
748>She shakes her head and shrugs
749>"I guess I'm over reacting. I definitely don't want you to get hurt, but I can't take you away from your friends."
750>You smile and throw yourself at your sister, hugging her
751>She deeply chuckles and hugs you back
752>"You've gotten so affectionate lately, Twiley. I love it."
753>Gleamy tousles your hair and hugs you back, "I love you."
754"I-I love you, t-too, SSSFF."
755>"SSSFFs!" Gleaming laughs and squeezes you
756>"Come on, I gotta get to bed, you should get to bed, too. I'm gonna go check around the backyard a bit before Cadence gets back."
757>You give her a nod and one more squeeze, then let go
758"N-night."
759>"Night, Twiley."
760>You depart to your room, smiling
761>But you are heavy with the events of late
762>Trixie is... Should be okay
763>The curse from who knows who
764>Magic from Scorpan, but also Sour's Dad?
765>Cough Drop and company
766
767>"You seem surprisingly well, all things considered!"
768>Scorpan grins inside your head as you and he float together in your dreams
769>Thanks, but
770>You take a second and use another mouth
771"Thanks, but I don't know how much more I can take."
772>The manticore nods and runs some fingers through his beard
773>"I understand, believe it or not, from my own experiences."
774>He flexes his fingers, and they make loud cracking sounds
775>"Back in the old days of me being a strapping young acolyte to my cardinal master, I too had my share of curses, ambushes, and demons to... Deal with."
776"...Tell me about those days?"
777>Scorpan's smile stretches wide
778>"I'd love to, but another time."
779>His hand extands and pats where your shoulder should be
780>"For now, some good news."
781>Scorpan reclines on nothingness into a chair like white space
782>"Your friends..." He bobs his head to some mental images that appear
783>Your friends grinning faces appear
784>Scorpan clicks his tongue, and the images snap to real time visions of them sleeping
785>"They are all welcoming me!"
786>You grin
787"That's great! Do they like you?"
788>"Like? Hm, it's hard to tell for now. But they each in their own way, trust me."
789>He raises a finger before you can complain
790>"Which is exactly what I expected."
791>Aight
792"Okay. Well, if things are going well, then..."
793>Yay!
794>Scorpan grins wide and clasps his claws together
795>"Yay indeed!"
796>He extends a finger and points across the empty whiteness
797>You follow his finger to the small box
798>It's the same black box he was showing you earlier this week
799"My Dark Mana, huh?"
800>"Where your Dark Mana is, yes. But no, that's not all it is."
801>Scorpan floats into view and gingerly places a clawed hand under it, lifting it
802>It feels strange, like your breath is being caught
803>He brings it closer to you and holds it out for you
804>"This is your Essence."
805>Your manticore mentor pauses and examines the box for... Irregularities
806>You guess
807>When he finishes, he smiles and looks up at you again, continuing
808>"Your Essence is something similar in concept to your soul, it is a thing that no one can see or touch, but everyone invariably possesses."
809>He bobs his head to the side and grins, "Except for you and invited guests into your mind. Of course."
810>Of course, that's where it differs
811>He nods to confirm and motions to the box
812>It's black surface shines softly in the ever white light
813>You can see the branches of an unknown tree in it's surface
814>"This is where, among other things, your Mana is held."
815>He places it into your hand
816>Although you can't see your hand, you are holding your Essense
817>It's cold as ice
818>Your heart flutters and you smile
819>It feels right
820>Something like the feeling of tears beading at the corners of your eyes happens as the correctness of this fills your chest
821"It's cold."
822>"Is it?"
823"It... I dunno, I dunno, it feels right to have it be cold like this!"
824>You look up at Scorpan and he kneels a little to trail a claw against the box
825>"Whatever it feels like, as long as it feels right to you, it cannot be wrong."
826>A smile creeps along his bestial maw and he stands further upright
827>"Try to memorize where in your mind this box is, Young Twilight."
828>Your head tilts down to the box and you stare at the box's surface
829>It's somewhere inside of you, and you are holding it
830>You need to know where here is, though
831>Scorpan runs his fingers through his beard in quiet
832>"It is a good skill to have. Vital even, if you seek to protect yourself using magic."
833>You tilt your head again and look up at him
834>"Doing so will let you cast spells more consistently, more often. At later stages of your development, drawing directly from your essence will even cut or negate mana use."
835>Reduces mana use at later stages
836>Okay so at mid levels, your low level spells won't cost mana
837>"At... Mid levels?"
838>You chuckle
839"Eh, that's me rationalizing it using games. Again."
840>Scorpan's head slowly pitches into a nod
841>"I see..." He clasps his clawed hands together
842>"As long as you understand, which you seem to! Just understand where inside of you your Essense is, and you should eventually be able to benefit from it."
843>The box starts drifting away, back into the white room
844>Where is this, though?
845"How long until you think I can memorize this place? Figure out where it is?"
846>Scorpan shakes his head and grins a sharp, toothy grin
847>"Give it time."
848>Scorpan raises a finger as you start feeling tired
849>"Almost time to wake up." He holds his hands behind his back
850>Aight
851"See you tomorrow, High Cleric Scorpan?"
852>He chuckles and shakes his head. "Just Scorpan, Young Twilight."
853"It feels weird using your name, especially as my mentor. What about Master Scorpan or Sir Scorpan?"
854>He rolls his eyes and grins, looking up and dragging his claws through his beard
855>Scorpan thinks for a long while, until you're just about to awaken
856>"If you truly must use a title, I had once been known as Elder. Elder Scorpan."
857>Elder Scorpan
858>Has a nice ring to it
859>Your eyes open
860>That thing happens, where when you sleep so much you can't actually sleep anymore wakes you up
861>Feels about right
862>Soreness in your legs and back, but only a typical amount, from the longness of your rest
863>Glancing around, you grab your glasses
864>When the world becomes clear, you grab your phone
865>11:22 AM
866>A decent seven hours of sleep
867>Messages from everyone
868>A few missed calls
869>Checking through, the girls are... Also waking up late
870>Indy will be by in... At 12ish
871>You bob your head and stand up on wobbly feet
872>The house is chilly
873>Dat February air
874>Your window shines bright with all the light reflecting off of the snow
875>Smile
876
877>After a quick shower, you're digging through your clothes for a nice sweater
878>Did other you not-
879>There it is
880>Your big soft turtleneck sweater
881>You hug it close and smell the detergent
882>Moonie-
883>Your eyes open
884>Moonie
885>You grab your phone and check around
886>You sent her a message and it was auto blocked
887>How... Bad did this Twilight treat her?
888>You missed her birthday party and she hasn't talked to you since, but this Twilight was a horrible bitch
889>You look down at the Moondancer sweater and feel your heart sink
890>You take a step and push yourself up, sweater in hand
891>Just another problem you're gonna fix
892>The sweater comes on and-
893>Ack it's so soft!
894>You hug yourself and giggle
895>Winter is so fucking cozy!
896>You stare at your basket of warm clothes
897>The image of you rolled up under that pile of warm stuff
898>Head peeking out
899>Still damp hair roasting underneath a thick layer of shirts and towels
900>("Twiligh1?")
901>You flinch, yelp and jump away from your basket
902"Y-yes?"
903>Scorpan chuckles
904>("What were you doing?")
905"N-nothing!"
906>You clear your throat and heel your basket to the corner of your room
907("Just doing laundry. What's up?")
908>You can tell he's smiling, but Scorpan continues
909>("Bring a drink with you for today's magic lesson.")
910("Like a bottle of water or something?")
911>("Anything you like.")
912("Okay, sure.")
913>You reach into your basket and pull out a pair of jeans
914>Slide that right up past your less fat than Sour Sweet but still pretty fat ass and roll your sweater over it
915>Drinks
916>To carry...
917>You look around the kitchen
918>Humming to yourself, you pop open the fridge and look down at a couple of cans of soda and a bottle of water
919>You grab up a can of sunkist and a water bottle
920>Which should you bring?
921>...Guess either one will work
922>You put the water bottle back and walk back to your room
923
924>Your eyes bolt open at your ringtone
925>The Power Ponies theme is underneath you
926>You pull yourself out of your laundry basket, flushing and dig into it
927"H-hello!?"
928>"Heh, yo bae, you home?"
929>You clear your throat, "Y-yeah."
930>Indy's snickering, "I'm outside."
931>You cock a brow and walk out
932>Everyone's out there
933>Sunny cutely smiles
934>"Enjoy your nap, ma petite, Twilight~?"
935>Your already warming cheeks puff out as you cross your arms and everyone has a kek at you
936>You can't help but smile with them
937>Then join them
938
939>Everyone rolls up to the Scorpan house in Blue Lightning, and there he is
940>Out on the step is Scorpan in his tweed jacket and slacks as well as a big scarf under his beard
941>Waiting for you all
942>He warmly smiles and opens the door for you all as you enter
943>"Indigo." He nods, beginning with the same greetings as usual
944>"Ay, dude." Indy shuffles past him with a grin
945>"Lemon." He nods
946>"Sup!" Lem strolls in, headphones barely audible
947>"Sunny!" He holds out a hand while his other is still on the door
948>"Monsieur Scorpan!" Sunny exclaims and gives him a brief hug
949>Scorpan chuckles and nods to Sugar. "Sugarcoat."
950>Sugar, in her long, thick winter skirt, courtsies for him
951>"Mister Scorpan, it's an honor to be in your presense once more."
952>Sunny releases Scorpan, allowing Scorpan to bow back for Sugar
953>Both Sugar and Sunny go in, leaving you
954>"Young Twilight."
955"Eh-" You clear your throat and cast Dark Speech
956"Elder Scorpan." You raise your hand to him, and he chuckles as you cross your arm over your chest
957>"So formal." He mirrors you and tries his best to bow as you do
958>You smile
959"I am just very, very excited to learn magic."
960>"I know..." He nods inside and follows you as you walk in
961>The door to the house closes, and Scorpan is the last to join you guys in the library
962>He looks across you and your friends and doesn't take a seat
963>"Let's begin!"
964>Scorpan begins by drawing a book from his jacket and opening it
965>He flips through the pages as he speaks
966>"Two things have happened recently."
967>He stops at a page and holds that part with his thumb as he continues
968>"I'd visited each of you last night when you had free time."
969>He grins at his subtle joke. "I've never considered sleep to be totally necessary. Maybe you've heard that no one knows why we sleep for so long when REM exists?"
970>He holds a hand out to you girls and you all slowly nod, and he nods in return
971>"That's nothing to do with magic, but we casters can abuse that fact! We have four to eight hours of sleep, depending, and with enough practice, we can spend that time doing other things thanks to astral projection..."
972>He draws his book again and opens it to that page
973>"Sunny Flare as well as Sugarcoat voiced extensive curiousity at my ability to astral project..."
974>Sunny giggles as she sits at the end of the table, her chin propped up on her bridged fingers
975>Sugar nods, arms crossed as normal, but doesn't say anything
976>"Astral projection is quite a feat, but it's foundations and fundamentals are a good place to begin, so I thought."
977>His fingers drum against the cover of the book
978>"Er, but then something else happened."
979>"Those punks?" Lem adds
980>Scorpan nods, frowning
981>"Sugarcoat's home, Indigo's home and Twilight's home were invaded by strange men of black and silver."
982>Sunny gasps, while Lem and Sour stay composed
983>They look between you three
984>"Yeah, I whooped his ass pretty good." Indy thumbs to herself with a sneer
985>Sugar is quiet, but she does glance at you, Sunny and Sour as you try to get an idea of how that went for her
986>"Indeed, they were easily dispatched, but while I was watching, I noticed details unseen to you."
987>Scorpan lowers a finger to train on Indy
988>"Can you tell me anything about your visitor?"
989>Indy cocks her head and grabs her chin
990>"He was silent even though he had punk chains all over, and he snuck in through my double bolted back door."
991>Scorpan nods and looks at Sugar
992>"Did you notice anything?"
993>She shakes her head
994>Scorpan nods. "As I expected; and I expect Young Twilight didn't see anything new either...?"
995>All eyes on you
996>You sheepishly shake your head, trying to recall anything distinct about him
997>But you can't beyond...
998"J-just tons of s-silver."
999>Scorpan understandably nods
1000>"Through your eyes, I saw something that you two didn't see. Or didn't realize you saw."
1001>He holds out a large hand, palm toward you all
1002>"In their palms, they had a black tattoo of a circle."
1003"W-what?"
1004>Sour leans forward, "The fuck, how did you see that?"
1005>"Hm~ A brand, perhaps~?"
1006>"It's common fer religious fanatics ta 'ave brands 'n ink..." Lem looks to Indy
1007>Indy, for her part, looks confused
1008>"A cult maybe...?"
1009>Sugar is silent, but sighs
1010>"This is exactly what I meant."
1011>Scorpan's voice interrupts your friends
1012>He looks across your group in quiet
1013>"...Darkness is not evil, but most of the evil casters do use Darkness."
1014>No one replies
1015>Gulp
1016>"A new crop of potential Dark casters is very attractive to any group looking for new infantry or servants..."
1017<He props up his book once more and smiles
1018>"Which brings me back to this... I will be doing my best to teach you the magic fundamentals while also keeping an eye on you while you're home."
1019>You look at your friends
1020>Everyone looks nervous
1021>Scorpan, however, has his face down in his book
1022>"At the very least, I can warn you of danger and guide you to safety..."
1023>When he raises his head, he looks calm
1024>"All I ask in return is a little bit of faith and some trust."
1025"I-I trust you."
1026>Everyone looks at you, but you just smile up at Scorpan, who nods
1027>"Thank you, Young Twilight."
1028>Lem clears her throat and leans forward. "If Twifam can, Ah guess Ah can, too."
1029>Indy nods and puts up an okay sign
1030>"Ya got me, too, as long as you can deliver, dude."
1031>Sunny giggles. "I have no reason to distrust you~"
1032>"Yeah fine." Sour grunts
1033>Sugar, after everyone else finishes, takes a breath
1034>"I trust that you have the ability and the know how to keep me and my friends safe as well as teach us how to use magic, so I believe trusting you would be the best course of action for me to take regardless of how terrified I am at the proposition of men who can sneak into our houses without detection."
1035>No one responds to her at first, but you slowly look at Sugar
1036>She's quiet and wide eyed
1037>You put a hand to her back and rub
1038>She sighs and leans into you
1039>Scorpan chuckles
1040>His big beard and large body shakes with the movement
1041>"I shall do my best then, rest assured."
1042>He taps his book
1043>"With all of this in mind, I believe the two points of interest for your group are astral projection and... Defensive spells."
1044>Everyone perks up and looks to Scorpan again
1045>"Neither of these are facets which Dark magic can use, but I will try my best to find things you can do."
1046>Scorpan sets down his book and turns it for you all to see
1047>"We will be going well into the talents and specialties Dark magic holds, but allow me to briefly summarize the other four kinds of magic."
1048>He points down at a pentagram, which instantly gives you shivers
1049>"The words differ from school to school and even caster to caster, and this is true of every single term I'll teach you. It's best not to argue the terminology too much."
1050>"My brother and I call the five types of mana... Darkcasting, Lightcasting, Pyromancy, Earthcraft and Waterweaving."
1051>Scorpan smiles as he speaks and explains the types of magic
1052
1053>You crane your neck to see into the pages Scorpan's holding open
1054>The pentagram is simple looking, but getting closer, you can see it's actually a neatly detailed runic image
1055"S-some kind of... I-is the pentag-gram a spell?"
1056>He shakes his head, but seems amused
1057>"You will all find that my brother, myself, and our company from today and days of old had a lofty aesthetic."
1058>He shrugs, smiling as always. "Almost nothing in these books is a spell. Just fun pictures and diagrams."
1059>Sour chuckles at that, "You old nerds just doodled all day to make this shit look magical?"
1060>"Wouldn't you, to mess with anyone trying to learn without permission?" Scorpan winks
1061>Sour scoffs. "Cute trick, but isn't the rest of the book instructions?"
1062>"Not at all." He taps his head. "Not many know magic. And only a scarce few of us know how to teach magic."
1063>Sour purses her lips in contemplation, then furrows her brow
1064>"Oh, I see, it's just a fun picture book!"
1065>She grumbles, "Let's just do actual lessons, instead."
1066>Scorpan's shoulders sag, but he maintains his passive smile
1067>"All in due time. I need to explain certain principles to you, for safety's sake."
1068>Sour's neutral quiet fills the air
1069>Everyone looks at her, and she looks at everyone else
1070>"What?" She puts out a hand, "Go ahead, I'm listening!"
1071>Scorpan motions down to the pages again, and around the pentagram
1072>"Your spellcasting, our spellcasting, is entirely mental."
1073>As he speaks, the room goes dark, and the pentagram lights up, glowing large against the table surface
1074>"That is to say, without uttering a word, performing an act, or using a ritual of any kind, we can change reality."
1075>The icons representing five kinds of magic animate and float for you all to watch
1076>And glancing around, everyone seemed just as awed as you
1077>Even poor Sour was staring, bug eyed
1078>"Our desires are reflected and made real, with a thought."
1079>As you six watch, you're awed by the floating images and the light show
1080>It's really not any different than something like a projection in the CPA theater
1081>Or like
1082>It's hard to actually make a comparison right now, cuz your're just so excited
1083>Sugar leans forward, drawing your gaze
1084>She floats her hand through the pentagram, through the rolling ball of water for 'Waterweaving'
1085>She gasps and pulls her hand back, wet
1086>You giggle, and she blushes, giving you a surprised smile
1087>Scorpan continues with an even but energetic tone to his old voice
1088>"You six have the potential to use Darkcasting. A parallel to Lightcasting, Dark mages are the best at mirroring the properties of shadows, darkness and the things that go bump in the night..."
1089>As he speaks, he clears away the other four and focuses on the large floating purple black fist. It clenches and eases, but never opens
1090>"The core philosophy of dark magic..."
1091>Scorpan scratches his beard and raises the lights a little, just as the room started getting cold
1092>"...Is 'from darkness all have come, to it all will return.'"
1093>He clears his throat
1094>"Sorry for the theatrics." He chuckles and waves his hand, dispelling the rest of the illusion except for a simple floating fist
1095>"I like to indulge in... Showing off!"
1096>"Non, non, please, Monsieur Scorpan~" Sunny waves toward the table
1097>"I was enjoying the show~! Please, show us your best~"
1098>Scorpan shrugs and taps his fingers together. "Then, would you like to see the full 'fire and brimstone' act?"
1099>Lem leans forward and nods next to Sunny, "Yeah dude. C'mon, show off! We got 'nuff boring professors at school!"
1100>Sunny happily grins and nods, spreading her arms out to the table
1101>Scorpan looks among you all with a cautious glance
1102>You smile and nod, hoping for a cool show
1103>And looking around, you notice everyone else doing the same
1104>Scorpan nervously smiles and produces a handkerchief. "Very well..."
1105>Scorpan leans over and knocks the stopper out from the library door, then spreads his arms out wide over the table
1106>The fist appears again, but opens now, exposing it's palm
1107>It slams down, shaking the table
1108>Which startles you and Sour, and makes Sunny giggle with excitement
1109>"All came from darkness, all will return to darkness!" Comes a voice you don't know
1110>The hand grows into an arm, then the torso and up of a muscular black-purple demon fully realizes
1111>Holy shit this is cool
1112>It's like you're actually looking into Hell!
1113>Or wherever this is dark realm of fire and pitch is
1114>"This would be Tambelon." Scorpan answers you. "A city of Dark things. In time, you could go there..."
1115>"Must be a lot of ass to kick there." Indy sneers
1116>Lem flinches and grins at Scorpan, "Whoa, yeah. Can we kick ass in hell?" 
1117>Scorpan loudly chuckles, amplified by his display
1118>"In good time!"
1119>"Fuck yeah!" Lem pumps her fist, making you grin
1120>Everyone's excited!
1121>"This ideal is what dark mages draw from. They gain infinite power from the ever growing darkness in the cosmos." As he speaks, the demon shows you all the hand, now holding dark fire
1122>The demon rears back and slams his fist on the table, tossing dark clouds up and around the room, chilling it and limiting vision
1123>From the dark clouds arise a few indistinct humanoids
1124>"But it is this same ever growing darkness that has lead to many a dark mage being consumed."
1125>The figures take the shapes of wizards, priests and warriors, all holding up Dark Hands
1126>The book carrying wizard comes forward as the focus and holds out a book, opening it and grabbing his head as he sneers in pain and madness. "Turned mad by untamable power."
1127>The vision turns to the warrior, who's cutting through cloudy monsters. "Striken by cancerous mana." Every monster he kills makes his muscles bigger and bigger until he falls over, still inflating
1128>"Or worse." Scorpan mutters
1129>The show shifts to the priestly man conducting a sacrifice
1130>"They could be driven to depraved lows for more strength."
1131>He disposes of his censor and charms and leaps onto his victim
1132>With a sharp twist of the heel to the throat, you can visibly see the life leave his victim and turn to Dark Mana as he absorbs it into his hands
1133>"Whoa whoa whoa." Sour raises har hands and stalls Scorpan
1134>He takes a deep breath and dismisses the illusion, wiping at his brow with a handkerchief
1135>"Yes, Sour?"
1136>Sour shakes her head, shrugging, crossing her arms again under her hefty chest
1137>"Nah, I just noticed you're working up a sweat."
1138>Scorpan snorts and starts wiping at his forehead with a handerchief. "Eh, well, yes, I suppose I am!"
1139>"Are you okay~?" Sunny pushes herself up, but Scorpan raises a hand
1140>"Yes, yes... I suppose I am getting up in the years, if a vision is tuckering me out. Hoo boy."
1141>He pats at his flushed face. "I am 138 after all."
1142>Everyone looks at each other
1143>That's really fucking old
1144"A-A hundred th-thirty eight...?"
1145>"Uh..." Indy clears her throat
1146>Lem raises a finger, "Ya don' look older than 80, dude."
1147>"Thank you! I don't think I can finish the show, but... I covered the important parts. The only thing missing was the emphasis on physical augmentation. It's Darkcasting's simplest array of powers."
1148>Oh, that sounds good for a gish build
1149>"Gish?"
1150>Sour perks up, "Oh, like Gish?"
1151>Sugar nods from next to you
1152>"That actually sounds like quite an attractive option, all things considered, although I'd prefer to not have to hurt anyone if I didn't have to. So I'll leave the aggro to Indigo, Sour and Lemon."
1153>Lem snaps her fingers into a thumbs up
1154>"W-wait..." Scorpan begins
1155>"Yo, I call main aggro!" Lem puts her hands up and makes fists
1156>Indy waves her call away, "Nah nah, you're tank. This dark magic seems like it makes what you're good at better, ya know?"
1157>Lem juts out her lip and slowly nods. "Yeah. Ah can see it..."
1158>You giggle into your hand and look over to Sugar, who looks like she's having just as much fun as you
1159>Your friends are going the same shitpost direction you are with Dark magic
1160>"What about you, bae?"
1161"M-me? O-oh, mm... I u-uh, think I'd b-be best at b-battlefield control."
1162>You look at Scorpan and softly giggle
1163>Clearing your throat, you cast Dark Speech and whisper (which turns into normal volume)
1164"Do you believe that I could use Darkcasting to limit or hinder our opponents?"
1165>Scorpan wipes across the back of his neck and sheepishly chuckles
1166>"I suppose, yes. Although I haven't been following a word you girls have been saying..."
1167>His lost smile and shrug earns a chuckle out of you
1168>And your friends, too!
1169>Scorpan helplessly shrugs and laughs along
1170>"Anything is possible," He admits, raising a finger now that he's caught his breath
1171>"Although Darkcasting's specialty is changing yourself... That doesn't mean you cannot force others to change." He raises his brow and looks across his students
1172>"Regardless." He sighs and looks down at his handkerchief
1173>He folds it up and pockets it, then grabs his cane
1174>Scorpan lays it over his lap and takes another moment
1175>"Even if it was in jest, do you girls believe... Do you want to know how to defend yourselves using magic?"
1176>He carefully looks across the table
1177>You make sure to give him a nod
1178>A serious nod
1179>You're ready to be a wizard
1180>And you're ready to fight evil
1181>And you're ready to do it all with your friends
1182>And eventually...
1183>You look back at them all, and they're looking at Scorpan
1184>Eventually, you'll have to leave
1185>That's right
1186>You slowly look back at Scorpan, who nods to himself
1187>"I shall teach you a few tricks, if you've got the ambition to handle such spells. You may need them soon enough."
1188>Despite what's happened so far
1189>All the chats and personal time and the lies
1190>The experiences you've made
1191>You're going to have to leave it all
1192>But you don't have to leave right this second
1193"I'm willing and ready, Elder Scorpan."
1194>He softly clicks his tongue and nods
1195>"Alright then. Did you all bring something to drink?"
1196>You whip out your sunkist
1197>And everyone else pulls out things, too
1198>Indy's got a... Clown bottle...
1199>...Lem has a protein shake, Sour's got a soda bottle, Sunny has a water bottle and Sugar brought a very large thermos
1200>You all stare at her
1201>Sunny giggles
1202>Sugar blushes and you immediately rub her back
1203>"The actual amounts aren't important." Scorpan assures you all
1204>He reaches into his old man jacket and produces several shot glasses
1205>Well they look like shot glasses, anyway
1206>He slides them down the table to each of you, and you notice a small marble in them
1207>Yours has a little purple marble
1208>Oh, it has your cutie mark!
1209>Giggling, you pull it out and ogle it
1210>"Yo, old man, how'd you know what my cutie mark is?" Sour says just loud enough to startle you
1211>Scorpan raises a hand in a defensive manner
1212>"Dear Sour Sweet, you showed me in your dream, of course."
1213>Sour, blushing, sits back down
1214>"Oh yeah..."
1215>"So what're these marbles fer?" Lem holds her marble up to her eye and smiles, tossing it up and catching it. "Some kinda magic trick er somethin?"
1216>"Yes, actually."
1217>Scorpan pulls out one last glass and a new marble, with what you assume is his cutie mark
1218"H-have th-they always b-been called c-cutie marks?"
1219>He gives you a confused look, then chuckles and nods
1220>"As long as I've been alive, at least. Now watch, say to yourself... I want this to float. You'll feel something happen. It's different for every mage, but let it happen, and then put the marble down and submerge it."
1221>Scorpan mutters to himself and follows his directions
1222>The marble floats, and everyone excitedly "oohs" and "aahs"
1223>Except Sour, who humphs
1224>"I want-!"
1225>"Sour, no." Scorpan interrupts.
1226>Sour growls, but Scorpan motions to you
1227>"As Young Twilight can explain from her advanced learning, speaking the spell too loudly will have adverse side effects."
1228"So that's why Dark Speech is so loud."
1229>He nods to you, then Sour
1230>"Don't worry if you don't get it soon. You're all quite adept, so I doubt this simple trick will take you longer than an hour."
1231>Scorpan pulls out his pocket watch
1232>"I will ask dear Treehugger to cook us supper. All that fast food you girls have been getting can't be too good for you." He chortles as he steps away
1233>Sour watches him go, then cranes her neck, scowl deep across her cheeks
1234>"I w-!"
1235>She gets papped by Sunny
1236>"Non, mon cher Sour~! Listen to Monsieur Scorpan, please~"
1237>She paps Sour a few times across her cheek, then reaches up and pats her head
1238>Sour seemed to get angrier with the papping, but the petting forced her to sigh
1239>She grumbles at her ball and starts pouring her soda
1240>"Gee, I did it."
1241>You all share a look
1242>Sour's eyes widen and she jumps out of her seat
1243>Her hands tremble, and her mouth hangs open
1244>"Holy shit, I did magic!"
1245>Her joy is contagious, and when she starts triumphantly laughing, you join her
1246
1247>A few hours of further lecturing later finds you and hopefully your friends knowledgable about how to draw up your mana
1248>You each only have a scant little bit, much more than the average person has, but only just enough to call yourselves mages
1249>The mage's body produces mana over the course of the day
1250>She can hold a finite amount
1251>Excess isn't produced
1252>A healthy, fed, rested and uninjured mage can always expect to produce the same amount on any given day
1253>If any of those three conditions are violated, she produces less and less, but always at least a tiny bit
1254>For you Dark mages, casting a spell is more complicated than the simple 'clear throat to cast Dark Speech' which isn't even a spell
1255>You have to say 'I want this' and the mana does the rest
1256>Of course, whomever decides how much a spell costs is fickle
1257>Additionally, if a mage lacks mana, especially a Dark mage, she could face physical trauma
1258>"Twilight~?"
1259>"Ma Cherie, Twilight~?" Sunny boops your cheek
1260>You, Sunny, Scorpan and Sugar have retired to Scorpan's back porch with cocoa
1261>To watch the snow fall
1262>And digest today's lessons
1263>Sunny snuggles up closer to you and boops your nose
1264>"Twilight~?"
1265>You're pretending to ignore her, because she makes cute faces when she's ignored
1266>She boops your nose again and makes a face
1267>"Petite~ Twi~ Light~"
1268>She inches even closer, which is impressive, since you're now sharing a chair
1269>"Twilight please, please answer Sunny before she resorts to sitting on your lap to get your attention."
1270>Giggle
1271"Y-yes, Sunny?"
1272>She smiles and boops your cheek
1273>"I was thinking~"
1274>You nod and realign your glasses, smiling over to Sugar
1275>She smiles back and glances at Scorpan, who's reclining and seems asleep
1276>("Indeed I am!")
1277>Indeed he is!
1278>Goof
1279>"I was thinking~" Sunny repeats herself and sips her cocoa
1280>With a click of her tongue, she elaborates
1281>"In the...~ Hm~ Movie~? I suppose movie is the word...~" Her lips curl to the side in contemplation, staring at her cocoa
1282>She sips
1283>"In the movie, those Dark mages...~" She hums softly and looks for the words
1284>"They were alone, no~?"
1285>Your brow furrows
1286"W-what?"
1287>"Oui~ They were alone~ I noticed that bookish man was alone~ And before I could eh~ Ruminate, he died~!"
1288>Sugar now turns to you two to pay attention
1289>You're curious where Sunny's going with this, too
1290>She hums
1291>"But I noticed the same about the muscle man~ He was alone~"
1292>She sighs and raises a finger before you can reply
1293>"But the other man, the last evil Dark man~? He was not alone, although he appeared strongest~"
1294>Sunny's fingers tap the chair you're sharing
1295>"Do you think, maybe~ Dark magic is for lonely people~?"
1296>Blink
1297>You look over to Sugar, who's mouth is agape
1298>You're also slack jawed as you look at Sunny
1299"I-I... I don't kn-know."
1300>Sunny hums and looks to the falling snow
1301>"The snow is beautiful, is it not~?"
1302>Sugar nods
1303"Y-yeah. M-my favorite."
1304>You dumbly stare at the falling snow
1305>"It is attractive~"
1306>Blinking, you look at her
1307"Th-the snow?"
1308>Sunny giggles
1309>"No~ The promise that you can do everything everyone said you were not good enough to do~"
1310>You can't even reply
1311>You feel so dumb, the prophetic way she's singing praises on the introverted magic you're skilled at
1312>Does she realize that you're not you?
1313>Are you overthinking this?
1314>Are you underthinking this?
1315>"I feel like~ Mm~ We are different~"
1316>Sunny doesn't say anything for a moment, but just eases back in the seat and watches the snow
1317>"We have each other~"
1318>Sugar turns fully toward you both and steps closer, raising her head out of her thick bundle of winter scarves until she can speak
1319>"Indeed we do, Sunny. Do you think that means we will be better at using Dark magic, or perhaps you think it's a strange anomoly among those who posess an inclination toward Dark magic?"
1320>Sunny raises a hand to her mouth and giggles
1321>"I do not know~! But those both sound very pleasing~"
1322>She sighs and closes her eyes
1323>"I've always wished to be a princess~"
1324>Your brow furrows and you look to Sugar
1325>Sugar shrugs
1326>"Mm~ To be a princess, yes~" She giggles again
1327>Sunny's eyes open, and you can see, although she's smiling, she looks sad
1328>"I've always wished I could be a powerful princess~ With a kingdom at my beck and call~ And all the support and love of my subjects~"
1329>She closes her eyes again and snuggles her face into your arm
1330>"Mm~ But...~"
1331>Sunny puts her cocoa on a nearby patio table
1332>"Being a sorceress with my friends sounds so much more endearing~"
1333>Sunny sighs and wraps her arm around to hug you
1334>She's so warm
1335>Putting your arm back around her, you smile up at Sugar
1336>She shrugs and smiles back
1337>"I will call Cherry Cola soon, Twiley." Sugar begins whispering
1338>"Would you like to come spend the rest of the evening with me and father?"
1339>You nod and look down at Sunny
1340"I-I'll d-double check w-with my sister, b-but yes."
1341>Sunny sighs and smiles
1342>"Ma cherie~"
1343>You draw your phone and shoot the text to Gleamy, then look over to Elder Scorpan
1344("Are... Do you wanna sleep out here?")
1345>("I'll get up soon.")
1346>("Good work today, girls. Our lessons are going phenomenally well!")
1347>Sugar glances to the sleeping Scorpan, who snores softly
1348>Sunny stirs and rises, blinking
1349>She smiles and yawns. "Thank you, Monsieur Scorpan~ I have been having fun~"
1350>Sugar cocks her head ever so slightly
1351>"Mister Scorpan, our winter break is halfway through. Will we be doing these lessons during school days as well?"
1352>You hear a soft echo of her voice before Scorpan replies
1353>("No, aside from any one on one studying you girls want, our lessons will be on Sundays. You do need to keep your grades in good shape!")
1354>Sugar furrows her brow, and after a moment replies, "Okay. Is deafness common during telepathy?"
1355>("Unfortunately, at least until your minds are stronger and more used to magic.")
1356>Another moment of silence, with Sugar nodding at him, then looking at you
1357>She glances down at your phone, still in hand
1358"O-oh."
1359>You look, and see two messages
1360>One from your sister
1361>"As long as you're inside! Love you twiley!"
1362>You smile and tell her the same
1363>The other message is from Indy
1364>You cycle through her shitty memes to the actual text
1365>"Yo, wanna hang out before lessons tomorrow?"
1366>Neat
1367>Agreeing, you tell her where to find you
1368>You put away your phone and smile at Sugar
1369"E-everything's good for tonight."
1370>Sugar nods
1371>"Sunny, are you asleep?"
1372>"Mm-mm~" Sunny hums into your arm
1373>"Would you also like to come stay the evening at my house or even sleep over with Twiley and I?"
1374>"Mm-hm~" She hums, turning her face away from your arm
1375>Sunny nods and holds out her marble
1376>"It looks so nice~ Set against the falling snow~"
1377>Sugar blinks and steps out of the way, unobstructing Sunny
1378>After a moment, all three of you are holding out your marbles from today's lesson and looking at the nice view
1379
1380>You stare out the window as Indy's radio delivers news
1381>"Reports show that crime is back on the rise today, as another convenience store was held up this morning at 4th and 22nd."
1382>Crime is up
1383>Is that abnormal here?
1384>You don't remember Canterlot being a bad place to live in
1385>Sure, there'd be the occasional robbery
1386>"This is in addition to the recent spree of break ins and burglaries of this week."
1387>Maybe both Canterlots are roughly the same, hence the urgancy of the newscasting
1388>You look at Indy
1389>She has a deep scowl as she glares forward at the road
1390>"More on-" You flick the radio to some top 40
1391"Y-you okay?"
1392>Her scowl snaps to shock, but she covers it with a smile
1393>"Yeah, totes, bae. You?"
1394"I-I'm okay... Y-you seemed... U-upset, I g-guess."
1395>"Did I...?" She keeps her eyes on the road
1396>"Just. Thinking. That's all."
1397>Although she has a neutral expression, you can see her tightening her grip on her steering wheel
1398>"Just. Amber... Amber needs to make a comeback."
1399>Amber
1400>Who?
1401>Who the heck is Amber
1402>You stare at Indy for a moment, then look back out the window
1403"W-what's Amber g-gonna do?"
1404>Indy growls, "Take out the trash!"
1405>You flinch and look at her, but she pulls up next to the arcade before you can say anything
1406>"Sweet, place isn't too crowded yet."
1407>Yet
1408>2016
1409"H-how busy does it g-get?"
1410>She shrugs at you when you get out, and locks up Blue Lightning
1411>"It's mostly SC kids, ya know?"
1412"Eh-SC?"
1413>Indy bobs her head and stuffs her pockets into her letterman jacket
1414>"You know, South Canterlot?" She bobs her head to the arcade and walks up to the door, and you follow her in
1415>"I learned this summer that a lot of the kids with bad homes and shit TV, lacking internet, they all come up here to use this arcade. Mostly cuz the couple who owns it keeps it wicked warm and gives out snacks to the littler kids."
1416"Th-that's s-so nice."
1417>Indy grins. "Totes!"
1418>Indy waves at the old lady sitting at the counter, and the old lady waves back
1419>"Hey there, kids. Going for the high score?"
1420>Indy pumps her fist, "You know it!"
1421>The old lady politely chuckles and looks back at her magazine
1422>You look around and see exactly what you'd expect from Indy
1423>The entire arcade is a blast from the past
1424>Classic old games kept in good(ish) condition line the walls, and form aisles through the huge roomless chamber
1425>And just like Indy said, this entire place is nice and warm, and without any lights aside from the glove from the cabinets
1426>It feels like an 80's summer night
1427>You smile at the nostalgia for a time you've never known
1428>Indy elbows you and points down one of the aisles
1429>"We came here for that, bae."
1430>You squint down the aisle
1431>"The Plague. A super rare cabinet that you can only find in Canterlot."
1432>You blink and follow after Indy
1433>"One day, I wanna buy one, it's got such a cool story."
1434>When you both get close enough, you definitely can see the CPA crest on the side of the cabinet
1435>Someone just made this for fun?
1436"Someone at CPA coded and made this entire thing for a programming project and then gave away the ten copies she made to the local arcades!"
1437>You step closer and watch the idle animation
1438>Looks like... Some man in dark armor walking through Detrot, whipping and ripping thugs in half
1439>Occasionally, it switches to a different man, throwing harpoons and shooting a crossbow into a crowd
1440"H-how's it p-play?"
1441>"Fookin smooth, kid." Indy runs her hands along the play surface and grabs a few singles out from her pocket
1442>"Ya mind getting me a few quarters, bae? I wanna stay here, make sure no one else is playin."
1443>You quickly nod and wander off with her dosh
1444>You recall the quarter machine being near the door
1445>Yes-
1446>Oh
1447>Someone's there...
1448>Sour Sweet!
1449>She's getting a huge amount of quarters
1450"Th-that's a lot."
1451>She flinches and glares at you
1452>"Oh, hey, Twi." 
1453>"Never expected to see you here." She smiles and holds her hands behind her back
1454>She grins and bends over, getting your face close to her chest
1455>"Finally getting around to joining us in our hobbies again?"
1456>Again
1457>You grin and nod, holding up your dosh
1458"Y-yeah. N-needa get some q-quarters."
1459>Sour smiles again and hands you one of the tiny plastic cups of her quarters
1460>"This is about five bucks. Trade?"
1461>You take the cup and grin. "Th-thanks, Sour."
1462>She twiddles her fingers as you walk, "I know this entire joint, so feel free to ask for tips, Twi!"
1463>That was nice of Sour!
1464>You ogle the coins as you walk
1465>You recall her fiddling with some games whenever you caught her unaware or unoccupied
1466>But what a coincidence, finding her here
1467>"Yo bae, was that Sour?"
1468>You stop and look up at Indy, who's glaring out behind you
1469"Y-yeah?"
1470>Indy hums and grabs the coins
1471>"C'mon." She whispers and sprints back to her game
1472>What
1473>You rejoin her and find her frantically playing
1474>"There's 18 levels and 3 boss fights, making 21 levels total, but because the final boss isn't timed, you can in theory have a chance to score infinite style points off of countering and parrying him off of all three of Rip's lives and both of Grinder's lives."
1475>Wat
1476>"The programmer anticipated this, and instead of taking precautions to prevent it, instead made the processor a lot stronger than needed, on the off chance that you learned this caveat and wanted to get yourself an infinite high score, your score will be recorded in scientific notation for truly outrageous numbers."
1477>What the literal fuck is this autism
1478"O-oh. O-okay..."
1479>You take a few steps back from Indy
1480>And collide with a marshmallow
1481>You reach back
1482>Your hand runs up and down against a pillowy softness
1483>Looking down at your hand, you're grabbing someone's thigh
1484>Looking up, your face is enveloped in endless cherry scented tiddy
1485>Taking a step forward, and away, you're looking at a snide Sour Sweet
1486>"Trying to beat my high score, huh, Lil Indy?"
1487>Sour chortles and puts a quarter down onto the cabinet
1488>Indy, without looking, grabs it, and flips it into Sour's cleavage
1489>"I'm gonna get my high score back, and then we're gonna go do magic. No time for you to try."
1490>The game transitions to a new stage and Indy smirks up at Sour, who's fishing the coin from her tiddies
1491>"Not that you have a chance at beating me, anyway."
1492>"Did it once!"
1493>Indy scoffs
1494>"Yeah, here. Try the Meteor Shower Cafe up in North Canterlot, I have a highscore in the billions."
1495>And then Sour gets angry?
1496>She does scowl and her face reddens
1497>"Y-you!"
1498>She does!
1499>You giggle
1500>Sour looks back at you, her anger dipping, and the fist she was forming unclenching
1501>"What?"
1502>You wave your hand and look away.
1503>You whisper in Dark Speech
1504"Nothing. The competative tsundere way you two act together is just starting to get cute, is all."
1505>Sour furrows her brow and looks between you and Indy
1506>Her eyes widen
1507>"W-wait, no-"
1508>You turn on your heel
1509"I will go entertain myself by being bad at Street Fighter II, wherever it is."
1510>Indy raises a hand and points
1511>"Aisle three, sixteenth on the right."
1512>You toss up a ok hand and giggle to yourself as you walk away, leaving Sour grasping at the air in her defense of not being a tsundere
1513>You still hear her trying to stutter out something when you finally find the game you're looking for
1514>Hm
1515>Someone's already on it
1516>You step up and watch him play
1517>He's pretty good, but very mechanical
1518>Looking up at him, he looks like the type of guy who gets way into the game
1519>Looks like it, too
1520>He doesn't really have a ton of skill. It looks like he memorized a few good combos and just goes between them or the super moves
1521>You paw around at your pockets and pull out a few quarters
1522>You Dark whisper into the usual normal volume, womanly voice up at him
1523"Do you mind, if I play next?"
1524>He pauses, looks at you, then back at the game
1525>"Sure. I'll even pay."
1526"Really? Quite generous of you, sir."
1527>He quickly twitches into shaking his head
1528>"Not at all, not at all..." His palms twitch across the stick and fingers clack against buttons
1529>"Just... Let me kill Bison real quick."
1530"Mhm."
1531>You calmly watch him play through the rest of the ladder
1532>Is it ladder in SF? It is in Mortal Kombat, right...?
1533>Regardless, he finishes up a few more matches
1534>But whenever he KOs an enemy, or whenever he dazes them, or whenever the round changes to a new opponent, he keeps looking at you
1535>You glance back at him when he's not looking at you
1536>And he keeps getting sweatier and more nervous looking
1537>Until sweat is dripping down his forehead and onto the play area, and his eyes are bugging out
1538>He steps away after punching his initials into the scoreboard
1539>Number 71, "H.D" 
1540"HD..."
1541>He motions to the game and pops a quarter in for you, quickly looking at you as he does
1542>You get your hands on the play area, and grimace at the sticky feeling he left behind
1543>"My name is Heavy Duty."
1544>Heavy Duty steps close behind you, putting his hands on your shoulders
1545>"Just play..." He breathes
1546>You glare at the game as Heavy Duty starts rubbing your shoulders through your sweater
1547>"Don't say anything. Don't scream."
1548>Something pokes against your back
1549>Your eyes narrow
1550>This piece of shit
1551>You jam your ass against him, getting a grunt out of him, and roll your neck
1552"Time to play this game!"
1553>"That's right." He takes a hand off of your shoulder and pats your head
1554>"Good girl."
1555>You swing your hand up and grab the hand on your shoulder, then swing your head back
1556>He howls out when you make contact with something that sounded fragile
1557>You twist around and glare at him, still holding his hand in yours
1558>His free hand goes behind him and whips out a knife
1559>One of those knives
1560>"Twilight?" Sour...
1561"Get over here!" Your voice echoes out across the arcade far louder than you intended
1562>Indigo appears
1563>Jumping over a wall of game cabinets
1564>She lands with grace, and glares at Heavy Duty
1565>"Oh, fuck me."
1566>He tugs on you and you're now being held against his chest, knife at your throat
1567>You glare down at the knife and up at him as best you can
1568>Indigo marches closer, slipping her hands into her pockets
1569>"Who sent you?" She spits out in a growl
1570>Heavy Duty cocks his head
1571>"Dunno what you mean... I'm just here for fun." 
1572>Heavy Duty grossly grinds against your ass
1573"Hey. Heavy Duty."
1574>He looks down at you, bringing his face closer to you
1575>You turn and peck his nose, stunning him
1576"Don't turn this rape into a murder, okay?" 
1577>You wink
1578>Heavy Duty pants, sweating again
1579>You feel a hand on your ass
1580"Indy, now."
1581>A fist enters your vision, slamming Heavy Duty's face out of view
1582>Oh, are those brass knuckles?
1583>Heavy Duty hits the carpeted floor with a thud, just as Sour gets onto the scene
1584>"Fuck your gymnastics." She pants and looks down at Heavy Duty
1585>Indy shrugs. "Parkour is a good fitness meme."
1586>After another pant, Sour elbow drops him, and Heavy Duty groans more under her oppressive weight
1587>Sour pries his knife out of his hand and sits on his chest
1588>You can see the air escape him as her fat ass spreads across his chest, but the erection is still there
1589"Y-you really l-like big b-butts, huh?"
1590>He nods
1591>His eyes roll up as he languidly flails
1592>You giggle and look between Indy and Sour
1593"Th-thanks, girls. It's so r-reasurring knowing I-I've got you t-two."
1594>Sour wipes some sweat off her forehead and smugly grins as she leans back
1595>"No prob, Twi."
1596>Indy scoffs and grabs his knife, getting close to him
1597>"You know me, bae. Always here to help."
1598>She budges Heavy Duty with the handle of the knife
1599>"I think rape charges are pretty heavily stacked against the alleged offender, especially with this many witnesses."
1600>She thumbs up to the ceiling, where you can all see a red, blinking dot
1601>"And cameras."
1602>Heavy Duty gurgles
1603>"That's if you get outta here alive."
1604>All three of you turn and look down the end of the aisle
1605>Standing there are two men
1606>One's in a hoodie, the other's wearing a collared shirt
1607>Neither seem entirely unique or special
1608>Maybe that just makes them more dangerous
1609>The one in the hoodie whips out a knife, while the collar boy grinds his fist into his palm
1610>When his fist comes out of his palm, his hand is way bigger than normal, with shards of bone coming out of his knuckles
1611>Indy looks down at the knife she stole and the brass knuckle in her right hand
1612>She whips it off and hands it to Sour, who's reaching into her pocket
1613>"I've got hood. Don't do lethal."
1614"W-what a-ab-"
1615>"Stay back." Indy mutters
1616>"Don't move." Sour murmurs, sliding her knuckles on
1617>Before you can protest, Collar Boy starts sprinting forward, forcing Sour to act second
1618>They meet, with Sour recklessly upercutting his monster fist
1619>Collar boy recoils, shouting in pain
1620>You notice Indy sprinting forward much faster than Hood Rat was expecting
1621>Seems he also didn't see the flying kick coming either
1622>Foot meets face
1623>Hood Rat meets floor
1624>They're sweeping
1625>You look down at a gurgling somebody
1626>Heavy Duty rolls over
1627>You drop down and sit on him
1628>He groans and goes flat
1629>Just watch the show, dude
1630>Er
1631>I guess watch my ass
1632>He rubs your thigh
1633>Whatever
1634>You look back at the f-
1635>Holy shit
1636>Collar Boy's got both hands supercharged
1637>Heh
1638>Both of his hands are ugly dark color, huge and packed with muscle
1639>It looks stupid as fuck, and the way he's flailing around trying to get a hit on Indy and Sour
1640>Yeah, this asshole totally off balance
1641>They could trip him...
1642"Hey, Collar Boy." You speak, and it comes out as a slightly loud shout
1643>Collar boy looks at you, looking over Sour and Indy
1644"Dumb ass like you can't stop two high school girls and your beta ass is being roasted by a third?"
1645>Sour furrows her brow
1646>Indy tries to hide her smirk
1647>Collar Boy glares
1648"But I mean, what can we expect. I guess your girlfriend's husband is nice if he lets you dress like that."
1649>You smugly sneer at Collar Boy as he grabs Indy and grabs Sour, both in those giant meaty hands
1650>And pushes them back
1651>They both give each other confused looks as he stomps past them
1652>But before he gets more than a few steps, they both grab him by the shoulders and sweep his legs
1653>And you wince at the boom that comes from him hitting the ground face first
1654>Collar Boy groans
1655>Sour grabs him by the head and slams it down onto the ground
1656>He's quiet, but his hands return to normal shape
1657>Albiet bruised and cut up from the bones that came jutting out
1658>Indy sighs and wipes her brow
1659>She whips out a finger to point at you, "Bae!"
1660>Flinch
1661>You point at yourself, and Indy chuckles
1662>"Dude, I said no lethal, so why did you go for the throat?"
1663>Heavy Duty mumbles into your ass, and the vibrations bring you to your feet
1664>He gasps
1665>"He was... Kinda a cuck."
1666>You all have a laugh at that
1667>Then Sour kicks him
1668
1669>One call to the cops and several minutes later, you four are standing outside in the cold
1670>Sour... For some reason, has opted to continue sitting on Heavy Duty while the other two were tied up
1671>To no one's protest
1672>Except your confusion
1673>She smirks, "I just get off on dominating a puny boy like him."
1674>Your cheeks warm, but you just giggle
1675"L-lewd!"
1676>Sour cackles into her hand
1677>Indy snorts with her arms crossed
1678>Heavy Duty groans and tries to grab her thigh
1679>Sour punches his hand down to the pavement, and he groans
1680>Indy holds out her hand, and confiscates her brass knuckle
1681>"Why do you have that?" Sour wiggles a finger to point at it
1682>"Cuz I don't got my bat." Indy slides it away
1683>"Why would you have your bat...?"
1684>"To beat ass."
1685>"Why would you... Why'd you beat ass?"
1686>Indy takes a deep breath through her nose and purses her lips
1687>"Cuz..." She glances at you, then out to the street again
1688>"Cuz I figured we'd get attacked again. But I didn't expect to almost get ganked in an arcade."
1689>Sour hmphs and withdraws a chocolate bar from her coat
1690>"Checks out..."
1691>You look back and forth at Indy and Sour and smile
1692"I'-I'm just glad y-you two are so g-good at fighting..."
1693>Indy and Sour give each other a look, then they both shrug, with Indy grinning wide and Sour rolling her eyes
1694>"Thanks, bae!"
1695>Sour hmphs again
1696>"You only got good because you're such a womanlet."
1697>Indy glares down at Sour
1698>She sneers
1699>You grin
1700>"You only got good so you can fight your way to the KFC counter."
1701>Sour flinches and snarls
1702>"Yeah, least I don't gotta compensate for a flat chest with a big car!"
1703>Indy gasps and recoils
1704>"You take that back!"
1705>Sour cackles and chews her chocolate
1706>You giggle and pap Indy
1707>"I-it's okay, Indy. F-flat is j-justice."
1708>She gasps again, and Sour gapes
1709>But Indy smugly puts her fists to her hips
1710>"Yeah, you right, bae."
1711>"Now hold on!" Sour pockets her candy, "I worked hard to get these curves without blowing out into a pile of cellulite and stretch marks!"
1712>You reach over and pap Sour's head
1713>She whimpers, "I'm pretty too."
1714"Y-yes you a-are." You giggle
1715>Indy cocks a brow and tries to pet Sour
1716>But Sour almost bites her
1717>"Indigo Zap." A man behind you announced himself. "I'm Officer Cranky. I heard there was some trouble?"
1718>Indy turns to the cop and thumbs to the thugs
1719>The officer nods to his partner, who walks back to the cruiser
1720>"We'll take it from here, girls. You good to drive, kid?"
1721>Indy gives him a thumbs up
1722>"Nice wig, gramps."
1723>Officer Cranky cocks a brow and slicks back his ponytailed hair
1724>"Thank ye. Some a the boys'll call you an your mother this evening. Happens when you do this durin the day. The Usual."
1725>Indy nods and walks with the officer
1726>"Be right back. Blue Lightning's unlocked."
1727>"This whole time?" Sour scowls
1728>Indy smirks and continues with the officer. "Gotta talk to this guy."
1729>You watch her go
1730>How often does Indy talk to the cops?
1731
1732>Scorpan calmly runs his fingers through his beard as you share today's story
1733>Sugar nervously clutches your hand under the table
1734>Lem glares down at the wood, holding her hands in front of her face, pressed together
1735>Sunny watches, totally engrossed
1736>Indy seems fine
1737>As does Sour
1738>Scorpan's gaze falls upon you, and his fingers slow
1739>"And... You, Young Twilight?"
1740>Blink
1741>You look away from him and down at Sugar's hand when she squeezes
1742>Looking back at Scorpan, you can tell he's worried about you
1743>You get why
1744>But at the same time, you don't
1745>Nothing happened
1746"I..." You clear your throat
1747"I suppose, I'm more annoyed than anything."
1748>Your eyes drift down to the table as you speak, like some part of you is ashamed for not being scared right now
1749>But your lips part as you feel the next bit come
1750"Lately it seems like everyone wants to kill me, eat me, or... More recently, rape me..."
1751>Shrug
1752>You look up at him again, and see a small frown amidst his big bearded face
1753"I guess I'm just becoming desensitized to it, now."
1754>The library is quiet, and you look around at your friends
1755>Not a single one seems okay with what you said
1756>You look down at Sugar's hand, which is woven finger for finger with yours, now
1757"I guess that's not okay."
1758>Scorpan slowly leans over and reaches out to you
1759>You catch sight of him smiling again, before his big hand and big arm obstruct your view
1760>"It's okay, Young Twilight."
1761>Scorpan's warm hand ruffles up your hair, pulling at the edges of your bun and loosening it
1762>You start misting up for some reason
1763"E-everyone k-keeps trying t-to k-k-kill me a-and my fr-friends!"
1764>Sugar latches onto you and squeezes you close, her head against your chest
1765>You feel like you're almost about to cry, but just not yet
1766>Scorpan takes a long breath and sighs
1767>"I would like to take this moment to remind each of you..."
1768>He turns to the rest of the table, while holding your shoulder
1769>"That here, among your friends and I, you are safe."
1770>Safe
1771>Your eyes close and you lean against Sugar
1772>Safety
1773>A sort of gloom hangs over the room after that
1774>Not quite a gloom
1775>More like
1776>Melancholy
1777>Scorpan grunts with the effort to stand
1778>"Could the..." He waves his knuckles between Indy and Lem
1779>"Speedy and strong members of this entourage help this old man grab some books for today's lesson?"
1780>At the mention of lesson, Sugar slowly turns her head away from your shoulder and looks at Scorpan, then Indy and Lem
1781>Indy and Lem stand with small smiles
1782>"Yee."
1783>"Shore."
1784>"Excellent..." He waves his cane to the bookshelves. "My system is fairly simple. Clockwise from the door are bookcases one through twenty, and top to bottom are shelves A through L."
1785>Indy tosses up a salute which Lem hastily mimics
1786>"Which books're we grabbin, dude?"
1787>"We shall need books for today's lesson... The purple book on 1-D, the black books on 4-A, and the black book from 12-F."
1788>Indy and Lem dutifully grab the books Scorpan asks for and carries them to him
1789>Naturally, they look at the covers, which leads to Indy asking,
1790>"Aspects?" She cocks a brow and looks up at Scorpan
1791>Lem doesn't say anything, but you notice her trying to read the long title of 'Beginnings of Darkness Mastery: A Seven Part Series.' which is arranged in a spiral on the cover
1792>Scorpan coyly chuckles and eases himself back into his seat
1793>"It's the topic of today's lesson." He calmly grabs the books, one at a time, and sets them down in front of him
1794>"Or one of them, anyway. The most important, academically speaking."
1795>With a bemused hm, Indy nods, and she and Lem walk back to their seats as Scorpan continues
1796>"Although not particularly useful in practical terms, understanding which Aspect of Darkness best resonates with you will help you understand a few things in the future."
1797>He clears his throat and knocks the stopper out from his door
1798>"Do you all wish to see more of my famed theatrics?"
1799>You eagerly nod, and Sunny clasps her hands together
1800>"Yes, please~! A show to lift our spirits, Monsieur Scorpan~!"
1801>Sour and Lem recline in their seats, Sour has her arms under her tiddies, Lem has hers crossed behind her head
1802>Actually the first time you noticed her chest; you're surprised you haven't before
1803>The juxtaposition of Sour's fat form and Lem's strong body kind of exagerates both of their features
1804>A bead of sweat rolls down your forehead
1805>Oh, a show's starting
1806>Sugar shifting her seat grabs your attention for a second
1807>You didn't notice her seperate, but she seems less upset, like you
1808[spoiler]>You just feel warm[/spoiler]
1809>SHOW IS STARTING
1810>Actually, looking at the table, it already did
1811>You're so fucking distracted by your friends
1812>ON THE TABLE
1813>There's you and your friends, as tiny dolls, dressed up like mages and priests and spellblades
1814>Scorpan slaps his hands together, making a huge clap
1815>"But, putting that aside!"
1816>You and Sugar both gasp and look at him
1817>Heart's racing
1818>Adrenaline pumping
1819>Knees weak, arms heavy
1820>There's vomit on your sweater already
1821>He leans over again, cane in hand, and knocks the table
1822>When it does, the room feels different
1823>Like
1824>Safer, and colder
1825>Scorpan peers over at you with a smile, then looks at each of your friends in turn
1826>"Today, we're discussing the fundamentals. Sugar," He unwinds his hand toward Sugar in the darkness
1827>"Expressed much interest in the... Er, paths? You said?"
1828>He leans a few inches toward her, and she nods
1829>"Yes..." She blushes and clears her throat
1830>"Most of my experience with magic has been with video games and books, and most of the time, spells are divided cleanly between subsystems referred to as schools of magic, and when you said that Darkcasting is divided in a similar way, I was very curious how similar it would be..."
1831>Sugar looks at you all as she lowers her head
1832>But Scorpan nods
1833>"Exactly! And, Sugar, you may be happy to learn that Darkcasting is divided into subsystems."
1834>Suger raises her head and smiles a little
1835>Still blushing
1836>You pat her and her crossed arms untighten
1837>"These are known as the Aspects of Darkness."
1838>He raises a finger and looks around your friends, then points down at the dolls.
1839>Oh, they have idle animations!
1840>Augh that's so cute, you're reading a book and looking up to make sure you're paying attention
1841>That's so you!
1842>You get low to the table and watch yourself
1843>"Each one self-describes which part of the ideal of Darkcasting it emphasizes and best represents."
1844>On each hand, he raises three fingers
1845>"Joy. Empathy. Respect. Mercy. Compassion. Mystery."
1846>In order, the dolls raise a fist and jump when he names their aspect
1847>Lem, Sour, Indy, Sugar, Sunny, and you!
1848>Scorpan spreads his hands wide across the table
1849>"As luck would have it, each of you show leaning toward each of these Aspects."
1850>They resume their idle animations
1851>You look up past them, and see Sunny also amusedly looking between the dolls
1852>She tentatively grabs up herself as Scorpan speaks
1853>"As we discussed previously, the act of casting a spell requires only mental effort and a bit of mana..."
1854>The Sunny doll jumps out of Sunny's hand and stands in her palm
1855>She waves her hands together, drawing up fake mana into a ball
1856>"Your aspect conditions your spellcasting..."
1857>The ball of Dark mana, which is typically purple, gets mixed with some golden light, making a swirly mess of light and clouds
1858>"Your Aspect changes what kinds of spells you're best at, and affects the spells that you do cast."
1859>The Sunny doll's mana develops and pops into the shape of a surrounding circle of black heart-shaped shields, connected by white chains
1860>Faceless dolls appear and limply stare at the shields, hearts in their eyes
1861>The Sunny doll peeks out at Sunny from behind the bobbing and drifting shields and gives her a peace sign
1862>Sunny giggles and puts down her doll, who runs back to her friends
1863>They look like they're congratulating her for a spell well cast
1864>It's adorable
1865>"So," Scorpan continues, "Unlike what you might have expected, Sugarcoat, no spells are totally off limits."
1866>"Your aspect just tells us which would be harder and easier for you to learn, and what shapes those spells take."
1867>He motions to the Sunny doll, who twirls in counter turn to her shields
1868>"Compassion implies Light and Dark. Light possesses Flexibility and Desire, and Darkness implies Endurance and Power. Your Darkcasting just now borrowed from Light's desire, and you create a sizable defensive field. Endurance and power influenced by desire. Darkcasting influenced by Light mana."
1869>"Although some sound antithetical to the surface level philosophy, they actually do apply to the underlying principles of Darkn-"
1870>"What can I do?" Sour butts in
1871>Everyone stares
1872>She slaps the table and stands up, "Hit me!"
1873>"Heh."
1874>Scorpan smiles and lowers his hand, palm up, and extends a finger to point at Sour
1875>"Empathy, Sour, aligns well with Pyromancy."
1876>Indy snorts and looks away, while Sunny oohs
1877>Sour glares down at Indy but sneers at Scorpan and pumps her fists
1878>"Tell me about Pyromancy!"
1879>Scorpan chuckles and his hands go up
1880>"In a moment, dear Sour. Little Sugar was waiting all morning to hear about this. Do you mind if I explain her aspect to her?"
1881>Sour looks between Sugar and Scorpan, then back and forth again
1882>Her lips purse
1883>She slowly sits down, weaving her fingers together
1884>"Yeah, go ahead." Her eyes dart to Sugar, then she turns her head to her
1885>Sugar shivers under Sour's gaze but looks up at Scorpan
1886>The smiling manticore rubs his hands together and offers empty air and the words
1887>"Sugar, you imply the aspect of Mercy, which aligns with Waterweaving."
1888>Sugar stares at Scorpan in silence
1889>So he continues, "As I said, they are self-defining, so Mercy would be the Aspect of Darkness that implies restraint and using your Dark magic to prevent undue harm."
1890>The tiny Sugar doll animates and steps forward
1891>She draws and twirls tiny guns
1892>With a flourish, she tosses one into the air, and juggles the other one back and forth between her hands, drawing up Dark mana and Water mana
1893>"Watereaving could imply flexibility, like Lightcasting, but like Darkcasting, it could also imply endurance of the body. Mercy for them or mercy for you, you see."
1894>When the first lands into her hand, she holsters both of them, and the bubble of purple and blue pops, mist flying into her holsters
1895>"A merciful Darkcaster could potentially inflict terrifying damage that won't kill the target."
1896>When she draws them again, they glow blue
1897>She turns to the dolls who were confused by Sunny's doll
1898>Scorpan smiles when Sugar cocks her head
1899>"So I could make bullets that, instead of killing or drawing blood, slow or knock out someone."
1900>Sugar nods when Scorpan looks back to her. "I believe I understand what happens next. I shoot them, and they collapse."
1901>Scorpan's mountainous beard shifts as he grins
1902>The doll does that, getting headshots on the dolls and making them collapse
1903>Heh
1904>They just ragdoll
1905>Everyone else is quiet, until Indy whips out her bat
1906>"Yo, what about this?"
1907>"Wot about my fists?" Lem tosses em up
1908>"Nah, my knife, my knife!" Sour digs around in between her tiddies and draws her switchblade
1909>"Fire knife!?"
1910>The three start talking over each other
1911>Hard to tell exactly what they want, but they seem excited
1912>Scorpan chuckles, as Sunny titters under everyone else
1913>"Girls, please. I'll continue in order..." He motions to Lem
1914
1915>A little while later, at a dinner Scorpan was unable to attend
1916>"So, Lemon Zest is our masochist tank." Sugar summarizes
1917>Lem goes blegh and dry heaves around her mouthful of food
1918>"I told ya Ah don't like how that sounds."
1919>"It's a succinct branding. You either feel good instead of pain or don't notice the pain. I don't see why the name is that bad. Masochist can be nonsexual, you know. And that aside, I thought you enjoyed innuendo."
1920>Lem grimaces and rubs the back of her neck. "Y-yeah."
1921>Indy elbows Lem with a smirk on her face
1922>"C'mon, Lil Lem. I know you love getting dommed!"
1923>Lem flushes and looks away. "Stahp."
1924>You giggle and speak darkly
1925"How about you be our happy tank, hm?"
1926>Lem's still flushed, but she smiles
1927>"Happy tank, huh?"
1928"You can be our barbarian."
1929>"With with a masochistic streak." Sugar adds
1930>She's smugly grinning
1931>You pap the top of her head
1932"Sugar, please."
1933>She smiles down at her food
1934>"Okay. Sorry, Lemon. Does the title of smiley barbarian sound sufficiently surreal to fit your usual mannerisms? Unless you've distinctly changed your image over the past few years."
1935>"Ah didn't..." Lem shakes her head as she ponders, twiddling her fork
1936>"Hey, wait, should we have like, matchin titles?"
1937>You give Indy a confused cock of the brow and look back at Lem
1938"Titles?"
1939>Lem half shrugs with an embarassed smile
1940>"I, uh, ya know. I was just thinking, if we're gonna do magic, we should have secret identities."
1941>She looks aroud at her silent coterie
1942>"W-well, I'm just thinkin of the future, is all. Like, if we need to go pub...lic."
1943>Lem has a nervous look as she looks around
1944>Everyone shares a look of confusion
1945>Sour's the one to break the silence. "Go public about what?" 
1946>Lem's lip curls and she rubs the back of her neck
1947>"W-well... You know... Like..."
1948>You smile and weave your fingers together
1949"Go ahead, Lem."
1950>She takes a deep breath
1951>Then shakes her head
1952>"It's nothin..."
1953>She catches your best attempt at an earnest, encouraging smile
1954>Which you're trying to give, really hard
1955>But instead of getting the confidence to continue, she just shrugs again and grabs her fork
1956>"Maybe Ah'll bring it up later, after we get like..."
1957>Lem shrugs and picks at her food, wearing a bashful smile
1958>"Higher level. I guess."
1959>Hm
1960"Okay, Lem. Take your time, I'm sure we have a lot to learn."
1961>You throw your hands up a bit and grin, helping her by switching focus to you
1962"I'm just. So excited to do magic! With my friends!" 
1963>You afford yourself a dorky snorting giggle, which everyone laughs with
1964>Indy reclines and pushes aside her empty plate. "You ain't disappointed with your Aspect?"
1965>"I dunno. Mystery sounds cool."
1966>Mystery
1967>You can never master Darkcasting, but you won't have difficulty learning the other kinds of spells out there
1968>Jack of all trades, master of none
1969>Though oftentimes better than master of one
1970>You smirk, "Do you not like yours?"
1971>Indy oofs, turning her head to the side and shrugging
1972>"I dunno, I guess I am? Respect sounds like a cool aspect and all, but ya know? Being great at Dark magic but shit at everything else sounds like I'm the odd one out."
1973>She holds up two fingers, "Everyone else gets two to be good at. You get five to be okay at, but I only get one to be godly at. I dunno, I don't like speccing that hard."
1974>"Maybe you'll get lichdom."
1975>Indy's lips part, then close. She blankly nods to Sour
1976>With a smirk, she wags her finger, and Sour wiggles her brow with her own smirk
1977>"That actually sounds rad as fuck. I take it back. Speccing hard into Dark sounds fucking awesome."
1978>Indy chortles and you grin
1979"There you go, Indy. Just have to look on the... Dark side."
1980>You snicker as Indy and Sour roll their eyes at your pun
1981>"Ma cherie, Twilight~?" Sunny twirls her fork toward you mid Prench chortle
1982>"This Dark Speech~? It is growing on me~!"
1983"Oh yeah?"
1984>"Beats your stutter." Sour says with a mouth full of carrots and chicken
1985>"Not that there's anything wrong with the stutter, though." Indy shrugs. "I kinda didn't want to say nothing, but this voice is just cooler."
1986>Everyone nods and agrees as you look around
1987>With a smile, you shrug
1988"I hate the stutter too, and honestly, I love the Dark Speech. I'll keep using it when I can."
1989>You clear your throat as the spell ends
1990"B-but, y-you know. M-mana."
1991>Lem bobs her head, "Ah ya out?"
1992"F-for now."
1993>"I read that our supply refreshes after a good night's rest, provided we have a healthy diet, so I doubt there's any cause for concern if we run out in the middle of the day."
1994>Sugar sips her juice
1995>"We should continue our studies, soon."
1996"I-is m- er, E-elder Scorpan o-okay?"
1997>The whole reason you're all eating so early is because he was tuckered out
1998>"Oh, I'm not too tired..." He says from down the hall as he approaches
1999>"I was actually answering a beckoning my brother had sent to me."
2000>Scorpan smiles at the entry to the kicthen. "Did you save any dinner for me?"
2001>Most of your friends point down at the empty seat, and Scorpan happily snorts
2002>"Looks wonderful." He speaks as he walks to take his seat
2003>He brightly smiles to you all, but then focuses on Indy
2004>"Lichdom is very possible! Though a good girl like you may want to persue something less..."
2005>Scorpan strokes his beard as he grabs a fork and ponders
2006>"Vile?" Indy tosses
2007>Scorpan nods, brow furrowed
2008>"Close enough, yes. Maybe you'd like to..." Scorpan weaves his fingers together as he thinks
2009>"Become... A Wight? I don't have a lot of experience with undead... Most Darkcasters I've met were of a demonic bent."
2010>"Oh shit, what about Tiefling?"
2011>"Tief...ling?"
2012>Before that can happen, you interrupt
2013"W-what did your b-brother w-want?"
2014>Scorpan half shrugs and samples more meat
2015>"He is annoyed by my mentoring you six." Scorpan shakes his head dismissively and chews. "He's just a grump, though."
2016>Snort
2017>"A lot of people would seem grumpy compared to you." Sour mumbles and looks to where approximately Scorpan and Tirek's room is
2018>"Thank you, Sour!"
2019>She snorts and shovels more food into her mouth
2020>Tirek...
2021>Last time you met him, he was...
2022>Hm, yeah he was a bit of an ass
2023>Grumpy is adequate, coming from the kind Scorpan
2024>"And I do apoligize for not conclusively answering your querries, Sugar."
2025>He pats her head
2026>Which she doesn't seem to mind
2027>"That's perfectly fine, Mr. Scorpan. I understand that you have your own business to attend to, and you have already answered a great deal of my requests today. As well, you are opening up the world of magic to my friends and I. I have much to thank you for. Thank you."
2028>Scorpan grins and pats her
2029>"With that in mind..." Scorpan resumes eating. Only he and Sour are eating still
2030>You eye her
2031>She smiles and chews
2032>Scorpan clears his throat and swallows. "This is good... With that, the idea that I can't always teach you everything in depth, I do encourage you all to freely come and read whatever materials you like."
2033>He raises a finger for emphasis
2034>"I believe you should be able to understand any book written in Equestrian. They are written plainly enough, and as mages, you should be able to see past the illusions jumbling the letters."
2035>He pauses and looks to the side, then up
2036>After a moment, he looks back to you all with a smile
2037>"You may just be able to teach yourself how to cast spells without silly old me."
2038"A-aw, b-but I like l-learning from you, E-Elder Scorpan."
2039>"Better than some of the teachers we got at CPA." A reclining Indy agrees
2040>"I'm glad. I am, that I can still captivate young minds."
2041>Scorpan occupies himself with his dinner. "So, go on with what you were discussing..."
2042>Sugar straightens her back. "Masochist Barbarian."
2043>Lem slaps the table
2044>She has a blush across her cheeks and her lips turned up into a sharp frown as she says one word: "Nu."
2045>Sugar smugly giggles a weird through the teeth giggle
2046>You've never seen her do this
2047>She extends a hand and points at Indy, "Pumped Up."
2048>Indy blinks, then smirks and cackles
2049>Sugar points at Sour, "Marshmallow Heaven."
2050>Sour pauses then rears forward with a loud, "Oy!"
2051>Sugar stands and points across at you, her face red from giggling
2052>"Dark Chocolate!"
2053>Snort
2054>"Do me, do me!" Sunny waves her hands, and Sugar points both index fingers at her
2055>"Alpha. Bimbo."
2056>You grab Sugar by the wrist, and she snaps her gaze toward you
2057>Your throat cleared, Dark mana flows
2058"Pint-Sized Peashooter."
2059>"Wha-"
2060>Indy, Lem and Sour each stand one after another and aim their fingers down from the hips at Sugar
2061>"Loli Sniper!"
2062>"Pirate Runt!"
2063>"Babby Gunslinga!"
2064>The blows are too much, every shot of bants almost knocks Sugar back into her chair
2065>If not for you holding her up
2066>She pants, quietly conserving her energy
2067>One of the other seats moves
2068>Everyone looks to Sunny
2069>Sugar whispers, "No..."
2070>Sunny's head is low, but she dramatically waves her arms up then snaps both forward, pointing finger guns at Sugar as she widely grins, eyes crazy with the power of Dark Banter
2071>"Micro! Desperado!"
2072>Sugar shrieks and flies back into her chair, sliding back a solid half inch (impressive for her low, low weight)
2073>Scorpan lowly chuckles in the back of all this
2074>"I've seen Dark mages engage in discourse, before. Always, a group of allied would instinctually and habitually insult each other freely, but you do it far differently."
2075>He smiles and grabs more food
2076>"Maybe your friendship will keep you alive longer than those cults?"
2077>You smile and giggle
2078>And everyone else joins in the mirth
2079>Sugar points at Scorpan
2080>Before she can speak, he counterspells her 
2081>"Quickshot Pixie." 
2082>He smiles as she dramatically cries out, earning more laughter
2083
2084>After he's eaten a little bit, Scorpan removes a small tabbed notebook from his pocket
2085>"I noticed you each have little notebooks or writing tablets, so I thought, why not do the same?"
2086>With a snort, he opens up to one of the tabs and shows off his neat notes
2087>"Ay, a cheat sheet..." Lem smirks and leans forward to look
2088>Scorpan chuckles and raises a finger
2089>"In a way. Learning magic is all about understanding magic then manipulating your mana to do what you want. I feel its far safer to not cut corners in the understanding part."
2090>He sets down the notebook and slides it toward Lem, who ogles, along with Sunny and Indy
2091>"You write so neat." Sour murmurs
2092>"Thank you." Scorpan smiles and weaves his hands together. "That is a copy of my personal notebook from a hundred or so years ago, when I first learnt magic. Feel free to copy it!"
2093"W-whoa, is a-all of it s-still... A-accurate?"
2094>Scorpan grins and shakes his head
2095>"No, I've removed anything innacurate via page removal or crossing out text..."
2096>He chuckles into his hand and leans toward you
2097>"The dawn of the internet superhighway really had an impact on the world of magic!"
2098>The internet did wh-
2099>You grin
2100"T-tell me m-more!"
2101>He snickers, "I had a feeling you'd like this one. It began roughly in the 1970's, but those heavily invested in spells associated with visions and learning noticed it as early as the 1950's, or so I was told..."
2102>You notce Sugar and Sunny inch closer to listen, and Scorpan turns so both of them can see him gesticulate and hear clearly
2103>"The invention of the data network - a service that would allow peoples to collect and distribute information freely - was a concept any scifi enthusiast could have described to you since the 50's, 40's or even 30's but when it came, no one was actually ready."
2104>He raises a finger and looks between you three, just as excited to tell the story as you are to hear it
2105>"For the first time in many milenia, humanity had something with the potential to outstrip us in versatility."
2106>He takes a breath and smiles
2107>"Like I said, and you know, it took until near the end of the milenium for humanity to invent the internet, while most mages had access to something like it since... For so long!"
2108>He shrugs and shakes his head, truly, visibly, not knowing how long mages have had magic internet
2109>"It was always one of the tools we believed staunchly signified the difference between us and the human population... The fact that others would come close to mirroring it, that scared a lot of mages."
2110>He gets closer to Sugar and shakes his head
2111>"I know what you're thinking..." He sits upright and wags a finger at Sunny
2112>"Not one of us was unwise enough to just expect the internet to die off, like some of the non-magical humans believed. In fact, that was a ruse presented by some mages to try and make it so."
2113>He pulls back and flutters the fingers of one hand. "Obviously didn't work!"
2114>"There were three camps of mages. Those who feared the internet and what it meant. Those who were for it, it would help humanity grow. And the neutral party. There's always a neutral party in mages. Always."
2115>He snaps his fingers as punctuation, pointing at himself
2116>"So what happened?"
2117>Sour interrupts, blinking with a focused glare
2118>Scorpan popped his brow
2119>"Innovation."
2120>She cocks a brow, and he continues
2121>"Rules of magic were changed, laws amended, rites and rituals carefully recalculated. There was an overhaul to the entire magic system wherever magic could accidentally overlap with data so that the human population wouldn't accidentally visit a website and end up watching a ritual being conducted!"
2122>"So it was a matter of security? Seems pretty mundane..."
2123>He shrugs back at Sour, who aggressively shrugs back
2124>"Don't eh me! You made it sound like this huge crazy thing!"
2125>"That's because it was!" Scorpan snorts and chuckles. "That's because it is..."
2126>"Think about it. Why would any of us be scared of humans with the internet?"
2127>Scorpan looks around at each and every one of you
2128>"Because...~" Sunny starts, then pauses to hum
2129>"Because~ You do not want~ Mm~ You do not want anybody to see your embaressing moments~?"
2130>Scorpan smiles but wags a finger
2131>He gestures to Indy
2132>"Indigo, what does the top dog fear?"
2133>She goes from smirking to scowl in .1 seconds and answers even faster:
2134>"A bigger dog."
2135>"And him?"
2136>"He fears that a bigger dog will come."
2137>Sugar raises a hand and Scorpan looks at her
2138>"If I may? Are you implying that the mages of the early 20th century were scared that humanity would discover you and hunt you down like the witches of northern Equestria?"
2139>"Some did! But... Think bigger...!" He splays his hands out and looks around at you each
2140>"Mm..." Lem starts, then bites her lip
2141>You give her a nod
2142>She smiles with your approval, "...Monsters?"
2143>"Monsters...?" Scorpan replies with a smile
2144>"Did the scared mages fear that monsters'd find out about you guys through the humans who use and process information faster than you can hide it?"
2145>"Kinda paranoid..." Sour mutters and gives Scorpan an incredulous look
2146>He shrugs
2147>"I didn't believe it. But it's true. Because of some very, very vocal members of the community, entire rules were established to keep anyone from discovering mages."
2148"Like a m-masquerade..."
2149>"Masquerade?" Scorpan cocks his head, then shakes it. 
2150>"No, no, we didn't have to disguise ourselves. Magic was just in a state of turbulence that turned into a quiet." Scorpan rolled his hands over each other in a turbulant manner
2151>"Not being shared anymore. No new protoges or apprentices taken under guidence. Secrets were being taken to the grave. Because of a few people being paranoid... Magic almost died off!"
2152>You shiver, "O-oh..."
2153>You thought that was you
2154>That was actually Sugar
2155>"What changed that, Mr. Scorpan? What ended the quiet? What kept magic from dying off?"
2156>"Hard to say, exactly." Scorpan's smile turns to a contemplative purse. "Without any apt enough to pass our secrets to, magic was going to die with my generation of mages."
2157>He looks across you six again, but not like he usually does
2158>He looks stern, but at the same time melancholy
2159>"You six are the first new mages I've seen in thirty years."
2160>Your mouth drops
2161>A hole opens in your belly
2162"Th-that's not pop-possible."
2163>He shakes his head
2164>"For the first hundred years of my learning, I believed mages had to be taught. Without teachers, I believed magic would die with whomever currently hid the secrets."
2165>"Wait." Sour raises her hands and waves them about
2166>"Then what about those goons who attacked us? Who taught them?"
2167>Scorpan cocks his head and hums into a toughtful sigh
2168"It seems... There is a new generation of mages, being mentored by reckless and rash teachers for some purpose. So far, I've only seen young new mages."
2169>You look between him and Sour
2170>Sour blinks, then her glare turns into a squint
2171>"Yo," Indy tosses up a hand then returns it behind her head. "Trixie included?"
2172>Scorpan slowly nods
2173>Sour's eyes track from Scorpan to Indy and across each of you and your friends
2174>Then back to Scorpan
2175>"What do we do with this information?"
2176>"You do whatever makes you feel comfortable with it. I'll continue teaching you how to safely control your magic."
2177>"Should we engage in the quiet with you, Mr. Scorpan? Will it be necessary to maintain secrecy about our magic from this point onward or would that be ill-advised?"
2178>"That may be wise."
2179>Everyone goes silent for a moment, until Indy's phone starts ringing
2180>Like usual, Indy's the first to leave
2181>Indy swings her phone up and silences it
2182>"Getting around that time. Anyone need a ride?"
2183>Sour stands with her and nods. "Yeah. Can we hit up a corner store on the way?"
2184>Indy grunts as she walks, "You just ate."
2185>"It's for soda!" Sour retorts as she waves to everyone else
2186>You and the girls wave back
2187>Indy smirks and waves back to you guys as she walks and tosses back "Oh that makes it so much better!"
2188>Their bickering continues all the way out to Indy's car
2189>Just you, Sugar, Lem and Sunny
2190>As well as Elder Scorpan
2191>"Mr. Scorpan, in light of this new information about the magical quiet, could you shoul me any methods for disguising spells or creating non-obvious spells?"
2192>Sunny smiles, "Ah yes~ Could I cast spells with singing~?"
2193>"Could I distract someone by talking too much so they don't notice that I'd cast a spell?"
2194>Scorpan smiles down at Sugar and Sunny and nods, grabbing up his notebook and flipping through it
2195>"That's very simple, as you may recall, spellcasting is a totally mental effort..."
2196>You reach for your backpack as you listen
2197>Lem whispers, "Hey, Twifam?"
2198>You pause and look at Lem
2199>She's got her phone in one hand and a smile on her lips
2200>"This is kinda weird, but ya wanna walk back home? You still live a little away from school, right?"
2201"B-bit early..."
2202>Lem nods, gulps and looks down at her phone
2203>She begins typing
2204"B-but, eh... S-sure!" Shrugging, you zip your backpack closed
2205>Lem blinks and smiles up at you
2206>"Really...?"
2207>You shrug again
2208"S-sure, w-why not?"
2209>Lem bobs her head back and forth, smiling down at her phone. "Kay, cool. I let mah dad know ah'm walkin."
2210>She hops up, grabbing her magic studies notebook and her coat
2211>You both wave to Sugar, Sunny and Scorpan
2212>After a quick round of goodbyes, you both depart
2213>Lem closes the door to Scorpan's house behind her and smiles at you. "Ready?"
2214"S-sure thing!"
2215>Lem smiles a small smile and puts her hands into her jacket pockets
2216>And you both begin walking in quiet for a few minutes
2217>You try to match each other's pace
2218>Lem's height means she has longer strides than you
2219>But she manages to slow to a comfortable pace without you needing to lose your breath over it
2220>"...It's been nice."
2221>You look up at Lem
2222>She has a small smile as she looks forward
2223>"These past two or three weeks. They've been nice."
2224"R-really? H-how so?"
2225>Lem sighs
2226>"Oh, ya know... Things're differnt, is all. Different good."
2227>You smile look forward again
2228>Probably the magic
2229"Th-that's good."
2230>Or maybe... Something you don't know
2231>You feel your eyes widen, but you control your expression before she catches
2232>"Twifam?"
2233"Y-yeah?"
2234>You try to catch her face, but she's got her hea held high and her thick mane is covering
2235>"Have I changed, since the last time we walked home together?"
2236>Oh... This means something
2237>What do you say?
2238"W-we... E-everyone changes, L-lem."
2239>"Even you?"
2240>Throat clear
2241"Especially me... I've had- I've gone through so many rapid changes recently, my head's almost spinning."
2242>"Heh."
2243>You inquisitively hum at her
2244>Lem raises a hand and points
2245>"There's the park we always walk by. Or used ta walk by. We always said we'd go chill there after school, but you'd always turn it down."
2246>Did you, now?
2247>Why?
2248"Let's go, then."
2249>Lem smiles at you and you both turn toward the park
2250>The snow covering the park crunches under your boots as you tread across unwalked ground
2251>Looks like no one's played in this park for a few days
2252>Except for whoever made that snowman over there
2253>Lem's heading toward the swing set, so you follow her
2254>She clears off one and offers it to you, which you take
2255"Bit cold for swinging, isn't it?"
2256>She chuckles and takes a seat next to you
2257>"Nah. Let's just chill."
2258>Ah, some Lem time
2259"I like chilling."
2260>"Me too." Lem mutters as she lays her hands against her lap
2261>You rock back and forth in your swing, and she spins to and fro
2262>"I've been wonderin, Twi."
2263"What about, Lem?"
2264>She looks down at you
2265>You look up at her
2266>She blinks and sighs. "I dunno. Just wonderin about things. And stuff."
2267"I like things. Tell me about stuff."
2268>Lem curls her lip into a half grimace. She turns away and stares at the snow instead of replying
2269>Hm
2270"Okay. Tell me about things, instead. I like stuff, but we can talk about things instead..."
2271>Why is she so quiet?
2272"It's just you and me. No need to be nervous."
2273>She shivers and looks away. You just barely notice her draw her lips into a tight frown as she does so
2274>You slowly lay a hand against her arm
2275>You can feel her hard muscle through her thick jacket
2276>It's not wholly unpleasant
2277>When she doesn't respond, you give her arm a squeeze
2278"L-Lem...?"
2279>Your whisper carries through the quiet of the winter covered playground
2280"Y-you don't... Y-you can trust m-me. I-I'm your friend, a-and, w-well... I-I can be your c-confid-dant."
2281>Lam gasps and stiffens
2282>Her arm bulges in your hand, forcing your slack grip wide open
2283>She loudly gulps
2284>"Y-you say such nice things."
2285>You smile
2286>"Now."
2287>You frown
2288>Now
2289>Lem looks back at you with a sad smile
2290>Her hand lays on yours for a moment, then comes away as she stares forward
2291>"I've just been thinkin, that I'm real happy we're friends again."
2292>Again
2293>Your throat clears
2294"I'm sorry, Lem-"
2295>Her hand raises
2296>"Is aight. Ah jes wanna think about the good right now."
2297>You bob your head and unfold your hand toward her
2298>Urging her to continue
2299>She does, facing forward
2300>She starts with a shrug and speaks very slowly
2301>"It still hurts. I'm not ever going to be the same as I was a few years ago. But I don't think that's totally a bad thing..."
2302>She pauses and continues
2303>"At the end a... At the end of the day... I'm still me. Disregarding any cuts, or bruises, or bumps I take, as long as I'm still alive. I can carry on."
2304>Lem stops talking and looks around the park
2305>Looking around, you see the snow, mostly
2306>The jungle gym is covered with it and the bars do little to shelter the snow under and around them from view
2307>The slide is layered with snow, except for the slide proper
2308>That itself has a pile of snow at the end of it
2309>All of it came down at some point and lays in a rolled up mound at the bottom
2310>The seesaw has snow going up and down it's length, and it's even throughout
2311>"It's funny..." Lem slowly speaks
2312>"No matter how many times it snows, it always comes down 'n finishes the same."
2313>You give her a curious cocked brow
2314>But when she gives you a neutral glance, you take the same expression
2315>Lem looks forward again and closes her eyes
2316>"Whether it a flurry that picked up and dropped it all at once, or it's just a few days of slow snow, all the snow, no matter what way it blows swings er flutters, always falls down nice and even."
2317>"Ah like the snow, Twilight."
2318>She looks down and opens her eyes
2319>And while you're still watching her, she brushes her hand against yours
2320>"When it settles... It's always the same. No matter what it looked like durin the storm, the snow... Settles into a shape Ah've memorized."
2321>You blink down at her hand as it pulls away from yours and sets back to rest onto her other hand, in her lap
2322>Looking up, to look at her face again, you see her staring at the snow covered park again
2323>"I love... The snow."
2324>Lem sighs
2325"L-Lem?"
2326>She glances at you
2327>You darkly move your lips without speaking
2328>The words come as a whisper
2329"Are you okay?"
2330>She shivers and shortly nods
2331>"I've got a lot on muh mind." She repeats
2332>Lem looks down at her cupped together hands, and you follow her gaze
2333>She runs her thumbs across each other
2334>Her hands are so much bigger than yours
2335>She really has fighting hands
2336>You'd say they were mannish, but that would be a disservice to her
2337>They're just Lem's hands
2338"I love the snow, too..."
2339>Lem carefully glances over at you
2340>As she's hunched over, you're both at eye level
2341>You smile
2342"Winter is my favorite season. Not for the same reason as you, though."
2343>She furrows her brow in confusion or intrigue
2344>You sadly sigh and look around at the sparkly white snow covering the playground
2345"I love winter, because cold numbs pain."
2346>Lem sits upright
2347>"Twi..."
2348>You pause before you expose more of your past
2349>Instead
2350"It's more poetic than anything... In a romantic sort of way, cold feels better than heat, for the heart. The heart can burn with passion all year long, and winter can be the soothing balm that keeps it from burning out."
2351>You awkwardly chuckle and hold your burning cheek
2352>You actually love winter because the cold reminds you of the basement of your old house
2353>Where you could run to when things were getting too heated at school
2354>It was cold, ice cold in the winter, but cool in the summer
2355>You were alone
2356>No one could hurt you
2357>The pain was numbed
2358>You're budged out of your reverie by Lem's finger on your arm
2359>You both share a look of confusion and bewilderment
2360>You blink out of your stupor
2361>"Whatcha thinkin bout?"
2362>Deep breath
2363"Stuff. Things and stuff."
2364>You smile
2365>Lem smiles back, but looks a bit sad as she looks down to your hands
2366>She extends her open hand
2367>Yours slides into her palm
2368>When she closes her hand, your hand feels warm
2369>"This's nice."
2370>Nod
2371"It is."
2372>You feel your throat tighten up a bit and clear it, ending the Dark Speech
2373>Lem quietly mutters, "I'm glad... We're friends, again."
2374>You pat her hand and hold it in both of yours
2375"M-me, too..."
2376>Lem sighs
2377>But then hitches her head and looks behind
2378>"Git up, Twifam."
2379>You do, and she does
2380>Looking back, you see two boys
2381>A big guy and a smaller guy
2382>They quietly approach, boots not crunching the snow as they depress it
2383>They stop, and the smaller guy raises a hand toward you both
2384>"Good at hiding. Natural talent?"
2385>"Ya here ta attack us?"
2386>He shakes his head. "Attack implies a fight. This is extraction. Locking you up."
2387>Lem snorts and stands, cracking her knuckles
2388>"Ah been boxin fer eight years. Been competin fer five." Lem holds out her open hand of five digits
2389>Her hand turns into a fist and she pulls it, along with her other fist, closer to herself
2390>"In a few months, ah'll legally be 'llowed tah enter the heavy weight circuit. Tah date, Ah got exactly one technical loss and no match losses. The tech loss was cuz Ah accidentally knocked mah opponent outta the ring."
2391>Lem slides her feet into what you guess is proper form, and quietly rolls the rest of her body to suit
2392>"Muh right hook's got the power to break a jaw. Ask Tahka, a gal from Griffondale who got a bit too uppity with me in the ring."
2393>Lem shoots a fist forward and pumps it
2394>"What Ah'm sayin is... If ya ain't careful, ya might actually die here."
2395>He takes a step back, bumping into his bigger friend
2396>Giving each other quick looks, the smaller of the two nods
2397>"Maybe fight unneeded..."
2398>Lem snorts. "Maybe."
2399>You step out from behind Lem and clear your throat
2400"Speak your piece and begone, then."
2401>He slides his hand into his pocket and holds his other out toward you two
2402>"You and your friends. Here to send you a warning. Raising too much susipicion."
2403>You glance at Lem, and you both share a brief hard glare
2404"Among whom?"
2405>"Not at liberty. That stunt at the arcade was noticed. Wrong people noticed."
2406>The big guy grumbles, and pulls out a notepad. "Magic caught on film. 9:34 AM. Very bad."
2407>Small guy nods. "Bad."
2408>You and Lem trade another look, this one of exasperation
2409>At least they don't want to fight
2410"And?"
2411>"Not your fault. Apparent. Explaining to you: don't use magic with witnesses."