The Dresden Fillies - deviantART

"Well, uh. Back to the show then." I stumbled, trying to keep my stage
presence. Hell's bells. How had my father managed this in front of an entire
crowd? "Let's move on to the next trick." She nodded enthusiastically and
Fluttershy smiled. My first couple of spells didn't get much of a reaction,
levitating objects wasn't very impressive, it seemed. Wizards like Twilight
must be able to practice openly. My practice with tracking spells, using
nothing but a crystal and one of their tail hairs went over better. Though I
still didn't understand how Pinkie could have fit in that bucket of sponges.
Now I was doing magic circles; I started with sealing Pinkie in a soundproof
one. Fluttershy and I had gotten a laugh out of that and so did she after a
minute. Next was something a bit more exciting.
"For my next trick we shall need to go outside for a moment," Pinkie smiled
eagerly and shot off before I had even reached the door. I stopped by the
kitchen and grabbed a stool, some salt and an apple. My spell components
gathered, I put them at the far end of Fluttershy's lawn, as far from the
house as I could manage. "Now, I must give fair warning to the audience
that this will appear dangerous, but rest assured. I have it completely under
control." Hopefully, at least. All of my spells thus far had gone off without a
hitch, but now it was time to try for something more serious. I set the apple
on the stool and surrounded the whole thing with a circle of salt. I
murmured a soft quasi-Latin word and sealed the circle with my will. As I
did I let some the energy spill out, causing a flurry of sparks and a sudden
view of the mystical barrier before it faded to invisibility again. Fluttershy
and Pinkie gasped appreciatively and I couldn't hold back a grin. It was a
waste of magic, but it sure looked cool. I backed off about ten paces and
made sure my equine audience was behind me. If anything went wrong I'd
take the brunt of the forces in play. I raised my blasting rod and focused on
it. The runes carved into it glowed to life with the familiar smell of burnt
wood. The tip began to glow an angry red as I slowly prepared the spell. No
need to take it fast for the first try. The magic came together in powerful
rush and I gestured with the rod releasing it with a ringing shout.
"Fuego!" I cried. An enormous column of flame erupted out of my blasting
rod, striking the circle I had prepared, in a wave of vicious fire. It split as it
reached the magic barrier, like a river meeting a rock, washing to either
side of it. The flames died out quickly as the magic dissipated, and I walked
over to the circle. I was pleased to see it had maintained integrity, the salt
remained, not a single grain had moved, and the stool and apple looked
just fine. I broke the circle with a thought and picked up the apple. It was