//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Training // Story: "Could You Be My Mommy?" // by Dolphy Blue Drake //------------------------------// The years just flew by for a while.  Everything was as normal as it could be while raising an infant human mage prodigy:  in six months, Jonnathan started to get the hang of speaking (though he had trouble with some of the sounds), grew in the rest of his teeth, and moved on to solid food, just in time for Pinkie to throw him his first birthday party on July 25th.  This party actually had cake, since he was finally able to eat it. Lyra soon had to start buying fish to add to her son’s diet, since he was omnivorous, after all, and for Jonnathan’s first Nightmare Night, Lyra had him go as a character she remembered from her dreams about humans:  someone called Indiana Jones, who was similar to Daring Do, but different enough that Lyra didn’t consider either one a ripoff of the other.  For his first Hearth’s Warming, Lyra and Bon-Bon got Jonnathan a proper crib to sleep in, replacing the old pet bed. As Jonnathan grew and learned more about the world around him, he also started teaching Lyra the language he originally knew, asking her to make sure that he wouldn’t forget it when he forgot his infancy by occasionally speaking to him in that language.  Lyra agreed, so when she wanted to speak to just her son while in public, she’d whisper to him in his original tongue, which was actually quite fascinating.  Unlike Equestrian, with its twenty-six letter alphabet and letters that served all sorts of purposes, Draqstarran had a larger alphabet of forty-four letters, each one with pretty much just one sound all the time, but sounds that were almost exactly alike were all grouped under one letter for each group of extremely similar sounds. By the time Jonnathan reached his third birthday, Princesses Celestia and Luna visited to see the human boy for themselves.  He showed off some of the spells he knew, and both princesses were surprised that they couldn’t sense his magic at all, but didn’t see her son as dangerous, so they didn’t take Jonnathan from Lyra, much to her relief.  The princesses even gave him a proper bed as a birthday gift before they left, so Lyra and Bon-Bon cleaned out the old guest room and furnished it for Lyra’s human son. But, once Jonnathan was three and a half, ready to start school next fall because Cheerilee agreed that he was indeed a special case, and would be admitted a year early, Lyra got a nagging feeling that trouble was coming that could hurt her precious son. Following the advice of the dream from so long ago, Lyra did as instructed by Jonnathan’s birth parents and asked their god to help her to train her son for whatever problem was coming. Immediately, she passed out, only to awake seconds later in a white void, where the human she recognized as Jonnathan’s father was standing a few yards away, looking at her with a puzzled look. So, you’re the one who’s been taking care of Junior? the man asked in Jonnathan’s native language. “I have,” Lyra replied, forgetting for a little bit that Jonnathan had taught her his language.  Once she remembered, she squeaked and put her hooves to her mouth before switching to her son’s native tongue.  “I’m sorry, sir!  You probably didn’t understand any of that!” “On the contrary,” the man said in perfect Equestrian while chuckling and adjusting the crown on his head.  “I understood every word.  I just used Draqstarran out of habit.  I can speak English perfectly fine.” “We call it Equestrian,” Lyra replied.  “I take it you’re Jonnathan’s birth father?” “Yes, and no,” the human replied.  “I’m more of a mental imprint of him.  And if you wish to call Junior ‘Jonnathan’, then I shall do so as well.  I take it you adopted him as your own son?” “Yes,” Lyra replied with a nod.  “He asked me to be his Mommy, so I told him yes.” “Ah, he always was good with telepathy,” the imprint of the elder Jonnathan chuckled.  “Anyway, I’ve been imprinted in your mind to help you to train Jonnathan.  The actual King-Chancellor’s god placed me in your mind.  I’ll only be available for helping you to train Jonnathan, giving advice in perilous situations where his life is at stake, and, if necessary, you can draw on me like a second magic source.  It will be just like Jonnathan’s powers, but not as strong, since I’m only his birth father’s imprint, not the actual man.” “Wait, you mean that I can now use your human magic?” Lyra asked in shock. “Yes,” the imprint replied.  “But be careful with it, as you’ll be drawing on me directly.  If there’s not enough of me left, spells will fail, and I won’t be able to offer advice in bad situations until I recuperate.  So, don’t think of our power as some kind of new toy.  it’s a sacred power passed down for generations, and it’s not to be taken lightly.” “I understand,” Lyra replied with a courteous nod. “Good,” the imprint replied.  “Now, I take it that you sensed trouble brewing that could involve Jonnathan, right?” “That’s correct,” Lyra confirmed with a grimace.  “He’s my son, and I don’t want him to get hurt.  He’s forgotten his infancy, so he doesn’t remember his birth family anymore.  I let him know he’s adopted, but I love him as if he were my own flesh and blood.” “Understood, Lyra Heartstrings,” the imprint replied.  “And I only know your name because I’m now part of you.  I’ll usually just be a voice in your head, if I speak at all.  It’ll only be in extremely dire circumstances where I’ll actually draw you into this mental void.” “What should I call you?” Lyra asked, tilting her head to one side. “Call me ‘Senior’,” the imprint replied.  “I’ll help you to demonstrate spells to Jonnathan by telling you what to do.  Now, it’s almost time for you to wake up, Lyra Heartstrings.  Take good care of your son, alright?” Lyra nodded, and then her eyes snapped open, revealing Jonnathan sitting on her bed and giving her a worried look.  He was wearing a larger version of the favorite shirt Rarity made for him when he was just an infant:  it was the same color as her coat, had her Cutie Mark on the front, the prismatic stripes on the sleeves, and she knew it had his name in two languages on the back in gold lettering.  His pants were simple and blue, and he was wearing red socks, white sneakers, and an orange baseball cap. “Mommy?” he asked worriedly.  “Are you okay?” “Yes, Jonny,” Lyra said, using the nickname she’d given her son.  “It’s just, we’re going to have to train your magic now.” “But nopony can use my magic!” he protested.  “I gotta teach myself, Mommy!” “Something just came up,” Lyra told her son while drawing him into a hug.  “I don’t fully understand it myself, but I can train you myself, now.” “Mommy, don’t be silly!” Jonnathan huffed before he cut off and seemed to try to sense the air around him.  “Mommy?  Why do you feel like me now?” “I can’t explain right now,” Lyra sighed.  “But I have some knowledge of your powers now, and you’re going to need to hone them.  I don’t know how I know, but something big is coming, and you’ll need to be ready for it.” “Okay, Mommy,” Jonnathan replied with a hug of his own.  “I want to protect my family and friends.  Especially you and Auntie Bonnie.” “With training, you’ll have more control,” Lyra told him as they made their way to the backyard.  Then, in her mind, she called out, Senior?  Is there a spell that could create a safe training space? *There is, Lyra,* the imprint’s voice replied.  *It’s called ‘Void Zone’.  Whoever casts it can will objects into existence for the training of themselves and others, including animate objects, if you want.  Just combine Space and Void magic.  I’ll guide you this first time.* Lyra felt something urging her to feel for something inside herself, so she did so, finding twenty-two threads of energy.  Her mind was directed to grasp the gold and sunset colored ones and attempt to mentally pull on them.  Amazingly, they rose to the surface, and her mind started to stitch the threads together rapidly before she forced the energy onto the backyard and said, “Void Zone.” The spell quickly took effect, and they were enveloped in a glowing white dome of light that was larger on the inside than it appeared on the outside due to it shrinking everything inside it.  The ground was protected by the base of the dome, and the entire area was empty. “Mommy, what was that?” Jonnathan asked in awe, gazing at his surroundings. “A spell you can learn yourself someday,” Lyra explained.  “It creates a safe training area where you can practice your spells on things that are only temporary, so you won’t have to hurt anything living to train, and your spells won’t get past the walls of the dome, so you won’t have to worry about harming anything outside it.”  All of the information was relayed to her by Senior, who started relaying information about the spells Jonnathan already knew. “Son, let’s start with that mental static spell,” Lyra said gently while she willed a fake pony into existence, complete with fake thoughts that could be disrupted by Jonnathan’s spell.  “It’s actually called ‘Mindwipe’.  Now, try it with the actual name of the spell, which should make it able to last longer or hit multiple targets.  Either one.” Jonnathan nodded before his eyes and hands took on that oh-so-familiar purple glow of the Mind Element. “Now, try to make the pony forget the last minute instead of just a few seconds,” Lyra instructed.  “With enough practice and skill, you can make it even more effective, but we’ll start here.” Jonnathan grit his teeth before raising his glowing hands and shouting, “Mindwipe!” A wave of mental static leaped from the small boy’s hands and enveloped the fake pony, resulting in it scratching its head stupidly. “Okay, let’s see how well you did,” Lyra said before willing a chalkboard-like display into existence, which floated in midair.  A piece of chalk suddenly started writing on the board all by itself.  When it finished, the results read: Target wipe:  1 min 00 sec Actual wipe:  0 min 50 sec Success Rating:  83% Jonnathan sighed and hung his head in shame for failing his Mommy, but she put a hoof on his shoulder to get his attention before giving him a big smile. “Jonny, you did well,” she assured him.  “You fell ten seconds short, but that’s still a large improvement over all your attempts in the past, which only wiped a few seconds.  If you keep practicing, you’ll reach that minute, but for now, let’s move on to another spell.” “Let’s try one of the healing spells you know,” Lyra suggested, feeling Senior give his silent approval. “Which one?” Jonnathan asked.  “I don’t even know which Element you want me to use.” “The Water one,” Lyra replied patiently.  “You know:  that golden cloud that uses rain to heal cuts and bruises?” Jonnathan nodded. *Just so you know, Lyra,* Senior’s voice cut in, *the spell is named “Healing Rain”, and if enough power is put behind it, it can actually heal anything up to the severity of broken bones.* Okay, I’ll tell him that, Senior, Lyra thought back before lowering her head to meet her son’s eye level, which was only about six inches lower than her own, now. “It’s actually called ‘Healing Rain’,” Lyra explained, relaying Senior’s message to the little human.  “With enough power behind it, you can heal anything up to the severity of broken bones.” “That’s cool, Mommy!” Jonnathan exclaimed, rubbing his hands together in excitement.  “Can you give me something to try it out on?”  The boy seemed incredibly eager to try out something that useful. “Okay, just a second,” Lyra replied with a smile before concentrating for a few seconds.  Once she finished concentrating, she’d managed to will a fake pony covered in bandages into existence, complete with some broken ribs.  “Okay, honey,” she told her son.  “Try the spell on this pony, and then we’ll get your results again.” Jonnathan’s eyes and hands glowed a brilliant blue as he raised his hands towards the ailing pony. “Healing Rain!” In an instant, a small golden raincloud erupted from his hands and moved to hover over the injured pony.  The glowing in her son’s hands and eyes intensified as he grit his teeth and started to try to pour more magic into the spell as shining drops of water started flowing from the cloud in a steady stream. After the rain and cloud dissipated, the pony looked a lot better, but the bandages obscured where most of the cuts had been, so Lyra couldn’t be completely sure yet. After she dismissed the false pony and summoned the chalkboard again, the chalk once again wrote of its own accord.  When it finished, the results read: Starting ailments:  15 cuts, 20 bruises, 5 broken ribs Healed ailments:  15 cuts, 20 bruises, 5 broken ribs Success rating:  100% Jonnathan was panting for breath after pouring so much energy into that spell, but when he saw the results, he gave a cheer and hugged Lyra. “I did it, Mommy!  I did it!” her son cheered. Lyra sighed happily at her son’s joy and returned his hug.  “Yes, you did it, Jonny.  And Mommy’s so proud of her little boy!”  She finished the statement with a kiss to the toddler’s forehead, causing him to giggle. *Let him rest for now,* Senior’s voice suggested.  *Using that much magic at an early age is very taxing.  You can resume his training after he recuperates.* “You did great, Jonny,” Lyra praised.  “Let’s get you some rest before we resume training.  I believe we have enough time before whatever problem is heading our way actually gets to us.” Still, how did I get that feeling in the first place? Lyra wondered as she helped her tired son into the house before dispelling the dome. She was not expecting an answer, but she got one anyway:  *Ever since you had that dream about Jonnathan’s birth parents, you’ve been somewhat linked to their universe.* Senior answered her. *Including the god governing it  Their god sent you that feeling of urgency so that Jonnathan will have time.  It will most likely strike some time after he begins school this fall, but I’m not exactly sure of any more details on the “when”.  Just make sure he’s combat ready before this foe rears its ugly head.* Okay, I will, Lyra thought determinedly.  She really didn't want to see her little son have to fight, but if there was no other way, she could at least make sure he was ready, and she knew Senior would do his best to help out, too.