//------------------------------//
// A Filly's Talent 
// Story: The Ties that Bind 
// by the7Saviors 
//------------------------------//

As the afternoon slowly melted into evening, the lowering Sun cast seemingly endless shadows through the trees in the forest.

The group had stumbled upon the first glade they had seen since entering Farhoof Forest, and it was there that Rouge had suggested they stay for the rest of the evening. Ancient Scroll agreed, and so they had set up a small camp in the large clearing.

While the adults were more or less comfortable with the idea of camping out, the fillies' reactions  were a bit more varied. Blue Moon was wary of staying in one place out in the open, but also genuinely interested in the experience.

She had never actually been camping before and despite her misgivings, she was eager to do so. Corona on the other hoof, seemed thrilled at the idea. As it turned out, she had been camping several times as a younger filly back when she was living at the orphanage, and loved every moment of it.

Fia by comparison, was not keen on the decision. Like Blue Moon, Fia had never been camping before, but unlike, Blue Moon she felt a lot more ill at ease. She felt exposed out in the wilderness, especially when she thought back to their current situation.

She hadn't forgotten how they had all accidentally run into one of the ponies looking for her in Little Trot, nor had she forgotten the night they had captured that crazy stallion. There were ponies out there looking for her, and it was only now that they had stopped in this relatively spacious forest, that she realized she wanted to keep moving until they reached the next town.

For the sake of everyone else involved however, she kept her concerns to herself and went along with the rest of them.

While they had still been on the move, Ancient Scroll had set about reviewing the fillies' progress regarding what they had learned on their own so far. What he heard impressed him, and he was astonish to learn that Fia had taken a genuine interest in mana fission and conversion theory -- something he himself struggled with from time to time.

After listening to their reports, he decided it was time for some more practical application. Once they had finished setting up camp, he rounded the fillies up and went about explaining the guidelines -- Rouge and Yojimbo sitting off to the side and watching with some interest.

"Now then," Ancient Scroll explained, "seeing as how we're in a bit of a delicate situation right now, we're not going to be doing anything too bright and flashy. And... actually..." he turned a cautious gaze to Corona, "how are you dealing with your aversion to Fire Magic, little filly?"

Corona looked away with a small grimace -- her expression slightly ashamed. She gave no verbal answer, settling for a slight shake of her head as a response.

"I see..." Ancient Scroll replied quietly before speaking up once more, "well we don't want to cast any Fire Magic in a place like this at any rate," he moved on with his explanation, pacing in front of the three fillies, "rather than tell you what to cast, I'm going to let you decide."

"Really?" Fia asked in surprise, "but we never got to actually take any kind of proper exam -- practical or otherwise. Didn't you already have something in mind, Uncle Scroll?"

"Indeed I did, little filly," Ancient Scroll answered with a patient smile, "but that was before all this craziness happened and threw a massive wrench in my plans for you three."

"Yeah, no kidding," Corona muttered, "it's just been one thing after another..."

"Exactly," the old stallion replied with a nod, "I haven't been able to teach you girls like I wanted, and I plan to rectify that during our travels. So with that in mind..." he swept a calculating gaze across each of them and stopped on the light blue filly before him, "you mentioned before that you've completely memorized the process of casting a perfect Decoy spell?"

"Naturally," Blue Moon replied confidently, "Blue Moon learned how to do that spell ages ago."

"Show me."

Blue Moon's cocksure grin faltered for a moment before she firmly set it back into place, desperately hoping nopony had noticed.

"Gladly." Blue Moon replied, stepping forward and turning to face the others, "bear witness to the fruits of Blue Moon's tireless labor!"

The confident smile dropped off her face in favor of a more determined frown. She set her legs and closed her eyes as her horn flared to life. At first, nothing happened save for the brightening of the pink aura around Blue Moon's horn.

As the moment dragged on, Corona and Fia glanced at each other before turning back to Blue Moon with slightly worried expressions. Ancient Scroll looked on with a passive expression as he waited for Blue Moon's spell to complete.

"You think the pup's gonna be alright?" Yojimbo whispered to Rouge, "she's lookin' pretty strained out there."

Rouge grimaced, but otherwise said nothing in response, instead choosing to focus her attention on the struggling filly.

A few more moments passed and Ancient Scroll was about to call off the demonstration, when Fia suddenly gasped.

"Look!" she cried, "I think it's working!"

Her outburst was unnecessary, as the rest of them could see what was happening just fine. Blue Moon's body began to glow with a soft pink, pulsating light and with a sharp intake of breath, her eyes snapped open. With a quiet hiss, a shape began to take form next to the light blue filly.

Within seconds, it went from a shimmering amorphous blob, to something with a more defined shape that vaguely resembled a foal, and finally formed into a solid looking replica of Trixie Lulamoon -- complete with an azure coat, silvery blue mane and tail, and violet eyes.

With her spell complete, Blue Moon cut off her magic and slumped to the ground panting and sweating with exhaustion. She turned to observe her work and smile victoriously. The other two fillies stood amazed at the feat Blue Moon had managed to pull off.

"She actually managed to do it," Fia muttered, a smile growing on her face as she turned to Corona, "she did it, Corona!"

"Yup," Corona replied with a smile of her, "although I don't know whether or not Uncle Scroll will accept it since it's Trixie's original body..."

"What?" Fia responded with a frown, "that wouldn't be fair though, I mean... look at it!" she gestured to the unmoving azure decoy, "it's a perfect copy!"

"I'll be the judge of that, little filly," Ancient Scroll interjected as he moved past the two and towards Blue Moon and her decoy, "let's see just how well Blue Moon did shall we?"

As Ancient Scroll approached, Blue Moon pulled herself back to her hooves and stepped aside. She dramatically gestured to the decoy with a smile that came off as more nervous than proud.

"W-Well," Blue Moon said expectantly, "what do you think? Is it not the most perfect decoy you've ever seen?"

Ancient Scroll hummed to himself as he trotted around the stationary replica. It made no movements and stared straight ahead with an unblinking mechanical gaze.

"Kinda creepy isn't it?" Yojimbo muttered with a frown, "how it just kinda stares like that?"

"Hush," Rouge hissed, jabbing the husky in the side, "it's her first time with the spell, be nice."

After another few seconds of quiet observation, Ancient Scroll stopped in front of the decoy. He gave it one last look before turning his attention to an uneasy Blue Moon.

"Um..." Blue Moon shifted from hoof to hoof nervously, all bravado gone in the face of her sudden uncertainty, "did I... did Blue Moon do it right?"

Ancient Scroll looked back to the blankly staring decoy and gave a slow thoughtful nod.

"It isn't perfect," Ancient Scroll finally replied. Blue Moon winced, but the old stallion continued, "when you form the spell, you have to remember to visualize yourself as you are, not as you were."

The light blue filly's heart sank at hearing that she had forgotten something so obvious, yet Ancient Scroll continued on with his assessment.

"Also keep in mind that a decoy needs a purpose, you were so focused on making the decoy look as real as possible that you neglected to give it any instruction during it's construction, however..."

Blue Moon's ears perked up and she looked back to Ancient Scroll to see him giving her a proud smile.

"Aside from that and some minor illusory blemishes here and there," he said, gesturing to the decoy, "I'm proud to say that, for your first time casting the spell -- and as a filly no less -- you've done a fantastic job, Blue Moon."

"R-Really?" Blue Moon replied incredulously before schooling her features, "well of course, Blue Moon succeeded. With all her hard work and effort, was there ever any doubt?"

"Not in the slightest," Ancient Scroll replied with a chuckle, "another thing I ought to point out, and something nopony seems to have noticed, is that the decoy is still here."

All three fillies looked from Ancient Scroll to the unmoving decoy in confusion before it suddenly dawned on Fia what the old stallion was referring to.

"Blue Moon..." she turned to the light blue filly with a look of awe, "how long has that decoy been active?"

Blue Moon gave Fia a bemused look before glancing back to the decoy. She shrugged and turned back to Fia.

"Blue Moon has no idea, maybe a minute? Two minutes? Why?"

The decoy suddenly chose that moment to fade away to nothing with another soft hiss.

"Exactly three minutes and forty-five seconds, Blue Moon." Ancient Scroll answered as he watched the decoy disappear, "and you don't even look any worse for wear."

"So that's... impressive then?" Blue Moon asked, her confused look turning hopeful.

"Very," Ancient Scroll replied, turning back to the light blue filly with a smirk, "it looks like you have a particular talent for Illusory Magic, little filly."

At the word 'talent', Blue Moon couldn't help but wince and glance at her blank flank. She hadn't forgotten the warmth she'd felt when she had almost gotten her cutie mark back then. She let a bitter frown cross her muzzle as she recalled the memory. 

Blue Moon might've had a knack for casting Illusory Magic, but it clearly wasn't her special talent.