//------------------------------//
// Lesson one: Safety 
// Story: Magus Magesterim 
// by Blackhorn_The_Faithless 
//------------------------------//

"Keep up Fade!" Twilight's harsh voice barked back at the flagging colt, "If you fall behind in here, you won't find your way home."

Fade, the poor colt, had only recovered from his fainting act a few hours ago, in time to hear his mother arguing with Twilight about him staying with her. She'd said that it was too dangerous and that the princess was too irresponsible. Twilight had countered with the argument of 'who will train him in this magic other than myself?'. He remembered her telling his mother he'd torn the fabric of reality, and it wasn't something just anypony could do.

After a very pointed dismissal of his mother, Twilight had left Fade for a short time before dragging him out of bed and out of the castle, right into the Everfree Forest. He didn't know where she was taking him, but he did know that the forest was dangerous, and the horror stories he'd heard over the years hadn't helped his opinion of the place. Which was the biggest reason he was flagging right now, falling behind Twilight rather seriously. But her words did make him rush a little, catching up with Twilight and hiding behind her legs whenever he heard something.

"You have breached the walls of reality itself," She began, still walking, "Your cutie mark proves your talent lies in powerful magic, which means simpler magics will be easy for you. Magicks such as yours are complicated and incredibly powerful, and you must learn the risks of using it."

Fade didn't even bother looking back at his rump, where his new cutie mark rested, a flash frame of a portal ripped open, like he had that night. He was too busy watching out for red eyes or dark shadows flitting on the edges of the path.

"Rifts and Portals are dangerous, and we can't practice in the city, or in the castle. If you open a rift wrong, you could deconstruct the entirety of my castle, and I'd prefer you didn't do that. I've had it for about six hundred years, I'm rather fond of it."

Fade didn't answer that particular piece of info, and instead flinched at a crack in the bushes that sounded like a twig snapping.

"So, instead, we're going to some old ruins I know of in the forest, where the only thing we can damage is old granite and maybe scare a few forest creatures."

"W-will the demon come back?" He asked in a small voice. Twilight frowned.

"I'm not sure he's even able to get back here," She said uncertainly, "I tried to summon him whilst Celestia and Luna were here, and he didn't answer. He cannot be conjured anymore, so he's probably in an alternate dimension now. That's not what we're here to practice however. I need to know what you're capable of now."

The castle was misty when they arrived, and it was worse off than Twilight remembered. Vegetation was picking the whole place apart. There were vines growing through the walls, cracking the bricks into pieces, and there wasn't anything sentient there by the look of it. That said, It had been the location of the biggest magical fight for the past two thousand years so...

"This is our new practice arena from now on. Your power is dangerous, and thus we must treat it as such. Whether you want it to be or not, it's something you have to learn to control it, or risk killing anypony you come into contact with."

This, Fade felt couldn't be denied. He'd sent a Demon to another plane of existence, which wasn't something a colt his age could do, normally. In accordance to Starswirl the Bearded's Fifteenth Law of Magic, what Fade had done was physically impossible. Opening portals was advanced enough. It was similar, Twilight had explained to him, to Teleportation magic, but much more complex, and difficult. Whilst teleportation magic was a personal 'portal' to another place, it's more based on the idea that, by letting the world move around you, you could appear almost anywhere instantaneously. Whereas Portals are bends in the fabric of space, or tears in the fabric of 'reality', to enter another. The magic required to do so is phenomenal, and is normally only accomplishable via several very powerful mages, or an Alicorn with lots of preparation.

Not a seven year old colt. And definitely not a seven year old colt without preparation.

"We will start with a more in depth explanation of the possibilities of your power, your talent."

With a flourish, Twilight produced an 'illusion board', a spell she'd created herself, an illusion board was essentially a blank slate of magic, easily malleable and molded simply to form what the caster wished. It was only illusory, so it's not possible to touch, but it's perfect for instructions and demos, which was what Twilight had in mind.

"Portals into other dimensions is where we shall start. A portal is a ring of magic that holds between two points, allowing passage between one place and another. It can be as simple as from your house to the toy store, or from Griffa to Canterlot, or it can be complex, like between dimensions or, on rarer occasions, two points in time."

As she spoke, the illusion board warped to show what she meant, even if it was a rather simple explanation so far. Fade paid very close attention. It was rare he saw his mentor so serious, but she was now, so he figured it was important enough to take serious notice.

"Now, the magic required to open one of these can range from small amounts, to phenomenal. The smaller the size of the portal, the less magic required to open it. The less space traversed, the less magic required. So, In essence, The larger and longer the portal is, the more magic it takes to keep it open. Now I'll explain exactly what these could be good for, other than travel."

The illusion board warped and began showing small, instantaneous pathways, then a battle.

"An adept of this magical discipline could be capable of redirecting shots any opponent throws at them, turning their attacks against them. It would require quick thinking, and lightning fast reflexes, but it could be done. A master would be able to do so for an extended period of time."

The board warped again, this time into a small bubble, with a hole in one end, opening and closing.

"There was a rumour of a pony capable of opening a bubble in space to store whatever he felt was required, and then being able to open it again and remove them without damage. Whether it's possible in practice or not is questionable, but the theory is sound."

The board faded, and Twilight's serious tone went grim.

"Now. The dangers. Fade, I can't stress enough how dangerous your talent is. Teleportation has its fair share of risks, but if you're good at visualisation, it's a cakewalk. Opening doorways is more dangerous. Going in one side, and then walking out into peril could very easily happen. Walking off cliffs, or from high heights because of a messed up thought could lead to your death, and I have no idea what'd happen if you tried to bypass magical security systems. I wouldn't suggest trying it."

Fade shook his head emphatically, not eager to end up inside out or exploded or whatever other grisly scenes he could picture himself becoming in any of those situations, especially the unknown of magical security.

"Also, opening a door into another plane, or rather the wrong plane, and letting something nasty through, is a big problem. If you accidentally open a door to Tartarus instead of Canterlot, and a Demon comes through, it's liable to rip you into pieces and devour your soul, then move onto others. Do you understand this risk as well?"

Fade had gone pale, and looked sick at Twilight's rather brutal explanation. He nodded, slowly. Twilight sighed.

"I need your promise that you'll never use your power in a silly manner Fade," She said seriously, "I need your oath. Once made, you can never break this promise. Misuse of your abilities will not be tolerated in my kingdom, and if I must I will exile you. I don't want to, I swear that to you. You're like a son to me, and I couldn't bear to part with you. But if I must,  I will. Swear to me you won't misuse this power you wield."

Fade swallowed heavily, and raised a trembling hoof.

"I-I s-s-swear," he stammered, "I'll never use portals for trivial or silly means."

Twilight looked at him piercingly, her beautiful eyes dark, before sighing softly. 

"Alright. Then let us begin."