//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: Temper 
// Story: Guiding Light 
// by Detsella Morningdew 
//------------------------------//

	Aurora trotted over to her new bookshelves, leaning down to grab a small notebook with her mouth. This she brought over to their shared desk and sat down, flipping through the pages, which were covered in her own hoof-writing.

"So, Princess, you know how scholars usually divide the branches of magic into circles?"

Celestia nodded. "Yes, it is a rather useful model. However, I gather by your words that you understand some of its shortcomings."

"Yeah. But it's a good way to get a quick understanding of how the magic relates to itself, so I came up with something similar, except for earth pony magic. Well, at least one branch of it. There's another branch that's a bit more complicated, and it would need something like a bubble-and-line diagram to show it to you. And I don't think I know enough to give you a complete chart, anyway. But the Silver branch is pretty easy to understand, so that's what I'm going to show you now.

"It also will probably be able to fit within our time limit a little better."

Aurora picked up a quill in her hoof, flattening out a blank page of her notebook. Celestia raised her eyebrow.

Aurora looked confused, then noticed Celestia's gaze at her hoof. Oh, right. That's not normal.

"I got a lot better at my hoof manipulation field. Most ponies don't tend to use them that much, since their mouths usually work better, but... when you work around a lot of books, especially ones with faded protective enchantments... It just became more of a priority. And I found it works better for quills now, too."

Celestia nodded. "I understand. Please continue."

Aurora dipped the quill in the inkwell, then put it to the page, drawing a large circle, then made a sort of wheel with several spokes.



"Now, I drew it like this so it would be easier to understand quickly, but these divisions are arbitrary. The circle is more of a... spectrum. These divisions just make the sections easier to label in a way that makes sense."

She started to write names on the opposing sides of the circle. Life, death, growth, regression, age, and youth. In the center she wrote "soul."



"Really, all of it is the same general kind of magic, but the effect changes based on the emotional state and intent of the caster. For example, Growth and Age are the same kind of spell technically, but they are triggered by different emotions. Growth gives the target vitality. Age removes it."

"I see. Neighboring sections are distinct, but heavily related."

"With a gradient in-between, yes."

"So what does 'soul' mean? Is it a label for the kind of magic that Silver exhibits, or is it a distinct magic of its own?"

"I suppose, in a way, it is another kind of magic, but I can only think of one instance where it could be used purely by itself. No, mostly it is a kind of... second axis for the gradient. Magic closer to the center is more targeted at the wellspring, while magic towards the outside is more targeted at the body itself. I know that the other circles don't have something like this, but... well, I couldn't think of any other way to show the connection..."

"No, it is a good method. It shows an additional layer of depth often overlooked in unicorn magic. Very important, especially with how emotionally based earth pony magic is."

Aurora smiled, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding. No matter how much Celestia reassured her, it was still hard for her mind to wrap around the position of being a teacher, and a teacher to the Princess at that.

She stepped off her chair, looking up at the observatory window. "Well, we still have a couple minutes left, so... do you want a demonstration?"

Celestia turned in her seat, facing her. "Yes, that would be wonderful."

Aurora rose to her two back hooves. "See, since I practiced with my hoof manipulation fields so much, I can now stand like this with no balance problems. It makes it a lot easier to use my front hooves for magic, unimpeded by the ground."

She brought her two front hooves together in front of her, then focused slightly, producing a ball of green, swirling magic in between them.

"This is just a ball of raw, Silver magic. Depending on the emotion of the caster, though, it changes. In general, positive emotions make life magic, and negative ones make death magic, but obviously I'm over-simplifying. The nuances of each emotion produce different effects, but I don't have enough time to show you all of them. I don't think I know all of them, either.

"Focus and concentration also produce effects on the magic, in a different way than the emotions do, making the magic cause something to grow or un-grow. Un-grow... shrink?" Aurora shook her head. "Sorry. you get the point."

"So, for the demonstration, I'll shift the magic here through all of the branches I showed you earlier. Right now, it is just life magic, but if I do this..."

The color shifted, fading into a light orange. "...it's now Growth magic. Most earth pony farmers use this kind of magic instinctively, without even realizing what they're doing. Now this..."

The color changed again, this time a darker orange. "...is still a kind of growth magic, but it no longer gives vitality to anything. It is just Age."

Aurora focused intently, gritting her teeth, and the sphere turned a dark grey. "This is Wither, and it saps the strength from the target."

Aurora strained harder, gritting her teeth with even more force while Celestia looked intently. Oh! She's forcing herself to be angry for the spell!

The sphere turned pitch black. "This is Death, and it... it attacks the wellspring..." The sphere flickered, then disappeared.

Aurora jumped slightly. "Sorry, I'll... I'll bring it back."

"No need." Celestia said calmly. "You can move on."

Aurora nodded mutely, and the sphere reappeared, this one a yellowish brown.

"This one is regression, a kind of de-ageing spell that does not give back vitality, like Youth does, like this." The sphere turned a brighter yellow.

Aurora turned the sphere green again, and pushed it into her body. "Life magic basically works like healing magic, but it works a bit differently than the unicorn version. It doesn't lose effectiveness over time, and it can also be used to heal wellsprings, but... usually if there was a need for that kind of magic at all, it would take a personal sacrifice to do any meaningful healing. Wellsprings usually heal themselves pretty fast, though, so I don't think there would be much reason to use it."

Her front hooves fell back to the ground with a soft "clop" as she released the magic anchoring herself to the floor. A second, soft "thud" caused both of them to turn towards the unexpected sound.

They turned just in time to see Smarty Pants sliding to a stop on the marble floor. She picked herself up, then started flapping her wings once more, climbing unsteadily into the air.

The look of pure happiness plastered on the filly's face was contagious, and Aurora felt herself smile along with her.

Celestia watched her as she flew, fumbling before catching herself inches from the ground. "It looks like somepony else found an opportunity to learn magic as well," she said with a smile of her own.

Aurora looked up again, this time paying attention to the sky. "Yeah, but I think it's time for me to go to bed now. Especially if I'm getting up at midnight. We can continue this tomorrow."

Celestia nodded, then walked to the door while Aurora climbed into her new bed. "Good... well, 'night' really doesn't fit here, does it? Good... day."

Aurora giggled. "Good day!"

Aurora rolled over, pulling the blankets up to her snout, relishing their warmth. Now that the sun was fully overhead, she could finally close her eyes without the overwhelming brightness. She felt a sudden pressure at her side, and she opened her eyes slightly, smiling at the sight of the small form of Smarty Pants leaning against her.

It would be a good day.


It would be a good day.











Aurora woke up to a hoof poking her insistently in the side.

She opened her eyes blearily, and saw the dark form of Princess Luna framed in the moonlight.

Instantly, she was wide awake. Quietly, she slipped out of bed and made to follow the Princess. Almost immediately, though, she slowed. Everything seemed... different under the light of the Moon. Most of the color had been washed out, becoming soft shades of blue and grey. Nothing was as dark as she expected. Just... subdued. Aurora no longer felt a trace of sleepiness. She was instantly aware of everything. Every sense was acute, sharp, refreshing.

This... this was the Night.

Aurora looked up at Luna again, with a different kind of respect. This was no longer just the respect for a ruler. It was the sort of respect she felt when she first saw Celestia raise the sun. Luna had been there, too, lowering the moon, but... this was different.

Aurora jumped slightly as a sudden weight landed on her back. She turned to see a pair of mismatched eyes staring back.

"Where are we going, Mommy?"

"I was... I was going to have a lesson with Princess Luna," she said nervously. She definitely did not plan to wake up Smarty Pants.

I can't bring her with, but... I can't just leave her here by herself, either.

Aurora looked up desperately at Luna for help.

"I suppose it is fine if she comes along."

She opened her mouth to protest, but Luna overrode her. "I will not hold her to the same standards as you, Aurora. In fact, she doesn't even have to participate in anything. But it is better than staying here alone."

Aurora sighed, then tensed as she thought of something. Wait, standards? What standards?

Luna smiled. "And it will be good for her, anyway. It is not often that a heavy pegasus gets to train their earth pony side."

Aurora almost got whiplash as her head turned towards the Princess in shock. "How did you...?"

She smirked. "We have our ways. Now, we must be going, if we want to make any significant progress before morning."

They disappeared in a flash of dark, and Aurora found herself in the center of a grassy field. About ten feet away were a series of oddly-shaped sod formations, and there seemed to be... a loop-the-loop?

Is that an obstacle course?

She looked to the side, and saw a picnic blanket a few feet away, complete with picnic.

Well, it is sort of Luna's lunch-time.

And my breakfast.

She turned further, and saw a series of what seemed to be archery targets.

"My sister updated me on some of your current abilities, so I created a course to practice those skills." Luna looked towards Aurora, her expression serious. "I must warn you - my lessons will not be like those of my sister. I will push you. I will push you hard. Learning new magic is useful, but if you cannot use it efficiently, it is useless to you. Also, if you do not thoroughly master this lower-level magic, you will never be able to perform the more complex spells that you seek. You must perform this magic quickly, consistently, and reliably. For this you will need practice, and a lot of it. You will not like it, but it is necessary in order for your wellspring to grow."

Aurora nodded. "I see. So... is that the reason for the obstacle course?"

"Precisely. You must not only be able to perform the magic on command, but also be able to know when and how to use it. Now, I suggest that you get something to eat. We will not stop for any significant breaks, and you will need your strength."





Aurora munched on a scone, looking over the obstacle course that she would be training on in a few short minutes. There were several agility-based segments, but the main part of the course seemed to be focused on her ability to anchor herself with her hoof manipulation fields. Well, she assumed that, as most of the course would be impossible without either that or ludicrous speeds.

A clever design. If I go slow, I have to use a lot of magic. If I don't use magic, I have to go really fast, and exercise anyway.

She swallowed the last bit of scone. She was not completely full, but she didn't really want to be, either. She read about what happens when you exercise on a full stomach, and she decided that now was not the right time to test that theory.

But I'm sure Luna knows that too. What wouldn't she tell me then?

Aurora dismissed the thought. That wasn't important now - it was time. Luna had noticed that she had finished eating, and was walking towards her.

Well, I guess my "break" is over.

"Aurora, I just want you to know: this is not a race. I am not timing you, and you can take all the time you need to complete it. I do, however, expect you to improve in future lessons. As this is your first night, the course is fairly simple, but be assured that as you learn, it will become far more interesting."

Wait, simple?

"The starting line is here. From here you will run along the sides of those ramps, which have a forty-five degree grade. You will have to dodge the pillars placed intermittently in your path. From there you jump onto the platforms up to the top there, where you will be able to gain some speed before completing the loop.

"After that, you will run around to these targets," she said, pointing with a hoof. "And shoot each with one of those balls of magic you showed Tia earlier."

Tia?

Oh, right.

Cute nickname.

I wonder how she would react if I called her that... ack!

She shook her head as her mind tried to sabotage itself at the thought. Never mind.

"The type of magic you use doesn't matter at this point, only that you hit the targets accurately, and the balls are of a significant size."

Aurora looked back up, reconstructing what was just said. "Why is that?"

"Today, we are not practicing precision or control. Those can come later. Right now, I am making sure you can handle your power, and how you can handle using large quantities of it at a time."

"All right. I think I understand."

"Okay then! Three... two... one..."

Wait, what?

"Go!"

Aurora jumped forward, running towards the track. She came to the artificial ramp-hills, and slowed down to a trot as she weaved around the dirt pillars. But running along the side of a steep hill is not a very stable activity, and Aurora found herself almost instantly needing to anchor herself with every step.

In fact, she could probably walk the whole thing if she wanted to, but... this was significantly easier, only requiring a bit of force to keep herself steady, instead of a force holding her entire weight.

Quickly, she found herself at the "platforms." Luna called them that, but really, the dirt mountain looked more like a set of stairs, if the stairs were built for giants, and turned every two steps.

Aurora looked up apprehensively. The first step was half as tall as she was. The rest were even taller.





Aurora pulled herself onto the final step, which had to be a full hoof-length taller than she was. Needless to say, this was not her first attempt.

But at last, she was at the top, and the only thing left was the loop. She grinned. This was a lot easier. All she needed was a bit of speed, and some more of that anchoring from earlier, and she was golden.

She ran down the slope, speeding rapidly towards the ludicrously-shaped mound of dirt and grass that constituted the loop.

... this isn't enough speed, is it?





Aurora put one hoof in front of the other, clinging desperately to the underside of the loop. Her hooves slowly lost contact...

...then regained it again as she came down the other side.

Well, fifth time's the charm, then, she thought, panting.

Now, what's next?

Oh, right. Target practice.





Forming the balls of magic was actually quite easy for Aurora. After all, it was the skill she practiced the most. Well, it helped that it looked really cool.

Aiming them, on the other hoof...

six... seven... eight.... nine.....

...was less so.

That is, until she realized that the positioning of her hooves as she formed the ball had absolutely nothing to do with aiming.

Wait, is it really that simple?

Aurora focused slightly, and the ball flew from her hooves, striking the target dead center.

"Oh come on!"

I am such an idiot.

The last seven targets were completed in record time.

Luna's expression of repressed hilarity did nothing to improve her mood.





Luna looked up briefly at her moon, then back at Aurora.

"Nice work." She smirked. "I really saw some improvement."

Aurora rolled her eyes.

"So... there is approximately five hours until sunrise." She pointed at a distant mountain. "That... is Mount Canter."

Aurora gaped at the small object on the horizon. "But... but that's, like, a hundred miles away!"

"One hundred and three."

"...how?"

Luna gained a rather mischievous glint in her eye. Aurora did not like that glint.

"I'm sure Tia will tell you sometime. Well then, see you at dinner!"

"Wait, wha-"

Luna had a grin so evil, it belonged on Nightmare Moon. Which, seeing as Luna looked like Nightmare Moon, it fit all too well.

She disappeared in a flash of dark.

Leaving Aurora alone, over a hundred miles from home.

Her eyes caught a piece of parchment that had fallen with the Princess's disappearance. She picked it up, unfurling it slowly.

"I suggest you run."