//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Reflection // Story: Guiding Light // by Detsella Morningdew //------------------------------// Aurora and Smarty Pants both woke up precisely at midnight, despite the absence of an alarm clock, or anything similar. They looked at each other, and Aurora giggled. "I guess Luna trained us more than we thought." Smarty smiled. "Well, I'm certainly not complaining." She looked around the room. "So, what do you want to do today? I know we want to practice a bit, but I think that's a better idea later in the day, maybe around 10 am." She rubbed her head. "'Wow, that was weird to say." Aurora cocked her head. "What?" "Referring to 10 am as 'late in the day.'" She blinked. "Okay, yeah, that is weird. Just another thing to get used to, I guess." "So, did you have anything planned?" Aurora thought for a minute. "Well, I was planning to look at some of the spells Celestia and I skipped over - the ones that were either too frivolous, or too complex to cast non-verbally, which would be useless in training right now. Particularly the latter, as I never really got to study how incantations work, other than a vague understanding. I never really cast anything with one. I just think it would be cool." Smarty raised a hoof. "Wait, you said 'was planning.' Did you change your mind?" "Well, yes. For one, it would completely exclude you. I mean, you are always welcome to study with me, but I don't really know if you would understand the base level enough to be able to follow along, and-" "No, Mom. It's fine. I'm just fine going somewhere else to have fun if you want to do this." Aurora shook her head. "No, Smarty. I can always do that some other weekend. There will be plenty in the future. Right now, I want to do something with you. And besides, something I was thinking about last night reminded me - you haven't actually seen the crystal caves yet, have you?" "You mean that place where you found all those books? No, I haven't, but didn't you and Princess Celestia clear out that place?" "Yes, we took out all the books from the place I found, but it still is a beautiful cave that is fun to explore. And besides..." She leaned closer. "Who says those books I found are the only things hidden there?" Smarty took a step back. "You don't mean...?" Aurora smiled. "Of course I do. I only took one rather lucky path in those caves. There were plenty of passages that went totally unexplored. Who knows how many secrets lie buried in those caves? It was the perfect hiding place! From what I've read, almost no unicorn has entered those caves, and gotten back out alive!" Smarty raised her hoof. "Umm..." "Neither of us are unicorns." She rolled her eyes, putting her hoof back down with a reluctant smile. "Mom, you are completely crazy..." She took to the air. "But fortunately for you, so am I! When do we leave?" Aurora fumbled with the clasp that fastened her compass to her neck. "Well, we need to get breakfast first, but after that..." There was a soft click, and she let the pendant fall back onto her chest as she dropped back down on all four hooves. "We should be ready to go." Smarty put a hoof to her chin. "Your compass? But won't that be useless in the caves? You said earlier that they warped magic fields. Compasses would go all over the place." "Yes, that is correct, but this one is a bit different." Aurora opened it up, showing her the odd markings. "Interesting..." Aurora smiled with a bit of pride. "This has been passed down for quite some time in the family. I've looked, but I can't seem to find anything else like this. Instead of pointing in the cardinal directions, it points instead to other useful things, like where you have just been, in order to backtrack, where you want to be... I still can't figure out how that one works... and the N points along the normal line to your current path, which may seem useless at first, but it can really help when there is something in your way, and you need to move around it, and-" "No, that's not what I meant. I mean, that's interesting, and cool, but I was more curious about this," Smarty said, tapping the glass exactly in the center, where a large green garnet was inset into the metal. Aurora looked at her, a bit confused. "Well, gems aren't exactly rare to see in jewelry. I mean, our family isn't exactly rich, but it is certainly not unprecedented. It has been passed down for a long time. Maybe the family was richer in the past." Smarty waved her hoof. "No, that's not what I meant. I know that. I've seen watches with gems in them, and adding them to compasses doesn't seem like much of a stretch. But all of those watches had something in common - they were all made out of precious metals. Watches made for show. Yours is made of brass. Clearly made for function. The question is, why put a gem there?" Aurora tilted her head. "Um... how did you see all these watches you're talking about? I mean, I know you aged faster, but how in Equestria did you see all this? You were born only a few weeks ago!" "Well... I did sit through Day Court a couple times when you were busy. Most of the petitioners were just nobles asking for laws that would benefit them or give them more loopholes. And usually, those kinds of ponies want to showcase their wealth as much as possible." Aurora gaped. "You sat through Day Court? Voluntarily?" "What? Some of the cases were interesting! Admittedly, not all of them, but..." She rubbed her head with a hoof. "Never-mind. What were you talking about before? With the gems?" "Oh, right! Well, I was saying, this gem-" She pointed at the compass' face again. "-doesn't seem to be ornamental. If it was, the pony that made this compass would have been able to afford to make it out of a fancier metal. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that it is anything but functional. And you know much better than I that gems are excellent at conducting magic..." Aurora gasped. "You're saying that this is a cored artifact?" Smarty blinked. "I don't know that term. Maybe? I just know that it doesn't make sense as a decoration." Aurora looked closely at the gem. "No, it makes sense. A gem core is common in permanent magical artifacts, especially ones that are complex, or ones that need to run for a while without being recharged. And if I look closely... yes!" "What?" Aurora held out the compass for Smarty to see. "Look really closely at the gem. Do you notice anything about it?" Smarty squinted. "Yeah... even the metal around it seems to have some sort of magical circuitry! Which explains why it isn't gold or some other precious metal. Those are too soft, and would require additional enchantments in order for these not to rub off in a few years. "So I was right, in a way. But I still don't understand why this would be any more useful in the cave than a normal compass. Both use magic. It would still be affected." "Yes, but only magic that touches the walls is reflected. So yeah, three-quarters of the functions are affected. But the most important one - the one that allows us to backtrack, is completely unaffected, as we won't be personally going through the walls, just beside them." "...Huh. Clever. And kind of reassuring. You have a terrible directional sense." "Hey!" "Well, it's true." "It's not like you're going to be any better when we get into that cave." "Yeah, right. It can't be any worse than this castle." "No, I'm being serious, Smarty. Pegasi get their directional sense from the ambient magic field, just like an ordinary compass. So..." Smarty's eyes widened. "Oh no. We're doomed!" Aurora raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to have to rely on you for directions!" She rolled her eyes, lightly shoving the grinning pegasus. Smarty opened the door with a mocking bow. "After you, O navigator." Aurora pushed open the heavy door, wincing at the loud scraping sound it made. She walked through, then turned to Smarty, who was still standing there staring at the door. Smarty whistled. "Impressive." Aurora glared. "And what makes you think I did that? It could have been there when I found this place." She raised an eyebrow. "I know you, Mom. Just last week, you tried to open a can of soup with your teeth when you couldn't find the can opener. You aren't exactly the most patient pony." "All right, all right. You have a point there. Now get in here so I can close the door properly." The door closed with another headache-inducing screech, and they were left in the darkness. Smarty coughed into a hoof. "Uh... Mom? Did you happen to bring a light source?" Aurora held up her hoof. "Just wait a minute." Smarty looked, at her, confused, then she realized that she could see her, and properly, too. Not just an outline. "Are... are the walls glowing?" Aurora smiled. "This is one of my favorite parts of this particular cave. I think the crystals radiate with some sort of natural magic, or maybe certain microorganisms can live off the crystal, and those emit the light. Either way, I think it's beautiful, and it means we don't have to deal with a clumsy torch, or even a magic light source that has the possibility of getting lost." "All right. Did you at least bring rope?" Aurora unbuttoned her saddlebags. "Of course I did. Now, we probably don't really need it at all, since you could probably fly me of any situation, but I thought it would be best to be thorough." "Uh huh. That's why you didn't bring a light." "The light from the walls is perfectly-" Aurora stopped herself, then sighed. "Never-mind. I also packed some water and some sandwiches in case we get stuck, or we just want to stay a bit longer." "All right! You lead - you know this place better than I do." Aurora looked at her curiously. Smarty rolled her eyes. "I was just teasing you, Mom. I know you think of everything. Certainly more than I do, that's for sure. So, which way first?" Aurora relaxed. "All right. And, um... thanks for the compliment. So... am I right that you still want to see where I found those books?" "Yeah, I am kind of curious. The way you were describing it sounded cool, anyways." "Good, so first, you want to stand on your rear hooves and face the wall like this... oh, never-mind. You can fly. Just wait here until I get to the bottom." Smarty panted, climbing out of the smooth chute that led down to the cavern they had just visited. "You... you do that every day?" Aurora looked slightly uncomfortable. "Well, yeah, I guess so. I didn't really think about it that much. It was a lot rougher of a passage in the beginning, and by the time it was smooth, I guess I was already really good at it. I'm sorry. I just assumed... I just didn't think about it." Her heavy breathing slowly normalized. "No... that's fine. I understand. If it's really easy for you, you wouldn't even think about it as a potential problem." She glared at the hole. "It would have been so much easier if I could have used my wings, though." Aurora looked at Smarty, still feeling a bit awkward. "So... do you still want to explore, or...?" "Yeah, of course! I'm not giving up before we even start! So, where is it that we're starting? Aurora put a hoof to her chin. "I was thinking of starting with the other passage in that main room we started in. That seems like the easiest choice. Unless you want to try and explore that pit in the next room." "...Maybe later. I don't want to have to use our rope so soon." Aurora cocked her head. "Couldn't you just carry me down? We've done that plenty of times during training." "Not when I don't know how deep it is, or even if there's a safe landing. It's a lot easier and safer to use a rope for this sort of thing. I can catch you in an emergency, but I could only hold you for about two minutes in training." Aurora blinked. "Huh." "I'd much rather start out on a path with less risk, as much fun as it would be to explore a pit." "Yeah, I definitely see your point. Entry path it is." They squeezed their way into the room with the pit, then continued straight on into the main cavern, Smarty wincing each time the walls touched her wings, disrupting her magic. Just as they were about to enter the other passage, however, she placed a hoof on Aurora's back, stopping her. "What is it, Smarty? Something wrong?" "No, not exactly, just... something seems inconsistent. You said these walls reflect all magic, right?" "...Yes? Why?" "And even I experienced that when they kept reflecting the magic in my wings, twisting it." "Of course. Most fields extend past the physical boundaries of a pegasus' wings." "Yes, I know. You told me before. But if all that is true... then why are we able to grip the floor? Or anything in this cave?" Aurora opened her mouth to respond, then paused. Her eyes darted downward, towards her hoof. She reached out slowly, and picked up a small crystal shard. "I... I don't know..." "And why would crystals reflect magic in the first place? From what you've told me, crystals don't really do that. They are supposed to be magic conductors, aren't they?" Aurora stared at the crystal in her hoof more closely. "I... never thought about it..." She nodded decisively, placing the small crystal in her saddlebags. She looked at Smarty, a sudden broad grin on her face. "Guess what you just did." Smarty looked at her blankly. "Um... what?" "You just found our first discovery! Before we even left the first room!" She tilted her head. "Not really. I observed it a few rooms ago." "... Shut up, you're ruining the moment." Smarty rolled her eyes, smiling. "And it's my moment to ruin, Mom. Are we still going or not?" Aurora smirked, giving her a playful shove. "If you insist." They continued into the passage, and Smarty was quite relieved to discover that it was wide enough to walk in without brushing her wings against the walls. It was quite a bit longer, though - they had already traversed the length of one of the other caverns when it started to widen, sloping slightly downwards. At this point, it was quite easy and comfortable to walk side-by side. The grade steepened significantly, and Smarty held out a hoof in front of Aurora, signaling for her to stop. "Wait, we should secure the rope here." Aurora looked down at the slope in front of them critically. "It's not that difficult to climb. We should be fine for now." "Yes, but by the looks of it, it's going to get worse. I'd rather set up the rope properly when it's easy to do so, rather than when it's already difficult to climb properly, and we're liable to slip and fall. And besides..." Smarty pointed to a large crystal nearby that had been dislodged from the wall. "Where else are we going to get such a perfect spot to secure the rope?" Aurora opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "... I have pitons," she said, slightly defensive. "That may or may not shatter the crystal they try to attach to." "... Why do you always have to be right?" Smarty grinned awkwardly. "Well, I'm not the one that even thought to bring something like pitons. Or water and food, for that matter." You're the smart one. I'm just..." Aurora chuckled. "The one that makes sure that I actually use mine. And you have quite a few good ideas of your own. Don't underestimate yourself." "...okay..." Aurora put a hoof on her shoulder. "No, seriously. Thank you. Now, how were you thinking we should set this thing up?"