//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: Mild Dose of Paradise Magic 
// Story: The Stormrider 
// by Gapeagle 
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Twilight strapped a leather bag onto her back. The bag contained two large books about novice spell casting. She tightened the straps around her torso and turned to exit the front door of the hut. Just as she was about to do so, she heard a call from her mother.

"Twilight! Don't forget your lunch!"

"Oh thanks!" Twilight stopped and received a small pouch from her smiling mother. They embraced in a hug.

"I'm so glad you take your studies seriously," Mama beamed. "Reminds me of my sister when she was your age."

"Yeah, I know," Twilight chuckled. She had heard her mother say this line a few times already. "I think I need to go now."

Mama pushed her on. "Yes, go and learn from Dr. Mild. Listen to him well."

Mother scooted her out the front door and into the bright sunlight. Twilight did not enjoy the shoving but she did not protest her parent. She took the pouch and the leather bag and started to walk down the trail to the village. It was midweek and she had her bi-weekly classes with the only physician on the island, Dr. Mild Dose. Dr. Mild was a nice middle-aged stallion who was by far the most magically talented unicorn on the Twin Islands. He had several magic classes with fillies and colts on the island, but he preferred to teach one on one, so he only took his students at specific times throughout the week.

Twilight walked past her friends' homes. She did not see any of them outside, so she assumed they were helping their mothers. If this was the case, playtime was not going to happen any time soon. Twilight did not exactly mind that, as she had reading and studying to catch up with. Friends often got in the way of such things, so it was fine that a break in socializing happened.

It did not take her long to reach the village and find Dr. Mild's medicine shack. "Shack" was the proper word to use to describe Day Island's hospital. It was by far one of the ugliest structures on the island, and with it being near the market's well-designed huts and buildings, it was truly a blemish on the village. Why it was such a disaster of a hut, nopony knew for sure. Was it laziness? Lack of intelligent design? Some rumors were that Dr. Mild distorted a once beautiful building with his magic and another was that he preferred being in ugly places due to some unholy fascination. However, those rumors were often perpetuated by magic-fearing ponies, which were a significant minority, even with the unicorns.

Twilight hummed a tune when she arrived at the medicine shack's crooked door. The door had a knocker on it despite its bizarre appearance and Twilight banged it by using her magic. The response, like always, was immediate. The door swung open and Dr. Mild, with his lopsided grin, was there to answer the door. Such insanely quick responses made Twilight believe that he simply stood right on the other side of the door, waiting minutes if not hours for somepony's arrival. 

"Hello!" he said cheerfully. "Ready for our lesson?"

"As ever!" Twilight answered enthusiastically.

Dr. Mild moved to the side to allow her to enter the shack. The inside was much more suitable for the title of "hospital." There were tables, benches, and a faucet, the only one on the island. Instruments were laid out on one table, ready for immediate use. However, Twilight's magic did not concern with such things, so he led her to his backroom, where they always conducted their magic training. 

"So, I see you brought your books. Good," he said and adjusted his glasses. "Set them over there."

Twilight did as she was told and levitated the books to a side table. Once that was done, she gleefully awaited further orders. Dr. Mild was a favorite teacher of hers, but that was mainly because he was the only real teacher outside of her family. Father and Mother were not the most keen on magical development, but since Twilight was so interested in the subject, they were willing to let her pursue it if it could help her specialize in a field, as either a sun priestess or a physician.

"Now, Twilight, have you been working on the blood fix spell?" Dr. Mild asked.

"I tried, but I could rarely find cuts to heal," Twilight responded. "I did heal a small knife cut Mama had."

"Good, good," Dr. Mild nodded. "Just remember, that only works for very small cuts. Anything bigger or of a different type, it would be pretty useless if not dangerous to the victim; magic is precise. The only way to use magic at its best is to know as much about the world and how it works as possible. An ignorant spell caster is a dangerous spell caster."

She had heard him give this lecture before, but she did not mind hearing it again. It was good to hear it again as it was this that helped drive her forward and strive for adventure. Going across the Labyrinth Isles in search of knowledge would make her into a grand unicorn! There was so much out there that she could digest and, to her, the Isles had no limit. The journey to visit every island could take a lifetime.

"Now, tell me the procedure of a blood fix spell," Dr. Mild continued.

"First, you have to cut the blood off using a tourniquet," Twilight explained. "and once the blood is still, use the spell to close the skin together and fasten it in place. Hold it there and allow the magic to merge the two sides of skin back into one piece."

"Good! Good! I'm glad when a student listens so carefully. It is good that you remember, as a misstep could leave a scar. Your mother would not have liked that, haha!"

They both giggled at his little humor. This was how Dr. Mild acted. When not taking care of patients, he was relaxed and a joker, but once he is flung into the role as a physician, he turned into a stoic, methodical figure that spoke with authority. It was certainly a clashing personality, but a respectable one to the ponies of Day Island. Twilight then tugged at his leg to gain his absolute attention. She had a question on her mind.

"Can we learn about attack beams?" Twilight piped up. "Old Fareye says there are evils down south. If I want to go exploring the Isles, I need to be able to defend myself."

"Well, those things are novice level, but can be dangerous," Dr. Mild huffed. "I don't want to get in trouble with Night Light. He has quite the glare."

"But Papa and Shining know how to do them! I can control it!" Twilight nagged the physician and tugged at his jacket's sleeve persistently.

"Hmmm, perhaps it won't be too difficult," he muttered in thought. "But promise me to never practice this outside my hospital."

"Absolutely!" Twilight agreed. "Magic is dangerous, so it's always best to be as safe as possible!"

"Exactly," he grinned. "Now, stand over there. I can at least show you the basics since you're so interested. With the proper care, we can eliminate any risks.

Twilight walked across the room and turned to face the teacher. He spread his legs for a sturdier stance and then turned his neck until it popped, a habit of his. One hoof slid back his greasy mane and he readied himself. Twilight simply stood a bit lopsided, waiting for his instructions.

"Now, to activate magical energies and turn them into a single force beam, you must have concentration and accuracy. This is not about casting a spell but more of focusing energy and releasing it from your horn. Once you get the mind-power part down, the rest is merely aiming," he explained.

Twilight took a deep breath what she always did whenever told to concentrate. It was a long, solid breath that Dr. Mild waited to end. With a determined look on her little face, Twilight arched her eyebrows and stared straight ahead. Her horn began to glow with green magic. The light that came from the top of her head illuminated the floor under her. The backroom was always on the darker side, as it only had two rather small windows that faced the sides of another hut. This made her magic look all the brighter. 

"Don't be afraid to unleash your willpower, Twilight. My magical barrier can handle it," Dr. Mild said as he put a wall of magic up in front of him.

"Heeuggghhh!" Twilight grunted loudly as she summoned more magic.

"It's not about straining yourself; it's about letting the magic flow through you without restraint. Magic in its purest form is just a beam of dense illumination, much like light. And from that simplest form, we can manipulate it to become the arcane."

Twilight was not sure what he meant. All she knew was that she had to concentrate and not try to force the magic out of her. Her horn was glowing quite bright now and some loose magic spat out in random directions, hitting the floor and walls harmlessly. She had the magical strength, now she had to direct it into a single blast.

"Nyagghh!"

"Just focus it on me," Dr. Mild instructed. "You are almost there."

Then it all clicked. She opened her eyes and looked right at her teacher. With care, she focused her mind on him and the magic followed her train of thoughts. Fwom! a magic beam of intense brightness left her horn and traveled at a tremendous speed to strike the teacher's raised barrier, shattering upon impact and ricocheted to the ceiling or the shelves. Several objects were knocked from their resting positions. They both flinched when a glass bottle of herbs broke on the floor.

"Welp, there went those," Dr. Mild huffed. "Another trip to the Northern Tribes for more of that, ha!"

"I am so sorry!" Twilight gasped

"Oh, don't be. I should have made my barrier not angled towards such breakable objects. Well! You did it! It was a fine beam, a fine attack. Nothing too dangerous, as that would more likely shove a pony over than harm him or her. But meh, the place is now a mess. I ought to clean it up in case a patient arrives." He then looked at her. "This has to be it for today. Don't go practicing that around other ponies, you hear? Magical beams can travel for a long ways before fading away. If you ever fire one again, make sure you a sturdy target for it to break on."

Twilight bowed. "Thank you for the class! It really helped!" 

The physician gave her a little pat on the head. "Oh, think nothing of it. I barely did anything. You are a natural sorceress, Twilight."

She took her books and put them back in the bag. When she did so, she spotted her midday meal in the pouch. Now where would she eat if class was ended so early? She shrugged and took it with her. With a departing smile and a friendly wave, she left the medical shack and headed towards the storage house where Shining would be.

With a merry tune on her lips, she skipped along the path to the storage house. It was just a ten minute walk, but she saw friendly faces along the way. Islander ponies told her "good day" and "hello" as they went about their chores and errands. This was how Day Island was and one of the reasons Twilight adored her home. 

"Shining! Shining!" Twilight called for him when she walked into the storage house.

"Aren't ya supposed to be with Dr. Mild?" Shining asked without looking at her.

He was toying with the black crystal. He tossed it playfully from one front hoof to the other. He was either heavily invested in the precious stone from Rock Island or he was bored beyond his mind. Twilight guessed it was the former, as he barely ever let the black crystal stay on the shelf where it belonged. She knew this from last night, when their father told him to leave the crystal alone. It was apparent Shining did not take to his father's commands.

"I kinda broke some things in the back room. He has to clean it up," she confessed.

"Pfft, nice," Shining chuckled. "Yeah, I did that once when I was your age. That was when I decided magic was just not my thing. I think I made the right choice too."

"So why are you so fascinated in the crystal? Aren't we going to sell it?" Twilight pointed at the object in his grasp.

"Well, yeah, it's just that..." he trailed off. "So how's Moon Dancer?" he said a bit loudly.

"She's fine," Twilight furrowed her brows. Her tone indicated that she was well aware of Shining's disobedience. 

"What?" Shining responded to her glare.

She persisted. "Papa told you to leave that thing alone."

He rolled his eyes. "What else am I supposed to do? I just wait here until he takes me on Stormrider or some customer shows up. This crystal....just sits there. It's something to look at and....feel."

"That's weird, you know?" Twilight said in a matter-of-fact manner.

His eye twitched. "Yeah, yeah!" he waved a dismissing hoof at her and his voice deepened. "If you're jus' gonna make fun of me in my boredom, you can go somewhere else."

The response was a bit overly hostile for the situation. Twilight at first thought he was joking with her, but he kept the annoyed appearance. That and the fact that he stared a her harshly while he awaited a response. Shining was not the hardest to get riled up, but this was certainly too easy. He was a teenage stallion, but a good and caring teenager too. Twilight could only blink in shocked confusion.

"Well?" he shouted. "Get!"

Twilight did not cry, but she was hurt. Still blinking and confused by her brother's unusually brutish behavior, she simply turned and walked out the door with the food and books she was carrying. Once outside, she walked over to a bench that faced the great sea. She sat on it and unwrapped her meal from the pouch. While she munched on the cooked seaweed, she looked out towards the endless waters.

"What's up with him?" she asked herself. 


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