Vivid awoke.
She only knew that she was awake, because she was suddenly aware of being a little cold. It was a welcome change from sleeping on the ground, or on a straw stuffed cushion. To notice a bit of a draft was to be content with everything else. A soft mattress made with springs and cushions stuffed with wool, and a down blanket laid over her.
It was a far cry from what she expected as a murderer and meat eater, in the land of ponies.
Her magic spread across the blanket and she drew it back so that she could sit up and then stand, before her magic reached the floor and she was able to jump down to a surface she was certain of.
She then paused. She had no destination in mind, no goal. She did not know when or where her supposed training would begin. But as she stood there, she had a sneaking suspicion.
“Have you been watching me sleep?” she asked the room.
The beauty of it, was that if noone was there then the question did not need to be answered and noone would know of her suspicions. However, if someone actually was in the room, it would be a completely valid question, and give them the impression that she was far more perceptive than she really was.
This time, she was fortuitous.
“Not watching you sleep, madam, just waiting to be of service,” a stallion’s voice replied from the direction of the door. “I had only arrived moments before you awoke.”
“In the future, please wait outside the door for me. I don’t know what sort of privacy your guests typically expect, but I expect at the least to be permitted a peaceful waking. Now, you are to be of service. Guide me to a place to bathe, so I can be ready for whatever lessons I may need to learn.”
“Of course, madam.”
Vivid became aware of a path between herself and a bathroom, and she paused to note that the unicorn had been apparently educated in how she perceived the world. He'd grabbed the whole carpet in his magic, which was the closest he could likely come to spreading his magic along the floor.
“Thank you,” she nodded to him before walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.
Free to assume she was alone, she spread her magic across the whole room so that she could inspect the facilities available to her.
It didn't take her long to determine that it was the finest bathroom she'd ever been in. Tile cut with ridges to direct water into drains coated the floor. A sink with a seat and various bottles was near the door next to a basket of folded towels and a rack that held brushes, but furthest away from the door was a spout and a wide bath sunken into the floor. She wondered how the spout was fed as she did not see a pump, but when her magic pressed against a handle on the wall, it pressed in and cool water began to pour out into the bath. She tested it and then found a second handle.
She was stunned to find it provided comfortable warm water. An amenity she'd never had unless she heated her own water over a stove.
Contemplating the bath, she turned and gathered all the bottles in her magic, walking out of the bathroom and facing towards the helper.
“I would like to know your name,” She declared.
“Gloss Sheen, madam,” he replied quickly. “You would like me to describe the labels of those bottles, correct?”
Vivid almost wanted to decline the help out of embarrassment. When she'd lived alone, she had different shaped bottles for each item. Here, they were all nearly identical.
“Yes. Please.”
She lined them up on the floor, and he lifted each one up as he described the contents.
“Lotion for the hooves and face after bathing. Shampoo. Soap. Bubbling soap to be added to a bath. Conditioner.”
“Thank you,” Vivid bowed before taking the bottles and returning to the bathroom.
This time she lined them up in the order she would use them, and then she finally entered the now half filled bath.
Steam swirled around her, confusing her senses for a moment, before she found the edge of the bath again, to orient herself. Bubbling soap would be too much for her, so she set it aside completely.
She found a rough brush, dumped the bottle of soap on her back, and began scrubbing her body, neck, and limbs with it. It was a freeing feeling, to be ridding herself of her overgrown coat and dirt which she'd gathered from living with creatures that licked themselves clean.
Pony tongues and saliva, at least unicorn tongues and saliva, we're not suited for that sort of hygiene.
As the grime was washed away, and a tightness in her shoulders faded, Vivid found a sob escaping her. It was too surprising for her to smother it at first, but she quickly covered her mouth and curled up, head just above the water surface and breathing deep in the cloud of steam as her body shook.
“Where the hell am I?” she muttered angrily between gasps. “Across the damned world and in the castle of a deranged goddess of the moon who's apparently killed your own goddess by all accounts, what the hell have I gotten myself into?”
There was some comfort in just saying it all aloud, but she didn’t speak of the death. She never needed a reminder of that, of all the blood that had been spilled by her magic. That was never forgotten.
Somehow all the excuses and reasons seemed so hollow, when she tried to count them all in her head. It was like being at the base of a mountain, and telling yourself that it was just a short climb. It felt like a lie.
“Train me… Train me in magic,” she whispered as she upended a bottle of shampoo over her head and began scrubbing with a brush. “I could probably teach her quite a few things about magic. I could rip her in half, if I wanted to. She has no idea…”
For all her bluster though, she’d felt her magic fall apart, pulled into Luna like falling into an endless pit. She knew that there was some secret Luna knew that made Vivid powerless. In that moment she decided that she would fix that. She would find a way to defend herself, that the princess couldn’t defuse.
She would have to learn in order to do that, and Princess Luna was offering that education, without a promise of loyalty.
It was an opportunity she couldn’t pass by.
With renewed energy, a determination built from survival, she finished bathing. Cleaning her hair, conditioning it, brushing it out, and rinsing before draining the tub. It was all done with precision as quickly as she could safely get it done. Stepping out and drying herself was just as quick.
“Mister Sheen, I understand that Her Highness wishes to train me in magic, correct?”
“Eventually, you are correct, Madam.”
Vivid paused mid-step, tilting her head.
“Eventually?”
“First, you shall learn the basics with a teacher that she has deemed sufficient to teach you. Then, when you have reached beyond that teacher’s abilities, then Princess Luna will teach you herself.”
Vivid had to fight herself not to grind her teeth. A different teacher, to cover the basics. As though she was a filly who had to be tutored on every little thing, treated as though she knew nothing.
“Very well, take me to this teacher.”
Sheen lit his horn and began to walk, giving Vivid a clear beacon to follow. As she walked, she noticed that other unicorns that passed in the halls also lit their horns. She knew they were there by sound of course, but they lit their horns as they grew near, simply to let Vivid know that they were there. She briefly wondered if it was some sort of condescending gesture to remind her of her disability, but quickly she squashed that thought. These ponies were, for some reason, striving to be more visible to her. She did not know why, but she decided to accept the gesture, and move on.
They reached a pair of doors which became clear to Vivid as they were seized and opened by her guide.
“Lady Line, your student has arrived.”
“Very well, leave her here I will summon you when we are done, Sheen.”
“Yes, m’lady.”
Sheen left, leaving Vivid with her teacher, who had not illuminated her horn to make herself visible yet.
“Vivid Colour, do you want to learn how to properly use your horn?”
Vivid huffed, annoyed by the arrogance of the question. “I use it quite well, I would think, but yes. I wish to learn.”
“Good. The first spell I will teach you, in order to make our lessons easier, will be Aura Vitae. Do you know what that name means?” Lady Line asked as she walked along the room, her steps making it easier to track her.
“The energy of life. I assume this spell is designed to allow one to view magic as I do?”
“A pale imitation,” Line chuckled. “Your ability is unique and powerful, but this spell allows the perception of the wellspring of energy within each pony. Once you know it, you will be able to perceive the faint echo of all living things without requiring them to use their magic.”
"Wellspring?" Vivid asked, nervous to reveal her ignorance but curious.
"Our magic draws from a network of nerves and crystal-like nodes throughout our bodies. That network is called a Wellspring, and is constantly filled with energy. That is why some unicorns grow tired after a few spells but others can use their magic for hours without tiring. It is the size of their Wellspring. It can also grow with practice like any muscle."
"Okay," Vivid nodded. "Teach me this spell."
An incredibly bright circle of magic formed on the ground in Fine Line's pale green magic, making Vivid step back from her a little. Then a smaller circle was formed inside of it, and Vivid observed four half-circles that formed petals in between the two circles. As they connected the two circles, Vivid observed magic flowing through them like loops, forming a circuit. Next, a bright sigil that looked like a circle pierced by two ovals appeared in the center.
"The center of the spell circle is where we place the target of the spell. This symbol is the symbol for self, which designates that the spell will effect only the caster. Leaving the center of a spell circle blank causes the spell to release at the tip of the horn, which in this case would cause it to dissipate quickly, only illuminating your horn before fading."
Next, two symbols appeared in the space between petals, symmetrical with eachother. Each one was a set of two slanted crosses that looked like the letter X.
"Roman numerals are used to designate the duration of the spell, in this case, twenty minutes. To make it hours, the numbers would be circled, days would be circled twice. There are two spots for time in a standard spell circle, in case the spell has two effects. In this case, the spell is very simple so we are making it symmetrical by mirroring every symbol on the opposite side. This keeps it from shorting out, and makes it more robust."
"What about seconds?" Vivid asked, stepping around to get a better look at the spell circle.
"I'm glad you're asking questions," Fine Line said, sounding genuinely pleased. "But let us finish this spell before we move on to more options. Next we need to tell the spell what to do, and how to do it."
A symbol of a circle with a smaller circle inside it and a diamond inside the smaller circle appeared.
"This symbol is representative of the Wellspring. It advises the spell that it will be effecting the Wellspring. This is dangerous if you tell the spell to use a great amount of energy as you can injure yourself."
Then a symbol of a sun was applied.
"This tells the spell that we want it to generate light."
Finally, a symbol of an eye with curved lines above and below it, with a diamond for the iris, was placed.
"This tells the spell that we want it to produce a magical signature, which is what you will perceive."
She released the spell, and Vivid was suddenly able to see Fine Line, like she'd never seen a pony before.
Little dots of light seemed to glow beneath Line’s skin, illuminating her from within. Her soft and perfectly groomed fur was clear to Vivid as a thick plush layer, not the flat mat she perceived when she pressed against fur with her magic.
Line’s clothes draped loosely around her, the dress and vest she wore both comfortably fitted so that she could move easily, little metal buttons and medals on her chest illuminating with the light, gleaming as they seemed to refract the magic.
Her eyes shone blue, like clear water, and illuminated from within. Her horn could have been made of crystal, for how transparent it seemed, with a cone of light within it.
Every muscle within her was like a river passing under Vivid’s hoof, with little nodes of magic power spaced throughout them, glittering softer than the light in her horn.
“It’s beautiful,” Vivid whispered as she moved closer to examine Fine Line’s face.
She could see every expression, every twitch of the eye as Fine watched her impassively. Vivid had never wanted to see. She never wanted to be anything but what she was. But now she found a way to go above and beyond even the sighted. Her perception could be greater than theirs, without giving up her magic and the wonder of it all.
“You must cast the spell yourself as well, to have the full perception of your surroundings,” Line said, as Vivid watched her eyes dart side to side, her face twist in an expression that Vivid was eager to try and identify.
Fear? No, she didn’t sound afraid. Nor angry. Nervousness fit though shielded by practice. The Lady Line was nervous! It was exhilarating for Vivid to know that, and to not have lost what made her… Her. Expressions, without sight. It was thrilling.
“Certainly. Of course.”
Vivid turned away reluctantly, and began casting her magic out onto the floor. Two circles nested inside eachother, with the petals and then the symbols she’d been shown. She verified that the symbols were as they should be, and then… She paused.
“You’ve never cast a spell before, have you?” Line asked, suddenly full of concern.
Vivid stared at the circle, and swallowed her first-day-in-school panic.
“No. It was never… possible, or necessary. I only manipulated raw magic.”
“You want to build the current energy towards the tip of your horn. Like… Imagine you’re pushing the circle off the tip of your horn and out into the air in front of you. Press it out and away, but without adding more energy. It should slide out of your awareness like… Casting a net out.”
Vivid tried, but felt it fall apart as she did. Tears threatened the edges of her eyes, but she rebuilt the spell circle all over again, and was more careful. Finally, she felt the spell complete, and wash back over her as though she was being doused in warm water.
For the second time that day, Vivid experienced the most wonderful change in perspective.
She could perceive her own body as a cluster of lights, dots forming a larger shape.
Everything else around her was cast by how the objects reacted to magic. Metals such as the door handles, candlesticks, and the buttons on Line’s vest all lit up like they were reflecting the light of her horn back at her.
Cloth and wood were faint ghosts, outlines formed by edges that shimmered, barely in view.
But the crystal that she just then realized hung around Line’s neck on a string, hidden under her vest, it refracted the light into thin rays that passed through everything around it. Like a miniature sun.
The glass windows reflected her magic but only at certain angles, making them appear and then vanish as she walked around the room, admiring the way magic interacted with each object.
Line followed her at a distance, but Vivid didn't mind having a companion on her little journey.
“What do you see?” Vivid asked her as she pulled a book off a shelf and opened it, marveling at how the ink attracted magic, glowing slightly.
“An aura, or faint glow of light around each object of magical importance. Mostly you and me.”
“So, you cannot see past the light, you are blinded by your sight,” Vivid concluded.
Line did not deny it.