Opening her eyes, Mavis found herself in some sort of white, empty space. In a flash of various colored lights, the Nymph's appeared, "Ok sweetie, we're going to begin your training now. In this space, we will each create a scenario for you to complete. If you are able to complete all eight trials, then you will be able to become a nymph, just like us," Wanda explained.
"Ok," Mavis nodded.
"During these exercises, you are to refer to each of us as sensei. Do you understand?" Kat asked.
"Oui," Mavis nodded again.
"Good. We'll be going in order from the hardest trials to the easier ones. But don't worry, these exercises won't be anything overly difficult for someone your age," Dana informed.
"Merci, sensei," Mavis said.
"You don't have to actually call us 'sensei'. Kat's just trying to be funny," Tabby explained.
"In any case, let's begin!" Wanda said, as once again, each Nymph's eyes began glowing in the same color as their outfits, and a bright light filled the space.
Back at the Crystal Empire,
After arriving back at the palace, Twilight left back to Ponyville, "We can at least rest easier now, knowing that Mavis is in good hands," Cadence commented.
"I still can't believe she was offered to become a nymph, or the fact that she's also part gorgon," Shining Armor replied.
"Yes, but we can trust the nymphs to help her to control her powers," Cadence replied. Just then, Nathan barged in.
"Mommy, Daddy! Were you able to find Mavis?" Nathan asked, a tone of hope and slight panic in his voice.
"We did," Shining Armor replied. However, Nathan didn't see his younger sister anywhere.
"B-but where is she?" Nathan asked, growing more worried.
"Don't worry. Mavis is perfectly safe. We found some.... teachers for her," Cadence replied.
"Teachers? What for?" Nathan asked. Cadence then explained to Nathan how Mavis was also part gorgon, and that the nymphs were going to train Mavis to become one of them, as well as control her powers, "So what? She's a gorgon now too? And she's gonna become part nymph too?" Nathan asked incredulously.
"Yes. We can trust the Nymphs. Mavis does, and they didn't do anything to harm her when we went to find her," Shining Armor explained.
"Well, Ah don't like Mavis not being back home, but ya sure sound like ya know what yer doin', so Ah'll just leave it at that," Nathan sighed, as he left his parents to their own devices.
"I know he's worried. We just need to let the Nymph's do whatever they need to," Cadence said, as the two exited the throne room.
Back at Raiden's Lab,
"Ok, her goes test number six," Raiden said, as he lowered a glass case on top of some rats. The glass was heavily tinted, "Ok Lila, give it another go now," Raiden urged. The Gorgon girl took off her blindfold, and focused her gaze on the rats. Her eyes began giving off a powerful green glow. The rats turned their attention to the gorgon girl, but were unchanged.
"It works!" Lila exclaimed, putting her blindfold back on.
"Phew, that was rough! But it was all worth it!" Raiden commented, as he punched in some keys on his computer. Out from a nearby machine with a conveyer belt, came some sunglasses, which were just as tinted as the glass used in the test, "One more test. Put these one. We need to see how these fair," Raiden instructed, giving Lila a pair of sunglasses. Changing out her blindfold for the sunglasses, Lila once again fixed her gaze towards the rats, her eyes giving off the same green glow as before. However, just like in the test, the rats remained unchanged, "This test is a success!" Raiden exclaimed.
"Oh thank you Raiden! Maybe now the gorgon race can start formally establishing friendships with all societies!" Lila exclaimed, wrapping her tail around the thunder mutant.
"Uh... I'm.... glad.... you're..... happy.... but... could..... you maybe..... ease up.... on hugging….me?" Raiden asked between breaths.
"OH! I am so sorry! I just got so excited!" Lila blushed. Just then, Twilight teleported into the lab.
"Raiden? Are you in here?" Twilight asked.
"I'm over here!" Raiden said, walking towards the lavender princess.
"Oh good! Thanks so much for letting me borrow this. It was a great help to us!" Twilight said, giving Raiden his tablet back.
"Thanks Twilight. I trust you were able to find Mavis with no problems?" Raiden asked.
"We did. But we learned a little more about her too," Twilight said, as she began explaining what went down at the Nymph Grotto, "And that's what happened," she wrapped up.
"Hmm, well, her being part gorgon is a surprise, but luckily, this last job I took has a remedy for that," Raiden said.
"What was the job?" Twilight asked.
"I was asked to find a way for gorgons to be able to interact with society without turning others to stone. It took a few tests, but I was able to prefect these," Raiden said, presenting a pair of his newly invented sunglasses, "The dark tinting prevents the gorgon eye thing from working one way, while also keeping them able to see perfectly as if they were without them," Raiden explained.
"Wait... you took a job from a real gorgon?" Twilight asked.
"Yep. She's still here in my lab. Don't worry, she's wearing a pair of these sunglasses," Raiden reassured.
"And here I am!" the bubbly gorgon said, as she slithered out from behind a large machine. Twilight was a little unnerved at the sight of the snake tail, as well as the snakes in her hair, but retained her composure, "Pleased to meet you princess. I am Lila, official representative of the gorgon race. Pleased to finally meet you," Lila greeted cheerfully, yet respectfully, bowing to the princess.
"A pleasure to meet you as well," Twilight returned the greeting, while trying her hardest to focus on the gorgon's face.
"Raiden was such a help to me! He made these sunglasses that are gorgon proof! Now, if you are willing to, we gorgon's would like to formally establish friendship with the ponies," Lila requested.
"It did take some doing, but these glasses will be able to help the gorgon's out immensely. And who knows? Maybe they can teach Mavis a trick or two about the whole eye thing," Raiden commented. Twilight thought about it for a moment. Ponies have always feared gorgons for their stone eyes trick. But based on how Lila has been acting, all the stories about gorgon's being nothing but ruthless monsters seemed to have been greatly exaggerated.
"Well, I will need to meet with my fellow princesses, as well as the leader of all gorgons. I'm sure we can make something work," Twilight stated.
"Splendid! When can we expect you in the gorgon homeland, or should we come to you?" Lila asked.
"Hmm.... probably would be best if we met at your homelands. Ponies aren't to friendly towards gorgons, so we should at least try NOT to cause a panic. There's no telling what self-righteous ponies would do if they saw you," Twilight suggested.
"Good call. Uh, I don't suppose that pen of yours can teleport me back to the temple?" Lila asked Raiden with a little hope.
"Afraid not. It's a one trip," Raiden replied with a defeated shrug.
"Don't worry. I can teleport you at lease to a specific point near your homeland. Where can I take you?" Twilight asked.
"If you can just teleport me to the edge of the Everfree Forest, I can go the rest of the way myself," Lila replied.
"Ok, then I'll be glad to do that," Twilight said, as she began firing up her horn.
"Hold it!" Raiden said, as he prepared a bag of the gorgon proof sunglasses, "You can take these to your leader, and explain that the peace talks are going to get underway," Raiden explained.
"Oh good! And thank you again! If she is willing to, we can give the princesses your payment so they can give it to you," Lila suggested.
"That's fine," Raiden said, as the two teleported out of his lab, "I just hope Mavis will be alright," the thunder mutant commented.
Back with Mavis,
Things were going very smoothly for Mavis. She has been learning a lot from the Nymphs. Wanda taught her all about how trees, plants, and the earth around her gives more to her and the ponies she's been living with than she thought. Kat showed her that smiling can bring out the best in everybody, and how Mavis shouldn't be shy, or reserved. Sky spent the most recent session teaching Mavis about music, and how it can be found naturally in nature. Now it was Marina's turn to teach Mavis, "Ok Mavis, let's swim around for a bit," Marina suggested, as she brought Mavis out to the lake.
"Oh, I just love swimming!" Mavis exclaimed.
"I do too. Water does wonders for the complexion," Marina said, rubbing her face, as the two dove into the water. Mavis turned into her mermaid form the second her legs came in contact with water, "Does that happen on it's own?" Marina asked.
"Oui. I have no control over it," Mavis replied, as the two began swimming around, "Ooh, this water makes my gills tingle!" Mavis commented.
"Well, thanks to my magic, the water around here is more than 50 times cleaner than any other spring. The same goes for all of the bathtubs in our bathing room," Marina explained.
"I saw a sign in the temple about that," Mavis replied.
"Yes, well, Kat put it up as a joke, but seeing as how we've never had company until you came into our lives, it was just sitting there, never being of any use," Marina explained.
"I see," Mavis said.
"Now then, why don't I teach you about the water? Tell me everything you know about water," Marina requested.
"Well, I know it's blue, and wet. Mon amie, Raiden, told me that all living creatures are made up mostly of water," Mavis said, giving all her current knowledge of water.
"That is correct. But something you may not know, is that while water is the softest things, it can damage hard objects like rocks, wood, or mountains," Marina said. This certainly surprised Mavis.
"I do not understand," Mavis commented.
"See, what you may not know, is that water can wear away at rocks and mountains, breaking off small grains of them. gradually making them decrease in size. Wood on the other hand, can be warped by water," Marina tried explaining to the young girl. Mavis tried to comprehend what her mentor was trying to explain, and was only slightly able to do so.
"I think I get it now," Mavis replied.
"Good. And with that, our session is over for the moment. We'll pick up a little more when you're older," Marina said, as her eyes began glowing blue. Mavis was once again surrounded by a bright light, and was transported into the kitchen, where Dana was waiting.
"Oh good! It's my turn now! You ready to learn my secrets?" Dana asked.
"Oui, but, could I dry off my tail fin first?" Mavis asked, motioning to her tail fin.