The morning air felt soothing with every inhale he took as Sunburst sat outside the castle alongside his teacher, Midnight Blaze. It'd been a while since he'd accepted his old friend's offer to apprentice under him and moved to Ponyville. At first, Midnight had limited their training to swordsmanship alongside the other knights once a week while he allowed Sunburst to get used to living in Ponyville.
Now? He wanted to help Sunburst come into his full potential.
At the moment, they were undergoing meditation where Midnight had instructed Sunburst to get a feel for his mana but not to use it. To feel it flow through his body with every breath he took. To feel it but not to control it. Sunburst was curious as to why, but he held his silence and did as he was told.
"Empty your mind, take a deep breath..." instructed the calm and clear voice of Midnight. “Mana surrounds us, living in everything. Sometimes it’s strong, other times it’s weak. It is the root and basis of all magic. Now, concentrate on your inner sounds, the beat of your heart, the inflation of your lungs…”
Sunburst set his focus inward, listening as much as feeling the beating of his heart, the swelling of his chest whenever he breathed, even the feeling of his breakfast digesting in his stomach.
“Now take in sounds that are nearby.”
Sunburst listened and heard the rustling of the grass. There was a faint squeaking of a nearby field mouse, and even felt the ground beneath him seem to give off a subtle vibration.
“And finally, distant sounds…” spoke Midnight, and Sunburst extended his awareness.
He heard the going-ons of Ponyville nearby, distant chatter and laughter, ponies going about their business.
“Keep listening and focus on the taste in your mouth,” Midnight went on, “then focus on your nose, what can you smell?”
All the while Midnight gave instructions and he followed them, Sunburst, without realizing it, was feeling his own mana as it spread to each part of his body that he focused on based on Midnight directing him, and was even beginning to feel the mana of his surroundings as Midnight continued.
“And touch! Feel your cloak over your coat. The wind in your mane, the heat of the sun! Now imagine I am lost, and that you must find me. And… look!”
Sunburst gasped as instinct opened his eyes and instead of seeing the world as he always did, everything looked dull and muted while color was in the form of auras cloaking the environment and shrouding everything else around him.
Sunburst became briefly disoriented and color returned to the world in the way he knew it, and he looked around, seeing everything as it was.
“What was that?!” asked Sunburst in soft awe as he turned to look up at Midnight, who was giving him a satisfied look.
"You have taken a step forward," Midnight answered, "It was only for a moment, but you opened a sense you never knew you had and that will make it easier to learn everything else I have yet to teach you."
"That... it was..." Sunburst didn't know what to call it. It wasn't like anything he'd ever read about magic, and he'd read many books on magic. He gazed at Midnight reverently before pleading, "Teach me more...!"
"I will, but for now, let's take a break," Midnight lit up his horn, conjuring some garden chairs, a large umbrella for shade, and a cooler full of ice chilling bottles of colt cola.
As they relaxed and took a sip, Sunburst finally asked, "I... I never knew mana could be wielded like that."
"You mean like this?" smirked Midnight as he raised his bottle of colt cola... in his hoof!
Sunburst was confused as he looked closer, and realized, "You- You're not wearing manipulation shoes! And your horn isn't glowing! How are you holding your drink with your bare hoof?!"
"This will be the next lesson," Midnight chuckled as he set his drink down, "Learning to concentrate your mana to your hooves in order to pick up and hold objects with your bare hooves. You see, Sunburst, everypony, not just unicorns, has the potential to learn the things I'm teaching you, to wield their mana in ways they normally don't. This application of the art is actually easier for earth ponies and pegasi to learn, because earth ponies' mana is generally concentrated into their legs and hooves whereas pegasi subconsciously concentrate mana into their hooves to walk on and move clouds.
"Unicorns have a harder time because for them it's easier to just use their horns to levitate objects, something of an intellectual laziness."
"I suppose that makes sense..." Sunburst considered it, "it's just... this is unlike the kinds of magic I studied for years, and it always frustrated me to know so much and be able to do so little of what I learned."
"Mana Wielding isn't something you just study, Sunburst," Midnight explained, "It's not so much about using your head than it is trusting your instincts and letting it flow. What you just experienced earlier was using your mana as a sixth sense. The way your surroundings looked monochromatic and dull but the living things were shrouded in color? Think of that as a sixth sense, allowing you to "see" the energies around you and learn to identify them and their sources, which includes the mana inside other living creatures."
"That's... incredible!" Sunburst was truly at awe.
"And that's just the tip of the iceberg," Midnight nodded with a smile, "There are many applications for Mana Wielding, and I intend to teach you all of them. You will wield your magic in ways you never thought you could before."
It was everything Sunburst had always wanted, not simply to learn but to put what he learned to use. However, the memories of his time back in Princess Celestia's School and then training alongside Midnight during their youth, his failures discouraged him.
"But... what if I can't? I studied harder than anypony else I knew, but no matter what I studied it didn't seem to matter. I couldn't cast the spells I wanted to perform, I couldn't measure up to the so-called greatness everypony saw in me..."
"Sometimes, we're our own greatest enemy," responded Midnight, Sunburst looking at him in confusion. "Something my father used to say. Sometimes we make decisions or we think things about ourselves that don't work out in our favor. Sometimes we have regrets and doubts that cripple us in ways physical injuries don't."
"What are you saying, Midnight?" asked Sunburst, somewhat dreading where his mentor was going with this.
"Sunburst, despite what you may think about yourself," Midnight gave his student an encouraging smile, "I have faith in you, that you are so much stronger than you believe. But the only thing getting in the way of that is you yourself."
"Midnight, I'm just a low-functioning Gamma," Sunburst tried to debate.
"Maybe, maybe not, and even if you are, you can still be a powerful wielder of magic," Midnight assured, "Rarity's a Gamma and she's got such a mastery of Telekinesis it still blows my mind sometimes how precise and skilled she is in multi-tasking to do her work as a fashion designer!"
"That's... true," Sunburst couldn't argue with that. He'd seen Rarity at work for himself and it had been so difficult to believe that Rarity herself confirmed she was only a Gamma-level unicorn.
"Besides, Sunburst, think of your cutie-mark, think of how you got it!" Midnight reminded, "There is a light inside you that is burning to shine, but you're letting your doubts and self-deprecation preventing you from giving it the spark it needs. I've seen that in other unicorns, you know."
Was it true? Sunburst had to wonder, was the only thing standing between him and his true potential himself?
He noticed Midnight stand up and beckon Sunburst to follow him, "C'mon, let's see how Twilight and Starlight are doing."
"...okay," Sunburst got up and Midnight made their seats and drinks vanish. To his Alicorn Dimension, most likely, as Midnight had explained to Sunburst where he kept many of his belongings safely and easy to summon at a moment's notice.
As they entered, Midnight decided to say, "So, I want you to keep practicing what you just learned. The only reason you stopped using the Sixth Sense earlier was because you lost focus you stopped maintaining the flow of your mana to your senses. Understandable, given it was your first time, but remember: Patience yields focus. Don't rush yourself, don't overthink it, and trust in your instincts. You'll get it!"
"Understood," Sunburst nodded before giving his mentor a grateful smile, "Thanks, Midnight."
"What're friends for?" Midnight smiled back ,"Now, lemme explain a little about using your hooves to grab objects via Mana Wielding. When you concentrate your mana to your hooves, imagine... fingers, or better yet, a hand around your hooves. It won't be visible to the naked eye but your mana will extend from your hoof in the shape of fingers or a hand, and even better, so long as you maintain the flow, you'll actually experience the sense of touch through these phantom hands."
"Why is that?" Sunburst asked, becoming more and more fascinated.
"Because your mana is extending from your thaumaturgical system, which is closely linked to your nervous system," Midnight answered. "While you use your mana in this manner, it can enable you to experience sensory information you can't in your normal state."
"Fascinating..." Sunburst was going to have to put all of this into his personal notebooks later. "I wonder if Starlight knows any of this."
"Possibly, she knows a lot of magic as well," Midnight responded, though the tone of his voice suddenly lost a little enthusiasm.
"...Didn't you forgive Starlight for the things she did?" asked Sunburst, a little hesitant.
"I can forgive, Sunburst," sighed Midnight, "but the things she did? ...I can never forget."
Sunburst didn't know what to say afterwards but Midnight went on, "Be that as it may, Starlight is Twilight's student now, as you are mine, and the both of us will do our best to guide you. Twilight is helping Starlight to better understand friendship, I'm helping you to better understand yourself."
"By teaching me new magical skills?" questioned Sunburst.
"Like I already said, Sunburst," Midnight nodded, "I believe there is more to your magic than even you believe, and by helping you master the discipline of Mana Wielding you'll come to realize that and tap into a power you never knew you had, or perhaps you just forgot how to do so."
"What do you mean?"
"You told me how you earned your cutie-mark by saving Starlight from being injured by a collapsing tower of books," pointed out Midnight, "You'd never used your magic so elaborately or powerfully before. Or since. Think back, what was it about that moment that spurred you into action?"
"I guess..." Sunburst really considered it before he uttered, "it was... Well, Starlight was in trouble. I didn't really think of anything except that I had to help her before she got hurt. I didn't think about... whether I could do anything or what would happen if I did something else. I just..."
"Acted."
Sunburst gave his mentor a look before it slowly began to dawn on him, "...I acted! I didn't hesitate, I didn't think or doubt, I just... did the first thing that came to mind and somehow... Somehow I used magic like I'd never done beforehoof and it acted in accordance to my desire to keep Starlight safe!"
"There you go," Midnight smiled as they were nearing the dining hall, "Your unhesitating desire to protect somepony close to you helped you tap into your potential in the moment you needed it, and that earned you your cutie-mark! Hold onto that, Sunburst, and I have no doubts that before long you'll come into your own, as a wizard, as a knight, but most important of all, as a friend."
"Wow, Midnight, I... I don't know what to say," Sunburst looked upon his mentor with a new understanding and Midnight chuckled.
"Now, let's find the ladies," Midnight started to open the doors to the dining room, "I'm pretty sure they'll want to-"
"Hey! Maybe I'll just force friendships by magically enslaving the entire population of Ponyville!"
*SHUNK*
"AUGH!!!" Starlight yipe'd to see a blade of solid shadow strike the wall to her right, extending out to between her face and Twilight's, as the two of them looked to see an unamused Midnight standing in the doorway beside a freaked out Sunburst.
"MIDNIGHT!!" Twilight glared at her husband.
"Oh, relax, Twily..." Midnight pulled on a spurious smirk while giving Starlight a stink eye, "Just as I'm certain Starlight was only kidding just now so was I in giving her a... friendly yet firm reminder as to what she can expect if ever she reverts back to her evil ways."
"Good! Because I was!" Starlight responded indignantly and with a slight crack in her voice from the fake attempt on her person, shivering with intimidation as the blade dissolved into vaporous shadow.
For a painfully long and awkward moment, nopony said anything, until Sunburst, after his heart began to slow down a little, cleared his throat, "So! Uh... what's going on here?"
"I'm glad you asked, Sunburst," Twilight harrumph'd at Midnight before explaining, "We were just in the middle of preparing a dinner party for tomorrow night, where Princess Celestia and Prince Sombra will come to check up on Starlight's progress under my tutelage. Of course, to exemplify how she's progressing, she is required to make a new friend to bring to dinner."
"And I'm guessing her response was just before we showed up," Midnight smirked, still feeling undeservedly smug about his "friendly yet firm" reminder.
"Yes...and like I said, I was just kidding," Starlight maintained.
"Well, I'm sure you'll do just fine, Starlight," Sunburst encouraged, "After all, you've got the Princess of Friendship as your mentor."
"Thank you, Sunburst, that means a lot coming from you," Starlight came around the table and have her old friend a hug, which he was happy to reciprocate.
But when they parted, Starlight had to ask, "Though, just curious, Sunburst, but why are you always wearing that cape?"
Sunburst looked down at his cape, its dark green-blue color with lighter blue-green stars and the fastening clip resembling his cutie-mark, "Oh! Well... mostly, it was just to try and get into a... wizardly... feel?"
Sunburst was forcing a smile, looking a tad nervous, and almost immediately Starlight, twilight, and even Midnight sensed there was more to it. Without even asking, Midnight whipped the cape off, sending Sunburst for a loop before he dizzily collapsed yet managed to keep himself up by holding onto the table edge... and they saw that Sunburst wasn't in the best of shape. He wasn't fat, but he did have some pudge around his barrel, presumably from being indoors all the time and not being very active.
"Uh..." Sunburst blushed a little with embarrassment while Midnight sighed while shaking his head.
"Well, here's another contributing reason as to why you haven't unlocked your magical potential!"
"Well, I- It's just... I thought if I studied magic more diligently-" Sunburst tried to protest.
"I'm afraid Midnight is right, Sunburst," Twilight interjected. "It's a common misconception that magic wielders don't have to rely on physical fitness when in fact a strong and healthy body allows a unicorn to yield more powerful magic. Better physical stamina equals greater magical output. Even my teacher, Princess Celestia, made absolutely certain I stuck to a health regimen, ate healthy, and kept in good shape through frequent exercise."
"Well, then I know exactly what our next training session will entail," Midnight declared while giving Sunburst an evil smile.
"Y-you can't mean...?!"
"From now on, we're gonna do trotting everyday!" Midnight decided with a smile on his face, "At least one lap around the entirety of Ponyville!"
*Thump*
The three of them looked to see the poor unicorn stallion had apparently fainted. Twilight and Starlight shared a look before breaking into giggles while Midnight added, "That's the spirit!"
Later... a portal opened in the field behind the Castle of Friendship and out stepped Midnight, followed by a much trimmer-looking Sunburst, who groaned, "Glad that's over..."
"Oh suck it up," Midnight chuckled, "At least you're already in better shape."
"Two weeks... Two. Entire. Weeks! Straight!" Sunburst glared at Midnight, who shrugged.
"Well, you have to admit, we got a lot more done in my Alicorn Dimension than we would have the old-fashioned way."
Sunburst sighed as he flexed his muscles a little, and couldn't help but feel pretty good about them. Before, he'd stayed healthy with a respectable diet, but he had to admit his physical activities had been severely lacking, as he'd been more concerned with reading and studying and doing desk jobs to get by. Now, the pudge around his barrel was gone and his legs and chest felt sturdier.
"It still amazes me, that Alicorn Dimension thing... Are you sure time out here hasn't passed at all?"
"We left around 11," Midnight glanced at the Ponyville clock tower, "and despite spending two weeks in there, it's only been a few hours out here. See, it's only almost 3 o'clock."
Sunburst noted, but then he asked, "But is it really the same day?"
"Time in an Alicorn Dimension doesn't work the same way as it does out here," Midnight assured, "I can spend literal eternity inside it and never grow a second older than I was the moment before I entered. While I'm inside my Alicorn Dimension, I can experience time as I wish it and while I can physically change, I don't age. That's why I proposed doing your fitness training in there rather than out here after you woke up from your little... unscheduled nap."
"Well, at least you didn't let the muscles aches and other associated torture with exercise linger," admitted Sunburst before he smirked somewhat proudly as he flexed his foreleg. "And the results do speak for themselves!"
"Say, why don't we grab a bite at Pepper Pony's? My treat," offered Midnight, and Sunburst nodded as he followed his mentor into town.
After shooting the breeze with Midnight's uncle Joe and Aunt Chili Spice, as well as saying hello to his little cousin, Pepper Flake, Midnight and Sunburst enjoyed a pizza and ice cold colt colas to wash it down.
Gulping down a bite, Sunburst asked, "So... what's next for my training? Are we still going to practice... what did you call it? Holding objects with our bare hooves?"
"It doesn't have an official name," Midnight answered as he held his drink with his hoof though Sunburst knew it was also with his magic. "Personally, I just call it the Phantom Hands technique, just to name it so I don't have to keep explaining what it is. As I said to you before, this is a somewhat difficult technique to learn for unicorns because unicorns find it easier to just levitate objects with their horns though it's also an excuse not to have to work hard when a faster option is easier to learn.
"You wouldn't believe how many unicorns in Canterlot, especially among the Canterlot Elite, are actually lacking in magical skills. They put far too much stock into politics, economics, business skills, law, which isn't entirely a bad thing except when those subjects are used for the wrong reasons. But on the other hoof, I'm sort of glad the wrong sorts are lacking in their magical abilities. Means they have to pay for more skilled and experienced mages to do their dirty work, and that makes it easier to bust them."
"A Prince of Equestria, leader of the Brotherhood of the Evening Hoods, now leader of the Knights of Harmony," Sunburst chuckled in an awed yet daunted matter. "Am I missing anything else?"
"Well, I am in the planning stages of organizing a personal guard for Twilight and myself," Midnight shrugged before hesitantly adding, "After... Starlight's last misdeed, Twilight finally agreed with me that having our own guard would be for the best."
"I'm still not really sure what to think of all that," Sunburst remembered how Starlight had confessed to him all the bad things she'd done, and since it stemmed from him gaining his cutie-mark and leaving her alone in their hometown, he couldn't help but feel responsible in some way.
"Don't blame yourself, Sunburst," Midnight sighed, "Starlight and I may not exactly be friends as of yet, but I bear some of the blame for the path she took. If my father had allowed you to stay in touch with Starlight and your family back when he was training us, then maybe she would have chosen a different path, one for the better."
"...Maybe I should go and help her out a little," Sunburst decided, "That dinner Starlight will be attending with Princess Celestia and Prince Sombra tomorrow night is really important to Twilight, so maybe with my encouragement she can find a new friend."
"Eager to show off the leaner bod to your foalhood friend?" Midnight raised a teasing brow, causing Sunburst to blush a bit.
"Wha- No, not at all!" He fidgeted a little in his seat before meekly admitting, "Maybe a little?"
Chuckling, Midnight shooed him off, "Go on, get outta here. And no worries, Sunburst. You have every right to feel good about the progress you've made in your fitness training."
"Long as it was," Sunburst confessed, "it sure beat trotting all around Ponyville everyday."
"And it'll get better," Midnight nodded, "From now on, we'll work on more fitness training alongside your training in Mana Wielding. Like Twilight said, a fit body means stronger magic. Now scram, I think Starlight will appreciate your company wherever she is."
"Alrighty, thanks Midnight," Sunburst waved before hurrying off.
"Soup spoon, salad fork, pasta spoon, strawberry pick..." Twilight used her magic to move said strawberry pick just so as she excitedly looked over her work in setting the table up for the dinner tomorrow night, "I'm beginning to think that after Friendship, the greatest magic of all... is proper silverware placement!"
"Aw, I thought the greatest magic of all..." Twilight felt her heart swell when she felt her husband nuzzle her cheek-to-cheek, "was our love."
"Oh, you know what I mean," Twilight warmly nuzzled her stallion back before looking at the table and the dinnerware again. "I just want for this dinner to go smoothly, and I'm confident whoever Starlight brings as her new friend will be-"
"Twilight, guess what!" The two of them turned to see Starlight rushing in, looking excited, followed by a proud-looking Sunburst. "I made a new friend! Well- we made a new friend, as in Sunburst and me."
"That's fantastic news," replied Twilight, feeling proud.
"She's great!" Starlight smiled giddily.
"Great!"
"She's powerful," added Sunburst.
"Powerful?"
"She's-" Starlight and Sunburst almost said when...
"Hello... Your Majesties!" The prince and princess looked to the doorway and there stood a soft blue unicorn mare with a silvery-blue mane underneath a purple wizardly hat and garbed with a matching cape as she tipped her hat back to give them a... friendly smile.
"Trixie?!" Twilight was aghast.
"Oh no..." Midnight whispered wearily.