Morning came and Sunset Shimmer woke up, she saw Arcana was already awake and reading a book,
"Couldn't sleep?" Sunset Shimmer asked,
"Not really." Arcana replied,
"Well, I have school today, so I have to get going, I'll be back this afternoon." Sunset Shimmer stated,
"You're still in school?" Robin questioned,
"What's wrong with that? High school's fun." Sunset Shimmer answered,
"I think you would have a job by now." Paladin remarked,
"I do, I work at a restaurant." Sunset Shimmer replied,
"School and work, sounds tough." Robin said,
"It's not too bad. What about you three, what do you three do for a living?" Sunset Shimmer asked,
"I sell grape juice and wine." Arcana replied,
"Bodyguard work for anybody who has enough money to hire me." Paladin stated,
"I appraise old antiques." Robin added,
"So, you three are busy, too." Sunset Shimmer remarked,
"I'm only open on Sundays." Arcana replied,
"Me too." Robin added,
"What about you Paladin?" Sunset Shimmer questioned,
"I'm always available, most ponies don't hire me, though." Paladin replied,
"Is there a reason?" Sunset Shimmer inquired,
"They hire royal guards and Wonderbolts instead, I'm called in when they fail." Paladin answered,
"Oh, I guess that does make sense." Sunset Shimmer remarked, knocking was heard at the door,
"Are you guys awake?" Twilight Sparkle asked,
"Come in." Paladin responded, and she entered and walked to Sunset Shimmer and Arcana while staggering and limping,
"I've been wondering, how did you two become rivals?" Twilight Sparkle asked,
"Is there a reason why you want to know?" Arcana asked,
"It's just that... when I was training to be Princess Celestia's student, I was by myself, I didn't have any rivals." Twilight Sparkle answered,
"Wait, you didn't have to compete with anypony?" Sunset Shimmer asked,
"No." Twilight Sparkle replied, Sunset Shimmer and Arcana looked at one another and then back at her,
"Back then, Princess Celestia searched all of Equestria for powerful magic users, she sent us letters inviting us to Canterlot, we arrived, and we began doing magic spells in hopes that we will impress her and become her personal student." Arcana explained,
"Really? She just came to me personally and took me in." Twilight Sparkle stated,
"I think I know why she only took you in, some of the rivalries got violent." Sunset Shimmer replied,
"Really?" Twilight Sparkle asked,
"Yes, there was a lot of fighting and brawls, alongside magic battles, I wasn't the only one sent to the hospital." Arcana replied,
"Wow, I never knew." Twilight Sparkle remarked,
"Well, I have to get to class, I'll be going now." Sunset Shimmer said, and she left,
"Don't you have stuff to do, too, your highness?" Robin asked,
"Actually, yes, I have to run the School of Friendship, thanks for reminding me." Twilight Sparkle replied, and she left.
Sunset Shimmer was trotting through Ponyville and making her way to the mirror,
"Sunset, wait." Twilight Sparkle said as she tried to trot but staggered and limped, Sunset Shimmer turned around and faced her,
"Why didn't you ever mention Arcana or having a rival to be Princess Celestia's student?" Twilight Sparkle asked,
"I completely forgot until she showed up yesterday." Sunset Shimmer replied,
"Oh, right, you didn't remember her." Twilight Sparkle stated,
"Yeah, I forgot I had rivals, too." Sunset Shimmer added,
"Okay, just wanted to know, I'll see you this afternoon." Twilight Sparkle said, and the two went their separate ways.
Paladin, Arcana, and Robin had breakfast and meditated, knocking was heard at the door and they walked to it, Paladin opened the door and saw Apple Bloom with Scootaloo to her right and Sweetie Belle to her left,
"How can we help you guys?" Arcana asked,
"Can you teach us your moves?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"Hold on, how old are you three?" Paladin asked,
"Ten." Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle replied together,
"Eleven." Apple Bloom added,
"Sorry, but you three are too old." Robin stated,
"What? Oh, come on, please?" Apple Bloom asked,
"Pretty, pretty please?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"You three are almost teenagers, ponies in our home begin training when they're four." Robin explained, the Cutie Mark Crusaders groaned,
"Well, can y'all three teach us the basics?" Apple Bloom asked,
"You three have a client that involves the things we do?" Arcana questioned,
"Wait, you know about us?" Scootaloo asked,
"Of course, you guys are known throughout all of Equestria." Robin replied,
"Well, we do get a few clients that do involve joining the royal guard and making potions sometimes." Apple Bloom said,
"Sure, I can teach you about poison, but we're divided up by pony type in Dreaming Paradise, so Scootaloo, you come with me, Apple Bloom, you're with Paladin, and Sweetie Belle, you'll be with Arcana." Robin remarked,
"Great! Can we start now?" Apple Bloom asked,
"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to teach you three a few things." Paladin replied,
"Yay!" the Cutie Mark Crusaders cheered,
"Well, let's get started." Arcana said, and they did.
Paladin got her sword and shield while Apple Bloom watched,
"Alright, earth pony training in Dreaming Paradise is the most basic of the three trainings, that doesn't mean it's the easiest, though, we start with hoof-to-hoof combat." Paladin stated,
"Ah think Ah get that, just punches, kicks, and bucks." Apple Bloom responded,
"No, there's more, you have to learn grabs, grapples, and throws, too." Paladin added,
"Can you please not hit me?" Apple Bloom shuddered,
"Don't worry, hitting foals isn't my thing." Paladin responded, Apple Bloom sighed with relief,
"You scared the entire town yesterday when you sent Princess Twilight flyin' with one hit yesterday." Apple Bloom said,
"Yeah, that happens to almost all of my opponents." Paladin replied,
"Actually, Ah was here hopin' to see ya use yer sword." Apple Bloom stated,
"Oh, sure, I use it a bit in real battle." Paladin replied, and she unsheathed it, it was a double-edged broadsword with a straight blade, the blade was silver while the entire handle and guards were black,
"Is yer sword enchanted?" Apple Bloom asked,
"No." Paladin replied,
"Then how do you deal with magical opponents?" Apple Bloom asked,
"Believe me, I have my ways, now then." Paladin replied, and she swung her sword down, she left a big line in the ground, she did horizontal and diagonal slashes afterwards,
"It's pretty basic." Apple Bloom said,
"It's a part of our training, earth ponies are trained to overpower our enemies and smash through their guards with our strength." Paladin replied,
"How do you build strength?" Apple Bloom asked,
"Well, first off, you're going to need a suit of armor." Paladin replied, and it appeared,
"Thanks, Arcana." Paladin responded, Arcana smiled, Paladin focused on Apple Bloom,
"Alright, let's get you suited up." Paladin stated, and she put the armor on Apple Bloom, she grunted from its weight and fell over,
"That's common for first timers, the entire suit of armor's sixty pounds, it's going to take a while before your body gets used to it." Paladin stated, Apple Bloom grunted as she struggled to get up, she fell again,
"This thing's heavy." Apple Bloom stated, and she stood up after a while,
"There, first part of our training, moving in the armor and getting used to it, we'll start with walking." Paladin said, and the two walked while Apple Bloom could barely move, she walked slowly while Paladin watched and waited for her to catch up, she did after about a minute and panted,
"Can you still move?" Paladin asked,
"A little bit." Apple Bloom replied,
"Alright, you have to run now." Paladin stated, Apple Bloom's eyes widened, Paladin ran just fine while Apple Bloom tried running and ran out of breath after a few seconds,
"This is only the basics, true strength training begins after you get used to the armor." Paladin said,
"How?" Apple Bloom asked, Arcana made another suit of armor appear on her back, Apple Bloom grunted as she struggled not to fall,
"You'll have to walk, run, and jump with another suit of armor on your back, after that, you carry weapons." Paladin explained,
"Ya mean yer sword and shield, right?" Apple Bloom asked,
"Not just a sword and a shield, you'll be carrying daggers, spears, battleaxes, war hammers, maces, a quiver full of arrows, a bow, and crossbows, too." Paladin replied,
"Wait, so it's not just sword and shield?" Apple Bloom asked,
"Nope, I've been trained in many weapons." Paladin replied,
"Can Ah watch ya?" Apple Bloom asked,
"Sure." Paladin replied, Apple Bloom smiled while Arcana made another sword, another shield, two daggers, two spears, two battleaxes, two war hammers, two maces, a quiver, arrows, a bow, and two crossbows appear.
Paladin did a few swings and stabs with her sword while holding her shield in front of her, she threw her shield forward,
"Why'd ya do that for, Paladin?" Apple Bloom asked,
"Distraction, my shield's hard enough to be used as a weapon, throwing it can stun your enemies, the corners are sharp, too." Paladin replied, and she unsheathed the other sword,
"Wait, ya can use two of each weapon?" Apple Bloom asked,
"Yup, we're trained to dual wield, too." Paladin responded, and she swung her swords back and forth, she blocked with one sword and stabbed forward with the other one, she spun around and did a horizontal slash with her two swords, she put them down and got her shield and picked up the other shield, she blocked with both of them and charged forward, she also pretended to bash her opponent with them. Paladin put down one shield and got a spear, she blocked with the shield and stabbed the spear forward, she put down the shield and got a sword, she did vertical slashes with the spear and horizontal slashes with the sword, she put it down and got her other spear, she spun them around to her sides and then began stabbing forward with both spears. She put them down while Apple Bloom clapped, she got a sword and a dagger and began swinging them diagonally, she put the sword down and got a shield, she did a bash and then stabbed her dagger forward, she put the shield down and got a spear, she slid the dagger's handle onto the bottom of the spear and they connected, she spun it around in front of herself and over her own head,
"Ah wanna see ya do that with two of 'em." Apple Bloom stated,
"That's not possible, they'll end up hitting one another." Paladin responded,
"Oh." Apple Bloom said, Paladin took the two apart and replaced the spear with another dagger, she swung them around and stabbed them forward, she put them down and picked up a battleaxe, she did slow swings but she heard the wind go past it, she picked up a sword and did diagonal slashes,
"I would show you a move, but I need a volunteer for it." Paladin said,
"What is it?" Apple Bloom asked,
"If I dual wield a sword or dagger with my axe, I can use my axe to pull them forward and stab them with the sword or dagger." Paladin replied,
"What about the spear?" Apple Bloom asked,
"The spear's longer than the axe." Paladin explained,
"Oh." Apple Bloom said,
"Well, back to showing what I can do." Paladin stated, and she replaced the dagger with a spear, she did a vertical slash with the axe and diagonal slashes with the spear, she exhaled since swinging the battleaxe with one hoof took a lot of energy, she replaced the spear with a shield,
"This is the same with the sword or dagger, Apple Bloom, I can use my axe to drag my opponent towards me and bash them with my shield." Paladin spoke, and she threw the shield and proceeded to do a vertical slash with her axe. She picked up the other battleaxe and swung the two down at the same time, she swung the two in the same directions at the same time, she did a spin and a horizontal slash with the two. Paladin put the two down and picked up a war hammer, she swung it down and did horizontal and vertical slashes,
"Dual wielding other weapons with the war hammer do the same moves as the axe, Apple Bloom, so we'll skip it. The war hammer is the bane of many ponies' existences because the flat end here can break and smash shields and armor into pieces, and the tooth on the other end can be used to grab and pull opponents like the battleaxe." Paladin explained, she picked up the other war hammer and swung the two around, she did the same moves that she did when she dual wielded the battleaxes. She put them down and picked up a mace, she swung it down and horizontally,
"This also scares people, Apple Bloom, like the hammer, the mace can also shatter shields and armor." Paladin said, and she picked up a sword, she did a quick hit with the mace and a horizontal slash with the sword,
"What was that supposed to be?" Apple Bloom asked,
"One of its moves, I hit the opponent on the head with the mace to stun them, and then a horizontal slash with the sword to cut their head off." Paladin replied, she put the sword down and picked up the second mace,
"What about the other weapons?" Apple Bloom questioned,
"Same moves as the axe and hammer." Paladin answered, and she began stabbing the maces forward, Apple Bloom looked and saw the maces had spikes on their tops. Paladin picked up the bow and began firing the arrows,
"We don't dual wield when using the bow for obvious reasons." Paladin stated, she fired at the trees and put it down, she picked up a crossbow and aimed it, she shot it and hit a tree, she reloaded it and picked up a shield, she fired it while blocking, she put the shield down and picked up a war hammer, she held the war hammer out and acted like she was pulling someone forward with the tooth,
"What are ya doin', Paladin?" Apple Bloom asked,
"Another move, I can use the axe and hammer to pull my opponent forward and stab them with the arrow on the crossbow." Paladin replied, she put the war hammer down and got the other crossbow, she proceeded to stab with them and fired the arrows. She finished showing off what she could do and Apple Bloom clapped,
"Thank you." Paladin spoke,
"Ya must be tired after all of that." Apple Bloom replied,
"Actually, no, I can do more, I had a lot of fun doing that, come on, Apple Bloom, let's train you a little more." Paladin responded, and they began walking together.
Robin stood with Scootaloo and they faced each other,
"Can I see your daggers?" Scootaloo asked, Robin took them out of her coat,
"Here." Robin said, and Scootaloo looked at them, they were double-edged,
"How did you make that thing come out of the handle?" Scootaloo asked,
"The bullet? The handle's a gun, you should feel a trigger on one of the sides." Robin replied,
"I do." Scootaloo stated,
"That fires it, the handles have motion and touch sensors in them so the wielder doesn't end up shooting themselves, just do what I did, point the bottom of the handle to where you wanna fire and pull the trigger up with your hoof." Robin explained, Scootaloo pointed the flat pommel and pulled the trigger up, it did not fire,
"Huh?" Scootaloo exclaimed,
"Oh, sorry, I forgot to reload them, it fires one bullet at a time." Robin explained, and she took them, she took two small bullets out of her trouser pockets and put them into the pommels, she handed them back,
"There, go ahead and try it now." Robin said, and Scootaloo fired the bullets, she jumped back, blinked, and bit her own teeth down hard from the loudness of the gunshot,
"Yeah, the gunshot will take some time to get used to, some of my other weapons are even louder, though." Robin said,
"How did you electrify the blades?" Scootaloo asked,
"There's a button near the guards under the blade, push it to activate it, it makes this battery built into the handle transfer its voltage into the blade, I mainly use it to stun people, but you can also stab it into your opponent to fry them from the inside." Robin explained, Scootaloo cringed at the thought, she pushed the two buttons and blue electricity appeared on the blades, she looked on with awe and handed the daggers back to Robin,
"You used something on Twilight's neck yesterday, too." Scootaoo said, Robin took the garotte out of her coat,
"This is a garotte, it is used to strangle people." Robin said,
"Do you have hidden weapons in that?" Scootaloo asked,
"No." Robin replied, and she put it back in her coat,
"Can I see your rings?" Scootaloo asked, Robin unfolded her wings and Scootaloo could not see them, she looked from the side and saw the spikes,
"Okay, I see them now." Scootaloo stated,
"They have been painted to be the exact same color as my body to camouflage them, Princess Twilight was really caught off-guard yesterday when I got her with them." Robin explained,
"Yeah, I saw that." Scootaloo replied,
"I have many different colors of these, they're for my disguises." Robin said,
"Wait, disguises?" Scootaloo asked,
"Uh-huh, the Pegasi of Dreaming Paradise are trained in stealth, our training is the hardest one." Robin replied,
"Can I see your lipstick?" Scootaloo asked, Robin reached into her pants and took it out,
"Uh..." Scootaloo said,
"Relax, I have pockets on the inside of my pants, see." Robin replied as she unfolded part of her pants down and showed Scootaloo the pocket on the inside. Scootaloo took the lipstick and opened the capsule, she saw the hole in the center of it, she remembered how Robin used it and aimed it. She turned the tube at the bottom and it fired, the bullet went into a tree,
"Like my daggers, that's a single bullet gun, too." Robin said, and Scootaloo returned it to her and she put it back in her inner trouser pocket,
"What about your last weapon?" Scootaloo asked,
"Which one?" Robin asked,
"Um... I don't know what it's called, but you took something out from your stomach region." Scootaloo replied,
"You mean this?" Robin asked as she lifted her vest up and showed the white belly band,
"Yeah." Scootaloo replied,
"This is a belly band, it also acts as a holster for me to carry more things." Robin explained,
"I still wanna see that last weapon you used yesterday." Scootaloo stated, Robin took out her pistol,
"This is a pistol, I usually don't use this because of how loud it is, it'll attract enemies." Robin explained,
"Then why do you carry it?" Scootaloo asked,
"Last resort, it can also be used to let my friends know where I'm at." Robin replied,
"Oh. What else do you have?" Scootaloo asked,
"I can't do that, it won't be a secret if I tell you what other weapons I have." Robin replied, Scootaloo looked and saw something on the left side of her abdomen,
"I see something there on the left side of the belly band there." Scootaloo spoke, Robin reached in and took out a knife,
"That doesn't look like a normal knife." Scootaloo said,
"It isn't, this is a ballistic knife." Robin replied,
"What's it do?" Scootaloo asked, Robin put it back in the pouch and put her vest down,
"You'll just have to wait and see me use it in battle." Robin replied,
"Okay." Scootaloo lamented,
"Well, aside from that, I'm willing to share what us Pegasi have to do for training." Robin stated,
"What were you doing yesterday morning?" Scootaloo asked,
"Flips, all Pegasi of Dreaming Paradise have to be flexible, agile, and acrobatic, and if you saw me at the farm yesterday, that is also a part of our training, we have to be able to take things from others without them noticing, alongside being pickpockets, we also have to learn freerunning and parkour." Robin replied,
"Wow, that's a lot." Scootaloo said,
"It is, but there's still more." Robin responded,
"I wanna learn those later, I wanna learn how you got all flexible and acrobatic." Scootaloo said,
"Alright, first training for the Pegasus, we start with stretches." Robin replied, and they stretched.
Robin stretched her legs as far as they could stretch while Scootaloo copied her, she reeled up on her hind legs while she grabbed her own head with her front hoofs and stretched her back to the sides, she then stretched her upper body back and touched her own hind hoofs with her front hoofs, she looked and saw Scootaloo grunting while trying to reach her hind hoofs,
"Whoa!" Scootaloo exclaimed as she fell over,
"Keep trying, your body will adjust eventually." Robin said,
"How does your hat not fall off?" Scootaloo asked,
"It's on tight." Robin replied,
"What about your weapons?" Scootaloo asked,
"I have straps and holsters to secure them." Robin replied,
"Oh." Scootaloo said, and she tried bending her upper body back again, she grunted as she tried to touch her own hind hoofs, she could not reach and fell again,
"Yeah, keep working on that, you need to be flexible before you can start doing acrobats." Robin stated, and she bent back forward and sighed,
"What's the agility test?" Scootaloo asked,
"Obstacle courses, that involves acrobats sometimes, too." Robin replied,
"Can I see?" Scootaloo asked,
"Of course." Robin replied, and she ran while Scootaloo followed her.
Robin walked around and looked for an area to train while Scootaloo followed her,
"Here's a good starting spot." Robin stated, and Scootaloo saw a bunch of trees. Robin began running and went around the trees and came back,
"Wow, I can do that." Scootaloo said, and she did the same thing,
"Good job, but you've still got some work to do before you're at my level." Robin stated,
"What's the next test?" Scootaloo asked,
"Actually, there are several ways to do this, I'll show you what it looks like when I do freerunning and parkour." Robin replied, and she ran and jumped and placed her hind left leg on the first tree, she sprung herself up with her leg and grabbed a tree branch on the second tree, she swung above it and let go, she did a back flip while in mid air and landed on a tree branch on the third tree, she jumped and did another back flip and landed on a tree branch on the fourth tree, she jumped to her right and grabbed another tree branch, she swung herself to the right and was on the other side of the tree, she landed on another tree branch and then did a somersault and landed on a tree branch of the third tree, she jumped and landed on a branch on the second tree, she dropped down and hung off, she swung forward and jumped, she grabbed a branch on the first tree and then did a back flip while jumping down.
Scootaloo clapped while Robin walked back to her,
"That was amazing!" Scootaloo cheered,
"Thank you." Robin replied,
"What else does Pegasi training include?" Scootaloo asked,
"Lock picking, you have a lock?" Robin asked,
"You can try my house, let's go." Scootaloo replied, and they ran. Robin arrived at Scootaloo's house and she locked the door from the inside. Robin took two lock picks out of her vest pockets and picked the lock, she opened the door,
"Wow, you got the door open." Scootaloo stated,
"Yes, but I have a faster way, you need to be outside to see it." Robin responded, and Scootaloo walked outside. Robin locked the door and closed it, she took out her ballistic knife and placed it in the gap between the door and the wall, she moved the latch back with the knife's blade and then opened the door,
"Whoa!" Scootaloo exclaimed,
"Anything else you wanna know?" Robin asked,
"What else can you do?" Scootaloo asked,
"Voice mimicry." Robin replied in Scootaloo's voice, Scootaloo's jaw dropped,
"How about this voice?" Robin asked in Twilight Sparkle's voice,
"I can do this one, too, partner." Robin spoke in Apple Bloom's voice,
"This one too, darling." Robin said in Rarity's voice,
"Pretty awesome, isn't it?" Robin asked in Rainbow Dash's voice,
"Yeah, but that's kind of scary." Scootaloo replied,
"It has a drawback, though, since I'm female, I can only mimic female voices." Robin explained in her regular voice,
"Can you do Spike's voice?" Scootaloo asked, Robin warmed up her vocal chords and tried but she sounded nothing like him,
"Nope." Robin replied,
"Well, that was cool to know, Robin, but I need to take a break." Scootaloo remarked,
"When you get better, I can teach you the training we learn in flight." Robin replied,
"Um... about that, my wings are stunted, I can't fly." Scootaloo said,
"That's fine, there are some acrobats that don't require flying, let's go back now." Robin replied, and the two walked back.
Arcana was sitting with her hind legs crossed and her front hoofs pressed against each other with Sweetie Belle watching her,
"Unicorn training in Dreaming Paradise is mostly mental, but mental training can be overwhelming and exhaust those who are unprepared, the first thing we learn in our training is controlling the four elements of nature." Arcana explained,
"How do I do that?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"Simple, meditate like me, you need to imagine yourself as the element itself to control it." Arcana replied, and Sweetie Belle did. She meditated and closed her eyes as tightly as she could,
"Now imagine yourself as one of the four elements you wish to control." Arcana said, and Sweetie Belle imagined herself as the ground,
"You choose your element?" Arcana asked,
"Earth." Sweetie Belle replied,
"Alright, now feel like you are the earth itself, and cast a spell when you are ready." Arcana said, and Sweetie Belle focused while trying to imagine herself as part of the earth, she tried casting a spell and her magic aura turned yellow, she made a piece of the ground erupt. She opened her eyes and looked, she became awestruck when she saw what she did,
"Once when you get to my level, you'll be able to control the four elements without needing to meditate, you meditate because it disconnects your soul from your body, and lets you float into other things, by letting your soul go into the elements, you become the element itself." Arcana explained,
"What about the wood and metal I see you use?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"That's for a completely different set of elements." Arcana replied,
"Wait, there's more?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"There's a total of seven elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Wood, Metal, and Void." Arcana explained,
"What's void?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"Spiritual feelings, it's mostly known as Aether, but we call it Void, they are things beyond our control in everyday experiences, when you master Void, you can sense your surroundings without thinking or feeling." Arcana explained,
"I've never seen you use it." Sweetie Belle said,
"Actually, I did use it yesterday, void magic involves magic that controls the dead, that includes soul magic and necromancy." Arcana explained,
"I wanna see wood and metal magic." Sweetie Belle stated,
"They fall under earth magic when using the four elements." Arcana replied,
"What else can you cast?" Sweetie Belle asked, Arcana did a spell and the grass turned into knife blades, she changed them back and cast a spell on Sweetie Belle,
"*scream* I can't see!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, she moved around a bit,
"I can't feel anything, either!" Sweetie Belle shouted, she then felt a tingling in her head,
"I am contacting you telepathically, I don't use this spell often, the spell I cast on you takes away your senses." Arcana explained, Sweetie Belle stood still in shock and Arcana returned them to her,
"That's a scary spell." Sweetie Belle remarked,
"If you're scared, I have Tarot cards that I can use to change your behavior." Arcana replied,
"No, I'm fine." Sweetie Belle said,
"Alright, I'll go ahead and show you the astral plane, meditate now." Arcana stated, and the two did. Arcana floated in the air while Sweetie Belle sat on the ground,
"Disconnect your soul from your body, enter a dreamlike state, when you do, you will enter the astral plane." Arcana explained with her voice echoing, and Sweetie Belle focused. She meditated and felt like she was about to fall asleep after about twenty minutes, her vision became light blue and she felt herself flying into a portal, she looked and saw twelve animals in a circle around her, they were a rat, an ox, a tiger, a rabbit, a dragon, a snake, a horse, a goat, a monkey, a rooster, a dog, and a pig, they all spun in a clockwise direction around her. She looked and saw the constellations Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius form under the twelve animals, they spun in a clockwise formation as well, a stream of fire, a stream of water, a mound of dirt, a gust of wind, a log, a piece of metal, and a light blue flame formed under the constellations and spun as well, Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, and White Tiger under the elements with Black Tortoise in the north, Azure Dragon in the east, Vermilion Bird in the south, and White Tiger in the west, they did not spin around, Yellow Dragon appeared in the center of Sweetie Belle's vision, his eyes glowed and he growled and she flew past the things that appeared before her.
Sweetie Belle flew forward and entered the astral plane, she saw a light blue aura everywhere alongside constellations floating around, she saw land up ahead and landed on it,
"Wow, this is a unique place." Sweetie Belle remarked,
"You there, what brings you here to my realm?" Yellow Dragon asked with a deep and booming voice,
"Um, Arcana was just showing me what the place looks like." Sweetie Belle replied,
"The astral plane is not a place to play, this is a place for creatures to strengthen their mental abilities." Yellow Dragon explained,
"How?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"It is quiet in here, we can meditate with no distractions." Arcana replied,
"Can I see the rest of the place?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"You may, but if you cause trouble, I will throw you out." Yellow Dragon replied,
"I promise, Yellow Dragon, she won't, come on, Sweetie Belle." Arcana assured, and they used telekinesis on themselves.
Arcana and Sweetie Belle flew up and looked on in awe at the astral plane,
"This is the very center of the astral plane, there's more if you travel out." Arcana stated, Sweetie Belle looked and saw the north was covered in snow and there was a blizzard blowing with water floating in the sky, the east had flowers blooming and leaves growing, there was wood growing out of some of the flowers, the west had leaves on the ground with more blowing through the air, the dead trees had metal growing out of their branches, and the south was a beach environment with palm trees, a bright sun, and fire as its ocean. Sweetie Belle looked around more and saw the outer astral plane had water floating above the ground and the sky and clouds below it, the avian animals were flying in the water and the marine animals were swimming in the sky,
"Can I see the rest?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"Sorry, but I'm just showing you what the place looks like, let's go back now." Arcana replied, and they did.
Sweetie Belle and Arcana arrived back in Ponyville and opened their eyes',
"What did you think?" Arcana asked,
"That place was beautiful." Sweetie Belle replied, Arcana smiled,
"Anything else you want to know?" Arcana questioned,
"I wanna learn how to make potions." Sweetie Belle answered,
"Sorry, but alchemy and potion making is Pegasi training, I did some self studying when I was Sunset's rival, but the potion I can make is very unstable." Arcana explained,
"Still, the thought of you being a princess and an alicorn is kind of scary." Sweetie Belle said,
"I only wanted to become Princess Celestia's student so I could improve my magic, I couldn't care less about being an alicorn or princess even if I wanted to." Arcana replied,
"Still, though." Sweetie Belle remarked,
"Anything else you want to know?" Arcana asked,
"What other types of magic do you have?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"Black magic and white magic, my healing spell is white magic, my four element magic falls under black magic." Arcana explained,
"Wow, I never knew." Sweetie Belle remarked,
"Well, now you do." Arcana answered,
"Well, that's all we have to teach you three, go on now." Paladin said, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders left and waved bye at them, the three waved back while Arcana and Robin smiled, Paladin's helmet concealed her face,
"You know word's gonna spread, right?" Robin asked,
"I don't think any harm will be done." Arcana replied,
"Yeah, plus, foals might develop an interest in our trainings, come on now, let's get ready for Sunset Shimmer's return." Paladin responded, and they went back into the house.
Sunset Shimmer was having lunch with her friends in the school,
"Did you see who wanted to see you, Sunset?" Fluttershy asked,
"Yeah, I did." Sunset Shimmer replied,
"Who was it?" Twilight Sparkle asked,
"A unicorn named Arcana." Sunset Shimmer answered,
"Judging by yer voice, she don't sound like a friend of yers" Applejack stated,
"Actually, I had rivals before I became Princess Celestia's student and had to compete with them, she was my biggest rival." Sunset Shimmer explained, her friends gasped,
"You never mentioned you had a rival." Rarity said,
"That's because I completely forgot about her until she showed up yesterday." Sunset Shimmer replied,
"So, what's the history between you two?" Rainbow Dash asked,
"Um..." Sunset Shimmer said as she remembered,
"You wanted to be Princess Celestia's student, but Arcana's magic far surpassed yours, so when you two were about to do a contest to impress Princess Celestia, you messed with chemicals that caused an explosion and sent her to the hospital, and now she's back to see you so she can get back at you." Pinkie Pie explained, she smiled while Sunset Shimmer's jaw dropped,
"How did you know?" Sunset Shimmer asked,
"Just a hunch." Pinkie Pie replied,
"How have things been so far?" Twilight Sparkle asked,
"Alright, I've been proving to Arcana that I've changed my ways, I'm going to head back to Ponyville after school." Sunset Shimmer replied,
"Well, finish your lunch, I'm guessing you forgot to do yesterday's homework." Twilight Sparkle remarked,
"Oh, shoot, I did, thanks for reminding me." Sunset Shimmer replied, and she finished lunch and worked on her homework, the school day finished and she went into the mirror and headed back to Ponyville.
Sunset Shimmer arrived in Ponyville and trotted outside, she saw Twilight Sparkle and her friends were still teaching at the School of Friendship,
"Huh. I guess the school day is longer here." Sunset Shimmer remarked, and she trotted more. She trotted to where Arcana was staying while the ponies got on with their days,
"Sunset!" Scootaloo hollered as she ran to her,
"I learned that Robin's belly band also contains a knife, she can use it to open locked doors." Scootaloo informed,
"I thought I noticed something else in that thing on her stomach." Sunset Shimmer replied,
"She also said that the thing she used to choke Twilight doesn't have any hidden weapons in it." Scootaloo said,
"I see, anything else?" Sunset Shimmer asked,
"Well, that's all I know of her weapons." Scootaloo replied,
"It's alright, thanks, Scootaloo." Sunset Shimmer said, and the two went their separate ways. Sunset Shimmer walked more and saw Apple Bloom up ahead,
"Sunset, Ah learned that Paladin can use more than just swords and shields, she also uses spears, axes, hammers, maces, bow and arrows, and crossbows." Apple Bloom informed,
"Anything else?" Sunset Shimmer asked,
"She can dual wield and knows hoof-to-hoof combat, too." Apple Bloom replied,
"Alright, I'll keep that in mind, thanks, Apple Bloom." Sunset Shimmer said, and she walked past her and saw Sweetie Belle up ahead,
"Sunset, Arcana taught me how to control nature." Sweetie Belle said as she ran to her,
"Really? How?" Sunset Shimmer asked,
"She said you have to meditate and imagine yourself as that element, she talked about how it involves disconnecting your soul from your body and transferring it into other stuff." Sweetie Belle replied,
"Oh, well, I'm not very good at stuff like that." Sunset Shimmer responded,
"She also showed me the astral plane, it was a beautiful place." Sweetie Belle said,
"That's good to hear, I'll try it later, thanks for telling me how her magic works." Sunset Shimmer replied,
"Wait, there's more, there's actually seven elements, Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Wood, Metal, and Void, her healing spell is white magic, and her combat spells are black magic." Sweetie Belle explained,
"Alright, thanks, you and your two friends, I'll be going to see them now." Sunset Shimmer replied, and she trotted to them.