Hope and Shadows
Chapter 14 “A New Teacher, A New Student.”
By Steven Little
My Little Pony © Hasbro
Most of the rest of that day was devoted to moving the royal family into the new, or rather, newly rebuilt palace. Celestia moved back into her old room, as did Luna with Twilight. Dawn and Dusk got their own rooms on the lower floor. Celestia insisted that Kirin stay in the room directly to the right of hers and after a certain amount of hesitation on his part, he agreed. Even with the new ponies moving in there was still room for a good number of guests to stay if need be. The entirety of the old palace could house all of Ponyville if needed though the Royal family fervently hoped that would never be necessary. Celestia had to leave to address some issues with court. While she was gone, Kirin spent most of his time in the library. He had helped Twilight and Luna to move much of their personal collection into the palace to fill the many empty shelves. Luna and Celestia had promised Twilight that when they had a chance, many of the books from the royal library in Canterlot would be moved to the new palace.
While arranging the furniture in their room, Luna flopped down on the bed, exhausted. “Tired?” Twilight asked as she collapsed beside her, allowing the plush mattress to cradle her in its soft embrace.
“Just a bit,” she said with a sigh. “Today’s activities have been exhausting. Hopefully if we need to contact Mother again, we won’t have to use my mind; having all those ponies in my mind at the same time is fatiguing.”
“Well at least the day is near over.” Twilight said, trying to reassure her. “As soon as Celestia returns, we can have dinner and relax.”
“You have no idea how I wish that were true.” Luna told her. “We still have to arrange for supplies to be brought to the Palace and I still haven’t broken the news to Commander Stormwing that I’m asking Apple Bloom to pick out the guards that will be stationed here and that’s all on top of…”
Twilight put a hoof to her wife’s mouth the quiet her. “All of that can wait until tomorrow.” She said, getting to her hooves. Twilight nudged Luna in the side with her nose. “Come on, up, we still have a few boxes to unpack and the kids will be here soon with their own belongings.”
Luna and Twilight had just returned to their pile of boxes at the bottom of the stairs when Celestia materialized next to hem. “Sister, what kept you for so long?” Luna asked her.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help with your move from the library, I had matters to attend to back in Canterlot.” She explained.
“Is everything okay?” Twilight asked, concerned.
“Exceptionally.” Celestia remarked. “I have informed the court of the restored castle and that we shall be making it our home from this day forward.”
“How’d they take the news?” Luna asked.
“Not well, which made it all the more enjoyable.” The alabaster Princess said with a smirk. “In no uncertain terms, I made it clear that the old palace was our home now and not a place of business; unless there is a matter of grave concern, we are not to be disturbed. I assured them that each and every day, Luna or myself would attend to court in Canterlot so the nobility and heads of state need not worry; the day-to-day affairs of the country would not be interrupted.”
“Did you inform the castle staff as well? I do hope the move won’t disrupt their lives too much.” Luna said.
“I did and I was quite taken aback by how overjoyed many of them were to get away from the hustle and bustle of Canterlot, even Chef Scoltsburg remarked how excited he was to arrange a kitchen the way he wanted instead of taking over from his predecessor, he also wanted me to let you know how much he missed your late night raids on the kitchen.”
“Luna, you didn’t?” Twilight remarked.
“Night court could be quite trying at times and I needed to refresh myself with the occasional treat, I see nothing wrong with it.” She said in her defense.
“The last time, you refreshed yourself with an entire double layer, chocolate and custard cake.” Celestia accused.
Twilight couldn’t help but laugh at her wife’s past antics. “I always knew Dawn got her love of sweets from you.”
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Dinner that evening was plain but wholesome; Chef Scoltsburg and his staff would not arrive till early the next morning so until then, they were on their own. Twilight would not let Princess Celestia near the kitchens; her past attempts at cooking had been less that exemplary. After their meal, each of the ponies went to bed early wanting to give themselves plenty of time the next day to get ready for the wedding. Hours after going to bed, Kirin was still up pacing in his room. Trying to wear himself out, he stopped mid-pace, hearing an odd noise coming from the hall outside his door. Walking over to the door he poked his head out into the hall. His ears swivel around trying to find the source when he pinpointed it. He stepped out into the hall and found the noise was coming from Celestia's room. He stood there for a moment and was about to knock on the door when a dark purple hoof stopped him. "Interrupting at this point would not be the best idea."
"Princess Luna. I didn't mean to intrude on anything. It's just I heard…”
"Crying, yes." Luna sighed. "She's been doing a lot of that this evening, I've caught her several time when she thought no pony was looking."
"Is she hurt? It's not because of me I hope." Kirin said.
"Yes, I'm afraid it is because of you but not in the way you think." Luna motioned for him to follow her. "Come, let's talk in the unused room down the hall." They walked over to the room and closed the door behind them. Luna motioned for him to sit on the couch against the wall while she laid on the chase lounge on the other side of a small table from him. Luna could see the worried and conflicted look on the crossbreed’s face and sat patiently for him to say whatever it was that weighed heavily on his mind.
“Perchance this wasn’t such a good idea. I didn’t know my presence would cause the Princess grief; perhaps it would be for the best if I took my leave from the castle.” He finally spoke aloud
"Kirin, I don’t ever want to hear you say that again, especially not in front of my sister.” She said sternly.
“I’m sorry your majesty, I meant no offense; I simply did not desire to cause any further harm to your family.” He apologized.
“No, I’m the one who should be sorry, I did not mean to snap at you like that.” She said with a sigh. “Kirin, there's something you should know, something my Mother left out when she showed you your past. Locking you away in stone was possibly the hardest thing Tia had to do. Mother's window made it look like she tricked you and while it didn't bother me so much it absolutely devastated my sister."
"You didn't care Majesty?" Kirin asked.
"Let me rephrase that, I cared in so much that it hurt my sister and I didn't want to cause her pain, but locking you away did cause her such pain. Celestia was emotionally destroyed; she took your statue to her chambers and locked herself away for days at a time. It fell upon me to deal with the country’s operation and to raise and lower the sun and moon. I did all the work and she got all the credit. It just burned me up, no wonder… No, this isn't about me. Tia and I already worked through our issues, this is about you. Sufficed to say, I was gone for a while."
"You were banished to the moon by Princess Celestia for a thousand years because you tried to take over the country. That much I knew, though not why; sorry." Kirin said.
"Don't be and please stop saying sorry for everything, you’re far too apologetic; none of us really had any control over what had happened. The point I'm trying to get to is, that for nearly a thousand years Celestia was alone. When the new castle in Canterlot was built, she had your statue put in a place of honor in the royal garden where she could see it every morning from her balcony. She forced herself to put on a brave face but inside, she was hollow and cold." Luna whipped a tear from her left eye. "For all that time, she never took on another student or another lover for that matter. There were times servants had caught her talking to your statue, sometimes in the middle of the night. Celestia wasn't living; she was going through the motions for the benefit of the country. Then came Twilight Sparkle. Twilight was the first student Celestia had taken under her wing since you. I asked her once, apart from her magic, what made Twilight stick out amongst all the other unicorns at her school."
"What did she say?" Kirin asked.
"Celestia just smiled and told me that Twilight reminded her of both you and me. It was Twilight that freed me of Nightmare Moon's grasp and she also defeated you at your own game, or rather Discord."
"If you were gone, how do you know this?" He asked.
"Twilight told me. When she was still a filly, she happened across Tia's diary. Twilight, being the inquisitive young mare that she was, she couldn't help but read it. From what she told me, Celestia was quite graphic in her description of your meetings. Poor thing got more of an education than she bargained for. But, she told me that it also talked about how she felt after you were gone. I can only imagine that kind of sorrow and regret. But then Discord returned having learned nothing from his imprisonment. Twilight stopped his attempt to take over again and we thought she had sealed you back in your prison. Years later Discord would return again, a bit more humble this time to warn us of impending danger.
"What kind of danger?"
"That's not really the point, and besides, Twilight could explain that part better than I. The important thing is that the knowledge that you were back and that you had started to mend your ways gave Tia new hope but also dragged up those feelings of sorrow. For my part, I admit, I hated Discord even more for hurting Tia again but Celestia reminded me of all the good times we had with you. Good for her maybe.
"Sorry?" He said confused.
"You and Tia were always pulling pranks on me or the guards, but mostly me. I was your two's favorite target. One time Celestia distracted me while you replaced my favorite breakfast with a bowel of strained alfalfa, I hate alfalfa!"
Kirin tried to control his laughing. "Terribly sorry Princess."
"That." She shouted, pointing at him. "That right there is what made it hard to do what Tia thought was necessary. She hoped that below all the hatred, the pain and the thirst for revenge, the old Kirin still existed. But today, she knows she cannot entertain such romantic illusions. The Kirin that you were and the Kirin that you are; she knows they are two different individuals but that doesn't keep her from loving you any less. To her it doesn't matter. She looks at you and all she sees is the magnificent Kirin she fell in love with."
"Princess please, you're making me blush." He said, trying to hide his face behind a claw.
"I will say though, you seem to be a little more open about your feelings." Luna commented with a smile. "Kirin, in all of the confusion, I'm afraid that we neglected to ask how you feel about all of this."
"I don't really know. I woke up this morning pretty sure who I was. I didn't know why I was in the palace, I figured I drank a little too much at the concert. And now I'm told that not only have I been knocking hooves with Princess Celestia but I'm also this monster Discord with a misshapen twisted body. If that's true, then why do I still look the way I always have?"
"It's an illusion, a glamor. It looks and feels real but it's not. You cast it on yourself as part of a deal you made with Dinky Whooves when you swamped her leg for her marefriend’s."
"Yes, how are they by the…" Kirin's expression went blank.
"Are you all right Kirin, what is it?"
"I remembered that. Just then, the whole process even how I did it, my conversation with Dinky and Big Macintosh, its all there!" He said triumphantly.
"That's wonderful Kirin. It seems that little trip down memory lane with my mother is doing some good, your memory already seems to be returning. I'm certain the more emotionally powerful memories will be the first to return, the others with time hopefully." Luna noticed the crestfallen look on his face. "What's the matter?"
"I also remember the argument I had with the Princess. I promised her, back when I escaped from the stone prison. I promised her I would never use that spell again."
"It seems Discord wasn't able to completely wipe my sister from your memory. Do you remember what else happened?"
"I yelled at her. I accused her of breaking her promises. If I close my eyes, I can still see her face, I hurt her. I can see the tears in her eyes threatening to fall. I…" Kirin paused, starting to cry himself. "I don't want this! I don't want to be a monster again! He did it on purpose. He, I said those words to hurt her on purpose. I don't want to be like that." He sobbed.
Luna walked over to the depressed creature and wrapped her hooves around him, hugging him tightly. "Then don't; seeing how this memory pains you proves that you are not Discord, but that does bring up another question, how exactly do you feel about my sister?"
"I don't know." Kirin said, trying to dry his tears. "I feel happy when I'm next to her. If I see her unhappy, I want to do anything I can to cheer her up. When your mother was showing us my past, there were parts I could tell were hurting her, I wanted to wrap my arms around her and hold her tightly."
"Why didn't you?" She asked.
"Because she's Princess Celestia! It was bad enough for me to be sharing that space with her. Somepony like me shouldn't even speak to her let alone have the audacity to touch her."
"But you wanted to didn't you?" She asked.
"Yes, so badly. I wanted to hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay. But I don't know why. I have these feelings every time I see her but I don't know why. We don't have a history I can remember."
"I thought so." Luna said smiling. "Discord was able to wipe out your memories of her but not your feelings for her. For all his intelligence, for all his power, he never really understood what true love really is." She said shaking her head with a slight grin on her face.
"I don't understand." Kirin said.
"Love Kirin, true love is not a memory it's not even a feeling. True love is a power that binds two souls together. It surrounds, penetrates, and unites them as one. That's how it was for Twilight and me and a bond like that cannot be broken, not by a thousand swords, and certainly not by removing your memories. You still love my sister; very much I would hasten to guess. While you still feel the burning passion between the two of you, you've forgotten why; in time I think you'll start to remember again. In the meantime, don't try to force it; hang around Celestia when you can and if something happens, then it happens, don't fell guilty about it and don't let her feel guilty about it either."
"Yes Princess Luna." Kirin said bowing his head.
"And that's another thing, you never use to referred to us by our titles in the past, you really should get used to not using them again. I never cared for mine personally. Can you remember the nickname you used to call my sister?"
Kirin concentrated and racked his brain when only one word would come to him. "Celest."
"I knew Discord couldn't take everything. Well, I'm tired and we have a big day ahead of us. I think we should both get some sleep and I need to get back to Twilight before she suspects I have a marefriend on the side."
"Thank you Prin… Luna. You've given me a lot to think about." They both left the room, Kirin yawning loudly. He watched as Luna flew across the gallery to her own room before he walked toward his own, bleary eyed. Opening the door he walked in and shut it behind him, not noticing the golden sun upon the door.
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The room was dark and he didn't feel like wasting the magic to light the candles. Crossing the floor he yawned again and scratched an itch on his flank. The sound of his yawning seemed to echo in the room waking it's only occupant. "Kirin?"
The half-breed's eyes immediately snapped open and every candle in the room lit at once. Kirin found he had walked into the Princesses room by accident. "Celest!" He said in shock. "I'm so sorry, I was tired, and I must have walked in here by mistake. I'm so sorry, I'll just be going."
"Wait." Celestia reached out a hoof to stop him. "You haven't called me by that name in over a thousand years, why now?" She asked.
"I was having trouble sleeping, your sister Luna was up as well and we talked for a while. I was able to remember something and that name. Luna told me that I used to call you that all the time."
"I will have to have a talk with my sister in the morning." Celestia noticed the concerned look on Kirin's face. "It's nothing bad, I just need to chat with her myself, in the meantime, can I ask a favor of you?"
"Yes of course, anything." Kirin said with a small smile.
"Stay with me tonight, lay here and keep me warm." She pleaded with him. "Nothing untoward just, I want to be close to you right now, if that's all right?"
Kirin smiled slightly and thought to himself. 'Something tells me, I never could say no to her.' He climbed up on the bed next to her and lay down, curling his limbs under him. Celestia wrapped a wing around him and they both lay their heads on the pillow quickly falling asleep.
For the forth time that night Celestia had been woke from her slumber. Kirin was kicking in his sleep. He was either running toward or away from something. Celestia wrapped her legs around him and hugged him close. "I wish I could help you but dreams are Luna's domain, not mine. Hush now darling, calm yourself." She whispered sweetly.
"Angel? Where are you Angel?" Kirin mumbled in his sleep.
Celestia was taken aback slightly, he had called out for her with another name he had not called her since that first time they met and even then he was only partially conscious. "I'm here dearest."
The frantic draconequus seemed to relax and breathe easier. He rolled over and snuggled into her chest. "I missed you Angel." He whispered.
Tears started to silently fall from Celestia's eyes as she laid her head down, nuzzling him in return. "I've missed you as well my beloved."
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The morning was nearing eight and the sun had still not risen above the horizon even though the moon had long set in the west. Twilight, Luna and their children were sitting in the smaller of their two dining rooms. "Mom, can we eat now, I'm starving." Dawn asked.
"I seriously doubt you're going to starve Dawn but if you want, go wake up your Aunt and let her know that it's Spring now not Winter, and the sun should be up at this hour." Luna told her daughter.
Dawn scrambled to get up from the table and trotted to the door. "Better hurry sis or I'm going to eat your breakfast before you get back!" Dusk hollered to her.
"You'd better not!" She snapped back as she galloped out the door.
"Dusk, must you tease your sister so?" Twilight asked.
"Sorry Mother." He said.
Dawn slowed from a gallop to a trot as she approached the door to her Aunt Celestia's room. Tapping the door lightly with a hoof she waited for an answer but none came. Opening the door slowly she peaked in and noticed that the room was still wrapped in the blackness of night. Concentrating hard, Dawn managed to light a quarter of the lamps in the chamber bathing it in a soft light. "Aunt Celestia? Mom says you need to get up and raise the sun before the ponies think she's tried to usurp your throne again."
Celestia raised her head from the pillow and saw her niece staring at her and Kirin from the doorway. "Dawn, please do me the favor of raising the sun for me this morning and tell your mothers that I'll will be down in a short while."
Dawn simply nodded her acknowledgement and slowly pulled her head out of the room, her jaw still hanging open. Shortly after she closed the door she could be heard galloping down the hall. "Moooooooooooooom!"
"Damn, this is just what I need this morning." She said under her breath.
Within a short span of time, both Luna and Twilight had teleported into the room. "Sister, I'm surprised at you. He had most of his memory erased yesterday and you've already gotten him into your bed." Luna said.
"It's not what it looks like, and please, keep your voices down. The poor thing has been tossing and turning all night." Celestia said smiling down at him. She looked back up at her sister and Twilight. "He came in here last night by mistake and I, well, I asked him to stay with me."
Twilight had a disappointed look on her face. "So you slept with him?"
"Don't look at me like that Twilight. Yes, we slept together and that is all we did, sleep. I asked if he would just stay with me, I couldn't help it. I know you read my diary when you lived with me in Canterlot Twilight, you know how long I've waited for him."
"I know Celestia, that's why I couldn't turn him back to stone when he came back. But this, I don't know. I won’t pretend to know anything about memory; I never studied much on the inner workings of the brain past the use of magic. I think it's best if we let the memories come back on their own instead of forcing it."
"I'm sure you are correct my former student but I would ask one thing. Luna, please, no matchmaking shenanigans. If Kirin is to come back to me, I want him to do it on his own terms, not because you encouraged him."
"As you wish Tia; I solemnly swear that I will not encourage him to submit to your lustful desires."
"Luna, you know what I mean!" Celestia practically shouted.
"Yes sister; I promise, I will keep my nose out of it." She said with a small giggle.
"Good, I see Dawn has raised the sun so if you'll excuse me I have somepony to wake." Luna and Twilight closed the door behind them, leaving Celestia alone in the room with Kirin. Crawling back into bed she wrapped a wing around him and kissed him lightly on the forehead. "Kirin sweetheart, it's time to get up." She whispered in his ear.
Kirin blinked his eyes a few time and slowly raised his head. Looking around, he remembered his surroundings. He saw a large white wing draped across him and when he turned his head he was met with Celestia's smiling face. "Uhm. Well, this is awkward."
"Well, we could start with good morning." She said, kissing his nose. "And see where it goes from there."
Kirin blushed then quickly got up from the bed, tripping over his own feet as he stumbled toward the door. "I'm sorry, I can't do this. It was wrong for me to stay here last night."
"It's okay Kirin." She said.
"No, it's not okay. I know what you're trying to do and any other time, I'd be flattered possibly even willing to give in and let it happen but last night while I slept, I had a dream, a moment of clarity.” He told her. “I am not your Kirin; but neither am I Discord."
"Kirin, you don't know what you're saying." Celestia said.
"That's just it, for the first time since I was told my memories had been stolen from me, I finally do understand. My name is Kirin only because I know no other. What memories I do have I can't trust because some demented sociopath decided to play marry hob with our brain. I look at you and I know in my heart that I love you, but I don't know why." Kirin could see the hurt and the pain welling up inside her. "I need to go for a while but I promise, I'll be back before the wedding. I need to sort a few things out for myself and well; the least said the better."
Celestia walked over and hugged him tightly. "Promise me you'll return." She said.
Kirin hugged her back. "I promise, I will return."
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Kirin walked into the dining room to find the others having just finished their meal. "Good morning."
"Good morning Kirin. Did you sleep well?" Luna asked, having just finished reading a scroll from Spike.
"Well, yes and no. I actually need to talk to Twilight for a moment, it sort of concerns her."
A strange look passed between Twilight and her wife. "Sure, uhm let's go out to the terrace." Twilight said.
As he rounded the table, Dawn ran over and hugged Kirin tightly and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "What was that for?" He asked.
"For everything you did for me and Dinky." Dawn told him. " My mothers told me about what happened and I wanted you to know that both me and Dinky appreciate everything you did for us, thank you."
Kirin smiled and bowed. "You are most welcome Princess."
Stepping out onto one of the many balconies of the castle, Twilight looked into the innocent face of the draconequus before her. "What can I do for you Kirin?" She asked.
"I need to know how much dragon magic you've studied. Queen Faust said you were the only unicorn to ever be able to perform both unicorn and dragon magic." He said. "I need to know what you can do are there any spells you've cast?"
"There was one, a few months ago, I turned snow to steam instantly. Other than that, it's been mostly book work."
"Have you learned anything about transmutation?" Kirin asked her.
"Only the basics, I've never actually tried it." She said.
"That will have to do. Twilight, I need your help, there's something I have to do and I need the help of somepony that can perform the same magic as I. Will you help me?" He asked.
“A long as what you ask me will not bring anypony to harm then yes, of course I’m willing to help.
"Thank you, but not here, I’m afraid we have to do a bit of traveling.” Kirin said. He saw a look of hesitation in Twilight's expression. “Not to worry, I promised Celest that I would back in time for the wedding.”
"In case you didn’t know, we recently got a scroll from Spike informing us that Rarity hasn’t been feeling well and the kids have decided to postpone the wedding until she’s better. I suspect it has something to do with her depleted mineral levels.” Twilight deduced.
“I’m sure you are correct but to be on the safe side, when we return, I should look into it.” He said.
“All right then, let me go talk to Luna and I'll be right back." Twilight left the room, only to return shortly. "I'm ready to go, Luna will cover for us till we get back. Where are we going anyway?"
"Dragon country." He said with a smile. Kirin grabbed her left foreleg and they both vanished from the kitchen.
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Luna walked into her sister's room. She could here her crying from the hall and had a fairly good idea why. "Tia, are you all right?"
"He's never coming back is he?" She asked through her tears.
"He'd better, he took Twilight with him."
"That's not what I meant Luna. Kirin, he's never going to be the same Kirin I fell in love with."
Luna sat next to her sister on her large round bed. Looking around the room and at how dark it was, Luna used her magic to pull open the curtains to the balcony, letting the light of the new day enter the room, warming it with it's rays. "Tia, there was something in Discord letter that I think can actually help. He said that we are the product of our memories and our experiences. Even if Kirin got only his memories back and nothing from Discord, he still wouldn't be the same Kirin. Everything that's happening to him now, every interaction he has will change who he is. It doesn't mean he's not the same Kirin you fell in love with, he just has different memories that add to who he already is."
"When did you get so smart about this sort of thing?" Celestia asked her, wiping the tears from her face.
Luna smiled. "Since I married Twilight. Everyday she makes me happy to be alive and I know that in time Kirin will make you just as happy all over again. Just take it slow. I know you've been waiting for so long and the temptation to take what you remember as yours is powerful but in this instance you really should take it slow. Let him come to you." A large smile crossed her face as she brushed some of the mane out of her sister's face and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "Let him come claim you, and I mean that in every sense of the word."
Celestia smiled. "Hey, who's the big sister here? I'm the one that's supposed to council and comfort you."
"You've been doing it for a long time, it's my turn now." Luna hugged her sister tightly. "It'll be okay, you'll see."
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Twilight and Kirin appeared on a ledge high in the mountains. "Welcome to dragon country!” He shouted with false enthusiasm. “Time for your first lesson in transmutation. It's cold up here and you need a coat or something to stay warm."
"What do I need to do?"
"The first thing to understand is that all things are made up of energy. You, me, that rock behind you, even the air. Different combinations of positive and negative energies make up the mater of the world around us. Let me show you." Kirin picked up a rock. "All right, now watch closely. Watch what I do and try to follow it with your own magic. I don't want you to attempt this yet, just observe."
"Okay." She said.
Kirin's left horn started to glow and a dark circle of runes appeared beneath him. Twilight watched as the rock fell apart into dust. Twilight watched as that dust broke down further and further until a bolt of energy left the material and struck the ground.
"What was that?" She asked surprised.
"When you break an item down to it's most basic form, you release the energy from it. The key is to hold on to that energy so you can us it to restructure it into what you want. It is very important to remember however that you cannot create something out of nothing. What you make will only have the same mass as what you took apart. So if you want to create something ten kilograms in mass you have to provide ten kilograms of mater. Do you understand?"
"I think so, let me try it on that rock over there." She said, eager to be learning a new form of magic.
"Wait," he said. “First things first, calm down. I can tell this is exciting for you but you need to concentrate hard and stay focused on what you are doing. You can’t let stray thoughts or ideas creep in.” Twilight nodded. Kirin picked up the rock the purple alicorn had targeted and placed it on a hunk of bark. "This will help you recognize the difference in materials. Take apart the rock but not the wood. Try to hold onto the energy but if you feel it starting to slip, try to direct it at the ground where it can dissipate harmlessly. The rock doesn’t want to break apart, you have to force it, exert your will over the matter in front of you.”
Twilight closed her eyes and focused on the rock. Her horn began to glow and the same runic circle appeared beneath her. Unlike Kirin's, her circle was lavender in color. She focused on the rock and found resistance. The rock did not want to break apart. Twilight tried to force it to do her bidding as Kirin instructed but the harder she tried the more force she found pushing back. Twilight tried the opposite approach and eased back, applying less and less pressure. She brushed the rock gently with her mind and the object disintegrated into a fine powder. It seemed to her, the lightest touch was the best way to go. She brushed the powder but nothing happened. Thinking for a moment, she had an idea. In her mind she lightly blew against the material and it fell even further apart releasing the energy from the rock. Twilight encircled the energy with her magic forming it into a ball.
"Impressive Twilight. Usually the first time a mage imposes their will on an object it's very taxing. You seemed to struggle a little but then breezed right through it." Kirin said approvingly.
"But I didn't impose my will over it at all. I tried but it kept resisting me, so I tried the opposite and used gentle methods to get it to do what I want. In my mind a lightly brushed the rock and it fell apart into dust."
"Really? I think my old master said something about this. He said…"
"Kirin, are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." Twilight said.
"I can remember him Twilight; not everything mind you but I can remember my old teacher, Spellfire the Ancient! I can remember him and everything he taught me when we were first starting out. I guess teaching you this magic jogged my memory enough to bring those few memories to the surface.
Twilight hugged him, careful not to drop the ball of energy. "I'm so happy I could help you remember something that was such a big part of your life." She said smiling. "Can you remember what your teacher told you? I mean, what you were saying earlier about the transmutation."
“If I’m remembering this correctly, I asked him during our first lesson why I had to essentially overpower the material and he told me that force was all that many dragons understood readily but when I become a true master of the art, I would not have to impose my will on the material anymore. I'm sure that is what he was talking about. I'm impressed you could accomplish that so early." The draconequus said, smiling. "All right, still have that ball of energy? I want you to use it to make something, but remember, it has to be something of equal mass as the rock you took apart."
Twilight concentrated hard and slowly the ball of energy changed shape and turned into a large heavy scarf. "Sorry, the ball of energy wasn't enough so I took some front the ground as well. I hope that's okay."
"That's more than okay Twilight, that's amazing. It took me a long time before I could use the energy from two different materials to form a single object. I can see it's going to be a learning experience training you." Kirin was quite pleased with his student. "If you're ready we should get going before it gets too late." Twilight nodded and they vanished again to reappear on another, much larger, ledge.
"Where are we now?" She asked.
This is the home of Lord Silverclaw and his brother Rubywing. They've had my original right leg and tail for over a thousand years. I think they've been punished enough for killing my parents. I'm here to take back what's mine and return to them there own body parts. The parts themselves were horribly burned and broken so they will need some considerable healing. That's what I need you for, no matter how many spells I mastered, simple healing spells always escaped me."
"Perhaps we could teach each other." Twilight suggested.
"I'd like that." He said. "Well, let's get this over with. I'm sure they are not going to be happy to see me."
Kirin and Twilight cautiously walked into the cave. "I think they know we're here."
"You would be correct alicorn." Rubywing said as he ambled out of the shadows.
"Greetings. How's your brother doing, leg paining him much?" Kirin asked mockingly.
"Not as bad as it used to but what do you care?" Lord Silverclaw said as he joined his brother. "What do you want halfbreed, have you come to torment us further?"
"No, I've come to end your punishment. You've suffered enough and to be honest, I want my leg and tail back. In return I will give back yours to you."
"What makes you think we'd trust you enough to do that?" Rubywing asked.
"What makes you think I'm giving you a choice?" Kirin's horns glowed vibrantly and the two dragons fell unconscious onto the cave floor. "Don't worry Twilight, they're still alive, just asleep. Is it still assault when you're reversing something like this?"
"I don't know honestly. Call it reversing a past mistake." Twilight justified.
The total procedure took the better part of four hours to complete. Kirin did most of the work by transmuting the legs and tail one at a time to save himself the stress of the change. The size difference between the body parts also became a bit of a hindrance but working carefully, he was able to re-size the leg and the tail to something more appropriate for his body. The field of magic around Kirin's head faded and Twilight relaxed. " I hope that helped. I don't think the pain blocking spell was meant to block quite that much." Twilight said.
"Yes, it helped quite a bit, it still hurt but it was bearable. I hate to ask you to exert yourself more but can you start on my leg and tail, they are hurting quite a bit." Kirin asked her.
"Are you sure we should be doing this here, around them." She asked.
"They'll be out for a couple of days. I wanted to make sure we'd be long gone before they woke up." Twilight sat at his side as he laid down, stretching out the injured limbs. Since the birth of her two children, Twilight had become quite adept at healing spells. The damage to Kirin's limbs was quite extensive but Twilight found patches here and there of healthy undamaged skin and hair. She concentrated her magic there, forcing the patches to grow and spread out, obliterating the old scar tissue as the good skin spread. The tail was actually in much better shape and took less time repair.
"There Kirin, I've done the best I can, somepony with better skills than I will have to take care of the bones and joints. They will hurt and for that I'm sorry."
"No, that's quite all right Twilight. I'm grateful for all you've done and I almost hesitate to ask more." He said reluctantly.
"There's more?" She asked.
"Yes, since I was shown what kind of monster Discord was, it's been my plan to rid myself of Discords form. My back end is almost back to what it used to be and for that I thank you. I'm going to need your help to finish the process."
"I don't know if this is something I can do Kirin I just learned how to transmute a rock. I don't think I could do whole limbs." She argued.
"I'm not asking you to. You’ve shown great skill in the fundamentals of transmutation but transmuting a rock and transmuting living tissue are two entirely different things. You did a wonderful job on the soft tissue of my leg and tail and while you didn't transmute it you were able to heal it. This is what I ask of you, I will be deconstructing my limbs one at a time and rebuilding my form. I will transmute a patch of hair and scale in the appropriate places, all I'm asking you to do is to pull form the energy orb to help the tissue and hair to grow and cover the exposed muscle, tendon and bone; I know you can do this."
"You are the expert in this field, if you're sure I can do this than I will do my best. I would suggest you not force it though. Do what we talked about and gently persuade it to do what you want, I think the pain involved is a byproduct of forcing your will on the material."
"I'll give it a try, couldn't hurt." He said. Kirin focused on his right arm. The glamor illusion dropped and he was looking at the right arm and paw of a manticore. He closed his eyes again and like Twilight had suggested, he did not impose his will on the arm but rather brushed it lightly with his mind. The limb fell apart into its basic elements. Blowing on the fragments, they further broke down into energy. Kirin reacted quickly and caught the energy with his magic. Twilight was right, there was no pain, only a little discomfort. He knew he was bleeding and had to act quickly. Focusing the captured energy, he began to reform the limb. Starting with the bones, he rebuilt the arm almost by automatic. It seemed to Kirin that he had an ingrained idea of what his original body was supposed to look like and how it was supposed to feel. When the bones were complete he wrapped them in muscle, tendons, nerves, and blood vessels.
"I'm sorry Kirin, I can't watch you do that, it's a little disturbing. Please tell me when you're ready for me to do my part."
"My apologies Twilight. I forgot how unnerving it could be to see a body reconstructed. Although, if you are at all interested in draconequus physiology, it might behoove you to pay close attention." He said. "At any rate, the arm is finished and is ready for you.
Twilight busied herself with growing the skin on Kirin's arm while he deconstructed the other. Twilight tried not to look and focused on what was in front of her. Pulling the energy from the sphere seemed to work better that using the latent energy in either herself or the patients. The sphere's energy seemed pure by comparison and so lent itself to manipulation. Under Twilight skilled magic, the arm was as good as new. Tan fur covered it from the shoulder down to the mid forearm where the fur coat gradually gave way to brown scales and five very sharp claws. Be the time she was Done, Kirin was finished with the other arm. "That was quick, are you sure everything went okay?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, it seems your method is much easier. I don't have to expend as much energy and the material obeys me better without me having to force it into the arrangement I need. It sounds weird but it's like I'm asking it to obey me and it just snaps into the shapes and structures I need."
Kirin continued to transmute his own body back to what it was before Discord. The other arm finished he moved onto the main trunk of his body. Reorienting his ribs, he was able to move his internal organs around without having to disconnect and reconnect anything. Kirin deconstructed the bear pelt that covered his torso and Twilight replaced it with new skin and tan fur to mach the rest of him.
Twilight sat back exhausted. "Well, I think that's about got it. I don't know what else there is."
"There are three other things that are left but nothing major. My wings for one; I was thinking about taking the antler and turning it into another horn like the one on the left and thirdly, fangs or no fangs? I need to do something; I don't want just one fang sticking out there."
"If you insist on two horns than I'd go with fangs but a little smaller. It would provide symmetry for your face." Twilight laughed. "Listen to me, I'm starting to sound like Rarity."
"Well, are you ready to continue? Have you rested enough?" Kirin asked.
"I believe so but lets take our time. I'll be here if something goes wrong and you need to be healed but be careful, I know this take a lot of energy."
"It'll be okay Twilight, trust me." Kirin focused his energy and deconstructed the deer antler and both wings at the same time. The power orb grew three times in size instantly and Twilight could see that Kirin was having difficulty containing it. She reached out with her magic and kept the integrity of the orb. Kirin was loosing control. The antler on the right side of his head was replaced with another horn identical to the one on the left. A small set of fangs appeared in the front corners of his mouth and a set of wings slowly built up from his back. He had just finished building the wings when he lost consciousness. Twilight had no idea what to do, she didn't know what was wrong with him other than exhaustion but something inside told her this was serious.
Stretching out her mind she contacted the only person that knew more about magic than her, her old teacher. 'Celestia, I need you. Something's wrong with Kirin and I don't know what to do. I need you here, I don't know what to do.’
Celestia appeared next to her with a flash of brilliant white light. "What happened Twilight? What are the two of you doing here in dragon territory?" She asked almost in a panic. Twilight told her everything. She told her about her lesson in transmutation, the incident with the dragon brothers, and everything the led up to the current situation.
"What are we going to do, I can't hold all this energy forever." Twilight said.
Celestia took hold of it with her own magic. "I've got it Twilight, rest yourself." Twilight lay down as Celestia took hold of the energy. She stared at it for a while and it changed from a brilliant white glowing orb into something that matched the color of Kirin's tan color. Slowly she lowered the orb and let the energy drain from the orb and into him. "There, that should keep him with us until his own natural reserves are replenished. What were you two doing out here that required so much energy? And who are those two dragons sleeping over there?"
Twilight got up and used her newfound ability to deconstruct a large rock against the cave wall. "Could you roll him on his stomach and pull out his wings. I need them extended." She asked.
Celestia used her magic to do as she asked. "Twilight, please tell me what's going on."
As Twilight started to use the energy to grow the leathery film that would complete the new wings she started to explain to the Princess the events of the last four hours. "Kirin and I came here to retrieve his back leg and tail from those two dragons. He told me that they had suffered enough with his burned and damaged limbs. He brought me along as a sort of backup I suppose. He showed me how to deconstruct and reconstruct mater. The scarf I'm wearing used to be a bunch of rocks! Can you believe it?" She said a little excited.
"He told me he wouldn't use that spell again." Celestia said upset. "He lied, again."
She finished with one wing and started on the other. "I wouldn't say lie. I think this was meant to be a surprise for you." Celestia immediately regretted her words. "He genuinely doesn't like Discord or the thought that any part of him could be the same. He wanted to retrieve his old limbs and end the punishment Discord had inflicted on them and then he told me he was going to rid himself of every last vestige of Discord."
"So that's what you've been doing, transmuting his body back to what it used to be?" She asked amazed.
"Not me, I've just been using healing spells to regrow the skin and hair over the new limbs and such but drawing on transmuting energy is faster and I think better than using the patients own internal energy."
"Hence the rocks."
"Yes. Kirin said that once the material is broken down to energy, it doesn't matter how you use it just that any excess be directed to the ground to keep from hurting anypony. There, I'm done." Twilight announced. "What do you think?"
Celestia walked around the wings Twilight had finished. They were unlike his old wings in that they were much larger dragon wings than he used to have and the leathery webbing extended all the way to the base of his tail much like a bat to give him better surface area for gliding and manipulation of the wind currents. "I'm sure that when he gets a chance to fly again, he'll be quite grateful for your work Twilight. For now, I think we should get him back to the palace. I'd like Fluttershy to take a look at him to make sure he's healthy." Celestia tool a second look at his face. "Two horns and two fangs. Hmm, I'll have to be careful around those."
“Celestia?" She asked not quite hearing what she said.
"It's nothing, pay it no mind." As suddenly as she arrived, they all vanished leaving the dragons to sleep in peace.