Whilst Dusk was enthralled by all the new magic he was learning, the downside for him as a primarily daytime dwelling pony, notwithstanding the occasional late nights of study, was that this all took place at night, and he had quickly to come to terms with adjusting to a nocturnal lifestyle.
The first casualty of this arrangement was Dusk’s body clock, which he soon found to be wilfully sabotaging his attempts to concentrate. Artemis had been expecting this, and on their first night of study, had given him a gift, beautifully wrapped in midnight blue paper that depicted a crescent moon surrounded by stars.
Dusk had opened it and found inside a mug bearing the words ‘Without the dark, we would never see the stars’ above a familiar six point cutie mark beneath. He had been touched by the kind thought, and tripped over his own words of thanks to such an extent that it made Artemis blush. Still admiring the gift, Dusk watched as his teacher filled his own gamer mug with coffee before christening his student’s mug with the same brew. He had taken a sip and tried hard not to pull a face at the bitterness, promising his tastebuds that he would never subject them to such an assault ever again.
However, it hadn’t been long before tiredness came around to hit him again, only harder this time, and he was forced to the conclusion that he would require some kind of stimulant if he was going to be an attentive student. Artemis had been adamant from the start that they should not use spellcraft to stay awake, lest it react badly with the other magic they were casting. So, reluctantly, Dusk returned to the coffee, and this time found it somehow less unpleasant. He wasn’t sure yet whether he would ever say he actually liked it, but he couldn’t deny it did the job.
Another issue was that Canterlot was a long train ride away from Ponyville, and even then, trains didn’t start running until later in the morning. While Artemis could have called for a chariot for his young protégé, it seemed a little harsh to subject him to over an hour of buffeting in the fresh dawn air following an intensive training session, just to drag him back again the next evening. As a result, he had made accommodation available in the Royal castle; not just a room, but, owing to the lack of Royal visits in the near future, an entire VIP suite for his exclusive use.
Dusk had been too tired to object, but in accepting, had requested that the Prince send a message to Spines to look after the library in his absence. He also took the opportunity to mention that she should involve his close friend Moonlight Flicker, a reformed unicorn stallion who had tried to enslave an entire village by erasing their cutie marks, but who had now become a close friend to both of them.
The early morning and late evening meetings that had been the historical preserve of Solaris and Artemis, as they handed over responsibility for the protection of Equestria between day and night, had now evolved into a three way event. This was not as intrusive as it may have once sounded, because Dusk was known to and beloved by both the Royal brothers, and had quickly found himself accepted as a trusted and valued honorary member to their little quorum.
Artemis had crammed a lot of learning, both theoretical and practical into the last few nights. This had left its mark on Dusk in two ways; firstly, he had come to develop quite a coffee habit, and secondly he had come to realise, that even though he was the Bearer of the Element of Magic, there was so much more about the subject he had not known. In fact, the magic he was learning now belonged to a whole different domain of knowledge that he had up to that point, not even been aware had existed, giving him a much more profound respect for his teacher.
However, progress had been slower than expected. This was partly because Artemis had never had a student of his own, and things that were to him intuitive had to be taught from basics, before the more complex lessons could be begin.
Also, he had to try and re-educate Dusk from a mindset of conventional magic, into an entirely different way of thinking that was counter-intuitive to the traditionally trained mind. Indeed, this was one of the principal reasons why he had always kept his magic to himself, even going as far as withholding it from the most established teachers at Solaris’ School for Gifted Unicorns, because they were all too set in the established methods of daytime magic.
However, Dusk had one advantage over all of the teachers at this illustrious school, notably that he had already been acquainted with this unorthodox magic when Artemis, Solaris and his nephew Clarence had downloaded all their magic during the attempted invasion by the evil Lady Vorek. Although he had held this magic within his body, he had not been able to access it fully, because of the incompatibility with his training up to that point, but the fact that he had been exposed to it at all gave him a unique advantage.
Now, finally being coached how to control this magic for the first time, Dusk was going through a period of personal revelation, as he developed an unparalleled appreciation of what the magic of the night entailed. He felt it was like reading the preface to a book; enough to whet the appetite, yet insufficient to allow the reader to say that there were fully adept at the craft. Yet, he knew that he was in the company of the one pony in the whole of Equestria who could lead him towards a whole new future in the dark realm, if he was prepared to go down that path.
“So, how are the lessons progressing?” asked Solaris as the three of them met up for their regular early morning meeting.
“There’s a lot to take in” replied Dusk stifling a yawn, “But I can see why Arty gets through so much coffee.”
“Arty?” queried Solaris with a wry grin.
“Yes, dear Brother” replied Artemis, “Dusk is blessed with a short name that is easy to call out in the event that an issue may arise and he needs to attract my attention in haste; mine is much more cumbersome, so we agreed to abbreviate it for convenience.”
“Oh, I see” said Solaris, still wearing a slightly impish smile, “A nickname ...”
“Oh, and I did review the requisition for that coffee pot” Artemis chipped in, changing the subject abruptly, and watching as his brother’s expression switched quickly to one of embarrassment, turning the heat of the conversation back onto its perpetrator.
“Ah … um … yes” Solaris struggled, “You see somepony had to organise a replacement, and I thought …”
“… I was going to say” Artemis cut in, “That I had been unable to read the smudged signature, but thank you for enlightening me as to your part in this nefarious activity.”
Just when things had seemed to be getting tense, both brothers started to giggle in unison like playful colts, and quickly broke into good natured laughter.
At the sudden lightening of the mood, Dusk untensed and shook his head in gentle disbelief, poured himself another coffee and leaned back to let the two rulers of Equestria get on with it.