The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 17: The Magical Guide to Guiding Magic

It's been a few days since Legion randomly showed up in my apartment and scared the ever living crap out of me. Yes, I was freaked out, but I eventually got used to him. We even got to know each other these past few days.

For starters, he was also a gamer when he was...well...alive. He was absolutely impressed when he saw my setup and when I showed him my YouHoof channel. Ever since the tribes united, my subscriber count has gone up quite significantly. I'm not one to brag or anything, but I'm currently close to reaching 800k subs.

Legion also appears to be on the chill side like me. You know, being patient and keeping calm even when we're stressed or angry.

The only thing that's annoying about our whole friendship is that I'm the only one that can see and hear him. Meaning, I can't really talk to him, or pretty much acknowledge his presence, in public or even around my friends or else I'll get strange looks.

Trust me, I know because that happened when we were all watching a horror movie.

“It lives. My monster lives!” the mad scientist pony cheered in his creepy lab as lightning dramatically struck.

Sunny, Pipp, and I (although I was the least creeped out due to playing a few horror games for my channel) were creeped out, Hitch was covered with a blanket in fright, and Izzy was munching on some popcorn while watching the movie. Zipp was off somewhere else and would later accuse us of stealing her sunglasses.

Seriously, she went full on detective mode by having a whole board full of evidence and taking mugshots of us.

Spoiler alert: Izzy ended up replacing said sunglasses by gifting Zipp with these high tech goggles (officially dubbed Z-Goggles) to help with her detective work.

Another spoiler alert: said sunglasses were under her pillow (for some reason) and Zipp ended up accidently breaking them.

"This is a horror movie?" he asked in a bored tone, "I'm sorry, but from what I've seen that's considered horror, this just...sucks."

"Shhh," I shushed unconsciously, but then I immediately realized what I did and saw from the corner of my eye that the others were looking at me. I turned to them and sheepishly said, "...Sorry."

Another thing is that he makes a lot of what I assume to be references that I don't understand.

Anyways, today was officially my first day of training. Since this wasn't a video game, movie, or pretty much a world of fiction and there wasn't some dojo or ancient place where I could train, I just settled with an open field outside of Maretime Bay.

Although, it didn't help that I'm an early rise and that Legion doesn't even need to sleep...I think.

"Okay, um, welcome to day one of magical training, Neon. No introductions are needed, I guess," Legion greeted with sighing, "...Oh boy."

"Yeah, it's just...never in my life did I think I would be a teacher, but here I am. To be honest, I'm kinda nervous," he admitted with a slight chuckle before clearing his throat, "Anyways, before you can learn how to influence your Harmony Magic, you have to learn how to bring it out first. After all, you can't control a fire without a spark. Let me ask you, what do you think Harmony Magic is tied to?"

"Well, yeah, but I was thinking more of in regards to you. What part of you do you think Harmony Magic is tied to?"

"Correct, actually," he said, making me cheer inside for taking a shot in the dark, "There is magic all around us, whether it'd be in the earth, the sea, the sky, and obviously within us. When it comes to Harmony Magic, though, it's not just a matter of whether or not you know how to use it. It's also about whether or not our feelings are strong enough to summon it in the first place. Again, you can't control a fire without a spark," he explained, "Now, try doing what I told you to do when I first appeared. Close your eyes and try to find that spark within you, and then we can see what we're working with."

"Umm...okay," I complied as I sat on my haunches. I remember him telling me to close my eyes, focus, clear my mind of negative thoughts, and look deep inside and feel the magic. Kinda vague now that I think about it.

"Focus," I thought as I took a deep breathe and continued to think positively, "Focus. Focus,"

After about a minute, I slowly opened my eyes as realized that there was no outburst of power, or some sort of spark as Legion said, like last time.

"Hmm," Legion rubbed a hoof on his chin as he examined me. He then closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them, "Well, I don't sense any power surging from you. Nor are your eyes glowing. Eh, I'm afraid to say that nothing happened. Try again."

"Relax, Neon. You don't master something on just the first day of training," I internally motivated myself, "Wait, what was that about my eyes glowing?"

After a few minutes of constantly clearing my mind of negative thoughts (which isn't exactly a total breeze to do) and looking for the spark, I sighed and laid down on the grass.

"I don't get it. I'm doing exactly what you told me to do. What am I doing wrong?"

"Hmm, I think I know," Legion answered, "I think the reason you're unable to bring it out your Harmony Magic right now is because you're only trying to just because I told you to. The key to creating the spark and unlocking your magic would be to have a clear goal in mind."

"A goal? But...I didn't really have a goal in mind the last time I tried this. So why was I able to create the so called spark before?"

"...Anyways, so I pretty much have to think of a goal in order to use my Harmony Magic?" I asked.

"Yes, but it's a lot more than that. Remember, Harmony Magic is tied to your feelings. You have to figure out what kind of goal makes those feelings strong. In other words, something that you would be passionate about...I think."

"Hey, don't judge me. I...may or may not be coming up with these lessons as we go along, okay?" he responded, pretending to look offended, as well as making a part of me think that this was a bad idea.

"...A clear goal?" I muttered as I looked down at the ground, "But what is that goal exactly?"

"I'm...afraid that's the one thing I can't help you with. It's something you have to figure out on your own," he replied, "The best advice I could give you is to just follow your heart."

"First day of lessons, and we've already hit a road block. Great," I thought sarcastically, "A clear goal in mind that brings out my feelings strong," I wondered...for a few seconds, "...Yeah, I got nothing."

I slowly looked over to Legion who was whispering in a sort of tone as if he was trying to be wise.

"Ask my friends for help?" I muttered before I suddenly had an idea. I got up and exclaimed, "That's it!"

Meanwhile, back at the Brighthouse, the five mares that lived there were sleeping peacefully.

In her slumber, Sunny started to have flashbacks on all the times she has spent with her friends. She remembered when they all celebrated a unicorn tradition of friendship known as T.U.E.S. Day (not to be confused with Tuesday), the time where they all went hiking in the woods, and the time where they worked together to finish up the Crystal Brighthouse.

In each of these moments, there was one noticeable similarity that none of the ponies involved seemed to notice.

Their cutie marks began to glow as they worked together and got to know each other.

After remembering all of the good times, Sunny, who was still sleeping with bed head, started to glow and levitate.

Izzy and Zipp woke up from the glow and were shocked to see the apricot mare floating in the air as the magic sparkled around her and activate her alicorn magic, causing her her horn and wings to appeare in a bright flash of light. This shocked Sunny awake and caused glitter to fly around the room in the process.

"Aaah!” Zipp yelped out in surprise as glitter hit her and Izzy in the face and some got on their beds.

Sunny was shocked to see that her alicorn wings and horn have appeared, but they disappeared as soon as she noticed, causing her to fall onto her bed which now had glitter on it.

“...What happened?” Sunny asked with a groan as she got up and looked around.

“You also exploded into a pile of…” Zipp tried to point out, but was interrupted.

“Glitter!” Izzy cheered as she felt like she was in paradise due to seeing so much glitter in one room, “Glitter!” she continued to cheer as she hugged a pile, “Glitter!” she then scooped some in a jar for later usage, “Glitter!” she then went to Pipp’s bed and grabbed some glitter and tossed it in the air as she cheered and then ran off.

“Don’t you ponies know what time it is?” the aforementioned pegasus asked tiredly as she looked up, not noticing that there was some glitter on her head. She then noticed some on her bed, “Wait, what?” she asked before she noticed what was on her head. Pipp gasped and shock and cried out, “All this glitter is drying out my mane!”

“Sorry, everypony,” Sunny apologized, “My Alicorn magic has a mind of its own. I can't control it."

“Maybe you need a magic word?" Zipp suggested, “Something to help bring out your inner alicorn.”

“Ohh! How about a catchphrase," Izzy said cheerfully as she swam in the abundant amount of glitter, “Like, ‘Wing it’! Or ‘Let’s fly’! Oh, oh, oh! I know!" she cheered as sparkles appeared in her eyes, “‘Alicorn it up!’”

“Alicorn it up?” Sunny repeated, finding it strange, but then her magic started to sparkle again. Sunny looked at her right side as she saw her wings starting to appear again, everypony else watching in amazement.

Once the glow finally settled, everypony saw that her wings...were the size of a little foal.

“It might need some work,” Izzy pointed out as she inspected the little wings that were flapping, “You’re not going to fly very far with those wings.”

"So why exactly do we need to see Sunny?" Legion asked as he and I flew through the skies, "I thought she doesn't have anything on Harmony Magic."

"Before I answer, I gotta ask. Is alicorn magic in any way similar to Harmony Magic?"

"Hmm..." Legion said, rubbing his chin, "...To an extent, yes. Obviously, they're both very powerful, but the capabilities of what each one can do are pretty different," he answered, which was good enough for me, "Why? Why do you ask?"

"She is, actually. Well, let me be more specific. She can transform into an alicorn. Wings, horns, everything. She's been able to do it since magic returned," I explained.

"Transforming into an alicorn. That would be cool," he chuckled, but when he noticed that I wasn't chuckling or agreeing with him, his small smile fell, "You're...you're messing with me right now, right?"

"No, I'm serious. Sunny really can transform into an alicorn," I reaffirmed. I looked over and saw the gray pegasus with a face full of disbelief, "Did I not tell you this?"

"No, you didn't!" he exclaimed, "Transforming into an alicorn?! How?! How is that possible?!"

"I don't know. Magic?" I stated, a bit amused, "And why are you in such disbelief when you're literally a ghost?"

Legion was about to answer, but he apparently couldn't think of anything to say.

"...Good point," he sighed, "But still... Being able to transform into an alicorn and then back to normal? I've never heard of that before."

"Well, magic is unpredictable after all. Anyways, I figured that next best pony I can talk to about special magic is somepony else with special magic themselves," I said as we finally reached the Brighthouse. We landed and I was about to knock on the doors when they suddenly burst open, nearly hitting me. The first thing I saw was Pipp seemingly dragging Sunny, who had a severe case of bed head, Izzy and Zipp following along, "Um, is this a bad time?"

"Nope! We were just about take Sunny here..." Pipp said, pointing to the aforementioned mare, "...for a trip to Mane Melody! You wanna come?"

"...Hmm. Sure, why not?" I shrugged as I started to follow everypony. I mean, I needed to talk to Sunny anyways.

"Amazing. You weren't lying. Your friend here is exuding magic that is on par of an alicorn. And those wings of hers," Legion said, looking at the (comically) tiny translucent wings that Sunny had. He then chuckled a bit, "I'm sorry, but those wings would be awesome if they weren't so tiny."

"So why are we taking Sunny to Mane Melody?" I asked, knowing it has something to do with Sunny's mane, but had to ask anyway.

"Okay, so I've been gone for, like, many moons, so I might be wrong about this," Legion said calmly before declaring, "But I don't think a makeover will help bring out your friend's alicorn magic!"

It turns out that we're here at Mane Melody is because Pipp wanted to give Sunny, in the pink pegasus's own words, "a makeover fit for an alicorn."

Turns out, the others are helping Sunny learn how to control her alicorn powers, and Pipp thinks that a makeover will do just that.

“We are going to need highlights, low lights, hoof glitter, hoof polish, a facial and a curl," Pipp listed as she inspected the apricot mare, while Jazz and Rocky looked on from behind them.

"How does one get golden wings?" Legion asked, probably referring to Rocky, "Was this guy born with them?"

One, two, three, four

Pipp started the makeover by holding a manecut machine, with Jazz holding a hoof polisher and Rocky holding a brush.

Bring that tail right through the door

Five, six, seven, eight
You're not leaving here 'til you feel great

Rocky placed some facial cream on Sunny and then put some kiwis on her eyes. Pipp grabbed a brush and a manecutter while Jazz gave her a mirror and Rocky gave her the manedryer.

Shine bright, sparkle and glow
Flip that mane with a flow like "whoa!"

Pipp then used the four tools with all four hooves (impressive, I know) and just went all out on Sunny's mane with her mane styling skills, before she gave Sunny one final twirl.

Vibe, you're on it
You're a brand new pony, so flaunt it
Hey!

Sunny now had the same style she had when Mane Melody first opened. It is a nice look for her, after all. The apricot mare smiled at her new mane style. She then started to float in the air as her mane began to glow. Said mane began to flow down as her horn began to appear, followed by a bright light.

As the light faded away, we all gasped upon seeing that Sunny's mane...was a lot longer.

So long that we couldn't even see the mare, with the exception of her horn sticking out.

"...I mean...it...sorta worked?" I said, trying to be positive, "Her magic did appear after that whole makeover."

“Whoa, Pipp!" Izzy said in amazement as she inspected Sunny's mane, “You’re good. Do me next!”

“Look on the bright side. At least the mane covers those tiny wings," Pipp pointed out as she moved some of Sunny’s mane to show the (still comically) tiny wings.

“No. No. No," Zipp shook her head, "This is about more than a mane, it’s about inspiration,” she said as she zipped around Sunny with a smile, “And nothing inspires quite like a little…”

"...Danger,” Zipp finished as she showed us an obstacle course in the old Canterlogic building (the place shut down after magic returned since they specialized in pegasus and unicorn defense devices). Said obstacle course had parts consisting of three logs that were swinging back and forth, a little pole over a tub of green bubbly goop slime, and lastly three hoops that lead straight to the finish line, "A bit of danger will totally trigger your alicorn abilities.”

"Hmm, I see your point, Zipp, since that works in a lot of superhero movies. Counter point, this is real life and not a superhero movie," I pointed out, "Also, when did you build all of this?"

“Um, what am I looking at?” Sunny asked, seeing as her mane covered her eyes. Zipp moved some of her mane out of the way, causing Sunny to see what was in front of us and give a look of freight, “Are you sure? Because this looks…”

"Yeah, and no offense or anything to your friend, but she doesn't exactly seem like the athletic type."

"Can we at least make it she's not blind?" I asked, not wanting her to go through this with a giant mane blocking her vision.

A few minutes later, we all (somehow) managed to tie Sunny's mane up. The mare in question smiled upon seeing her style, or maybe that's because she's able to see properly.

“There. Much bet—" Pipp tried to say, but stopped and went deadpan as we saw Izzy put a stocking on a button side of Sunny's mane, "It will do."

“Ready…” Zipp called out as she went next to Sunny, "Set…" she counted before she pushed the apricot mare, "Go!”

Sunny screamed as she went through the obstacle course, dodging the swinging logs in a rush. Pipp, Legion, and I cringed in worry while Zipp and Izzy smiled confidently. Sunny continued to scream as she tried to balance on the log over the green slime, but then tripped and got some slime on her. Zipp and Izzy then started to cringe a bit as they realized that Sunny doesn't have this. Sunny hopped on the hoops covered in slime, and as she went through them, her left wing started to glow and then grow into the normal size of alicorn wings, but the right wing was still small, meaning Sunny still can’t fly without both wings, meaning that she ended up falling to the ground.

"Sunny! Are you all right?" Pipp asked as we went to check on Sunny, "Oh, Sunny! Your poor mane!” she cried with a gasp before turning to Zipp with a glare, "Zipp. What were you thinking!?”

“This is the best alicorn yet," Zipp said with a proudly as she pointed to Sunny.

“Ah we just need better transformation words,” Izzy suggested, “ How about ‘Hooftastic-maneriffic-canterlogic-docious!"”

“A new alicorn outfit would totally do the trick. Maybe a few accessories?” Pipp suggested.

As Pipp, Zipp, and Izzy continued to suggest ideas, with me just kinda standing to the side, I noticed Sunny look down in sadness from all this bickering.

"Alright, guys, guys. Stop," I firmly spoke up , causing the three bickering mares to stop talking and look at me, "I think it's quite clear that none of your ideas are helping."

"Well, we're trying," Pipp tried to reason, "Maybe if we get her a new dress..."

"Alright, I'm just gonna say it. Neither makeup, a dangerous obstacle course, nor some catchphrases are gonna help Sunny with her alicorn problem," I spoke up again, and then remembering what I was told earlier, "I once learned that magic is tied to our feelings and that it really shines when we're passionate about something. Makeups, obstacle courses, and catchphrases might be stuff you three are passionate about, but maybe not for Sunny. She's into...books and...studying Equestrian history and...helping her friends. That's the kind of stuff that she is passionate about."

"...You're right," Pipp spoke up as she and the other mares looked down in shame, "We were so caught up on helping Sunny that we didn't realize we were only making it worse."

"We were so caught up on helping Sunny that we didn't realize we were only making it worse," Izzy said.

"I guess the obstacle course was too much. No matter the situation, I should never put my friends in danger," Zipp said, "We're sorry."

"It's not me you should be apologizing t—" I said as I glanced back at Sunny, only to see that she was nowhere in sight, "Sunny?"

A little while later, Sunny was at the beach after she got most of the slime off of her, and was looking at the ocean with a sad face.

Not far from her, there were three foals making a sandcastle. One of the fillies was shoveling the sand, but then her shovel got out of her hooves and landed next to Hitch, who was walking towards Sunny. He picked up the shovel and gave it back to the filly with a smile.

"That was a complete disaster," Sunny said to herself as she got the rest of the slime out of her mane, still feeling sad about what happened and her inability to control her magic.

Those were the sort of thoughts that were running through her head. Other thoughts involved seeing herself as some sort of...failure.

"Figured I'd find you here" Hitch said to Sunny, "Pipp told me what happened. You okay?"

"Everypony else seems to be growing so fast," Sunny answered with a sigh as she looked down, "I just feel...stuck."

"You helped everypony believe in magic." Hitch said with a smile, "Now it's time to believe in your own magic, Sunny. In here." he added, placing a hoof on Sunny’s chest where her heart should be.

"Thanks, Hitch. If only it were that simple..." she said, but then something caught her attention. The two ponies saw a big wave coming to the beach, and then Sunny gasped in shock once she saw where the wave will hit. "Oh, no! The foals!" she cried out, while the foals looked at the wave and were too scared to move.

Sunny and Hitch ran to get the foals out of the way, but Hitch hit a little hole in the sand that caused him to trip and fall into the sand. He got the sand off his face, but then gasped as the wave was coming closer.

"Come on, Sunny! You can do this! Those foals needs you!" she told herself with a determined look, wanting to protect the foals from getting hurt. As that thought filled her head, she started to glow as her cutie mark sparkled and her alicorn form finally took form (as well as her mane getting fixed).

Hitch watched on with an awed expression and sparkling eyes. Sunny flew and came right in front of the foals and faced the wave. She focused her magic to her wings and blew them at the wave, which caused it to turn into a giant pile of glitter.

The foals looked at Sunny with amazement, and once she landed, she looked at herself with joy, now that she had her alicorn form under control.

"I did it!" Sunny cheered as she laughed a bit, proud that she was able to not only summon her alicorn magic properly, but also able to use it to protect a ponies from danger. She then put on a sheepish expression and said, "Now if I can just figure out how to turn off the glitter..."

"I knew you can do it, Sunny!" Hitch said in a muffled sound, trapped in a pile of glitter, while Sunny looked at him with a smile.

"Oh yeah. That is definitely the magic of an alicorn," Legion said as he and I sat on a hill overlooking the beach.

After me and the others noticed that Sunny was gone, we decided to split up and search for her. After some time has passed, I eventually managed to find her at the beach. As I landed, though, I saw that she was running towards a huge wave that was heading towards a group of foals. I was about to rush in to help, but then I saw it.

Sunny unleashing her alicorn magic and using it to turn the wave into a pile of glitter.

"She finally managed to unleash her magic not because she felt good about herself or that she was in danger..." I muttered, to which Legion glanced at me, "...but because she wanted to protect those ponies," I then looked at the ghost next to me, "Is that kind of mentality what helped you bring out your Harmony Magic when you had it?"

"...Yeah. I remember this one time when I was on a field trip with my friends, and in the middle of it a Timberwolf came by and attacked us. It focused its attention on me I led it away from my friends. That's...that's when my Harmony Magic came in and protected me," he explained, "There was also this time when a suit of armor came to life and attacked me and a friend. I wanted her to stand behind me, to protect her, and that's when, again, my Harmony Magic came in and helped me."

"Is that the kind of mentality I need to have? The need to protect others? My friends? It sounds so simple, yet at the same time...it doesn't."

I never really thought about protecting my friends. Helping my friends, definitely, but protecting them from danger? Real danger? Not really, but that's mainly because of how peaceful and friendly Equestria is.

"No, I shouldn't think like that. As I just saw right now, stuff can happen. Heck, what happened on Maretime Bay Day put ponies in danger, including me," I thought, remembering the feeling of falling in the endless void.

I know that with my gift of Harmony Magic, I would have to...I should use it to help and protect others when needed.