Six weeks had passed since Heatwave came across his son awaking from the mishap with the rogue Hydra and he couldn’t help but worry for the colt.
The first problem that came to mind was the sudden amnesia Darkloud experienced. He could comprehend and speak to him without effort ,which was promising, however he couldn’t remember anything prior to the attack. In fact, most of his vocabulary that he revised with the foal in school went over his head.
Heatwave had to give him multiple lessons on the basics of Equestria lore and vocabulary. Though, he honestly expected Darkloud to respond how he normally did: loud, obnoxious and bored out of his mind.
So Heatwave felt both concerned and proud that Darkloud soaked the knowledge like a sponge. Perhaps his brain was merely recycling what was lost from the rekindling of information, but it was like Darkloud was a whole other colt.
His blank idleness while listening to his lectures, his studious eyes that peered into Heatwave’s soul like electricity, (something only the colt’s mother could do to him) and the extensive note taking for hours with no breaks, all of it did not compare to the bouncy troublemaker he raised.
Conclusion: This new Darkloud’s personality was the antithesis of the old Darkloud and he didn’t know if he liked the change. Of course, all parents want their foals to be interested in the real world and apply themselves, but the result came from traumatic circumstances which shouldn’t be healthy. It honestly freaked him out a little.
At the moment, Heatwave had exited from Ponyville to trade his wares of fresh fruit and vegetables with the townsfolk. He always enjoyed conversing with the nice ponies, especially Fluttershy who was an angel in his eyes, and Applejack who never failed to buy a bulk of his apple boxes while he was in business.
Heatwave strolled back to his humble home etched in a mountain only to open the door and find that Darkloud had vanished…
Oh no no no no! Not again! The Everfree isn’t kind to foals; I just instructed him about this a week ago!
A heavy wave of panic rushed through the stallion as he dashed into the cave and around the area. He may have been an earth pony, but if the average pegasus saw Heatwave leaving a hot trail in his wake, they’d think somepony was flying too close to the ground.
“D-Darkloud?”
...
“SON!”
The forest critters squealed at the sudden increase in volume while crows swarmed the sky, including a low gasp across the bushes a short distance away.
A quick flash of fire and Heatwave stood three steps away from Darkloud who had a pile of sticky notes with the symbol of the a triangle on each and pencils laced around the grass.
Heatwave raised an eyebrow at him. This is new behaviour.
“What are you doing here son?”
“Just uhm… drawing” Darkloud replied, still surprised at the speed and fury his father oozed
“Drawing,” Heatwave mirrored, increasingly sceptical of the weird habit his kid gained out of nowhere. Darkloud thought drawing was boring; buckball was more of his speed. But should he really second guess the weirdness after his over-flipped personality… probably not, “why do that out here than in the cave. Surely you remember that the Everfree Forest is home to many creatures that would happily gobble you whole?”
Darkloud stared back at him for a few seconds, the father could practically see the steam seeping out of his head.
“...I’m uhm, trying to get my cutie mark.”
The stallion sighed, “Kid, a few days ago, I told you about how they work. They don’t just appear after doing a random thing. The action has to mean something deep inside your being; without a spark like that, it won’t work.”
“I know, I know but I just… well it felt like a normal characteristic somepony my age should have. And plus, if they really show what you’re good at,” -Darkloud pointed to Heatwave’s flank which presented a desert landscape with a sand temple erected at the center,- “then I feel like I should try finding it sooner than later…”
Darkloud hung his head low while bringing out the legendary technique all foals inherently achieve, the puppy dog eyes. Heatwave however, stood unmoved by the display in front of him, letting a small crack of a smile escape from the surface before hoisting the colt onto his back and collecting the scattered materials.
“Listen kid, not having a cutie mark at your age isn’t unusual at all. In fact, I know a filly from the Apple family whom I mentioned to you. She doesn’t have a cutie mark either and she’s your age. Ponies seem to forget how wondrous it is to have such a boundless sea of potential while you're young. Believe me kid, treasure hunting has been my calling for a long time but the work has led to its fair share of troubles. It almost feels like I’m locked into this path with no way to change it… doesn’t change that I love this job but you get the point.”
The foal relaxed into his coat as he strolled back to their home and set the colt on a chair.
Really doesn’t change that I love this job… It led me to you after all.
Dangit, at least I had a good excuse at the ready… that would've been embarrassing! Lux brainstormed, being careful to maintain his default blank face.
His previous attempts at using alchemy was a complete bust. He tried stretching or pulling some kind of muscle in his horn to shoot out fire or wind like he normally could but nothing happened besides his horn feeling sore from the exercise. Yes, he did expect his skills to diminish a bit without the Philosopher's Stone but returning to 0 was mildly frustrating.
So he resorted to retracing his steps from the simple methods of casting spells. Conduits, along with the access to tap into every sign, could also absorb the energy from the stone and fire out the chosen spell the brain thinks about, meanwhile the spells for the normal alchemist ,referred to as Casters, require a more time consuming approach; such spells should be childsplay for Lux to do, no pun intended.
Casters used alchemical symbols that represent a way of life drawn on any surface to project a spell, however the production and activation of the symbol can only be done from the interaction and brain frequency of a compatible user.
Lux held one of the sticky notes with the symbol of fire he drew with a hoof. He had seen Heatwave use his teeth before but he’d rather die than get germs in his mouth so he took to learning the lesser evil. There were a few botched attempts however, he eventually got the hang of it
Ignis…
No sparks flew from the note
“Ignis!” He spoke out loud yet even the full call of its name provided no warmth to the sign. The colts face scrunched together in frustration and used every ounce of brain power to produce at least something of worth, thinking: thermal energy from the core of thy soul, oxygen as the breath of thy life, may both converge into this source as an offering in return for the warmth of the world
“IGNIS!”
The note flew from his hoof, carried by a gust of wind to which he deflated onto his bed, exhausted. He never had to perform a whole chant to produce fire even when he was omitted to the academy though he did like using them when he wanted to show off with a highly unsafe spell. Lux could practically hear that dreaded laughter from his old classmate rival, Zelus, if he listened hard enough.
Meanwhile, Heatwave sat on the other side, boiling eggs for breakfast while keeping his ears perked up in case his kid was doing something even more ridiculous. Shouting strange phrases was one of them.
He walked over to the slumped colt and stroked his back to comfort him. “May I ask what’s the matter this time?”
“It’s my spells dad!” Lux grumbled, red embarrassment invaded his cheeks as he responded. “Usually, I can shoot fire from these signs and yet… nothing.” He lowered his voice at the last word, the disappointment on his face was immeasurable.
But the lowered face of disappointment grew to even worse embarrassment when Heatwave bellowed in laughter, flipping onto his back and rolling around in great haste.
“Hehehehe kid, magic doesn't work like that. Sure there were ancient runes used before Celestia's rule but that's all in the past,” Heatwave flipped himself upright and had a light grin on his face, clearly enjoying the adorable pouting Lux was emitting, “magic comes from within you, just like every other creature in this world.” To make a point, he tapped on Lux’s horn in a playful manner that made him giggle and immediately shut his jaw, struggling to shift his reaction from a giddy idiot to a serious student.
Heatwave continued his speech, smirking as he did. “It takes practice channelling said magic, especially for foals that have a low mana pool but it's a fundamental part of a unicorn so it’s easy to at least use telekinesis.”
Lux frowned as he connected the dots. Telekinesis was not one of the signs alchemy could do so there was only one horrific conclusion. Magic isn’t alchemy.
He reckoned that he was gonna have a much harder time with the new system of power than before and he mentally shuddered at that fact.
So this is how those failing students felt… I hate this!
“Let’s review with the basics to get you started,” Heatwave said, grabbing one of the labelled sticky notes from Lux’s most recent attempt, “here, when you think about levitating this note, what do you imagine?”
Lux raised an eyebrow at the question, yet shrugged and shut his eyes.
His mind wandered to the image of a disembodied hand grasping the note in its fingers.
“I see a glowing hand picking it up”
“Like a monkey's hand? Strange imagination you got there kid but if it works, it works,” the stallion concluded, “now focus on that thought, hold your breath and tense those muscles”
The young colt did as told and at last, he felt something he was familiar with. A feeling of warmth and energy had filled his body as his mane stood up in excitement.
Finally, Lux opened his eyes to witness his horn glowing in a yellow light. His eyes shone in amazement at the prospect of this new source until he looked at the paper under the same yellow glow. Despite the pencil lead on the note that glowed a golden hue,
It didn’t even hover.
And in a flash, the joy and nerdiness he oozed from his face vanished in an instant. “Oh,” he said in a monotone voice, “that was uh… anticlimactic.”
Heatwave still held his smile, laying down to meet his son at eye level. “Kid, you shouldn’t feel down about it,” he stroked Lux’s mane which put him at ease. Being pet like an animal felt strange but comforting so he stood still and let himself enjoy the moment, “you’re learning everything from scratch! All foals have to start from somewhere and hey, you now know what you need to work on!”
Lux nodded. It’s not like he hadn’t worked hard to master his abilities beforehand, electricity was especially tough to control but he shivered at the projected image of an older him unable to use magic. If the use of magic is the norm for unicorns, he refused to be the minority!
Heatwave backed away once he saw his son regain his active vigour. “Sorry,” Lux apologised, “I’m not really used to being at the bottom of the barrel. Still, thanks for the pep talk Dad,”
“I don’t think you need to worry son, I may not be the most suited teacher,'' the stallion replied, tapping his head, “but the books your mother hoarded in here taught me a few things. Besides, you’ve had trouble with magic before uh… the incident, so it’s nothing new. Short story, you’re still developing.”
Lux walked out the doors as if ignoring his fathers last sentence. “Look I don’t think me being a foal is any excuse to have no talent in magic.”
“Probably because that talent of yours hasn’t been realised yet. Wait until you finally have a magic surge before you complain.”
…That's a new term. “Excuse me?” Lux turned back to face him.
“A magic surge. An event every early foal experiences, where their magic goes out of whack and performs feats beyond their level subconsciously. And after such a process, the foals' mana pool will increase and provide a higher level of casting ability and efficiency. Or that's what ‘Basic Magic Casting for Gifted Unicorns’ told me.”
“And that’s a problem for me because?” Lux asked, the pit in his stomach growing by the second.
Heatwave shook his head roboticly. “Kid… we’ve talked about this many times,” but he regained his sense of self as he saw Lux tilt his head, “oh right. Amnesia.”
The fiery stallion coughed into his hoof to regain composure and continued. “I don’t know why but you never had a magic surge since me and your mother raised you, so by my guess, I imagine your mana pool is quite small than those your age,”
Lux’s face dropped. “N-not that you won't have one at all!” Heatwave placated, deflating into a sigh. “It’s just abnormal. If only your mother were here, she'd be much better with encouraging speeches…”
Lux waved his hoof “I get what you mean dad,” he said as he continued walking into the forest, “in fact, I’m gonna prove that little book wrong. Weak or not, I'm gonna get better no matter what! Be right back.” And so the colt disappeared into the foliage.
That colt never slows down, I guess that's one thing that hasn’t changed about him…
As well as his stupid naivety!
“Hold up kid, at least tell me where you’re going before you do something!”