//------------------------------//
// Edify Clairvoyance 
// Story: Intension 
// by MadMan 
//------------------------------//

Twilight sat in the clearing beside Luna. It was the peaceful time of early dawn, just as the sun rose over the tree covered horizon. The birds were just beginning to chirp, and the leaves were still covered with a thin layer of dew. The two mares sat in silence, letting the forest come alive around them. After a time, the sun had completely cleared the horizon, and Luna stood up.

"Well, let's get started. We have a lot to cover, and I'd like to be finished by lunch. Follow me."

Twilight followed Luna off the small hill to the clearing around the entrance to their hideout. They took positions opposite each other, about a yard apart.

"Shields are a vital part of combat. Without one, you won't last a minute in a real battle. However, it seems in recent years war has changed drastically. I'm told that yesterday Nightfury taught you the basics of magical fighting. These aren't very well known or used anymore. It's part of the reason he is so effective. Nowadays ponies use more brute force rather than skill or knowledge. Because of this, shields have changed drastically as well. The flip side of this is that the shields I shall teach you should work very well. The first thing we shall work on is the kinetic shield, used to stop or slow solid objects. Are you familiar with the concept?"

"Yes, it's pretty simple. I've used them before."

"Well then, conjure one around yourself."

Twilight did, a transparent purple bubble appearing around her. As she did, Luna levitated a stone from the edge of the clearing and held it in front of her.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Without further warning, the stone launched at Twilight's shield. When it collided with the barrier, it bounced off, landing in the grass with a soft thump. Luna smiled.

"Good, you've got a firm grasp of the concept. Now, on to more difficult things. Are you familiar with a magical shield?"

"I'm familiar with the concept and cast them, as Shining Armor has taught me about all different kinds of shields, but I've never tested it."

"Well, cast one now. I shall test it. If you're familiar with the concept, it should be easy to craft a satisfactory one."

Twilight closed her eyes and cast a magical barrier around herself. It looked just like the previous one, but sparkled a bit more in the sunlight.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Luna's horn glowed, and a dark blue arrow shot from her horn. It shattered against the barrier, wisps of magic dancing in the air before fading.

"Very good! It seems we will be done ahead of schedule. I'm not sure why I ever doubted you, love."

"Well, my cutie mark is in magic, and my brother's is in defensive magic. I already know a good bit about shields and the like."

"Well, come sit by this tree with me. I have more to teach you about the old ways of fighting."

Twilight sat beside Luna at the base of a large oak tree. She leaned against Luna's shoulder, who spread a wing around the pair to ward against the early morning chill still nipping at them.

"What is the best way of defending yourself from an attack?"

"Casting a shield stronger than the attack?"

"How do you know of your shield is stronger than the attack?"

"I don't know."

"Exactly. What I'm about to tell you is privileged information, not commonly taught to warriors anymore, like Nightfury's fighting. With it, normal ponies could go on devastating rampages and be nearly unstoppable to normal law enforcement."

Twilight shivered, not from the cold but from the thought of all the dangerous information she had learned the was learning recently.

"In order to defend yourself competently, you must know who is attacking you. Line of sight isn't directly important, but knowing where they are and how they are attacking you makes all the difference. Are they casting direct kinetic force at you? Are they casting a spell around you, as in setting a blaze to burn you? Are they throwing objects at you? Or are they casting spells to alter your body? This must be known in order to effectively defend yourself."

"But how can I possibly know this? An attack can be launched in a split second."

"The best method is to be fully aware of your surroundings at all times. This can be done using your innate magical abilities. Just like pegasi can tell when the weather is changing, or an earth pony can sense disturbances in the land, unicorns can use their magic to sense the world around them. This is often subconscious, and most ponies do this without realizing it is their internal magic. What you have to do is learn how to control this consciously, and use it at will. What I want you to do, is close your eyes and reach for your magic. However, instead of casting a spell, simply examine the magic. What does it say to you? What can you see of the world around you?"

Twilight did, reaching down in her mind for the nugget of power nestled among her memories and feelings that cluttered her mind. Usually, when she found it, she would grab it, and push it out her horn, changing her surroundings, reshaping matter into a pattern more pleasing to her. This time, she did as asked, and simply examined the magic flowing through her. She found it as a raging river, washing around in a seeming chaotic pattern, but the more she watched, the more sense it made. She could vaguely see how it interacted with the outside world. She could see Luna, like she would see a magnet pulling on iron filings, the Princess's power pulling and pushing on her own with proximity. Looking closer, Twilight realized that she could see through it, like a lens, and watch the world beyond. It was slightly twisted, as if the lens was distorted, but Twilight could see the tree she was leaning against in vivid detail, down to the tiny bugs in the bark. Turning the lens, she saw Luna is breathtaking detail, every hair in her coat swaying in the breeze, every gleaming feather on her majestic wings. Opening her eyes, Twilight leaning against Luna and sighed.

"Wow. That was...... Enlightening."

"Yes. With practice, you can narrow or broaden your focus, and be able to discern threats from the chaos of the world. I cannot really teach you how to do that, as the magic can tell when one genuinely wishes you ill or not. The only real way to learn to tell is against a foe who truly wished to defeat you. However, you can become better attuned with this power by meditating. As such, I want you to meditate at least an hour a day, preferably someplace quiet and away from others. Simply close your eyes, and watch the world around you."

"I can do that."

"Good. Well, it seems we are finished well ahead of schedule. I somehow managed to forget the fact that your older brother is the head of the Royal Guards, and that his cutie mark is shields, and that he would want his precious little sister to be able to protect herself."

"Yeah, every time he learned a new kind of defensive magic or shield, he would pester me until I could do it too."

"I am glad. I want you to be as safe as possible."

Twilight smiled and nuzzled Luna's neck instead of replying with words, earning a kiss from the Princess.

"So, what shall we do until lunch?"

"Well, I think we should go have a talk with the Black Berets, and get a plan figured out. I haven't yet told them about going to Salam, and yesterday I visited Canterlot, and have some news."

"We were wondering where you went."

"Yes, I went undercover for a few hours. Yesterday was the military parade, and I wanted to see how the population responded."

"How was it?"

"I'll tell you with the others, come."

Twilight loathed to relinquish the warm embrace, but they stood and went inside the cave. They emerged from the tight passage into the cavern, which was warm compared to the chilly outside. The fire was crackling merrily in the center of the room, and the majority of the Black Berets were around it. Luna went up the them and called to the others scattered around the cave.

"Berets, gather around. I have news."

Soon all twenty were surrounding the fire, their shadows bouncing and flickering in the fire light.

"Yesterday, I went undercover in Canterlot. To put it simply, Celestia is doing her best to downplay Axion's threat. Despite her best efforts, numerous newspapers in Canterlot and beyond ran the story of the mysterious mare who murdered several Royal Guards and made her threat to return in six months. As you can imagine, there was some panic. Celestia's response was to run a follow up story saying that they were merely caught by surprise, and that they shall be prepared of Axion dares to show her face again. Yesterday was the date of a military parade, in which the Royal Guards and two contingents of the army were marched around the city. It seemed to have worked, as no pony now thinks that Axion is a threat, and most think she won't even dare return. We know otherwise, but I doubt we would be able to or wise to convince them otherwise. Instead, I believe we should go to the center of action, and go meet up with Lieutenant General Grous in Salam. Axion is surely involved in instigating the hostilities. Any objections?"

There were none.

"It seems settled then. We leave at dark tomorrow. Get some rest."

Some of the ponies walked away, off to pack possessions or to take a nap. Twilight lay next to the fire, Luna beside her with one velvet wing over Twilight. They lay silently for a while, listening to the conversation of the Black Berets around them. After a minute, Twilight decided that it would be a good time to meditate, and practice her environmental awareness. Closing her eyes, she looked deep inside her mind for the river of magic, and immersed herself in it. Extending her gaze to the cave beyond, she looked around. The cave seemed smaller, but maybe it was the fact that the shadows no longer hid the edges of the room. Scattered about the room were twenty one areas of glowing turbulence, like ripples in a pond. Some of the disturbances were larger than others, some brighter, some faster, and some more energetic. Twilight spent many minutes examining each ripple, trying to determine the sources. Luna's was easy, being right next to her and outshining the rest, but the others required some thought.

That small, dim one must be Winter, she's taking a nap. Those two bouncy, flickering ones must be Nightfury and Tank, they were playing some dice game.

Twilight continued to play her own little game, going through the Black Berets as they went about their day, resting, staying entertained, or simply conversing. It was going smoothly, and Twilight was able to identify almost all of them, until she reached the last one. These ripples were placid, but blurry, as if the water was muddy. Twilight focused on the ripples coming from the pony she couldn't identify, but all she could tell was that they were troubled. Twilight opened her eyes and looked in the direction that the ripples were to find they belonged to Wildfire, who was laying on his bedroll, gazing at the ceiling with a sort of puzzled melancholy expression. Twilight stood, earning a puzzled look from Luna.

"What's the matter, Twilight?"

"Wildfire. He looks troubled. I'm going to go talk to him."

Luna said nothing, but lay her head back down and continued to look into the fire. Twilight walked over to Wildfire, who didn't seem to notice her until she was right next to him.

"Evening, Twilight. What brings you to my peaceful corner of the cave?"

"You seem troubled."

"Nah, just a bit bored. I hate this time in between missions, when all we have to do is sit around and count rocks."

Wildfire motioned his head toward the other side of the cave, where Twilight saw Little Bit sitting, looking like he was in fact counting pebbles.

"I mean more than that. You seem genuinely perturbed about something. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine, but maybe talking in general will help."

"Well..."

Wildfire sat up and looked at Twilight with a searching gaze.

"You're a mare, maybe you can actually help, or at least soothe my aching mind."

"Ah, so it's girl problems."

"Not quite."

Twilight lay down on a nearby bedroll, getting as comfortable as she could. Wildfire returned to his previous position, staring at the ceiling as if he half expected the answers to be written in the rocks above.

"It is about a mare, but she has no idea."

"So you care for her, but haven't told her yet?"

"Pretty much."

"Why haven't you told her yet?"

"It's a bit...... Complicated. More than anything, I don't want to complicate things further, especially when we're about to embark upon a probably dangerous journey."

"Ah. I think I understand."

"Well, probably not. It's a bit more confusing than you might think."

"How so?"

Wildfire's only response was to turn his head and stare across the cave, just to Twilight's left. Turning her head, she followed his gaze to find it on Winter, peacefully asleep against the far wall. Realization ran through Twilight's mind. 

That would certainly complicate things. But I suppose that would make a bit of sense, they've definitely been through a lot together. Not to mention she's not bad looking, and very talented. Hmm. Sometimes I wish I understood romance better.

Although her mind was running full pace, Twilight's mouth was only capable of the most simple reply.

"Ah."

"Yeah."

"Have you tried talking to her?"

"Of course I have. But every time I try to tell her how I feel, I just get this feeling that I shouldn't, so I don't. On one hoof, I feel that's better. The last thing we need is some sort of silly romance to muddle the unit up. But on the other, I feel this so strongly, sometimes I just have to go out into the forest and buck a tree until it falls to help me calm down. I just don't know what to do."

"Honestly, I can't really relate. My first real romance was with Luna, and that just sort of fell into place on its own. I know next to nothing in the normal ways of romance."

Wildfire laughed lightly, as if that was exactly the answer he was expecting.

"For some reason, that doesn't surprise me. We've all heard the stories about Celestia's protege, the bookish unicorn who stopped Discord, Nightmare Moon, and saved the Crystal Empire. She's an egghead, happier among her books than anywhere else. Although, I must say, you've changed a lot. I remember the Changeling attack. I was there, alongside your brother. We never spoke, but I got to see you in action. You've grown since then. I guess we all have, especially in the last few weeks."

Twilight smiled, amused at the turn the conversation had taken.

"Yes, I remember that. I was a lot younger, mentally especially. I couldn't even fathom being betrayed, especially by a friend."

Twilight had meant to keep the conversation light, but she felt tears well up in her eyes as the memories of Axion played through her mind. Noticing Wildfire looking at her with concern, Twilight hastily rubbed the tears away and smiled again.

"Well, I wish I could be of more help. I fear that the way times are changing that love will be something sorely needed."

"Maybe you can."

"I would be happy to."

"Just talk to her a bit. Don't tell her about me, just find out more about her. Like, does she have a special somepony? Stuff that I could never ask without arousing suspicion."

Twilight smiled. It reminded her strongly of the first time Rainbow Dash had developed a crush, on one of the weather pegasi back in Ponyville, years ago. She had asked Twilight to do nearly the exact same thing.

"I can do that."

"Thanks a million.  I owe you one."

"Don't worry about it."

Twilight stood and walked back to the fire, nuzzling a snoozing Luna's wing until it lifted, allowing her to crawl underneath and find a comfortable place to nap the remainder of the day away.