//------------------------------// // Chapter 76: In The Woods // Story: The First Steps of the Rest of Your Life // by Rhino //------------------------------// ***Thursday, Day 102*** **Early morning** *Beep, beep, beep, beep, bee- click* My hoof draws itself back in from the reflexive swat to the alarm clock. I silently slip out of bed, careful not to make too much noise in case I wake the other inhabitants of the house. I grab my circles notebook and Blink downstairs to the kitchen. One quick glass of milk along with grabbing my saddlebags and I am out the door. Not towards work though, I have been given the week off due to my leg, which was still in its cast and made walking irritating. Instead, I traveled in the direction of the nearby Whitetail Woods. As I walk down the path I had been going down for the past four days, my thoughts flash with their usual sequence that has been haunting me. Hydro in his hospital bed, Applejack by his side, the pain on our friend’s faces, Pinchy’s crying face, and of course, my own leg. I feel the small bit of adrenaline trickle into my system at these images. Good, that means I’ll be focused. I reach the familiar clearing, stumps mark its borders. Within it though, lies what some would see as the sight of some kind of attack. Limbs and sections of tree trunks litter the ground, each scored with dozens upon dozens of claw-like marks. Everything from scratches to straight punctures can be seen. For me... the piles represent progress. Not as fast as I would have liked, but progress nonetheless. I drop my saddlebags at the edge of the clearing, fishing out my book with my magic as I do so. A quick glance to double check is all I need to make sure my most recent memorized circle is still accurate. With a large breath and a larger flare of my horn, two identical circles appear to either side of me. From them, arise two crystal daggers which float on either side of me without the assistance of levitation. I plant my hooves and close my eyes, simply listening to the wind rustling the leaves around me. After a moment, the forest goes silent... … My eyes snap open as my horn flares and I send a section of tree trunk the size of my own barrel hurtling towards me. I catch the wooden mass with the blade of one dagger, leaving another scratch on it even as I use the second dagger to parry it’s momentum away from me. The wood soars past me as my horn lights up and more arise from where they had fallen on previous days. Time and time again I assault myself with the projectiles, never moving from my spot so that I am forced to defend myself with the blades. Parrying, cutting, and blocking all blur in my mind as I dance the line between calculations and instinct. Finally, a piece of significant mass slips through and hits one of my uninjured legs as a fair speed, making me hiss in pain as I stop the attacks. The glow around my horn dies as I breathe heavily from the exertion. “Sugoi!” “Huh?” I look around curiously at the unknown word. “Oops, sorry, Dad!” A pink filly steps out of the shadows, smiling brightly. “It’s Neighponese for ‘awesome’! But...” She stops in front of me, examining my cast. “...shouldn’t you be resting?” I eye the filly. “The same could be said of you, young filly. Why aren’t you in bed?” She looks at me with an even expression. “I’ve gotten used to waking up early to get ready for school. In my own way, of course.” She giggles, reaching back and readjusting her saddlebags. “It seems you have the same idea.” I let out a long breath as I float over a water bottle from my own bags. “What do you mean? You’re always doing that cute wake-up yawn of yours whenever I come and get you out of bed in the mornings.” “That’s so you don’t think something’s up.” She shrugs slightly, turning towards the wood pieces. “You’re further along than I am. Of course, I suppose that’s to be expected, right?” She lifts a piece up in her magic, smiling brightly. “Look, Dad! It’s not exploding!” I nod as I take a swig of water, my daggers still floating next to me. “Good. That means on our next lesson we can move on to actual spells.” I pause for a moment as certain things she said click together. “Wait... waking up early, same idea, further along... Pinchy... what have you been doing?” “Oh, that’s easy!” She opens up one of her saddlebags, pulling out her wooden kunai. “Practicing being a protector! I have my own private practice area and everything!” I raise an eyebrow at her as I dispel my daggers. “You haven’t been doing anything dangerous, have you?” “Just some spells and knife-work.” She grimaces, lifting up one hoof. “...I did sprain a hoof once practicing the Res spell, though...and there’s been a few explosions, as well...” Paternal instincts cut my training session short as I immediately zip over the her and look over the hoof. I gently prod it in a few keys places as I ask, “Do any of these spots hurt when I put pressure on them?” She stares blankly at me. “...Dad, it was weeks ago. It’s healed by now.” “Oh...” I clear my throat to hide my embarrassment, “well, since you’ve been doing this for so long without my knowledge, show me where you’ve been training.” “Okay!” She leaps up and turns, marching further into the woods. “This way!” I follow her until, eventually, she stops in front of a large, spanning shrub. She examines it closely, as if she was looking for something. “...should be somewhere near here...ah, here it is!” She pushes on a branch with a hoof, revealing a pathway through the hedge. I look past her curiously. "How did you even find this?" “My family used to come here in my own dimension. Dad said he even had their third date here!” She glances up at me before quickly averting her eyes. “...s-so yeah, this is my practice area!” She motions to a spot to the right, where a couple of trees are covered in notches, and a hole in one of them about halfway up. “That’s where I practice Res. I mark the bark to show how high I get before my control slips!” “Hmm...” I look at the bark before looking back at her. “Is that from running up the tree or walking up the tree?” “The one on the left is walking.” She frowns at the one with the crater. “The right is running. Still need to work on that...not as much as my invisibility one, but still.” She looks up at me, smiling brightly. “Anyways, I have a spot to practice each spell I know. And I still have a clear area for when I want to eat lunch here with my friends!” She shrugs slightly. “Haven’t yet, but it’s there. Just in case.” “Your friends know about this? Even when I didn’t?” “Not really...” She paws at the ground with a hoof, embarrassed. “...o-only Rumble and Dinky...b-back before I moved here...nopony else...” She moves away, pointing towards the other side of the clearing. “C-come on, I’ll show you where I practice invisibility!” She rushes over, moving in a curious pattern, as if avoiding some items on the ground. I shrug off her darting movements and just make a beeline towards her, stepping over a few craters on the way. “I believe I know why you’re having so much trouble with a few of these, but I’ll save it for once we’re done with this little tour.” “Sorry about those. Light clones aren’t that stable, here, for some reason...” She concentrates, making a floating ball of light so they can see this darker area better. There’s a mirror nearby, but Pinchy frowns at it. “...I don’t know why I have this here...I can’t see when the spell’s active...” I quirk an eyebrow at this. “Wait, you mean you were blind when you were invisible?” “Pretty much.” She tilts her head, confused. “Why is that surprising, Dad?” I look around as I explain. “I suppose I just figured you had accounted for that... but maybe I was just distracted by your abilities to realize that adding a one-way inversal component to the spell was a bit above you right now.” Pinchy blinks, staring at the mirror for a few moments. “...I don’t think I even know what that is, Dad.” “Exactly my point.” I turn back to her. “So this is everything you’ve been up to?” “Well...” She pushes the light orb with a hoof, causing it to rise into the air. As it does, the craters I walked over are revealed - several small holes in the ground, and what looks like the foundation work for a circular building. “...I’ve also been practicing the light clone, like I said before...the big one’s my first attempt...” She levitates over a small bucket, sheepishly smiling. “I’ve had this nearby ever since.” She nonchalantly sweeps a few glittering shards behind her with a hoof, looking away from me. “...ignore the crystals...they are not important...” I narrow my eyes at her. “Pinchy...” She flinches at my tone and sighs, embarrassed. “...I...I took a look in your rune dictionary...and found the crystal rune...” A frown grows on my face. “I thought we talked about me slowly introducing you to runes at a decent pace for you to get used to them.” I sigh. “It’s my latest rune so I’m still fiddling with the combinations, I don’t know what could happen and I don’t want you messing with it until I can be sure most combinations aren’t dangerous...” “Well, I do know what happens!” She holds one up to him, giggling softly. “They sparkle and shine! It’s really dazzling, Dad!” I take it gingerly in my magic. “...Exactly what method are you using to create these? And for what purpose?” “I just...focused my magic into the rune...” She frowns slightly, confused. “...I usually layer runes until I find a specific one that works...it’s how I made my Hard Light spell...” I nod as I remember her short range light element discharge spell she used in her own dimension. “Fair enough, but that was in your old world, has that really worked well in this one?” She sighs, tapping her horn. “I don’t really know...it just comes to me, for the light writing and the light ball...” “That’s because those are less like spells and more like simple manipulation of magical energy. Sort of like levitation, but different.” I walk over to her and rustle her mane fondly. “But, since you finally have control over you levitation, I believe that qualifies you as stable enough for us to move onto the real magic.” She looks up at me, eyes wide in excitement. “Really? Oh, that would be great, Dad!” I smile at her. “Alright then, well, I don’t have the materials here for the first official next tier of lessons, but how about a little treat to show you what can be done?” My horn lights up as I draw a complex circle almost the size of my own body in the air next to me. “Do you know which spell this is?” She looks at it carefully, eyes narrowed in concentration. She suddenly brightens up, smiling happily. “Oh, I remember this from your dictionary! It’s Res, right?” I nod. Correct, now I’m assuming you’ve just been trying to use Res the way you were able to before right? Well, since you essentially have my magic now, why don’t you try using it my way? Learn this circle, and when you’re ready, write it on the underside of your hoof and stick it to the tree.” “Okay!” She stares intensely at the circle, her eyes visibly looking over every inch of it. “...okay...I think I got it...” She tilts her head to one side, curious. “...which one do you change to make it go from smoothing out the surface to magnifying it’s flaws?” I point to a large symbol in the circle right outside the core. “This one. Currently this is Hi-Res. Replacing this symbol,” my horn lights up as it changes, “to this one changes it to Low-Res. Also this spell is power dependant so the more power you use, the more effective it is, thus if you plan on skating around, you’ll find you need to monitor the power you put into it very carefully, otherwise you’ll probably crash.” “Thanks! I’ll be sure to do that!” She looks down at her hooves, concentrating. “...let’s see...Low-Res...” Her hooves light up and promptly slip out from under her, causing her to yelp in surprise as she hits the ground. “...ow...I think I banged my chin...” I wince as I walk over to her. “Yeah, did that my first time too... Also ended up doing the splits... not pleasant.” I stand next to her. “Here, try using me as a support until you find your balance.” She nods, letting the circles disperse before leaning against me. “...let’s see...maybe I should try this systematically...” One of her hooves lights up, and she tentatively puts a bit of weight on it. “...so far, so good...” I try to encourage her. “Easy does it, minimum power until you get a feel for it.” “O-okay, dad.” She sticks her tongue out one side of her mouth, lighting up another hoof. “...two hooves...still doing well...” She activates the third one and starts sliding down my side. She panics, scrambling for purchase on the grass. My foreleg wraps around her barrel. "Calm down, just relax and adjust." Pinchy nods, closing her eyes and focusing. Soon enough, her legs stop flailing and she looks down, smiling brightly. “Hey...I think I have it!” "Excellent, let's make sure." I let go of her and take a step back. She wobbles slightly, but manages to stay upright. She grins, pumping a hoof in the air in her excitement. “Yay! I got it!” She puts her hoof back on the ground and uses it to push herself around, giggling a bit. “And I’ve got an extra hoof free to help me move around!” I chuckle as she glides around the clearing. "Well, you seem to use it more like a scooter or skateboard than rollerblades like I do, but I suppose your way is easier until you have the control that comes with experience." Eventually I give in and start Resing around with her, just enjoying the time together. After a bit of time doing this, I skate ahead of her and turn around so I am facing her while going backwards. "Hey, did you want to go visit Hydro after this so you can show him your new trick?" “Sure!” She smiles happily before pointing behind me. “By the way, you might want to watch out for-” I suddenly run into a multi-armed log thing since I couldn't see where I was going. “...the Wing Chun practice dummy...” She giggles, shaking her head playfully. “You’re silly, Dad.”