//------------------------------// // Twilight's Training // Story: If There Was No Magic // by Just Reading //------------------------------// The purple filly’s face creases with effort as she attempts to display a hint of magic. Her eyes scrunch tighter, a burst of air is released through her flared nostrils as part of a stuttered breath. She tries to hold her concentration while inhaling to replace the air she lost. A splutter, coughing follows as Twilight collapses. Instantly Celestia is by her side, helping her up. She hugs the exhausted pony loosely, careful not to smother her. “No need to make yourself faint Twilight, let us rest for a while.” Concern is blatant in her voice, Celestia’s unease is well hidden though. She wouldn’t admit it in front of Twilight but she is scared for the young pony after the recent reminder of how draining this art could be. “Just one last try Princess,” the effort of speech leaves Twilight out of breath, she takes a moment to recover. “It feels different this time,” more deep breaths, “As if it has a purpose.” While Celestia doesn’t want the budding student to push herself too far, she also fears repressing the young pony’s talent. “Just one more then,” Celestia decides. “But this is your last attempt, no matter what happens after this we will be doing restful theory for the remainder of the day.” Celestia feels Twilight’s nodding snout rub against her chest. Pulling away from the white Princess’s embrace Twilight gets into position. Front legs bent with her rump sticking up into the air. She clamps her eyelids down tightly, scrunches her nose and opens her lips, showing some teeth. The strain begins with a slight haze around Twilight’s horn. A soft glow is revealed as the haze clears. Celestia sighs, this process is exactly the same as the previous attempt. Maybe this time she’ll change something? A thought that had been genuine when they first began training one day shy of two weeks ago, now it is forced. Celestia’s hope that magic could be restored had slowly dwindled to nothing during their training. Annoyance flashes in her mind, not directed at Twilight but herself. Annoyance for putting so much faith in one little filly, but she must continue even if it was hopeless. Without Luna this is the only way. “Did you see that Princess? I did it! I controlled the spark.” Celestia is torn from her thoughts by the excited purple filly jumping bouncing in front of her. Twilight’s navy blue locks are jumping with her, tickling Celestia’s nose. The princess finally deciphers the situation, realizing she’d just missed the moment she doubted would ever happen. “I’m so sorry Twilight I was caught up in my thoughts,” Celestia admits to her pupil. “Do you think you can repeat it?” “Of course Princess. I feel like I actually understand what I’m doing now.” Twilight’s confident words quell her teacher’s ever present fears for a moment. Twilight readies herself again, taking a stance different from her last attempt. Instead of her rear being high in the air it is now underneath her as she sits. A smooth, calm face and lightly lidded eyes replace their wrinkled counterparts. A deep breath, then the haze followed by the glowing of her horn. The glow gathers at the tip and instead of popping out as a spark forms a small light no brighter than a candle. Celestia leans closer to study the spell. It’s color appeared to be pure white from afar but actually is holds a tint of purple, similar to Twilight’s coat. The purple horn lowers and the light winks out, disappointing the princess briefly. “How?” Celestia breathes the word, mouth left hanging agape, her unblinking eyes locked on Twilight’s horn. “All I did was change the technique Princess.” Twilight points out the process with her hoof as she lectures her mentor. “Previously I was pushing the magic out with brute force and expecting something to happen. What I actually need to do is pull the magic inside and shape it into the spell I desire. Then by simply releasing it from my grip it flows into my horn and projects itself from the tip." Celestia chuckles. "Two thousand years ago I thought I knew all there was to know about magic yet I've never heard a pony explain it quite like that." She allows herself to nuzzle one of Twilight's ears before masking herself in professionalism once more. "That's enough work for today Twilight. Why don’t we discuss some more magical theory over biscuits and tea?” Twilight simply nods and the pair trot out of the room on their way to some much needed relaxation. ★★★ Twilight is completely still, her mind clear. The sensations around her dulled except for the stone tome floating before her. Even the book itself is nothing more than a speck in the vast expanse of her mind. All her concentration is focused on the ruby latch that imprisons the secrets of the ancient writings. Twilight can feel the magical riddle emanating from it’s core, begging to be solved. This lock is woven weakly enough that at Twilight’s level of skill she can simply crush it without playing it’s games, but the ponies of old had been creative in their binding riddles and Twilight loves to solve them. The translation troubles Twilight a little as she is still learning the ancient Magi language. Glee dances across her mind when she has the complete message, What shrinks and hides when the sun is overhead, is a full strength when the sun is at it’s lowest, yet without the sun is gone altogether? It takes Twilight all of two seconds to figure out the answer. A shadow. She translates her answer back into Magi. Then transmits two pulse of different magical frequency, each representing one word, to the jewel. The clasp pops open and Twilight sets the book on the floor at her feet, spilling the pages open. The whole process took a little over half a minute. Celestia stands from a sitting position a few steps behind Twilight, a smile hinted at on her lips. Prepared to translate the strange symbols that cover the book’s pages she moves to sit beside Twilight. “Can you let me attempt this one first Princess?” Twilight is attempting to hide her eagerness behind a tight-lipped smile as she questions the princess. The white mare can’t help but release a giggle at the sight of Twilight’s face. Her bulging eyes and clamped mouth make her appear as if she is going to explode. “Of course you can Twilight, but if you need any help just ask.” Celestia wiggles even closer to Twilight, their haunches rubbing against each other as Twilight attempts to puzzle some meaning from the pages before her. Twilight can’t help but blush as the friendly gesture distracts her from the lines of nonsense before her. The diversion of attention doesn’t affect her ability to translate the symbols, she can’t recognise a single one. “I think I might need some help with this one princess, I’ve never seen any of these characters before.” Celestia mouth forms a smile once again and she gently caresses her students mane with her hoof.Twilight reactively squints her eyes and tries to squirm her head away, but this only results in her head being grinded harder against Celestia’s hoof. “Oh Twilight, you’re the cutest little filly,” the princess coos at Twilight’s discomfort. “Now let’s see what this one is about.” She turns her attention back to the book leaving Twilight to get lost in her thoughts. Twilight’s thoughts turn to the blur that has been the last three months. After she had formed that first spell in this same room, Twilight’s lessons with the princess had turned into intense magical training. At first they had started with simplicity and practiced the light spell that Twilight had first discovered to build up Twilight’s magical strength and stamina. During this time Celestia searched the archives for details on basic magical spells. The books had diagrams and explanations describing the exact forms Twilight needed to create for each spell as well as what emotions could be supplemented into each spells make up to push it’s power to the limit. Following the light spell the teacher and student had progressed to a simple levitation spell limited to the movement of a single object. The form for the spell was a pair of pincers and the emotional booster lack of emotion. Twilight had never seen a pincer before and the diagram in the tome was faded beyond recognition so Celestia had a crab bought in for reference. The creature had clamped on Twilight’s nose and after much flailing and Celestia’s comforting words Twilight finally settled down enough for them to pry it off. Twilight rubs her nose subconsciously at the memory. Another hoof meets hers bringing her out of the memory. Twilight looks up at Celestia awaiting the obvious request only for the princess to turn away and wipe her eyes. “Can you come look at these symbols Twilight?” The eternal mare’s speech is broken with a sob, poorly covered by a cough. “They are related to the research I have been doing and I feel I should enlighten you about it.” Celestia tries to force a smile, but her glistening red eyes tell the truth. “What’s wrong princess?” Fear is in Twilight’s voice as she wonders what could possibly be troubling her personification of perfection. “Why were you crying?” “Twilight I,” Celestia sniffs, a delicate motion hidden by her hoof and looks back down at the book. “The research I’ve been doing, it relates to my sister,” the princess turns, her inquisitive eyes meeting Twilight’s. “Do you know her?” “Yes, I mean no. I know of her,” Twilight’s indecision makes Celestia giggle forgetting her grievances for the moment. “Is this book about her?” “It is,” Celestia places her hoof on the page, drawing attention to a deep blue crescent moon in the center. “This symbol here represents my sister, this book is an account of her downfall. The tales say that she grew jealous of me and tried to make night eternal, but the truth is the loss of our sister took it’s toll on her.” Celestia stops to blink, rubbing her moistening eyes. “The emotion became too much for her to bare and so she gave up her physical body to devote all her concentration to the moon and the night sky. At least that was what she told her servants.” Celestia gaze turns downwards, closing the book with her hoof. The emotional tale has Twilight captivated, her eyes locked on the embodiment of the sun’s face, framed by her ever flowing mane. The pause is long enough for Twilight’s eagerness to get the best of her, “What did she tell you?” “She said she was searching.” Celestia’s voice is distant, still staring at the tomes cover. “Luna and I are quite clearly connected to celestial bodies, if our physical bodies come to a fatal end we return to our celestial bodies to reconstruct. However we can only return with help from another sister, Luna and I previously had a connection that allowed to communicate and aid each other in bringing our bodies to Equestria. I am not certain where Magi lies dormant or if she even has somewhere to go at all." “How did you get her to Equestria originally?” The thought bursts from Twilight’s mouth before she even realises she is thinking it. “I’m sorry Princess, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Twilight’s apologies begin to flow as she digests the action she just performed, only stopping when Celestia’s hoof blocks off their exit. “Don’t apologise, it’s a good question Twilight. It will make what I mean to tell you easier to understand. At first there was only Luna and I, the sun and the moon, no Equestria and no Magi After the two of us decided to create Equestria, simply the power of our combined will forced it into existence. We discovered ourselves on the peak of the mountain behind Canterlot, our bodies much younger than mine is today. Our manes did not flow like mine does, they sat just like a regular ponies would. Luna possessed a short baby blue mane that ended in a small flick and mine was long and dawn pink, rolling down my neck in loose curls. Our coat colors did not change as we aged though, mine is still the same as it was on that day.” While she was speaking Celestia had tilted her head upwards and is now staring through the wall, as if the scene were happening beyond it. “Magi well” Celestia continues to fill Twilight’s mind with the monumental scene,” She looked a lot like you do actually. Her mane and coat were colored the same, though her hair was not as uniformly kept as yours, small flick’s covered her mane and her fringe was spiky and uneven. She also only shared one of your highlights, the pink one. How she managed to be there is was a mysterious to Luna and I as our own existences, she just appeared when Equestria did.” Twilight’s sudden recognition causes her to choke, pulling Celestia out of her memories to look at turn towards the unexpected disturbance. “Do you think that maybe,” Twilight spoke slowly, for fear of being mistaken. “The object Magi was tied to was Equestria. Maybe when the two of you formed it she was created as the embodiment of it as well.” Celestia nods, her expression turning grim to mask her emotion. “That is what Luna suspected, but she could not attempt communication at her full power with the distraction of a body here on Equestria. So she decided that it was best to give up her body for the hope that she could bring back Magi and herself one day.” Celestia knows the question forming in Twilight’s mind. “I can not communicate with her sadly. After a year of Luna attempting communication while still linked to me she decided that the link we shared was holding her back, limiting her progress. Luna and I took a few decades shy of one thousand years to initially communicate when we were just sun and moon, completely open to anything with no distractions. Luna calculated it could take over ten thousand to form a second link with one already holding some attention. So she broke the link and I haven’t heard from her since.” Celestia sighs, turning from the closed book to face her student. “I know this is a lot to take in Twilight, but it all relates to you.” “Is it about my magic? Why was it me who discovered it?” Twilight has barely moved throughout the conversation. Now she sits facing her teacher, snout tilted upwards, glimmering purple eyes wide open, locked on the white mare’s somber ones. “I have a few ideas why, but they don’t matter if I’m wrong” Celestia speaks dismissively. “What matters is that you have the ability to use magic, and that makes you the closest link I have to my lost sisters.” “So where do we start?” Twilight questions the princess, eager to follow her instruction. Celestia giggles, the willingness of her student gives her confidence. “First we train.” ★★★ Twilight’s head is spinning as she exits the palace through it’s golden front gates. The amount of information the princess had force-fed her is filling her mind, causing simple thoughts like walking and her destination to be pushed aside. Twilight stops just outside the gates to gather her thoughts, pushing aside all of Celestia’s teaching for now she focuses on making the journey home. As she walks through the late afternoon streets of Canterlot she is watching the sky. A picture of Luna sitting on the moon all alone comes to her. I wonder if she is just like Celestia, I could be her student too Twilight ponders the possibilities of Luna’s return. The rest of her journey home is filled with fantasies of the princesses mentoring her, of her being the student of both sun and moon. Before Twilight knows it she hears a ‘bonk’ that is her nose hitting the wood of her front door, laughter follows as the dazed Twilight rubs her nose. “Did you get lost in your thoughts again dear?” Her mother’s cheery voice rings down the hallway as Twilight closes the door behind her. Walking into the kitchen Twilight finds her mother preparing the evening meal while she hums to herself. “I did actually,” the purple filly exclaims as if it were an accomplishment. “I was just thinking about my lesson today,” Twilight’s voice is slowing, her sentence being punctuated with a yawn. Her mother too distracted by the boiling vegetables in the kitchen to hear, Twilight attempts to continue regardless of reply. “Celestia, was telling, me,” the weight of the days exhaustion pulling her eyelids closed stopping her speech. She manages to blindly stumble into the unlit lounge to collapse onto one of the cushions. Training, she can’t escape it. It fills every moment of her waking life, leaks into her mind as she sleeps and she loves it. Everyday new things to learn, history, spells, tales of Celestia’s life never recorded in history books. Snippets of her days spent as a student pass through her mind. Single object levitation turns to two objects, two to three and three into an assortment of chocolates she and Celestia had shared as Twilight suspended them all simultaneously. Other spells, transformation, conjugation, locking, unlocking, memories of Celestia mentoring these spells to Twilight swirl around her painted in dull, faded colors. I'm dreaming, as the realization comes to her the images cut out. Twilight waits in the nothingness, unable to will herself out of the dream. "Magi?" The voice enters Twilight’s ears, it is as if the speaker is all around her. Afraid, she shrinks back onto her haunches and tries to stay silent, hoping the entity will not find her. She realises her stupidity as the voice speaks again, “Magi, have you told our sister of our plans?” “Uh, I’m not who you’re looking for sorry. I’m Twilight.” Twilight finally overcomes her instincts to cower from the unknown and settles herself, interested to learn about this unknown speaker. “Who might you be? If it isn’t too much trouble to ask.” She utters the question with the calmness of a pony talking to another about their meal at dinner, her fear quashed and curiosity takes over. “Knowing my name is not important, it is best if you do not ask.” The speaker sounds unsettled, as if their name holds bad memories. “You are a magic user, yes? I pray I am not mistaken in that matter, I believe I can sense the knowledge of it in your mind.” The thoughts and questions in Twilight’s mind stop, the question about her secret startling her. How can she know Twilight ponders on the issue, only Shining and Celestia know. “So you do know my sister,” the voice answers her. “Then revealing my name may be of use. I am her sister Luna.” Twilight is stunned, what should I do? Should I tell Celestia? How can I communicate with her? How did she read my thoughts? The thoughts run around Twilight’s mind, confusing her. The storm of thought grows, swelling and stirring until one thought sticks out clearly. “How do I know you’re Luna?” Twilight's question demands proof, the ‘coincidence’ of this Luna contacting her so shortly after her conversation with Celestia arouses her suspicions. A deep night-sky blue hoof pokes out of the shroud of darkness, following it is the rest of the mysterious mare. The Luna Celestia described stands in front of Twilight, albeit a few degrees more bedraggled than she imagined. The night sky is draped down her neck, she stands only a few hooves taller than Twilight but her slouched posture puts their eyes on even level. The night princess’s coat appears faded with bits of fur sticking out in odd places. “Do you believe me now?” Luna’s tone sounds apprehensive, as if she is fearful of Twilight’s doubt. “Not completely,” Twilight’s eyes are narrowed, squinting at Luna in an attempt to see through any disguise. “But it’ll have to do. May I ask why you are so messy looking? If it isn’t too rude.” Twilight speaks slowly, weighing her words and guarding her thoughts as not to give too much away to the mind reader she confronts. “If you must know,” Luna’s gaze wanders above Twilight’s head distractedly. “I have stopped maintaining my physical body during my stay on the moon to devote all the time I have to my search. You can see I have grown quite weak looking as a result.” Luna’s eyes find their way back down to meet with Twilight’s, her lips twitching in a tired smile. “However that is not why I enter your dream to discuss. My intention was to communicate with my sister and query her about helping me return to Equestria. I expected her to attempt to bring my body down the day she returned, it has been 8 years since then and I have had no contact with her.” Luna’s brow is creased with the same worry that her voice hints at, “I have been searching for dreamers with magical energy ever since then in an attempt to communicate with her.” Twilight’s attention is captivated by Luna’s story, she sits in her usual listening pose, eyes wide, mouth hanging agape. “So she just disappeared?” Twilight’s expression shifts from awe to concern. “Not exactly,” Luna pauses, her eyes wander as she recounts the story. “I had established contact with Equestria, the celestial body which holds the soul of my sister Magi. I helped her return her physical body to Equestria and she promised to do the same, but after she had made the journey I lost contact. It was as you said, she disappeared or at least that is what appears to have happened. I know that is not the case however, you prove she didn't just vanish, you hold some of her spark." "Is there anything I can do to help with your situation?" The sympathetic look the purple filly is giving Luna almost pushes her to say no as not to burden the young one, but she is desperate and this may be her only chance for years. "Tell Celestia to look under the bed, she'll know what I mean. Now someone is calling you so I best let you go, uh.” Luna’s stutters, her half smile almost turning into a laugh. ”I’m sorry, but your name seems to slip my minds. What was it again?" “It’s Twilight.” “Twilight, yes.” The giggle Luna was holding burst from between her lips. ”That is oddly fitting. Goodbye Twilight, I hope we can meet in the flesh some day.” The darkness fades away before Twilight can utter a goodbye. Her eyes open and color floods in blinding her. “Twilight, it’s time for us to eat. I’ve already called you twice.” Her mothers voice rings down the hallway helping to rouse her out of her sleep. The memories of her all too vivid dream and Luna’s message fill the forefront of her mind. “I’ll be right there mom,” Twilight replies sleepily. Gathering herself, she yawns while rising to her feet. Wondering about what is going to happen tomorrow distracts her, ‘bonk’. “Ow,” Twilight mutters to herself irritably as she rubs her twice bruised snout, eyeing the wall suspiciously, trying to ignore the laughter floating from the kitchen. ★★★ She closes her eyes once more in a final attempt to lull herself to sleep. Twilight can’t even feel a yawn creeping up her throat, she feels more awake than she has been all day. Something about that dream with Luna had been so rejuvenating. She slides out from underneath her star covered bed-clothes and makes her way to the window. The deep blue night reveals itself as Twilight pulls the curtain aside, it’s beauty isn’t what captivates Twilight’s attention however. The startled alicorn perched atop her neighbours roof is what catches Twilight’s eye. Celestia looks almost as shocked as Twilight feels, eyes wide, cheeks red with a blush. The princess overcomes her surprise and stands up. Launching from the rooftop Celesta glides down to hover outside the window. Twilight magically pushes open the window so they can talk. “What are you doing outside my window?” Twilight’s embarrassment turns into frustration as she questions her mentor, forgetting the important news she has. “How long have you been outside?” “Twilight I’m sorry,” Celestia begins apologetically. “Ever since Luna-”, Luna. Twilight’s mood changes instantly as she remembers the importance of her conversation with the other princess earlier in the evening, completely deaf to the rest of the white mare’s excuses. “Don’t worry about that Princess,” the purple filly’s speech is rushed as she cuts into Celestia’s babbling. ”You can explain that later. On the topic of Luna though, she contacted me a few hours ago.” The white princess disappears briefly from Twilight’s sight as the surprise, forgetting to keep herself hovering. “Luna contacted you?” Celestia repeats Twilight’s question while attempting to regain her previous position. Her expression akin to Twilight’s usual in her presence, jaw hanging open, eyes wide. “How?” “I grew extremely tired for some reason as a returned home,” Twilight recounts the story slowly to her teacher, careful not to miss any details. “I think the sleep was induced by Luna somehow because when I fell asleep shortly afterwards I entered an extremely vivid dream where I encountered Luna. She told me she made contact with your lost sister and helped her return to Equestria almost a decade ago. However after Magi made her return Luna told me she lost contact with her for reasons unknown to her.” Twilight’s hoof finds her snout as she scans her mind for anything she might have missed, “Oh and also Luna said to look under the bed,whatever that stands for.” Celestia, who had been listening intently as Twilight spoke, giggles at Twilight’s final comment. “Oh Twilight, you always try to read too deeply into things,” her expression fades back to a peaceful smile. “We do need to act however, and because sleep escapes the both of us tonight why don’t we fly back to the castle to get started right away?” Twilight, still cautious to get close to the mare who she had caught peeping, nods slowly. “I’ll meet you outside.” Twilight turns from the window unintentionally displaying her youthful rump to Celestia, who gazes at it for a moment before slowing the fluttering of her wings and dropping to the ground. Twilight levitates a scarf and magically wraps it around her neck for warmth. Exiting her room quietly, Twilight makes her way down the stairs with care, as to avoid waking her sleeping family. At the base of the stairs she turns to walk down the hallway. Spying Celestia out the window, Twilight notices her scribbling on some parchment with a phoenix quill held between her teeth. Celesta looks up as a purple glow manipulates the door handle and pushes it open, sensing the question Twilight has. “It’s for your parents,” the princess explains, her calm, motherly demeanor covering any sign of her previous shock. “We may be gone some time, it would be unwise to leave them worrying about you.” Twilight hmms affirmatively as Celestia finishes her note, handing it to Twilight. “Can you roll this up for me, it’s easier with magic and it’s good practice as well.” Twilight takes the note in her magical grasp and manages to roll it tightly after a few attempts. She steps back inside to a moment to place in on the kitchen table before returning to Celestia, door closed behind her. “I’m ready now, I think,” Twilight speaks shakily. A massive white wing, larger than Twilight wraps itself around her, helping to calm her nerves. The wing’s grip tightens as Celestia uses it to lift Twilight onto her back. “Hold on tight Twilight, we’re going somewhere no pony has touched in almost 1000 years.”