//------------------------------// // Twilight's Second Lesson // Story: Ace's Spell Shop // by Aceofgods //------------------------------// Chapter Eight: Twilight's Second Lesson Twilight and Ace walked down the road in silence for a way, Ace still smiling a bit after the brief encounter with one of his few friends. Twilight was still somewhat reprimanding herself over almost letting Ace’s secret slip so shortly after learning it. When they had made it back to town, Ace was looking over the wares for sell from the stalls in the middle of the marketplace, now buzzing with activity as it was mid-afternoon on a workday. Seeing all the ponies that were congregating in the middle of town, an idea came to Twilight’s mind. Coming up alongside Ace as he was looking over a stall that was selling a variety of gems, Twilight gave voice to her thoughts, “You know, Ace, you’ve met three of my five closest friends, and it’s still early in the day, perhaps we could meet Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash as well before we head back home?” Twilight could tell that Ace was focusing his magical sight on the gems, unsure whether or not he had heard her. After looking more closely at a couple of gems with prices Twilight couldn’t think of affording, he looked to her and nodded before walking away a ways and motioning for her to come along. After they were out of earshot of the Unicorn who was running the stall, he finally whispered softly in her ear. “Those were synth-gems. The Unicorn had made those gems with his magic, using a number of nutrients, some sand, and a supplement of magic applied regularly over a number of days. They are not terribly expensive to make, and are much like normal gems as far as looks are concerned, but for the purpose of magic, one would have equal result enchanting a button on a vest.” Twilight looked back at the pony, who was attempting to talk a customer into buying a ruby. “Should we do something? He’s selling fake gems for as much as a normal gem, maybe even more.” Ace shook his head as he pointed a hoof at the emerald the pony was now showing to the same customer. “Tell me Twilight, do you see anything different about the synth-gems that stallion is selling that would set them apart from a normal gem?” Twilight looked at the gems, but saw nothing different about them. Not wanting to leave anything to chance should this be some sort of test, she used her extrasensory magic to look over the gems more closely as well. Twilight, her eyes closed in the concentration of the magic, could only tell that the gems were indeed created with magic, but nothing else stood out. Coming back to her normal senses with a sigh, Twilight shook her head as she looked to Ace, expecting a lecture. With a nod, Ace continued away from the stall. “Then why should we stop the pony from making bits using his talent, when it brings no ill fortune to others? The synth-gems are in every way like a normal gem, except that they are already attuned to a certain spell – the spell that created them – and are, for all intents and purposes aside from magic, normal gems. "I’m sure that if another Unicorn were to buy the gems for the sake of enchanting them or using them in a spell, the stall-tender would alert them to their origins.” Twilight took another look at the Unicorn who minded the stall, waving to a customer who had just bought some of his wares. Ace looked over his shoulder at his student as he spoke, “I believe you mentioned something about meeting more of your friends before heading home? I’d be happy to pay them a visit, if you’re still interested.” Twilight nodded as she took the lead, heading down a road away from the market. “The next two of my closest friends are Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. "They’re both Pegasi, but they couldn’t be any more different. Fluttershy takes care of the town’s animals, and Rainbow Dash keeps the weather in check. Rainbow Dash likes to fly as fast as she can, while Fluttershy can barely get off the ground some days.” Ace nodded as Twilight did her best to describe her friends’ personalities as quickly and concisely as possible. “So which one are we going to be meeting first, Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy?” Twilight shook her head a bit as she continued, “We’re going to go and see Fluttershy at her cottage just outside of town. As for Rainbow Dash, it’s hard to say when we’ll meet her, since she lives in a sky-mansion: her home is made of clouds, floating above the mountains outside of town. Since only Pegasi can tread on clouds, I think Fluttershy is the only one of us to ever go inside of Rainbow Dash’s house.” Ace nodded, but commented on the last bit. “Technically, even without magic, Alicorns, Wingless-Hornless Alicorns, Pegasi, and Wingless Pegasi can all cloud-tread. Just as Wingless-Hornless Alicorns and Hornless Unicorns can technically perform magic, and often times boast a greater resilience to magic as well.” Twilight stopped to look back at Ace as they walked down the back road that would lead to her friend’s house, but Ace was walking to the shade of a nearby tree once more. Ace motioned for her to join him once more as he sat facing the road, his back to the tree. Twilight didn’t see any reason not to rest, so she sat down just to his right. “Sorry, but you looked as though you wanted to know more on the subject, and I prefer to give my lessons under the shade of a tree. Just more relaxing, I guess. "But yes, Unicorns are not the only ponies who can naturally perform magic, nor are Pegasi the only ones who can tread upon the clouds. It is not unusual for an earth pony foal to be born to a Pegasi, Unicorn or mixed couple. However, much of the time, the foal is not truly an earth pony. It is possible for a Pegasi to be born without wings, or a Unicorn without a horn, or without the horn protruding all the way out of the skin, instead being a nub of bone on the skull.” Ace waved to a pony that was walking by and was looking oddly at the two, the pony smiling and waving back as he continued down the road. “In addition, it is also possible for a Hornless-Wingless Alicorn to be born, and of course the combination of Hornless Pegasi and Wingless Unicorn. "The only way these ponies would know of their missing elements is to try to perform magic or to tread upon the clouds. In fact, Twilight, one of your friends happens to be a Hornless Unicorn herself.” Twilight turned her head to look at Ace in surprise, but he just smiled a knowing smile as he nodded. “Really? Who is it? Does that mean she can use magic as well? How can you tell that they are a hornless Unicorn?” Twilight’s mind was clearly abuzz with questions and possibilities. Ace chuckled as he laid back with his hooves behind his head as he explained further, watching the leaves as they shifted in the light breeze that passed by. “Yes, Pinkie Pie, she already is touched by magic – though saying that she ‘uses’ it is debatable – and I can tell first of all because I studied her closely for a week in my home as well as my workshop, secondly because of my extrasensory magic.” Ace closed his eyes, and Twilight thought she could physically feel the presence of his entirely passive magical sense, almost envious at the ease of which he could use the magic. Laying down beside her mentor, she watched the leaves as they shifted with the branches, inwardly agreeing that it really was quite relaxing. “So Pinkie Pie is able to use magic? How much magic could she use, if she were to learn to control it?” Ace’s eyes remained closed, and Twilight waited for a moment for him to answer the question. After a few moments, and still feeling his magical presence pressing against her from all sides, she decided to use her extrasensory magic as well. Twilight’s eyes closed, the blackness of her vision being overtaken with the purple outline of her magic that covered everything around, and including, herself as her horn begun to glow, the magic running over from it and dancing over her surroundings. She could feel Ace’s body beside her, but it felt different from before. She started to look around, and finally looked up into the tree to see a near duplicate of Ace sitting on one of the low branches. The difference was that the tree bound doppelganger actually felt like the Ace she had felt the last two times she used her magical senses. The duplicate looked down from the branches with a smile as he motioned for Twilight to join him. “It’s easy, just control the magic of your senses and bring them up here without using the muscles of your body.” Ace’s voice called more from inside of her – not necessarily inside her head, but inside of her – than it did from the body beside her or the magical representation in the tree. Having nothing to lose, Twilight focused on her magic instead of her body, and found that it was actually quite easy to move around like this. It was like using her levitation magic, except that the magic was her body, her limbs, and moving it around moved her around. Still not quite sure how she would use her newfound mobility to climb the tree, she tried literally just walking up the trunk. This surprisingly worked out well, ascending the tree as though she was still walking along the ground. Once she had made it onto the branch, she sat down right next to him as he gave her a silly smile that seemed to fit him perfectly. “Good job,” his voice echoed through her magical form, “though a bit flashy; I just kind of floated up her like a ghost.” At the mention of the incorporeal form, he floated around Twilight’s magical form, making non-convincing ghost sounds reverberate through her as he made it a very memorable lesson. Twilight, unsure of whether or not Ace had heard her questions in the corporeal form, she asked them again. “So if Pinkie can do magic, how much could she learn, if she were to apply herself?” Ace hovered lightly in front of her as he shook his head, purple with her tinted view of the world. “I don’t think you understood, as I said that Pinkie Pie is magictouched, not magically inclined or gifted. What this means is that she herself is magical, whether she chooses to do anything or not. Pinkie’s magical affinity is her Pinkie Sense, not a capacity to perform magic like you or I. "‘Tis not unusual for a hornless Unicorn’s magic to be reflected as a skill or trait, though I must say that Pinkie’s is one of the most powerful I’ve seen. The magical affinity might be something like a pony who is luckier than most, or a documented case where an earth pony was able to walk on water at will. "Pinkie Pie, however, can nearly see the future, react to it, and sometimes even break the natural laws of physics.” Twilight listened in awe at the explanation of her friend’s unusual trait as Ace’s magical avatar sat before her, hovering in the air. “So because Pinkie has her Pinkie Sense, which is derived of magic, she cannot perform other magic, even though she herself is a magical pony?” Ace nodded that this was true. “Then how come when I tested her, I couldn’t tell that it was magical?” Ace nodded as he spoke, having already contemplated the answer. “Assuming you were using that apparatus you have in your lab above the second floor of the library, it is because that machine is built to detect magical magic. "If you were to strap me to it, for example, and boost the power to it by a magnitude of four, so it can detect smaller traces of magic, you’d be able to detect the constant flow of magic that fuels my extrasensory skills and maybe the enchantments in my glasses. "Be that as it may, no matter how powerful that machine was, it would not be able to detect the physical magic of the glyphs that prevent the pre-magic from devouring my body.” At the mention of the glyphs, Twilight used her peripheral vision to admire the Al Bhed words, ‘Hu sykel ouhtan,’ that were written on her mentor’s hoof, just above the knee, only able to read the glyphs in her extrasensory state. Whenever she focused on the glyphs fully, they disappeared, likely dispelling her magic as it passed over the glyphs more pointedly. “So Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense is magic that is not magical?” Ace nodded, and growing bored at mundanely hovering in place, he started to slowly rotate in place centered around his left eye, its gaze never leaving hers. “That’s right, because the sense does not require a flow of magic to function, just like my glyphs. Her Pinkie Sense is entirely uninhibited by outside sources. What this means, is that even if her entire body were coated in Anti-Magic Stone, she would still be able to find me in a crowd with her itchy eye sense.” Twilight nodded, understanding now why her tests had failed: she just didn’t have the proper research materials or equipment for the task. Her Pinkie Sense questions concluded, she moved onto other questions as Ace continued to mildly disturbingly, rotate in place. “So there are even hornless-wingless Alicorns, as well? Wouldn’t that just make them earth ponies?” Ace shook his head at the absurdity of the idea. “A hornless-wingless Alicorn is able to tread clouds, and either has a magical affinity – normally stronger or more useful than a hornless Unicorn or Pegasi – or the capacity to use magic to some degree. Such ponies need to be taught to use magic without their horns, however, and few ponies of this nation still know how to do such feats. "In addition, all hornless sub-races have an increased tolerance to magic, even more so than normal Unicorns, though the lesser of the sub-races are not on par with the magic resilience of a normal Alicorn. As for Immortal Alicorns, such as Princesses Luna and Celestia, they exhibit the greatest resistance to magic. “A resistance to magic might sound like nothing but a good thing, as the first thought to spring to mind is that offensive spells will hurt less; this is not the case. You see, Twilight, the magic does not differentiate between aggressive and helpful magic. "Say a hornless-wingless Alicorn were to be hurt in battle by a sword or other some-such, and a novice healer Unicorn was attempting to mend the injured pony’s wounds; the resistance of that pony would make it so only level 6 or higher healing spells could heal the deep wound, and an entry-level novice would know maybe one spell higher than a level 3. "Because of this, the pony cannot be healed and bleeds to death on the battlefield or stretcher, wherever the novice was unable to aid them.” Ace, having done several full rotations, stopped and laid down on his stomach, raising himself so he was still eye to eye with Twilight, his unmoving muzzle only an inch away from hers as his voice echoed through her magical body. “Because Unicorns no longer learn to use extrasensory magic, they have no way of telling the difference between an earth pony and a hornless-wingless Alicorn. In addition to these sub-races, there is one last one: the Lesser Alicorn. "A Lesser Alicorn is a hornless Pegasi who has the nub of bone that represents the undeveloped horn present in some hornless Unicorns. There are also wingless Unicorns that have the capacity to grow wings, given the proper stimulation with magic, though only the Princesses know that spell and they are quite reluctant to share it. "Mwanwhile, I cannot even seem to detect these ponies, or they are so rare that not even I have met any. What little research I have managed to do on the matter say that, under certain circumstances, these ponies can become full-fledged Alicorns, but the circumstance varies from case to case.” Twilight nodded as she took mental note of all the sub-races, running over each of them as though she was preparing for a test. Never one to discourage a pony from memorizing a lesson, Ace just sat and watched her eyes working through whatever memory boosting technique she was attempting. After a time, Twilight’s magically displayed eyes refocused and she nodded. Ace continued looking into her eyes calmly, his tail flicking behind him as though he were a cat. Figuring this was supposed to be her last chance to ask any questions, Twilight thought for a moment before replying. “So what are Immortal Alicorns, exactly? Are they born that way, or is there something especially special about them?” Twilight had wondered this for a long time, but could never get an answer from Princess Celestia the one time she had asked, and didn’t want to bother the Princess by asking again. Ace nodded at the question as he explained, his tail no longer flicking as he contemplated the answer. “They are born as a Lesser Alicorn at first, likely the wingless Unicorn variant, and then they ascend to full-fledged by achieving their circumstance. "However, a Lesser Alicorn that becomes Half-Fledged by using magic to ascend is ineligible to become an immortal. Once they have ascended to Full-Fledged, there is a ritual that allows the Alicorn to…” Ace stopped as he looked as though he had just took a blow to the head. “What are your beliefs when it comes to death?” Twilight’s magical self was taken aback by the philosophical question that caught her off-guard. “I guess I haven’t really thought about it too much, as the only physical evidence I have to base the question upon is that a pony’s physical form continues to exist here in Equestria…” Ace nodded at the answer he had expected. “Then you shouldn’t mind if I tell you more. There is a ritual that can be performed at a certain time each year, when the present year merges with the new year, that allows an ascended Full-Fledged Alicorn to sort of ‘charge’ their living souls with the soul of one who would be born the following year. "It sounds a lot worse than it actually is; the soul that is used to charge the Alicorn’s soul isn’t ‘killed,’ or ‘destroyed’ or anything, it just goes back into the network of souls to be renewed. In its place, a different soul is brought into the world to give life to the one who is yet unborn. "The soul that a pony has only changes what their initial personality is that they have at birth, before they are affected by things such as their upbringing and experiences. This is a pretty big difference, but there’s no way for anypony to tell what sort of soul they are using to charge their own. “I know the ritual, and have even seen it being performed, but it is only a full-fledged, ascended Alicorn that can safely benefit from the ritual. Once an ascended Alicorn becomes an Immortal Alicorn, they need only perform the ritual once every hundred or so years, gaining the life of that soul. "If they do not perform the ritual, their power starts to fade and they begin to rapidly age, at a rate of nearly a year an hour. Since the ritual can only be performed once a year, it is important that it be done when necessary or beforehoof.” Ace’s tail started flicking again as Twilight’s magical eyes danced around again. Twilight nodded, and opened her mouth to speak, but Ace’s voice reverberated, resonated, through her deep enough that her magical avatar quavered as he spoke and his eyes narrowed sharply at her, more to make sure she listened carefully than in emotion. “This is yet another secret, Twilight Sparkle. Nopony is to know we had this discussion, nor that the ritual exists, nor that Princesses Luna and Celestia require said ritual. This information is never to be spoken aloud.” Ace’s magical form stared intently into Twilight’s eyes until she nodded her understanding. Ace’s face, tinted purple in Twilight’s magical vision, relaxed back into a smile as he gave her a little more space, but still hovering in front of her at a personal distance. “Good. The fact that the greater sub-races can ascend into Alicorns is a secret as well, but Princess Luna and Celestia know it already, whether or not they’d wish to discuss it with you is unknown to me, however. "As for the existence of the sub-races, it use to be public knowledge, decayed by the erosion of time. You’re welcome to speak of that as you feel, but if someone asks where you learned it, I’d appreciate you telling them it was in a book; which I can provide, if you wish to learn more about it later.” Twilight started to feel tired, being in the extrasensory state for so long. Wanting to lay down, she turned so that she sat lengthwise on the tree branch so she could lay down. As she did, Ace hovered around and laid down on the branch with her, again only an inch or two away. “Yes, that’s normal. As I mentioned, using your magic to fuel extrasensory spells is tiring. You have done well to last for as long as you have, but I would like for you stay a bit longer, but if it starts to hurt, please return to the corporeal immediately. "You’re not in any physical danger, but if you use all of your magical energy at once this way, you’ll be unable to use magic for a time. Should anything happen, I’ll lend you some of my power when we return to our bodies.” Twilight nodded softly, feeling tired, but not in pain or uncomfortable. “I’ve been asking you a lot of questions, haven’t I? I don’t think you’ve asked me very many in return. Surely there must be something you want to know about me, too?” Twilight laid her head in her hooves, though the comfort it offered was only psychological as there was no way to rest her magic while in a magical form. Ace nodded once as he watched her eyes close in his own magical sight. “I was sort of wondering what you did before coming to Ponyville? I had heard you attended Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, but I don’t really know much more than that.” Twilight, having figured out how to speak directly to Ace without the use of her muzzle now, spoke without moving as she laid on the branch of the tree. “I use to read and study all the time, and occasionally playing with my older brother, Shining Armor. "I didn’t spend much time trying to make friends, or playing with other fillies or colts. Once I made it past the entrance exam, I attended my classes and studied all day, never talking with my fellow classmates, often doing the group projects by myself when I could… "I’m really glad that Princess Celestia brought me out of my shell when she sent me to Ponyville; it might just be the best thing that ever happened to me in my life.” Still unmoving, Twilight’s magical muzzle spread softly in a smile. This brought Ace to another question he likely knew the answer to, but made for good conversation. “You really have a lot of respect for Princess Celestia, don’t you? More than the normal Student/Teacher respect, I mean.” This seemed to breathe a little bit more energy into Twilight’s tired magical avatar as she opened her eyes with a nod to lazily peer into the eyes of her new mentor’s magical image. “Of course. Not only is Celestia my friend, but she is a truly perfect pony that everypony should admire, even aspire to emulate. Without Celestia, who would raise the Sun each morning, and who would have lowered the moon at night in her younger sister’s absence? Celestia is a pony truly deserving of respect, and I give her only what she deserves.” Ace only listened to her as she spoke, keeping his affectionate gaze locked with hers. “I’m afraid I cannot tell you much, but while I do hold Princess Celestia in high regard, she has caused me to lose much of my respect for her. "True, Celestia fills a role that Equestria requires, but I believe there is much she could have done differently. I hold no ill-will against her, truly, but I simply lack the amount of respect for her that you have shown.” Twilight, as tired as she was, lifted her head to look at her mentor more evenly. “What could Celestia have possibly done to make you lose respect for her?” The tired pony looked as though she wouldn’t be able to sustain her magical form much longer. Ace replied with a shake of his head, his eyes closing as he laid his head down as she did before. “I wouldn’t want to change your view of neither me, nor the Princess, so I won’t say just yet. What I will tell you is that through Celestia’s error in judgment, as well as having ignored my words of advice for much too long, she brought great pain and suffering to one of my dearest friends. "Though Celestia had meant well, though Celestia did what she thought was best at the time, she did not think her actions through. There were other options even at the time of her mistake, but there were many options when I had first warned her. "Because of Celestia, who thought she could never err, a number of ponies’ lives were cut short. The friend I had mentioned bears this burden wrongly upon their head as well, and while they do accept this as though it were their own sin, I have lost respect for Celestia because of it. "I accept that everypony makes mistakes, and that second chances should be afforded to all, but this mistake was graver than most and it affected me personally, though indirectly.” Ace opened his eyes, a simple gesture as he could feel everything around himself with or without them, so that Twilight would know that he was paying attention. Twilight looked pained as she watched her mentor as he told his inconclusive story. “I’m sorry… I had no idea. Celestia rarely speaks of her past, and I dare say that I may know more about your past than I do about Celestia’s, aside from stories or legends.” Ace nodded at the apology, not feeling as though it was necessary. “It is fine, my friend. It is likely not our friends who speak the most of themselves, rather it is their actions who describes them best. While my actions of late have been questionable, you likely do not see much of your beloved teacher, as busy as she is. "Take not my story to heart, as it is painted by my own emotion as much as it is by truth, and I would not wish to taint your vision of your role model, nor would I want you to view me in a different light merely because I said so.” Raising his head now to look her directly in her magical eyes, his tone changed back to that of a teacher, whether he had meant it to or not. “More importantly, are you well? You look as though you are straining yourself.” Twilight nodded slightly, a movement that would have been invisible were they not both in their incorporeal shells, perceiving their world not with eyes, but with magic. “I should be fine, but it is starting to hurt to stay this way.” A look of concern crossed Ace’s face as he nodded. “’Twould be best if we cease our lesson for now. Know that many of my lessons will take place outside of our bodies so that we do not bring harm to ourselves or our surroundings. You do not need to return your magic to your body to come back to it, simply cease the flow of magic to your extrasensory self.” With the last part, Ace leapt from the branch and onto his body as his physical right eye opened, making sure his lenses were in place before the other eye opened. When Twilight came to, she felt a weight on her chest before she had a full grasp of her surroundings, addled after the loss of her magical senses and her mind adjusting to her normal senses that gave less information. As she regained herself, she realized it was Ace’s hoof holding her down as he laid beside her, facing her. Seeing that she was cognitive once more, he nodded once. “You need to rest. You used too much of your magic during our lesson. Fear not, all is well, but you should let your body recoup your strength before we do anything further. Sleep, and I shall protect you.” Sleep had already sounded amazing to her cloudy mind, not taking much to persuade her to slumber, but at the mention of Ace’s protection, any doubt faded from her mind as she drifted swiftly to sleep. As she rested, Ace stood vigil over her like a sphinx, sitting upright and observing all that happened around the pair with his eyes closed and his mind wide open to his extrasensory magic.