Trixie made her way up to the library, pondering Tev's words, wondering how the human would react to various things. She found Gideon had set out some cushions, and was idly sitting on one, staring at another, his hand stretched out towards it. He stopped as she entered, and her ears flicked as she felt another surge of power ground itself.
She sat, and carefully poured two cups of fragrant water, absentmindedly passing one to Gideon. He seemed content to sit and sip tea with her, while she gathered her thoughts.
"You know," she eventually began, "the power you so casually toss away each time you try that..." she glanced up at him "...well, barring my time under artifact influence, I've only ever felt that much power so casually tossed around while watching a duel between two adept-level casters."
He blinked at her, and began, '"But..." then looked thoughtful, and she noticed a very slight tint rise to his cheeks. "Am I really that...inefficient?"
"Mmm...you understand that this makes you, well...a bit frightening." She tried to gauge his reaction to this statement, picking up surprise, then a bit of regret. "Not that I blame you! You've done incredible things with the training you have, but..."
"But it could have gone wrong at any time, couldn't it." It wasn't a question, and his face took on a haunted look. "I felt it a few times, you know...exhausted, burnt-out...random headaches...I did everything right, everything Kelehm taught me, but he and his teachers had never dealt with this kind of power."
"Indeed. Even here, young ones with significant aptitude are often tutored one-on-one with a skilled teacher. The Princesses themselves have been known to mentor the exceptionally powerful, as they are certainly knowledgable in dealing with significant gifts."
"...As I am, it could still go wrong for me at any time, couldn't it?"
"The thought had occurred to me." She let the idea sink in a moment longer, then fixed him with a sober look. "Regarding that, I'd like to make a proposal..."
He simply raised his eyebrows.
"Well, we've got plenty of time here, and it seems I might have a little experience with what you're going through as far as control issues...so I can try to help you work through this, and also to generally improve your control of your magic. I think Tev can help out here and there as well." She tilted her head at him. "All I'd ask is that, from here on out, you stop your own, ah...experimentation. At least for a while."
He looked at her for a moment, then nodded. "I think I can handle that restriction. Heck, I don't seem to be making progress on my own. I just..." He gave her a worried look.
"Hmm?"
"Well, I hope I won't be putting you into any risk in this."
"Oh, well. Nothing excessive." She smirked, then looked wistful. "Trixie is quite talented at dealing with all sorts of offensive magic--you can't imagine some of the hecklers she's dealt with over the years..."
He smiled gently.
"Er..." She blinked. "Besides, there are wards scattered around the Halls that are still quite strong, made to handle any sort of threat. We can practice the dangerous stuff near those."
"Well, alright then."
"Excellent.” She tapped her forehooves together. “We can begin tomorrow, when we're both rested...as for now…I said before that the second step in basic magical training is learning to summon power. What I didn't mention was anything about the source of that power." She hesitated before asking, "Did your teacher ever speak of that?"
"Uh, very little. He just said that 'the power flows from within the living'. It was a religious thing for him, and I never pushed my questions too far."
She nodded, "Well, in a way he was correct, for all living things resonate to some degree with an external power. This power flows through a plane that underlies all of existence, known to us and Humanity as the Flux."
"So, we draw on this 'Flux' to perform magic?"
"No," she said, briskly shaking her head, "the Flux is raw power--untamed and scorchingly hot. For a normal, mortal magic user to tap into it directly is basically impossible." Her look grew distant for a moment. "It's said that some ancient schools of combat magic taught a form of, ah, 'sacrificial casting', which could obliterate entire armies while burning the caster to a cinder. But if something like that has ever truly been used, the results are not recorded in any public history."
"Wait, so is that the danger you've talked about? That I might...accidentally tap directly into Flux power?"
"It is one worry, yes."
"Mhmm…I'd like to avoid the cinder thing, if possible," he said with a hint of a smirk. "So if we don't tap into the Flux, then where does the power come from?"
"Well, as I said, life itself seems to resonate with the Flux on some level--that's the best term we have for it, at least. It's like...like how the strings of one instrument will begin to vibrate sympathetically if many others play a pure note." She gave him a questioning look.
"So...we're the single instrument, and the Flux is the orchestra?"
"Precisely! In this way, life indirectly generates a softer, gentler power, that we can safely draw out and manipulate. Some life," she gestured towards Gideon, "seems to naturally resonate more, while some," here, she gestured to herself, "was designed to."
He leaned back on his hands. "When you say 'draw out', what do you mean?"
“Hmm...I suppose it makes sense that you haven’t seen it before.” She pondered for a moment, then her horn began to glow softly. “I can show you like this.”
Slowly, golden motes of light began to appear, drifting throughout the room at random, in unseen currents, making the air itself seem to glow. There were larger, bright clusters centered in various spots on Trixie's body, especially throughout her horn, and a place deep within her chest, and Gideon looked down to see similar spots around his hands and solar plexus.
“…How?”
“Just tiny, short-lived light spells, made to seek out the larger sources of power in the room. The true view through one's Sight is much more detailed and farther-reaching.”
He held up a hand, and wiggled his fingers. “Why is it clustered?”
“Hmmmm…” She raised an eyebrow. “In ponies, the horn, wings, and hooves are designed to aid us in directing power, so you’d naturally find more power there when there’s active use occurring. It’s also a bit of a psychological effect, though. My horn is where I focus my concentration when I use telekinesis or cast spells, so I naturally direct some of my energy to that area, even though any part of my body would technically do fine for storing power. Your main focus of control has always been your hands, so it’s natural that you would focus on them for casting, and that power would be stored there.”
“How much power can be stored?”
“Well, just as every life resonates to a degree, every life also has a certain capacity to store magical power; however, just because a lifeform has filled its own reservoir doesn't mean it stops generating power--the power bleeds out into the world." She gestured to the drifting motes.
Gideon brooded for a moment. "I seem to recall old myths about this sort of thing. You mentioned 'ley lines', something like that?"
Trixie nodded, and her horn dimmed as she stopped casting new light spells. "Quite. Left to its own devices, this ambient power would flow and pool at random, and then eventually disperse. Here on Terra, the paths where magic flows were directed and fixed long ago, and except for some areas where damage has been done, the magical ley lines are well known and coordinated...like old, deep river beds.”
The motes were slowly fading, leaving the library lit by its usual complement of better-made light globes. “Once you’ve tapped into your own Sight, you’ll see there’s a whole grid of lines running throughout the ruins, and even a small one running right under this tower. Skilled magicians can draw from these sources. While every use of magic requires concentration, and at least a little of your own internal power, by tapping ambient power you can do orders of magnitude more."
Looking away, he mused, "So...what does this have to do with the...Elements of Harmony? And my little 'lessons'? My mysterious teacher?"
"Yes, well," she nodded, looking intense, "it is said that even the immortals--the Princesses, Discord, perhaps a few others--that even they can only briefly touch Flux power, before they'd be consumed by it. However, there are certain devices--the Elements currently the most well-known of them--which are said to access Flux power directly."
“Wait, how is that possible? Why don't these devices burn up just like a person?"
"Well, metal can be made much stronger than a living creature. A magical machine has no mind to be overwhelmed, exhausted, and destroyed, no flesh to burn from the overflow of power. Of course given enough power, metal will melt and gems will shatter, but they can take a lot of punishment before that."
"But for the most powerful devices, such as the Elements, it's not just that they access the Flux. It is said that they somehow exist partially within the Flux: that their physical forms are simply, oh…fungible anchors. That their mechanics, the part of them which knows how to do what they are designed to do, are actually non-corporeal patterns, stored within woven Flux power. In that way, such devices are made to be more…like a new part of the world itself, rather than just devices, or artifacts. Their physical forms change as needed."
He pondered that for a while, then tilted his head. "The way you put that, it reminds me of what you said about the 'strictures' that brought me here. That they were made a part of space itself."
"Mmm…" her ears twitched a bit at that, and her tone held surprise "…yes, that's probably true. The old texts are vague about how it was done, but when I think about it, it's pretty likely that the strictures are just that. There are probably anchors somewhere, maybe just well-hidden seals, but existing in the Flux would explain how they have the power to pull someone here from another planet.
"But this is what brought them to mind--the idea that you could store active information in a sort of self-perpetuating pattern within the Flux...." she gave him a look "...because if your...your lessons bear some physical resemblance to when the Elements are used, perhaps it points to the source of the power being the same. And perhaps your 'teacher' is some sort of information embedded in the Flux. It could explain how it came to find you."
"Heh." He though about it for a moment, before saying, "I'm not sure how I should feel about that. Having contact with something you say would burn people away…"
"Well, I don't know." She gave him a long, appraising look as she continued, "Your ability to draw power is impressive, even if you've lost control at the moment. In particular, the restricted spell which brought you here…it would require power which approaches that of the immortals. Perhaps then, you can access the Flux as they do, briefly, without damaging yourself." She bit her lip. "Still, I'm not sure I'd recommend it…you are not an immortal, and I've heard of them coming back from injuries that would kill a mortal many times over."
He chuckled nervously, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, maybe I won't have to do it anymore. Here on Earth, cut off from the greater galaxy." He sobered. "While I can't help but feel like I've failed the people I left behind...it looks like, unless your Princesses know of a way off this planet, I'm pretty much out of the whole death-and-destruction game, which means no more mysterious lessons."
Trixie hesitated, then simply smiled and nodded.
*****
Gideon sat in the clearing Trixie had pointed out. "Okay?"
She responded, "Well, you said you've used magic while in combat before, in stressful, mad situations…and you've consumed a fair portion of the library in just a few short days, so you obviously aren't lacking in focus. But have you ever meditated before?"
"Unless you count dozing off in the middle of History class while staying perfectly upright, not so much."
"Mmm…" she gave him a smirk. "Well, truth be told, that sort of state can be related. A lecturer's speech can turn into white noise, and the mind drifts into a state of focus…though without training, that focus could be on the lesson at hand, or something else entirely."
He nodded, "Okay. So, presumably trained meditation allows you to choose what you focus on."
"Quite," she said, smiling. "Being able to see auras and power flows in particular requires a certain twist to one's mind. Once you're familiar with it, it's easy to do, but at first, the quiet focus of certain meditative forms can give you the right push."
"There's that word again." He crossed his arms. "'Auras'. What exactly are you talking about there? I mean, we had supposed mystics in Edumean history, and they'd talk about seeing things, they'd use that word for them, but it was all disproved when people bothered to study it scientifically."
"Hmm..." she huffed thoughtfully "...it's entirely possible that people could see auras without training, and also that their lack of training would make the ability spotty. Seems strange that practice and effort wouldn't improve it, though."
Shaking her head, she looked back at him. "As for what they are, at least for our purposes, they are simply a way of processing and interpreting the world around us, like every other sense. Whatever it is in life that lets it affect magical power is not one-way. I'm sure you've 'felt' the power around you at times?" She quirked an eyebrow.
"Well, sure. I've never seen anything other than the physical effects, though. Well, except maybe the glow when I was being taught..."
"Yes, without the right frame of mind, it's all very vague. The meditations will help put you in a more receptive state, to see more subtle flows, and pick up on how your efforts are influencing the power around you." She looked thoughtful. "It's also helpful for working on spells themselves: for seeing the weaves, improving one's form, and combining spells. But that's all for much later. For now…"
*****
Gideon groaned, and slumped sideways to the library floor, rubbing his eyes.
Trixie huffed softly, and waited for him to rise. After a minute passed with the human still imitating a slug, she reached over and nudged him. "Come on, you almost had it that time."
His eyes cracked open, and glanced at her. "That's what you've said every time."
"Yes, yes, and every time you get a little bit closer to your Center." She continued, looking perplexed, "I don't really understand why the basic Sight came so easily, but you can't do this after three days of trying. It's almost like something is interfering."
"I blame the Space Madness."
The pony snorted and shook her head. "Now you're just being silly." She waved a hoof. "Come on, I want you to get this before I lower the shield. These ruins could be very disorienting to uncentered Sight."
"Just...give me a minute."
Trixie managed not to roll her eyes, and just said, "Very well."
She stood, stretching a little, and then wandered over to one of the room's small, shuttered windows. She opened it up and peered out through the thick glazing, her forequarters resting on the sill. The world outside was almost glaringly bright, even through the aggressively tinted glass; the mid-afternoon sunlight reflecting off of snow-covered forest and grounds. She blinked as her eyes adjusted, and she noticed a hint of dark shadows on the western horizon.
"Hey, Trixie?"
"Hmm?" She glanced back to see him now lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling.
He was silent for a moment, then looked over to her. "I've been thinking...when you explained the origin of magic, it was fine for what it was, but didn't that all just push the questions to a new frontier?"
She raised an eyebrow, seeing where he was headed, but just said, "Go on...?"
"Well, the power we can safely use comes from resonance with the Flux, but...where does the Flux come from?"
Smiling, she nodded. "It's a good question. Unfortunately, I've no good answer to give you."
"Huh?"
"It's been studied by many of the best magic researchers over the centuries, but nobody's come up with...well, I suppose you could say with a trusted answer. The nature of the Flux means that it can only be studied very carefully, and mostly indirectly." She looked rueful. "It's not something I've read into a lot, and not really because of disinterest, but because most of the results of that sort of work are restricted. Many of the greatest researchers were bound to secrecy by the Princesses when their work delved into dangerous areas."
She shrugged as she continued, “The only thing I recall is that the most prominent of the researchers that looked into the Flux was 'Benny the Singed'. His methods were controversial, and his public writings on it are...rather scattered. By the end, he had to give up his research…said it was burning him up to even look indirectly into that realm. Thus, his title, I suppose."
"Heh. Did he actually discover anything?"
"Hmm, very little from what I've read, though he developed several novel techniques along the way. And of course the most detailed results came near the end, when many believe he was going a bit mad from the exposure. He…well, his claim was that the Flux itself was merely an echo. A sort of remnant of the even more profound energies that existed in the first moments after the beginning of the universe." She looked at him dubiously.
"Huh." He shifted, and then sat up, staring at the floor for a moment, then looked up with a grin. "My people had a few theories about the origins of the universe…but I can't say that ever came up."
"I'm sure." She said, returning the smile. "Like I said, many doubt those notes, but they're really all we have. Well, all the public has, at least. The Princesses could know all the secrets of the universe, I suppose."
"Well, from what you've said about them, it doesn't seem like they'd hide something like that. I mean, how could it be dangerous?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Maybe once you know why it's dangerous, it's too late."
He opened his mouth to respond, then shut it, and looked baffled.
Trixie just chuckled, then glanced back out through the window before dropping to her hooves and closing the shutters. "Come now, you're looking recovered. Let's give this a few more tries before we call it quits for today. It looks like there's another storm coming."
*****
Thock, thock-thump.
Bored.
Thock, thock-thump.
So bored.
Thock, thock-thump.
Bored out of her craw.
Thock, thock-thump.
Bored, bored, bored, bored-
Thock...clackclackclack.
Alouette sighed, as the mis-aimed stone rattled to the floor, and decided the ennui had so taken hold of her that she could not muster the energy to go retrieve it...yet. Instead, she let her foreleg slump beside her, and stared up at the ceiling from her sprawled position on her back. The main door to the outside shook as another gust of wind howled outside, and she felt her feathers ruffle of their own accord, as if fending off the blizzard. She surreptitiously took a glance at Tev, who was putting fine details on yet-another-carving.
She considered asking again about the safety of the brothers, who had gone outside over an hour ago, but decided to hold back another round of pestering questions for a while--she'd bothered him enough earlier, not that he'd shown any sign of annoyance. If she were being honest, she'd even admit that the stone-bouncing had been, in some small way, an attempt to bother the placid canid. Fledgelike, perhaps, but after a day and a half stuck indoors she was feeling like a fledgling: ready to get the heck out of the nest.
She was also rather irritated that the brothers were able to go outside when she could not. It wasn't that the cold bothered her any more than they, but she wanted to fly, and she was wise enough to know that a stray gust right now could easily turn a takeoff or landing into a serious crash. So, she was staying inside. Waiting. Bored.
Her eyes were wandering back to her wayward stone, when she heard the creak of the stairs, as Gideon descended. She listlessly waved at him, and he returned the gesture, and nodded to Tev as he sat near the fire. Her ear tufts perked towards him, hoping for something of interest to come from the human. Finally, tail twitching impatiently, she queried, "So...how's it going?"
He looked up at her, surprised, then cleared his throat. "Ahh, okay, I guess." He stifled a yawn before continuing, "I never would have guessed how tiring meditation can be, but focusing for so long leaves me exhausted...well, at least mentally. Kinda wish I could go outside for a bit."
She snorted, and rolled her eyes. "You're telling me..."
He gave her a quick smirk, then shrugged, "But, I guess I'm improving, magic-wise. Trixie says I'm well-centered now, and she'll start teaching me thought-forms soon..."
Alouette tried very hard not to let her eyes glaze over, as he started rattling off a string of magical gibberish. It didn't help a whit that some of the terms were the same as those she'd learned during advanced wing-magic training, terms like Focus, Center, and Form, but the rest made it clear that the fields were only weakly related, if at all.
He must have noticed something in her demeanor, though, because he stopped, and smiled, "Sorry if I'm rambling..."
"No, no," she quickly waved the thought away, "I mean, I don't understand most of what you're saying, but it's fine. After almost two days stuck in here, I'll take any conversation I can get." Her nares suddenly turned a bright red, and she glanced over at Tev. "Not that you aren't a fine conversationalist!"
The canid merely raised an eyebrow, continuing to inspect his work.
Gideon chuckled, then nodded. "Still, I shouldn't rattle off like a textbook. I guess I'm just trying to make sure I remember some of this stuff...I was never one for theory."
"Don't sell yourself short, Gideon," Trixie called out as she descended the stairs, "You're picking the basics up well enough, now that we're past that block."
The pony made her way close to the fire, her magic putting a few more logs on it as she approached. She looked significantly at the door, then to the brothers' usual haunt, before returning to Alouette. "How long...?"
"Eh...at least an hour. They promised to stop at the cellar on the way back."
"Mmm." Trixie shivered. "Well, I'll make some tea or something..."
As the pony puttered about, Alouette yawned. With the fire growing warmer, she fell into bored contemplation, quietly observing her familiar Watchmates and their confusing-yet-amiable guest through slitted eyes. She was halfway to dozing off when Tev sniffed in a satisfied manner--enough of a change to draw everyone's attention.
The canid held up his latest carving: a lifelike depiction of a griffon in a relaxed-yet-heroic pose.
Alouette choked on her own breath, and shot Tev an arch look.
He smiled gently. "How could I resist with a model right before me?"
She just snorted, unsure whether to be pleased or disgruntled, as he rose and placed the carving in a niche reserved for his work.
Trixie had returned to working something with a mortar and pestle, and Tev to his seat, when a loud knocking shook the outside door. The pony barely had time to get a windbreak spell up before the door crashed open, admitting two harshly panting, snow-caked forms, one of whom immediately slammed the door shut behind them. The two then stood by, looking a little dazed.
With a flash of magic, Trixie blew the bulk of the snow off of the pair, who nodded their thanks to her.
"It is..." began Sif.
"...ruff out there." finished Sef.
Their pronouncement complete, Sif walked over to drop a large sack in the provisions area, before joining his brother near--practically in--the fire.
Alouette blinked rapidly at the end of the impromptu show, and congratulated herself on her decision to stay inside, no matter how badly she itched to get out and move.
The brothers began to thaw, and she had begun to resign herself to more boredom, when Gideon spoke up.
"I've been wondering..." He glanced around the fire, then his gaze came to rest on her. "From your reactions to it, it seems like the weather is being unusually...harsh?"
She gave him a surprised look, then thought about it. "Well, this is only my second winter here..." She looked to Tev.
The canid nodded. "It is, perhaps, extreme. Though, not overwhelmingly so.
Gideon just looked pensive. "I'm just thinking. It seemed like my arrival here made a storm even worse, and I'm wondering if it could still be causing issues." He looked back towards Trixie.
The pony huffed, and furtively glanced to Tev. The glance made Alouette stir. She rolled onto her side and looked between them, her tail lashing. "Hey you two, is something up?"
Trixie sighed, and put down what she'd been working on. "We didn't want to say anything until we knew more, and I really don't think it relates to the weather. It's nothing overt, and nothing to do with your arrival, Gideon." She looked at him. "The burst of overflow power from that did exacerbate an existing storm, but that was handled by the same spells that generated it. The power was gone by the next day."
She hesitated, and Tev spoke up. "The curious thing is some of the other wards around the ruins. The ancient protective ones, as well as newer ones the Watch has set. They are not exactly active..." He looked to the pony.
Her ears flattened, and she scratched at her head. "They're not active, but they're using small amounts of power. If I had to describe it, based on the specific wards that are showing the symptom, it's almost as if they want to activate, but they don't really know what to do with whatever it is they're reacting to."
Gideon looked worried as he asked, "Could they be reacting to my presence?"
Trixie smiled, and shook her head. "They know humans. Even the Watch wards are built with old patterns that recognize you just fine. The ones around the tower adjusted to your presence even faster than they did any of ours when we first came here." She bit her lip. "No, it's something else, something very subtle."
Alouette ground her beak a bit before she spoke up, "I'm not so sure that it couldn't be having an effect on the weather, either. I mean, I'm no weather-worker, but I still know that even small things can make big differences, especially if this 'subtle effect' is spread over a wide area."
The pony stared at her for moment, then nodded. "Yes...so far we don't seem to have found the full extent of it." She looked pensive, and then her ears pinned back. "I should have said something earlier. It was my decision not to...I didn't want to make a fuss over nothing, but maybe it's more significant than I thought."
"Ehh..." She ruffled her feathers, feeling embarrassed. "It's not a big deal, really. It's not like I can do anything about the weather, even knowing this."
"Perhaps not, but..." Trixie nodded decisively. "We should all be forewarned of possible threats, or anomalies, and this certainly qualifies. I'll let you all know if anything changes from here on."
Alouette smiled at the assurance, and Trixie went back to her work. As the griffon curled up again at the fire, she noticed the human was giving her an appraising look, but she ignored him. Instead, she contemplated the idea that this bad weather might have an unnatural origin--and that if that was the case, it could very well mean more storms were just over the horizon.
*****
"Gideon..."
He stirred, yet...he did not.
"Please, Gideon..."
He felt as if he were waking up from a deep sleep; yet, somehow, he knew he was still asleep. Dreaming? Yes, a dream, but of cold, and fog, and-
"Where are you, Gideon?"
That voice. It was familiar, yet a little distorted.
"Say my name, Gideon."
A name? Her name?
"Yes...name me. It will help me find you."
Could it really be...Marin?
"Yes. That's it... That helps."