BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ
Twilight awoke to the sound of her alarm deafeningly drowning out even Spike's heavy snores. It was 3 A.M. Time to get ready for her first lesson. Twilight had a mix of excitement and anger as she slowly crept out of bed. It was still so dark outside. While Twilight would quickly leap at her first opportunity to learn, why did it have to be so early? Spike still lay in bed, not even bothered by the alarm from Twilight's clock. So, quietly she tip-hoofed away to brush her teeth and mane before heading down to her lesson. It was slow, so slow she could have passed for a zombie, droopy eyes and all. Good thing she got up so early, otherwise she would not have had time to wake up.
When she finished it was almost half past and she headed to her door. There was a note on it written obviously in magic because it was neat in some places, too neat, and really terrible, almost illegible in others, showing that the pony who wrote this was obviously not paying attention while writing. It read:
Twilight, come to the back entrance. There you will find a small building that will serve as your new classroom. Please do not be late.
Twilight rolled her eyes. How could anyone expect her to be late? She is always on time if not early. She threw the note away and trotted for the back entrance. It was a good five minute walk from her room to the main floor so being in a hurry should be a priority, just because she wanted to be early. The castle was rather creepy at this time of morning. Twilight could hear the night guards' hoofsteps loud and clear even though they were nowhere near her, making it hard to tell where anypony was. Twilight thought that it was a great motive against thieves and possible assassins. They might get scared of the constant hoofstepping and retreat before ever meeting a goal. That is, if they ever made it inside. Twilight remembered Shining Armor's fortifications that he had for each of the castle's checkpoints, and the secret places that he would not even tell Twilight just to keep anypony from knowing exactly where anypony was at any given time. It brought a smile to her face, even though it was nearly four in the morning.
When Twilight reached the back door to the outside, she was greeted by two door guards who hastily opened the door. Twilight walked through, a little trudgingly with her sleepiness catching back up to her. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could quickly make out a building clearly lit up, which was obviously where her new teacher was. She shook off the rest of her sleepiness and quickly trotted to the building. When she opened the door, she noticed that Silver was making some final preparations. The building itself was just one room ,and with a quick look, she turned to see that the building's source of light that she saw from the outside was an expanse of candles that made a ring all the way around the room. There were also five in the middle, which stood much taller than the others. Silver was lighting the last few when Twilight had arrived.
When he finished he turned to her and spoke. "Princess Twilight Sparkle," he said without a bow this time, "you will be under my care for the foreseeable future until I have deemed you worthy of true fire magic. Will you accept that as my first term?" Twilight silently nodded, then he continued. "Princess Celestia has asked me to also show you my past story, mainly that concerning my," he paused, "not so perfect parts," he seemed at a loss of words for once. "At first I thought that was an outrageous deal, but I have come to realize that showing you control can be best shown by example of both control, and the loss of it," he stood tall. "You will bear witness to horrors that will shock you, and could very well change your complete opinion about me. Will you accept my second term?" Twilight again nodded siliently. "Now, as a formality, you will call me Master while in the presence of this building, and you must also say it in a British accent."
"Uhm," Twilight tilted her head, "Okay?" Silver laughed.
"I was only joshing. I wanted to see if you were really awake, but it seems you need some time to adjust."
"No," Twilight quickly protested. "I'm fine and I'm ready to work." Silver sort of did a mini-trot on his front hooves without making them leave the ground.
"Fantastic," he said. "We will begin immediately," he said with a smile. With a whip of his tail, the candles ringing the inside of the building all seemed to simultaneously go out, leaving the five in the center of the building to ineffectively light the room. "What is the first few words you can think of when you think of fire?"
"Hot, burning, bright-" Silver stopped her.
"Bright," he said still smiling. "A marvelous choice, Princess." He began pacing back and fourth in front of Twilight, but not a nervous type, an excited type. It looked like he had just heard that he was going on a summer beach vacation or something to that matter, and he could barely keep his excitement in. "Fire, while destructive is a fantastic source of light. Giving it a purpose greater than just burning things." Twilight wanted to make a witty comment about the Everfree forest, but stopped herself to allow Silver to continue his speech. "As a fire magic user, your job will be to put that light into the world."
"By making flames?" Twilight asked inquisitively.
"Well aside from the obvious," Silver sounded a little more than annoyed by the question, "Being trapped in the dark will leave a pony to look for the light, and sometimes that light is not always there." He flicked his tail over all but the middle of the remaining lights, stifling them leaving the lone candle to give out what meager light it could. Silver's face was barely illuminated by the single burning candle he was standing so far away. "One light can make a world of difference in the darkness, whether it be a spark, a flash, or a flame." He gestured Twilight to look down at the single burning candle flame, it was burning through the wax rather quickly, and though it was taller than the others surrounding it, it was quickly approaching their height. "A single, tiny flame," Silver paused for a moment, then continued, "can ignite a conflagration of light and change," Twilight now realized what the pause was for. The center candle had reached the surrounding candles' heights and its residual heat had re-lit them.
Twilight sighed in admiration. "That's actually pretty amazing," she said, fixated on the five flames burning together. She was utterly fascinated with the way the candles were set closely together to perfectly fit Silver's analogy. She welcomed his wisdom quickly, but as she looked up, his expression changed.
"But you must always remember that fire is still destructive, and its heat will eventually burn you out if not properly regulated." The candles she was looking at were now nearing the ground at an alarming rate. It was so quick that she barely had time to realize that they were about to go out. There was a quick flash of light and then complete darkness. Twilight could hear a hollowed voice call out, but she could not make out the direction. Its' owner, however, was more obvious.
Be that light Twilight Sparkle. it said. There are one thousand twenty two candles in this room. Light them all for today's beginner's lesson. The voice sounded a bit too cocky for Twilight's liking.
"And just how am I supposed to do that?" Twilight snapped back.
"Don't you know a lighting spell?" Twilight leaped for the ceiling after Silver had somehow maneuvered himself in the dark directly behind Twilight, easily scaring her out of her wits.
"Yes I know some, but I thought you were going to teach me something new," Twilight shakily protested, trying to calm herself from her most recent heart attack.
"Collect your bearings," he answered. "Sometimes the easy is not always the best. You should learn to do this spell without even thinking. Then we may move on."
"But how am I supposed to find the candles?" She asked.
"You find a way, Princess," Silver's voice again dissipated to where it sounded like it was coming from everywhere. "From what I have heard of you, you are exceptional at that." Even though Twilight could not see his face, she could tell there was an anticipant grin on Silver. She could hear it in his voice. Confidence reassured Twilight began walking to the outer edges of the room, looking for her first candle.
UMPH
Twilight cried out finding the wall with her nose. She quickly realized she probably should have been feeling around for the wall with her hooves. No, instead she planted her muzzle on it and was too wrapped up in the moment to think she might actually need to worry about bumping into the wall. Nevertheless, she found her first candle and lit it which illuminated a few candles around it and as she lit those, she found a rhythm. It took a good hour and a half to finally light all the candles. Silver was still nowhere to be found. Twilight found it odd that her teacher would not watch her.
"Okay, I finished," she said merely talking to the ceiling. "What's next?" Suddenly the candles went out.
Try only using one light. Silver's disembodied voice called out. Twilight shook her head.
"That's ridiculous," she shouted.
Just try. He said try, but all Twilight could think of was how long it took her to light all of the candles on her own. Her first try ended with her just putting the candle out herself and trying to think of another idea. Her second idea, she thought she would try to make the lighting spell expand and light all the candles at once, failure again. Then she thought about using the residual heat from the tallest candle, just like Silver had shown her before with the five in the middle.
Quickly she lit her horn and looked for where she ended her stream of candle lighting. She found her tall candle and lit it, and waited. Sure enough the candle had lowered onto the next candles, and they were close enough to light. Then the next two, then the next four, then eight, then twelve.
"That was amazing!" Again, Twilight found herself trying to make friends with the ceiling after Silver's excitement scared her, his happily surprised expression as he looked at how the candles were lighting each other.
"You have to quit that!" Twilight shouted.
"Quit what?" Silver asked. Twilight could not believe he was acting like he did not know. Of course he knew; he was just being a jerk about it.
"You always pop up right behind me and scare me half to death!" Twilight shouted again. Silver laughed.
"I am sorry Princess. I allowed myself to get a little carried away," he turned to the candled. "You must understand how amazing this is though!" He was ecstatic. "It never crossed my mind to use that technique. Princess Twilight," he turned back to her and calmed himself, "now I see why my mother thinks so highly of you." Silver was beaming his happiness whether or not Twilight wanted to hear it, even though she did love the praise. "Oh what am I saying?" Silver laughed to himself. "This is going to make me an awful teacher if I keep praising you that much," he laughed again. "Come, you've earned a break." He gestured for Twilight to follow him out the door. A chilly wind brushed her face as Silver opened the door. The calm and cold night could be seen outside, but so was the beginning of morning, just barely peaking over the horizon, the gorgeous pinkish-orange glow.
"Princess Celestia will raise the sun any minute now," Twilight said looking around for Celestia to see if she would be out to lift the sun yet.
"Would you like to watch the sunrise?" Silver asked. Twilight quickly responded with an excited nod. Sure, the sun rises everyday, but sometimes, an early accomplishment just makes it so much better to watch. Twilight felt like she could do anything now her confidence was so high. Silver took a seat on the ground while Twilight sat next to him. They saw the light of the sun gradually getting brighter and then, there it was, bright and beautiful and radiant. Then something strange happened. The sun just fell back down, quickly too.
THUD
"Ow," Silver said, his entire body now completely on the ground. "It seems I made a slight miscalculation in weight," he said getting back on his hooves and then rubbing his muzzle.
"Miscalculation?" Twilight hesitantly asked. He nodded back to her then looked back to the East. "You don't mean-"
"I do," Silver said.
"But Princess Celestia-"
"Gave me permission," he interrupted her again. "Though I guess it may take a lot more magic than I initially thought." He stood and walked in front of Twilight as his horn glowed, then a familiar flame began shooting from where his mane was. His hooves also began to catch fire. Now, he looked exactly like he did when they first met; he was again that stallion on fire. His knees buckled for a moment, but he quickly recovered as he began to walk backwards. His head came down next, but he did not waver as he began moving his head side to side, gradually pulling himself back up, the sun was rising again. He was digging into the ground. Twilight could see his hooves getting deeper into the dirt as he planted himself to the ground and began to raise the sun even further. Then with a whinny of pride, he reared back into the glow of the sun he had just risen. He had done it, a single lone, unicorn had risen the sun.
"Phew!" he gasped as he wobbled around. "That was- that was," he fell to the ground, his fire extinguished. Twilight quickly rushed to him.
"Silver!" She called out. She stood over him where he lay. He looked comfortable, not in pain or worn out. Then she heard him quietly laughing.
"Note to self," he said chuckling, "never do that again, okay maybe once more for fun, but then never again." Twilight, who was concerned, now rolled her eyes at Silver as she helped him up.
"You are absolutely crazy," she said half astonished that Silver could even stand. Silver happily nodded, which seemed to annoy Twilight for some reason. He began to walk back to the building without so much as a word or anything. He just left. So Twilight followed.
"Well that was my one and only inspirational trick," he said giggling under his breath. "I do hope it works."
Why would anypony think that they could just raise the sun all by themselves? She thought quietly to herself. For that matter he definitely had to practice at least some before attempting this. She thought a little longer then she just had to ask.
"That was all just a show wasn't it?" She said confidently. Silver looked at her, eyebrow cocked, indicating that he he no clue what she meant by that. "You said you didn't know how much the sun weighed," she explained, "but it takes practice to learn such heavy spells like that and you being the son of the Princess of the Sun, you had to have practiced with her at some time, right?"
Silver laughed. "Oh Princess," he chuckled still, "Unlike you, I am not one to practice." Twilight gave him a half skeptical half impressed face while Silver expanded. "I simply improvise." Twilight frowned at his answer. It was not what she was hoping for. "Though I did get to practice with the moon once. No stars, just the moon." This kept Twilight's attention.
"Why no stars?" Twilight curiously asked.
"Did you not see how much trouble the sun was?" Twilight nodded to Silver's remark. "It is the same principle, except it is a little lighter," he said poking out another grin. "I gave my best to get the stars, but I only succeeded in keeling over."
"Wait, you died?" Twilight asked concerned.
"No, Princess," he bickered at Twilight's misunderstanding. "What is a newer term for that?" He paused for a moment, thinking it over. "To pass through? No that isn't right."
"Pass out?"
"Yes!" he said brightly. At that moment he lost his balance and nearly fell over. "Seems I may be headed for that again.See if they are making breakfast, I will join you shortly."
"Where are you going?" Twilight turned to see he was already gone. How? was the only thought that could come to her mind when she wondered how he left without a trace of hoofsteps or magic. However, instead of listening to her head, she listened to her stomach, which was growling profusely. She quickly trotted to the cafeteria to find food. She had not realized how hungry she was until Silver had said something. She had nothing to eat before her lesson so it was probably best that she ate before the next lesson.
When at the cafeteria,it was almost seven. She sat at a table where a few guard ponies were eating before they left for work. She quickly became the talk of the table when she walked over.
"Well, well Princess Twilight Sparkle," one of them said. He was a pegasus. "It's been forever since I've seen you around. I think you were this tall the last time I saw you." He made a quick scale from the ground up, just barely reaching the bottom of the table. "It's nice to see you all grown up for a change."
"What's your name?" She asked. He looked appalled to even be asked that question.
"Oh come on," he said gingerly. "You really don't remember me?" He had a half smile on his face. Twilight had no response, so he gave up and finally told her. "It's Lightning," he said half expecting her to realize it was him. "Lightning Luck? Your brother's best friend and second in command?" Twilight was still trying to piece things together. Her nose was scrunched up and her face looked like she ate a bad apple she was straining so hard trying to figure out who he was. "Here, let me take this off," he removed his helmet. His sandy mane matched his sandy coat, but finally, it clicked in Twilight's head.
"Oh!" Twilight shouted. "Lightning!" She quickly dashed over to hug him. "I'm so sorry, it's been so long since-"
"Nah, don't worry about it," he said waving a hoof in the air. "I would have forgotten me too after being gone for so long."
"Where have you been anyway?" she asked.
"Well actually I've been here," he let out a big sigh, "I just have been busy keeping our flyers in top shape," he said elbowing one of the pegasus next to him. "This here is Airpony First Class Arid Mist. Top of his class and I'm actually proud of this pipsqueak, so I just call him Mist." Lightning slapped him on the back, pushing Mist forward. He choked on his food and coughed a bit. "Sadly I had to quit training my recruits because of your brother," he said sadly, but did not actually look sad.
"How come?" Twilight asked.
"Well your brother is about to move full time to the Crystal Empire, meaning a new Captain of the Guard will soon be appointed."
"So I guess you got the job?" Twilight kept him going. He nodded.
"So I have to go through this whole appointment process and then I have to appoint my successor as the General of the Airponies," he continued. "After which, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have come to the decision to allow your brother to become Captain of the Crystal Guard since the ponies still need leadership there."
"So you get to appoint your successor?" Twilight tilted her head to the side. "I thought it just went by rank."
"Well normally it does," he followed up, "but the princesses feel as though the decisions should be left in the commanding officers' hooves to appoint a trustworthy, dependable pony to fill the position. That's why I've been at the training grounds for the past couple years."
"Sir," Mist quietly spoke up, "It's been almost four years."
"You're kidding," he said leaning away from Mist. Mist shook his head. "Well no wonder no one remembers me around here. I need to put my hoof back down and start making myself a little more known," he snickered, then something else caught his eye. He looked up. "My goodness boys, we've been here too long. I'll try to keep us out of trouble this time, but somepony's gonna have to keep an eye on the clock. Let's fly." He, Mist, and two others stood and walked to the door on the other side of the room. Twilight took notice of Lightning's leg being bandaged.
"Lightning, what happened?" Twilight asked, Lightning stopped.
"Oh this?" he asked looking at his bandage. "This is nothin'. You should see the other pony." Twilight grimaced and cringed at the thought, then Lightning broke the silence with a laugh. "Just kiddin, I was unfortunate enough to be in the path of some timberwolves on a ground patrol. No biggie," he said with a smile. "Enjoy your breakfast Princess," he bowed, and the other three mimicked him. Twilight stood and bowed back and then the team hastily left. "Oh yeah!" Lightning called out turning around and walking backwards. "See you tomorrow!" With that, they were gone. Twilight had no time to respond, but she quietly waved with their backs turned to the door already.
Twilight sat for an hour, waiting on Silver to return, two hours, three hours. Where is he, she thought to herself. Finally, eleven thirty rolls around and he walks through the cafeteria entrance, collecting a plate, then a pile of food. He took his time getting to Twilight's table, which had now been empty for some time now. She tapped her hoof on the table, watching him, impatiently glaring at him. Then he had finished stuffing his plate, paid for it, then looked around for Twilight. When he found her, he quickly walked to her, plate levitating beside him. He sat down with a plop and his plate made the same noise when he dropped it on the table.
"Where have you been?" Twilight asked frustrated. He put a hoof in the air, stuffing his face. Twilight kept opening her mouth to scold Silver's lack of punctuality that was obviously written on her note from him, but he kept cutting her off. He would not let her make a sound until he finished eating, which was relatively short for the amount of food he had on his plate. His awful manners were to blame, but he finally finished and moved his plate aside.
"I apologize for my tardiness, Princess Twilight," he began, "Some," he paused, "things came to my attention and I needed to tend to them immediately."
"Is that why you left in a hurry this morning?" Twilight asked convictingly. Silver twitched out a nod. Twilight got the strange feeling he was hiding something, but decided not to pursue. Silver generally gets to his point eventually. "So what was so important?"
"I had an idea as I suggested breakfast," he explained, "but I am not the best potions stallion around and I needed a special potion. So I asked Mother which to use and make. She actually sent me to a zebra somewhere outside of Ponyville."
"Zecora?" Twilight quickly interjected.
"I believe so," he answered. "I asked for a considerable amount, hence the time," he pulled out a small bottle. "After, I enchanted it with my thoughts and knowledge." The bottle was now more noticeable. The liquid was white and Twilight instantly realized what it was. Instantly thoughts of the princesses battling it out when Luna was Nightmare Moon poured into her head. She remembered the sadness, and the triumph. She sat there looking at it for a few minutes, leaving Silver to awkwardly hold the bottle in the air because he thought she was inspecting it.
"I've seen that before," Twilight finally quit looking at the glass of liquid and answered Silver. Taken off guard, he gestured for Twilight to continue. "Once, the princesses disappeared and Zecora said it might be the only way to help get them back."
"What happened to them?" His ears shot up, worriedly.
"Discord planted seeds over a thousand years ago that finally sprouted and trapped Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."
"Oh?" His worry turned to anger. "If I ever see that ugly monstrosity again," but before he could finish, Twilight interrupted him.
"You know him?" Twilight asked. Silver sighed and answered with a nod. "What happened?"
"You shall see soon enough." Silver put the glass bottle back wherever he had it before, then he took his plate and set it with the other dirty dishes. When he returned, Twilight stood with him. "Come," he said, "it is time for the second part of today's lesson." The both left to the building at the back of the castle.
As they walked Twilight had a question that has been embedded in her mind almost since the first time she and Silver met. She figured she should ask now before she ended up pushing it out to the side and forgetting all about it. "Silver," she started. He turned to her waiting for her to begin her question. "Why didn't you turn full Alicorn?"
"That's been something bothering me as well," he answered without missing a beat. "Mother said that even she doesn't know why. Usually the transformation is absolute. It's bothered me ever since." It bothered Twilight, too. Something that even Celestia has no knowledge of. That truly is frightening.
"You mind if I ask you another question?" Twilight hesitantly asked.
"Not at all Princess," Silver smiled.
"If Princess Celestia is your mother-"
"Who's my father?" Twilight was interrupted. She nodded. "Not too sure anymore," he said stopping and squinting his eyes looking up to the ceiling and putting a hoof to his chin. "I think I used to know, but it has been so long now."
"How can you remember your mom, but not your dad?" Twilight almost sounded disgusted.
"It isn't like they were exactly lovers, or even together," Silver brushed Twilight's comment away without missing a beat. Twilight however, was now boiling.
"WHAT?" She furiously shouted at Silver.
"Princess Twilight, keep your temper under control," Silver calmly answered.
"How can I be calm when you are telling me that someone that I admire most is-"
"Everything you already know she is," he put a hoof to her mouth stopping her from saying anything else. "You can keep your pure thoughts about my mother," his smile glowed. "We are not actually related."
"You're," Silver again put a hoof to her mouth. He already knew the question, so he answered with a nod. Now, of course, Twilight felt like a class A idiot and wanted to face-hoof herself until she passed out from exhaustion. Then she remembered what he said in the train about meeting the princesses. She had just now made the connection that it was the first time he had met Celestia.
"Now, I wore myself out a bit from this morning, so I believe we will break for today," Silver had a little smirk as he turned back to Twilight. "Of course, I thought we were going to be in there all day learning that one spell, good thing you decided to prove me wrong."
"By the way," Twilight had another curious question she was about to ask. It was about this morning. "Why did you choose to raise the sun this morning?" Silver looked surprised, maybe even a little insulted that she was questioning his teaching methods.
"Well, fire magic is powerful," he answered, "and the fire magic you will practice will be the most powerful," he stopped to look out a window and point to the sun. "That powerful."
"But Princess Celestia raises the sun."
"And what if Celestia happens to be unable to raise the sun?" Silver quickly came back. Twilight took a second to think about his words.
"Then you could do it," She answered. Silver shook his head and kept walking. Twilight followed quickly behind him. "Why not?"
"Did you not see how easily I was worn out from just raising the sun to morning? You were there, or was that just a decoy?" He smirked and winked at her. He knew Twilight would never have it in her to miss out on a lesson. "You are an Alicorn. Much more powerful than I could ever dream to be."
"But-"
"No buts, Princess," Silver kept going, "In the event that the Princess of the sun and/or the Princess of the moon is unable to perform her duties, I would like to make sure there is one other Alicorn able to raise them."
"Would that ever be a possibility?" She sounded concerned.
"While it is unlikely, there is always a possibility, Princess. So, I will teach you what I know, in hopes that you will be able to raise them."
"Wouldn't it be easier to learn from Princess Celestia or Princess Luna for those?" Twilight had a valid point, but Silver acted as though her question was so easy to answer.
"It would," he answered, "but they wouldn't be as much fun as me," he made Twilight laugh. He laughed along with her. "I also feel it important, even though Mother never asked it of me, to include all that this magic can do." They rounded a corner to the back door.
"So how can it raise the moon?" She asked. Silver opened the back door.
"Oh," Silver was caught off guard this time. Somehow he hoped she would decide not to ask that question. Sadly, all the words he could manage were, "It doesn't."
"How did you do it?"
"I happened to be lucky." Another vague answer. "It will be some time, if ever, that I show you how to raise the moon," he finally added. "Now, I am going to my room and will be retiring for the day. If you wish to go down and visit your friends you may do so, but tomorrow's lesson begins just as early." Twilight nodded.
She and Silver parted ways. Twilight wanted to go see her friends, but she knew that would be a wasteful trip, she needed to stay focused and the taxing few hours would definitely take its toll on her. Twilight yawned. She had not realized how tired she was until now. She decided to head to her room for a short nap.
On the way, Twilight's trot came to a walk, which then further degraded to a trudge. She was drained, and it only got worse as the time went by. She made it to her room what seemed like hours later, though it was only twenty minutes. Spike sat in his bed, just woke up, reading a new issue of power ponies. He looked up and waved to Twilight.
"How'd it go?" He asked excited. Twilight gave an inaudible murmur which made Spike ask, "What was that again?" Twilight looked to him, her eyelids slowly drooping further down. She plopped onto her bed and sighed loudly.
"I'm wiped out Spike," she said, "and all I did was light some candles today."
"How many?"
"One thousand twenty-two," she paused for a second, "twice." Spike cringed even at the thought of that many candles.
"That's a lot Twilight."
"You don't say?" Sarcasm was enveloping the sleepy Twilight Sparkle, a sign that she was ready to pass out. "I'm gonna get some sleep Spike. I'll talk to you about it later." No more than five minutes and Twilight was sawing logs so loudly that Spike had to find a new place to read his book.
Twilight awoke to the sounding of her alarm. It was 3 A.M. Already? she thought to herself. Spike lay in his bed in an uncomfortable looking contortion, snoring his earsplitting snore. Twilight shook off her sleepiness and got ready for her lesson.
When she arrived at the building, Silver greeted her with a good morning and once again asked her to practice lighting all the candles. He said that then they could move on to the next step. It took much less time than yesterday. She managed to light all the candles within twenty minutes, and the impressed Silver Radiance gave his congratulations. Twilight herself was pleased with her efforts, and did not even feel drained of her energy this time.
"Since you have completed part one of your training so quickly, we have some extra time," Silver said with a smile. "Would you like to learn something new?" Of course Twilight violently nodded as if she could not say yes enough times. Silver's mane lit into its blue flame, his hooves and tail following suit. "I suppose you recognize this magic, yes?" Twilight nodded. "Do you know the name of this type of magic?" Again she nodded. Silver waited for her to say the name, it was a long, awkward silence that led him to break it. "Why don't you tell me then," Silver asked, still waiting for an answer.
"It's called Shift," she said still grinning.
"And do you know who invented it?" Twilight again nodded.
"Starswirl."
"Wrong," he stomped his hoof. "It was originally invented by King Sombra, and then later reincarnated by Starswirl after an unlikely visit between the two. Neat right?"
"Anyway, have you ever used Shift?" Twilight nodded
"Just once," she answered. "I was frustrated with something and,"
"Princess Twilight Sparkle," Silver sounded disappointed, "one must never use magic in anger, or the repercussions could be catastrophic. It is commonly referred to as Rage Shift for good reason, Princess. Shift often relates to one's most extreme feelings and then amplifies them. Rage itself can amplify your magic, but a Rage Shift, can leave you with regrets." He looked down for a moment. Then he looked back up with a short smile on his face. "Would you like to hear something scary about Mother?" Twilight, always curious, of course nodded. "Like I said, shift amplifies your magic through your emotions, rage being the more common. However, my mother does not."
"Is it because she's calm and collected?"
"Close, but her emotions when she uses it, tend to envelop her enemies with fear. The first time I saw it, I had nightmares about it for weeks," Silver looked to the window, brushing off a cold chill he was experiencing. "Starswirl and I decided to coin it as Terror Shift since terror is what she instills when you look at her in that state."
"What about yours?" Twilight curiously asked. Silver gave her a confused look before she elaborated."You don't seem to go under any physical change other than your mane catching fire, and you seem fairly calm when you use yours. Is that what it's like to use normal Shift?" Silver shrugged.
"No idea," he said with a sigh. "Actually it has always been that way, and generally when I use Shift, I am emotionally distraught and fairly easy to take advantage of. Personally I would not call it normal. No my reasons are a small bit different, and words for another time. Just remember that Rage Shift can leave those you call friends hurting."
"I know," she sighed. "I let some things get to me and I just used it to let off steam." Silver thought about her words, then turned his back to her.
"Did you hurt anyone?" He asked, still facing away from her.
"No, just myself. Like I said, I was just letting off steam." Silver examined her with piercing contempt. Twilight tried to justify herself after seeing his stare. "But when I do it, the flames don't catch anything on fire. It's just a quick burst of energy, and I can't do it for long."
"Let's see then," Silver demanded.
"But-"
"No buts, Princess Twilight," Silver interrupted.
"Fine," Twilight sighed. She stood and thought for a moment. She was not going to be able to do it unless she thought of being mad. So, she thought of everything that ever upset her. Spike burning her books, Pinkie Pie's apparent supernatural power that targets Twilight. The more she thought, the less anything happened. She became frustrated with herself. After a few minutes of nothing, Silver called it to an end.
"If you cannot do it, then there is no shame in admitting it," his words sounded cold to Twilight.
"I just need motivation is all," she tried to defend herself.
"Such as?"
"I don't know," Twilight huffed, "I can only do it when I'm mad." Silver again looked appalled, but he soon collected himself and extinguished his own flame.
"Tell you what," he said. "We shall try again later today. For now, lets go get breakfast." Twilight nodded.
Breakfast was boring and not very talkative. It was almost 7:30, and Twilight was curious about the day's later lessons, but anytime she asked, Silver would just tell her that she would soon see. As if that were not irritating enough, he would say it with his mouth full of food almost every time. It is very clear that his lack of contact with the world gave his table manners a bad reputation.
After breakfast, they slowly and silently walked back to the makeshift classroom building. Neither of them uttering so much as a word to the other. It made the walk much longer, and if that did not raise the tension, the wondering eyes of Silver Radiance and his blank face would definitely do the trick.
They entered the building and two others were inside. By what they were wearing, Twilight could tell that they were part of the guard. They were wearing their full armor and facing the window opposite to Twilight and Silver. "Ah," Silver began, "You beat us here." One of them turned around to greet Twilight and Silver. A familiar face. Lightning.
"Oh we were just wondering if we had the wrong building," he chuckled. Silver and Lightning walked to each other, tapping their hooves together when they met. The other stallion had now turned around and Twilight noticed that he was an earth pony. He had a golden coat, like a golden delicious apple. Assuming he had the same color mane as his tail, she could see that it was white. "Hope you don't mind, but I brought him with me."
"Not at all," Silver smiled. "What is his name?"
"Steel Lance," the pony said. "But most ponies just call me Lance."
"Pleasure," Silver greeted Lance just as he had greeted Lightning.
"What are they here for?" Twilight asked curiously.
"Part-two of three in your lessons," Silver answered. "Now it is important that I know how well you can keep yourself together in a stressful environment." Silver looked to his guests. "Meet your stress inducers." Lightning had an evil looking smile. While Twilight knew he would not actually hurt her, the thought still crossed her mind after seeing his face. "You will be introduced to combat and well," Silver then also smiled devilishly, "we shall see how it goes." Twilight kind of caught on that he was trying to provoke Twilight into using shift. Since it was part of his lessons, she was not going to object, unless she got hurt of course.
"This doesn't seem too fair," Twilight said. "I can just put a shield up and then nopony could get in."
"Then just keep it up and we might end our lesson sooner than planned," Silver replied. Twilight could tell there was some sort of confidence in the magically lacking ponies that she obviously could not see. "Now," Silver again disappeared, "let's begin."
Twilight immediately brought up her shield and no sooner did Lance begin tackling away at it. He was making no progress to his attack and each time he hit the shield, he flew back several feet. Somehow he kept coming back for more punishment.
"He's pretty tough isn't he?" Lightning said.
Wait, Twilight thought. She turned to see Lightning standing right next to her inside her shield. "Ho-how, how," Twilight paused and took a breath. "How?" She said again. It seemed to be the only word she could utter in her amazement. Lightning simply laughed then lifted his hoof and touched her nose.
"Boop," he giggled. "We win," Twilight let her shield down as Lightning walked away. "Keep in mind all of your surroundings, Twilight," he stopped and hesitated, "I mean Princess Twilight," he reiterated his last sentence. "Don't forget there are two of us and one of you. Being confident in your abilities is one thing." He now pointed to his injured leg. "Being cocky can get you in trouble."
"And," Twilight shot for the ceiling. Silver was again standing right behind her, and again managed to scare her wits from her. "Sorry," he chuckled. "You should always remember who you are up against."
"But how did Lightning get in?" Twilight panted when she asked. She was still recovering from her recent scare.
"This armor that we wear doesn't just change our appearance," Lightning spoke. He was then proceeded by Lance.
"This metal is made by hoof because it is magic resistant. Some, less than others." Lance pointed to his armor. "This is a very early model that can only repel spells aimed directly at the armor," he pounded the armor at the chest. "Go ahead, try it."
"No, I can't," Twilight bashfully leaned away.
"Oh come on," Lance said with confidence. "It won't even hurt."
"I just can't," Twilight just would not feel right about purposely shooting someone with a blast of magic that could potentially hurt them, whether or not it was intended to. While Twilight knew that she could dilute whatever spell she used to make sure it was harmless, the whole idea made her feel uneasy.
Suddenly a whirl of magic swept across Twilight's view, hitting Lances armor, throwing him backwards and the spell rebounding into Silver, knocking him off his hooves as well.
"Sorry!" Silver shouted. "I could not resist," he said, laughing while getting back up. Lance shakily stood and shook off the minor annoyance that was Silver's magic bolt.
"Haven't felt a blast like that since some rookie took a cheap shot at me from behind, but even that didn't knock me off my hooves like yours did," Lance walked over to Silver and put his hoof around him. "Is this why Princess Luna doesn't like you?" They both laughed.
Princess Luna doesn't like Silver? Twilight thought to herself. She never imagined that the son of Celestia would have ponies like Princess Luna not liking him. Maybe other ponies who might be jealous of his power or of his stature, but just not liking him? Twilight agreed that he had some undesirable characteristics, but he was not easy to dislike, at least in her mind.
"Alright," Silver said now facing Twilight. In fact, Twilight was caught up in her thoughts for so long that she never realized that the other two had disappeared. "Since you failed part one, lets move on and we will just see how well you do until then." Silver's devilish smile cut across his face again. Twilight was a little concerned about how this was going to turn out. Of course she should have been a lot more concerned. Silver's horn lit and the window shutters closed, leaving only the candle-lit chandelier to light the room. Then its light dissipated and Twilight was once again in complete darkness.
She could hear a hollowed voice call out, Begin, and that is when the frustration really started. Twilight was being tossed around like a rag doll. She would be pushed in one direction, then another set of hooves would push her in an opposite direction. She eventually caught on and tried to stop herself short of being pushed again. She thought she might have the upper hoof if she flew so she used her wings to fly straight up after she had stopped herself. She quickly found the chandelier and then fell to the ground. She had no time to stand because as soon as she hit the ground, she felt herself being lifted into the air again and dropped onto what felt like somepony's back, then to the ground.
Twilight began to run and tried to light the room with her horn. No such luck. She was reacquainted with the floor, breaking her concentration. "Stop it!" She shouted. Obediently, the beating stopped, the shutters opened, and the candle-lit chandelier was once again burning. The three ponies were circling Twilight. "This isn't going to help anything!" Twilight shouted.
"I thought you needed to be under stress to coax your shift," Silver calmly replied. "I am merely providing a catalyst."
"One to keep me from coming back," Twilight shot dirty looks at Lightning and Silver. She might have also done it to Lance, but he was behind her.
"In which case, you are finished," Silver stopped when he answered. The other two followed his lead. "It was nice to see you at least try. The train leaves in about half an hour." He, Lightning, and Lance began to walk outside of the room. Silver held the door for the other two.
"Wait,"Twilight called out. Silver turned to listen to her before he also left. "What do you mean?"
"If you object to my teaching, then I will not continue to teach," Silver firmly answered. He turned towards the door. Before he walked out the door, he turned back to face Twilight. "It seems my mother was wrong about you after all. You are not fit to learn this magic." That easily struck a nerve in Twilight. She grabbed Silver with her magic, throwing him back inside and slammed the door shut. She knew what she had to do, but she was too angry to care at the moment. Silver stood. "Princess, I am not going to stay here all day. I do have other matters to attend to especially since our lessons are over."
"That's not good enough," Twilight shouted at him. "I am not going to let you let me give up that quickly, and I will make sure that we will continue my studies if it kills me!"
"However," Silver's voice sounded aloof to Twilight's anger, which only angered her more, "your studies require that you are able to control shift, but if you cannot even do it, then I see no point in continuing your studies."
"YOU WANT TO SEE IT," Twilight shouted at the top of her lungs, "FINE." Twilight's mane quickly changed to a bright burning white color and her mane and tail erupted in flames. Her burning red eyes matched her wings which started as the same color as her body, but faded into the red that matched her eyes. Silver smiled. "HAPPY NOW?"
"You can come back in now," Silver shouted to the outside. Lightning and Lance both walked back through the door. "Now I know," Silver walked to Twilight. Twilight was not in a mood to calm down, however.
"I know you were trying to coax it out of me this whole time, but this is ridiculous," Twilight's fury showed in the fire coursing out of her body. "As much as I love to learn, Princess Celestia would not like to know that you and two of her guards attempted to beat me up!" Silver was unphased, but he allowed Twilight to vent. He knew he was in the wrong, but he also knew the magic better than anypony else. He just needed to find Twilight's trigger, however rashly it ended up.
Twilight was still yelling at Silver and the other two, but Silver had blocked her out, examining her. He was making sure that she did not eventually-, suddenly Twilight's rant had stopped, and she had passed out and fell to the floor.