The Struggles of Radiance
Chapter Three
The Crystal Empire is AMAZING! The ponies are MADE OF CRYSTAL! Its so cool. Dad gave me a tour after we contacted mom, and we even got some rock candy. Crystal Empire rock candy is the best!
Mom was upset at first, but her and dad decided that I will stay in the empire for three days before mom comes to take me back to Ponyville. Mom said I was grounded for three weeks after I get back. BUT CRYSTAL EMPIRE OH MY CELESTIA! So pretty.
I met Princess Cadence, she is nice. She was a tad upset when she heard that mom was coming here to pick me up, but she is a nice pony who should be happy. If only I could convince her that I do not have a crush on anypony (She seems to think all foals have a crush on somepony, no matter what).
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I saw the Crystal Heart today, it is pretty. It is also a massive source of love-energy. I wonder if that is how mom's hive was fed during the integration into Equestrian society. I just hope that mom doesn't go all power crazy and try to drain the heart. Just being near it supercharged my magic reserves. I feel like I have ten times the normal amount of magic energy that I had living in ponyville.
I better not tell Twilight about this, she would want to examine me again. I just hope she doesn't detect the increased power. I don't want to use it because this is the perfect excuse to increase my magic energy capacity. I may go see the heart again tomorrow.
Princess Cadence took me out to get some muffins as well. She is a really nice pony. She told me that I could call her Aunty Cadence like I do Aunty Twilight. I actually am glad that that is sorted out, I wasn't sure if I should consider her a stepmother or what, as she is married to my dad, but not my mother. Either way, I think she is pretty cool.
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I went to the heart again, my power has doubled, and I don't think I could handle any more for a few days. Mom will be coming to pick me up later tonight, so the temptation of the heart won't be a problem. I may tell dad about feeding from the heart to increase my magic capacity, but I am not sure if it is a good idea…
I can't wait to see my friends again. I have so many ideas for crusading that we need to try. I just hope that they haven't tried full-contact hoofball or parasailing yet. I also want to show Scootaloo more magic, and see how she has come with manipulating her pegasus magic. When she flies and stuff and uses her magic, she is so graceful. It is quite entrancing to watch her practice her moves. Rainbow Dash may have her beat on sheer awesome, but Scoots is one of the most graceful ponies I have ever seen in the air.
I was thinking about getting a pet from Fluttershy too, but mom still scares her. I also doubt mom would let me have a pet in the house…
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Today mom came and picked me up from the Crystal Empire. Aunty Cadence was apprehensive at first, but after a few minutes of her talking with mom, she realized that her fear is not that big of deal. I almost expected them to get into a duel or something when they first saw each other. I'm glad everything worked out, it could have ended badly.
I have decided not to tell anypony about my 'feeding' from the Crystal Heart. I just hope I can keep my energy under control until my body adapts to the higher amount of power.
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I think the extra energy is making me a tad jittery. I noticed that I have a harder time staying focused on things since I absorbed it. Mom noticed I am more wired than usual, but she didn't say anything really. I just hope that I finish adjusting to the increased power soon, before anypony notices. My magic has been harder to control but much more powerful too. I have been going to a clearing in Whitetail Woods to work on my magic control without hurting anypony; using small spells so I don't drain all of my magic before I finish adjusting to the bigger amount (not to mention low energy spells are harder to control when you have an excess of magic energy).
Mom grounded me for three days, even though she told dad three weeks. I think mom might be a compulsive liar or something… Either way, the other Crusaders and I went parasailing and played full contact hoofball, I don't even know how we could have possibly gotten covered in all of that tree sap… So much tree sap…
Scootaloo is getting pretty good with her innate magic, I saw her blast a tree and all the leaves fell off. Good thing the running of the leaves will be happening in two weeks. I asked her if she would like to train with me in my training clearing, she said she would think about it.
Sweetie Belle was grounded for dunking Opal (Rarity's demon spawn of a cat) in water that had red dye in it. And Applebloom is busy helping her sister with the fall harvest.
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Me and Scootaloo went to train today, I made her Pinkie Promise not to tell anypony about how I fed from the Crystal Heart to boost my powers (I had to tell her because she would have noticed the increased power when I cast spells). She is getting quite good at using her pegasus magic. She told me that she checked out some books in the library about the Gale King, and that she is going to become the first user of it since Swiftwing the Bold (The last documented user of the Gale King style. He recorded a lot about the different forms and stuff).
I think my body has adjusted to my power, but I still need to learn to control it better. I blasted a tree with a supercharged version of my lightning spell, the amount of energy I used was enough to give Aunty Twilight magic fatigue, but it barely made a dent in my reserves.I just hope nopony gets mad when I tell Twilight about my power and how I got it. I am going to tell Twilight later this week, so hooves crossed that she doesn't get mad at me.
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I told Aunty Twilight today, she was angry at me for not telling her something like that, but when I told her how I could cast a tier twelve lightning spell with a class seven thaumic matrix structure without magic fatigue, and how it did almost nothing to my reserves, she got all excited about the possibilities. She still scolded me for doing something so reckless as to feed from the Crystal Heart, twice. She also took me to her basement to run some tests to see how the magic is affecting me. It turns out my reserves are stable, and I have more raw magical power than Aunty Twilight, dad, and Aunty Cadence have combined.
Apparently that kind of power is treated with extreme caution, so Aunty Twilight sent a letter to Princess Celestia to tell her about my power and how I acquired it. Not five minutes after the letter was sent, Princess Celestia showed up to see for herself. She saw the test results and told me to never do something like that again without proper supervision and all of that jazz. After I agreed to that, she told me that she was going to take me under her wing to teach me magic.
I go to Canterlot next week. Mom is coming with me just to make sure I keep up with my learning of changeling magic. I just hope she can control herself in front of the nobles and other ponies.