//------------------------------// // CH 12: The Grind Dates // Story: Bridging Ages, Bridging Worlds // by BlueDWarrior //------------------------------// Pre-Chapter Notes: 1) Chapter title inspired by the similarly titled song by De La Soul 2) The Pony’s Length (measure of distance) is equivalent to half of 1 meter === BABW: A New (Old) Magic === === Chapter 12: The Grind Date(s) === “So, ‘Tia, how does everything look?” Luna asked of her pastel-maned and white coated sister, while beating her wings a bit to relieve some tension she was feeling in her body.   “It looks wonderful Lulu, don’t let anypony, or anyone else for that matter, tell you are aren't a well-developed artist in your own right,” Celestia replied, as she beamed a familiar smile at her sister Alicorn.   Celestia was relieved when she saw the tension leave Luna’s body, seemingly drifting away like so much fog being evaporated by the mid-morning sun. With that passed, the two of them continued to personally inspect what was a large edifice in Pony terms for a house that wasn't its own business: sitting at roughly 30 Lengths from front-to-back and 36 Lengths from side-to-side.   “I wonder how all of this is going to work going forward,” Celestia thought aloud as she looked at how all the cooking and eating utensils were neatly packaged into cardboard boxes as the two of them stood in the kitchen/dining-room area.   “Just like the patronage of old, I don’t think we will ultimately know how everything will turn out until the artist is completely done with their work. And given the ‘artists’ we will be working with, I don’t think we will be able to make that assessment for decades to come,” Luna responded, as she thought about the sparks of that mysterious power that were already beginning to well in the bodies of the four Conduits of Terra.   “If you had told me we would ever come across the source of that mysterious power that would help us turn the tide of this world’s history, or at least the creatures that were responsible for it, I would not have believed you. Then again, given who and what we are, we should have seen this coming at some point,” Celestia thought aloud, as she sat down on the smooth, lacquered hardwood floor and looked out of one of the windows of the dining area, staring into the cave interior that was littered with magically-powered artificial lights.   “Speaking of patronage, has the check cleared for that company that we commissioned to do the brunt of this work?” Luna asked of her sister, as she sat down on the floor next to her, staring at the wall of the cave that had become the scene of this clandestine home building operation.   “Yes, Luna, I also gave them a small bonus for not leaking any of this information to the press. While we may understand the full nature and reason for you becoming the patroness and unofficial liaison for the Conduits of Terra, I would rather the rumor-mill NOT get too out of control with their speculation as to why Converts suddenly have a direct audience with a Princess of Equestria,” Celestia replied, her voice suddenly growing cold when mentioning the tabloids.   “I have told you multiple times before: the tabloids will do what they will, whether you want them to or not. I am fairly sure you do not want to start enacting press controls just to assuage your annoyance at their constant rumor-mongering, right?” Luna asked, as her own voice grew stern.   Celestia sighed as she tried to relieve her own tension the same way Luna did a few minutes before. “You are right. It would be far too much work to try and micromanage every little thing the press said. And ultimately it never comes to anything. At the same time though, I have the suspicion that all of our little Ponies will not be as accommodating to the Conduits and their Converted brethren as the Elements have.”   Luna leaned into her sister and huffed into the open air a bit, showing her annoyance at her sister’s tendency to let her thoughts run away with her. “’Tia, you should know this better than anyone. There is only so much you can do when managing sapient beings. I would be hard-pressed to believe that the total of our population that would actually take offense to the Converts would be any more than a thin sliver overall.”   Celestia beat her wings again; as she tried to cool down her physical body she could feel growing hot from her internal consternation. “I know, I just cannot tell which sliver it would be, and what they might be capable of if they feel themselves truly threatened.”     The two Alicorn sisters sat there for a while, silently contemplating what the future would hold once Luna began working her particular brand of Magic on a certain four humans turned Ponies, before the conversation turned in a bit of a different light.   “I wonder how we’d react if we were just normal Ponies coming to greet these visitors from another world, instead of the deity-like beings that were responsible from bringing them here…” Luna thought aloud as she moved into one of the undefined common areas of the house.   “It is hard to say, I would like to think I would be warm and welcoming. But I don’t think I could help but be a little bit suspicious,” Celestia answered as she looked at all of the various games and other non-electronic entertainment items that were packed into cardboard boxes, not unlike the silverware and pots and pans of the room previous.   “Really now, my big sister being a constant snoop; I wonder why that is so hard to believe?” Luna replied, gently shoving her sister in the ribcage.   “Oh come now, if it was like before, you’d constantly hound them to tell them every single little fact they knew that you didn’t already know…” Celestia replied, shoving her sister back.   The two sisters giggled and laughed as the thought some more of a life before anyone living would ever know.   “Celestia, how long has it been?”   “Since what, Luna?”   “We’ve visited the rest of our ‘family’?”   “Not since you were finally purged of the Nightmare’s influence those three or so years ago.”   “You wonder if they wouldn’t mind us dropping in for a few moments?”   “I don’t see why not…”     =========================     [ November 17, ???? – (Edge of) Ponyville, Equestria ]               The Conduits of Terra, Elements of Harmony, Spike, Princess Luna, and a couple of otherwise non-descript Earth Ponies all stood out in the middle of a clearing off one of the main roads leading into Ponyville from the south, the perfect place for building a house.   The only problem was, aside from some foundation in a depression in the ground, there was a very distinct lack of house.   Princess Luna then came forward with the two Earth Ponies and began to speak. “Fillies and Gentlecolts, I would like to welcome you all to this grand housewarming for our new mutual friends and compatriots.”   Despite pausing for applause, she got none except from the two Earth Ponies next to her, the other eleven witnesses still quite confused as to what exactly was going on.   Blue Vague, looked around, and seeing no one else was going to speak, decided to brave the waters himself. “Princess Luna, I really and truly do not mean to sound ungrateful in any way. But… um… how can you have a housewarming without a house?”   “An excellent question Mr. Vague, how does have a housewarming if there is no house to warm?” Luna asked, pacing back and forth like a professor in a collegiate setting. “I believe this next little demonstration of mine will answer that question for you. Gentlecolts, if you would mind stepping back?” The two Earth Ponies stepped behind Luna, walking back toward where the combined Elements and Spike were.   With an azure flash of her horn, Luna began working from the ground up, though no one there could tell exactly what she was working her magic on, not even Twilight. That is before she noticed that nothing was matching Luna’s glow… except for the ends of a few pipes down in the depression formed by the foundation.   This must be some kind of intense high-level teleportation…   A few moments later, her instincts would be proven right; and like a curtain slowly being drawn up, the house began to materialize out of thin air, slowly but surely, from foundation and basement, all the up to the first floor, to the second, and then to the roof.   “Any more questions?” Luna asked as she turned back and looked at the combined Elements, a wide smile on her face masking the mild amount of strain she was recovering from having suddenly transferred so much mass in such a small amount of time.     The four Ponies new Equestrian home was a stunning sight for the former Humans not used to having places of their own. It was constructed in the Brownstone style of architecture from the turn of the 20th Century on Earth; Luna feeling it would be a nice touch using a reasonably popular Earth architectural style. It appeared two stories high, and more than large enough for 4 adult Ponies and however many temporary guests (like say, another seven temporary guests). The facade was gray colored limestone, which was imported from the Dragon-controlled desert quarries quite a ways away from Equestria proper; though there was a streak of magically-dyed stone that ran all along the base of the house: a band of four bold colors, each one matching the coats of the Conduits of Terra themselves.   “Wow this place is totally… just… woah…” Blue Vague tried to exclaim, but found the words were failing him to a large degree, as the cluster of eleven broke up and were scanning the entire outside of the edifice that loomed large, but not overly large relative to the rest of the houses in Ponyville.   Red Blaze was definitely impressed with the workmanship on the outside. "Wow, they even got the trim colors like ours. It gives it that nice little flare and makes it distinct from a regular Brownstone in the Domes."   Golden Storm and Rainbow Dash perched themselves atop the house on the Pegasi landing area, which looked a bit like some kind of observatory, smaller and less fancy than Twilight’s at the top of Golden Oaks Library, but still distinguishable from the rest of the roof. "I wonder how hard it would be to get clouds to stick up here along the landing spot. I mean it's obvious from R.D.'s house that clouds stick to itself just as well here, but I dunno about them sticking to something 'solid' though."   Rainbow Dash just shrugged as she never really tried it herself. Midori Hana touched the limestone with a front hoof; she could still feel the energy in the stone from whatever cutting process the Dragons used to score the blocks for shipping. "Wow, this must be what Dragon Magic, or whatever equivalent they have, must feel like. Definitely different than Equestrian Magic, but it all feels related somehow."   Luna chuckled at how strong an inquisitive mind Midori had, she was definitely her father's daughter.   “In any case,” Luna started, “I thank you two for accompanying me here, please allow me to return you to your place of business so that you may being receiving regular clients again.”   The two Earth Ponies nodded as in a flash they were teleported back to Manehatten and their offices at Obsidian and Son’s Construction company.   I wonder if I saw those two before… Blue Vague thought to himself before turning and returning to the front of the house with Luna and the others.   As all twelve of them walked inside and marveled at the internal construction, the eleven non-Princesses were indeed reminded of the dormitories back on Earth they all shared. In fact, it was effectively a reduced version of said dormitories, built to house four (comfortably) instead of ten at a time. The only real difference, besides the clinical white replaced by wood grain, was that the recreational room held various board games and a magic-driven film projector, instead of the digital projector and computers the four Terrans were used to. There was also a spiral staircase along the second floor that lead up to the landing area and observatory on the roof, and a stairwell leading down to the basement.   "Oh wow, I recognize a lot of these games. Although they are obviously Pony equivalents, they look all the world just like the classic board games we had in America back on Earth," Blue Vague said, as he levitated out the various smaller boxes out of their larger container box. “Ah wonder what y’all need to turn y’all’s computer films into regular reels for over here, though,” Applejack thought aloud. While the other ten thought about this, Luna broke them out of their reverie in order to get down to real business of the day.  "There will be plenty of time later to assess that situation; however, I would like to direct the eleven of you to the basement. I would like to go ahead and get started on our true objective for today."   -----             As they all stood in the rather spacious basement, the twelve remarked just how plain it looked compared to the rest of the house. There was an exception though, a rather innocuous looking round, raised slot exactly in the center of the basement; appearing as if it were a lock that took a non-standard shaped key. As the twelve of them stood around it, Luna began to explain just why this barely furnished basement was the locale of interest for today. "Alright, my little Ponies. You may all be wondering ‘Why does Princess Luna have us standing in this rather unadorned basement around this somewhat plain looking slot?’ Well, this would be why..."   With that, she materialized a what appeared to be a human’s hand tool, very much reminiscent of a screwdriver. "TRAINING FIELD DRIVER, ON!!" She shouted as she engaged the tool in the slot and charged it with her magic.   Everyone stood confused for a few seconds as to what exactly she was talking about... until they felt a massive surge of energy coming from the slot now with the tool sticking out of it. The screwdriver-like tool turned the entire slot around once clockwise, and the entire room lit up with a pale blue light, as ley lines were traced all along the basement floor, walls, and ceiling. Once the lines were completely traced, the entire environment and ambience of the room changed, as it now appeared as a completely open field; short grass running in every direction toward the horizon, and a perfectly clear, midday blue sky above.   "Woah, just what in Equestria was that?!" Twilight exclaimed, never feeling any sort of magic like that before.   "This is a revised version of a spell I devised while Headmistress of the University for Advanced Magical Studies; simply known as the Projected Training Field. It takes anyone present within a confined space, such as the basement we were in, and transports them to a pocket dimension of the user's creation for up to six hours at a time. The spell specifically designed to never last more than six hours, since the expanse created is functionally infinite in all directions, and we wouldn't want Ponies getting lost in an infinite pocket dimension if we can at all help it.”   Luna then created what looked like an indigo office building, complete with her cutie-mark and official government seal draped on a flag near the door. She trotted over to a raised a platform continued to speak.   "The rules of this place are quite simple. First, one cannot perish here, if anyone incurs a life-threatening injury, the spell is immediately dispelled so that the Pony in question can be attended to. Second, only the original user of the spell can alter the conditions of the space. Third, If the user ever falls unconscious, the spell is immediately dispelled, again to prevent Ponies from getting lost or stuck in the subspace. Finally, fourth, the original user of the spell can at any time disengage the spell, which would return everyone to where they were when the spell was cast; however, regardless of how the spell was dispelled, it cannot be used again by that user for at least twelve hours."   Luna then pointed at the screwdriver-like tool now resting on a raised pedestal as tall as the stallions there, "That screwdriver-like device is known as the Training Field Driver, it contains condensed mana that is used to execute the spell should someone of insufficient power wish to use it, although one must first install the Training Driver Slot. Note, one does not need to know Explicit Magic to use the spell, it works with any creature that can channel the mana of Equestria. Similar to one casting the spell themselves, once used and then dispelled, the device cannot be used again for twelve hours, for safety and recharging concerns." Golden Storm raised a hoof, and was recognized to ask a question. "Princess Luna, there doesn't seem to be any real concerns for space in-between the various settlements and cities and all. So why go through all this trouble to train us here and in this manner?"   Luna thought for a few seconds, and then responded. "Well, the proper answer to that question is twofold. First, to be perfectly honest, myself and my sister have next to no idea what exactly Terran Magic is capable of. Therefore, as much as you all will be studying and practicing how best to use your two forms of Magic, I will be recording and analyzing the nature and effects of Terran magic should they be invoked during said practicing. It would be the easiest for me to do this in this space, rather than have you all scattered all over the outskirts of town, at least for the time being."   That statement concerned the four Terran Conduits especially, they were hoping against hope they could get some kind of guidance from the Royal Sisters in that regard.   "The second answer goes back to some very old practices. Before the development of this spell, the University was fledging in terms of maintain prestige and membership, despite my direct patronage. This was because the University was seen as a bit wild and uncontrollable. This was due to the propensity for the various magical experiments and training to result in untold amounts of property damage and, unfortunately, deaths amongst the students and bystanders. In fact, the first year I introduced the spell to the wider faculty, we reduced our collective damage payouts by 500% and death toll by 1000%."   The six Bearers of Harmony and Spike were a bit taken aback by how matter of fact Luna was when discussing such widespread death and destruction. Soon though, all eleven of them came to an understanding to just how serious an undertaking this all was; Luna could not afford any of them dying in some accident, or destroying some large expanse of property.   "I can tell by the looks on your faces and in your eyes that you are starting to realize how serious an undertaking this is. I do not want you all to fear this venture necessarily, but you all must respect the fact that the magic our new friends and compatriots contain is almost an entirely unknown entity. There is so little solid information that we have on the Conduit’s magic, that we are forced to play this all by ear, so to speak. Therefore, I have to take every precaution I can, and take every opportunity to analyze this magic that I can. However, we cannot even truly discuss their practice of Terran Magic, until the four of them are trained in their new bodies. Until they come to a true understanding of their Equestrian bodies, both in a physical and spiritual sense, the Power they contain, I fear, will remain largely incongruent." Luna then telekinetically opened the doors to her office and looked back toward the group. “For that reason, I am going to need to talk to the Bearers of Magic, Loyalty, and Honesty for a short period of time.”   Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack looked at each other briefly, before joining Luna inside the well adorned office, as the other eight Ponies and Dragon all began discussing the content of Luna’s introductory speech to themselves.   ---   “The reason I called the three of you in here was to discuss briefly what kind of physical training we should put our new compatriots under in order to help them properly channel their natural Pony Magic,” Princess Luna started as she looked at the various visual and vital statistic monitors she had set up within the office.   The three Elements began to think for a while before Rainbow Dash came up with a suggestion for Golden Storm. “One of the primary exercises we did back in Flight Camp was your basic aerial obstacle course. If the goal right now is just physical training, then I guess we just keep things simple like that.”   Luna ruminated on the idea for a bit before responding. “Yes, a Pegasus’s Weather Magic is conducted primarily through their wings, so that would be a reasonable place to begin with the Conduit of Wind.”   Applejack then raised a hoof to offer her suggestion for Midori Hana. “Well if something like that would work for Storm’s wings, then why not something similar for Hana’s overall? Obviously the course would be a lot different, but Ah believe the basic concept should work, right?”   Luna was already sketching the aerial course on one pad while Applejack was talking and picked up a second in her telekinesis field once she was sure the farm-hoof was done. “I cannot argue with that suggestion, Bearer of Honesty. In fact, I have a suspicion about what the Bearer of Magic will conclude this little chat with.”   Twilight blushed a little bit as she looked at the Princess of the Night hard at work drawing… something… on the two pads she had levitated in her magical grip in front of her. “I don’t mean to sound like I couldn’t come up with anything better or different, but in all honestly, an obstacle course designed for exploiting a Unicorn’s magic would probably be the most simple way to begin with both Vague and Blaze.”   A third pad went up in Luna’s telekinetic grip as she was busy drawing what appeared to be three different obstacle courses for all three races at the same time.   “In that case, I think we should spend a few more minutes refining these plans before we introduce them to our training subjects, yes?”   The three Elements of Harmony nodded vigorously, wondering how Luna could divide her attention so cleanly.   --- ---   A short while later, the Lunar Princess and the three Elements of Harmony that accompanied her emerged from the office building; Princess Luna holding three placards and an easel in her TK grip as she strolled out. The other eight outside ended their discussion and turned back to face the Princess as the other three rejoined their group.   “Alright then, my little Ponies, we will now discuss the plans for our four Conduits in more detail…” the Princess started, as she placed the easel on her platform next to herself. “Since the first phase of this training will be basic physical, we will start with a general and well-rounded obstacle course to help the Conduits’ physical fitness and to generate a better understanding as to what their bodies are fully capable of.”   She picked up one of the placards and placed it on the easel, showing the nature of the obstacle courses.   “The Pegasus Course, as you can see here, is primarily a flight course. Due to the three-dimensional nature of flight, it is vital that the participant follow the indicated path through the obstacles. The path will be indicated by the green cloud-streak floating in between the red and yellow cloud-pylons. As you can probably imagine, this is designed to test and improve your agility while in mid-flight and stress your ability for channeling Weather Magic through your wings.”   She took down the placard of the sky course and placed the one representing the more imposing looking of the terrestrial courses.   “The Earth Pony course, shown here, is based mostly off strength and endurance. The course is relatively straight-forward, except that different parts will be traversed while under the influence of varying amounts of gravity. This is to simulate carrying various amounts of weight since it quite cumbersome for an Earth Pony to quickly remove something that they happen to be wearing, at least when the removal of loads or clothes are not necessarily germane to the training involved.”   Luna then concluded the course introductions while showing the last placard with the Unicorn’s obstacle course on it.   “And this is the Unicorn Course. Now if the course looks simple, that is because it is. However, the entire course must be traversed while constantly maintaining a polymorphic ‘sphere’ in your telekinetic grip. Depending on where exactly you are on the course, the sphere’s actual shape and weight will change; and at the same time, if the sphere is not passed through a magical checkpoint in the proper fashion, the constituent magical barrier gates will block your ability to proceed. Is all of this understood?”   The four Conduits nodded as they looked at the placards that Luna had drawn, to quite exquisite quality in such a short time, as she placed them on the ground in front of her speaking platform.   “Also, if you don’t mind, Bearer of Generosity, I will require your assistance in evaluating our two Unicorn Conduits. While I trust Twilight with a lot of things, trying to watch and focus on two Unicorns-in-training at the same time and trying to evaluate both at the same time, I believe, would be an inefficient use of her abilities,” Princess Luna asked as she walked over the six Bearers and Spike and took Rarity aside a bit.   “Oh yes, of course I would Princess. I’m… just not sure what exactly I should be evaluating…” Rarity responded, surprised she would tap her to help in this first phase of training.   “It is your attention to detail, Rarity. While Twilight is an amazing mind she can… develop a bit of tunnel vision. I believe your ability to assess details and how it would affect a greater whole will be most useful for this venture,” Luna responded, smiling a bit as Twilight looked on a bit, somewhat oblivious to what was being said.   “I see. In that case I shall do my best in this adjunct role,” Rarity responded, nodding vigorously.   “Just what I like to hear, Bearer of Generosity.”   =========               A short while and several flashes of Luna’s magic later, the ten ponies and one dragon were all broken up into three groups, each at a different point of their constituent obstacle courses.   ---   “So we are supposed to go under those wooden beams while carrying this block over our heads, then we jump through the tires and then pull another block in behind us, and then we are supposed to push that ball across the pathway while keeping it in constant contact with the pathway?” Blaze began to ask.   “Yeah, then we are supposed to use our magic to break a path in the first set of walls, then use it to swing ourselves across that netting, and finally we run through the half-ring gates to finish the course, right?” Vague finished, as they, Spike, Twilight, and Rarity all walked around the recently constructed course.   “Seems that way, Vague,” Twilight responded, as she read over the instructions.   “So… who is going first?” Blaze asked as she was already thinking of the best way to complete the course.   ---   “Okay… through the tires, over the beam, push the box, through the pylons, push the pyramid, up and down the ladder, push the ball, through the tunnel, and… over the hurdles?” Hana asked as she, Pinkie, and Applejack walked through the Earth Pony’s course. “Seems simple doesn’t it,” Pinkie Pie responded. “Trainin’ an Earth Pony ain’t that complicated. Now, Earth Pony magic? Whole other question…” Applejack mused aloud as Hana got set up for her first dry run.   ---   “Do I need to make a cloud-trail for the right path or can you remember how to do it, Storm?” Rainbow Dash asked as she, Fluttershy, and Golden Storm were all perched on a cloud platform on level with the floating Pegasus course.   “I should have it now, inside-out on the first set of pylons, then climb up that cloud-ramp, through the wind tunnel, another climb up the rope, past the field of charged poles…, then over-under the last set of pylons, and… pushing the ball across the last part of the course right,” Storm recalled from the brief demonstration.   “That’s good, I guess you can go ahead and get started then,” Fluttershy replied, looking at Dash nod her head showing Storm was correct.   “May as well…” Storm sighed as he floated over to the starting line.   --- ---   About an hour had passed into the session, and it was about this time where all of the Conduits began to feel the proverbial burn…   Ow, ow, oww… I didn’t think getting hit by my own magic would hurt so much… if trying to control my Water is gonna be like this, I could easily hurt somepony not paying attention…   Ugh, this is so frustrating. Why are these objects so hard to control? And Rarity and Twilight make it look so effortless. At least this isn’t my Fire; if it was like this I could burn a whole building to the ground by accident…   Controlling the Earth must take a lot of stamina… because all of this pushing and pulling and running has me absolutely beat…   If I get zapped by that lightning or thrown around by this cross-wind one more time, I might just scream. I know my Weather Magic and Wind couldn’t be this bad; then again it could be if I don’t get this right…     Despite their internal, and sometimes external, complaints, eventually all of the Conduits finished an error-less run of their courses. At which point Luna popped up with four large box-like apparatuses.   “I would like to congratulate the four of you on completing error-free runs of the obstacle courses. In keeping with the idea of a diagnostic exam, you will now be timed in completing each course. You will all have a half-hour to rest your bodies while I go over the rules with each of your trainers, as it were.”   A collective groan escaped from the four Earth-born Ponies as they all sprawled out on a quartet of magicked-up resting cots, trying to figure out how they were going to do what they just did under the pressure of a constantly ticking timer.   “Oh don’t worry. In honesty I designed all of these courses after the much more extensive ones we use to train Royal Guard forces for Basic Training. They have to complete courses twice as long in roughly seven-and-a-half minutes. So I will make that your target time to start with,” Luna added with a wry smile on her face.   “Sure, finish each course in 7’30”. Got it…” Storm replied wearily, wondering just how he and the rest of his friends were supposed to do that.   --- ---             Another hour or so later, and after a lot of crashes, shocks, and the like, it appeared that the light was starting to flicker on for each of the Conduits through each course…   Alright, I just need to feel out the seam in the wall, and then breakthrough hard…   Nice and easy, because every time I rush trying to push or pull these objects I end up dropping them everywhere…   Keep breathing, keep steady, don’t try and over exert myself on the first few challenges… just keep a steady pace but still keep moving…   Alright, I need to feel where the wind and the lightning are coming from, and then I have to slip past them…   …and sure enough, right around the start of the fifth hour, all of the Conduits completed an error-less run that indeed beat the clock.               With all of that done, Luna decided that there wasn’t enough time left for the current iteration of the Training Field, so she began to wrap up the proceedings for the day.   “Since we are five hours into this run of the Training Field and it will automatically dissipate at exactly six hours in, I feel that we can go ahead and call it wrap, as they would say.”   A tired but still enthusiastic cheer went up from the four Conduits.   “I should have expected such a reaction, in any case, I will need to discuss a few things with your trainers before I dismiss the ten of you formally.”   The Conduits went back to their cots and sprawled out with a bunch of water and sports drink bottles, as Luna walked into the central ‘office’ with Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.   ---   “I want the four of you to give your honest assessments of what the major deficiencies are in the four Conduits. I feel confident enough that they have the root basics down of operating their bodies, so I believe we can move on to actually teaching magic proper,” Luna asked as she sat in her blue and black chair.   Twilight cleared her throat as she began to speak. “Well, similar to our little tutorial sessions on Earth, Vague’s worst area so far is force projection. He seems really afraid to put some oomph into his spell work, like he is afraid something is going to explode violently if he did.”   Luna nodded as she began writing notes and comparing them to all the diagnostic information she had already started analyzing.   Rarity then picked up where Twilight left off. “In that case, Blaze seems to have somewhat the opposite problem. Her control over her spellcasting seems to be quite lacking. She has plenty of raw magical energy, but it seems to flare out everywhere. I could notice her straining some to keep the large ball moving in a relatively straight line, for example.”   Luna turned a page and wrote some more notes down, as she turned toward Rainbow Dash to hear her assessment.   “Hrm, let’s see,” Rainbow Dash started, as she began thinking of how exactly to register her feelings. “Okay, I think I got it. I think Storm’s big problem right now is that he doesn’t have a good sense of weather conditions. He was getting zapped by those charged lightning-poles pretty often. So I think that’s where I would start with him.”   Luna turned another page and continued writing, turning finally toward Applejack.   “Alright, so where does Hana need the most work, huh?” Applejack thought aloud as she crossed her front legs and ruminated for a few moments. “Ah think her biggest problem is that she don’t quite get how Earth Ponies can endure so long doin’ somethin’. While we have a lot of raw stamina, our magic helps us recover a lot faster than anypony else… that is if ya know how to use it that way. So Ah think learnin’ the basics of Life Magic will get us on the way real good.”   Luna completed her note taking as she saw the clock tick down to about twenty minutes left.     “This should suffice for now… I will consult with my sister and see what the best lesson plan for tomorrow and the days ahead will be. So let’s return to the others outside, shall we?”   ---   The Elements, Conduits, and Spike all gathered in front of the small podium while Luna stood behind, as she addressed the gathering for the last time that day.   “Fillies and Gentlecolts, today was a good day on the start of our long project for discerning the capabilities of not only our new friends in the Conduits of Terra, but the whole of Terran Magic. I will take the information gathered her today and consult with my sister on the best course of action starting tomorrow. Now, while you all rest and recuperate this evening, I would hope you all contemplate how the exercises you all performed will assist you in this first stage of learning how to use your newfound bodies and abilities. With that, I will dispel the Training Field and formally dismiss you all for the evening.”   With that said, the noon-time like environment rapidly degenerated into a pure white field, and eventually back into the somewhat dark basement of the Greystone Conductor, as the Training Field Driver showed a mostly empty indicator, reminding the Conduits of a low battery light. Luna placed the Driver in a case and placed said case on a plain shelf, and nodded briefly, before disappearing in a flash of azure light.   “So, I guess we’re done for the day?” Twilight asked as she saw the tension leave Vague’s face, showing how dead tired he was after everything the last six hours.   “Yeah, we’re good. Just gonna laze on the couch and figure out what we’re going to fix to eat before we shower and go to sleep…” Vague replied as he was already a quarter-way up the stairs.   “Alright then, we’ll see you all tomorrow, and we should all get together for a big group dinner sometimes, okay!” Pinkie Pie replied as she raced past the tired, blue Unicorn up the stairs and out to the ground floor.   “I really don’t know how she does it…” Hana replied, as she silently wondered where Pinkie got all her energy from.     -===-   After the Bearers of Harmony left to return to their homes for the evening and the four Conduits took their post-exercise showers, the Conduits gathered in the living room/lounge of the Greystone Conductor to pass the evening before going to bed.   Blue Vague laid out on a body sized cushion in the recreational room, finally able to start thinking straight now that he was starting to relax. "I don't think I've ever done that much in one day before."   "I would have never guessed that casting could cause that much physical strain, shows you what I know," Red Blaze said, her head still hurting some after the all the mana she had to channel during the Inertia Test.   "My body hasn't been worked like that since Basic Training. Rainbow Dash would make a damn good athletic trainer for Pegasi should that whole Wonderbolt-thing not pan out," Golden Storm said, taking care not to use his wings too much until he got some sleep.   "Applejack had to have gotten inspiration from watching old football dramas for her coaching style. I don’t think I’ve had anyone yell at me that much since I was a toddler…" Midori Hana concluded, as she lounged out on a sofa near where Vague was resting.     Blue Vague began to think about things. "You know, we've only been Ponies for a couple of weeks to a couple of months in my case. I honestly didn't think we'd be this far along. I dunno if you chalk that up to being given the bodies of mature Ponies to start with, or whatever have you."   "You know, it might also have to do with our Terran Sparks. I mean we can't be just like every other run-of-the-mill Pony out here," Golden Storm reasoned.   Vague began to try and put everything in perspective. He was a bit annoyed at first that Luna didn't start teaching them magic right from Day One; though as the exercises went on, it became apparent why she was holding P.E. class before anything else. "I can only shudder when I think of what Luna will have in store for us whenever she decides to teach us Equestrian Magic proper. Apparently, this is only the warm up to that. I won't say that I like having to undergo this physical re-education, but I guess that's necessary when you're, well us."   Everyone thought silently to themselves until Vague thought of a related, but different point. One that might have been drilling further down to the core of what the issue was, in all likelihood.   He began with something that had been rattling in his head since around halfway through the session. "Here is a strange thing that happened to me while I was doing the last couple of runs of the obstacle course - for a time, I stopped thinking to myself with my original name. At first it didn't seem that strange, but as time went on, it kept happening. Now when I stopped at the end of the day, I went right back to doing it. I just wanted to ask you all what you thought that means, because I'm honestly at a bit of a loss."   The other three didn't answer immediately, because all three of them also had the same experience. The intensity of the exercises they were doing seemed to make them start thinking more 'Pony' than 'Human'.   "You know Vague, I was thinking the same thing to myself as well. Honestly, I think I have an good idea of what it could mean..." Midori Hana started, well before she was interrupted   "Us beginning to think of ourselves as Ponies, instead of Humans-in-Pony-Bodies?" Golden Storm asked out loud, he was already starting to think of what this meant going forward.   "Yeah, I mean, this isn't like my own issues. This is more like, we have our old human self on one side of the mirror, and our new Pony self on the other side," Midori Hana said, visibly putting her front hooves up like a person seeing their reflection in a mirror.   "Hrm, it would stand to reason. I don't think we're supposed to think of ourselves as totally converted Ponies or Humans just conveniently stuck in a Pony body. I think we're supposed think along a line you've used with us before, Vague - we just have to think of ourselves as ourselves now," Blaze said, still wondering just what that line actually meant.   Blue Vague himself was still trying to think of what exactly that line meant.   Myself as Myself... I mean, we're obviously Ponies now; but the process didn't erase our Human memories, our human tendencies, our human personalities... It just seemed to overlay everything Pony on top of it... Man, so many things we have to sort out, and who knows how much time we got to sort it all out...   With a rather loud yawn, Hana then got up from her seat on the cushion along the ground and walked off toward the bedrooms. “I dunno about you all, but I’m positively worn out. We may as well get some sleep because there is no telling when Princess Luna is going to show up tomorrow.”   The other three agreed, as they all followed Hana out of the lounge and toward the bedrooms; though Vague stopped for a few moments to think.   Grandpa, I dunno if you heard me before, or if you can still hear me while I'm over here, but I'm honestly confused... Am I just supposed to try and assert my human self over whatever my Pony self is supposed to be? Am I supposed to figure out what my Pony self is and then roll with that? Or am I supposed to formulate a new-self that’s neither one nor the other? I just don't know gramps... I just don't know...   ----------             Meanwhile in Canterlot Castle, the Royal Sisters went over the data Luna collected from the first day of exercises with Conduits of Terra.   "This data is quite interesting, Lulu. What do you suppose it says about your four new students?"   "What do I think it says, Tia?” Luna started to reply, before pausing for a few moments to formulate her words. “I think it says those four, and probably the rest of the Converts, are going to quickly catch up to where an average Pony of their race and relative age should be. At least if they are pushed by circumstances to improve as such. Now whether or not they improve beyond average is left up to the individual. Even our Bearers of Honesty and Loyalty still have quite a ceiling above their heads in both their physical development and their magical prowess."   "So in other words - just how deep is their desire to progress and grow? I think we won't have to worry about that out of the Converts, it's the Natives, if you will, I am concerned about."   Celestia looked out of the tower window, while her sister joined her, staring at the faint yellow moon that slowly drifted on its arc through the heavens.   "It is always hard to say just how deep one’s desire to grow goes. I don't want to call our Ponies complacent, but I do worry if that is starting to set in, in some circles."   "And what would make you think that, Lulu?”   Luna turned around and walked back toward a bookshelf, which was full of various volumes that the sisters found welcome to flip through when they needed a respite from everything that swirled around them in the present time. The indigo Alicorn stopped her slow walk and levitated a large tome that had to have been reprinted and re-preserved several times over. She opened it with her magic in one continuous cast, and simply sighed as she looked at the contents inside.   "Before I was banished, the University was a place of intense development. Our techniques that we use today were refined through a lot of trial and error; and unfortunately, sometimes explosive trial and error. But now, I just don't feel the same spark of inventiveness out of the many schools that have sprung up since then.”   She gently shut the book and placed it back on the shelf where she pulled it from before the turned around and looked at her ‘elder’ sister, with a look that Celestia recognized as her sister having a thousand new ideas bubbling in the witch’s cauldron that was her creative mind.   “I still think there are plenty of places to grow and expand, not in terms of just territory and the other obvious physical things, but more growth as a species. The humans were effectively forced to grow and evolve, or risk death to themselves. Here, we might not be on the verge of collapse, but it is still no good to have our people become complacent and stagnant."   "So what do you suggest?" Celestia asked as she looked on at her ‘younger’ sister inquisitively.   "Quite simple, we merely learn from and adapt to the Converts and those that still remain human. There are many things that humanity has developed that I believe we can learn from and adapt for ourselves, without losing what makes us us, so to speak."   "It seems that you learned one of the lines one of your new students loves to speak from time to time."   "You don't start bringing in foreigners without learning some things yourself; especially if you are bringing them over to stay, like we are. I do believe we'll change for the better though, even if that isn't readily obvious when it starts to happen."   "It seems like we're trying to attack this problem from a pair of angles."   "Ah yes, how are the negotiations proceeding then, ‘Tia?”   Celestia walked toward map outlining the borders of all the major and minor nations of their world, along with approximate locations of the main settlements of the larger roaming tribes. She let out a heavy sigh as she looked at the Gryphons to her north and west, and the Dragons to the south.   "The Gryphon Consulate is about as divided as ever. Apparently the clans that aren't of the King are still all over the place. I don't know how the Gryphon leaders live with being so consistently paranoid."   "You know they'd call it 'being cautious' so I wouldn't worry myself in that regard. On the other front, how are the Dragon Elders treating your requests?"   "The usual: a lot of cryptic language and obfuscation. Then again they are a species where a lot of the population is nomadic, so it would be hard for them to say anything definitive."   "Yes, even with our long lives and accumulated knowledge, we still don't have much reliable first-hand knowledge of the inner workings of Dragon society. Just bits and pieces second-hand from the various nomads that we can get to speak to us. Do you think Spike can help us make inroads in that regard?"   Celestia thought for a few moments, but then shrugged her wings. "Possibly to help us figure out how to even get an audience with the Elders themselves. Past that, I highly doubt it."   "Quite a lot of mysteries floating around, to say nothing of what our allies on Earth are dealing with."   "Yes, many of the self-professed Elite in the Domes are grumbling about not having outright control over the levers of political power. I'm desperately afraid of what might happen if this situation persists and we introduce Magic into their equation."   Luna walked over and placed a wing across the back and shoulders of her older sister and nuzzled her. "’Tia, you know I'm just as concerned as you. I cannot even begin to study Terran Magic until the Conduits understand their Pony bodies, and subsequently become proficient at Equestrian Magic. I do not demand that they accept our philosophy or culture in full, but at the same time, they have to understand and accept what kind of being they are physically. Otherwise, their Terran Magic will come in fits and spurts, which would be no good for any of us."   "I understand that much. We will have to unseal it and just trust things won't be upturned too quickly. If what that robed figure told us a week or so ago bears out, attempting to put this off too long or ignoring it is not a viable option."     =========================     [ November 20, ??? – (Edge of) Ponyville, Equestria ]             The last couple of days proceeded on much like the first, though now each of the Conduits began to practice on specific things that Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack had pointed out at the end of the first day with Luna. But exercise routines have a habit of becoming… routine, so the Lunar Princess took the opportunity to jostle things just a bit.   ---   As the twelve were once again gathered in the pocket dimension that was the Training Field, the eleven not-Princesses were a bit taken aback at how plain everything looked again, wondering what exactly was up. "Well my little Ponies. I do believe that we can formally put an end to the purely physical aspect of our lessons. With that, I would like to first announce that your training sessions will be reduced to three hours instead of six. Mostly because I don’t want to burn you all out, and I should not need more than three hours maximum per day with you all at the rate that you are progressing…"   Everyone breathed a visible and quite audible sigh of relief. The four Terran Ponies for finally being able to move onto Magic Training proper, and the Six Bearers for being able to not feel like they were in school again.   Though no one seemed to notice the rather visible smirk Luna possessed, similar to when she first threw them headfirst into their physical training. "And with that said, we get to move on to the real fun. Applied Magic 101, with yours truly as your Professor."   With that, a sudden sense of dread came over all ten of the Bearers and Conduits with that statement. They knew that Luna was a very inventive mind, and the fact they were against the clock meant that she was probably going to throw the four Conduits into a baptism of fire, and the six Bearers might get caught in that wake.   "Oh don't be scared. My lessons are perfectly safe, even that isn't apparent at first. For example, HEADS UP!" Luna shouted as large stone manifested instantly and was launched straight at Blue Vague.   "WHAT?!" Blue Vague shouted in response as he instinctively manifested a blue shield to try and guard himself against the boulder, which promptly crashed into the barrier and dispersed in a cloud of magic dust.   "Ok, seriously, what the hell was that Princess?!" he shouted, forgetting all manner of decorum in his rage as the shield remained around his body.   "I will forgive your sudden lack of decorum for your Princess and Professor, and only ask you to notice what is surrounding you," Luna responded with almost dissonant calm.   Blue Vague finally saw that the shield that surrounded him was not of Luna's usual cobalt blue aura, but of his royal blue aura. "Woah wait, how did I even... huh?"   "Lesson One: Magic borne of pure instinct is incredibly powerful, but also incredibly unreliable. My goal is to take your burgeoning instincts in your various schools of Magic, and have you consciously link and invoke them. Also of note, had you, Conduit of Water, not been able to produce the Reflex Shield, the boulder would have crumbled to dust on impact anyway, with little to no damage to yourself physically. That was simply a test of magical reflexes, if you will."   Blue Vague had managed to calm down as the shield dispersed on its own. "I see, I guess it wouldn't do any good to ask for a warning if you intended it to be a reflex test."   "Indeed not. So let us move on to the real lesson for today: each of the four Conduits of Terra will train in a specific aspect of their magic until I feel that they are all proficient in it. Bearers of Harmony – while this may feel like remedial classes to you all, I would hope that you all pay attention regardless. Perhaps taking a second or third look at things will allow you to find a hidden insight that you may be overlooking in your early adulthood.”   And with that said, the Training Field began to morph into quartered sections, each distinct in color and training apparatuses.   ---   The first looked like a baseball field, although it stretched for a good five-hundred Earth meters from the throwing zone at where home plate would have been. "Alright, Twilight and Spike, you all will be overseeing Blue Vague as he practices his force projection. The test will be similar to the one you did on earth, except I prefer to work with spheres instead of cubes. That said… your goal is to throw the sphere generated for you, onto the target out in the field. The display to your right will show you how close you were once the sphere strikes the ground the first time. The field will also return each sphere here to the throwing zone, once it rests on the ground for 10 seconds. I want you to remember, Conduit of Water, this is not merely a test of pure magical force, as the target can be anywhere within the marked field. This is also to test how well you can judge how much force to apply to an object, in a macro-sense."   Blue Vague looked at the spheres; they seemed to be about the same size as softballs.   ---   Luna then teleported to the second test field with the other two Unicorns. There were floating rings of all various sizes, along with several objects along the ground. "Rarity, I will have you overseeing Red Blaze and her practice in magical control. The premise of this exercise is relatively simple. Red Blaze is to levitate these drones through the floating rings in front of her in the order indicate by the number floating above each ring. All you have to do, Bearer of Generosity, is press the button next to you when she is ready to begin; this will start a timer on each ring on how fast she is to levitate the drone through it. If the drone successfully passes through the ring within the allotted time, the black number will glow green. If you go out of order, take too long to pass through, or clip the ring, the number will glow red. This is to test your magical control and flow in free space, and how quickly you can adjust to changing conditions while maintaining said control and flow."   Red Blaze looked at the insect-like drones and somewhat ornate floating rings, wondering just what kind of strange layouts Luna had 'programmed' into the rings   ---   Luna then manifested on a cloud-platform above the three ground-based testing areas, where the three Pegasi stood waiting. "Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, you all will oversee Golden Storm's practice in cloud formation and rain generation. Not to get too far into the reeds, but all Pegasi have the ability to condense water vapor and what is known as 'cloud-stuff' into various storm clouds. Your test is to make increasingly larger storm clouds using the same amount of base cloud-stuff. This means you will have to use more and more of your Weather Magic in order to have the cloud remain contiguous before it reaches critical mass, when rain can then be actively triggered. As you can see, this basin will vaporize varying amounts of water, and if you look above, I have already seed clouds in place. We will measure how long it takes for you to condense all the given water vapor into a storm cloud, and return that vapor back to the basin as rain. Just so that it is easier for you to see what water you are working with, the vapor will appear slightly darker than it otherwise would."   Golden Storm looked at the massive basin, partially filled dark blue water, and wondered just what sized clouds he'd have to form.   ---   To round out the explanations, Luna then went to a large field with several planting rows. "Applejack and Pinkie Pie, you all will oversee Midori Hana as she practices accelerating plant growth. While plants and animals grow perfectly well on their own here in this realm, a major component of Life Magic's repertoire is to accelerate or decelerate growth and repair in living organisms. To wit, your objective with this test is to bring these plants to bloom and/or fruiting stage. Since this is a Training Field, the seeds, once planted, will immediately grow to near-blooming or fruiting stage of their life cycle. This is something quite difficult to replicate in real-world conditions, therefore many Life Magic theories are developed in this space or by similar methods."   Midori Hana looked at the planting rows and within herself, trying to figure out how Earth Ponies even began doing what Luna said they did.   Confident she had explained all of the exercises sufficiently, Luna returned to her ‘office’ in the center of the Field, as to oversee and record all of the practice for the now three hour session.   ----- -----             Blue Vague went over in his mind the parameters of the test. He was to simply use his magic to launch each softball-like object towards the glowing target and hope it landed close enough to count. So, he began doing just that.   "Hrm, this test seems easy enough to start. These balls are about the same weight as the softballs we were tossing back behind the Isegawa’s Clinic. Wonder what’d happen if a certain green Earth Pony decided to toss a certain gold-yellow Pegasus in with those balls?" Blue Vague said as he launched another ball for a square hit.   Twilight chuckled a bit at the idea of two Unicorns juggling live Ponies. "Yeah, I think Luna designed this stage of the test for you could to adjust to how much power you need to launch the balls, along with the fact there is almost no wind to affect the flight path. But I can't think it would be this 'easy' for much longer."   Vague was 15 for 15 so far, and like Twilight, felt there was some kind of twist coming. They'd both be correct in that prediction.   "Well I..." he began to say before yelping as he almost toppled over trying to lift one of the balls with too little initial magic. They had 'mysteriously' become quite dense and heavy, and at the same time he was feeling changing wind speeds in the air. "Ugh, suddenly these balls went from feeling like they were stuffed with rubber foam to feeling like they were formed of molten lead. Not only that, but even as a Unicorn I can feel the wind having changed here."   Twilight tested one of the balls still in the throwing zone, and indeed found the balls seemed to be of random weights now.   I figured there was more to this than Princess Luna was letting on... she immediately thought.   ----- -----             Red Blaze was having similar initial success with the flight path test. The patterns were simple enough to visualize in her head and the drones didn't show any real resistance to her magic.   "You know Rarity, I can't think that this test would remain so simple for too much longer. They way Princess Luna was speaking was that she believes heavily in resistance training of all kinds," Red Blaze said, thinking out loud as another trial came back with a perfect score.   "Indeed Blaze. I would not be surprised if these rings have some tricks to make passing through them more difficult going forward," Rarity responded as the drone returned and the rings began to reset.   No sooner than when Rarity said that, the next path did show that the rings had some pretty devious tricks in store. Some of the rings started spinning in place; others were moving all about in some kind of orbit around an invisible point, while others seemed to change their shape to be a rather tight fit. She too felt the winds change, although in her case, they began to swirl about in random fashion.   "Well I really shouldn't be surprised by this, but still I am. Apparently that was just the warm up to the real test," Blaze said as she sighed heavily. This was going to be quite a trial going forward.   You just need to stay calm Blaze, I can see now Luna isn't going to let you get off without testing your patience, in more ways than one... Rarity thought to herself as she could already hear the buzzes and see the red numbers pop up.   ----- -----             Golden Storm found rain-cloud making to be a rather neat venture. As far as he could tell, Pegasi were like conductors of the various gases in the sky, and he was developing the sense that he could tell a cloud to form wherever he wanted to.   "You know, this is pretty fun. It's kinda funny that I can make a cloud rain just by hitting it hard enough once it turns dark gray."   Rainbow Dash agreed about how fun it was to be able to manipulate clouds to one's heart's content. "You know, a lot of Pegasi pranks depend on cloud manipulation. I know this one Pegasus mare who always seems to be able to generate lightning out of nowhere. Sometimes I wonder if she knows more than she's letting on."   Fluttershy was a lot more practical about her use of clouds. "I really don't think pranks are worth it sometimes. I mostly just use clouds for a little shade or some extra fresh water for my animals."   Rainbow Dash merely responded by humphing audibly, showing how annoyed she was at how small Fluttershy seemed to think sometimes.   Golden Storm went on with his cloud formation, when he was surprised by almost slipping straight through the cloud he was working on, as it seemed to be breaking up on its own. "Woah, what's going on? Is there some kind of trick to cloud walking that I'm not getting, because I almost fell through the cloud I was working on here. I don't think I should be falling through clouds that are this much bigger than me."   Rainbow Dash closed her eyes for a few seconds, and figured out what the problem was. "Yeah I see why you almost fell, apparently there is some wind shear coming through where you are supposed to form the clouds for each trial. Not only that, but I don't think you have your cloud-stuff spread out right for the size of cloud you're makin'."   Golden Storm just chuckled as he righted himself on a more stable part of the cloud. "Well it wouldn't be a real trial if there wasn't some twists and turns. I just hope it doesn't get worse than this."   Judging by the stories about Princess Luna back at the University, I think there are gonna be a lot of twists and turns in these lessons. I just hope everyone will be alright in the end... Fluttershy thought to herself.   ----- -----             Midori Hana just sat as she was trying to figure out the best way to invoke her Life Magic. She was staring at a near-fruiting tomato plant - Luna figuring those would be the simplest to learn how to manipulate first. "Hrm, the Earth Ponies back at the St. Louis Bureau usually sang to the plants to help them grow. But I don't have the slightest clue of what to sing to them."   Applejack sat with her looking at the plant as well. The Apple Clan methodology of farming really didn't rely on a lot of direct manipulation of the plants to get them to grow, mostly just adjustments throughout the growing season so that they produced an overabundance of fruit; instead of just getting the trees to grow faster, which would have been exhausting and impractical given just how expansive a typical Apple Clan orchard was.   Pinkie Pie stared at the tomato plant as well, trying to figure out if she could figure out something about the tomato that could be a hint to Midori. Although she had little experience in making plants grow, and she really did not like reliving her humorless upbringing on the Pie Clan Rock Farms, nevertheless she was going to help her new friend in her lessons as best she could.   Pinkie Pie then suddenly had a flash of insight. " I was just thinking... what if each plant had its own like... wavelength or something. Like if you channeled magic into it, but changed it to whatever the plant liked, then it would spike the growth up."   Midori Hana thought about it for a few seconds, and figured it was like special formulas of fertilizer and the different soil conditions that optimized the growth of each plant. So it should logically go that a specific application of Life Magic would do the same thing, just a whole lot faster. "Alright then, that should work... whenever I figure out what each plant wants..."   Applejack then took a deep breath. She knew the suggestion she was about to make would sound absolutely insane to any human or Convert who didn't experience it first-hand. "Just try asking it."   "What?" Midori Hana asked incredulously.   "Ya heard me. Some plants here are a lot more complicated than others. One of the worst are the Zap Apples that Granny grow. But anyway, just try it. Ah think you'll see what Ah'm getting at," Applejack replied with all earnestness.   Midori Hana figured that look in Applejack's eyes and her status as Bearer of Honesty meant that she was at least not outright lying to her. But still, asking a plant what kind of magic it wanted, it sounded totally crazy. But she was as at a loss as what else to do, so might as well try it. "Ok then, but if I don't get a response, I'm totally blaming you."   Midori Hana then closed her eyes to concentrate. She found herself in a sort of ethereal dreamscape; everything looking like it was in chalk outlines on a blackboard in some respect.   ---   I am really not going to get used to this for awhile... she thought to herself   She sat in front of the tomato plant again, and figured there was no real reason to beat around the bush.   "Ok, um, tomato plant? Could you tell me what kind of magic you want?"   The tomato plant did not respond.   "Ugh I figured this really wouldn't work..." Midori Hana said aloud as she rolled her eyes. As she made to leave the dreamscape, she bumped into some written characters.   "OWW! Ok how do I even get hurt... wait a minute..." Hana said before realizing there were words in front of her.   [ We would like to hear jazz music. We kinda like jazz. ]   "Um, I don't have anything to play music with, and I'm really not that much of a singer," Hana replied aloud.   She began to think of if there was another way to get the plant to respond her magic in a way that was more concrete. She then had a flash of inspiration - if she thought of Life Magic like light, maybe the plant had a favorite color or pattern or something.   "Hey tomato, do you have a favorite color. I might not be much a singer but I think that would be a way for me to get the magic you want to you."   She got no response from the plant for a while, until she saw another chalk message appear in the background.   [ We like the color purple. So if you shine purple magic on us, that'll do just fine. ]   "Eh? A red fruit that likes the color purple? Oh well I'm not going to argue," she responded aloud again. "Is there anything else that you'd like along those lines?"   The tomato responded more readily this time. [ No, just regular purple magic-light should work. Also, you're one of the first Earth Ponies our kind has met in some time, that didn't think to apply their magic or whatever by singing. It just seems to be the thing you creatures do, we guess. ]   Midori Hana didn't know whether to be complimented on the ingenuity, or to be freaked out that a tomato gave her such a complex response. She thanked the plant and left the meditative dreamscape.   ---   Pinkie Pie was keenly interested in what the plant had to say once it was apparent that Hana was awake again. "Alright Hana, so you're back with us. Did you get it to say anything?"   "Well, it didn't so much talk so much as it wrote on a chalkboard, that somehow I was a part of... I'm still trying to figure out how that works but that's neither here nor there right now. Anyway, I learned two things, if I want to sing to it, I need to learn jazz. Short of that, if somehow I can make my Life Magic appear 'purple' to it, then it'll work just the same," Midori Hana responded.   "Well Ah don't have a saxophone with me, so Ah guess we'll have to go with the second option," Applejack said, figuring it was as good a lead as any.   ---   Midori Hana then entered another meditative state. This time she appeared before the same plant in a more standard environment. She looked around for some kind of lamp or other light source, and found a console with three dials. Each was marked with a different primary color of light: Red, Blue, and Green.   Hrm, since all these dials are set to maximum, I guess the light should come out totally white when I turn it on...   When she flicked the switch, it indeed came out completely white. She didn't notice a response for a little bit, until she looked at ticker at the top of the console.   [Can you make it purple like we asked, we find white pretty boring...]   Alright then, here goes nothing I guess...   As she turned the green dial completely to zero, she figured a standard violet would be good enough to start with, so she turned the red dial halfway down as well.   [A little more bluish, and you'll have it...]   Okay then...   She turned the red dial down a little more, and suddenly heard a little fanfare.   [That's perfect, just keep producing that, and we'll get you full grown tomatoes in no time!]     Well I'm glad to see it’s happy, or would it be they’re happy, I dunno...   -----   As Hana came out of her meditative state again, Pinkie Pie was smiling brightly. "Hey look, you did it. These tomatoes look yummy. I wonder if you can actually eat tomatoes grown in here?"   "Wow... I can't believe that worked. If I told anyone how I did this, they'd think I took a few blows to the head too many," Midori Hana said, staring at how nice and ripe the tomatoes looked.   Applejack noted Hana's sentiments. "Yeah, that's why the Earth Pony instructors are pretty vague about how to grow things through Life Magic. It's so strange at first blush, most humans would find it too hard to accept without doin’ it themselves."   ----- -----   Luna was observing things from her central position, a smile on her face regarding how the four Terrans were starting to get a handle on things; even if they weren't exactly successful at their trials on the first, second, or even tenth go-around.   "Practice makes perfect, that's true of any skill that has to be developed. You all are learning that the Magic we wield is not a simple thing to learn, but learn it you all must."   Ugh, these balls, for as heavy as they are, sure are easily affected by this wind... and now I gotta hit a moving target...   Ok, the ring actually seems to be trying to avoid the drone now. These things must have minds of their own or something...   I feel like I'm trying to build a house of cards in a wind tunnel... but I'll be damned if I let this thing beat me...   These flowers’ handwriting is terrible... how am I even supposed to read these requests?   ----- -----             At the end of the days training session, the four Terran Ponies, while not as physically tired as they were during the physical training, seemed mentally exhausted and visibly annoyed by the trials they were all given.   "Ok, Princess Luna, the swirling winds, the variable weights..." Blue Vague started to ask, like a golfer who couldn't figure out the conditions.   "The rings seeming to have minds of their own and actively avoiding where the drone is flying..." Red Blaze added, head still spinning a bit from trying to follow the drone.   "The wind shear seeming to know exactly where the weak points of the cloud formation are..." Golden Storm added, almost wondering if there was some invisible thing that was specifically out to ruin his clouds during his trial.   "Those flowers at the end apparently confusing calligraphy with 'artistic scribbling'..." Midori Hana added, clearly annoyed to hell by the decorative flowers that seemed to be more interested in being artistic in their writing than being legible.   "What's up with that, seriously?!" they all asked with some emphasis and in unison.   Luna quietly drank from the bottle of water she had in her telekinesis as she took the complaints and queries in stride. She then gave her response. "Quite frankly, you should have expected as much..."   All ten of the Ponies and Spike were taken aback a bit by the response.   Luna then continued. "I'm effectively giving you four a cram course in how to be a Pony. That is why the trials accelerated in difficulty as far as they did in this first day. If I can give one bit of advice in completing these trials, and what I will set before you in the future - try and take a holistic approach in examining what is set before you. There is no difference between you four, and Ponies I had to take in fresh out of basic courses back in my days of running the University.   “They had a similar lack of perspective because, before that point, they just focused on the one thing they knew they were good at. To be a scholar, to truly excel regardless of what racial Magic you have, is to learn that what you are good at is only a piece of the much greater whole of Magic, and of Life itself. It is your job to find the other pieces to this grand puzzle. Bearers of Harmony, as this experiment continues to march through time, it would be best if you all remembered that admonition as well."   With that, Luna returned to Canterlot for the evening. The ten Bearers and Conduits were left to contemplate the last lines she left with, how their specialty was only a piece of a larger whole.   ==========             As all ten of the Conduits and Bearers wound down before going to bed for the evening, they all took some time to contemplate further just what that line Luna left them with meant for each of them.   I'm the Element of Magic… my Cutie Mark is being good at Magic in general. I wonder what she meant... Twilight thought.   She looked out over her balcony at the town. She saw all the different shops, all the different Ponies, most of them non-Unicorns. Everyone had a talent, but most seemed to have something else they branched off in. She then thought of the Princesses - Celestia probably got her Cutie Mark when she realized she was the Avatar of the Sun, and Luna the same she realized she was the Avatar of the Moon. But their magic was far, far more expansive than just sun or moon-related spells. As she thought about this further, Twilight began to come to some realizations.   Is that why you created the University at first, so long ago Luna? You knew that Ponies had to be learned and proficient in things beyond their specific talent. I guess I'm no different; even if my talent is in magic in general, there is far more that I can do that doesn't have to deal directly with my Unicorn Magic...   -----             Rarity walked around the work area of her shop. She saw the various machines she bought with her money as her business grew from a small shop selling amateur hoof-woven works, to now an increasingly efficient and professional enterprise. Yet something persistently bothered her. She took out an old book of generic Unicorn spells, 1001 Spells Every Unicorn Should Know. As a teenager, she would try and try and practice any and all spells, but it seemed like she always had some kind of block that made it hard for her to use magic that others developed for herself.   Maybe this is what Luna meant when she said what she did. My Gem Locator spell and the weaving and machine-working spells I've learned have gotten me this far. But even then, I know there is more out there I can learn. So why am I still having this mental block when it comes to learning other Ponies' spells?   The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. How could she not figure these things out, why did she have to consult some outside source? Everything she had ever done she done and developed herself or learned on her own. That's when she began to realize what was holding her back.   I guess that's the reason why I always freeze when I use somepony else’s Magic - my own pride. I'm so caught up in doing everything myself, I won't even go and ask for help from a good friend whose talent is magic itself, for goodness sakes. I guess I know who I need to go talk to if I want to start getting past this...   -----             Pinkie Pie lay in her bed at Sugarcube Corner. She stared at the walls and ceiling, wondering just what about what Luna said to them all, that made her all of sudden get so introspective this evening.   I'm a party pony... that's what I'm good at. But I'm also the Element of Laughter, so that means I'm good at making other Ponies laugh and stuff. But what if the way I throw parties now don't make them laugh and have a good time...   She thought back to the reason why she held herself back while at the Los Angeles Bureau and the Isegawa's dormitories. She didn't want the humans to be put off by the way she thought to throw parties, and make Ponies and people laugh. As she turned over in her bed in thought, she too began to put two and two together.   Everyone doesn't laugh at the same thing. Everyone doesn't want to have a party in the same way. If I keep thinking I can just do the same thing all the time, I'm gonna get left behind, and they're gonna find me stale. And I can't have that, now can I?   -----             Applejack looked out at the farm, as most of the apple trees had shed their leaves for the year. She thought about what the admonition about maintaining a global perspective would mean for her.   The Apple Clan has always grown apples; it's just what we do. But that's not all that we are able to do though. There is nothing about being an apple farmer that makes it so that Ah couldn't grow anything else for myself, or learn other trades or skills. So what is it that's makes me so nervous when Ah think that way?   As she thought about it, she then thought of Apple Bloom and her knack for repairs and refurbishing seemingly anything. She stared at the Cutie Mark Crusaders impressive tree-house. Apple Bloom did an amazing job of repairing it, yet her (apparently) hereditary stubbornness, oddly combined with childish impatience meant that she never sticked to any one thing long enough to develop it, because she wanted so badly to try everything to find her Cutie Mark in an instant.   Apple Bloom is an excellent repair-mare, yet she's so hard up about tryin’ all kinds of stuff to find her Cutie Mark, she won't stop and just try and do something she's obviously good at; really all the Cutie Mark Crusaders are like that. Maybe I'm the same way in a sense. Ah'm throwin’ myself so deep into this apple orchard that Ah lose perspective; apple farmin ain’t the end all and be all of everything. Maybe... maybe I'm afraid that if Ah find something else that Ah like to do, Ah'll forget about this place...   -----             As Fluttershy looked out at the Everfree Forest, she contemplated her desire to help those animals she found near death whenever she could, just like those butterflies that saved her from a terminal impact with the ground that day of Rainbow Dash's first Sonic Rainboom. As she looked out further, she thought about all the animals she couldn't get to, and how that related to all the animals the Conservation Movement couldn't get to on Earth.   There are so many animals out there that I can't help, and it makes me so sad... sometimes I wonder if I should keep going on with this. How many can I really save? Am I doing the right thing by saving them? I... I just don't know...   She walked to a window that overlooked some of the pens and enclosures. Even though she was a Pegasus, still had a sense for how the animals felt; she figured she had a strong Earth Pony link from somewhere in her ancestry. She opened the window to read the winds, and they felt calm; almost as if the animals wanted to calm her and let her know they appreciated everything she did for them. She then noticed one of the leftover brochures from the Conversion Bureaus. She thought of the humans that had already gone through the process, the broken souls that, while not completely repaired by Ponification, seemed rejuvenated nonetheless.   That's right... even if I can't personally help every single animal in the world that needs help, I can still do what I can. Even if I can't heal the hearts of every single human on Earth, I still have to do what I can. That is what I believe it means to be the Element of Kindness, and I'm definitely going to live up to that title.   -----             Rainbow Dash looked up at the wall at her limited edition Wonderbolts poster. She still harbored the dream of one day seeing herself on an edition of those posters in their uniform. Yet the more she thought about it, the more it seemed there was something even bigger she wanted to reach for.   My whole life has been wanting to be part of the Wonderbolts. That's what I wanted ever since I was a little filly going to my first flight camp. But now that I've seen a whole other world, and now that I'm working with Golden Storm and Fluttershy so closely... it seems like this dream to join the Wonderbolts, it just seems... small all of sudden...   She flew up to the top of her house-tower, and sat on the dome at the top. She looked out the Equestrian night sky, Luna's Moon glimmering like a spotlight’s reflection in a sea of indigo. She then looked out at Ponyville, over on the edge of the Everfree where Fluttershy lived in her cottage. She looked at the opposite edge, where Sweet Apple Acres was and Applejack's barn. She looked in town, and although she couldn't see them directly, she thought about Pinkie, Rarity, and Twilight's residences and places of business. She then thought about the new house heading south out of town. The four Conduits of Terra had integrated so far into their group, it was like they were a big batch of ten instead of just four and six always together.   I have all of my friends, including the four from Earth. Even if they weren't the holders of that mysterious Magic, we'd still be good buds, I'm sure of that. I have this great town of Ponyville that's become my second home. Even if I was born in Cloudsdale, I love this place too much to just leave it behind. I have all of Equestria, I'd do anything that the Princesses tell me to do, because I have too much loyalty and respect not to ignore them. And there is Earth too. Even if we're only seven months or whatever into this thing, I can feel a bond forming there too. There are so many I wanna help now, there are so many I've become friends with. That voice always talks about the New Age, well... I gotta see it through; the Wonderbolts are gonna have to wait until we forge that New Age, whatever it ends up being.   -----             The four Terran Conduits had some more immediate concerns, but Luna's admonition to see the larger picture made them stop and consider their individual trials from a larger perspective.     Man, I never thought that Equestrian Magic was this hard... I mean the premise sounds so simple, throw the ball onto the target. But then everything starts changing, the balls start changing weights, the wind starts swirling, heck, even the target starts moving... it's like... it's like... Oh man why didn't I notice this earlier, it's just like water... I have to always adapt to circumstances, just like how water always takes the shape of its container... and I have to read the lay and conditions so the water flows the way I want it to, instead of just throwing it out there and hoping I get a chance to correct it with a later attempt...     Ugh, those rings are so damn random... I mean some of them were spinning, others were moving, still others seemed like they wanted to shrink whenever I got the drone close to it... and then some of the paths don't have any rhyme or reason to it... just like... just like how fire seems to have a mind of its own... Wow, leave it to something that's centuries old to bury the lesson really damn deep in the reeds... I've got to maintain my control over fire, otherwise it's just going to start doing what it wants to, and that means consuming anything it can...     Ugh, stupid clouds and wind shear... I really, really think that those winds are out to get me... every time when I think I got it just how I want it, something happens for my clouds to get blown apart... ugh why is this so hard to do... why... why... wait, why am I even trying to fight the winds in the first place... and why do I keep getting surprised by it... I get so much tunnel vision just trying to jam the clouds together, I'm not even paying attention to how I do it... How am I supposed to control and master the winds and the weather, if I'm just trying to brute force everything?  I don't, that's what... I have to flow with the winds when I make my clouds...     I don't get it, that first plant was pretty nice, and was clear when it wrote what it wanted... but those roses almost seemed to be mocking me or something when it wrote in that, whatever that was... I dunno what to think about it honestly... If I don't understand what these things are telling me, so to speak, how am I supposed to help them grow?  I got to be able to read them, I have to figure it out... Maybe I'm not asserting myself when I ask them what they want from me... I have to be just like the earth... I have to be solid and steadfast in my questioning, but also supportive and nurturing... that should be the best way to get a proper response out of them...     They had all in a roundabout way come to the same conclusion - if they were to truly progress in their learning of Equestrian Magic, they would have to try and perceive the larger scope of the test and the applications of the potential lessons. Similar to a three-dimensional puzzle, if they did not consider all the potential angles for solving a problem, they'd be severely limiting themselves in terms of potential solutions, if not outright closing themselves off from one.     ----- ----- ----               Over in Canterlot Castle, the two Princesses once again discussed the data Luna collected in her observations of the four Terran Conduits.   "They are progressing quite well, although did you really have to pull your 'Unwinnable Training' trick with them, Lulu?"   "You mean our 'Unwinnable Training' trick. I needed to see how they all reacted to a roadblock. The scenarios I put before them are certainly passable, but not with their current mentality. Then again, they are forgiven for that since they've only been under my wings learning magic for a day."   "I'd assume you gave all of them a bit of the 'New Student Perspective' speech as well?"   "That goes part and parcel with the little trick. Exercises work best when one isn't allowed to become complacent and automatic during their execution. Our magic is invoked by will; if they stop thinking while they do it, then they are just acting like machines."   "That is indeed true, and they will need very strong wills to control the power still residing within them, in both respects."   "I have a good feeling about those four, though. The fact they thought to confront me about how the tests were constantly changing, meant they were still focusing on passing them, and were noticing how the conditions always seemed to change to make the test increasingly more difficult."   "What about the Six Bearers of Harmony. Do you believe there are things that they should learn under you as well?"   "Eventually, but right now we have to get the four Conduits of Terra up to their level as quickly as we can. I did, however, ask them to consider a few things during this period. I want them to keep a wider perspective, to not limit their thinking to just their particular talents and how they used them until now, and to always consider new perspectives on life, especially as we continue to absorb bits and pieces of the human population."   "Speaking of wider concerns, I'm still not having much luck with either the Gryphons or the Dragons." "Just keep at it ‘Tia, something will open up for us on those fronts. I can't say for certain where or when, but I just believe it will."