“That’s good Annie, just breathe and concentrate,” said Twilight.
Annie did as her mentor instructed. Her horn was alight with light-green mana as a sphere of the same colored magical energy floated before her, its form somewhat wobbly as Anthea attempted to smooth out the orb. If she was straining, the young mare didn’t show any signs that she was. To her right was Nighty, the periwinkle unicorn colt was definitely showing some signs of strain. His brow was furrowed as sweat dripped down his face, his horn glowing light-blue as his orb struggled to actually become one. Twilight was surprised that he was having a little trouble with this particular spell training, even if he showed great magical prowess like Annie, he was still a colt and his mana reserves weren’t as developed yet as Annie’s.
Currently the three were in Twilight’s old observatory tower, which had been converted into a training and studying area for those whom the High Princess of Friendship taught personally, which meant that it was mostly used by her, Nighty, and Anthea.
Twilight watched as Annie’s orb began to rise up, climbing higher and higher into the air. When it reached a certain point, the orb burst open, creating a mock nebula of stars. Fireworks-like explosions went off as the image of a dove appeared; formed by the light-green mana Annie then ceased the flow of magic, allowing the display to dissipate at a steady pace before it completely vanished from sight. Twilight clopped her hooves to together as she beamed at unicorn mare.
“That was great Anthea! You’re really showing improvement!” Twilight praised.
Annie blushed a little from hearing the Princesses’ words, she had received such praise before, but it never seemed to lose its effect on Annie every time she heard High Princess Twilight say it. “Thank you, Princess.”
Twilight couldn’t help but blush back, she had many a time said those exact words to Celestia when she was her student, and now she was hearing those same words directed at her. It was nostalgic and at the same time a little weird being on the other end of it. The alicorn mare shook her head lightly to break herself out of the reverie she was about to slip into, refocusing her attention onto her son, seeing as he was still struggling a little with the spell.
The object of the training was to practice illusion spells, Twilight had been given a crash course in this field, more thoroughly, by Trixie. Of course the showmare didn’t teach Twilight everything, to do so would ruin her magic shows and loose her audience and income. But, thankfully, Twilight was able to delve more after Trixie pointed her in the right direction. The spell itself called for creating a kind of image, something dazzling. Annie had just shown her ability by adding sound to her illusion image, something that Twilight wasn’t expecting since it took a little more effort to manipulate sound waves and weave them into the illusion spell as well.
Nighty’s orb had become a little stable, but it still bubbled, with some parts of it slipping up in globs. It was starting to remind Twilight of the old “lava lamps” that were popular during the “Disco Era”, Cheerilee having an extensive collection hidden away from prying eyes, at least until Twilight happened to stumble upon it one day while visiting.
“Ugh, I-I just can’t get it to stay still!” Nighty groaned in frustration.
Twilight was about to go to her son’s side to help, but Annie beat her to the punch. “You’re thinking too hard Nighty. Thinking is only part of it; you have to feel the magic give it form and shape.”
“I am feeling it, but it still won’t hold still!”
Annie smiled and moved closer to Nighty. “Stop the flow of magic for a second,” Annie could tell that Nighty was giving her a confused look even if she couldn’t see it, “trust me.”
Nighty looked to his mother who nodded in return. With a sigh, and an irritated grumble for having to start all over again, the unicorn colt stopped the spell, his horn losing its magical aura.
“So…now what?” asked Nighty.
“Shhh.” Annie placed her hoof on Nighty’s mouth.
“Miss Annie, that’s my nose.”
Anthea now moved her hoof lower to place it on his mouth. “Now, put your hoof over your heart.”
With a reluctant sigh, Nighty did as Annie instructed. The unicorn colt looked to his mother again, wondering if she was going to chime in and say something. But, strangely enough, she sat there and watched, her face scrunching up into that noticeable expression whenever she was thinking hard or observing something interesting and analyzing it as it happened. Basically, he was the guinea pig. Thanks a lot Mom.
“Now close your eyes, and focus on the beat of your heart.” Annie instructed.
Nighty did as she said and closed his eyes. His world blackened, Nighty was able to feel the thrum of his heartbeat against his hoof, but not just the steady rhythm of its beating, but the sound echoing within him.
“Do you feel your heartbeat? Can you hear it?”
“Yes.”
“Good, we’re halfway there,” said Annie cheerfully, “next, I want you to focus your magic – don’t cast any spells – just light your horn for now.”
The purple unicorn colt lit his horn as instructed, letting his magic ignite around it. Nighty felt that it was different this time for some reason, he felt a steady pulse coming from the magic that was much akin to his heartbeat, there was even a subtle sound. Although it was less of a pounding thump like his flesh and blood heart, and more like a tone of music.
“Now, what do you feel, what do hear?”
“My…My magic’s pulse, I guess? And there’s also a sound, like a choir or something.”
“Good. You see Nighty magic isn’t just power, or just a tool. It’s alive, look at the Everfree Forest, its magic is alive, and it shows in the things that live and grow in it. It’s almost the same thing, if you push against it, it will push back, but if you let it flow naturally, you’ll find that it will respond in kind.”
“But…I don’t understand how this will help with the spell?”
“Match the chorus with the sound of your heartbeat; keep trying to match them together until the two are indistinguishable from each other. I know you can do it Nighty.”
Nighty didn’t open his eyes; instead he followed Annie’s instructions. He listened carefully for the rhythm of his heart, and the song of the magic. The two of them sounded so different, yet, as the seconds rolled by, the two sounds were starting to converge. What Nighty didn’t know was that his mother, Twilight, and Annie both had their horns glowing. By no means were they aiding him, that wasn’t the reason for their glowing horns. They wanted to sense what was going on with Nighty’s magic, and Twilight could sense that her son’s magic was definitely starting to harmonize.
Soon, Nighty felt the two merge together, it was uncanny, and this feeling was certainly different from the other times he had connected to his magic. It was as if the magic and Nighty were one and the same. Emboldened by this newfound confidence and energy, Nighty recast the spell. Opening his eyes, the colt saw that the orb of his light-blue mana was stable, becoming a perfect sphere. He then launched it into the air, when it reached a certain height, the orb burst open. Creating…
“Starburst…” Twilight whispered.
Much to the surprise of Twilight, Annie and even Nighty himself, the orb had created the silhouette of young pegasus mare with large, intimidating wings. She stood tall and proud, surrounded by stardust and bursting supernovas, showing both the beauty and intensity that was his big sister. Nighty quickly ceased the spell before the embarrassment of having conjured the image, as well as the guilt for showing that to his mother, got to him.
Annie watched Twilight, thinking that seeing that might make her mentor sad. But Twilight seemed fine, in fact, she smiled and walked over to Nighty. When she sat before him, Nighty lightly shrank away, feeling like had done something wrong.
“I…I’m sorry Mom! I-I didn’t even know it was going to come out like that! I don’t know why it looked like Star –!” Nighty clamped his hooves around his mouth before he could make the situation worse.
Twilight, however, shook her head as she continued to smile at her son. “Nighty you have nothing to be sorry for nor do you have to feel ashamed that it appeared like that. I think it’s wonderful, and you did such a great job! I’m proud of you!”
Nighty soon found himself brought into a wing embrace, bringing him closer to his mother’s chest as she hugged him.
“I think it’s time we wrapped this up for today, we’ve been practicing for over two hours and I don’t want you to tire yourself out.” Twilight then looked to Annie. “And I certainly don’t want you losing your sight for hours while your mana reserves regenerate.”
The two unicorns agreed to their teacher’s decision and the three set out to help clean up the room before going on about their day.
Anthea was staying the weekend in Canterlot, usually Twilight would come down to Ponyville to give Annie her magic lessons, but Annie decided she wanted to come to Twilight instead. With everything that was going on, she thought she’d make the extra effort and go to her. Canterlot was still in the midst of winter, like most of Equestria. There was still another month of winter left to go after the current one, and soon after that it would be spring time and Winter Wrap Up would start.
Currently, Annie and Twilight were still in the observatory, having had some tea and pastries brought up to them as they sat and enjoyed themselves. They sat near a window for the view, well, Twilight did, normally Annie, even in her semi-blind state, could still make out the shapes and colors of the city below. But as it stood, all she could see was a vast ocean of white nothingness. She may’ve liked to play in the snow, but it still didn’t make it any less annoying. It was one of the reasons why she liked spring time more, the snow was gone and nature itself woke up rejuvenated and vibrant.
“Annie,” the mare in question brought her attention to her mentor, “you taught Nighty one of the first steps in Harmonics.”
Annie rubbed the back of her head nervously, “Yeah…sorry, I thought it would help him connect better with his magic…I didn’t know he’d create…well…”
“Uh-uh, don’t apologize. It’s actually great that you learned it, and now Nighty has too! Although…I’m probably going to have to teach him how get better control of his emotions when using Harmonics, he’s just a colt after all…And it’s understandable, Nighty may be reluctant to admit it sometimes, but he does miss Star…we all do…” Twilight shook her head not wanting to slip into sadness, not with what she had to say. “Actually, seeing this has confirmed something for me.”
Annie’s ears perked up, “Oh, what is it?”
Twilight took a sip of tea and placed the cup back on the table before speaking. “Anthea, for a long time now, I’ve watched as you struggled to overcome, not just your blindness, but all manner of challenges that I or life has brought before you. Every lesson I’ve taught you, you’ve excelled, showing an understanding and talent for magic that is truly spectacular! I don’t really know your future plans are Anthea, but…I would like to offer you the chance to become my first apprentice.”
Anthea nearly dropped her teacup as her eyes went wide from hearing what her mentor said. “P-P-Princess Twilight…you…you want me as your apprentice?!”
“If you don’t like ‘apprentice’ we can change it! Personal student, protégé, you don’t have to worry about the title if it makes you feel uncomfortable…!”
“No…No, it’s just…Princess, I mean…you’ve already taught me a lot and – whoa.” Annie felt dizzy as her mind struggled to grasp the fact that High Princess Twilight Sparkle had asked her to become the student to her teacher.
“Annie, I don’t make this decision lightly. I really want to foster your potential, and I see a lot of it in you. Recent events have shown me that I need to be more decisive and attentive of certain things, Nighty and Starburst are one, and you, Anthea, are another.”
Anthea was still taken aback from the offer, not that she didn’t mind being the Princesses’ apprentice, but there was still some doubt to her worthiness of such an honor. “Princess, why would you want me as your first apprentice? I can barely see and, despite what others may think, I have made some mistakes when casting spells. Plus, whenever I use too much of my magic, I go completely blind and…tend to freak out a little… I just think that…maybe there’s some other unicorn you should look into…One that’s –”
“‘More suitable?’, ‘More capable?’” Twilight interrupted, “Annie, I don’t ask this out of pity or because your mother is one of my best friends. I see the potential in you, and I want to nurture that and see you excel at so much more. But, the decision is yours Anthea. As I said earlier, I don’t know what plans you already had for the future and I don’t want to impede those plans in any way. If you need time to think about it go ahead, there’s no rush.”
Anthea didn’t know what to say, becoming High Princess Twilight’s first apprentice in, like, ever, was truly an honor.
“Can I…Can I talk to my Mom and Turquoise first? I really think I need to discuss this with them before I make any big decisions,” said Anthea nervously.
“That’s completely alright, like I said, there’s no deadline for your answer. My door is always open, whether you accept it or not.”
2 Days Later…
“Seriously, High Princess Twilight wants you to be her apprentice?!” asked Turquoise.
“Uh-huh!” Annie answered.
“Darling that’s wonderful! And, personally speaking, you deserve it,” said Claire.
Anthea blushed when she heard those words of praise from Claire; she blushed even more when her mother gave her a big hug, letting out a slight squee of excitement for her daughter. She was surprised; however, that they had no real objections to the offer of apprenticeship, especially after what her mother told her about talking to High Princess Twilight concerning what went on with Starburst.
“So…you guys aren’t against this? I mean, Mrs. Rarity, Mr. Spike, Mom, you guys didn’t really look all that happy after your talks with the Princess.”
The three in question each looked at each other, a sort of understanding passed between them as they each turned to look at Annie.
“Dear, what happened with Starburst is one thing, and…Twilight and Flash will just have to work it out the best way they can when the time comes. Of course, we’ll be there next time to make sure thing go more smoothly,” said Rarity.
“But, that has nothing to do with Twi asking you to be her apprentice. I know she’s always wanted to pass down what she learned, obviously she was going to do that with Night Light Jr. and Starburst, but I think she also secretly wanted somepony else, her own ‘faithful student’. I mean, believe me, if there’s anypony I would want to teach me crazy high level magic stuff, it would be Twi, and I know she’d be a great teacher to you Annie.” Spike added.
“You see Annie, despite what has happened recently, we still believe in Twilight and Starburst. Me, Rarity, and Spike have been friends with her for a long time, and we’ve been through and done a lot of dangerous things that required us to put our completely faith and trust in each other, even when things got bad. So that’s why we would never abandon her, and why we don’t doubt her when she makes a decision like this. So, Anthea, honey, what do you feel like you should do?” asked Fluttershy.
Anthea was somewhat stunned to hear this; the overwhelming support from her mother and family friends was, well, overwhelming. She looked to T, the dragon-pony showed no sign of objection to this, in fact, he was grinning happily for his fillyfriend. Claire was much the same way, smiling at the pink mare as her tail swished back and forth in response to this happiness.
“Okay, I’ll do it!” It was this point that Annie also remembered something else important. “Um…there was something else I needed to talk to you guys about.”
The others looked at any with curiosity. The unicorn mare took a deep breath, though they may not have had any objections to the apprenticeship, they may have some about the other piece of news.
“The Princess is going on delegation mission soon to Minotaurus, the minotaur homeland. And…well…I was thinking about asking her if I could…go along with her…?”
Now they stared at her with slightly widened eyes, some with worry, and others with intrigue. Fluttershy, most obviously, showed her concern. “Anthea…a-are you sure you really want to do that? Y-You’ve never been that far away before.”
“Well…that’s also kinda why I want to go. I love Ponyville, it’s my home, but I also want to experience new places. I know I won’t be able to actually see things clearly, but the smells, the sensations, the sounds, I want to hear and feel a new place…that, and I may not get that many chances because of y’know.” Annie waved her hoof in front of her faces for emphasis.
“I think it’s a grand idea,” said Claire as she moved closer to Annie’s left side. “I’ve travelled a lot with my work, and Mother, you and Father have done the same, and have even brought Turquoise and I on some of those trips. And really, if she is going to be an apprentice of a Princess then Annie is going to need to know how politics work, maybe not extensively, but enough to get by. And what do you think little brother?”
Annie and Claire looked to the dragon-pony stallion. He became a little nervous with all eyes on him. To be honest, he didn’t want Annie to go to some strange land, inhabited by minotaurs who weren’t exactly known for always being kind and courteous. Yes, High Princess Twilight would no doubt keep Annie close by, but what would happen if they got separated? Annie would be frightened and alone amongst creatures who could do – Celestia knows what! And what if the delegations got violent? Could the Princess protect them both?!
Turquoise felt his dragon instincts starting to rise, a fierce urge was building inside of him, telling the hybrid stallion to take Annie to a safe place and guard her, threatening to burn anypony or thing that dared get too close to her. But the green dragon-pony shook his head, trying to quash those draconic tendencies. He then looked down to Annie as she stared back up at him with those milky blue eyes and hopeful expression.
“Honestly…I don’t want her go.” Turquoise noticed the round of indignant looks he was getting, especially from his big sister, nonetheless he continued. “There so many things going through my head about what could happen to you Annie…and with this war going on, and you being in a strange land far from anypony who knows you and could help you, it…it freakin’ scares the crap out me!”
“Turquoise –!” Rarity was ready to speak up for Annie. But a quick raise of the claw from Spike stopped Rarity’s potential tirade from taking place.
“…I also know that this is something good for you Annie…and I get that you want to stretch your independence from time to time. Going to Minotaurus, a place far from Equestria, and closer to the fighting…” Turquoise took a calming breath; he couldn’t just focus on the negative, not for what he had to say next. “But, this is also something that I know you want to do, and, as crazy as I think it is, I’ll support you in this.”
Like always, Annie couldn’t see when her coltfriend or friends smiled, but she could sense the happiness they radiated from a smile, and that was enough to let her know that T was there for her. She leaned in close to his chest and started to nuzzle him affectionately, “Thank you, T! I promise, nothing bad will happen, I’ll come back and tell you guys all about Minotaurus!”
Canterlot, Royal Airship Launch Bay 4…
Anthea stood before the flying fortress airship and personal vessel of High Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Avalon. Even though she couldn’t see it properly, there was no denying that the blob that Annie could see was indeed massive. She was a little nervous, after accepting the Princesses’ offer to be her protégé; Annie was told that her first lessons were going to begin as soon as Twilight returned from her delegation mission to Minotaurus. The pink unicorn mare had talked to Twilight, asking her if she could come along since she, personally, hadn’t been anywhere further than Canterlot, Ponyville, and the Crystal Empire.
And while she loved her hometown, her adventurous side was peaked at the prospect of visiting another nation. Heck, she would’ve been satisfied with going to one of the territories, if most of them weren’t in a state of warfare with the Griffon Empire, that is. But, the chance to go someplace as exotic as the minotaur homeland was a treat in and of itself. Anthea’s mind was simply buzzing with all the strange new sounds, smells, and sensations of a foreign land; it was almost like a Daring Do adventure.
However, the importance of the delegation mission was not lost on her. Twilight had informed Anthea what the trip to Minotaurus was, primarily, to secure an alliance with the minotaurs. And of course, Anthea saw this as a perfect opportunity, not just to go to new places, but to get used to her role as High Princess Twilight’s apprentice, since it was sometimes common for mentors in political fields to bring their protégés along to learn.
Now here she was, with Turquoise right beside her, with his wing draped over her back. The dragon-pony stallion had offered to be with Annie right up until she boarded the airship. Now standing before the Avalon Turquoise gulped, for a long while he had been the tall one of their group of friends, even more so when he stood on his hind legs. But being under the shadow of this behemoth made him feel normal sized for once. It was then that T felt his fillyfriend tremble a bit, he knew why, and it was one of the other reasons why he thought this wasn’t a good idea.
“Annie you hate flying,” said T.
“I know…”
“And yet you’re willing to step inside that airship to go to Minotaurus?”
“Y-Yes…!”
“You do know what the meaning of the word ‘contradiction’ is, right?”
Annie jabbed an elbow into Turquoise’s side, giving him a pouty expression at the same time. “I know, I know, but I really do want to go! Yes I’m nervous about flying in…in that, but I’m also excited that I’m actually getting to go there at the same time!”
“Soooo…you’re nervouscited?”
“Exactly!” Annie beamed.
Turquoise’s eyes scanned over the ship and saw High Princess Twilight walking towards them from the cargo bay of the ship. Annie didn’t need to see her completely to know Twilight was walking towards them, she could sense her mentor’s unique magical aura. Annie stood up straight and carefully bowed her head before Twilight, prompting Turquoise to do the same.
Twilight groaned inwardly, she really didn’t like it when friends, especially the children of those friends, kowtowed like that. She had always told them that friends and family never had to bow before her, of course doing so at certain events was unavoidable as it would appear rude to others who did not know of the personal relationships between certain members of Twilight’s circle of friends. So, even though Turquoise was considered her nephew, the polite dragon-pony stallion felt that he show his respect in a public setting, less in Ponyville, but more so in Canterlot. The High Princess of Friendship motioned for them to rise, feeling that that was enough bowing.
“It’s no problem Aunt Twilight; honestly, I can’t say I’d act too hospitable myself. I’d be too busy wanting to protect Annie that I might cause an international incident, and the last thing we need is another nation gunning for Equestria,” said T.
Twilight giggled a little, knowing how protective Spike was of Rarity when she was pregnant, and seeing that same trait in her surrogate little brother’s son was nostalgic. “Well, we don’t want that. Don’t worry Turquoise, Annie will be safe with me, I promise that. So Annie, are you ready to go?”
“Y-Yeah…just need to take the first step,” said Annie nervously.
“It’ll be okay, besides, I know something that might help you get over your nervousness,” said Twilight grinning knowingly.
Annie tilted her head in curiosity. “Really? What is it?”
“Not so much a what as a who. You see, when I volunteered to go on this mission, High Princess Celestia wanted me to personally pick a certain number of Royal Guards to be my Personal Protection Detail. So, with High Prince Supernova and my husband’s help, I was able to pick three trustworthy ponies to do the job, and when I told them about your coming along, well…let’s just say they were really happy to get to see you.”
Anthea’s eyes steadily grew wider as the realization slowly dawned on her who it was the Princess had spoken of.
“You don’t mean –?!”
“Oh yeah she does!”
Twilight stepped aside and allowed Annie an unobstructed view, even if all she could see were blurry color blotches, she could never forget these three, even if she were an old mare. Annie’s smile grew wide, threatening to break past its normal boundaries and go up to her ears.
“Hot Head, Lucky, Amber!” Annie cried out.
The rusty red pegasus stallion, garbed in golden Royal Guard armor, stepped closer. “Yep, been a long time kid.”
Turquoise raised his wing up, knowing Annie would want to go to her old friends. And just as he predicted, she quickly rushed towards them, hugging Hot Head. A twinge of jealousy entered T’s heart for a moment before he reminded himself that Annie was just happy to see him. T hated this about himself sometimes, feeling like Annie was going to be taken away by some stallion when his back was turned and getting jealous when she showed her affectionate side to others, but that wasn’t her fault, Annie was just a loving mare, even to strangers, which meant that Turquoise had to learn self-control, but often times he gave into his draconic instincts and whisked Annie away without warning.
But, this particular stallion T wasn’t so friendly towards, not for a lack of trying, but Hot Head had it in his mind that Turquoise was dangerous for Anthea to be around. To be honest, Turquoise suspected that Hot Head would keep them apart if it wasn’t for the other two to rein him in.
Lucky, a light-purple unicorn stallion wearing the same golden armor, walked beside an earth pony mare. She wore silver armor to contrast against her light-gold coat, she was Amber Lily, but to her friends, just Amber. The two of them came up on either side of Hot Head; Annie ended her hug and proceeded to hug the other two in turn.
“I can’t believe it, you guys are coming too?!”
“Of course, High Princess Twilight wanted the best, and she’s got it,” said Hot Head in his usual arrogant tone.
“Gotta say Annie, it has been awhile, and yet somehow you seem even cuter than the last time we saw you,” said Lucky.
His comment earned him a low growl from Turquoise, ending any further comments on how cute Annie was, even if they were true statements. Amber took notice of T and made her way towards the dragon-pony stallion, she circled him, scanning his form from every angle.
“Turquoise Blitz, have you gained some more muscle since we last all got together?” asked Amber with a sly smile.
T gulped a bit, “Um, yeah I guess…I mean…I help out at Sweet Apple Acres from time to time, so it’s kind of a work out for me.”
Amber turned around to face Anthea and shook her head back and forth, “Tsk, tsk, tsk, no fair Annie! Using your cuteness to seduce a stallion is cheating!”
“Wasn’t you who told me to ‘use it if I got’?” Annie shot back, matching Amber’s sly smile.
Amber gave a dramatic gasp, “Vile temptress, using your adorableness to steal the hearts of stallions and leaving other mares alone and miserable!”
“I learned from the best.”
There was silence for a moment before both Amber and Annie broke into a fit of giggles, “Touché.” Amber conceded.
Twilight couldn’t help but smile, seeing the four friends’ reunion made her happy. Just then, the horn from the Avalon sounded, signaling that it was time for departure.
“Alright everypony, it’s time to get going,” said Twilight.
Annie nodded and went back to Turquoise; the two stared into each other’s eyes for what felt like minutes. T raised his left foreleg and cupped Annie’s right cheek with his claw, she leaned into the claw, nuzzling it and enjoying this gesture of her coltfriend.
“I’ll miss you, Annie.”
“I’ll miss you too, but don’t worry, I won’t be away that long, until then…”
Annie closed her eyes and tilted her head up and pursed her lips. Turquoise knew what this meant; he leaned forwards and kissed Annie. It wasn’t a passionate kiss; it was a light peck, enough to convey a promise to return to one another. T broke the kiss and smiled at Annie; both had blushing faces when it was over remembering where they were. Annie made her way to Twilight, where she extended her wing over Anthea and guided the pink mare slowly up the Avalon’s cargo ramp.
“Hot Head,” said Turquoise in a serious tone.
“You…all of you…protect her, alright.”
It was less of a request and more an order, Hot Head snorted upon hearing that. “Idiot, like you need to say that.”
Turquoise, satisfied with that answer, joined the rest of the ponies who had cleared the launch deck. The massive airship’s heat engines flared up, pushing the ship up. The engines then rotated till they were horizontal and released a stronger burst of heat, propelling the Avalon forward and setting it off on its course for Minotaurus.