Finally arriving home, Sweetie sealed her room to everypony once more. After spending days camped out reading the book, Sweetie had figured out four things specifically. Those four things were; Swords Dance, Flare, Terravolt, and Ultimate Seeker. The names of the four spells. The names told her very little, but she was able to get some basic idea of the spells from the name.
“So Swords Dance has something to do with swords, no duh there. Flare sounds fiery, so it might be a fire spell. Terravolt has volt in it, and that’s an electric word? As for Ultimate Seeker, it finds things?” Really, the names told her very little about the spells. Sighing, she closed the book, and decided to get to work on her task for this loop. Crossing out the item on her list, she looked to her mark and thought.
‘So changing it seems possible by thought, but I guess it only works for Marks I’ve seen it do?’ Shaking her head, she decided to concentrate on one she knew she could make. Closing her eyes, she pictured Twilight. There was Twilight, opening a book on magic theory, seeming to read it as if it was Equestrian.
‘There she is trying to put it into practice, and there she is finally succeeding at it.’ Smiling, Sweetie felt a connection to Twilight, remembering how the mare had first gotten her Mark. Given a task she had no book knowledge of how to do. Formulas ran through her head, the theory behind hatching an egg, half formed by hasty thoughts.
And then...flash! A surge of magic erupting onto her horn, clutching her makeshift spell and fueling it with the magic needed. It cracked, raw talent meeting book smarts to create a miracle. The feeling when your dream became a reality. Sweetie smiled, her head raising slightly. So excited by the news, the quiet flash of a Mark signifying her dream was now possible.
“I’m proud of you Twilight,” she spoke softly, giving a nod. Twilight had known what she wanted to do, but wasn’t sure she had the ability. But when her efforts were rewarded with her dream becoming true, her Mark had appeared. Twilight’s expertise was in the theory, rather than the application. If she hadn’t been born with the raw power she had been, Twilight would have become a professor at the very least.
“Remember Twilight, take it one sentence at a time. Magic is not meant to be skimmed.” Opening her eyes, Sweetie watched her room flash for a moment, and looked to her flank. There is was, an almost perfect image of Twilight’s Mark composed of musical notes. Trotting to the mirror, Sweetie saw her eyes were now a violet color. Opening the book once more, she read it once more.
“Before the words were blurring together, but now it’s like a cloudy sky. It’s still complicated, but I’m able to make sense of it. Am I talking to myself?” Pausing, Sweetie considered it for a moment, rapidly shaking her head as she continued to read. Before long, she blinked at the darkness in her room. Somehow, the entire day had vanished!
“This feels kinda like cheating,” pouted Sweetie, blinking her eyes back to normal as she snapped out of her trance. Regardless of her intent, she now knew how to cast the first spell, Swords Dance. It was a higher level ice spell. From the reading, she made icy swords float around her like a shield, and imbued them with her thoughts.
‘So essentially, if I go to block, the swords would move at the speed of my brain.’ However, it required a link to this ‘aetheric plane’. Supposedly, an enlightened unicorn could act as the focal point for the spell. Standing up, Sweetie stifled a yawn, glancing toward the window. There was no way Sweetie would have the patience to do that, so she supposed that was the reason why only Alicorns could do it.
“Not to mention, the amount of concentration needed for this is just...How am I supposed to cast ten spells at once?” Scowling, Sweetie sighed, flopping onto her bed. That was the way of it, she supposed. Giving a small smile, she wondered if the Alicorns might be able to reduce the number to five. Four possibly, because of Twilight’s abilities.
“Still, why am I able to ‘Twilight Mode’? I can assume it’s because of the loops, but what would cause it? It’s true that Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance along with possibly Rarity have…” Wincing, Sweetie continued her sentence.
“Maybe them... in the same room with me makes them sorta give me a portion of their talent? Twilight said the spell switched the Element’s destinies, and the one Starswirl made was meant to switch Celestia’s and his so...some sort of bleed? Guh, maybe I should re-Twilight Mode so I can figure this out.” Grabbing her pillow, Sweetie placed it on top of her head, blocking out the remaining light.
“So what would happen if I went ‘Celestia Mode’ or ‘Luna Mode’? Would I gain control of the Sun or Moon? Weird. And not useful to me either. Rarity might though, would be nice to be able to make clothes.” Chuckling, Sweetie sat up, and looked toward the Moon, remembering the previous loop.
“Doesn’t hurt to learn the spells I suppose, might come in handy. It’s gonna take a while. Let me see...One day per spell, plus sleeping. Roughly four days. Ugh, this would be so boring if I wasn’t going to enter ‘Twilight Mode’ I bet. I don’t know how she finds studying ‘fun’. Weird.” Shrugging, Sweetie put her pillow under her head, and slipped into the blankets. She was exhausted, and she’d need to have a large breakfast tomorrow.
Sweetie had a feeling she was going to be skipping Lunch and Dinner for a while. Following that thought, she wondered if she even needed to eat anymore. After all, if she died it would just reset her. Then again, dying of hunger probably sucked more than falling off a cliff or suffocating. Nodding to herself, she yawned, and went to sleep.