Chapter 32: Rainbow
Clover had Star Swirl by the tail. She grinned as the mouse squeaked indignantly and flailed around in the air with frantic paws. Star Swirl shook a tiny fist at Clover while we all looked on, curious at what Clover had in store for Star Swirl.
Clover’s face rapidly lost their mirth as she got down to business. She shifted in her seat and set Star Swirl down on the tabletop. With astounding speed, Star Swirl scampered across the smooth wooden surface. I almost cried out, while Celestia and Luna actually did. Discord made for Star Swirl, but I knew his outstretched claw wouldn’t be fast enough.
Then, I saw the reason why Clover had let Star Swirl go. With a flash, a slightly green translucent bubble appeared. The bubble covered the whole table in a dome. Star Swirl, only seeing it a few inches from the edge, gave a surprised squeak and pounded right into the barrier, the force of the rebound causing him to flip head over claws to the middle of the table.
Celestia’s eyes widened. Luna let out an ‘oooh’ sound. Discord clapped his claw and paw together.
And I stared at Clover with something approaching awe.
“What is that?” I asked, experimentally poking the barrier with a finger. The Barrier pressed back, but apart from a very slight give, it was solid.
Clover shrugged. “It hasn’t got a name,” she replied casually. “It’s just spell I made.”
Star Swirl paced around in his makeshift prison. He said something, but we couldn’t hear him through the glowing bubble.
Clover shrugged at us. “I haven’t figured out how to only block certain things.”
A sudden thought occurred to me.
“How will he breathe, then?”
Clover shrugged again. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “But I’m sure I’ll figure it out before he keels over.”
Star Swirl must have gotten the tone of our conversation because he started to look worried in a very mouse-like way.
“Should we, uhm, let him out?” Discord suggested meekly.
Clover shook her head. “Not until I drill into this rat’s brain that my research is mine and mine only!”
Technically, Star Swirl was a mouse, but I didn’t think it was a good idea to mention that now. I watched as Star Swirl sat on his haunches, looking at us and tapping his mouse foot impatiently. I didn’t think Clover would go so far as to suffocate Star Swirl, but I was plenty perturbed by that malicious gleam in her eye.
Clover licked her lips, obviously thinking of a variety of ways to make sure Star Swirl thought twice about ever crossing her again. I glanced at Celestia and Luna and found that the way Luna bit her lip and shifted her eyes, she thought the same thing as well. I was surprised to see Celestia nodding along, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
I have to talk to her some day about ethics.
Discord cleared his throat, gesturing at Clover. He made an impatient gesture.
Oh right! The promise.
“Clover,” I said, waiting for the mare to turn around. She flicked an ear, then glanced up and started.
“Oh,” she said. “You’re still here?”
I rolled my eyes at that and harrumphed.
“Clover,” I continued. “You made a promise.”
Clover glanced back at Star Swirl and then at me. She sighed, then got up from her seat reluctantly.
“Oh I suppose I did,” she grumbled. “What do you want to learn?”
I opened my mouth, but she held up a hoof before I could say anything.
“I will only teach you one thing, by the way,” she warned.
“What?! That’s unfair!” I spluttered.
She shrugged as if it were no consequence.
“Never liked having apprentices. Too much work. The one time I thought about getting one, look at what that netted me.” She glared at Star Swirl briefly, then waved a hoof in my direction. “Be quick about it. I don’t have all day.”
I wracked my brain trying to think about something that Clover could teach me. I briefly considered the crystals, but I dismissed it. It would be unlikely that Clover ever had any contact with them, besides Tempora trusted me with them, so I shouldn’t reveal them willy-nilly.
My attention returned to the softly glowing bubble.
“Teach me that,” I said, pointing at the barrier.
Clover looked pleased.
“I thought you might pick that. Impressive isn’t it?”
Impressive was an understatement. I studied the membranous structure with a keen eye. According to modern magical practice, this sort of spell was impossible. I cautiously touched the surface again. It felt weird, like something was vibrating really fast behind it. It reminded me of the hum of electronics back on Earth.
“How does it do that?” I asked. I was still looking at the ‘shield’ for lack of a better term.
Clover hummed, her eyes going out of focus for a little bit as she gathered her thoughts about the subject.
“A long story,” she finally said. “How about I poke a hole here—” she punctured the top of the dome with her horn “—and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Star Swirl glanced at the opening.
“Don’t even think about it,” Clover warned the recalcitrant mage. “It’s not even big enough for you to fit through.”
Star Swirl answered, his voice sounding hollow through the dome.
“Fine,” he muttered.
“Good.” Clover turned to Luna and Celestia. “You two, off you go. I only promised to teach these two.”
Luna and Celestia looked wounded.
“Hey we helped you!” Celestia pouted.
Luna stomped her hoof. “Yeah, we should be able to learn too!”
Clover made a shooing motion with her hooves. “Away with you. Ask Discord if you want to learn it, you’re already getting everything out of him anyway.”
Discord went scarlet and scuffed a hoof on the grass.
“You don’t know what she’s like,” he said, face drawn into a sulk.
Clover rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Now, off you two. Or I won’t teach them at all.”
I nodded at Celestia and Luna. “Don’t worry, I’ll try and teach as much as I can.”
Celestia didn’t look pleased at the prospect, despite my reasonable assurance. “But we hardly get to see you! Come on!”
I grinned at them. “I’ll try and make time, I promise.”
Celestia hesitated, then finally nodded. She still didn’t look happy.
“Okay,” she said in a low voice. “Come on, Luna.”
“But—”
“Come on, we’ll be late anyway.”
Celestia turned tail and left with Luna reluctantly following behind. Though Luna glanced back at me a few times, Celestia didn’t look back. Oh, now I feel terrible.
“Clover, aren’t—”
“Nope,” she retorted. “If you wanted to have a class you should have asked for one in the first place. This is a one time thing. Now, do you want to learn or not.”
I slowly nodded. I’ll make it up to them later.
Clover studied me for a few moments before nodding.
“Good. You’ll need your concentration if you’re going to learn this. It took me over a year to discover this, and another to perfect this. You’re going to learn in a day. Have fun.”
I gulped.
Why is it that I always seem to find myself in difficult situations?
—————
The principle of making shields was surprisingly simple.
Ha! That’s what you wanted me to say. No, it was confusing as heck, and my Dad was the master of confusion. I should have been able to pick up on some of the words, but Clover lost me after a sentence.
“So from matrix-theory you know that the conjugation arising from the confluence of multiple nodal points will entangle at sub-focal regions with harmonic oscillations along the planar axis, right?”
“Uhhh,” I said. I glanced at Discord. He was nodding along. What? How does he understand this stuff.
Clover glared at me. I felt my shoulders square under that look.
“At least I have one student that’s not a complete dunderhead,” she growled.
“So, magic for a wet-nosed novice, then. Basically magic you know is from exciting things around you. If you do it in a certain way, you’ll get energy.”
I nodded, finally understanding. Why didn’t she use less complicated language?
“When you do it in different ways and patterns you get different outcomes. Patterns and matrices established by others are called ‘spells’,” I added slowly, trying desperately to recall the classes I had.
Clover nodded, her mouth quirking as she continued. “That’s all good. So spell have rules, right?”
“Yep, if you don’t do a spell right, it could just discharge the energy in unexpected ways. Sometimes it can explode in your face,” I answered.
“Good,” Clover said, then she turned to Discord. “So there’s only one way to do spells, right?”
Discord sensed a trap, but nodded anyway.
“Wrong!” she exclaimed. “The same effect can be achieved in multiple ways. You don’t have to stick with one method, rely on other ponies to achieve the same thing.”
I couldn’t help but stare at Clover. “But what you’re talking about is making up spells on the spot. How can you keep track of everything and come up with new spells?” I waved my hands helplessly. “It’s impossible.”
Clover bared her teeth at me more than smiled.
“Two things you have to know,” she said. “One, synthesis. Two, retrosynthesis.”
I blinked at Clover. Synthesis, creating things. Retrosynthesis, going back from creating things… destroying them.
“Retrosynthesis? What’s that?” Discord asked.
Clover grinned, so excited she couldn’t keep in her seat. She bounded out and started talking rapidly.
“Retrosynthesis is a technique I developed to break down spells.” She pointed to the dome and her horn glowed in sympathy with her hoof. She touched the dome with her hoof and surprisingly a piece of the dome’s glow came away with her hoof.
“This,” she said, waving the glowing piece of the dome. “Is retrosynthesis.”
She flicked her hoof, the glow disappearing in a series of sparks.
“You can use this to find out exactly how a spell works. Then, you will combine it with synthesis and a new understanding of the mechanics of spell casting.” She danced around the table. “You will be like an artist, creating a new era of art.”
“But you can’t just take things and whack them together,” I said. “You can’t bend the rules of magic. Cause and effect. That’s how it works. One thing leads to another, there are inviolable rules.”
Clover sighed impatiently.
“How are any new spells ever created?” She tapped the dome for emphasis. “Using what you know and applying it in new ways! Use. Your. Mind. It’s one of the most important tools of any magic-user.”
I stared at the dome, gleaming softly with trapped light.
“So, you’re going to teach us this one spell, and I’m going to try and find out how the dome works?” I asked.
Clover nodded.
“Even if takes all day,” she said.
“Great,” I muttered.
Discord looked ecstatic.
“Great!” he exclaimed, his eyes gleamed as he soaked in the complexity of the task with enthusiasm thoroughly eclipsing mine.
I sighed. I bet Discord will get this in a snap.