I walked to the school feeling quite refreshed. After having had yet another good night's sleep and the chance to talk with Starlight a little more, I'm finally starting to feel like I'm making progress and not being a burden on anyone. Ignoring Starlight's teasing about not getting Stalwart to walk me into the school, I walked toward Lemon Bloom with a bit more of a smile.
“Good morning, Dawn!” Lemon Bloom smiled in kind, “We missed you yesterday, but I hope you're ready to pick up where you left off!”
“Oh,” I smirk and pause slightly, “I think I'll be doing more than that if given the chance, but we'll see.”
“I see!” Lemon Bloom replied with a raised brow, clearly intrigued. “We'll talk about it later.”
I walked into the class and sat at my usual desk, ignoring the usual chattering of the students around her. A certain trio of fillies gossiping still reached my ears despite my best efforts, but I focused on the front board, thinking of ways I could get them to stop.
We performed our morning exercises, and my light was bright enough to light to the middle of the room, beyond the lighting the children gave. It wasn't my intent to outshine them of course, but it happened nonetheless. The few that could keep their eyes open during their efforts turned back to see my light just before the sun rose and I turned it off before Lemon asked.
Our lesson today covered some of the exploits of Crescent Bell, who despite being known for his magics on music, also had a few adventures that seemed well known.
I was starting to get really interested in the magic he used to make his horn play music he remembered when the bell for recess rang. Once again, all the children headed out as fast as they could without trampling each other, while I stayed behind to speak with Lemon Bloom.
“That was very impressive dear.” She said as we made our way to the hallway.
“Thank you.” I nodded, “I spent a lot of time with a... we'll call him a mentor, yesterday. I miss home, but now that I've had a good long talk with him and gotten some more practice, I think I'll be getting the hang of it all soon. I hope.”
“I'm certain you will.” Lemon said as we finally stepped outside.
I paused and looked toward my usual spot, where the little boy I spoke to once was yet again, but this time, the three fillies were near. That could only mean trouble in my eyes.
“Excuse me, I think I need to remind a few of my classmates how unpleasant it is to pick on other ponies.”
“Oh dear, I can-”
“No, please, I have an idea I'd like to try. Nothing harmful, just a little story...” I give Lemon a playfully mischievous smile before walking off to the trio.
“Really, not being able to shine a light at all?”
“Well, I-”
“I wouldn't be surprised if they sent you home!”
“Now what do we have here? Picking on a boy?” I interrupt them from behind, watching as they turned around in surprise, then started to open their mouths before I interrupted, “I remember how there was once a little boy in my town, not unlike our little friend here. He was picked on a lot by a few girls I knew, until one day, he vanished!”
“Oh please,” one of the three chimed in, “you can't expect us to be scared by-”
“Oh that wasn't the scary part.” I looked at her through narrowed eyes, a slightly perverted smile crossing my lips as I said, “a year later, the ponies who teased him found their lights not as bright. Whispers and rumors of a shadowpony eating up the light went around, but nopony believed it... until he appeared.”
I knew I had their full attention, they were skeptical clearly, but not about to second guess an appearance.
“He stood in the middle of the town, looking around for somepony's light to eat, but nopony came out, no lights to eat. He called out, 'I hunger.... I hunger! I hunger!' and ran off to find the girls who had-” I stopped suddenly, freezing in place and looking up in mock horror beyond the fillies, seeing Starlight standing over the little boy, not fully solid, but his shadowy pelt flickered in the light. The boy looked over at the legs in surprise, only just starting to notice them himself and looked up almost as scared as the girls were.
The fillies were just about to turn around when Starlight lowered his head and whispered deeply, “I... hunger...”
The fillies looked back and then up at Starlight, eyes growing wide as they saw him, then backed into me looking like they were about to scream. Taking that as my cue that I took it a little too far, I shone my light as bright as I could in Starlight's direction. He smirked in my direction, then chuckled with an evil sounding voice as he let himself fade away into the shadows. The girls looked like they were almost in a state of panic. Clearly this was the time to calm them down and remind them of the moral of this impromptu story.
“As you can see, this story isn't quite over yet, but that's what can happen when you tease other ponies. Would you happen to know any ponies who would be teasing other ponies? He does like going after their lights the most-”
“N-No Ma'am!”
“No we wouldn't know any ponies like that!”
“We'll be good! Promise!”
“Good,” I say as gently as I can. “Go play, and maybe one day, your lights will be bright enough to keep 'the shadow' away.”
They nod and rush off as I saw Lemon Bloom walked over toward us, the boy looking up at me in awe, though still looking over his shoulder once or twice. I ignore Lemon Bloom at first, deciding to use a free hoof to ruffle his head and scoot him on to play.
“You too, can't have you turning into a shadow either by not making some friends!”
“But... but who was that? How did you do that?”
“That was a special friend of mine named Starlight Dusk. He can be very shy, but he likes standing up for special ponies.”
“But I'm not special...”
“Oh? Funny, Starlight Dusk hasn't been wrong yet.” I say thoughtfully, looking off a little ways. After waiting a couple of seconds deliberately, I continued, “Who knows? Maybe you'll surprise yourself one day!”
“Hmmmm,” He put his head down, clearly in deep thought, though only for a very short moment before yelling out, “Thanks Dawn! I'm gonna try! Oh... And thanks for the help. I hope I can shine my light as bright as yours some day.” he said as he ran off to play.
“My my, high praise indeed! Not how I would have wanted it handled, but very effective.”
“Oh, Lemon! How much did you hear?”
“More than you might think. There's a reason the children say we have ears everywhere.” She chuckled before continuing, “He's really been struggling to learn how to do magic, very much like you were before now. His teacher's been telling me how he's not been making progress either, partly because he hasn't been confident in his magic.”
“What a shame.” I say staring out over the playground.
“Well,” Bloom answered quickly, causing me to turn my head toward her in slight surprise, watching as she monitored the playground. “let's hope that your little story helps him realize he's not alone, and he's got talent just like everypony here. Now then,” Lemon turned to me looking very serious, “who was that pony I saw? I highly doubt you've become so good at magic you could have made an illusion that convincing.”
“I can see why you might say that,” I chuckle. “but you're right, I haven't gotten that much better. His name is Starlight Dusk. I only kinda know him a little bit, and he's supposed to be some sort of connection between the pony I was and the pony I am now. He's a part of me, but I'm trying to figure out what part and why he came to be and why he's keeping me here and why he's so different than me and... ugh, it's a mess.”
I don't know why I decided to tell her what little I knew about Starlight. I certainly didn't know her as well as some ponies, but as I waited for her reply, I realized just how much I actually trusted her. She spends an enormous amount of effort trying to help all of us here at the school to learn magic and history and language. If there was something she could do to help, she would. It still didn't make complete sense, but then again, my feelings never often did.
“I can imagine.” Lemon Bloom answered, clearly in thoughts of her own, “I don't know much about it myself, but if you ever need somepony to listen, I'll be here. Just try not to need me during class eh?”
“Yeah,” I smiled back, “I don't know how the rest of the class would react if they thought I was one pony split into two or something.”
“Indeed! Best to save that kind of talk for Nightmare Night!”
“What now?” I ask intrigued. The name alone sounded reminiscent of Halloween, what little I knew of it, but it wouldn't hurt to be sure.
“Nightmare Night?” Lemon Bloom looked at me in surprise, “I'm surprised you haven't heard of it.”
“Humor me. I think my home might have called it something else too.”
“Well,” Lemon Bloom hesitated, not being sure where to begin, “a long time ago, Celestia banished Nightmare Moon to the moon, but once a year, near the end of harvest season, she comes back to Equestria to seek vengeance on ponies!”
I tried very hard not to laugh, but settled for some chuckling. It should be impossible for anything to be on the moon, but she is a children's teacher after all. What should I expect out of a story that's a reason for celebration?
“So, everypony dresses up to fool Nightmare Moon, and children go around collecting candy from adults, and should they happen upon Nightmare Moon? They leave a candy for her so she eats it instead of them!” Lemon Bloom said enthusiastically, just as the bell rang.
“Interesting.” I say quietly as I head to the classroom with Lemon, thinking of its parallels before we moved on to our remaining lessons.
Much of the early day was spent at school learning some of the different magics related to sounds. It garnered some excitement from the other children at first, but then as they tried to put the magic into practice, many of them grew disheartened. Thinking the concept seemed simple enough, I tried to think of the steps needed before starting to try a single note.
Amidst the grunting of a few of the children, it could be heard quietly, my own mind concentrating heavily on that sound, gradually focusing it more and more from the base of my head where I was picturing it, and toward the tip. The sounds grew louder until the whole room heard it in a hushed murmur.
My attention waned from the note as I noticed just how heads started to turn toward me in some surprise, except for Lemon Bloom who smiled approvingly.
“That's the way to do it! Just picture the music you want to play and let it ring out!”
Most of the children groaned slightly as they kept trying. Taking her words to heart, I tried a few more notes, attempting to imitate a piano. It was muffled heavily, as if something seemed to be lacking.
'Would you like some help?' I heard Starlight Dusk's voice in my ear. I looked around slowly, to make sure he didn't suddenly appear in the classroom. Confused, I didn't see him, yet I wasn't sure how he could reach me this way. Yet another question I'll need to ask... In the meantime, I nodded, not wanting to show off, but I wanted to have this magic shown properly, both to myself and my students.
I took a few breaths, and focused on Starlight's quiet advice and allowed myself to clear my head. Then I began with a simple piano tune I used to listen to as a lullaby. The notes rang out quietly, slightly muffled, more like a faded memory might sound in the movies.
The rest of the class came along to a similar level just as lunch hit, at which point everypony went along to eat and then play outside while I stayed in the classroom. Lemon Bloom walked to the back of the classroom. I expect she's wanting to continue our talk from before.
“That was quite impressive once again Dawn.”
“Thank you.”
“Care to tell me what brought on this sudden improvement?”
I took a deep breath and thought. How was I supposed to tell her how I'm doing magic, or that Starlight Dusk is helping, and is both his own pony and a part of me? I know I explained a bit to her earlier, but how much is appropriate to share?
“Well, this is a bit... difficult to explain.” I say, hoping that it would be enough
“Like I always tell all of you, it never hurts to try!” She grinned, her face strongly reminded me of the best teachers I'd had previously. I decided then on impulse, I should tell her as much as I was able.
“Well, you know that pony you asked about earlier? He is teaching me how to use magic, but somehow,” I pause, taking a breath and letting it out as I feel my tension rising, “he used to be a part of me that became his own pers-, I mean pony, a couple of years ago. He started learning and had access to magic far sooner than I had, though I don't know how, and now he's teaching me while I try to sort out who and what I am, especially now. That of course not trying to answer what I will try to do or become here.”
“I will admit,” Lemon Bloom started, sounding about as hesitant as I felt, “I don't quite understand, but if you can think of a way I can help, you just let me know, ok?” She placed her hoof on my shoulder as the bell rang, signaling the end of our lunch time. Lemon Bloom then headed to the door to welcome her students back in.
Our studies turned to Equestrian history as well as other magically inclined ponies who helped shape or found their society in many ways. I tried to pay attention, but found myself drifting off in thought more than any previous day as I heard the lesson and no explanations of how they did their magic. I filtered what she said, paying most attention when magic was brought up as I tried to puzzle out what would make my own magic more potent or diverse.
The school bell rang, and not soon enough. I left as fast as the crowed halls would allow me, though never appearing to be in a rush. It wasn't long before I went over to the small hill below the castle and stared out at the horizon like before, laying in the grass.
I thought about several things, only lightly, every now and again. Living with ponies as a pony of sorts, how much magic was taken for granted, being a guest at a castle, I could think of worse fates. Still, I wanted to find a way home, if nothing else for silver to have a way back.
I heard some soft steps behind me, and decided to wait to see who it was. I heard the rustling of the grass as somepony plopped down close by.
“Hello Dawn.” Stalwart's familiar voice spoke several feet away.
“Hello Stranger.” I say, looking over at him with a teasing smile.
“Why am I a stranger?” He said before he yawned, “Sorry, I only just got up. How was school?”
“Pretty good. Sorted out some bullying, made a decent light, and can faintly make sounds.” I say, feeling reasonably good, until I remember my goals. My pessimistic side starting to show, “That'll be real flipping useful in helping Silver and I get home.”
“Hey!” Stalwart's voice came firmly, “You're doing fantastic for how little you've been using magic. Just give yourself time!”
“Thanks Stalwart.” I sigh. “I know it'll take time and effort, but I'm worried. I don't know how much time it'll take to get home at this rate. Can I even pick up the pieces if it takes me more than a couple months? It's not just a matter of learning how to use magic, it's the stress of trying to work my job again, or find new work, to get Silver home so he can get to his family, his job, his home...”
“If there's anything you need me to do to help, just let me know.”
“Thanks Stalwart,” I say, still feeling bad that I'm the only one between Silver and I that can help get us home. I then think about how much Stalwart has been around in the last week and a half, and ask, “Why did you decide to help me in the first place?” I quickly add, “I don't mean to be ungrateful, but I don't usually have anyone who tries to do what you have for me like this.”
“Well,” Stalwart said, taking a deep breath. “I knew a pony, back when I was a raw recruit for the royal guard. She often walked my little sister home, my sister was always bullied at school for not being very good at magic. After a while, we started to hang out, but she found a job out in Fillydelphia and moved away before anything serious happened.”
“So basically,” I said as I tried not to snort when I heard the pun on Philadelphia, starting to smile again “I remind you of some pony, so you're trying to pick up where you left off?”
“No! That's not what I-”
“Relax Stalwart, I didn't say it was a bad thing! It's more because she helped your sister and now you want to pass it on right?” I ask gently, “I'm not about to push away your help anytime soon. Besides... It's been fun getting to hang out with you so far. We should probably hang out more often.”
Stalwart smiled, seeming to like what I said, but looked around, shifting like he was uncomfortable. I watched for a little bit before I decided to take things into my own hooves. I stood up, walked over to him, and laid down next to him so we almost touched. He seemed to deliberately be looking away, but I don't understand why.
“Stalwart,” I said, making sure I had his attention first as he turned his head over to look at me, some parts of his furry face being a deeper red, “don't stop helping ponies out, ok?”
“Oh?” I heard him echo, his voice dropping a little bit.“ok.”
“What's wrong?” I asked, it was clear he was disappointed with what I said, so now I wondered what was bothering him.
“Well, you see,” he said, starting to stumble on his words, “I... well,”
Whatever he was going to say was cut off abruptly as Silver flew down and landed nearby. I let out a deep breath quietly as I realized the moment was ruined.
“Hey you two! Been enjoying yourselves long?”
“No, no. I only just woke up, and when I didn't see dawn, I thought I'd go looking for her.” Stalwart answered, blinking a few times and waving a hoof in his direction.
“Didn't see Dawn when you woke up?" Silver exclaimed, almost seeming to take a step back in surprise, "You mean you're sleeping together?!”
“What!? I... SILVER!” I yell at him mortified, going from wide-eyed to hiding my head in the grass beneath my arms as I try to hide my embarrassment at the idea.
“That- That wasn't what I... I mean...” I heard him stutter. His voice almost clearly said he was embarrassed too, though he didn't sound convinced. I looked over to him and saw he was looking away too before looking back at Silver, feeling rather upset at him for suggesting it.
“Well, we should probably go get ready for dinner. It's getting to be about that time, isn't it?”
“All right, I'll meet you two there” Silver said as he started trotting toward the cliff, “Just can't get enough of this view though.”
I watched in horror as he walked to the edge, and then walked straight off of it! My eyes open wide and a shriek escapes my throat before my breathing stopped!
“What is it?” Silver suddenly appears again above the cliff, causing me to sigh heavily and then start to breathe, “I have wings remember?”
“Sorry... I forgot. Ugh... what a heart attack.” I say laying my head down on the grass again as I feel a comforting hoof on my back from Stalwart.
"I'll see you back at the palace!" he called down as he started flying higher, "Don't get lost along the way!"
I take another deep breath and start to try to stand, not feeling great yet, but definitely eager to get away from the cliffside, Stalwart quickly getting up and trotting over to my side.
“Hey, are you ok?”
“Yeah, I just didn't expect that at all.” I say slowly before muttering, “Stupid Silver.”
Stalwart made a small noise, which I could only presume he meant in agreement as we began to walk up toward the castle slowly, mostly in silence until Stalwart spoke again.
“Dawn? Are you doing anything in a couple nights?”
“Nothing in particular. Why do you ask?”
“Well, I was hoping we could go,” he hesitated slightly, and I slowed my walk down to slow with him, “maybe get something to eat in town, show you around some places?”
“What, a no studying night?” I joke in his direction.
“No, no studying, not till we're done at least.” He said, sounding a bit more confident and flashing a smirk in my direction.
“Interesting,” I reply, feeling he has something in particluar he wants to do. Well, why not? “Ok! Sure, let's do it then.”
“Great!” He exclaimed loudly before coughing a little bit and finishing our walk to the tower, “I mean... I look forward to it.”
I chuckled at his antics and walked up the stairway alone. He's definitely up to something, but as long as I got to have some fun, that's what would matter. As I entered into the room, I took my customary seat across from Luna, and our food was served.
We ate our dinner together, and by the time we finished eating, I was feeling much more relaxed again. I was even able to laugh at myself when the subject of my little scare came up from earlier about forgetting Silver had wings.
“It sounds like you're getting quite the hang of having wings then.” Celestia smiled.
“Yeah, things are going pretty good now. Good enough that that Breezy bets on me if any races come up.” Silver laughed before a saw him pull his head back slightly, “Though I still have some issues with tight turns, but I'm getting it down. At this rate, Breezy'll probably be out of tricks to show me.”
“That's great to hear,” Celestia said, “Many pegasi love to fly, and you're making great progress if Breezy is running out of things to teach!”
“Yeah, but I'd still appreciate less scares in the future.” I chuckled, “I'm really starting to make progress with magic now. Between talking with Stalwart and talking with Starlight- Oh! That's right!”
I turn my head to the side expectantly and watched with a small smile as Starlight Dusk walked forward from a shadow and sat down to my left. There was no flickering of shadow-flame on his body at all, though he was just slightly transparent, he was still as solid as he had gotten so far.
“That's significant progress indeed!” Celestia nodded.
“That's just the beginning so far... I'm finally able to make a noticeable light with my horn, lift heavier things than before, as well as barely play music from memory. I know it's not what I want to use my magic for, but if it's going to help me get us home, then I'll master it as fast as I'm able!”
“That is an excellent attitude to have.” Luna nodded appreciatively.
“Quite! Perhaps you would be interested in taking on a new challenge?” Celestia smirked, making my bravado start to waiver. I hoped I didn't get too in over my head.
“Well, what did you have in mind?” I asked cautiously.
“Dawn, you just said you wanted to see about repairing Silver's mirror, and other artifacts in general, right?” Celestia asked, and seeing me nod, I listened further, “Well, I just happen to have something you could study and experiment with.”
She floated an object into view and set it down in the middle of the table. I looked curiously at the dulled golden-colored cylinder sitting half a cup's height, yet appeared to be hollow to where it could be worn on one of my legs. Various markings or scribbles seemed to be etched into various parts of the metal, otherwise, I would have mistaken it for a paperweight of some kind.
“Princess Cadence just brought it to me last night. We believe it is an old token of Starswirl the Bearded. We are not sure how it made its way to the Crystal Kingdom, but its clear from where it was found that it predates the rule of Sombra, the tyrant who used to control it before its recent liberation. It no longer works as it once did, so it should be safe for your studies. If you feel you could learn from this, it is yours.”
I stare rather dumbfounded at the object, skepticism slightly apparent on my face as I hear her claim it's from the very pony we were learning about in school. In spite of my reservations, I don't wish to reject a gift of this magnitude either. I slowly lift it up with my magic and set it down between myself and Silver, so we could both see it before I responded.
“I... I would be honored to study it, even try to restore it if I can. I just need to know two things before examining further. Do we know what it was supposed to do and why do we think it was Starswirl's?”
“You see this symbol in the center? Its rather worn down now, but this is Starswirl's signature. His seal of creation. And while we are not sure what it was originally intended to do, it is reminiscent of an assistance bracelet I had known Starswirl to make as rare gifts. His bracelets were items that aided in a unicorns ability to manipulate other objects or otherwise enhance their magics. Some of his bracelets were even able to grant non unicorns the ability to use a specific type of magic Starswirl would have imbued into it during its creation. So the possibilities of what this item may have once done are vast.”
“Interesting.” I say quietly. Celestia saying she had 'known' Starswirl to make these gifts almost sounded like she knew him, but that was impossible! He lived a very long time ago, and I can't picture her to mean it that way. Perhaps she meant she knew from her own studies then.
I return my attention to the relic, trying to make note of each marking, getting several ideas together to guess what they might mean or if there might be any gaps in the relic. It's very clear however that it is going to need a lot more study of translation materials or some kind of symbolic magic to be able to unravel this mystery.
“So non unicorns can use magic too then?” Silver asked, seeming to lean into the table more than he usually did, eyes unwavering.
“The methods are few are far between, but it is possible.”
“That's interesting.” Silver leaned back from the table, clearly getting his own ideas. “Very interesting.”
We finished our conversation with more expectations of what is to come for our studies before we left the princesses to their tasks. I went to my room and began looking over the relic as Starlight and I studied it and tried to take our time in absorbing the details we could glean from it before going to bed.