The week leading up to Midnight’s first magic lesson was enlightening in many ways for the ex-human.
For instance the unicorn colt learned, that Silvertongue was a part time actor in Canterlot Theater. Midnight learned that when the older colt returned to the orphanage on a Tuesday evening with a small smile and levitated out of his saddlebags tickets for everypony to a spectacle he was going to play in.
That also helped Midnight understand the older colt’s cutie mark a little better, a cavalier hat with a quill in place of the standard feather.
It turned out that this sort of thing was normal as Mrs. Tender Rose encouraged everypony to go, to show their support for Silvertongue. So on Wednesday evening they all went to watch quite the nice spectacle about a young prince that inherited the throne while unprepared for such a task. It was a tale of a young king trying to prove his worth, but making the wrong decisions in his haste to do so. Midnight was a bit surprised that a play written by a pony could have a less than happy ending, with the young king exiled to a desert island.
But all in all it was a well spent evening and he learned that while Silvertongue was quite the actor and could passionately talk about anything to do with theater, he was a bit snobbish and aloof any other time.
In that week Midnight also finally got the courage to ask Summer Dew about her cutie mark, which lead to a very interesting conversation.
On a rainy Thursday afternoon, just after dinner, Midnight approached Summer Dew that sat alone at one of the small tables in the day room, reading a book with some arcane symbols on its cover.
“Um, Summer I have a question?” Midnight asked as he sat opposite to the older filly. With a sigh she lowered her book held in a light blue magical aura before looking at him directly.
“Yes Midnight?” While her tone was slightly annoyed she didn't show any other signs of being truly bothered by his presence. Besides, everypony was in a bit of a sour mood after being totally drenched by the cool rain in their way back from school.
“Why your cutie mark is a prism?” And that what it was, a silvery triangle with a rainbow colored line running through it at an angle. After hearing his question she perked up visibly.
“Well I’m surprised you know what it is at all.” Summer Dew said looking at him with a mixture of surprise and amusement. “Somepony is reading way ahead of his school work.”
“I’m just curious.” Midnight mumbled out defensively, while he would never admit it outwardly it was beginning to bother him that after only a week he was beginning to be seen as an egghead and called as such behind his back by some of his new classmates. “That’s not exactly my fault that I had years of education already… And I have no desire to dumb down my school work for appearances sake.”
“Allright, alright don’t get so mopey about it. It’s a good thing.” Summer said trying to sound apologetic. “Anyway, my cutie mark is a prism because I’m really good with illusions especially the kind that manipulates the light around me.”
“And how does that work exactly?” The white unicorn colt asked with a thoughtful frown. To his immense irritation the school librarian said ‘No’ every time he asked about books related to magical theory saying that he didn’t have an approval from their magic’s instructor.
“The theory would go totally over your head squirt. Let’s just say that there is a big difference between making somepony see something where there is nothing and just altering what a pony can already see. Like this...” With a flash of light blue magic, that made Midnight blink and rub his eyes to stop seeing white spots, Summer Dew enveloped herself in one of her favorite spells.
“Oi! What’s with the light show?!” Brass Bit’s annoyed call sounded from behind Midnight.
When Midnight could finally see properly what he saw made his jaw drop. Where the sand coated filly was earlier, now he could see only a disturbance in the air in a rough outline of a pony. Somehow her spell made her almost invisible.
“Cool, huh?” Summer’s disembodied voice said.
“Show off!” Came Cherry’s amused shout from the other side of the room, along with a perfectly aimed pillow that hit the see-through older filly in the head with a soft ‘omph’ and it was all it took to disrupted the spell.
“It was cool. But you can’t move too much when you’re like that, right?” Midnight voiced his thoughts in an excited voice as he watched how the spell almost literally flowed off Summer.
“You catch on quickly.” The older unicorn filly said, again surprised. ”Yeah, it’s something I’m working on but it’s hard, that’s why I would like to not be disturbed again.” After that Summer once more levitated the book she had been reading before Midnight interrupted her, returning to reading it while frowning in deep concentration.
However what truly and pleasantly surprised Midnight during that week was the company of Trixie. For the most part it was a silent company, but a company nonetheless. It was at times mind-boggling for the human turned pony, how this silent filly would grow up into the mare he knew from the shows. There were glimpses of her future self, mostly in class when called to the front by Mrs. Note but that was it.
There was only one, significant downside to having Trixie walking around with him during school and after...
And right now on an especially nice September Friday, while their group was walking back to the orphanage from school on the sidewalk packed with ponies, Midnight could feel his right eye twitch violently.
He saw Dandelion, Rumble and Bumble making - as he dubbed them - “kissy faces” in the corner of his vision and he stubbornly refused to acknowledge them by looking at the trio directly. Trixi just... strutted on his right side with chin held high also ignoring the three earth ponies.
It was when the orphanage building came into view that Rumble decided to add sound effects to their mocking, and that got a reaction out of Midnight.
“Gah! Would you stop that already, it's annoying! And we’re not kissing!” The white unicorn colt spun on his hooves to jab the closest of the trio with his hoof and shouted making his voice sound a bit shrill.
When Midnight saw everypony in their vicinity had stopped when he started shouting and all ponies present were looking at him with some measure of amusement, he felt a blush starting to bloom on his cheeks.
The situation was not helped by the twin’s snickering or Dandelion’s muzzle splitting grin.
“I… You... “ The black maned colt’s ears folded back. “Did I just got played by three kids?!”
With an indignant huff Midnight turned around and started walking, trying to look composed and uncaring. However it was all ruined by the still present blush.
“I will get you for this…” Midnight mumbled loudly enough to be heard by the trio while not looking at them. A quick glance to his right showed him that Trixie also wasn't unaffected, she too was blushing. “You could have helped me there…” He almost whispered trying to not be overheard by the three earth ponies that were still snickering.
“Trixie didn't want to be more embarrassed than she is right now!” The blue coated fillie’s whisper was somewhat forceful as she shot him an annoyed look.
“What? It wasn’t exactly my fault.” After hearing Midnight’s retort, she just graced him with an irritated exhale and quickened her walk.
It was only a matter of minutes before their group made it back to orphanage, from there the rest of the day followed a familiar by now routine. Eat dinner, do homework, read something extra or just laze around until night came.
When Midnight went to bed that night he was almost too excited with the prospect of the upcoming magic lesson to fall asleep. He stared at the moon through the window for almost an hour, thinking about the past week before sleep took him.
Midnight was at once excited and nervous. He ate his breakfast of toasts with jam and drank his glass of milk faster than normal. While he sat at the table, across from Trixie, his right hind leg tapped the chair rapidly.
When both waited for the older unicorn orphans to join them on their walk to their extra lesson, the once human paced around the entrance hall, a habit of his when nervous. Being on the move helped him with calming himself.
“It’s going to be alright. I can do it…” Occasionally he would mumble such self assurances.
And it was beginning to get on the blue coated filly's nerves, if her growing scowl was anything to go by.
“You will be fine, squirt.” Summer Dew’s voice was an unexpected disturbance for Midnight and it made him jump up in fright. The older unicorn filly snorted with amusement. “Ok, we’re leaving.” She said when Silvertongue joined them a moment later.
Saturday morning’s turned out to be rather peaceful at half past eight. On their way to the school they passed only the post ponies and a few guards. The short trip was spent mostly in silence, only disturbed by the sound of hooves hitting the pavement.
On place they went directly to the back of the school where the hoofball pitch was. As it turned out they were the last ones that got there.
The two things that Midnight noticed right away was the number of other colts and fillies. If he had to guess, there were probably more than fifty of them all in all ages.
“Everypony! We’re all a bit early I see, so let’s not waste time by standing around. Find your year group and we will begin!” A strong voice shouted and drew Midnight’s attention. In the middle of the pitch a group of ten unicorns stood, what made them stand out were their white or gray robes.
“Come on.” Trixie said almost dragging him towards the youngest group. From her voice he knew she was eager to learn whatever they taught here. When they joined the other six year olds, Midnight counted only eight of them in total. They had just enough time to say ‘Hi’ before their teacher showed up.
“Good to see you again, fillies and colts. We will start where we left of, trying to access your Mana Pool. I hope that you remember the gist of what we talked about on our first lesson, if not just ask. Remember, it’s not embarrassing to ask even a silly question when it comes to magic.” Their teacher turned out to be the pony that shouted at the beginning. His blue eyes focused quickly on Midnight. “Ah, a new student! Let me introduce myself then. I’m Magister Heartfire and you are?”
Midnight just stared at the unicorn stallion with a dull orange coat, that had an eyesore of a mane. In the young unicorn’s opinion a mix of neon orange and bright red, with bright yellow highlights was almost painful to look at. However with the spiked and unruly manecut, it made it look almost like fire so it was somehow justified… What was interesting, was that this pony wore a gray cloak with red trims. It was open and formfitting on the front but it reached almost to the ground at the back, hiding his hind legs and tail. He also wore a matching red vest under it.
“Midnight Blackmane, sir.”
“Nice too meet you. It’s your first magic lesson?”
“Yes.”
“Well then, wait a few minutes. I will check on your classmates and then we can talk about some very basic things you will need to know.” And so, Midnight sat down on the grass with a small sigh and watched as Heartfire approached everypony, talking quietly with them for a bit and moving on.
He watched as they closed their eyes and concentrated on… something. Sometimes a few weak sparks of magic flying of their horn were the results. Some just fidgeted on the spot after a few minutes, before calming down once more.
After less than half an hour the adult unicorn took him a bit to the side and both sat down.
“There's no need to be nervous Midnight.” Heartfire said with a gentle tone, seeing his pupil’s tense body posture.
“But what, if I don’t do anything? I mean, magic…” Words failed Midnight. He really couldn't convey his worries without outing himself as a human turned pony and he wanted to avoid that. He didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention to himself.
“Yes, magic. It’s a wonderful thing that too many of us take for granted.” Heartfire said with a bit of melancholy in his voice, before he smiled. “But don’t worry, I will make a proper unicorn out of you if you allow me and above all else... if you just believe in yourself.” The older stallion poked his chest gently with his hoof.
“Uh, ok.” Midnight really didn't know what to say at this point, he was somewhat moved by the older stallions words. “So I just have to believe in myself? I can almost imagine him saying something like: Do or do not, there is no trying…”
“Right let’s start with some very basic theory. Three terms you have to remember after today. Source or Core as some call it and Mana Pool. The Source is the origin of your magic, it will grow with you, it can be trained like a muscle and like a muscle it can be damaged. That is why I will ask you not to train by yourself for now, have some older unicorn to assist you and help you if you overexert yourself.” The brightly colored stallion’s voice took on a serious tone. Midnight just nodded in confirmation. “Mana Pool on the other hand is the… volume of magic you can hold at any time. It is also from where the magical energy is taken to cast spells most of the time. The Mana Pool can also grow like the Source if you train enough but curiously it is also tied to an extent with a unicorn’s physical condition... so don't skip Physical Education. Do you have any questions so far?”
“No, I understand it. So the third thing?”
“The third thing you need to know after today is the concept of an Aura.” Suddenly Heartfire’s body was covered with a red haze, generating a burst of hot air. As quickly as it started it disappeared. “That was me flaring my Aura. Can you guess what that all was about?”
Midnight frowned in thought. Princess Celestia also talked about Auras a week ago…
“That was your… magic?” The unicorn colt said uncertainly.
“Very good. An Aura is the… active representation of one's Mana Pool. All magical beings generate an Aura mostly specific to them. It can tell you a lot about what kind of magic a being possesses, how powerful it is and if you’re experienced or it’s your talent it can also tell you some things about the being itself. So what do you think you can tell me about my magic after that little demonstration?” Heartfire looked down at his newest student encouragingly.
Midnight frowned in thought…
“So… the hot air. You... like fire magic?” Keeping in thought his teacher's appearance Midnight was quite certain his guess was correct.
“Good again, fire related magic is my specialty.” The older unicorn smiled brilliantly. “Any questions now?”
“One actually.” Seeing that encouraging look again, Midnight began to talk. “You said we all have an Aura, but you had to flare yours so I could feel it. But I’ve met Princess Celestia and I think I felt her Aura… just like that. What’s the difference sir?”
“That’s a big question for a young colt like you.” Heartfire smiled pleasantly surprised. ”The difference is simple. One of Princess Celestia’s older titles is Avatar of the Sun. It’s almost literal Midnight. You felt her Aura because she is impossibly powerful... so powerful in fact that she has to restrain her power and even then a lot of it is leaking out. Had she not restrained herself, you wouldn't be able to feel her Aura no matter what you tried. Her Mana Pool is so vast that our mortal magical senses wouldn't be able to comprehend it.” Here Heartfire paused and chuckled ominously. “However at that point it wouldn't matter. If for whatever reason Princess Celestia was to loosen her hold on her power, ponykind would have to find a new capital…”
Midnight gulped nervously, that were interesting news to say the least. He took a breath.
“Well, sir... is there more theory for today?”
“Not really, no. Remind me at the end of the day to sign your library permission. For now let's get to the practical part, your first step into the wider magical world.” The orange coated unicorn grinned. “Your first task is getting in touch with your magic. For that I would ask you to close your eyes, sit still and try to search for a feeling that you think best suits you, it can be anything really. An emotion or a physical sensation. You will know when you find it, when you will feel it spreading across your body but mostly towards your horn.”
“Nothing else for today?” Midnight asked, finding a comfortable sitting position.
“If you manage that, I will see your horn glowing with your magic and will come back to you with the next exercise. And I don’t mean a few sparks escaping, but a solid glow. Don't worry if you don’t get it right on this first lesson or even the second one.” And with those words Heartfire stood up and walked towards the other fillies and colts under his care.
Midnight took a deep breath and let it out as he closed his eyes. “So basically I have to meditate on what feels right to me… I can see how that can be difficult for a young child…”
Luckily he was no child, at least not mentally. Breathing in through the nose, breathing out through the mouth… keeping up a steady rhythm. That was what his world began to shrink to.
Then he tried to think, to feel basic things like happiness, content, pride, anger… and so forth. When nothing of that sort managed to produce an effect he moved to the more tangible feelings.
Warmth was the first, it wasn't difficult with the late autumn sun warming his back.
The weak wind caressing his muzzle brought inspiration to try and feel everything connected to air. That didn't work either.
Then an idea struck.
To be honest he never liked summer and what it brought… so that’s why he tried imagining himself during winter. With the crisp, cold air. With the falling snow caressing his face in it’s own stinging way. He imagined himself during his one time trip to the mountains of his country in December.
That’s when something cool, cold even began to slowly spread through him, starting right above his heart.
Midnight frowned, it was so slow. As if something was missing… He was on the right track though, so held to the feeling of coldness and searched further.
He didn’t know how long it took, but he stumbled upon a feeling that quickened the flow of magic.
He really didn’t like flying, or swimming for that matter. The feeling of solid earth beneath his feet was what he was most comfortable with. It was stable, solid… unyielding and slow to change. It pulled everything to it and held it.
It was curious for Midnight that it was that… heaviness that allowed the final push. He could feel an itch and a slight pressure in an appendage he didn’t truly know he had. He risked a peek and opened his eyes to look at his horn as best as he could.
Two things startled him. One, his horn was glowing with a bright blue glow mixed with wisps of black. The second thing was Heartfire staring at him thoughtfully, with the rest of his age group behind his back… also starring.
Then his stomach growled and he realised how thirsty he was.
“Uh, so… I made it?” Midnight looked around, only now noticing that they were the last ones left on the pitch.
“Yes you did.” Heartfire said with a serious tone looking at him with a blatantly calculating look, then he clapped his hoofs. “But that’s enough for today, you spent well over six hours meditating. Our lesson officially ended and hour ago.”
Midnight eyes widened. “Six hours? No wonder my legs feel so heavy…” He just prayed that he wouldn’t get a cramp as he slowly stood up and swayed a bit. Almost instantly a blue coated body supported him from his left.
“Thanks, Trixi.”
“You will have to say Trixi how you did it!”
“Can that wait until after dinner?” Midnight asked with a sheepish smile.
“An excellent idea! Now then, off you all go. We will see each other in two weeks. And remember, if you want to practice find an older unicorn to look after you. Oh, and here’s your library permission Midnight. Goodbye.” A slip of paper shrouded in red haze of magic landed in front of the young unicorn before Heartifier bowed slightly, sent a last glance towards Midnight and began walking away. The rest of their group followed his lead and began walking towards their homes.
“So where’s the rest of our group?” Midnight didn’t feel the need to specify which group he had in mind, as the two of them began the slow trek to the orphanage after Trixi stored the new permission slip in her saddlebags as he hadn't taken his.
“They left an hour ago. Didn’t want to stay, they were quite certain that with how stubbornly you sat there you would do it.”
When they reached the street Midnight was walking on his own.
“Thank you for staying Trixi.” The white unicorn colt glanced to his left.
“Hmm… Trixi hopes for some help with her magic.” She glanced at him with a small smile.
“Sure, sure… Just after dinner.” His stomach growling forced an amused snort out of the blue filly.
When they finally returned to the orphanage, Midnight instantly stormed the dining room where he ate two full servings... Which later lead to him lying in a overate daze in his bed, and an irritated filly smacking his library permission onto his nose… with her hoof. Which left him with a stuffed to the brim stomach and a sore nose.
Dandelion at least was having fun watching his misery, the withering glare he sent his roommate only managed to amuse the earth pony further.
But in the end it was a price Midnight was paying without protest, after all he now had the comfort of the cold, heavy feeling he now recognized as his magic.