Sumac, having recovered some of himself, sat in the middle of the living room floor with his nose in a book. Reading and concentration were still a little difficult, but he could do so with some effort. The book had a simple one word title—Imagination!—and was a primer for magical theory written for little aspiring unicorns who would one day become wizards.
Beside him, Boomer slept, sprawled on her back on a small, square cushion. Her thin, slight torso rose and fell with every breath and her tail twitched as she dreamed. Things were beginning to feel normal again, not just in his head, but in his life as well. Sure, he had gone off to visit an evil castle and he had borne witness to an army of the undead while making a sworn enemy, but he was home now. Lemon Hearts’ house was home. The wagon was parked in the back yard. He had his own bed upstairs. He was happy here, and this was home.
In the kitchen, both Lemon Hearts and Trixie were assembling a window garden rack, a vertical garden that fit in the window. The plan was to grow herbs and small vegetables, like radishes and cucumbers through the winter. Sumac could hear both of them talking about shortages of various things and he heard mention that this would be a lean winter for many.
He wasn’t too concerned. He and Trixie survived lean times. His whole foalhood was nothing but lean times. He was used to eating lots of root vegetables and simple foods. For him, not much would change, but he supposed that it would be difficult for others who were used to nicer things.
The calm was interrupted by a knock on the door. Lemon Hearts lifted her head and so did Trixie. Sumac too, turned to look at the door and he closed his book. It was Lemon Hearts who hurried over to the door and pulled it open.
Much to Sumac’s surprise, Moondancer stood in the doorway. She nodded at Lemon Hearts, saying nothing, and stepped inside. There was something about Moondancer’s expression that made Sumac feel a little worried. He looked at her and she looked at him and nopony said anything, right up to the point where it began to feel awkward.
“Lemongrass tea,” Moondancer said to Lemon Hearts, breaking the silence.
“Right away, Boss!” Lemon Hearts sprang away at Moondancer’s command, off to make tea, her hooves clattering over the floor and her fluffy tail streaming out behind her as she shot Trixie a worried look.
“Sumac Apple, Twilight sent me.” Moondancer took a few steps into the room until she was near Sumac, then sat down on the floor beside him. She glanced at Boomer, adjusted her glasses, and then focused her full attention on Sumac. “There are things we need to understand and Twilight wants to make absolutely certain that you are okay after the events of last night.”
“I’m fine. I just have a little headache, that’s all.” Sumac, having seen Moondancer adjusting her glasses, felt the need to fix his own, so he did. As he did that, he watched as Moondancer’s eyebrow furrowed. She looked worried and he didn’t know how to reassure her. He began to suspect that he was about to be poked and prodded, because Moondancer seemed more like a curious doctor at the moment.
“How is Twilight?” Trixie asked.
“She’s fine,” Moondancer replied in a brusque manner. She returned her attention to Sumac and cleared her throat. “Sumac, Twilight asked me to use a mild hypnosis spell to help you remember everything and sort everything out. She shared some insight with you because of your magic, and she suspects that you’ve tapped into some of her knowledge as well.”
“I think I did,” Sumac admitted.
“Do I have your permission to use magic to help you remember?” Moondancer asked.
After glancing over at Trixie for a moment to see how she was reacting, Sumac looked up at Moondancer and nodded. “Sure, I don’t mind.”
“This is a very mild spell. It will clear away clutter and distraction. It will make your thoughts clear and all of the right words will just spring to your lips without effort. It is a divination spell that offers clarity of mind. It has no side effects or lingering aftereffects.” Moondancer reached up with her hoof and began to brush away some lint and stray purple hairs on her sweater. “Any questions?”
“Nope.” Sumac waited, not sure what to expect. He heard water running in the kitchen.
“Good. We shall begin. When I am finished with the spell, I shall say the words, ‘gorilla cookie’ and you will fall into a perfect state of clarity, Sumac Apple. Do you understand?”
Feeling somewhat excited about all of this, Sumac nodded. He wondered what a gorilla cookie was. In a box of circus crackers, there were no gorillas. His brain, now functioning, began to think all sorts of thoughts about what a gorilla cookie might be, what it might look like, and even what it might taste like.
Moondancer’s horn glowed and filled the living room with a brilliant light. “Gorilla cookie.”
Right away, Sumac’s mind went blank. All thoughts of gorilla cookies vanished, all of his curiousity was suspended, and he found himself in a perfect state of focus. He stared into Moondancer’s eyes and noticed that her glasses were dirty, speckled with spots, but he was not distracted by it in the slightest.
“First things first, Sumac. Twilight knows that you drew from her knowledge. Do you know what you are? Do you understand your magic and it’s purpose? Do you know the name for what you are?” Moondancer stared back into Sumac’s bright green eyes.
“Sorcerer,” Sumac replied in a low voice.
“Hmm.” Moondancer pulled out a notepad from her bookbag and began to scribble something down with a battered looking pencil that had seen better days. “Correct.” She leaned down a little bit until she was almost snoot to snoot with the colt. “There hasn’t been a known sorcerer for about four hundred years or so, Sumac. Each of them are a little different, but the effect is the same. They give power to those around them and gain magical knowledge as they do so. Your gift of sorcery is triggered by zap apples.”
“Yes.” Sumac nodded.
“Last night, you gained quite an education. No doubt, you have all sorts of stuff floating around in your mind.” Moondancer’s voice was filled with concern. “Twilight, Starlight, and I are all worried about what might have been left behind when Catrina tapped into your power.”
Thinking was effortless, Sumac didn’t have to dredge the depths of his mind at all to answer. “Catrina was using a chain lightning spell powered by dark magic and she also used a disintegration spell. She was drawing power off of me. I didn’t realise it then, but I realise it now. She was strong, too strong, and me being there with Twilight and the others put everypony in danger.”
“Well, that’s a matter of debate,” Moondancer said in a somewhat dismissive voice. “Had you not been there, the mission would have been a spectacular failure. Catrina drawing off of your power was unexpected and Twilight didn’t anticipate that enemies in close quarters would also benefit from your gift.” Moondancer paused, then asked, “Do you understand the nature of dark magic?”
“It is fueled by rage, by hatred, by bad things. Catrina focused upon all of her bad feelings and her hatred of me to overcharge her spells with dark magic.” Sumac let his mind work for a moment as he chewed on his lip, then continued, “My encounter with Catrina left behind a bunch of things in my mind, dark things. I don’t like them.”
Moondancer’s ears drooped. “That’s what I was afraid of, and Twilight too.” Eyes narrowing, she lifted up a front hoof and began to scratch her chin. “Sumac, I am one of the few ponies allowed to study dark magic and hexes, so that we might understand them better. I am trying to build up a core group of spells that can be used to defend one’s self against hexes, curses, and dark magic. The work is slow going.”
“And you want me to help you.” Sumac did not look away.
“Just an hour a day is all I ask—”
“I have archery classes in the afternoon on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.”
“Of course.” Moondancer smiled. “We’ll do it in the hour just before lunch. Now, to make things perfectly clear, we’re not going to be doing dark magic, you and I. We’re going to use our imaginations to see if we can make counterspells, counterhexes, and countercurses.”
“Okay.” Sumac’s brain suppressed his excitement and pushed away the distraction.
“On Mondays and Fridays though, we’re going to use the zap apple tincture, so that you can tap into my magic and by extension, my magical understanding, and I’ll be able tap into yours. Just Mondays and Fridays though, we wouldn’t want you messing up in archery.”
Sumac looked over at Trixie and saw something on her face. Was it pride? It might be. He was too focused on Moondancer to think about it too much. He looked up at Moondancer and saw kindness on her face.
“Sumac?”
“Yes?”
“What do you remember about the chain lightning?” Moondancer asked.
“Everything,” Sumac replied. Feeling the need to say more, the words lept up onto his tongue and were ready. “I understand the thinking that makes it happen, the flow, but I don’t understand how it works, only that it works.”
Head bobbing up and down, Moondancer’s ears flopped about. “Yep, that’s how sorcerers function, from what I understand. They can mimic what is required to make a spell happen, even if they don’t fully understand the underlying mechanics of the spell being cast. Twilight has a touch of sorcery about her, if she watches a spell being cast, she can pick up on it pretty fast, like Rarity’s gem finding spell, but Twilight is not a true sorcerer. It is merely an aspect of having a talent for magic.”
Lemon Hearts set down a saucer and a teacup beside Moondancer, then pranced away.
“Sumac, can you show me the lightning spell?” Moondancer asked. “Without the dark magic aspect, of course.”
“It’s dangerous.” Sumac’s eyes narrowed. “I might hurt you or others.”
“Oh, you can’t hurt me.” Moondancer grinned. “Trust me, I came prepared. Show me, Sumac. Just a little demonstration. Just a little bit of lightning, surely you can do that, even without the tincture.”
Looking up, Sumac knew that he could. His mind was clear and the knowledge of how to send out streams of crackling lightning formed in his mind like a pleasant, wonderful daydream. He closed his eyes and focused on the thoughts as they coalesced into a spell. He drew upon the aether and he felt himself charging up with arcane energy. He opened his eyes and saw that there was a glowing bubble around both him and Moondancer. Filled with power, he felt his mane stand up and static crackled in his tail.
As the first streams of arcing electricity lept from his horn, powerful cancellation magic flew from Moondancer’s horn. The spells collided with a terrific amount of energy, there was an almost deafening crackle-pop brought on by the aetherfire burning, and then the most miraculous thing happened.
Sumac’s lightning bolts turned into butterflies, which circled around him and Moondancer. The lightning died with a fizzle and a few sparks lept from Sumac’s horn. His mane was a frightful mess that stuck out in every direction. Little curls of smoke rose from his horn tip. While his magic was impressive, he was in awe of Moondancer’s ability. She had turned crackling electric death into butterflies, one of which popped like a soap bubble as he watched.
“I have a knack for counterspells,” Moondancer said in a low voice to Sumac. “That seems to be my gift. I can’t be sure. I don’t actually know what my true talent is, but Twilight and I both agree it is linked to magic.”
The protective magic sphere melted away and Sumac drew in a deep breath. Right away, he understood the implications of what was being said. Time spent with Moondancer would give him an amazing knowledge of counterspells. He was being offered an opportunity of a lifetime.
“Now, Sumac, I am going to say the magic words once more, and when I do, the spell will be broken and you will be a normal colt once again.”
Hearing these words, Sumac nodded in reply.
“Gorilla cookie…”