Taking A Stand

by ShadeJak

Magic For Dummies (Kyle's Dream)

I opened my eyes and found myself in a beautiful field. Birds chirped here and there, the gentle breeze blew around me. As I tried to get up, I realized that I was still very much a pink unicorn mare. Sighing, I looked down and noticed I was one a red and white picnic blanket. “It’s like some kind of weird dream that won’t end…” I muttered.

“Hey, cheer up, picnics are great to get away from it all!” A familiar voice said. Familiar in the sense that I’ve been using it for the past few days.

“Guess I should have expected you.” I said, smiling a little. “I guess you already saw what happened to Stephanie, huh?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m glad she’s still okay, though. Both of them, I mean… Flitter’s one of the sweetest ponies, she usually foalsat Rumble for Thunderlane.” Amethyst replied. “Bit on the feminine side, though. Dunno if that clashes with Stephanie’s tastes.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Steph’s tough when she’s gotta be, she had to be really, but she’s always been the sweetest girlfriend I could ever ask for. Gotta say, her decking that stupid protestor was priceless!” I said with a laugh. “Speaking of that, I’m way serious about becoming Mare Do Well… with or without your help.”

The other unicorn pondered that for a moment, and floated a sandwich up to herself and took a bite from it. “Really, now?” She asked. “I guess it’s probably best I do what I can for you… wouldn’t want either of us getting hurt. I’ll be happy to help out in any way I can!”

“Well, then you can help with my telekinesis?” I asked.

“And other things.” Amethyst said with a hoofwave.

“Wait, I thought you didn’t have much range in magic use.”

“Actually, Kyle, I do. The whole transfer across time and space and winding up sharing my body with you kinda… messed up my mind a bit. I wasn’t remembering a lot of things right away, thoughts kinda… scattered, I guess. You know those times where you remember something, then when that moment it’s useful comes up you don’t remember it at all, or forget about it completely? Something like that only more severe.” The other unicorn explained to me. “The truth is, I went to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns… and I even had Lyra as a classmate!” She said with a smirk.

“Bet she was kind of a weirdo.” I replied.

“Heh, prone to snarky remarks like me. Maybe we’re not as different as I thought.” Amethyst said. “But yeah, Lyra can be… eccentric at times… not to mention she still owes me five bits.”

“I see... so… what do you know then?” I asked.

“Well, telekinesis for one thing, and I remembered I do actually know teleportation and magic bolts! A few other things but I’d need books and stuff to teach you that and I kinda doubt you have around here so we're just gonna have to stick with those basics.” She explained. “Also, my skill with 'em's not really for sorcery or combat; more just basic self-defense. You never know when you need it… I mean I’m not a Royal Guard or anything like dad was, so you can’t expect much in the way of fancier weaponized magic or combat spells like lightning or shields.”

“I see… so yours is more like mace or a taser?” I asked.

“A what?” Amethyst asked.

“Mace is like a really spicy spray you put in someone’s face if they’re attacking you. Burns their senses and hurts like hell if what they say is true. A taser is a small boxlike thing you press a button and it shocks a person if you touch them with it. People… use them for defense against dangerous people so they can put them down long enough to get away.” I explained.

“I see… well yeah, the strength of my magic bolts are about… that level I guess at best.” Amethyst said, rubbing her chin with her hoof as she glanced to the side.

“Looks like I’ll just have to get creative then. I mean, the authorities are kinda against unicorns weaponizing magic, and probably weather manipulation that pegasi can do. Heroes in comics, though, they always found ways around it. They’d get creative with their powers, and can still kick butt, and Mare Do Well’s gotta be like that.” I said with a smirk.

“Well, at the Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns we get a lowdown on magic and understanding it, studying its history and practicing and all that, but being able to learn the bigger spells like Twilight did takes a lot of dedication on a pony’s own time, and a lot of books we probably don’t have available here.” Amethyst explained with a sheepish laugh.

“I see… I guess like Harry Potter or something?” I asked, earning another puzzled look from the unicorn mare and realizing she’d probably not know who that was. “Oh, right. You probably don’t know anything about that. It’s a book and movie series, about a boy wizard who goes to a school to learn magic.”

“Humans learning magic?” Amethyst asked.

“Well, not for real, just in stories. Magic and monsters and stuff here… aren’t real, they’re creatures in folklore. A lot of the stuff from your show.” I explained.

“I admit… I’ve been meaning to ask about that...” The unicorn said.

Oh… right… wonderful.

“How is it here I’m in some kind of… what did you call it, television program like some made-up character?” She asked. “I don’t get it, I feel as real as anything and I can remember all I’ve done, but… then how is all this possible?”

I came over and put my hoof… her hoof? My hoof? We were the same pony right now, but that was probably beside the point. I put my hoof on her shoulder and managed a smile.

“I saw a tv series about superheroes, they ended up in a parallel world that looked just like a comic book one of the heroes read. They theorized that both worlds were real, like alternate realities. See, we’re both real but exist in different worlds… well, till now I guess… but basically, one thing exists in another form somewhere else, your world exists as a TV show here, so maybe the show’s creator and writers… sort of could sense the things that went on in your world, and took them for creative ideas and expressed it as entertainment here, so it’s sorta like a way that till now was how your world interacted with ours.” I said, hoping to avert an existential breakdown on my double’s part. I honestly had no idea if this was the right answer but I was happy to go with whatever seemed plausible. “You’re clearly real, though, so I guess it’s all true! Somehow I guess the realities crossed in a weird way.”

“I… guess I can believe that.” Amethyst said, smiling a little. “I’d hate to think I was just made up.”

“Good.” I answered, eager to skirt past the subject anyway. “So… magic, there aren’t like, Unforgivables are there?”

“Unforgivables?”

“Eh, Harry Potter reference. Curses that are considered so harmful they’re forbidden to use. Use of them guarantees life sentencing in the worst prison in the wizard world. All of them created by an evil wizard who’s the story’s villain. A curse that allows one to control another person's mind and make them like a puppet, a curse that causes horrible agonizing pain to another used for torture, and a curse that instantly kills another are the three Unforgivables.” I said. Amethyst looked… aghast at that.

“I do recall there is a torture curse, learned of it in History of Magic. It was invented during a war and basically you’re charging pain receptors with magic, but its use was banned pretty fast, especially due to its… terms.”

“What kind of terms?” I asked, a little nervous.

“To invoke it… well aside from practice and study… it’d require tremendous hatred for the target, a desire to see them suffer…” The unicorn regarded me a moment. “But sweet Celestia… why would somepony ever want to do something that horrible with magic?” She asked. “Let alone go through the… means of practice… to invoke it at will… I certainly hope you’re not the type to want to learn something like that. As I said, in Equestria learning it is forbidden and deliberate invocation of it is a horrible crime. It can be reflexive though, if a unicorn loses all control over their anger… you’re inexperienced with magic so I guess this is one of the first lessons; be careful with your emotions until you have control over them. Magic can respond to it.”

“I see…” I answered, recalling the time I subconsciously fired a wave of telekinetic energy that knocked over that PAPA thug who was going to kill that filly. I felt a shiver imagining if I’d instead subconsciously invoked some kind of Cruciatus Curse on a human being, as it’d probably only make us look worse in the eyes of people. “So… next lesson, I guess?”

Amethyst seemed relieved to move on from the subject. “Yes, I’d appreciate that.” She said, floating her sandwich up again and taking a bite and chewing a little, with a satisfied swallow. “I’m going to train you in those three magic uses here.”

“Here? But isn’t this like a dream?” I asked.

“Kind of… sorta yes and no, if I’m getting this right. More like a spirit walk, honestly.” The unicorn answered. “So it’s different. We can take as long as we need and slow things down, and you’ll still wake up in time! Hopefully Flitter’s got this kind of initiative with your girlfriend.” She said with a small smile.

I’d have to agree. If Flitter could help Steph fly better and adjust to her new species reassignment we’d have this all down!

“Well, where do we start?” I asked.

“We should probably start with what you’re doing best at; telekinesis.” She explained. “You’re already doing pretty good with it, but I’m gonna help you do a few more complex things, like getting these jars open better, and eating and floating drinks better. Make things a little less messy. Good thing I’ve got my picnic stuff, huh?”

I looked down at the stuff and offered a shrug.

“First, let’s try the jar. It’s harder because, well, you’re using magic to do two different things at once! Your holding the jar up, and you’re trying to remove the lid, so your attention’s split. Now I want you to put your attention on floating the jar.” She said.

I complied, the jar levitated up to me.

“Now, I want you to keep focusing on the jar, but also on the lid. Tap it a few times on the rock and it’ll make it easier so you don’t strain yourself. Remember, don’t think, just do.” She said with a smile.

I turned my attention to the lid… a little too much maybe as the jar began to fall but I caught it in time and floated it to the nearby rock and tapped the lid on the side and floated it back up. Now with my attention on the lid and jar, the lid began to turn slowly, but now I felt less strain. Looking at it intently, making sure the jar wasn’t going to fall, I kept just enough attention on the lid so it’d turn. In a few seconds, it finally popped off.

“YES!” I shouted, and sure enough the jar fell to the ground. “…Oops.”

“Not bad. Just try to remember the jar’s there. It also works for turning doorknobs then making the door open. Let’s try a few other things, you’ve taken to floating multiple things right? I want you to make them move around you. So long as you remember the objects are there, they won’t fall, and they’ll follow whatever pattern you want them to, this may take some time though…

~

What felt like thirty minutes went by, and I stood with a grin as two sandwiches and a jar lid spun around me like orbiting moons at high speed.

“Now put them down. Slowly.” Amethyst instructed. I took a deep breath and looked at the objects, they spun fairly fast but they began to lower. As they were an inch from the ground, gravity finally took over and they fell the rest of the way.

Amethyst stared down at the sandwiches and jar for a second, then back at me. “Guess we should move on. Ready for teleportation?” She asked.

“Heh, am I?” I asked with a grin, trotting in place a little despite myself and earning a small giggle from her.

“Well don’t expect to learn long-distance or the kind of things Twilight can do… this is more for getting out of being cornered then anything else.” She explained. “I’ll also help you be able to teleport stuff with you… like stuff you're wearing. I kinda recall that moment where you ended up kinda clothes-less and I don’t really want to end up experiencing teleportation sickness again.”

“You and me both.” I said, recalling how unpleasant it felt the last times I ever tried this spell. With that, Amethyst got up and walked about ten feet away from me and sat down. “Alright, I want you to look at where I’m sitting. Focus on here, want to be here, and then just do it. But you need to really see where you're going and because of that, well, you're only gonna be able to move to somewhere in front of you or it's just gonna have really bad side effects... and I believe you're familiar with that. Anything past that's way beyond anything I'm capable of” She explained.

I stared at where she was for a moment, closed my eyes, my horn charging up and watched her carefully. Where she’s sitting, where she’s sitting…

POP!

Suddenly I hear a grunt as I land on something soft, turns out I landed right on top of the other unicorn, and I feel just a little bit dizzy.

“I guess this is a start…” Amethyst muttered nonchalantly as she rested her chin on her hoof as I roll off her and try to keep everything in my stomach where it was.

A few minutes later, we tried again. This time I ended up next to her, but three feet off the ground. After that, I ended up on the ground but I was upside-down. The following attempts slowly showed signs of improvement, and I was finding myself less and less nauseated, she explained to me that sometimes it just took some getting used to. Some time later, we finally moved on to the final test for solo teleportation.

“Alright, you’re going to do a sort of teleportation hopscotch here, alright?” Amethyst asked me, gesturing to the spots she’d floated a few small flags she’d brought, all of which were about four feet apart. “This was a test we had to do every day once we’d gotten past the teleporting without getting sick or sideways or off the ground. You’re gonna teleport to each of these spots, one after the other, take no longer then a second between them, you got it?” She asked.

I tried my best not to be too worried and nodded.

“Good. Now GO!” She ordered.

Taking a deep breath, I charged my horn. Don’t think, just do. It's will not imagination. Focus on the spots and--

POP!

One.

POP!

Two.

POP!

Three.

POP!

Fou-DAMMIT! I appeared facing the ground with my plot up in the air, landing right on my face and earning a laugh from her and dizziness from me.

“Hey, don’t take it badly. Everypony messes up the first time.” She said. “Now let’s try again.”

~

A couple attempts later, I finally pulled off all four destinations, and then went through it a few more times for good measure and imagining that song from Mulan playing in my head to keep up my spirits.

“Great!” Amethyst said, clapping her hooves. “Now, how about a break then we’ll move on to the last step. I brought lemonade!” Her horn glowed and out of the basket emerged a thermos and a pair of cups, and she poured the drink in. For a dream or spirit walk or whatever this was, I had to admit it tasted pretty good.

“When this is over, you gotta give me that recipe.” I said, feeling refreshed.

“Sorry, family secret.” She said with a smirk. Once we’d finished, we moved on to our final lesson; magic bolts. This one’s gonna be fun, you basically gotta focus on what you’re aiming at, and sort of… will the bolt of magic at the target. I’m gonna levitate a few things for you to hit and try to take them down before I drop them.”

“Like Duck Hunt?” I asked.

“What?” She stared at me for a moment. “Why would you hunt a duck?”

“…It’s a video game… uh, you’ve seen the tv and stuff I have, but the stuff on the screen you play with and control, it’s like a game on the screen… hard to explain but you have a toy gun you shoot targets with.”

“…I see. Well, whatever helps you out with this. You ready?” She asked, I nodded.

This had been a particularly fun exercise. She levitated a few small rocks into the air for me and ordered me to shoot magic bolts at them. I’d actually picked up on this a lot sooner then expected… sure enough I could chalk it up to a couple years of having an NES and Duck Hunt for that… damn dog… no, don’t think about the dog… think about the rocks.

My aim really sucked. Okay. Imagine the dog, as the rocks. He’s laughing at you for your failure.

And just like that, my aim drastically improved. I doubt I was gonna use this all that often though when I could use telekinesis, but it probably didn’t hurt to have a way to zap someone to stun them if need be. Still, this stuff was pretty much just self-defense, so I’d have to get really creative if I was gonna kick hate group butt with it.

What felt like a good long while passed, the sun had set over the Equestrian horizon as I looked over at Amethyst who gave a nod.

"I think this'll do for now. You're... passable." The other unicorn said with a smile.

“Thanks, Amethyst. I… really don’t know how to repay you for all this.” I said, and in all honesty I really didn’t.

“Just enjoy the rest of the picnic till you wake up.” She said, gesturing to the other things and earning a nod from me. “And maybe dance with me next time! I admit it’s still a little weird seeing another me, but I gotta adjust sooner or later.”

“Right.” I answered, floating out a sandwich. “And hey, whenever this is all over and you’re back in Equestria, you can become a new Mare Do Well, be a superhero and all!”

“Hm, that would be a way to make Lyra pony up the bits she owes me, excuse the pun. Not to mention Dinky’s sure to like that idea…” She pondered. “We’ll see how things go.”

“I guess we will…” I said as I continued eating, and suddenly I could hear the sound of my alarm, and I was back on the couch of my apartment, snuggled next to the lilac pegasus I’d fallen asleep by. Sure enough what seemed like far longer in the dream world had not exceeded the time limit I'd set.

We’ll see how things go…

Author's Note:

What made me realize the distinct possibility of what is essentially a Cruciatus Curse existing in Equestria…disturbing much? I wouldn't even want to imagine how it'd play out if she'd succeeded...

Reference to LysanderasD 's story present. Go check out Close Enough To Touch: The Lyra Account, it's great!

ANYWAYS, as to continue to uphold my Pinkie Promise... next up, Steph's dream!

Comments

[Masterweaver]

Oh BTW Tome is working on a BIIIIIIG magic mechanics document.

[ShadeJak]

3108613

Yeah, I vaguely remember a draft of it we were shown once. vaguely, which was why I tried to be the same here till it gets finished

[Masterweaver]

3109220

The big complaint is "Magic works with imagination." That... that was dumped right off the bat. So... Sparkler's suggestion only works if your special talent is teleportation or teleportation related, or you have the right mindset.

[ShadeJak]

3109275

I remember the thing about not being imagination-powered(or it'd be saying unicorns or ponies who didn't use it often had no imagination, which is absurd), I was trying to follow a mindset of how most basic and lowbie teleportation works; Having to see and know where you're going so you know the spot when you're displaced and returned, usually having to go straight forward, and tried to go with the most basic one that'd possibly be a 'standard-issue' lesson as it'd seem likely a school for gifted unicorns in Canterlot would teach several basic spells beyond the usual telekinesis but I probably should have worded it differently. I just did some fixes that are hopefully more along the line of what was had in mind. Sent message so something can be worked out for long term and I'll be glad to fix it accordingly

[Rocky Runner]

I thought that at the little "~" the dream rudely ended. But hey-hey, this is really damn interesting! What would I entertain myself with at night without this site? ... I just pulled off a rhyme. I actually rhymed. Squee!! I never rhyme!

... anywho... *starts jogging down notes*