A Story of Heritage

by thecookiewookie

Study, with a side of target practice

Shadestar gestured to the staircase. "For the combat training you'll need, we'll want to go outside. The stone circle at the top of the tor should be a perfect practice area."

Following the long spiral staircase up the center of the peak, Sunlit asked how high up they would be.

"Oh, we'll be about three hundred hooves above the base of the tor. The peak itself is measured at about fifteen hundred hooves above sea level, but the valley floor where Ponyville is measures roughly eight hundred hooves above sea level. All in all, you'll see the ground about three hundred hooves below, but you'll have a great view of the valley." Shadestar explained in a somewhat roundabout manner.

Sunlit gulped. He'd learned his lesson from the incident on his roof; he would stay well away from the edge this time.

As if noticing his unease, Shadestar remarked without turning around "Don't worry, there's a rail."

As they reached the top, the claustrophobic stairway opened into a small chamber. Several racks lined the rough black walls, though in the dim illumination Sunlit could not make out their contents. Shadestar sighed.

"I hate this part. Still, if you're going to be trained to face the Obsidians, then we have to start right away, even if it's still daytime."

Confused, Sunlit asked, "What's wrong with daytime?"

Shadestar turned around, her goggles making her expression inscrutable. "Have you noticed that the tower is dark? Unlike some ponies, I'm nocturnal. These goggles help me see in my chosen environment just as well as you do in yours."

Feeling silly for not noticing before, Sunlit looked down, ashamed. "Sorry, I guess I wasn't that attentive. I was a little distracted."

Shadestar smiled a little, her seriousness lightening somewhat. "Well, in any case, I've become accustomed to the dark. This light is entirely for your convenience. The goggles and cloak I keep up here make daylight more bearable to someone it would otherwise almost blind."

She swapped her goggles for a much darker-lensed pair, and donned a long black cloak. Satisfied, she turned to Sunlit and gestured to the stairs in the far wall which led up to a trap door.

---

As Sunlit climbed out into the brilliant sunlight, he was awestruck by the carved top of the tor. The tor obviously tapered toward the top, meaning this level was only about 150 hooves across. Twenty massive trilithons were arranged perfectly equidistant around the circle, each roughly thirty hooves high, with each megalith about five hooves wide, looking like Stonehenge, except they were all carved from the top of the tor. As he looked around, he noticed the shoulder-height wall about ten hooves out from the stone circle. He assumed that it was the 'rail' Shadestar had spoken of, and resolved to stay back from it. As he adjusted to the awe of the massive structure, he began to notice the fantastic view. He could see all the way to Las Pegasus on one side, Canterlot in the distance on the other.

Shadestar watched him, unsure if it would be rude to disrupt his stunned awe. After about five minutes, Sunlit began to shake off the stupor, looking over to Shadestar. "The view is incredible".

Shadestar smiled and said "The view is impressive, but not the reason we're here. Extend your magical awareness."

Focusing hard, Sunlit extended his mental perceptions to sense...nothing. Less than nothing...only he and Shadestar could be felt, all the background magic he normally felt was gone. He had a feeling in his magical sense like ringing ears. He turned to Shadestar in confusion.

She chuckled at his bewildered expression. "This was the section my mother carved for meditation. The stones are engraved with runes to dampen and absorb magic, especially the subtle magical reverberations from all the magic constantly being cast in Equestria. In this stone circle, you can think more clearly than anywhere else not similarly shielded. More importantly, they absorb all magic used near them, making this a perfect place to practice combat magic. Even a master level Disintegrate won't scratch these stones while the runes remain intact. They'll catch any stray spells before they can damage the tor or something beyond. Now, let us begin lesson one."

Shadestar walked into the shadow of one of the pillars, and it turned inky black, hiding her. The other pillars' shadows darkened as well, and her voice came from all of them at once.

"Sunlit, you first need to learn to use your magical senses as naturally as you breathe. When I step out of one of these shadows, you need to cast a Light in my direction before I can Shadowstep to another."

Sunlit smiled. "Is that all?"

He heard a snicker from behind him, but halfway through it was to his left, then his right. "No. If you cannot find me quickly enough, I will hit you with a very weak Sting. It won't cause any injury, but it will hurt a bit. Ready, go."

Pushing his sight beyond his eyes, he began scanning the shadows around him. As he caught sight of Shadestar's magical signature and prepared his Light, she stepped through the shadow and vanished. Frantically he spun his sensor around sighting her again. He wasted no time, firing the arrow-quick Light into that shadow. Turning to look triumphantly at her, he was surprised to see the light illuminating a pillar with no black mare in sight.

Confused, he took a step forward, then yelped as something stung his rump. Spinning wildly, he saw nopony, before feeling his Light get snuffed out by the pillars' magic. He opened his mind again, hoping to glimpse her. As he methodically checked stone after stone, he heard Shadestar laugh again.

"Being methodical is a luxury, Sunlit. One you will not have when you face the Obsidians. You must learn to trust your instincts, and to use them." She punctuated her sentence with a sharp sting to his right foreleg.

Annoyed, Sunlit focused again, trying to zero in on this fleeting ghost who danced around him. Several shocks and teleports later, he finally got a perfect line of sight. Without hesitating, he flung a Light, and caught Shadestar. He also got the satisfaction of watching her try to walk through a suddenly-illuminated pillar. Without shade to move through, she smacked her muzzle against the basalt.

She smiled and stepped forward as the stone extinguished the light. The stones' shadows faded to normal tones, and Shadestar walked up to Sunlit in the center of the circle.

"Well done, Sunlit. You caught me quite faster than I expected. Still, your record can easily be improved upon. Catching me once after taking twenty-eight stinging charms is hardly perfect."

Sunlit looked at her proudly. "Well, I caught you, which is more than I thought I'd be able to do toward the end. So how about combat magic?"

Shadestar fixed him with an amused expression. "When you can catch me without me even stinging you once, I'll start teaching you combat magic. The most important parts of a battle are reflexes and perception, which is what this little exercise trains. Oh, and by the way, round two."

He looked up to see her sprint toward another pillar, darkening the shadows to hide in. Sunlit had a feeling this would be a long afternoon.

Author's Note:

To those geology nerds out there, yes I know a tor isn't usually that big or solid. I have two things to say to that. 1: that is only the case on Earth. 2: THIS. IS. EQUESTRIA!!!!!!!!!!!

Couldn't help it. Homage to Leonidas had to be made.

Comments

[SummerOfGold]

with a side of target practice

hehehe
Nice chapter, btw. I like the idea of Sunlit learning, and getting his ass kicked at the same time.
Oh, and I can't forget this:
fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/129/7/f/this_is_equestria__by_mandarinswift-d4z5coo.png