Training Day 10: Light And Dark
After ten days of hard work, Spike could hold his head high. He could now muster a full aura of light magic over his entire body. He wasn't closer to finding out the purpose of his unique ability, but it was something of a start. Celestia's instruction was turning out to be invaluable.
Presently, Spike was trying to work at changing the new form of magic into something more manageable than a functionless glow.
"Okay, Spike. Now that you can make a sizeable amount of light mana I want you to try and condense it into a beam. I'm not sure whether your mouth or hands would be easier as an ignition point. Just try whatever feels more natural." Celestia instructed as she poured herself tea.
Spike nodded, and he opened his jaws. Across the courtyard was a stone monolith Celestia had moved into the yard for training. It was to be his target.
With a crackling of energy, a ball of white and golden light formed at the back of Spike's throat. It was still something of a foreign sensation, but it was becoming more natural as time went on. Soon it would be as easy to use light as any other element, but then would come the deeper difficulty of forging it into a new, never before seen power.
Once the mana built to what Spike considered to be an appropriate level he let it loose.
Much to Spike's disappointment, the magical beam seemed to lose it's power by the time it reached the stone. It left a slight scorch mark, but did no real damage.
"That's kinda disappointing." Spike sighed.
Celestia walked up to Spike and did her best to place a comforting hoof on his shoulder.
"Spike, you're doing extremely well. It would take a normal person almost their entire lifetime to get to this point. You can't let a minor setback bother you. Nobody masters techniques on their first try. It took me and Luna over a thousand years to realize our maximum potentials." Celestia explained in an attempt to comfort her new pupil.
Spike knew what Celestia said was true, but the explanation had brought a buried question back to the surface.
"So... Luna uses her abilities all the time. Like more than I've seen her use normal pony magic. Dream-walking, Stardust, and Imaginary Friend, right? I think that's what she called them, anyway. But what are your abilities? I can't say I've ever seen you do anything that seemed supernatural, and I've known you since the day I was born." Spike inquired.
Celestia smiled, having known the question was coming.
Spike would no longer dwell on his shortcoming, and instead become more eager to grow if she answered truthfully.
"Well, just as light and dark are equal and opposite forces, so are Luna and I. When I was in my prime, Luna and I were equal in terms of strength and power. However, I grew soft while Luna was away, and Selene is half as powerful as Luna. Luna is effectively one-and-a-half times stronger than me at present. Be that as it may, for every ability she has I have one.
"My first ability is Aurora, which allows me to use sunlight to heal myself and bolster my defense without consuming mana. The second is called Mana From Heaven, which allows me to heal others from non-lethal injuries at the cost of my own mana and stamina. The third ability... Well, I haven't used it in a thousand years. It's known as Solar Flare. It calls down a concentrated strike of burning solar plasma on a chosen location. It's incredibly devastating, and I've sworn never to use it again. I can only use it when my anger boils into white-hot rage, and at that point I have little-to-no control of it." Celestia revealed.
Spike got the distinct impression Celestia wasn't going to say anything else about Solar Flare. Whatever the last thing she had used it on was, she seemed to regret it deeply. Yet another thing Spike was dreading about immortality. A guarantee of regrets somewhere down the road and the inevitability of hindsight.
Spike had little time to dwell on it, as his ears caught the sound of approaching hooves on the grass.
It was revealed to be Luna herself, followed closely by Selene who floated about lazily, even without moving her wings. Her nature as a dream-being seemed to give her a bit of wiggle room as far as real-world physics were concerned. Luna settled in on a stone bench with Selene before greeting Spike or her sister.
"Good afternoon, Tia, Spike. I've sent Sombra off on an errand of the utmost importance as part of his training, and I'm expecting him to come back via your shadow very soon, Spike. I hope you don't mind us watching for a bit while we wait, or being a doorway." Luna explained.
Celestia nodded with a warm smile, glad to have her sister's company.
"Of course. I was just telling Spike about my own light abilities. I had forgotten to do so until he reminded me. It's very rare that I use them, so it must have slipped my mind." Celestia said in mild embarrassment.
"Ah yes, my sister the white mage. It has been some time since we fought together in a war, hasn't it? Me, killing our enemies. You, stopping our enemies from killing our people. Those were the days, back before we had established a government and things were fun all the time...
"Are you going to show him Solar Flare? There is a blank-zone about an hour's flight from here, and since Chrysalis is gone you wouldn't run the risk of harming anything if you kept your temper. I'm sure Spike would love to see it. It's very much his style, overpowered, flashy, and carrying enough destructive force big enough to take out a city."
Spike wanted to agree with Luna, but something on Celestia's face told him she didn't share the opinion.
"You know why I don't use Solar Flare, Luna. I caused a lot of damage in my youth before I learned to control my temper, and the Earth still hasn't fully recovered. Solar Flare is the absolutely out of the question." Celestia replied coldly.
Luna sighed but nodded her head.
"I know, Celestia. But no one even remembers what happened in today's world. I don't hold it against you either. I know why you did what you did, and I'm partly to blame. We've been through this at least once a year since I came back. Just let it go." Luna pleaded with Celestia in a concerned way.
Celestia actually seemed to tear up a bit as she closed her eyes, looking away to hold herself together.
"I remember, Luna. That's enough to keep me from forgiving myself."
Selene seriously considered flying away in case things got too emotional, but fortunately for everyone they were surprised by the arrival of Sombra. Out of Spike's shadow rose the familiar shape of the dark stallion, becoming more defined as the seconds passed.
Once he was back in full definition Spike immediately noticed Sombra wearing a maroon colored paperboy cap. While it was unexpected he had to admit Sombra looked good in it. It also served to hide his horn well.
Even more interesting at the moment was the amount of food Sombra had with him.
Upon his back was a cardboard box of heavenly smelling delights. His saddlebags were likewise stuffed to the point they couldn't close properly, and in his jaws was a jumbo container with a bucket handle. Spike realized Sombra needed help carrying everything and lessened the burden by taking the bucket.
"Ah, thank you Spike. Luna wanted to eat out today, and I needed to try shadow jumping with objects before I can think about moving on to passengers." Sombra explained.
Celestia gave Luna a smug and mildly annoyed look at the news.
"An errand of the utmost importance?" Celestia said mockingly.
"Oh hush. He got you something too." Luna retorted, effectively silencing her sister.
Sombra created a series of shadowy hands to pass everyone's individual food items to the proper recipient.
"For Spike and Myself, we've got sushi plates and buffet boxes with today's special coconut shrimp, an order of dumplings, and extra fried rice, all from a lovely Neighponese restaurant in Mid-Canterlot. For Luna a moon-flower salad and organic apple fritters from Gracidea's, and an extra bloody steak with mashed potatoes in mushroom gravy from Big Bull's Bar And Grill for Selene, as requested. For Celestia, I have a sampler assortment of Pony Joe's finest doughnuts." Sombra finished.
"Not exactly what I imagined you'd do with the sigils I took you around Canterlot to lay, but I approve." Spike chuckled as he sliced open the taped shut fast food containers.
"Mhmm." Celestia joyously agreed through a mouthful of cruller.
Sombra sat beside Spike and his mentor(s) as he ate, while Celestia (who had finished her pastries remarkably fast) received a visit from some worried-looking guards. Judging by the expression on her face it was something serious. Spike looked as though he could hear some of what was being said, and he didn't look happy either.
"Detrot... Record numbers of missing ponies. Gone without a trace. Even a couple guards. They think there's a Chimera abducting ponies for food. Or a cockatrice turning them to stone. They haven't had any more disappearances in a few days, but now it's started up in Whinnypeg. Something isn't right, and whatever is doing it is smart enough to get out of dodge before it can be tracked." Spike relayed.
Luna, Sombra, and Selene could feel the air begin to burn by Spike's barely contained rage at whomever or whatever was taking ponies.
Spike wanted nothing more in that moment than to drop everything and fly to Whinnypeg, but he knew he couldn't. His training came first, and the guards were already on high alert across the nation. All that would come from stepping in personally would be to slow his progress, and Sombra's.
The feeling of uselessness crept in, making Spike's emotional state even worse. It wasn't until he heard a gasp that he looked away from his anger. Selene and Luna were smiling, and it seemed Sombra tried to be happy, but he looked a bit nervous.
"Spike, your wrists!" Selene shouted, breaking the dragon from his brooding.
Spike brought his wrist up to his face just in time to see another ring of light just like the one the gem created dissipate.
"Oh shit. How did I do that?" Spike asked, as if anyone had an answer.
Everyone shrugged collectively, which was to be expected. No one but Celestia knew the ins and outs of light magic. Which is why once Celestia had dismissed her guards she headed right for Spike.
She had seen Spike accidentally activate his power, and she seemed less proud than Spike might have hoped.
"Righteous fury is the easiest way to draw out light from within. I had purposely avoided telling you that because it's also the easiest way to corrupt yourself. Despite common misconceptions darkness and light are equally dangerous since they encompass a part of your being instead of just nature. One can easily stray from the true path doing what they believe to be right. Someone can seem perfectly sane and good, and then a moment later you could find their blade at your throat. It has happened many times throughout history." Celestia explained.
Spike knew Celestia didn't mean what she had said in a way that implied a lack of faith in him, but he couldn't help but feel a little slighted. Either way, he clenched his fist as if it might bring back the ring of light he hadn't meant to create. But as much as he would have liked to get angry to speed his efforts he knew it wasn't the best idea.
"I wouldn't let my ideals and morals mess with my judgement... I'm more worried about what's going to happen when I get my less desirable traits pushed to the surface. Although... I should probably work on my temper before trying the fury approach. Looking back, it's been getting the better of me since I started growing." Spike replied uneasily.
Celestia admired Spike's determination to keep his progress steady, but she needed Spike in fit condition to fight Dootha.
"Sombra. If at all possible, could you make sure Spike gets into the habit of meditating? He's right about his temper. Until he can get angry without raising the temperature of the immediate area he's going to have to learn the old fashioned way. Practice, practice, practice." Celestia asked Sombra while reaffirming her instructions to Spike.
Spike grumbled, but he returned to his task of concentrating his light magic into a proper beam.
Spike decided to forgo his normal approach to fire breathing. Light was different, and he was determined to figure out how to use it effectively. He needed to figure out the best way to use each element, or he would never be ready for the final fight.
Celestia could see Spike was holding himself back because he wanted to avoid the righteous fury, and she felt it best to intervene before it went any further.
"Spike, try remembering a time you felt you had successfully protected those you care about when you focus your mana. Like... The Equestria games incident. That would be good. You saved thousands of people that day. Use the memory to feed the light inside. While not as effective it's safer and will set you on the right track." Celestia recommended.
Spike couldn't help but smile. The games incident had been an emotional roller-coaster, but at the end of the day he had felt incredible, if tired. He could never forget it, even if he wanted to at times.
With his new instructions in mind, Spike charged up his mana once again.
As the mana reached a substantial volume Spike let it go.
To his delight, the beam struck home. It wasn't anywhere near as powerful as one of his other elemental powers, but it bore into the monolith a good two inches deep. Celestia looked at the marked improvement with a warm smile, which Spike had seen his mother move mountains (almost literally) to receive.
"Excellent. Keep it up. Once you've gotten through the monolith in one shot we'll be able to move on to basic purification and dispelling spells. Then once you finish with those we can move on to barrier and reflect. After that you should be ready to manifest the rings intentionally and figure them out." Celestia listed, going over her syllabus.
Spike's mood leveled off again, but he wasn't complaining. Aside from the disappointment of still being a few steps away from his goal, Spike was making real progress. While light magic wasn't his usual flashy, powerful, or bigger type of magic, it would be important regardless.
"Alright then. One Swiss-cheese pillar coming up." Spike declared.
A short distance away Sombra had been watching with interest, wishing he could help in some way. But light magic was the thing the furthest out of his wheelhouse. He could merely observe as he carried out his own training, a fact that made Sombra even more guilty as he had had only the most minor of hiccups and hindrances thus far.
Selene seemed to sense his plight, snatching him up with no warning and hugging him tightly like a plush doll.
"Do not worry, Brother. Spike is a strong one. He will find the path himself when he's ready. Until then, just do your own thing. Luna and I are married, but we give each other space... Sometimes, I mean. It's admittedly difficult when we share the same physical being, but you get the gist, right?" Selene attempted.
Sombra had gotten to know Selene the past few days, and had come to appreciate her candor.
She was odd.
Odd like Lyra at times, but different. She was more like Luna, but at the same time she was more spontaneous and emotional. Luna seemed to prefer to keep her exterior self warm, but distant. Selene seemed almost incapable of not speaking her mind, but what she said was usually innocent or sincere, if a tad blunt.
If one took the time to really look at the two of them together, they might start having trouble seeing where Luna ended and Selene began.
"Thank you... Sister. You are right. I trust Spike can take care of himself. Some of Spike's doting nature must have rubbed off on me." Sombra agreed, reciprocating by patting her on the back.
Selene squeed with delight as she dropped Sombra back onto the bench.
"You called me sister~!" She laughed, floating about and dancing in the air.
Luna applied her hoof to her face and let out a low moan.
"Gods Dammit. She's going to be like this for days. It'll be impossible to share the same mind with her until she calms down."
"Er... I'm sorry?" Sombra offered uncertainly.
Luna smiled and shook her head, turning to Sombra with an appreciative look on her face.
"It's fine. Selene hasn't ever taken to someone so quickly before, aside from me. She's absolutely thrilled that you accepted her. Despite being confident and sassy, Selene often feels that no one but me really gets her. Until you came along. She immediately told me you were her big brother when she saw you in the courtyard that day. Now she's in a much better mood than she has been in quite awhile."
Sombra couldn't help but feel happy at that, smiling to himself.
"Family is a relatively new concept to me, but I would be honored to count Selene among mine. Having a sister sounds... Nice? I've only ever had Spike. Although 'only ever' is a rather short time, but you know what I mean. It feels good to belong." Sombra said uncertainly.
Luna watched as Celestia helped Spike adjust his posture, finding herself grateful for her presence.
"It is nice having a sister. Most of the time, anyway. Even family is prone to disagreements or misunderstandings. More so, even. But I would be more than happy to call you my brother-in-law." Luna agreed.
Sombra took a moment to consider just how lucky he was, all things considered.
It wasn't until Luna produced a sword from her mane that Sombra broke from his pleasant trance. Sombra instinctively rolled out of the way as Luna pointed it in his direction, even though Luna stopped it before it would have reached him. Getting mutilated every few weeks made one cautious.
"What precisely is that for? If you don't mind me asking." Sombra wondered aloud.
Luna smiled in a rather worrying way, brandishing the blade.
"Fear not, anything that happens today is not a reflection on any personal feelings I have. Today's primary lesson is one of the more important ones. We're going to focus on teaching you to mend yourself after being grievously injured. There are three ways. Spreading yourself out thinner to cover the loss of mass, reclaim the lost mass and reassemble as best you can, or in your case claim new mass to restore yourself. Mass being darkness and shadow." Luna explained.
While Sombra realized what was about to happen he couldn't deny he wanted to be able to heal himself better.
Repeatedly becoming injured was inconvenient at best, crippling at worst.
Much to his surprise, Luna pointed the blade toward herself. In a single swift motion she lopped off her left foreleg. Instead of blood spurting out was flowing stars and what looked like night sky. Just as Sombra's wounds had been shrouded in shadow.
"I shouldn't expect you to do anything I myself would not do. Even though you have a metaphorical leg-up in this sort of thing. I can only do this when I'm aware I'm about to take a hit. Had I been attacked unaware their would be blood, and it would be significantly harder to reattach, even with magic. If I were to lose the leg it would take over a month to construct a new one from stardust and magic, if I had the strength to collect it from the night sky." Luna declared.
Luna's eyes glowed white for a moment, the ethereal trail from her stump reaching out and grabbing her dismembered limb.
With a practiced effort the magical extension of her body swallowed up it's missing piece and returned it to the main body. It flowed back, then shifted and changed until it was the correct shape. Then it slowly changed definition until it was like it had once been, a fully functional leg.
The wound was still noticeable for only a few seconds before it was sealed and made invisible by Luna's fur.
If it scarred you would be hard-pressed to find it.
"And there you have it. You proved you could perform a passable rejoining the first time your shadow jump went awry, so now I would like you to try the other methods. Please begin by reallocating mass to form a new limb, as it is a bit more difficult. Then, reclaim the lost leg, break it down into dark energy and reabsorb it to fill in the lost density. Understood?" Luna instructed.
Sombra looked over to see Spike focusing on his task, intent on making significant progress.
Sombra used his shadowy mane to form a tendril around his mouth, then cut the tendril. He now had a strap forcing his mouth to stay shut. If he were to scream out in pain, there was now a significantly lower chance Spike would hear it and run to his aid.
He looked his teacher right in the eyes and nodded, giving her the go-ahead.
Luna was someone who had fought a great many battles in her time. That time had earned her an exceptional degree of skill in the art of combat. Had Sombra not watched her slice off his left foreleg he might not have even felt the pain. The cut was exceptionally clean and Sombra's body barely registered the assault.
It was a full three seconds before either stump began hemorrhaging shadow.
To his credit, Sombra barely made a sound. It was more the knowledge of the strike than the pain that made him squeal into his muffled maw.
Once he had taken a second to gather his thoughts he set about his assigned task.
At first Sombra had no idea what to do. But he soon realized that he had been making new limbs all along. The arms he usually used in place of telekinesis were only as solid as he wanted them to be, but it was the same principle. While it hurt a bit Sombra repeated the act Luna had just performed, minus the retrieval.
It took a full two and a half minutes, as opposed to Luna's five seconds, but it was done.
Sombra had a brand new leg, ash colored fur, black hoof. Completely identical to the one laying a couple inches to the side.
Sombra reabsorbed the strap from around his mouth, as it was no longer necessary since the most painful part was over. With a shadowy limb of his usual sort Sombra picked up his old appendage and tried to absorb it. Unfortunately it seemed to resist him a bit. It was still essentially a perfect solid, and it wasn't until Sombra put a considerable effort into it did it yield.
Despite having lost nothing permanent from the ordeal Sombra felt drained of most of his stamina.
Having to compete with his own overwhelming dark density was much more difficult than he had thought. He almost felt sorry for Arimaspi. At least he hadn't needed to tear himself asunder.
"That was unpleasant and tiring. I'm going to have to pick specific times to practice that. I feel like I've just run laps around the castle." Sombra groaned, feeling sore and achy.
Despite Sombra's miserable state Luna could only smile.
"That trick is one of the most advanced techniques. I've been working you up to it all week. Normally it would be one of the last things I teach you, but I've noticed you and Spike take quite the beating each time something significant happens. I know first-hoof that despite the shadows being a comfort zone, sometimes you want the spotlight. It is my full intent to make you shine just as brightly as Spike, if not brighter. You have yet to disappoint, but we are far from done." Luna explained, walking up to her student.
Sombra wanted so badly to reply, but he found his vision failing him, and then everything dissolved into a comfortable haze. Luna sat down beside the sleeping stallion, a motherly smile on her face.
She could see Sombra was completely drained, and it would be hours before he recovered.
"Rest up. I'm sorry to say I've hell to put you through yet, dear brother. My wife, my sister, and the rest of our cobbled together family depend on your strength and mental fortitude. You will show the world that we who live in the dark aren't evil some day, and we will all stand proudly beside you." Luna whispered sweetly.
Luna spent the rest of the afternoon, joined by Selene in guarding their sleeping pupil. They watched as Spike continued to assault the stone monolith with powers he was only beginning to comprehend. Celestia looked beyond Spike, feeling the coming storms on the horizon, hoping dearly that they could weather them when the time came.
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Well I liked this chapter, it's nice to know what Celestia's powers are and to see the guys process.
1. The rings that make makes are they like bracelets or like a Halo?
2. Is i wrong that when I think of Sombra and Luna's regeneration I think of Venom or Alucard.
3. At wait for Nightmare Night is so hope for a cutie couple costume for Spike and Sombra. Also I can't wait for Sombra's birthday either.
7232125 The rings float around his wrist without touching and they look like haloes.
Sombra and Luna's regrouping is based on many similar creatures, Alucard and Venom included.
As for costumes you'll just have to wait and see.
I really hope their aren't going to be so many chapters of them training.