4 - Settling in
School began in earnest. Despite Lyra's antics in private, she was an eager and professional teacher, mostly, in public. The class pared down over the first week. "As some of you noticed," said Lyra, standing on two legs at the front of the class, "Some of your classmates are not here. A few of them were sent home, either of their own choice or because we, as a school, decided it wasn't a good fit. Most of them are in remedial classes for a few things." She tapped her hooves together, "Insufficient throughput, grace, or symbol memorization are things that have to be addressed before we get into the real stuff, and we're going to make sure they have it before they continue." She put her hooves on her hips and leaned forward, "I don't want to hear any of you ragging on them if you see them in the hallways. Some of the best wizards around needed help with the first few steps before they got into a good gallop. Alright? Cool." She sat down on a chair behind her desk, "For the rest of you, class begins now."
Silver was surprised, but delighted, to hear he wouldn't be put in a symbol memorization class. What a nightmare that could have been! He watched Lyra as she spoke, wondering if she had put in a good word for him. Lyra began describing a spell using the magic alphabet as she walked up and down the aisles. As she passed Silver, she dropped a scrap of paper on his page. Silver quickly unfurled it to reveal the spell written out clearly with little pattern marks, negating his need to memorize the letters. He flushed red, feeling thankful, and yet... Ugh, why did he need a handicap at all?
Lyra settled back into her seat, "This spell will help you bond with your heart crystal." She pointed to a pony with a heart-shaped crystal, "See how yours isn't glowing like some of the others? When magic is pushed through it, it gains its glow. This glow varies depending on who does the pushing, but is permanent. Its power also varies depending on who activated it."
Silver glanced down at his lavender heart crystal and his heart began to race. Twilight had activated his so long ago, trying to undo Lyra's mistake. He had a little slice of Twilight's magic dangling around his neck. The very idea of it was... exciting, and a little illicit. Did she realize the gift she had given him?
"Don't worry about not being at your best. The stone is tied to you, forever," continued Lyra as she hefted up her own stone, "As you gain experience and power, the stone will upgrade with you. It is the single most important tool to an enhancement wizard and you should treat it with all due respect." She waggled a hoof, "Which means don't use it as a paper-weight."
A soft scrape was heard as a student quickly grabbed hers off of her notebook, blushing guiltily. "Anyway," said Lyra, "I want you all to practice that spell and get a good feel for channeling power through it. Just like channeling practice with your horn, this is an important, if boring, step to becoming totally badass." She raised a hoof as her horn glowed and the hoof became a paw, and the arm attached to it became that of a diamond dog, "If you want this, you need this." She grabbed her heartstone in the new paw. "It is you, you are it. I can't repeat that enough times."
Silver raised a hoof.
"Yes?" asked Lyra, looking at Silver.
"I have a funny question..." said Silver with slightly shrunken confidence from all the eyes that settled on him, many with less than approval.
"Go on," said Lyra, making a twirling motion with a new finger. "I bet it's a good one."
Silver tilted his head, "I hope, but, uh... what are changelings? From what you've shown so far, any unicorn could learn their magic, and they don't even have the... You know?"
Lyra nodded slowly, "That is a very good question that I didn't expect to come up outside of Polymorph 101..." She slapped her paw against her other hoof, failing to make any satisfying clap. "Basically, any magic can be abused, some easier than others. Polymorph? Pretty abusable. Some ponies get a little drunk on the adoration they can get. If you can be what everyone wants to see, you start to forget what it's like to just be, you know, you?" She leaned back in her chair, making it squeak softly, "A long time ago a very talented polymorpher went down that road and didn't come back. She was the first changeling queen. When she got so full of herself, she ditched her heart stone, and lost her real heart. The nasty holes you see in changelings come from their insides being eaten out. Their hunger is constant, and when it's not fed, they go full cannibal mode on themselves."
Various ponies murmured around Silver as he shook his head, "What stops ponies from becoming changelings now?"
Lyra lifted her shoulders, "We try to teach them better, but, really? Anypony could fall. We keep a close eye on those who take the specialty." Her arm snapped back to normal, ending in a hoof again. "Me, enhancer. I like fingers, but I'm way too in love with my natural dashing appearance." She flashed her teeth brightly at the class, getting some soft groans in reply. "Everyone's a critic. Does that answer your question?"
Silver frowned softly in thought, "What if a changeling didn't have holes?"
Lyra smiled, "That's impossible, but if there was one, I think that means you could bring them back to being a normal pony if you put a heart crystal on them and showed them how. That's enough fairy tales for one day. Get to practicing." She clapped her hooves together twice with satisfying clops, "I expect to see all those stones shining by tomorrow."
Silver meandered towards the cafeteria with Celine trailing with him. Silver glanced towards her, "You don't have a heart crystal."
Celine shook her head, "Don't need one."
Silver tilted his head, "Why's that? I thought you'd be practicing with us."
Celine held up a hoof, "I'll be fine."
Silver let it drop for the moment, moving into the cafeteria. He piled foods up onto the tray, picking a little of many different foods to sample. He spotted what looked to be some ribs and grabbed it, setting in his plate with the rest of the otherwise vegetarian diet. When he arrived at an empty desk, Celine slid across from him, but her eyes were on his plate. "What?"
Celine pointed at the ribs, "Ponies don't eat that."
Silver fidgeted a little, "Don't, or can't?" With a surge of rebellion, he quickly lifted the ribs up and bit into it. The grease splattered over his muzzle as he worked the meat. His flat teeth were absolutely terrible at pulling the meat apart, but persistence let him get some off and soon he swallowed it. It had a lot of flavors he hadn't even realized he missed, but there was a little something off about it.
Celine made a face at him, "If you get gas? I'm kicking you out into the hallway."
Silver set the ribs down, and started on the far easier-to-consume sprouts, "I just wanted a taste. No harm in that, is there?"
Celine shook her head slowly, "I suppose not in your case..." She settled, her head resting on her hooves as she gazed at him, watching him eat. "We only have so long."
"Huh?" asked Silver, "Why the sudden down note? We have tons of time. We're too young to be even bringing that up." He huffed softly and lifted an apple into reach, crunching into it, mmm. "You last as long as I do, right?"
She smiled gently, "Of... course."
Silver dropped the apple from a limp mental grip. It bounced off his other food. "Oh god, what are you hiding?"
"Hello," said Night Watch as she suddenly parked herself at a ninety-degree angle from both of them. "You like ribs too? You gonna finish that?" She snatched Silver's ribs away and began devouring them eagerly. "Why are you two looking like that?"
Silver was staring at Celine intently, and Celine just looked away. "Guys?" asked Night, setting down the finished ribs and using a cloth to clean herself.
Celine suddenly stood up, "I have to go." And she hurried away from the table. Silver tried to stop her, but anxiety was not a friend to coordination, and he did little other than fall over instead of standing up. She was gone.
Silver looked where Celine had gone, doing little until Night's wings gently pulled him up back into his seat. "Equestria to Silver Lining."
Silver blinked softly, "Hey Night, sorry... I... Ugh. Did I piss off Celine?"
Night shook her head, "She didn't look angry."
Silver let out a slow sigh, "What did she look like?"
Night waved a wingtip at Silver, "That would be telling."
"It's for her!" exclaimed Silver. "I'm worried about her. Please, as a friend."
Night Watch sighed a little, "She looked like she remembered something very sad. So... topic shift." She gestured with her wings as much as Silver remembered doing with his hands and fingers as a human, "You know anypony who attends this college can't attend the Equestrian Games?"
Silver nodded mutely, but then a thought came and he clopped his hooves together, "Duh! We have to prepare!" He dashed for the door, with Night following a few steps behind.
"Prepare for what?" asked Night, adjusting her glasses as she went, "I want answers, Silver."
Silver ducked into the dorms, "Room first, then tell." They arrived shortly at their room. Nopony else was present, neither Celine nor Fast Change. Silver moved over to his bed and sat, "I've seen the future."
Night blinked slowly, "What?"
Silver bobbed his head, "I have never been more serious. Some time after the... uh, when are the Equestria Games?"
Night gestured forward, "Next week?"
Silver frowned, "I don't know exactly how long we have, but everyone's magic is going to be sucked up." He made a loud sucking noise, "Gone! It'll come back, but... Celine is magic. She's already preparing to die." He stomped the bed he was beside with a hoof, "I'm not letting it go like that. We have to hide."
"Hide from what?" asked Night, "I should report this to Princess Luna."
Night turned away, but Silver quickly put a hoof on her shoulder, "She already knows. What's important is keeping Celine safe."
Night shook her head, "And everypony else is worth nothing?"
Silver growled impotently, "They'll be saved by rainbows. They're fine!"
"Rainbows?" asked Night skeptically. She flopped on her haunches, "Are ponies going to die?"
Silver shook his head, "I don't think so. Only Celine is magic. Everyone else will just be tired for a little while. Please, will you help me?"
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a heart-shaped what?
5738157 Fixed!
Is Lyra not saying everypony because of Silver or is there a non-pony in class?
I think this should be "I'm an enhancer."
5738233 Lyra is bad at Englishes.
Capitalize the "she" at the beginning of the sentence.
Just like "channeling" practice.
That's the proper name of a specific class, so it should be "Polymorph 101."
Again, capitalize the "she."
She's not really asking a question here, so you don't really need to end that with a question mark.
The use of an "s" in "realize" is typically British; I'd recommend switching back to the "z."
He's starting on the "far easier-to-consume" sprouts.
She's parked herself at a "ninety-degree" angle.
There are two spaces between "They" and "arrived."
The word "games" should be capitalized, since it's part of the name of the event.
Also, the plural nature of the name means that he should be asking "when are the Equestria Games?"
Oh shit! I completely forgot about what happens after the Equestria Games.
Heh, ii just had an amusing image of Silver chucking a fireball down Tirek's throat Dodongo style.
5738564 Fixed! Hope you liked it.
5738627 I did indeed! After three chapters of setting the stage, he plot has kicked off with surprising drama! Like many readers, I'm a bit surprised that I didn't consider the effect that Tirek's imminent rampage would have on Celine, who is a spell-effect herself, and so won't survive having her magic drained. That's an excellent way to up the drama quite considerably - particularly since, while Luna could "make another one," she wouldn't have the experiences and memories of the current Celine, and so wouldn't be the same pony (all the more so since her knowledge gained from having seen Silver's soul now rests with Celine alone, due to Luna's having divested it to her).
What's even better than this is that the knowledge contextualizes Celine's attitude in the previous story quite a bit. Now we know why she was so hot to find more mares for their herd - she was attempting to put her affairs in order, trying to find somepony that Silver would be happy with before her time was up. In light of this, so much of how she acted before makes sense; it's enough to make me think that you planned it this way.
It was a pleasant surprise that this chapter also put forward some interesting information regarding changelings in general, and Nicole in particular. The idea that a changeling could become a true pony is quite fascinating - indeed, we could almost see Nicole being in much the same position as "David" once was. It makes it slightly ironic that Nicole showed up just to exchange greetings and then was gone just as quickly only a few chapters previous. Perhaps more immediate is that this raises all kinds of flags regarding Fast Change. Is he/she a changeling? Or a pony that might end up becoming a changeling? Clearly something's going on here.
Either way, this chapter was laudable for how much it kicked things into high gear. This was a truly excellent example of using a plot element to create future drama and contextualize what we already knew, and it makes it all work so well that it rises to one of the very best chapters that we've seen so far. Silver's story is really hitting its stride now, so it's going to be great to see how this crisis is handled.
5738662 Today has been insane! Two games to run, one being a Patreon monthly game, the other a weekly, and the weekly was a huge plot point. But I still managed three chapters, yay! And I finished up an adventure I was writing!
Meanwhile, I'm ecstatic to hear the chapter hit the right note and didn't fall flat in its attempt. I hope it really does help frame while Celine has acted the way she has. Luna making another one would be... painful. Looking at this familiar pony that didn't have all those shared moments together? It would be... ugh...
Fast Change shows all the signs of a pony that could easily become one, if they aren't already. Something to investigate... perhaps when Silver is not so frightened.
I'm looking forward to upcoming chapters! Thanks for being with me.
i love how fast you update this story
5739036 Welcome to the herd! Glad you could join us. Is this the first story you've been reading or have you been with us from the start?
5739043 i sorta joined half way through the first one, stopped because of college and rejoined at about i think chapter 10 of the previous story when college wasnt so hectic any more
Read ALL the stories!
I did it in less than a day!
I'm deeply concerned about Celine, considering what happens after the Equestria Games. I don't think Silver will survive (long term) with his sanity if she dies. This is NOT a good thing.
I'm wondering if you couldn't buy some time with the Trader's Exchange. I don't think you've mentioned it and it does occur before the Equestria Games.
(edit) and watching the episode, I can see you writing about the many antics contained within... (Double Princess all the way).
(2nd edit) Inspiration Manifestation also happens before the games, but I'm not sure how that would work out.
(3rd edit) You know what, I believed in M.A. Larson and I believe in you. Do what you will, I'm sure it will be AWESOME!
(4Th... BRI! You need to shut the fuck up. The author knows what he's doing. GO TO BED! You need to sleep! There will be new stories in the morning.)
I totally forgot about trek and with Celine being made from Luna's magic that event is a death sentence for her.
I think silver is doing right time to hide his only wife. but does he tell his close friends?
and this part just wow. He had a little slice of Twilight's magic dangling around his neck. The very idea of it was... exciting, and a little illicit. Did she realize the gift she had given him?
if that was my hart crystal it would only levee me when I die and it would go to my doter as she is a pegasister and the only brony I know that would know just how special it truly is.
I have always ben hooked on this series but now I find my self looking several times a day for new chapters.
Harts Fire
5738886 Kudos to you on being able to do so much and still get that much writing done (and so well, to boot). I'm honestly not sure I'd be able to push myself to do that much in a single day, so my hat's off to you there.
It's interesting to note that Luna could create another Celine that would closely approximate the original, if things came to that. All she'd need to do would be 1) view Silver's soul a second time, and 2) make another simulacrum, again pushing the knowledge of Silver that she'd gained into it. That would mean that "Celine II" would also have full knowledge of her husband, but also have (among his memories) the memories that he had of her, or at least her prior incarnation. That wouldn't be exactly the same, since it'd be his memories of her, rather than her memories of herself, but it'd be, as mentioned, a close approximation. Though somehow, I'm not sure that'd be quite enough, should the worst happen.
More notable is the fact that it's entirely possible, in the context of this fic, that the worst could happen at all. I like the fact that this story's shifting focus regarding David's/Silver's circumstances means that there's a genuine question as to whether or not Silver will be successful in his efforts to save Celine - we don't know that it's a foregone conclusion that he'll succeed based on the story's tenor up until now. (Even looking at the "Twilight's Kingdom" episodes doesn't help, since we can't say for certain if Tirek drained literally everypony or not.) One of the most important rules for a writer - in my lay opinion - is the old guideline of "kill your babies"; that is, don't care about your characters so much that you're unwilling to sacrifice them when the plots demands it.
I'm eagerly awaiting finding out what happens to Celine.
5739460 You, sir, are a hero! I hope you enjoyed the trip!
5740076 That implies quite a few things, starting with Luna wanting to expose herself to all of... Earth... again. Most ponies have a relatively much more narrow experience, compared to David's casual exposure to so much, living in a media culture.
There was another part of Luna's promise. Luna keeps her promises, however bitter they turn out.
... I forgot about that. It's a good thing I'm changing my plans for my fic.
5740138 The stories are pretty good. It wasn't too hard!
Hmm, who do we know that might fit that description....
Isn't there? I don't recall any mammals in the show that weren't intelligent enough to understand speech if not speak themselves. In other words, why are there even ribs available? Isn't this a unicorn-only school?
Ooh, she knows everything he knew...that would explain why she was in such a rush, poor girl.
There's only one sense in which that wording reads sensibly (flashing, as in, exposing one's body to others) and since ponies are often naked, I don't think it's the intended sense. Which leaves it missing an object, the thing being brightly flashed. Her teeth, maybe (as in, a grin)? That would make the most sense given the context, I think.
5897045 Fixed.
Nooo not Celine. Celine is best pony.
Oh crap.
His flat teeth were absolutely terrible at pulling the meat apart, but persistence let him get some off and soon her swallowed it. It had a lot of flavors he hadn't even realized he missed, but there was a little something off about it.
Correction:His flat teeth were absolutely terrible at pulling the meat apart, but persistence let him get some off and soon he swallowed it. It had a lot of flavors he hadn't even realized he missed, but there was a little something off about it.
Silver let out a slow sigh, "What did she look?"
Correction: Silver let out a slow sigh, "What did she look like?"
5771146
A lot late but... Even if there are animals that are even moderately intelligent, well Griffins gotta eat to. Besides, this is not your standard unicorn school but a school for unicorn shapeshifters. It wouldn't surprise me that one of the graduation prerequisites for certain paths is to hold the transformation for long periods of time. Which would mean their diets would need to change to match what they were shifted to.
6574549 well now that makes an absolute metric fuck ton of sense.