Making my Mark

by Firestar463

Chapter 3

To say that dinner that evening was awkward would be a bit of an understatement.

I was sat in my normal spot, between Serenity and Celestia and opposite from Luna. The dinner itself was standard Pony fare, as usual - fruits, vegetables, and nuts, as well as grasses that I knew better than to touch. The conversation topics were unchanged. We discussed the continued pushback against the Minotaurs. New commanders - Ponies whose names were unfamiliar to me - were debated as possible replacements for those lost in the attack on Everfree. I learned of supposedly heightened activity in the Frozen North by the Griffonian Empire, far across the sea from their homeland. On the surface, it would seem like any other dinner that I’d had since the fall of Adamant Will.

But just beneath the surface, I could tell that all was not well. Their ears were all folded backwards ever so slightly. Celestia was far less vocal than normal, only speaking when spoken to and keeping her response brief. Solaris kept glancing across the table at me, even when others were speaking. Serenity seemed more interested in my opinion than usual. And Luna refused to meet my eyes, choosing instead to look at her plate, at the speaker, at her fork… anywhere but at me.

Of course, learning that your dining companion is a predator perfectly capable of running you down over the course of hours or days might have a chilling effect on the mood…

Luna was the first to finish her meal. She averted her gaze as she slid backwards in her seat, rising to her hooves. She said nothing, instead exchanging only a brief glance with her mother and a nod with her father. A moment later, she was gone, the doors closing shut behind her as she walked out into the hallway.

I glanced to my left. I found Serenity glancing towards me as well. For a moment, our gazes locked. And just as suddenly, they were broken. I felt a few butterflies flutter in my stomach as I returned my attention to the remnants of my meal. I picked a bit at the small pile of beans I had left, only to find that what remained of my appetite had abandoned me. Still, I forced myself to finish the few remaining bites on my plate.

It was only a few minutes more before I and the others had finished as well. I heard the scraping of wood against wood as Solaris rose to his feet. Next to me, Serenity and Celestia rose together, and I stood up as well. Together, we all made our way out of the dining hall and into the hallway.

At this point, on a normal evening, We would have all gone our separate ways. Serenity and Solaris would head off to the left, while Luna and Celestia would join me as we took the right-hand passage before we, too, parted ways at the far end of the corridor. Save for Luna’s absence, it seemed to start no different than normal. We said our evening farewells and went our separate ways - Serenity and Solaris going one way, Celestia and I the other.

I knew, however, that tonight was going to be a bit out of the ordinary. The library was my destination - a location I’d visited a few times over the past few days, and one that I felt confident that I could find on my own. However, that particular route would take me off of my beaten path, and instead have me not part ways with Celestia at the end of the hall. Instead, I’d be following her… at least until the spiral staircase, if not a bit further than that.

I didn’t make a big deal of it, instead simply turning with Celestia as we reached the end of the hall. She turned her head towards me, and I could see her lift an eyebrow. “Not headed to bed quite yet?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No, I think I’ll head to the library for a bit,” I answered.

“Anything particular you’re looking to research there?” She asked. She turned her head more fully towards me. “I could help. For a while, at least.”

I had to shake my head. I didn’t know whether or not Celestia had been let in on this secret meeting that Serenity had set up. If she hadn’t… “No, nothing in particular,” I replied. “Just gonna browse a bit.”

That seemed to placate Celestia. She said nothing else as we continued down the corridor, towards a large spiral staircase. I followed behind Celestia, stepping off at the second floor as she continued upwards. She glanced backwards as we parted ways, and we both exchanged a small smile as I passed through a gilded archway and out of the staircase.

From there, it was a simple matter of actually getting to the library. It was a route I’d traveled several times before. First right, third left, skirt around the guard patrol as they gave me a funny look, and then fifth door on the right. Sure enough, the familiar double oaken doors greeted me. I grasped the knob, turned, and pulled the doors open.

As I stepped in, I couldn’t help but marvel once again at the sight before me. I’d emerged from the center of one of the sides of a large, rectangular area. This open area stretched from my feet to far above my head - two additional stories, in fact. This rectangular area was devoid of bookshelves, and was instead littered with tables and chairs of every type imaginable, from simple wooden chairs to leather recliners to padded benches. Ornately-carved marble pillars lined the outer edges of the rectangular area.

Beyond the pillars lay the bookshelves. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them, from the wall to the edge of the rectangle, each one containing thousands of books. Only one section was devoid of these bookshelves - a small corner, on the far side and to my right, where a marble staircase rose to the second floor. I knew that each floor was more of the same - countless more books on countless more bookshelves. More books than one could possibly read in their life.

And looking directly up, I could see perhaps the most spectacular feature of the library. An extravagant crystalline structure, almost snowflake-like in design, anchored to the ceiling and stretching down to the second floor. A single ball of light-giving energy rested within the structure… or so I’d been told. I would never have guessed it was only one, for the crystal reflected and refracted the light in such a way that no corner of the library was left dark. The reading area on the bottom floor was also bathed in the warm glow, ensuring that there was ample light to read or write by from any chair or table.

I stepped forward into this glow with a smile. I’d already spent several hours in this room, learning all I could about Gaia that might help me in the coming weeks and months. I had a feeling that I’d be spending hours more during my stay.

But for the first time that I could remember, I wasn’t alone.

Luna was already there. Not that I was surprised, of course. I’d known she was going to be there. She was sat with her back towards me, her gaze locked on the book in front of her. Only the fact that her ears were angled backwards towards the door gave any indication that she’d noticed my arrival at all.

It wasn’t until the door clicked closed behind me that she closed her book and directed her full attention to me. A small strip of paper slipped between her fingers before finding its place in between the pages of the book she had been reading. “Chris,” she greeted me as she closed the book and set it aside.

“Luna.”

“Thank you for coming tonight. I know you have a few questions,” Luna began. She rose to her hooves and stepped around the couch she had been sitting on. “What are we doing here, for one. And why this needs to be kept secret from father.”

I remained silent, inviting Luna to continue. “The answers to these questions are actually one in the same. Tonight, and every night from now on until the foreseeable future, we are going to meet here. Mother has asked me to educate you in a number of subjects that you may be unfamiliar with here in Equestria. Our history, customs, the other races that we share this world with, magic, and so on. We will also continue your combat training here.”

“Combat training?” I repeated. Well, that would explain why Solaris was being kept out of the loop. He was uncomfortable enough with me being here without me still being trained to fight...

“Yes, combat, “Luna continued. “You may have defeated Adamant Will - with a bit of assistance,” she added with a chuckle, “- but you still need to know how to defend yourself. Especially given that an entire kingdom now wants your head…”

“Thanks for reminding me,” I muttered darkly. “So, why are we meeting in here? This doesn’t exactly look like the best place to swing a sword or shoot an arrow… Why not outside?”

“Because we’re not supposed to let father know?” One of Luna’s eyebrows arched upwards. “And sparring on the back lawn is a surefire way for him to either see us our hear about it from one of the guards.”

“Fair point,” I conceded. “But this place still doesn’t seem… y’know… open enough? There’s all these couches and stuff in the way…”

“Just leave that to me.” Somehow, I just knew she was going to say that. “When the time comes, I’ll make sure the room is nice and open. But for tonight, that won’t be necessary.” Luna turned her back towards me and began walking back towards the couch she had been sitting in. “Mother asked me to work with you on something other than combat tonight.”

“Oh?” I asked as Luna sat back down on the couch. I moved past her and plopped down on the seat next to her. “What exactly did you two have in mind?”

A small smile crept over luna’s face. She held one hand out, palm-up, at chest level. Her horn glowed with a dark-violet aura. From somewhere in the library’s upper levels, I could hear a small poof. An instant later, the same sound resonated through the room as a thick tome appeared in Luna’s outstretched hand.

“Tonight, you learn about magic.”

There was a brief silence. I looked up at her. She returned my gaze evenly.

“...Magic.”

Luna nodded. “Magic.”

Another brief silence. “So… what, are we talking like… theoretical stuff, history… what?”

“Theory leading towards practical applications.”

“Practical applications… by whom, exactly?”

“By you, of course.”

I felt my brow furrow slightly. “Um… Luna? I hate to burst your bubble… but Humans can’t do magic.”

“Oh?” I could hear the feigned surprise in her voice. “Really? How about when you turned invisible, hm? Or slowed your descent when you jumped out of a window? Or slowed down time?”

“That wasn’t me, though!” I protested. “You and Celestia and Queen Serenity were the ones that made the scrolls! You’re the ones who gave them the magic! I just -”

“Just what?” Luna’s voice was calm, but that smile was still there. If anything, she was struggling to keep it from growing bigger. “Just activated the spell yourself? Triggered it to go off at the time and place of your choosing?”

“...Yeah? But that’s not...”

“Still unconvinced, I see.” Luna leaned over to lay the book down on the table in front of us before returning her attention to me. “Perhaps I should offer some evidence of my own, then, on why we believe you can use magic. But first, a very brief lesson on how magic works.”

“Beneath the surface of our world, a number of rivers flow. Rivers not of water, but of energy. Pure, raw energy. Energy we have come to call mana. These rivers, or leylines, criss-cross our planet. It is this mana that Unicorns and other spellcasters tap into in order to fuel our spells. This is a gross oversimplification, but in essence, a Unicorn’s strength is primarily determined by how much mana they can safely draw from the leylines at once.”

“The spell scrolls that you were given… I suppose, given your explanation of the device, they can be compared to these guns that you showed us.” I opened my mouth, but found myself cut off as Luna held up her hand. “Yes, I will explain. The spell scroll is like… the projectile and the powder that you inserted into the gun. It has the potential for energy, but it requires something. A spark to set it off. When the spark ignites the powder, the gun fires its projectile. When this spark activates the spell scroll, the magic stored within is unleashed.”

“Okay… And I’m guessing the spark for the spell scroll was me touching it?” I asked. I received a nod in response. “Right. I get that. But I’m failing to see how this gives you the idea that I can use magic…”

“Because the act of applying pressure to the seal on the spell scroll is not enough to set off the spell,” Luna explained. Her hand made a circular motion in the air in front of her. “It requires… a little something… more. Otherwise, all of the scrolls would have gone off in your pouch, and you would reached in and found nothing but ash.”

“So it needs a living creature to touch the scroll to activate it?” I could feel my brow furrowing again. I’d already assumed that much. I still wasn’t seeing how they thought I could -

“No.” Luna shook her head quickly. “Not just a living touch. A magical touch. There is a reason you won’t see spell scroll vendors selling levitation or teleportation scrolls out in the market. Earth Ponies and Pegasi simply don’t have the magical touch necessary to undo the seal and release the spell, let alone control and shape it to their will. They have their own magic, sure, but they cannot harness a scroll imbued with unicorn magic. Nor can a Griffon or a Minotaur born without a magical touch, or any race for that matter. If you do not at least have the potential to harness mana, then the spell scrolls will not activate for you.”

“But you, Chris. You were able to activate the scrolls. Which means that you have that touch needed to use magic. Not just from spell scrolls, but from spells that you cast.”

Silence fell once more. Silence as I attempted to process all of the information I had just been given. As I tried to wrap my head around the implications of what I had just learned.

Magic. Actual goddamn magic. If everything Luna had just said was true…

“Wait a minute… How… If… Okay.” I let out an exasperated sigh. “Look. I clearly didn’t believe that I could do magic. I didn’t even know magic was a real thing until I was floating around a cave. But you gave me those scrolls anyway, knowing there was a good chance that I wouldn’t be able to use them?”

“What?” Luna cocked her head to the side for an instant, but just as quickly righted herself. “Oh. That." She averted her gaze and reached back with her free hand to scratch the back of her head. "We… had our suspicions that you had this… untapped potential. Celestia is a lot more sensitive to the ebb and flow of mana than I am. If you recall, she was the one that sent you, as you put it, floating around a cave. She says that she felt… something there. Some indication that you had the potential to use magic, even if you’d never done it before. If we hadn’t thought that, we probably wouldn’t have given you those scrolls or sent you into Everfree in the first place.”

“...So you didn’t know for certain.”

“Well, nothing is ever certain. We were… fifty-fifty.”

“So you wagered my life on a coin flip,” I deadpanned. “Brilliant.”

“Look.” Luna let out a large sigh, and her shoulders slumped. “I know that sounds bad. But you have to remember, at that point, a fifty-fifty shot was as good as we were going to get. It was that or we all die, you included. And it all turned out alright, didn’t it?”

“...Fine,” I huffed. “So… what, now?”

And just like that, that smile returned to Luna’s face. Her head swiveled towards the table, and she leaned forward. The cover was flipped open, and she flipped a few pages forward. She stopped on one page, and her finger trained its way downward before coming to rest about halfway down the left-hand page.

“Now, Chris… we learn.”

I watched as Luna sat back upwards and turned so that she was sitting cross-legged on the couch, facing me. “Most Unicorns are born with an innate knowledge of magic. How to tap into the leylines, how to direct its flow and shape its power to their will. It’s an instinct, very much like how we're born knowing how to breathe. This knowledge becomes more refined with age, research, and practice. There are, however, a few rare cases in which a Unicorn has little or none of this instinctual knowledge. Centuries ago, a technique was developed to open the minds of these Unicorns so that they may begin to learn to harness magic.”

Luna’s hand rose to her chest level again, and her horn was once more surrounded by her magical aura. I watched as a small sphere of energy began to form in her hands - a radiant ball of light, flickering with ever-changing specks and patches of white and sky-blue. The orb grew to the size of a basketball before finally stabilizing in her hand.

“As you’ve probably been able to guess,” Luna continued, “Unicorns conduct magic almost exclusively through the horn. This is our conduit, our means of controlling mana and harnessing its power. It is for this reason that, when opening the mind of a young Unicorn to magic, they would touch this orb with the tip of their horn."

“Obviously, you have no horn through which you can channel mana. Other races, such as Minotaurs, do have horns, but these horns are not useful for the purpose of controlling mana.. For the few spellcasters amongst them, it is theorized that they channel their magic through their hands.”

“So, in order to begin unlocking your potential, you must place your hands - both of them - upon this orb. You will likely feel a tingling sensation in your arms, but try not to let it distract you. You must then turn your mind inward and attempt to find what you are searching for.”

I felt my eyebrow rise as I stared at the orb floating just above Luna’s outstretched hand. I glanced upwards at Luna before returning my gaze to the orb. “And... what exactly am I searching for?”

“Your potential, of course. To turn it into actual power. Those who have undergone this process have described it as being similar to trying to remember a distant memory that you know is there, but just can’t find.”

“That’s it?” I asked. “Nothing more, no other hints… just search til I find it?” There was no response from Luna, and I felt my shoulders slump. “Alright, let’s give this a shot then…” Both of my hands reached outwards and descended upon the orb.

Tingling, my ass! The sensation was not dissimilar to the time I accidentally touched a live low-voltage wire when cleaning behind the dryer back home. Perhaps not as intense, but certainly unpleasant. It took all of my willpower to not recoil from the touch. As it was, I let out a short yelp, and my eyes clenched shut as the sensation shot up my arms. “Ohhhh God, I don’t like this…”

“Focus, Chris!” Came Luna’s reply. “The sooner you find your potential, the sooner this will be over.”

Much as I wanted to argue, I knew she was right. Once I’d found… whatever the hell I was supposed to be looking for… I’d be able to let go and maybe regain some feeling in my hands. And I certainly wasn’t just going to give up on an opportunity to actually, maybe, learn some real magic. So I gritted my teeth, closed my eyes, attempted to ignore the numbness creeping past my wrists, and began searching.

You know how when you’re trying to remember something - a word, a phrase, a memory that you just barely can’t remember? Maybe a dream you had last night? How if you close your eyes, you’ll see images flashing through your mind? It was almost exactly identical to that. The only differences were that the images were far sharper and clearer, and I could actually control what I was seeing. Sort of, anyway. In a kind of sifting-through-sand, wading-through-water kind of way.

It was like a big, black void, with images floating every which way. Some small, some huge, some bright, some dim, all incredibly crisp and clear. And all seemingly in my way. I would reach out to move some out of my way, but more would just float in front of me. It was a jumbled mess as I tried to wade past the images.

And then, I saw it. Just past the swarm of images. An ironclad door, floating off in the distance. I felt myself moving towards it without a second thought. But the images… they wouldn't move. They wouldn’t stop swarming around me. I swatted, trying to drive them back, but they kept coming. Like a swarm of flies…

“Chris!”

I jumped backwards as my eyes snapped open. The ball of energy had faded away, though my hands and arms were still half-numb. A cold sweat had formed on my forehead, and run all the way down my back. I swiped a bit of it away as I turned my attention back to Luna.

“Well? She asked, leaning forward expectantly. “What did you see?”

“I saw… images,” I began. “I… don’t remember what they were. But they wouldn’t leave me alone. And there was… a door.”

“Go on…”

“That’s it.” I shook my head to clear it. “I felt drawn towards the door, but I couldn’t get any closer. The images kept swarming me.”

Luna let out a small sigh. “I should have expected as much,” she muttered. “Most Unicorns who have to undergo this process require multiple sessions to actually break through and unlock their potential. I suspect the same will be true for you.”

“Those images… what were they?”

“Distractions,” Luna shrugged. “Sensations from the outside making their ways into your mind. The door leads to your potential, of that I’m certain. But you must push past the distractions in order to unlock it.”

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. The experience had been… jarring, to say the least. And I was still regaining the feeling in my fingers. But knowing what to expect going back into it… “Alright. Let’s try again.”

“Not tonight,” Luna shook her head. “We’ve already been at this for an hour and a half, and -”

“Wait, what?!”

“Yes. An hour and a half.”

“But…”

“I know,” Luna smiled. “Now that you know this might actually happen, you want to see it through. And we will. But it’s getting late. And our session already lasted longer than most. We don’t want you getting hurt.”

I watched as Luna rose to her hooves and picked the book off of the table. Her horn lit up once again, and the book vanished with a small poof - a sound that was echoed an instant later from the upper reaches of the library. “No,” she continued. “We will continue this tomorrow. Same time, same place.”

“And remember to have a little patience, Chris. Good things come to those who wait.”

Author's Note:

Or to those who actually stop being lazy and write...

Comments

[hs0003]

I feel like that last line was some sort of semi excuse. Like "you waited and now a chapter came. Wait again and eventually another will come."

[The Wind King]

I would love it if they untapped his potential, and he immediately gained The Sight and The Soulgaze.

He'd probably need some sort of sensory feedback to be able to cast, otherwise it's like a blind man trying to paint Rembrant, but going from Blind to Wizard's Sight would just let him know that Murphy still remembers him, and she still cares..

[Thunder--Clash]

Another wonderfully crafted chapter, good job I loved reading it

[Gizmo Gear]

Yes honey, we sit with a being that can out-survive, why? Oh, its awkward? Oh..... Oh......ok then........

[Sipioc]

Glad to see it's back.

Wondering what Magic he will unlock, here's hope my it's immortality, would be interested in seeing him live to see the sisters go Alicorn, and have to side with one of them. I would say Luna but I dunno.

[Sup]

Love the chapter, keep it up!

[Silentwoodfire]

Alright, so at this point in time, hes potentially isolated himself doing the testing they wanted, and possibly has earned some serious ire form the king.

I can almost reasonably say that either somepony is going to try and proposition him, or somepony/minotaur, is going to attempt to harm him and most likely succeed.

[Lysander Shadowheart]

Many exiting things have happened in this chapter.
Things are starting to build up again, this certainly feels like the building of water in a dam. I shall now continue reading this exciting story.