Rarity and Mistmane trotted down the streets of Canterlot. Since they finally had some free time, Rarity wanted to take her idol to her boutique. It was an excellent excuse to spend one-on-one time with Mistmane. However, the two unicorns didn't get far before they attracted fans and curious onlookers. Ponies marveled at the ancient legend brought to life. Some asked questions, while others took photos with her and asked for her autograph. A pegasus mare wanted Mistmane to hold her small foal, and an earth stallion asked her to bless his farm. Sometimes ponies would ask Rarity questions, but never just her. They seemed to view her as Mistmane's sidekick, which Rarity supposed wasn't too far from the truth. After about thirty minutes of fielding the admirers, Rarity began to feel drained instead of refreshed. However, she got her second wind when she spied the familiar rooftop in the distance.
“It's not much farther, Mistmane. I see the rooftop of my boutique.” Rarity pointed.
Leaning down toward Rarity's ear, the older mare whispered, “Is it the purple roof with the scrolled eaves?”
“Yes,” whispered Rarity, wondering why Mistmane was being secretive.
“Would you like me to teleport us there?”
“Oh! Yes, please.” Rarity wished she had thought of that herself. Then, just for a moment, she wished she could do it herself.
Raising her head, the older unicorn addressed the half dozen ponies following them. “It was lovely to meet you all, but Miss Rarity and I have something important to attend to.”
“Aww,” chorused the followers, lowering their heads.
“I'm sorry to leave you, but here's a little show before I go.” She lit her horn and shot out a series of multicolored sparks. They danced slowly and flickered like embers from a bonfire.
“Ooooh,” the ponies chorused.
Then came the brightest flash of all, and suddenly Rarity and Mistmane were in the boutique.
“Rarity?” Sassy Saddles stepped out from behind the counter. “Well, bust my buttons, what a surprise! And you brought Mistmane with you! Satin and silk, I read about you coming back from Limbo in the newspaper, madam, but to see you with my own eyes is another matter entirely!”
Rarity found herself feeling annoyed that yet another pony was monopolizing her special time with Mistmane. Then she felt annoyed with herself for feeling annoyed. Of course Sassy Saddles would want to speak with the famous Eastern sorceress. What else could she expect?
Rarity cleared her throat. “Ahem, Mistmane, this is Sassy Saddles, the manager of my Canterlot boutique.”
“Pleased to meet you,” said Mistmane with a nod.
“The pleasure's all mine! You know, I always thought that you were a better sorcerer than Star Swirl.”
Sassy was the fifth or sixth pony to say that this morning.
Mistmane offered her a polite smile. “Thank you, but I don't think of it as a contest.” Then she looked around the sales floor at all of the gowns, hats, scarves, and other colorful creations. “You have a beautiful store, Rarity. Did you design all of these clothes?”
Rarity's heart soared at the praise. “Thank you! Yes, I did!” Then she gasped softly. “Idea! What if I design an outfit for you?”
Mistmane chuckled. “I could use a more modern look.”
“Wonderful! Sassy, will you please excuse us while I take Mistmane's measurements? We'll talk business later.”
“Of course, Rarity. It was a real treat meeting you, Mistmane!” Sassy walked back toward the counter, picking up a roll of cloth in her aura.
Rarity ushered Mistmane into the back room and grabbed a tape measure in her magic. “You legends are very modest, aren't you?” she asked in a conversational tone. “Always wearing clothes.”
“We are buttoned-up, it's true.” Mistmane's eyes followed Rarity's tape measure through the air.
“So, I'll design a garment that's modest, but up-to-date. This is going to be such fun!” The younger mare scribbled down the measurements.
“I'm glad you're feeling better, dear.”
“Hm? What do you mean?” Rarity asked absentmindedly.
Mistmane stepped closer to her. “You seemed a bit perturbed on the way here.”
Rarity laid out a fresh sheet of drawing paper. “Oh. Well, I tried not to show it, but to be frank with you, I wanted to spend time with you and nopony else, to get to know the real Mistmane. And now I can!” She picked up a pencil. “Thank you for being discrete about getting us here, by the way.”
“Well, I did have to use the light show as a distraction,” said Mistmane, waving her foreleg. “There's nothing discrete about teleportation, unless you happen to be Meadowbrook.”
“I . . . What?” Rarity set down her pencil.
“Meadowbrook can teleport only when nopony else is watching her. I have a theory that anypony can teleport under the right circumstances.”
“Really?” Rarity stared at her. “But most unicorns can't even teleport! And you're telling me any pegasus or earth pony could do it?”
Mistmane nodded. “The lines between tribal magic are more blurred than you might think. For example, I can use spells to make plants grow as well as an earth pony can.”
Rarity raised the pencil again and tapped it against her chin. “Now that you mention it, my gem-finding spell has some commonalities with earth magic. I'm even starting to bond with Pinkie Pie's sister Maud over our affinity for precious stones.” She frowned in thought. “At least, I think I am. It's so hard to tell with her.”
“Do you ever compare techniques?” asked Mistmane.
“Occasionally. Most of the time I talk about which gems are the best for accents, and she talks about how the different types are formed and how common they are.” She began to sketch a figure using light, quick strokes. “Do you and the other Pillars often have in-depth discussions about magic?”
Mistmane laughed. “The other Pillars include Star Swirl the Bearded and Mage Meadowbrook, and young Stygian as well. So, yes, it's a frequent topic of conversation. Don't you ever talk about magical theory with any of your other friends? Twilight, Starlight, and Sunburst are certainly passionate about it.”
“You can say that again. But Sunburst isn't part of our regular circle. He lives in the Crystal Empire. As for Twilight, well . . .” Rarity stilled her pencil. “Whenever she talks to me about magic, it's usually about our Elements, not unicorn magic. But that's all right,” she added quickly. “I don't define myself as belonging to a tribe. I see myself as a pony first and a unicorn second. Besides, Twilight makes unicorn magic sound so esoteric sometimes. I've always preferred to work with what I can see and touch.”
“I like that best, too.” Mistmane closed her eyes in a serene expression. “I enjoy making magic and beauty accessible to everypony.”
“Ah, you do understand!” Rarity drew a dark outline of a tunic.
“And the more my power and abilities improved, the more I was able to give back to the ponies around me,” continued Mistmane.
“Yes.” Rarity's pencil stopped once more. “Mistmane, I . . . Well, I hope you aren't disappointed that I'm not a powerful sorceress like you or Twilight or Starlight.”
“No!” Mistmane's eyes flew open and she rushed to Rarity's side, putting her hoof on her back. “Don't ever think that, dear! You have followed in my hoofsteps in all the ways that really mattered. You've brought happiness and comfort to countless others.”
“And yet . . .” Rarity stared at her half-finished sketch. “What if Starlight or Sunburst hadn't been there to help Twilight open the portal? I doubt that I would have been able to step in to take their place. Even assuming I have enough magic, I don't know any spell on that level.” She let out a sigh. “I suppose being a unicorn second is not always a good thing. Not when lives are at stake, at least.”
“Do you want to do more?” asked Mistmane.
“Oh, I don't know. I'm too old to start magic school. That ship has sailed.” It was not a direct answer.
“Perhaps nopony has ever described magic in a way that made it exciting for you,” mused Mistmane, rubbing her chin. “It might help you if I put it this way. You like working with fabric, yes?”
Rarity chortled at the obvious question. “Of course! There's no better way to make a pony feel fabulous than with a flattering new ensemble.”
“Now, think of reality as a fabric that you can re-fashion the way you see fit.”
“There's a fabric of reality?” The younger mare tilted her head.
Mistmane nodded. “The fundamental principle of magic is to change reality to better fit your vision. This is especially true of unicorn magic, because it requires conscious effort.”
“That's a interesting perspective on magic, but it's easier said than done, isn't it?” Rarity tapped the pencil's eraser against the paper.
“I believe a demonstration would be helpful. I'm going to cast an illusion charm on this workroom, if that's all right with you. Please remember that this is only an illusion.”
Rarity clapped her hooves together. “The legends didn't do you justice! You're so polite when you cast spells. I just adore it!”
Mistmane smiled. “If I may?” She raised her head and sent a stream of cool green light from her curved horn. The aura struck the ceiling and cascaded down the walls, changing them in its wake. The walls, windows, furniture, lamps, sewing machine, and everything else turned into fabric. Even Mistmane herself looked like a giant cloth doll with an embroidered face. Rarity held her hoof in front of her face and saw fine threading where hair and skin had been.
She sucked in a breath. “I didn't expect you to take the metaphor so literally, Mistmane!” When she pressed her hoof against the wall, she felt both of them squish. “It's uncanny!”
“I figured that if you saw reality as fabric, it would be easier for you to manage. What would you like to do first?”
“I don't have the slightest idea.” Rarity craned her neck to stare at the soft pillars. “It's all so overwhelming.”
“Well, why don't you start with something small?” Mistmane levitated the stool in front of Rarity and set it on the floor. “What would you like to do to this stool, Rarity? Anything you can imagine, you can create!”
Rarity rubbed her chin, feeling cloth against cloth. It was a bizarre sensation. She hummed and glanced around in search of scissors and pins to work with, but she soon saw that they, too, had been turned into fabric. Narrowing her eyes in concentration, she lit her horn and shot out a beam that cut off the stool's legs. There was cotton stuffing inside. Rarity pulled it out and set the empty round cloth on top of Mistmane's head.
“A hat!” Mistmane's aqua eyes widened. “How clever.”
“I just wish it had a brim,” said Rarity.
“Well, what's stopping you from adding one?” asked Mistmane with a grin.
Rarity held up her needles in her blue glow. “Look at these! They're made of cotton! How am I supposed to sew with these?”
“Maybe you could use your magic to force the thread through the cloth.”
“Sewing with just magic?” Rarity chewed her lip in thought before sputtering at the texture. “Sfthew!” She did her best to clear the dry cotton from her mouth. “Well! It's unorthodox, but I'll give it a try.” After removing the hat from Mistmane's head, Rarity unraveled thread from one of the stool legs. Then she scored the other legs with her magic to form strips that she sewed onto the hat, pushing the thread in and out. She had to concentrate to hold the thread very straight and aim it through the gaps in the threads of the cloth. After working for twenty minutes straight, Rarity began to feel fatigued and lightheaded.
She took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. “There. It's not my best work, but it's a thing that I made.”
“Well, don't judge your work until you see what it looks like after I lift the illusion.” Mistmane's horn shone again, and the green light poured down the room to reveal a normal work space with plaster walls and a tiled floor. The hat on Mistmane's head was smooth and made entirely out of wood. A pile of sawdust rested on the floor where the stuffing had been.
Rarity gasped. “I did that?”
Mistmane levitated the hat to better inspect it. “Fascinating. You changed the shape but not the substance. An unusual mistake, but not bad for a first attempt.”
“But – but it was all cloth! The substance was already changed!”
“On the contrary, the stool remained wooden the entire time. I merely helped you perceive it as malleable, and so it was. But perhaps it's not a perfect illustration. It doesn't convey the full scope of aspects that you can manipulate. We'll have to work on that later. It has been well over a thousand years since I've taught magic, you know,” Mistmane finished with a laugh.
Rarity shook her head, trying to put her jumbled thoughts in order. “I don't understand what just happened, but one thing I do know is that I can do a lot more with magic than I realized. So thank you for showing me that, Mistmane.”
The older unicorn wrapped her foreleg around the younger. “That's Sifu Mistmane to you, young Rarity.”
“Sifu Mistmane,” echoed Rarity with a grin. Then she glanced down at the pile of sawdust. “I'm going to need a new stool, though.”
Damn rarity, you practice this and you could start to give discord a run for his money.
Actually this is probably exactly how discord does his magic
will we be the Pillars and Stygian interacting with the rest of the elements, Spike, Starlight, Sunburst, and the princesses? If not, that’s fine
... You mean Mist Mane Sensai. Mist Mane is heavily Japanese in flunced.
Well Mist Mane explained parts of Pinkie Pie, though I expect Pinkie's aptitude for non-observed teleportation would even freak out Medowbrook.
"Oh dear. No thank you, darling. I tried that once with a book and it didn't turn out so well."
The best teachers understand how to make the subject accessible to any student.
(That said, I am a bit dissapointed that nopony asked how Mistmane gets her mane to wave in the thaumosphere.)
Very interesting chapter!
That might be true, but Twilight doesn't really need a mentor (even if we dicsount Celestia) in the sense of needing someone to teach her new skills and abilities - she's already capable of comping up with spells and solutions even Starswirl didn't think of after all. She's certainly no worse at magic than Starswirl is - and she is what, a quarter of his age? She probably needs a sounding board more than she needs a teacher at this point (which, as Rarity noted, none from their group can really be) - her hero worship aside, Starswirl probably isn't qualified to teach her much. Oh, he could certainly teach her a thing or two, but I don't doubt the reverse is also true. If they talked shop about magic, I'm sure it would end up being pretty much give-and-take.
What Twilight does need more of is self confidence and willingness to assert herself (and less hero worship). That's ... probably more of Celestia's failing than anything though. And yeah, not something she is going to learn hanging around Starswirl.
8527791
There are more Eastern Countries than just Japan. Sensei is the Japanese word for Master while Sifu is the word used by those located a west from there, I think either Cantonese or Mandarin.
8527863
I know, but the structures of Mist Mane's homeland is rooted in Japan, her clothing has much in common with a kimono, a Japanese style of clothing. And then there is her name, which actually Mistmane (no space). She's a sensai,
"Well done! You've taken your first step into a far larger world."
-- Master Obi-Wan Kenobi
-- Star Wars IV - A New Hope
8527863
So, Master Shifu ( Kung Fu Panda) is lexically redundant?
Reaction to Mistmane's technique:
it is going to be interesting when we get to Flash and Rainbow. How is he going to react to spike? I am going to assume that he has som predigests towards dragons, giving his experiences with them.
8527805
you know, that book WAS in the Castle of the Two Sisters. Wonder if one of the Pillars left it there?
Damn, that's amazing.
And Celestia, a cool mentor? When's the last time she did something useful again?
8527707
Pretty much.
8527778
Maybe. I'd like to include everyone if I can do it in an organic and interesting way. Originally I wanted to do pairs and trios with no repeating characters, but it's looking unlikely that I'll get it to fit that neatly.
8527804
A lot of the things Pinkie does would freak out Meadowbrook.
8527810
That was a missed opportunity, given that I invented a fake Latin-y term for it. I actually considered inserting a headcanon explanation of it, but I thought it might bog down the chapter too much, and I was eager to finish it. I'll try to work in a mention of her ethereal hair in the next chapter.
8527839
Good points, especially about Twilight no longer needing a mentor, as the show itself has shown.
8527880
I saw the round lanterns, urns, and jade decorations, and associated them with China. Then there are the light constructs that Mistmane and Sable Spirit dueled with, which resembled traditional Chinese dragons. But you are correct about the architecture and Mistmane's clothing. It seems to be a mishmash of the two cultures. (BTW, I'm going to fix the spacing in Mistmane's name.)
8528051
I'm thinking Stygian wrote it and Star Swirl took it and hid it in that secret chamber because it was too dangerous. Either that or he planned on using it himself later on.
The story is amazing! Can't wait for more to come, especially Somnembula. Her character all in all, story, design all intriguing ( Plus the Sphinx, now that is on my bucket list of episode to see giant catpon once more lol ) and i'm pretty sure she would hit off well with Daring Do even though Pinkie is her pair in terms of elements. Daring Do life be tons easier with a pony who know all the ancient stuff as most likely been there.
But then have her adjust to say ponyville, even as a temporal settling and acclimated to the modern northern Equestrian would be interesting.
8528942
Well thats just me personally, but Celly is not a warrior or super mage first and foremost. Her experience and expertise lays in running an entire nation for 1000 years, and she is like everyponys mom in a sense, she do feel and treat her ponies such loving way. So saying when she ever did anything useful is quite wrong. She done tons of the stuff, not the heroic, epic adventure like stuff, but the boring and mind numbing political maneuvering of the country. Yes it is not flashy by the way it sounds, but then lets look at Equestria as a whole. It's a thriving nation.
Now lets skip out here a bit to Daybreaker ( Solarflare for fannon lovers ) Thats Celestia in reverse, very focus on self and little on the others, and no restrains ( like superman, think about it. ) Daybraker version of Celestia would burn the world for laugh and giggles, not to ash in full, some have to stay to tremble before her hooves to feed her ego, and just like nightmare, there be life and ponies remain, not a pleasant and thriving one at that thought. She not wanna let go of herself and go down the road of destruction, because on the end is Daybreaker alterego or something very alike. This goes deep, and banishing Luna and the realizations that came with it had to have reinforce this self lock down, on both conscious and subconscious levels. Even when comes to fighting.
Well thats my headcanon analysis of Celly to why she looks, and is useless in most combat situations when the adventure includes her. But once the Daybreaker part gets out, there be burns to the atoms included. And we wanna see it, and yet we so do not wanna see it
8529676
Thanks! I hadn't really planned on including Daring Do in this little series, but I'm sure she'd be super excited to meet Somnambula. So I'll see where my inspiration takes me.
8529701
how will flash magnus and rainbow dash interact with eachother
8527880
8527791
Whatever the geographical region she hails from, it's actually spelled Sensei.
Although a sensei who specializes in the sai, a three pronged weapon popularized by the ninja turtle Raphael, might go by sen-sai.
8527839
Let's not forget, though, the show pretty much told us Starswirl is a better mage than Twilight. Much of what she and Starlight know comes from the work he did.
People are so quick to dismiss him now that it turns out he's not a gentle pony, they forget how incredibly powerful and accomplished he was.
Principle in this context, I think.
8589773
Fixed, thanks.
OH NO....PONYVILLE HAS TURNED INTO A VAST PLUSHIE !!!!!!