Race Swapper in the Deerlands

by Hexan Tronic

Chapter 11 - First Day.

When I awaken the next morning, I just roll out of the unfamiliar bed, which shakes the ground enough to knock my hat off the nightstand, and onto my head. After I take a moment to straighten it, I get up and stretch a little, then head out to the living room, where I find Abigale relaxing on her sofa.

“Oh, morning Hexan! Had a good sleep?” She asks, after looking up at the sound of my hooves on the floor.

“Yeah, that was a pretty comfy bed.” I admit. “So, what’s the plan for today?” I ask.

“Well, I haven’t had much time to think about it, so how about breakfast, then just wander around the village, while I answer any questions?” She suggests.

“That sounds fine with me. What are we having for breakfast?” I ask, taking a seat near the sofa.

“I was thinking a nice fruit salad would be nice, if you like?” She asks, before getting up and heading to her kitchen, where I hear her start cutting up fruit, while I wait.

After a few minutes, she comes back with a pair of bowls on her back, which she skillfully sets on the nearby table. I walk over and have a look, seeing slices of apple, orange, pear, banana and peach.

“This looks good.” I compliment her, waiting for her reply before eating.

“Thanks. Well, dig in.” She says, before we start eating the fresh breakfast. After another few minutes, the bowls are empty. I decide to take them to the kitchen, and sit them by the sink, after which I return to the sitting room. “Alright, where are we heading first?”

“Well, first I think we should head to the training area.” Abigale suggests, getting up. As she heads out the door, I follow behind, closing the door as I leave.

“What is the training area?” I ask curiously. As we’re walking, she replies.

“It’s a place for younger deer to practice using their aura. It’s a pretty simple place, but it could be interesting.” She explains, leading the way through the village.

We soon arrive at an area that has smaller trees growing in a hedged in area. I say ‘hedged in’, because from what I can see, instead of fences, they use hedges.

“Here we are. Hopefully you can get a feel of your aura soon.” Abigale says with a smile, leading me in. As she does, some of the younger deer look at me curiously, but continue focusing on their own attempts. After leading me to a free area, she turns to look at me. “Alright. To start, I will help you ‘feel’ your aura, know where it is, before I begin teaching you HOW to use it, alright?”

“Got it, proceed.” I say with a nod, and Logic watching through my eyes, curious about this as much as I am. She then steps over, and places her hoof on my barrel, just under my neck, and I start feeling something flow into me.

“Feel that? That’s my aura. Everydeer’s feels different, although it takes a bit to be able to notice the differences.” She says, and after I feel her aura push deep, I feel it touch something. “Ah, here it is.” She says with a smile.

“That’s my aura?” I ask curiously, getting a feel for it, while I can.

“Yeah, this is it. Feels kind of like honey or syrup, right?” She asks with a giggle.

“Yeah, feels different to magic as a unicorn, for sure.” I agree with a nod.

“Alright, now you’ve got a feel of your aura, I’ll help you get a feel of pushing it out, so it can do stuff.” She explains, before I feel a sort of pulling sensation. “Don’t worry, I’m just pulling a bit of your aura into me, so you know how it feels.” I just nod and let her continue. After a moment, I feel the syrup-like aura flow out of me and into her hoof, causing me to shiver.

“It’s alright, it’s meant to feel like that. You get used to it. Now, try pushing it yourself.” She confirms, before I nod, and try ‘pushing’ it further in, managing to move it a good bit in. “Good job, now pull it back. After that, we’ll try growing a sapling.” I nod, and slowly pull my aura back in, feeling it leave Abigale and return to me.

“With practice, you can move your aura faster. The reason it’s so slow at the moment, is because it’s unused. With time, it will become easier to manipulate.” She says, before placing her hoof on the dirt ground, where I finally notice a mound, from which a single leaf is sticking out from. “Alright, next test. Place your hoof on the ground, near this mound, and feel out with your aura for the seed.”

I nod and do as she says, pushing my aura down my hoof, and into the ground feeling out for the seedling. I soon ‘feel’ the presence of another aura, and move mine towards it.

“I think I got it.” I confirm, and she nods.

“Alright, now as you push your aura against it’s aura, focus on what you want it to do, in this case, ‘GROW’.” She explains, and I do just that. <Grow, little seed.> I think, focusing on that while pushing my aura against it.

Soon, we begin to see the leaf move higher, as the stalk it’s attached to begins to grow. It’s at a slow pace, but it is growing. And soon, another leaf grows out of the stalk, and after a while, I have a mini tree by my hoof.

“Good job Hex!” Abigale exclaims happily. “You caught on really quick, although it was a little slow, you did good. A few more days of this, and you should be good to not need any training.” She explains.

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After that, I went through a few more exercises, like making certain parts grow faster or slower, bigger or smaller, things like that. After about three hours of this, I begin to feel tired.

“Hey Abigale, I’m feeling pretty tired, can we take a break?” I ask, panting a bit.

“Of course. You went a bit longer than beginners normally do, so it’s expected that your feeling the drain from it. Actually moving and using your aura is pretty exhausting early on, but eventually the drain lessens as your body gets used to it.” Abigale explains, before she begins to trot off. “C’mon, let’s get lunch.” She says. I nod and follow her back to her place for lunch.

Upon our arrival, she heads to her kitchen, and begins preparing a sandwich and salad for us. I decide to swap into a unicorn to eat, and when she gets in view, I use my magic to levitate the food onto the table.

“Thanks Hexan. Well, dig in!” She says, before happily eating. I begin with my sandwich, holding it in my magic while I eat. After we both finish our sandwiches, we each get some of the salad into bowls, and begin eating that too. Upon finishing our meal, I’m stuffed, but not tired anymore.

“Ah, that’s better. Thanks Abigale.” I say with a happy sigh.

“Your welcome Hexy! So, what do we do now?” She asks.

“Hmm, not really sure. Is there anything you would like to do?” I ask back.

“Umm, well I WOULD ask if you could take me on a fly for a bit, but your wing still hasn’t healed.” She says sadly, as I switch back to a pegasus, and she redoes the splint.

“Yeah, sorry we can’t do that yet…” I say, a bit disappointed.

“It’s okay! It wasn’t your fault.” She says quickly.”

“Either way, that leaves us with nothing to do still.” I point out.

“Well… how about we just relax for the rest of the day? That way you will be well rested for tomorrow, when we have more training.” She suggests, and I nod in agreement. So, we spend the rest of the day reading books, before heading to bed.

Author's Note:

Well! Been over a YEAR since my last upload. I didn't mean for it to be that long, but I just had NO IDEA what to write, or no motivation to DO said writing. BUT I finally forced myself to DO SOMETHING, and got this one finally done. I hope it's alright.