The Middle Pony

by AutumnSky98

Magic's Many Uses

Chapter 1

Magic's Many Uses

With a worried expression, Lavender bursts into the Princess’s room.

She analyses the situation in seconds.

Cadance is in bed, a pained expression adorning her face and sweat beads her brow. Right next to her is Shining, a dark pink force field crackling around the immediate area of the bed, and about four specialized doctors are cowering against one of the walls, shrinking back as every little movement makes the barrier flare in defence.

Taking things into her own hooves, Lavender decides to handle one thing after the other.

“Leave.”

She doesn’t have to tell the paramedics twice, they shoot out of the room, along the very edge of the wall, as though they’ve been fired as fours arrows from a bow.

With any other onlookers gone, Lavender then turns to deal with her brother.

He’s completely at the mercy of his instincts, primal growls wrack his body as he assesses the next threat in the room.

“Shining,” Lavender tries, taking slow, deliberate steps toward him and Cadance.

The barrier flares again, but to Lavender, it’s more of a caress than a warning.

When it registeres that his magic recognises the only other mare in the room, Shining takes a careful whiff of the air. Finding the scent of the purple unicorn calming and pleasant. He also recognises it, which is the most important thing.

Slowly. Oh, so slowly, his instincts recede and Shining is left standing next to Cadance’s bed, his barrier flickering out as realisation dawns in his eyes.

“It’s alright BB. You didn’t hurt anyone, just sent a few frights around.”

Shining raises a hoof to rub at the back of his head sheepishly.

“That bad?”

He’s trying to lighten the mood, she knows, but Lavender is more worried about Cadance at the moment.

“No. But I do have to ask you to leave so that I can do a full scan.”

Shining has barely relaxed his muscles, before they stiffen at the prospect of leaving his wife alone.

‘Not alone. With your little sister. You have GOT to calm down,’ Shining thinks, though it’s Cadance’s voice that stops his leaving.

“Does he have to go?” The Princess asks, struggling to raise her upper body from the bed.

“Any magical energy other than my own and that of my patient can throw off the results of my scan. I promise it won’t take too long and he can come right back in as soon as I’ve finished,” Lavender explains, her voice soft and sweet, calming the fretful mare and stallion.

Hey, if she were sick and no-one knew why, she would have been too.

“See you in a bit,” Shining says.

“I’ll call you in once we’re done,” Lavender replies in a soft voice, smiling as the door closes behind her big brother.

“Despite the circumstances, it’s nice to see you again Cadance,” Lavender says as she walks up to the bed.

Cadance looks very tired, dark rings rest under her eyes and her sight seems bleary. She obviously hasn’t been sleeping well recently. Not only that, but she has quite the fever, her figure is wracked with shivers, despite the blanket that covers up to her shoulders.

The Princess manages a weak smile in response, conjuring a very small heart of greeting with her magic.

Lavender receives it happily, sending back her own friendship heart, though, instead of Cadance’s usual pink and red heart, Lavender’s is a soft pink and purple colour.

“Do you think you can get out of bed, and stay standing for about 20 seconds?” Lavender asks, waiting for Cadance’s reply with baited breath.

She gets a shaky laugh in response.

“If you help me get up, I think I can manage,” She replies. Her eyes momentarily sparking with their usual mischief and fun.
It certainly lifts a heavy load off of Lavender’s shoulders.

“Great. Let’s do this then, shall we?” Lavender says, moving to give Cadance a hoof up.

Almost immediately Lavender notices that Cadance has lost a bit of weight, and is slightly unsteady on her hooves. She still has the strength to hold herself up though, which is also good.

“Ok. The scan won’t hurt, you’ll just feel a stream of my magic pass through you, and that’ll be it,” Lavender explains.

“Sounds like the best check-up ever,” Cadance remarks. Her voice, though a little slurred with tiredness, doesn’t show any signs of sickness.

“Here goes,” Lavender murmurs.

Focusing her mind, she forms the image of what she wants her magic to do in her mind, and builds up her power. Thinking of the typical alicorn anatomy for Cadance’s age, and remembering to account for her specialised type of magic, she releases a beam of purple light that scans Cadance from hooves to horn.

Cadance seems completely healthy. Not a sickness of any kind to be seen in her system.

What makes Lavender’s eyes widen, is the golden hue of a second magic source emanating from Cadance’s stomach.

‘No wonder she seems so drained, when she’s only been trying to take care of herself and there’s a tiny, and very powerful little foal trying to grow inside of her,’ Lavender thinks. Glad to have been able to pinpoint the reason for Cadance’s condition so quickly.

“Alright Cadance. You’re free to go,” Lavender jests, though Cadance catches her gist pretty quick and climbs back into bed.

“So? What’s the diagnosis, doctor?” Cadance asks, genuinely curious, since Lavender’s expression chases away her worries pretty quickly.

Lavender gives Cadance a cheeky smirk, before deciding she’ll tell both of them together.

“I’ll reveal that, as soon as Shining stops eavesdropping and joins us in here,” Lavender says, moving to open Cadance’s bedroom door with a swift kick from one of her hind hooves.
An action that sends Shining tumbling into the room.

“Hehe, hi sis,” Shining tries, quickly getting up when he’s only greeted with a raised brow.

“Alright. Ready?” Lavender asks, suddenly very serious.

Shining gulps, and Cadance merely nods.

“Well then… Congratulations! you two are going to be parents!” Lavender says, her voice, for once, as loud as she is excited, and a happy smile on her face as she shares the exciting news.

“Wh-what!?” Shining exclaims, shocked beyond words.

“Really?” Cadance’s eyes are so happy, so hopeful, it causes Lavender’s own expression to soften.

“Yes Cadance, really; You’ve got yourself a powerful little foal there,” Lavender says, placing a gentle hoof against Cadance’s blanket-covered stomach.

“You’re only in the second month or so, so you won’t start to show for a little while. But you do have to adjust your diet to account for the little one. Not to mention, maybe get somepony to give the little one small doses of magic. The foetus has been feeding off of yours for so long, it’s no wonder you’ve gotten so weak,” She continues, carefully watching her brother from the corner of her eye.

“Also, you shouldn’t be up and about too much now. If the little one’s already taking so much power that it’s weakened you to this extent, I’m going to have to find a way to placate it without a constant magic drip. Too much before birth, and the little one could have too much power to be able to control as it grows up,” Lavender explains further, hiding a smile behind her mane, as Cadance and Shining share a look of pure, teary happiness.

“I’ll leave you two be for tonight. Rest well Cadance, I’ll be by to check up on you in the morning,” the unicorn mare states, slowly walking backward, toward the door.

“Wait.”

Lavender does so, the call is soft, but with a voice like hers, Lavender has hearing that rivals even that of a bat.

“You’ll stay longer, won’t you?”

Cadance’s question is clear, though Lavender still finds it sweet how she thinks she even has to ask.

“If you want me to, your highness, I will stay to help you through the pregnancy, up until the birth of your foal.”

That gets her a scowl from Cadance. She hates formalities when there’s no need for them.

“Lavender.”

There’s a warning tone in her voice, and the unicorn merely shrugs in response.

“A silly question typically gets you a silly answer from me, dear sister… I was going to stay and help out anyway, though I suppose, depending on your plans, my quarters may have to be moved,” Lavender answers, pondering her predicament as she sends her brother a questioning glance.

“We were due a visit from a few aristocratic ponies, but, your quarters will remain where they are. Our priorities are obvious in this case,” Shining says, his eyes hardening at the thought of unnecessary pain inflicted upon Cadance, simply because some ponies find that social standing matters more than safety.

“Well. That settles that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to catch some shut eye before Celestia raises the sun. Good night you two…”

Lavender calls over her shoulder.

“… and congratulations once again,” she adds, before disappearing through the door, and collapsing onto her own bed to get some rest.

Though not before noticing the bench, guitar and guitar stand now residing in her room.

The next morning dawns early for Lavender.

She uses her magic to open her curtains, only to be greeted by the pre-dawn light of hazy orange, green and blue. A few houses in town are already alight, smoke rising from their chimneys, and a lovely scent of baking goods makes Lavender’s stomach growl, as she remembers that she hasn’t eaten anything since her breakfast with Twilight the day before.

‘Well…. It surely wouldn’t hurt to slip out for a quick bite to eat before I check up on Cadance,’ Lavender thinks, remembering where she’d been admitted to the castle the first time, and focusing her magic to teleport her into the receiving foyer.

She’s surprised that she doesn’t see anypony, as she walks through the palace door, down a shining path, and past the entry gates, following her nose to those delicious baked goods she’d smelled earlier.

The trek to the bakery is short and simple, and pretty soon Lavender is levitating a couple of delicious honeyed oats muesli bars, taking measured bites from the delectable morsels while wandering about the stirring kingdom.

It surprises her how quiet it is. Having lived in Baltimare for two years, Lavender can easily say she prefers a bit of quiet every now and then, but she has also grown accustomed to the city sounds of the morning.

There are no loud calls from sales ponies, no clatter from trays and tables being set up for another day of business. It’s beautiful, peaceful, tranquil even.

Seeing swirls of mist ignite in a fiery yellow, glinting like gold and diamonds as the sun rises. The entirety of the Crystal Empire is transformed into a sparkling maze of colourful glitter, and Lavender gets to see the whole thing from her position on the main road of the kingdom.

Turning her head as her ear flicks with a sudden sound, Lavender stops her wandering in front of an older looking crystal building. It’s small, and not quite as bright as the structures surrounding it, but what catches Lavenders ear, are the happy calls of young fillies and colts playing in front of the building.

Changing her course, Lavender walks toward the sound and eventually happens upon a small group of colts and fillies playing with a ball, a little ways on the main road.

They’re so immersed in their game, that none of them notice an oncoming carriage.

“Look out!” Lavender calls, instinctively levitating the whole group above the carriage, as it passes by.

“Watch it!” The stallion pulling the carriage shouts behind him, not even checking to see if he’s injured anypony before continuing on his way.

Lavender can hardly believe that anypony can be so heartless, but, quickly focuses on the seven struggling foals in her magical grasp.

“Are you ponies ok?” Lavender asks, gently lowering the youngsters back onto the ground.

They all nod, smiling gratefully, before returning to their game… well, most of them.

Lavender cocks her head at the unmoving colt in front of her.

He has warm brown fur and a two toned, flaming mane and tail of orange shades. Not to mention that he has the most adorable, pale teal eyes Lavender has ever seen.

“Is everything alright?” Lavender asks again, her voice soft and coaxing as she carefully moves towards the young’in.

His eyes stay wide, completely fixated on her, but, he none the less nods his head in a small, slow response.

Lavenders eyes soften, relieved that he’s ok.

“That’s good. I’m Lavender. Will you tell me your name?” She introduces herself, hoping to learn the colt’s name.

He averts his gaze then, a little nervous and shy.

“…ame Shot.”

Lavender’s ear flicks at the soft voice. Not wanting to get his name wrong though, she asks,

“Pardon?”

Leaning in a little closer as she does.

“Flame Shot.”

He says, a little louder this time, but still no more than a whisper.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Flame Shot,” Lavender says, happy that the colt spoke to her.

“My, isn’t that rare.”

Lavender whirls around at the sudden voice behind her.

“Oh, I’m sorry to startle you dear, it’s just, Flame Shot here doesn’t usually talk to ponies he’s not comfortable around. But, you don’t seem to be from here.”

The earth pony before her is maybe middle aged, her coat a pastel orange, with a lovely, short pink mane and flick-styled tail.

“No, I’m not. My name’s Lavender, it’s nice to meet you,” Lavender introduces herself, rising to properly face and greet the other pony.

“I see why he likes you now. I’m Tutti Fruity, but, just call me Tutti. I take care of the orphanage just there,” Tutti says, realising that the two have a similar disposition and way of speaking, while raising a hoof to point at the slightly older building that had caught Lavender’s eye before.

“Orphanage? So, all the foals playing here are…” Lavender trails off as Tutti nods.

“They’re all orphans. Not the easiest lot to take care of, mind you, but, I do what I love and I love what I do.”

Lavender nods with a small smile, she knows that feeling only too well.

“Well. I’m in town on business, and actually a little late, but, would it be possible for me to come by and help out from time to time?” Lavender asks.

She likes to think she’s more of a planner, though nowhere near as meticulous as Twilight, but she’s known to have a bit of a rare spontaneous streak every now and again. She blames the older sibling genes. Shining was ALWAYS impulsive when it came to protecting his younger siblings and also parents, friends, really anyone he saw in danger or in need… Lavender shakes her head a little, focusing her thoughts back on the pony in front of her.

“Of course. You’d be more than welcome to dear. Not easy to take care of this lot, but another four hooves are always helpful,” Tutti replies, smiling as Lavender waves goodbye and trots off down the main road.

The kingdom seems to have woken up with the dawn, the street is now lined with opening stalls and stores, and the first risers of ponyfolk.

Lavender pauses in her trotting return, when she notices that there’s a small group of ponies starting to gather at the side of the street. Curious despite her pressing appointment, Lavender slows to a walk, and takes a peak at what has all these onlookers so enthralled.

A flash of dark blue streaks past, causing Lavender to exclaim in shock, stumbling backward at the unexpected occurrence.

As Lavender collects herself, she turns her gaze upward, following the pegasus who’d given her such a fright with her eyes.

His show is fun, fast and skilled. Lavender immediately notes how he uses light and clouds to misdirect his audience’s attention and make it look like he disappears, only to reappear somewhere completely different. And the entire time he’s doing some sort of acrobatic manoeuvre.

Lavender smiles, thinking about how she knows a certain pony who would see some serious Wonderbolt potential in this pony…

‘Stallion,’ Lavender corrects when he finally lands, she feels his eyes on her for a moment, before a call of her name momentarily distracts her and he disappears into the clouds.

Shortly after, Flash lands next to her, his eyes blazing anger and annoyance, which makes Lavender breathe a tiny sigh of relief. At least she knows he hasn’t been sent because something happened to Cadance or the foal.

“Good Morning Flash, how are you?” Lavender quips, relieved to note that the irritation in Flash’s countenance diminishes somewhat at her greeting.

“I’d be better if SOMEPONY had thought to inform me of your leaving the castle grounds,” Flash replies, managing to sound condensing and respectful at the same time, though the accompanying eye-roll has Lavender immediately tending more so toward condensing.

“I’m sorry if I caused you any trouble.”

Flash merely huffs at her apology.

“You didn’t, just, let somepony know before you go disappearing from the castle next time.”

Lavender nods, her eyes communicating more than words as she says, ‘thank you’ and ‘sorry’ and ‘I will’ without even opening her mouth.

“Well then, we should head back,” Flash proposes, waiting for Lavender to start walking, before following beside her.

“How was your morning?” He asks, more so one for conversation than silence.

Lavender doesn’t mind.

-

From above, the blue pegasus watches their receding forms from a hidden vantage point on a cloud with interest.

He’d glimpsed the mare during his performance, almost messing up a trick when he’d caught sight of her.
She was beautiful and obviously a traveller.

He’d never seen her around before and she had some sort of royal connection, which piqued his curiousity all the more.

His ear flicks when he hears his signal, cussing that he’d lost track of time, before he makes his way to his usual pawn shop, saddle bags weighed down with his latest stolen trinkets and gifted income from that show.

He’d made a pretty good name for himself in these parts. Magic had always interested him, so he’d practised until his close-up and misdirectional magic had rivalled that of any actual unicorn. The problem? Learning and perfecting his magic and the shows took up so much of his time that he didn’t really have time for anything else, like a job.

Well… His expression grows rueful as he leaves the pawn shop with his money and makes his way toward the orphanage… almost no time.

He smiles when he sees the foals playing together on the street, Tutti Fruity keeping a sharp eye on them.

“Morning Tutti!” He calls, his voice immediately drawing the children’s attention, as they all run to greet him. Well, almost all of them.

He sighs as he comes to stand next to Tutti.

“Still nothing?” He’s referring to the latest addition to the orphanage. He’s so skittish and shy that he has yet to even speak to anyone, other than Tutti.

“Just with you, it seems. I had a guest come by this morning and he took an immediate liking to her. She’s new around here.”

That gets his attention. Not only had a stranger been able to speak to the ponyphobic colt, but it just so happened to have been a mare.

“Seriously? Did you ask her to come back?” He immediately asks, his peaked interest as clear as the change in his tone of voice.

Tutti has a hard time suppressing her urge to smile and roll her eyes at the same time.

-

Blue Fire is an old friend of hers, well, more like she used to foalsit him when they were younger. But, for whatever reason, he’s made it his personal mission to get the young colt to open up to someone.

He performs and practises his routines in front of the kid for hours, but, other than watching him, Flame Shot has never spoken a word to the young stallion.

That was the reason for the near-smile… The eye-roll had to do with Flame Shot’s ever-growing reputation as something of a heart-breaker.

He has a knack for getting mares to fall for him without really trying, but, his own heart is never touched by what he calls “that illusive love thingy”.

He never abuses it though, and whenever Hearts & Hooves Day comes around Blue Fire looks after the kids and the orphanage while giving Tutti the day off to spend with her coltfriend.

-

“Well, as it turns out, she’s offered to come back and help out whenever she can manage it. Why do you ask?” Tutti answers, a smirk set firmly in place at the startled-rabbit look he gets at hearing her counter question.

It’s only a flash, and he quickly turns his expression impassive, but Tutti has known the troublemaker long enough to know what to look for.

“No reason, I just think it’d be nice to meet this mystery mare who manages the miracle of getting Flame Shot to talk.”
He replies, throwing in an indifferent shrug for good measure.

Tutti merely shakes her head at his antics. Whatever his interest in the mare, it’s somehow personal. But she isn’t going to get that information out of him anytime soon.

“Alright then, if you say so… Let’s get everyone inside, they haven’t had breakfast yet.”

Tutti lets it go, moving to herd her little orphans back toward the orphanage.

Back at the palace, Lavender is having trouble coming to terms with what she’s seeing.

“What’s up Lavender? I didn’t know what you liked, so I just had the pony chefs prepare a breakfast buffet for you and the royal couple,” Flash says, making Lavender jump as she is startled out of her thoughts.

“Eep! Oh, um, well, thank you, but, it’s, uh, a bit much, even for three ponies, and I don’t usually eat a lot in the mornings anyway,” Lavender manages to answer, though Flash has to lean in a little in order to hear her.

“Don’t worry about that. Anything that gets left over gets brought to the guards’ mess hall, so, just eat whatever you want,” He encourages her, also hoping to take note of what she likes so that he can base any sort of snack off of that knowledge.

He was happy he’d managed to find her while she was just finishing the last of an oat bar, and that he knew the only pony who sold them in the Crystal Empire, so he could easily find out which one she’d gotten.

The captain had warned him that Lavender was susceptible to fall into a working frenzy, not eating or resting properly for days on end if something important or interesting required her attention.

‘…Though she really doesn’t eat a lot,’ Flash notices, taking note how she seems to have a penchant for sweet things, covering her oats with a generous drizzle of honey that also alerts him to her liking of the bee product.

“Ah, thank you for the food, it was delicious. I’m going to see if I can teleport into the Princess’s room from here and do a few more checks.”

Flash nods.

“No problem Lavender, I’ll come by to grab you for lunch later,” He says, and she nods in response, smiling before poofing into nothingness and only leaving behind a few purple sparkles of magic residue.

The sudden change in altitude has Lavender’s head spinning a little, but she’s successfully managed to land herself right where she’d stood the day before.

Her smiling victory is short lived when Cadance’s surprised cry has four guards immediately storm into the room and surround her.

“EEP! Really!?” Lavender complains, glad that the guards have at least enough decency to NOT draw their weapons upon seeing her. Cadance seems to recognise Lavender’s voice, since she quickly orders them to stand aside.

“Lavender?” The Princess asks, waiting to get a better look at the pony that somehow managed to teleport directly into her room.

“Yep,” Her reply is small and soft, which is the best reassurance Cadance can ask for.

“It’s alright Gentlecolts, this is my personal doctor, Miss Lavender Night; She has golden level access and priority in the castle,” Cadance says as the guards take a closer look at Lavender, or, more specifically, the golden clip in her mane.

Satisfied, they return to their posts, closing the door behind them with a genuine, if quiet, apology.

Sighing, Cadance flops back onto her bed and Lavender draws nearer.

“Sorry for the shock, I wanted to see how the foal reacts to your sense of danger, but, I’m pretty sure they weren’t there yesterday,” Lavender comments and Cadance sighs.

“Your brother worries too much,” She says in a bit of a huff, but she’s smiling.

“Well... He worries about YOU,” Lavender counters, giggling at the eye-roll her comment manages to evoke.

“and you,” Cadance points out with a soft laugh.

Lavender decides to give her this round.

“Yes, and me, and Twilight, and mum and dad… The list could go on, but I think we’ve both made our point,” Lavender says, a sparkle in her eyes as Cadance tries to smother her laughter with a pillow.

“Quite,” The Princess finally manages to concede as she gets her laughter under control.

“Now then. The foal’s magic levels spiked when you tensed…that’s a good thing,” Lavender adds when she sees the worry etched in her sister’s face. Cadence breathes a sigh of relief when Lavender elaborates.

“It does mean the foal’s going to be pretty hungry soon, so, I figure we do a couple of tests… just to see how it reacts to different magic sources.” Lavender explains, again realising she’ll have to elaborate to ease her sister’s maternal, protective instincts.

Cadance seems to notice it too.

“Oh, I’m sorry Lavender, you know I trust you more than any other pony when it comes to medicine, but I’m just…”

“overwhelmed?” Lavender supplies, and Cadance almost gasps at the gentle, caring look in her eyes.

Guilt nags her. She has no right to doubt Lavender. The pony is her sister. The sweetest, kindest, most soft-spoken pony she knows… and that includes Fluttershy! What was wrong with her?

Cadance feels tears start to well in her eyes.

What did she ever do to deserve such a caring family?

She feels a hoof on her shoulder, and lifts her head just as Lavender embraces her.

“You have no idea how amazing you are; You’ll get through this, and when you do, we’ll have one more amazing family member.”

Cadance only manages a nod in reply.

She knows that Lavender is a very touchy-feely type of pony, but only with ponies who have her deepest trust, which are currently only ponies who are a part of her family.

Calming down, Cadance returns the hug, not realising that, the entire time they embraced, the little foal in her womb was familiarising itself with, and accepting, the magic signature of the pony currently hugging her mum.

Lavender notices the soft golden glow emanating from her sister’s stomach though. She chooses not to comment on it, knowing it clearly isn’t anything bad, otherwise Cadance wouldn’t have been able to stay so still and quiet.

They release one another and the glow trails after Lavender a little, before fading out.

“Now then… let’s get started,” Lavender suggests, magically summoning a couple of plastic containers that looked like blood bags, but contained magical energy.

Cadance nods, her countenance growing serious.

“Cadance. Try to relax. I’ve already given you a magic transfusion before, so I know what types work best for you. All I need you to do is let me do the transfusion and observe the foal; If you get weaker, that means it likes it. If you stay energetic, that means it doesn’t like it and if it gets expelled from your body, that means complete rejection on the foal’s part. You have nothing to worry about.”

Cadance sighs, knowing her little sister is right.

Getting up, Cadance does a few test turns, circling around her own body a few times before settling back on the bed, in a more comfortable position, on her side.

“I’m all yours doc,” She jokes, which Lavender takes as her cue to start the transfusion, along with her observations.

The first magic source comes from a pony called Sugar Belle, a sweet unicorn who loves to bake, and has a soft blue magic energy. Lavender knows that sugary sweetness and love combine well, and she wants to see if the foal will like it too.

There are two ways of going about a magic transfusion. If the pony is comfortable with it, or there is an emergency situation when a unicorn falls unconscious due to magic depletion, the transfusion can be done directly into the magic network, which is most concentrated around the base of the horn. The process is quick and a little uncomfortable, since it requires a simple spell to allow the foreign magic energy to be absorbed directly into the other unicorn.

The other possibility is a simple magic drip, where the magic is transferred into the patient via a simple needle, which is always inserted behind one of the shoulder blades. That’s the midpoint between the heart and head while also being the point where a pony’s magic network is weakest, giving the patient time to adjust to the new magic source as it slowly enters the body.

Hanging the transfusion bag on a portable hook stand, Lavender gently traces Cadance’s magic tendrils with her horn, before carefully inserting the needle.

Giving one another little nods, Lavender opens the seal on the transfusion bag and watches as it flows through the small tube connecting it and Cadance, before entering her patient’s body.

Lavender knows that a reaction will always take place within a minute of the magic energy entering the patient, and every reaction was important to note, as they can be very subtle in some instances.

Keeping her pen and notebook at the ready, Lavender notes a faint outburst of golden energy, her eyes widening as she feels the building of a shockwave from the foal inside of Cadance’s womb.

‘Oh, sugar cookies,’ Lavender thinks, quickly surrounding the internal room in a force field and sealing the transfusion bag as a MUCH stronger shockwave expels the magic energy Cadance had been given.

Shrinking the field to the size of a marble, Lavender thinks for a moment, before smiling as an idea comes to her.

Recalling a spell she’d learned that could replicate the effects of frost, without the need for staying cold, the unicorn focuses another layer of her magic energy on the force field containing the foal’s magic and crystallises it into a perfect marble.

The crystal glows with the foal’s golden-yellow magic energy, while also being covered in a beautiful, pale purple, and semi-transparent frost pattern.

Satisfied, Lavender sets the little marble in a bowl on Cadance’s bedside table, before turning to her shocked patient and explaining what happened.

“Are you ok, Cadance?”

Said alicorn blinks as Lavender addresses her, still coming to terms with the shock of experiencing such a situation, even if she was otherwise unharmed.

“Yes, fine,” She finally replies.

“Take a few deep breathes.”

Cadance fixes her sister with an exasperated look, before doing as she’s told when Lavender raises a brow at her as if to say ‘well?’.

“You won’t have been injured from something like that, but I know shock when I see it, and I don’t need my brother breathing down my neck for having caused you more mental stress than you’re already dealing with.”

Cadance snorts at that, the shock slowly melting away to be replaced by her usual countenance.

“Fair enough. Are you sure you can already draw conclusions after just one test though? I know that was a complete rejection, but that doesn’t mean that the foal wouldn’t take to any of the other magic sources you try giving me,” Cadance asks, falling silent at Lavender’s head shake.

“The foal won’t accept those,” Lavender states simply, alternating her weight on her two front hooves as she thinks of how to explain her thoughts to her sister-in-law.

Author's Note:

Hello again!

Since it was my birthday a few days ago, I decided to give all of my readers (however many you may be) a present as well...

The Next Chapter!

I've been having such a good run with inspiration lately, that I was really surprised when I realised I'd already finished another chapter for you all to read, enjoy and comment on.

As always, constructive criticism, thoughts and ideas are more than welcome.

Yours,
Aki