CH 53.3 Little Star's First Day at Magical Kindergarten
Moisture threatened to escape Little Star’s closed eyes as she snuggled almost desperately into the softness that enveloped her. Her mother’s lavender-scented feathers enclosed her, shielding her from the rest of the world.
Her mother’s heartbeat, slow and powerful, soothed even as it counted down the time until mother and daughter would be apart. If neither of us gets up, Mummy does not have to leave. She knew it was untrue, and even with time magic, she could only stretch the moment so long.
Her mother’s tender nuzzle was one of the last she would receive until her return. “Be strong, my daughter.”
She did not want to be strong, she just wanted her mother to stay, but Little Star nodded anyway. “Yes, Mummy.”
Her mother's lips brushed Little Star's forehead. Then she began to sing. As each loving word reached her ears, the world of sleep drew closer.
"I love you, Mummy." Little Star breathed out as sleep claimed her.
To the tune of her mother's song, she danced between the stars and built sandcastles on the moon. Time had little meaning as the days and nights passed. Sometimes, there were two of her mothers, sometimes, only one.
As she looked out upon the near-endless field of cities and places crafted from the lunar dust, clarity slowly crept into her mind. "Mummy?"
"Yes, my Little Star?"
"I'm dreaming, right?"
Her mother smiled at her with that smile that was just for her. Pride swelled in her little chest.
"That's right, a little trick your mother taught me."
"So, you're really here?"
"Yes, my daughter, we are here."
The leather wing that enfolded her felt so alien without the individual feathers brushing her coat, yet the love was still there. This was still her Mummy Twilight, even if she sounded a bit like Mummy Luna right now.
“You are going to defeat all the monsters and bad ponies and come home?”
“As quickly as we... I can.” Her mother’s loving smile shifted, showing fangs as her eyes narrowed to slits. “They shall pay for each minute they force us to be apart.”
“I’ll learn all I can. I'll keep Ponyville safe. I promise. "
"I know you will, my Little Monster Slayer." Her mother leaned closer, resting her larger horn against Little Star's own.
The loving horn contact lingered. Like resting your ear on a pony’s chest to hear a heartbeat to feel a pony’s breathing, touching your horn to another allowed a pony to sense the flow of magic, to taste the intent the arcane energies had. Love, pride and protectiveness flavoured her mother’s magic, spiced with just a hint of resentment at the approaching separation and a deep longing to simply stay.
Slowly their horns parted. No words were needed, in that moment they both knew how the other felt.
Her mother lifted her larger hoof to the sky. With a wave, the stars began to dance. Painted by starlight, the battle with the hydra played out.
Little Star lay on her back and settled into her mother’s embrace as they watched and critiqued everything in detail. The celestial battle played out in many ways. Each time with a new problem, a new lesson to be learned.
Some of the tactical challenges added bad ponies into the situations.
You’re not going to hurt Mummy again.
“Wakey wakey, you don't want to be late for school.”
A tender nuzzle dragged Little Star fully into the waking world. Slowly her mother’s words settled into her mind. Her eyes snapped open with a start. “Late?”
“Well, if you sleep in much longer, there is a risk.” Her mother said with a wide smile.
Little Star’s head tilted. “Mummy, do you have fangs sometimes?”
Twilight’s Ears stiffened, and then she half-cocked her head. “Now, where did that question come from?”
“You were there in my dreams, and we made castles on the moon… and you looked a bit like Comet Crash.” Something stilled Little Star’s tongue before she mentioned the battle review.
“Your new friend? Hmm.” Twilight hummed and then nodded to herself before she smiled, adopting the teaching tone that caused Little Star's magic to reflexively reach for paper and ink. “Well, you know Alicorns are a combination of all tribes?”
Little Star nodded, everypony knew that.
“That includes thestral. We can switch between pegasus and thestral features at will… but some ponies find Alicorns with fangs disturbing.”
“Why?”
“It's because of…” Her mother looked down. “There was a time when your mother and Celestia got into a bit of an… argument.”
One thousand, years Princess Luna was banished to the Moon. Grey interjected.
“A thousand years?” Just the thought of anypony being alone for so long was horrible. Her eyes widened and locked on to her mother. No… “Is Celestia going to do that to you?”
A spark of fire danced in her mother's eyes. “No.” The answer was almost a whisper, yet the room trembled, and the crystal darkened.
“Mummy?” Little Star said, resting a hoof upon her mother's leg. “Are you alright?”
Twilight blinked, her eyes returned to normal. Everything was as if nothing had happened. “Yes, Little Star.” She said as her magenta aura enveloped Little Star, its magic tingled with little ticklish touches. “Now come here and give your mother a hug.”
Little Star was more than happy to comply.
“Now, you want to apply the thermal energy slowly,” Twilight said, the pancake batter held in the form of a disk by her aura.
Numbers, loyal as ever, provided all the conclusions. How many thaums of magic it would take to raise the batter to the ideal cooking temperature. How many more would leave a pony a charred mess of ruined flesh.
A tremble ran down Little Star’s spine. Even now she could see Candice’s blackened body, still and almost lifeless. Only temporal magic that stretched the last seconds of her life into years had even allowed the chance to save her. I could do that. The small whimper in her mind said.
Soft feathers traced lines in Little Star’s coat. Each stroke of the wing banishing just a little more of the tension. Her mother’s loving eyes held hers.
“We are not what we could do. We are only what we choose to do.” Twilight paused. “Remember that well, my daughter.”
Little Star nodded. If only everypony else remembered that too.
“Now, you must be getting hungry?” Twilight said with a playful twinkle in her eyes.
Magic flowed through Little Star’s horn. The gooey liquid lifted into the air easily enough. The fluid conformed to the shape of the energy that confined it.
Little Star paused. “Mummy, are these still pancakes if we don't use a pan to make them?”
“Yes, the method may be different, but the end result is still the same. If they were first created this way, it is likely they would possess a different name.”
“Like aura cakes? Or magic disks?”
Twilight nodded. “As they are named, as they are, and with the ingredients needed, I can only assume they are an Earth Pony discovery.” She tipped her horn to the still cool batter suspended by Little Star’s aura. “Now you’re going to have to add some heat if you wish it to cook…”
“Right.” Little Star focused. What was the specific heat capacity of pancake batter? Less than a hoof full of batter really was not going to take much energy.
For a moment, the sound of a quill scratching paper tickled Little Star’s ear before Grey’s calming monotone answered. Thirteen point one four thaums per degree per quarter celestial measure.
Little Star carefully weighed the proto pancake. With a few mental sums, she knew the magnitude of magic to push into her horn.
Slowly thuams of magic were transmuted into thermal energy.
“Good, just like that. Now, add a bit more.”
Little Star nodded, her eyes fixed with determination on the alchemy that was cooking that was happening right before her eyes. The liquid batter slowly solidified, the pale yellow browning as it cooked.
Little Star diligently placed each tome and scroll around her. Ink, quills, paper, everything was just where it should be. She smiled as the seconds ticked by on the clock.
Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock. Each second was one closer to the start of the lesson. Her shoulders slumped slightly. Each second was one less her mother would be in Ponyville.
Hooves clicked on crystal as they drew nearer.
Twenty-three, seconds. Grey mentioned.
Twenty-two. Twenty-one. One by one, Little Star counted each sound. “Morning, Miss Starlight.”
Starlight hesitated at the doorway. “Somepony is eager.” Her eyes then tracked to the still empty place beside Little Star. “And somepony is not.”
“I’ll get her.” Little Star said. Even with all the ponies in the castle, it only took a moment to expand her senses and feel around for Trixie. All she had to do was filter out all the ponies that did not have some of her mother’s magic in them. Not this one. No, that’s Rainbow. There you are. Just like that, Little Star vanished in a flash of light.
Before she could see, Little Star spoke. “Come on, Trixie, you don’t want to be late for class on the first day…”
Thunk.
A strange ball of metal had just slammed into Trixie's horn. Her face twisted in annoyance as she sighed. The orb fell right into her waiting hoof as if it was a well-practised motion.
Trixie shook her head slightly and held the orb out. Little Star did not need more. She eagerly grabbed it with both her hooves and gazed into its reflective surface. Magic, her mother’s magic, saturated the orb.
“And what do you do?” Left her lips in a whisper. Barely a thought, and a shimmer along her horn, and her faithful S-five leapt from its extradimensional aviary. The scroll flashed into existence, magenta lines and words scrolling themselves across its surface just as quickly as the thoughts formed in her mind.
With everything her horn, eyes and hooves could sense from the orb recorded, her head snapped back to Trixie. “Now, come on, we can't be late.” She said, almost bouncing on her hooves.
Little Star tapped the crystal wall with her left hoof. Can you take us to the classroom, please.
Happy amusement and agreement brushed her mind. Then just like all the translocations the nice castle provided, they were simply there.
Thank you.
You are welcome, Child of Magic. The response was not quite words. It was more like how she always knew what Grey meant from her just stating numbers.
Her hooves clopped on the crystal, tapping out the rhythm described by her prancing motion during her travel back to her place. She settled herself down, a quick visual sweep assured her that she was still surrounded by her scant selection of school supplies and books.
Starlight tapped her hoof. “Trixie, your orb…”
Little Star glanced at the orb that lay forgotten where they appeared. Her aura enveloped it as she would any other object. As expected, the orb drained the effect, twisting it and redirecting it. Just like I expected. A quick twist of the aura and only a few hundred minor spell arrays and the stabilisation matrices formed. The orb floated mathematically perfectly still in the air, suspended by her aura.
Trixie’s eyes widened, and she mouthed ‘how?’ as the orb obediently followed Little Star’s will and presented itself to Trixie.
“Little Star.”
“Yes, Miss Starlight?” Little Star smiled up at her teacher.
“Can you remove your spell work from the training orb so Trixie can continue her practice?”
“Yes, Miss.”
It took only a second to unweave the stabilisation enchantment. Trixie took up the orb in her own magic, and immediately it began to struggle. It turned the smooth flow of Trixie’s magic into a wildly chaotic mess. Each surge of motion, each attempt it made to escape Trixie's grasp, forced the Chosen to adapt. It looked like a good lesson.
Zero times, have you taught Sweetie Belle this way.
Little Star smiled. Trixie is using that one… so I’ll just need to make my own. A S-five popped into existence. The needed arrays and spell runes formed on the paper.
Starlight floated over a mere three textbooks to Trixie. They must be only the books for this lesson.
“Yes, Trixie, we are starting at chapter one.”
“But…”
“Starting from the very basics will help you master your magic, and Little Star is incredibly talented, but she lacks a full formal education.”
Trixie sighed. “Alright, most of this is going to be a waste of time, but if you think it will help, I trust you.”
“Good.” Starlight looked like she was going to nuzzle Trixie. Instead, she just patted her with a hoof and continued on with the lesson.
Strangely, Trixie took up her quill by hoof. She levelled a withering glare at the orb as it began to scratch at the surface.
“We will be going through the beginning of the course quickly. So if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask, Little Star.”
The first book lasted only an hour. There was only one thing that made no sense, one little detail that seemed backwards. And yet, on the page and by Starlight's words, the lesson insisted it was true.
Once formed, a spell can not be altered. It can be powered or allowed to fade. Therefore if you make a mistake, you must start again.
She knew magic did not work that way. She had the core of her mother’s lab safety spell that took advantage of altering its own array to redirect. Little Star held her hoof up.
“Yes, Little Star?”
“Why are you teaching us something wrong?”
Starlight’s eyes traced over the open page. “It's not wrong, just simplified.”
“Huh?”
“If most ponies were to try to alter their spells instead of starting from a clean cast, the best result is a headache from the backlash.”
One of Little Star’s ears drooped as she tilted her head in confusion. “Why would they not just push the backlash away?”
“Because most ponies don't have enough magical throughput in their horn to counter the pressure as the unstable magic forces it way back into their horn.”
“Oh…”
“So, in your case, if a spell collapses, you will still have the summed energy you put into it to contain.”
One. Grey’s single word spilled out into a full reading of the first page of a very different book.
“Thank you.” Little Star nodded.
The two different flows of information tangled in her mind. With a thought, she directed a new S-five to record everything that happened in the classroom.
I’m going to need more than one of me…
The hardest thing about casting the first spell Grey had gifted her was preventing herself from pushing it to its full potential. She did not need six of her today. She only needed two.
She glanced at the notes on the orb stabilisation spell. With some changes, it could be modified to constrain a spell’s results, drawing the extra power away. Now, if I link that to a mana storing effect… All of Starlight’s lesson almost glowed in her mind. Presure. She did not need anything complex to control the power from the battery to the spell effect, she could just use the pressure value. If the spell pattern was at the required level, it would simply not allow more energy in.
She grinned as her personal spell book got a new addition. Mummy is going to be so proud. She pushed her magic into the spell. Using her necklace as the anchor for the mana storage.
The world shattered in two. This time there was no confusion, no doubt. They both knew who they were and what they were going to do. By silent agreement, they turned their attention to their own tasks.
Little Star One paid attention to Starlight’s lesson, taking notes and wincing each time the orb smacked into Trixie’s horn.
Little Star Two envisioned she was in a great library, snuggled up with Grey as they read a very different book.
Little Star Two got to enjoy hot chocolate as she read. One was a little envious.
“Is everything alright?” Starlight's concerned voice asked.
One looked up at her current teacher. “Oh.. yes.. I just was thinking how nice a hot chocolate would be right now.”
A sympathetic smile crossed Stralight’s face before a small square of chocolate floated over. “I know the rationing can be hard.”
“Thank you.” Little Star lifted the chocolate in her magic towards her mouth. She paused. A flicker of her horn and two quick parallel cuts with the ebon disintegration beam, and the chocolate was now in three equal-sized pieces.
Starlight raised an eyebrow before returning to the lesson.
Grey finished reading the last page of the chapter of the ancient-looking tome and carefully closed it. “Three minutes, until your mother is here.”
“Thank you for the lesson, Grey.”
“You're welcome.” Despite the flat stare and monotone voice, Little Star could hear the smile and affection from Grey.
Little Star Two smiled and hugged Grey. The hard texture of the wooden limb returned the embrace.
All it took was a thought. The world shattered, and what was two was now but one again.
Little Star Prime, as she was calling the whole of herself now, blinked and looked around the classroom. The angle of the shadows showed the implied location of the sun. It feels like it should be later… She considered, Celestia could be slow moving the sun today, but most likely it was something to do with Little Star herself.
Each book, scroll and quill returned to its extradimensional pocket.
Starlight looked up, a question half-formed on her lips, just as Little Star’s mental count reached zero.
“Mummy.” With a flash cast teleport, the warmth of her mother pressed against her again. Her mother nuzzled her lightly.
Twilight shifted the embrace into a more sustainable hug before she turned her attention to the rest of the room. She gave the smallest of nods to Trixie before she spoke to Starlight. “How are your personal students?”
“They have potential.”
“Good. I know I’m asking a lot of you.”
Starlight shook her head. “It's better than the alternative.”
“Do not neglect the rest of your duties.”
“Don’t worry about anything here, Twilight. We will hold the castle while you are out…” Starlight glanced to Little Star, sadness and worry lurked behind her eyes before resolve and something like sympathy settled in their place. “Doing what you have to.”
Twilight nodded, then turned her attention fully on Trixie. “Trixie, it would be advisable to make sure you use this time to its fullest.”
“I will, Princess.”
Twilight turned her attention back to her daughter. Loving eyes with a hint of slyness looked into Little Stars' own. “How would you like to learn to make cookies?” She asked as she held her daughter close and nuzzled her.
“Can they be triple chocolate?”
Her mother’s laughter vibrated through Little Star. “Of course, my Little Star.”
The mountain of cookies before Little Star was proof baking might not be magic, but magic very differently could be baking.
A little bit of time acceleration was all it took. In less than ten seconds, cookie dough bloomed into delightful triple chocolate cookies.
Little Star approved of the results, and the magic lesson part of it fascinated her. Best of all, it was more time with her mother. Yet, there was a question that nagged at her mind. “Mummy, why are we making so many cookies?”
“Why do you think?”
Little Star tapped her chin. Her aura brushed over them, counting them. There was enough for a dozen for each pony here. She smiled before she stated. “We are going to share them.”
“Good, now did you notice anything different about the recipe?”
“The powder we added?”
Her mother nodded.
“What is it?” Little Star asked her aura reached for the as yet unidentified powder.
“Vitamins, trace minerals and protein.”
“So they are health cookies?”
“Yes, just don't tell the ponies. The moment you tell them they are healthy, most won't be interested in them.”
“Why?” Little Star asked through a mouth full of delicious chocolaty goodness. “They’re sooo good.”
Twilight shrugged her wings. “I don't know. They just assume healthy things taste bad, so either their own magic or preconceptions makes it true for them.”
“So, if you're going to put medicine or healthy stuff in food, you don't tell others about it?”
“Not if you want them to be able to fully enjoy it.”
“Some ponies are silly.”
Twilight's laughter was pure and joyful as she leaned in for a nuzzle. “I know, just try not to tell them. They get annoyed if you outright tell them how silly they are being.”
“Then how do you teach them?”
Twilight hummed for a moment. Her eyes became distant before refocusing. “You guide them, you let them figure out how foalish they are being themselves….” She paused, her face shifted to a serious one. She glanced out the window at the towering peaks of Canterlot in the distance. “Just make sure they don't manage to hurt themselves before they realise. The safety of students is a teacher’s responsibility.”
Little Star summoned her rules scroll and added a new line. “Yes, Mummy,” she answered as she popped her fifth cookie into her mouth.
Sixth Grey not so helpfuly provided.
“Can your mother have one?” Twilight asked.
Little Star levitated one to her mother.
"Why, thank you," Twilight said before her eyes closed in content appreciation as she munched on the triple chocolate cookie.
A giggle rose in Little Star’s chest as she let herself enjoy the moment, wilfully ignoring how little time they had left.
Little Star groaned as her mother’s aura moved the brush through her mane. Her stomach bulged, and each breath was an effort. She had definitely eaten too much, but they were just so good. She did not ‘quality check’ every cookie, but she did have one from each batch. The ones from the first batches were either slightly over or underdone. Still good, but not as good as the last ones.
“And that was a lesson not to overeat.”
“I was a silly pony, wasn't I?”
“Yes, but so was I once. I remember the first time I ate real Apple Family cooking.”
“You overate?”
“Yes, your mother was a very silly pony. But all the food was so very good.”
Little Star laughed before she groaned again. “Why doesn't using magic make it go away?”
“That, my daughter, is because that effect only works if your magic is significantly depleted before you eat.”
“Oh… thats not fair.”
"All the more reason to keep up your magic studies. "
The dawning relisation blossomed on Little Star’s face with a wide grin. The more magic I use, the more treats u can eat.
Twilight nuzzled her. "Just remember to leave enough for the others too."
"Ok, Mummy."
The airship in the distance kept getting closer. No matter how much she wanted it to, it never turned around.
They were here to take her mother away. So many things she could do to stop it, and yet, none of them would be the right thing to do. They were here to help her mother go out and save ponies.
Twilight rose and made her way towards the balcony. Magic ripled though the air as she lit her horn. The air became thick and heavy with her mother’s power, and each and every mote of it felt like a loving embrace. Twilight’s magenta magic reached out into Ponyville. Little Star could not see what happened, but it had felt like a telekinesis effect paired with transmutation and shaping magics.
Twilight moved away from the balcony, each hoof step hesitant. She didn't say a word, but her eyes said one thing ‘I will miss you’.
Little Star could not work out where the last hours had gone. She wanted to drag out every second as long as she could, and yet the airship rose into the distance. That bully Blueblood had stolen too much of the precious time introducing himself and his ponies.
Moisture stung her eyes, and small tears traced down her face.
Amateurish magic irritated her horn again. It was like listing to Spike’s claws on glass blended with her favourite song, just slightly out of tune and harmony. She did not even spare a look for Blueblood’s unicorns as they toiled, trying to assemble some wagons. A surge of power though her horn, and she grasped all the background magic in the area surounding her. Blessedly, with the local medium of transmission frozen, the discordant tones of incompetent spell casters could not reach her horn.
She blinked away her tears. She had said she was not going to cry. The bearest touch of magic pulled the liquid from her coat. “Mummy’s going to be alright,” Little Star said with a wide smile, her voice laced with hollow happiness. She turned her gaze back to the shrinking form of the now distant airship. “Mummy is going to be alright,” the repeated the words, absent the youthful optimism.
“Everything is going to be alright. Your mother was able to defeat the great and powerful Trixie, so nothing out there is going to be a threat to her.”
“You promise?” Doubt, fear and something else danced behind Little Star’s innocent eyes.
“Your mother will be fine. Now what we need to do is to make sure to make her proud of us.”
Zero, times will you ever disappoint your mother.
A glimmer, a sparkle of light, caught in Little Star’s eyes and her gaze hardened. A resolve settled into the suddenly calm filly. “We will.” She answered with a single firm nod.
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lets gooooo new chapter! .....
)
but a lot of little star recently I feel like ? idk I havent read this story in a long time but just from my memory it feels like it ( a long time is a few months for me
but still great to see a new chapter of this !
I read " the codes apprentice " yesterday and that was REALLY fun !
made me think about this story a little bit and now there is an update ! nice
Of all the story I track on this site, this is definitely the one I'm looking for updates with the most impatience.
Pleas, never stop.
Ohhh this was cute. Thank you.
spelling
spelling
otherwise nothing that needs to be corrected
That was absolutely adorable. I wonder if little star would be able to reverse engineer the magic in the plague to revert it? I can't remember if she's tried that yet.
I'm really wondering what kind of special abilities that filly has, other than absolute mastery of magic. Adapting a spell that splits her mind in two so that it doesn't kill her, is that magical talent? Or is that because her mind is different due to her origins?
I have those thoughts sometimes
This tastes like dangerous foreshadowing
I'm the only one that was terrified when Little Star probably made a fragment of herself? Just the thought of Twilight having to 'patchwork' her own daughter made me sick to my stomach. And now that Twilight will be away I'm even more scared.