Goddess of the Moon

by Duke of Canterlot

Combat Training

Apple Bloom was nervous. She had no idea what to expect from this combat training. She didn’t even know how to use her new horn yet.

But Apple Bloom said, “I am ready, Luna. Show me what you got!”

“Baby unicorn, I shall teach you how to focus your magic into a powerful beam. Step aside. I do not want to hit you yet.”

That’s a relief, thought Apple Bloom.

“Rather than using your magic to move an object – you need to concentrate your magic inside into one point. The sparks will push amongst one another with an eagerness to escape your horn. They concentrate into a powerful beam which can shoot out at intruders.”

“That’s so cool”, said Apple Bloom, “you unicorns have the cool tricks.”

“Most unicorns cannot do what I am about to teach you effectively”, said Luna, “actually the extreme power come from the earth pony part of us. You’re learning as a baby almost-alicorn. Now, observe and learn.”

Luna brought her focus onto the stone wall. She quickly swirled her horn and a large purple beam was emitted from her horn. The beam went out and hit the wall causing the stone to break apart.

“Woah, that was amazing”, said Apple Bloom, “ah can’t believe that any pony could do that, wow!”

“It’s an alicorn thing”, said Luna nonchalantly, “soon, you’ll be able to do this too. Now, I want you to try.”

Apple Bloom could feel the sparks tingling inside her horn. She furrowed her brow and put her focus on a closed portion of the stone wall.

She needed to get this down especially if she was going to be going into combat in her new role. Apple Bloom thought about the strength she needed to put in when bucking apples off trees.

She was ready. One, two, three.

A yellowish beam of magic was working its way out of Apple Bloom’s horn but it fizzled out.

“Aw, dang it.”

“Don’t give up, Bloom. Not bad for a first try. You almost got it!”

Apple Bloom kept trying and trying. The next five attempts were all duds – some worse than others. This wasn’t something that any pony could do. She was going to be the next Goddess of the Moon. But it was okay to not be perfect. Apple Bloom just needed to do her best.

Through trial and error, Apple Bloom was figuring out what was working and what wasn’t working. First of all, she realized that she needed to give the sparks time to gather which seemed counterintuitive to how fast Luna did it. Secondly, Apple Bloom couldn’t lose focus – not even for 1/100 of a second. She must have tried another fifteen tries and still no beam would shoot out. The best she could do was get a beam out of her horn for a few seconds just to watch it evaporate into thin air.

“You are getting so close”, said Luna, “the only advice I can give you: Pow!”

The young mare was confused at first, pow? But then she tried again with a beam of magic which she could see – she was getting close and… POW!! The beam shot out of her horn and hit the stone wall. It bounced off the wall and began to boomerang its way right back to Apple Bloom. She managed to dodge the beam before it hit another part of the wall. It was chaos.

Luna giggled and then said, “that’s so cute. I think your magic wants to play with you.”

“Ah’m not so sure ah want to play with it.”

“Maybe we should play with it a little.” Luna blasted a beam of magic out from her horn. It was larger than the one Apple Bloom created.

Luna’s beam collided with Apple Bloom’s beam. Luna won this battle with flying colors. Luna’s purple beam “ate” Apple Bloom’s yellow beam. Luna then redirected the beam to break off another portion of the wall.

“Holy crap”, said Apple Bloom with shock, “you make it look so easy.”

“I consider it a success”, said Luna, “you know how to generate your own magic beams. Until you are an alicorn, no beam you create will be strong enough to break apart a stone wall.”

“So how am ah supposed to face you in combat?”

“A great question, Apple Bloom. I think I can go easy on you.”

“Ah am ready to fight!”

“First, we must get into our stances.”

Luna bent her knees and straightened her back. She directed her horn right at Apple Bloom

“Now, get in your stance – Apple Bloom. See what I did.”

Apple Bloom bent her knees and attempted to straighten her back at the same time. It was a tough stance to imitate. She couldn’t do it without her legs shaking.

Apple Bloom felt like she was going to fall on the ground.

“Stance”, repeated Luna.

“Ah’m trying.”

“Stance is key for making sure you have control over your magic – especially in combat.”

Apple Bloom focused on focusing. Her muscles felt like they were aching but she felt like she finally got the stance.

“Good good”, said Luna, “I think you are getting the hang of it. Now we can begin battle. I am ready.”

Apple Bloom awkwardly kept her position in place. She knew that there was no room for failure here.

“Aim for my armor”, said Luna.

Apple Bloom stayed in position and aimed for Luna’s body armor. She shot a beam of magic and watched as it hit the armor causing it to slightly crack.

“Excellent hit”, said Luna with encouragement, “now I shall mimic that move.”

Apple Bloom was nervous. Would she actually be hurt by this?

But she bravely watched as Luna emitted an identical beam from her horn and directed it right at Apple Bloom. The beam tore into Apple Bloom’s armor and she noticed her left side was no longer covered. Apple Bloom felt no pain from this display.

“Looks like you took off a lot of my armor”, said Apple Bloom.

“This is normal for alicorns in training, I have heard.”

Apple Bloom wondered if Twilight went through similar training with Celestia. She would have to ask Twilight next time she saw her.

“Alright”, said Apple Bloom, “ah’m ready to make my next move.” She focused into making a stronger blow of magic. It was larger and more concentrated than her first beam. This time, it hit Luna on her right side. The armor was beginning to open more but still largely intact.

“Ah’m not giving up”, said Apple Bloom.

“Alright, my turn.”

Luna seamlessly generated a beam of magic which pushed Apple Bloom backwards at least two meters. Apple Bloom didn’t feel any pain but she noticed that her armor had vanished.

“It looks like I have won the battle”, said Luna, “but you are showing great promise in combat. I think you will be better than Twilight once you finish your training.”

“You really think so, Princess?”

“Absolutely. I have so much experience on my side. Of course, I will be stronger than you are now. For now, I want to give you the opportunity to pierce my armor.”

Apple Bloom increased her focus tenfold. She wanted to prove to herself that she could handle magic.
She could feel the pressure of the sparks tingling throughout her whole body now. Apple Bloom was determined to break off Luna’s armor.

Here goes nothing, thought Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom generated her most powerful magic beam yet. It escaped her horn and hit Luna pushing her back a distance. Once the beam evaporated, Apple Bloom was shocked to see that Luna’s armor was gone.

“Wow”, muttered Apple Bloom, “was that really me?”

“Yes it was, you aren’t a baby in training anymore”, said Luna, “you have a gift. I am more convinced every night that you are the right choice.”

“Soon ah might be able to help Twilight – like how you and Celestia help each other.”

“Twilight will always have the edge over you with spells, but that was just… so powerful. Invaders of Equestria will learn to fear your power, Apple Bloom.”

“What if that was just a fluke? What ah did?”

“That was no fluke. You are an adept fighter. I am proud of you.”

“Thank you, Luna. Ah appreciate that.”

“I think we will have a few more nights of magic lessons and then I can give you your wings. You will learn the Art of the Pegasus. After that, I can finally teach you my special moon powers.”

“Can’t wait to learn how to raise the moon!”

“And I’ll be teaching you something even more interesting – Apple Bloom, you will be learning how to visit other ponies’ dreams. This will complete your training as the Goddess of the Moon.”

“Looking forward to it.”

Apple Bloom was so excited for these upcoming lessons with Luna. But she still wondered if there was something she could do to save Granny.

Author's Note:

I hope everyone is enjoying the story!
Apple Bloom is making progress on her training - find out more in the upcoming chapters.