Valley Dale (part 9)
Luna’s cloak fluttered behind her as she waited patiently upon a hilltop that overlooked Valley Dale. Strong winds, forced down into the valley by the nearby mountain range to the north, swept across the landscape. They added a chilly bite to the midmorning air, but as it was nestled behind the windbreaking ridgeline of the hill, the colourful town stood untouched.
Having spent the vast majority of her reign inside the impenetrable canopy of the Everfree Forest, the biting gales almost felt novel. However, in truth, it was weather that she was very familiar with and often reminisced on when she thought back to a time in her life long ago.
The former princess closed her eyes and lost herself in the brief moment of nostalgia. Her old home of High Hoof had a similar climate. However, as she grew older by the decades, it grew harder and harder to remember her time there as a filly. Not that she didn't frequently try to remember it as much as she could. Luna had made it a routine to every so often recall all that she could remember about those early days of her life. To keep those memories crisp in her mind and stave off the ever-encroaching forgetful haze of time.
Memory spells existed of course, and she often used them to perfectly recall things such as relevant information from old Council meetings that she had once attended or pieces of esoteric magical lore from her time at the College. However, such spells had the severe side-effect of tending to divorce emotion and feelings from the memories. Like reading a biography about your own life written by another pony. All of the factual information is there but not the feeling, not the sound, not the smell and not the touch. The memory will be permanently transcribed into her mind as a lifeless, artificial facsimile of her real experience.
She could never do that to those sparse yet cherished memories of her early youth. Even if it would allow her to remember the face of her mother, which she had forgotten so long ago.
Yet, in this moment, she was transported back to those bygone days. Back to the windswept cliffs near the edge of her former alpine village. Her mother had taken her to the ledge that day, telling her to close her eyes and spread her wings. To feel the wind and air currents as they flowed smoothly over her feathers. To reach out with her dormant pegasus magic and touch those currents that she will one day manipulate to soar through the sky.
She could almost hear her mother's voice whisper encouragement in her ear. The exact words long forgotten but not the feeling of hope and joy that swelled in her chest. The alicorn tried her hardest to recall the soft touch of her mother's wing as she ran it soothingly through the mane of her acrophobic daughter.
However, the more she tried to cling to the memory, the more it slipped from her grasp. Soon, the moment was gone and Luna stood alone once more upon the solitary hill. The presence of her mother faded with it.
Luna simply stood there for a moment. Clenching her jaw and trying to stem the flow of tears that rolled down her cheeks. It hurt so badly to remember all that she had lost and all that she had been denied in life.
What she would give to feel the embrace of her mother once again, the warmth of her wings as they wrapped around Luna, shielding her from the world as she basked in the feeling of love and protection that they offered.
To her credit, Celestia had tried to step in as the maternal figure in Luna’s life after they were orphaned in the Annihilation of High Hoof, but she was just a filly herself and ill-suited to the task. Thereafter, she had found scarce comfort and warmth within the frigid halls of the College and later, the Everfree Castle.
Perhaps it was foalish for an immortal being older than most ponies would ever live to so dearly miss the touch of her mother. However, on days such as these when she felt utterly alone in the world, she yearned for it so desperately that it hurt.
All that she had ever known of love lay only within her distant, fleeting memories and even those she may not have for long. Luna could feel the haze encroaching, though. Each day that passed, another tiny piece eroded from the century-old memory. Each day, less of it remained than the day before.
One day, she will forget entirely, and the only love she shall remember will be the poisoned one between herself and her sister. That, or she would become desperate enough to defile the memory as though it were some taxidermied carcass to be strung up for display in her mind. She wasn't sure which was worse.
Shaking her head in an attempt to dispel the dire line of thought, Luna tried to reorient her focus to the present and the future. Such dark introspection would destroy her if she allowed it. She had abandoned her previous life specifically to search for the things that she had scantly ever known. Love, destiny, worthiness.
There were still things in this world worth fighting, even if she wasn't entirely sure what they were yet. Until the day that she found that destiny, she would spend every moment trying to make the world a better place. Piece by piece.
Luna’s ears perked up at the approaching sound of flapping wings.
‘It looks like Windy decided to arrive early’
Before turning around to meet her new pupil, she took a deep breath to steady herself and used magic to clear the tears from her eyes.
As the pegasus touched down next to her, Luna greeted her with a mostly genuine smile. It was nice to have a bit of a distraction from her dark musings and she had grown to care for the filly in the short time that she had known her, though she wasn't quite sure why.
Did she see a chance within Windy to retroactively atone for all of the mistakes she had made in her life? Perhaps it was a deeply buried maternal instinct that had never had the opportunity to express itself before. Or, maybe the more selfish answer was that she sought to vicariously live the happy foalhood she had been denied as a filly.
“Are you ready to learn advanced pegasus magic?” Luna asked as a way to begin their training session.
The filly, bouncing with enthusiasm, grinned in confirmation. “I am sooooo ready!”
Her smile dipped for a second. “How exactly can pegasi do advanced magic?” She asked inquisitively. “We can't cast spells like unicorns.”
“That's a good question,” Luna acknowledged before proceeding with an explanation. “Pegasi are able to manipulate the natural magical energies of the world far more instinctively than unicorns. Most can figure out how to fly, cloud sculpt and manifest weather with very little instruction or training. However, as a result, the vast majority of pegasi never study the fundamentals of magic the way unicorns do, thus never unlocking their full potential.
That is what I will teach you today,” the former princess continued. “How to harness your pegasus magics a step beyond what most pegasi will ever achieve in their lifetimes.”
Windy looked thoughtful at the explanation before turning her head to look at her side. “When I got my Talent Mark, my mom said something about there being more to learn about being a pegasus and that she would teach me when I'm older. Is this what she meant?”
During their argument, Wind Chill mentioned how much effort she had put into Windy's education. Perhaps she intended to get her daughter a tutor who specialised in more advanced pegasus magic?
“Possibly. If that's true, then it should be easier for you to gain competence in the discipline by the time that I return. For now, let's focus on the basics.” Luna replied.
Luna bit her lip as she mulled over her next course of action. It would certainly be a risk, but she thought that she would be able to lie her way through a satisfying explanation. She could always disappear and change her appearance again if her little experiment went awry.
Now committed, the faux unicorn unlatched the clasp of her cloak and began to remove it. “This type of magic is difficult to teach by instruction alone, but luckily, I know of a spell that can help.”
Unburdened by the thick cloth, Luna relished the sensation of the wind blowing against her hidden wings.
“I learned a spell from my old mentor that will temporarily give a unicorn wings.”
Windy's eyes went wide at the proclamation. “Surely such a spell can't exist?”
Luna smiled slyly. “Watch.”
Lighting her horn, her illusion distorted and a pair of large azure wings manifested into existence at her sides.
The small gasp of amazement from Windy was more satisfying than it probably should have been.
‘Maybe I really did miss my calling in becoming a magician.’ Luna joked to herself. She was beginning to enjoy these smoke-and-mirror tricks.
Her explanation wasn't a complete lie, even so. Starswirl did create a spell to allow unicorns to fly, though it was immensely difficult to cast and those crystalline wings were far too fragile to attempt any sort of advanced magic with.
“You look like one of the princesses!” Windy remarked with astonishment.
Luna chuckled uncomfortably as the comment hit a bit closer to the truth than she would have liked. If she was to truly take Windy as her apprentice one day, then she needed to know that she could trust the filly with her secrets. No illusion was invincible and better to plant the idea in her mind now, so as to perhaps dampen the shock of her identity later.
She had also been fairly shortsighted in her offer to Windy. How could a pony instruct advanced pegasus magic without their own wings to demonstrate? It is very much an ad hoc solution, but if she played her cards right, some future benefits may yet be gained.
“I suppose so. Regardless, these constructs will only last for a short time, so we must move on with the lesson quickly.” Luna explained as a way to deflect further questions regarding her potential status as an alicorn.
At the mention of a potential time restraint, the previously eager look on Windy's face tempered somewhat into a more serious expression.
“Where do we begin?” replied the filly in a determined voice.
“Firstly, you need to understand what I mean when I talk about moving beyond what normal instinctual pegasus magic is capable of,” Luna explained as she flared out her wings in a demonstration.
The alicorn felt the magical energy in the wind as it rushed through her feathers. She reached out with her pegasus magic and bent that energy to her will. The temperature surrounding her wings quickly plummeted as she simultaneously drew in moisture from the surrounding air. Her feathers whitened with frost as thick snow rapidly accumulated across her wings.
A firm flap of the frozen appendages created a miniature blizzard as the compacted snowflakes were ejected in a flurry that covered the area.
Windy looked on in shock at the display. Her eyes wide and jaw slackened in disbelief. She held out a hoof to catch an errant falling snowflake in her grasp, as if unwilling to believe that this wasn't one of Luna’s illusions and she needed to touch it herself to confirm that her eyes did not deceive her.
“But, a pegasus can't create snow without a cloud… everypony knows that… how did you… it can't be… I've never seen such a thing…” Windy trailed off as she struggled to put her thoughts in order.
“How did you do that? Why have I never heard of such magic? Why doesn't every pegasus learn this if you say that we all can?” The filly began to rapid-fire questions towards the mare as soon as she had collected herself.
Taking a moment to weigh her response, the former princess eventually formulated her reply.
“Like a unicorn's horn, the wings of a pegasus are a catalyst that can be used to convert latent magical energy into physical spells. All pegasi abilities come from those spells, even if they are cast instinctually. This is why pegasi who have suffered a double amputation to their wings lose the ability to walk on clouds.” Luna began.
“However, unlike unicorns, who draw environmental magical energy into their horns and then construct a spell internally within the horn's structure, pegasi can't store pools of magical energy within themselves and must thus construct spell matrices externally.”
The former princess resisted the urge to conjure a blackboard to help with instruction. It was something that Starswirl often did when he gave lessons to her and her sister outside of the College when they were travelling. However, Windy seemed like a very smart filly and Luna trusted her to pay attention.
“There is a reason why unicorns evolved their horns to optimise their spell-casting. To try to structure a spell matrix in the open environment, especially with such volatile magical energies as those found in winds, rains and lightning, is an incredibly difficult feat. Pegasi evolved the natural spell-casting pathways that give them their instinctual abilities, precisely to circumvent the immense challenge that comes with trying to manually use wings to cast a spell.” The alicorn continued with her lesson as the filly hung on every word.
“This is what I mean when I speak of moving beyond your instincts. You must break the shackles of the pegasus magic that comes naturally and learn to bend the world around you to your will as a unicorn can. However, even then there are limits to the magic that you can accomplish. Your wings will never be precise or versatile enough of catalysts to teleport or levitate, but you will be able to fly faster than sound can travel, exhale small blizzards as you breathe, or create lightning between your wingtips.
"As for why the vast majority of pegasi never learn this type of magic, it is for the same reason why the vast majority of unicorns aren't mages of the same calibre as Court Mages and why they seldom ever use advanced magic outside of their special talent.
"Some are too weak or too stupid to properly utilise their potential, but for most ponies, it's because they will never have the opportunity to learn.” Luna finished in a regretful tone.
“Is that because they don't know about advanced pegasus? I've certainly never heard about it until today.” Windy inquired with curiosity.
“Partly, yes. The organisations that know the most about this particular branch of magic, such as the High Families of Cloudsdale or the Warlords of Las Pegasus are very exclusionary. There isn't an abundance of pegasi teachers willing to take on students outside of their insulated communities.”
The former princess wondered how long it would have taken to learn advanced pegasus magic, had it not been for her mother and sister introducing it to her at an early age.
“However, even if the knowledge was widely known, it would not change much. Very few ponies have the privilege of becoming academics who can spend years upon years refining their magical talents. Most pegasi need to support themselves and their families, often becoming carpenters, mailmares, weather-ponies or soldiers from a relatively young age. Never reaching beyond their narrow lot in life, because they can't afford to.” Luna explained.
Windy looked slightly disheartened at the explanation, though her lips soon pulled into a tight line and her eyes lit up with a fire that approached wrathfulness. “That isn't fair.” She said in a quiet voice.
The alicorn stared at the filly with a sympathetic expression, very familiar with the feeling of being an impassioned youth, disgusted with the injustices of the world. “It is unfair, but unfairness is a part of life and there is nothing that you can do to change that.”
The filly looked like she wanted to argue Luna on that point, but the former princess spoke again before her student could get a word out. “No pony can change the world alone, Windy. Trust me when I tell you that, I've tried. You will achieve nothing and only destroy yourself in the process. You can only try to pick your battles and help the few that you can.” She stated in a sombre tone.
Windy did not look as though she agreed with Luna’s logic, but the sadness and genuineness with which Luna spoke gave her enough pause for her passions to fade.
“What of Earth Ponies? Do they have their own advanced magic, like unicorns or pegasi?” She eventually asked as a way to pivot the conversation.
Luna answered gladly, also content to return to their lesson. This was probably not the right time or place for a philosophical debate on the fundamental injustices of the world. “Technically, they do, yes. However, hooves make for substantially worse magical catalysts than either horns or wings, so it's very difficult for Earth Ponies to cast even the weakest of spells. That's not to say that they can't be uniquely powerful in their own right. Earth Ponies can use magical energy to improve their strength, endurance and senses, but that's all done internally. Perhaps some select Earth Ponies who have Talent Marks relating to hyper-specialised careers, such as botany, rock farming or masonry, can utilise some spells within those fields, but it's rare.”
“I think that this is enough theory for now. It's time for you to learn how to manually manipulate magical energy.” The former princess concluded with a brighter tone, trying to insert some enthusiasm and energy into the lesson.
Windy smiled at that. She looked ready for the challenge.
The sun hung low in the late afternoon sky and Luna worried that their training session might not end before it lowered. If there was one trait that she couldn't fault Windy on, it would be her determination. After multiple gruelling hours of frustrating failure, the filly was still committed to trying to use advanced magic over and over again. Even with the alicorn’s reassurance that it would likely take months before she could be expected to gain any sort of proficiency in the discipline, (there was a reason why she had given Windy two years to practise on her own), the young pegasus seemed to take each failure as some sort of sign of deficiency in her skill and committed herself even harder to mastering what she had been taught.
Whether this was because she had a naturally stubborn personality or she was desperate to impress her mentor, Luna wasn't sure.
“It will come easier if you calm your mind. Trying to force the magic will only make it harder to control,” the former princess instructed helpfully as the filly let out a frustrated sigh before using the calming breathing techniques Luna had taught her and trying again.
Windy still had her wings outstretched as she faced towards the breeze. Their entire training session had been focused on the young pegasus completing the deceptively simple task of trying to change the direction of the wind that blew past her, without flapping her wings. However, the magical energy that flows within the wind was naturally illusive and fleeting by nature and there was a very good reason why the phrase ‘trying to catch the wind’ was a common pony idiom for attempting to accomplish a very difficult task.
The finesse that was required to deftly wield the relatively blunt instruments that were the magical catalysts within a pegasi’s wings, only came through experience and practise. The alicorn was about to suggest that they call it a day and resume tomorrow morning, when she suddenly noticed something interesting.
Through the combination of the ‘magical sight’ that her unicorn magic granted her and the ‘weather awareness’ that her pegasus magic granted her, Luna finally sensed a disturbance in the airflow around Windy’s wings. It faltered and rippled as though it had been snagged on an obstacle. The alicorn held her breath, not wanting to distract the filly out of her intense focus. It would be interesting to see how long Windy could maintain her grasp on the wind. Most pegasi who first learn how to manually interact with magical energies can only do so for a few seconds and only after days or weeks of training. For Windy to hold the connection for longer than ten seconds on her first day was a deeply impressive feat.
Yet, not only did the filly's grip on the wind not dissipate, it grew firmer. The air flowing across both of her wings was forced to curl in on itself, forming fast-flowing vortexes at each wingtip.
Luna’s jaw dropped in amazement and incredulity as two miniature dust devils touched down behind the filly. The young pegasus's legs started to shake from the unfamiliar and sustained strain on her body and magic. Eventually, she could no longer hold on and her wings collapsed to a resting position at her sides as the dust devils dissipated away in the gale.
Windy looked up at her instructor with a tired, yet triumphant expression. “I did it! I did it! I did it!” She cheered in excitement.
Luna couldn't quite find the words to respond. Never before in her life had she seen a pony manage to perform advanced pegasus magic so quickly.
‘What a fascinating young filly that has fallen into my lap,' Luna mused. ‘What feats will she be capable of in two years?’
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Another chapter, yay.
Despite your reservations you did rather well. *hug* Try not to beat yourself up to much as well. We all appreciate the time and work you put into your chapters, and will continue to appreciate you.
Good chapter, I liked your explanation of the advanced magic of the pegasi and the social implications that revolve around them.
Now, let me help you with spelling and grammar.
Perhaps she intended to get her daughter a tutor who specialized in more advanced pegasus magic?
...optimize...
You lost a point there.
Wait, what? So, Luna lowers the sun and rises the moon and Celestia lowers the moon and rises the sun?
You ended with a period, but continued as if it were a comma.
11762479
Thanks for the encouragement. :)
I have a question Are you crimsonS4ge because you bitchless or are you crimsonS4ge because you can’t get any bitches🤨
11762535
Reported.
Enjoy your ban, troll.
Can't wait to see what other places will Luna see in her journey. Looking forward for next chapters :D
Time to put those fancy unicorns to shame!
Windy: "If only I were an alicorn princess! Than I could fix that!"
Luna: *suppressed cough*
Yay!
Good chapter!
I enjoyed reading it.
Don't.
Just don't.
You did well, and you can be proud of yourself.
In fact, stressing or pressuring doesn't help anyone, you the least.
Keep in mind: You are doing this to enjoy yourself. Us getting something out of it is purely secondary.
I look forwards to see where she is going next.
Or maybe we see what Celestia is up to right now.
You can take notes of your ideas, and maybe write a compilation of side stories.
Sometimes chapters fight you. A lot of writers here have remarked on it. It was a good chapter, so the effort was worth it.
I liked your explanation of magic here involving Pegasuses, especially. Don't despair that some chapters are difficult to get "perfect." Settle for good enough. After the project is over, if things don't suit you, do a revised edition. Otherwise enjoy your creativity and the positive comments ignoring the blatant negative Nancies.
Why do I get the feeling this isn't what her mother had in mind? No offense to her, but she doesn't strike me as particularly well-connected to the core pegasus families, as it were. She probably had something far more fundamental in mind, and probably thinks she automatically knows better while also being completely unaware that Windy's more advanced than she thinks.
11762535
You know what, I'll bite. What exactly do you mean by your "question?" It feels like an attack on the author, but maybe I'm missing something.
I'm enjoying the story. I wouldn't worry too much about the speed. You go at whatever pace you feel makes for good writing.
11762711
Was you thinking about this the whole time but I meant it as a joke I just like how authors reply to what I said some of them reply with a joke and some of them reply with yes you was the first one to get mad
11762713
All the month long time, eh? You must be the life of the party.
Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. We won't be talking again.
11762716
They all say that well the ones who mad say that but I talk to you when the new chapter drops with a new question 👍
I really liked the magic system you described. From the side of the Luna it looked like research, most likely from Star Swirl
I'm prety shure thear are Earthbender Ponys somewhere.
Oh, ok I was very curious to see how you were going to pull of the magic lesson and have Luna teach Windy something about magic without using a unicorn horn, wow you came up with a great idea having nature magic being capable of being manipulated like that is fascinating great job. Side note I was wondering if we're ever going to explore Luna's old home, is she going to go back to high hoof at some point I wonder if she would decide to start a school at a later time and put the school's location somewhere close to her old home so it's out of the way. Also I have a question do Thestrals aka bat ponies not exist in this continuity, it'd be a really cool story arc if Luna was the one to discover them do you have any plans to use them or are they none existent in the universe you're creating for us? Great job and I hope to hear back from you or 😄 read a response from you my friend.
11762632
Hey you're right Wind Chill could have afforded a special teacher for her daughter 🤨 something isn't right here and I got the sinking sensation it's going to be a bad situation for these ponies were just going to have to wait and see.
I dont really think it matters at all if you are missing plot or lore, since this story takes place really far back, i think leaving a lot of mystery about the world would not be a bad thing. It would certainly make it easier to write and significantly easier to read. However i do understand the need to show off your work, since you put in a lot of effort you want it to be noticed. Thats why i think you should cut back on the basic exposition like explaining social classes and small scale politics until later chapters.
Even some of the more detailed stuff like magic systems or characterization dont need to be readily apparent. This story i feel like is about exploring luna's character as well as other characters and their relationship, for which there will be plenty of time later, and attentive readers will be able to piece the lore and world mechanics themselves (something that is not possible if the story is over saturated, so its like "you need shorter text so that your viewers understand it, and when they understand it you can have shorter text").
But for now its more of a suggestion rather than a complaint since most of the valley dale arc is not going to follow the story past these few episodes and as far as windy's character goes, it had to be done right now since we wont see her anymore (or will we??).
As always the writing was exemplary, even if it wasnt the best(minor grammar stuffs), and this story is one i am very invested in.
(ps: this is more of a writing suggestion but i see in a lot of other stories that while characters are in conversation they are actively doing stuff while talking which helps add more text that isnt dialogue. Stuff like making some tea or sorting books or playing cards/chess. It might help with the text wall situation.)
((pps: sorry if some of this is hard to understand but it is 12 am and i am using this as an excuse to not sleep. Feel free to ask me to clarify or challenge any of my points.))
11762967
1). We will most definitely visit High Hoof, but only far in the future. No imminent plans.
2). Opening a school is an interesting idea and I might save it for an epilogue or something, but Luna has a lot of adventuring left to do. She probably isn't going to settle down for a while.
3). I'm not completely sure what to do with Thestrals. They aren't a part of the overarching grand plot, but it feels wrong to exclude them. So I'm going to keep them in limbo at the moment, same with the changelings and kirins. I'll include them if I find a place for them.
I feel not many other people could write this story as well as you did. The way you write is practically perfect for this. I wish I wasn’t sick so I could elaborate much more, but I feel like my brain has left its station.
Looking forward for the continuation of this, wish you best, cheers!
11763017
Two quick and easy solutions to the entire changelings Karen and Thestrals thing one they simply aren't native to Equestria two Discord created them and now all three have been imprisoned by Celestia somewhere.
11763434
Nice idea, but no.
Celestia is a bit of cunt in my story, but she is nowhere near 'wide-scale ethnic cleansing' levels of evil.
11763449
I'm just really trying to rack my brains thinking of a way that Luna could feel so neglected if the night worshipping Thestrals exist, if you have an entire tribe of ponies that only takes orders from you and believe you're a god I would think you would feel pretty special, also in the canon lore of the comics Celestia did imprison the entire changelings race inside an active volcano for two hundred years crazy right?
11763454
If I do decide to add the Thestrals, then I'll have them be an undiscovered Tribe. Or maybe I'll have an artifact, like the Rainbow of Darkness from the original MLP and have them be mutated pegasi.
cool
11763017
11763454
Even if thestrals/bat ponies/whatever-one-calls-them exist here, it’s far from an automatic given that they feel any special attachment to Luna (at least, not at this point). Even if they’re nocturnal and have no special love for Celestia, they could easily for example be more independent than that and simply not have been looking for an alicorn princess of their own to worship just because that’s what the silly day ponies do.
That said, the future is of course still wide open in that regard.
Hmmm. I'm getting a sense that maybe this is the fundamental difference between the sisters.
Luna strives to hold on to the memory of her time as a regular pony. Hence she is able to relate to them and their wishes, in particular their desire to better their lives. Hence her being the one who pushes for reforms constantly. Celestia might have tried to do the same but eventually gave up and has been embracing the "perfect immortal princess" image. At the cost of slowly losing her ability to relate to, understand, and most importantly to care for those subjects who she doesn't see on a regular basis. Hence her becoming the sort of cold bitch who thinks she's doing things for "the greater good" but is actually just protecting her sources of positive reinforcement.
Should be interesting to see if this idea pans out.
The lore is always nice to see. And it looks like Luna found her first student!
I have a thought why didn't she paint her mother in the stars as a constellation so she would never forget?
11764924
It isn't something that you think you will forget...
...until you do.
11764948
One of the reasons why I write everything down so I don't forget, until I forget why I wrote it down in the first place which renders my first forget me not irrelevant.
I love the memory spells taking the emotions out of the mix idea, it’s such a clever concept!
The old adage of the geniuses who never were because they had bills to pay.
I liked this chapter since we got to see some insight on how magic functions for the 3 tribes.
I'm wondering if when Luna eventually returns to high hoof she will stumble upon a magical message that lets her see her mother one more time, what it says would be up to you but I like to think it would be some words of wisdom and encouragement to her two daughters and a hope that the two of them will always love and look out for each other even after she is gone, that would be slightly bitter sweet as we know that they had a falling out with each other and more than likely won't be making amends anytime soon.